We have our thread for useful and practical mods. We have our thread for pretty mods. This is the thread to cap off the grand mod trilogy, and it is the thread for mods that are not necessarily practical nor pretty, but are instead awesome.

For me, these mods are:

Moonpath to Elsweyr - Where you can travel to Elsweyr. And it's so very pretty.
Here there be Monsters - A mod which puts what are basically Kaiju into the sea of ghosts for some ultra-hard boss battles, as well as adding some ship captains and traumatised survivors
Space Wiking Dwemer Exoskeleton - Because there's nothing more badass than beating up dragons in a robotic exoskeletons and if you say otherwise I will so fight you!
Midas Magic - Technically this one could probably go into the Foundation Mods thread as all it really does is add some new spells; doesn't seem that impressive on the surface, but it makes the cut because one the spells summons angry bees to attack the enemy, and that makes me think of both Eddie Izzard and Bioshock. Eddie Izzard and Bioshock are two good things.
WARZONES - Civil Unrest in Skyrim - Actually gets a proper Civil War going with randomly occurring battles here and there between Stormcloaks and Imperial Legionaries, with the option to tweak how often they happen.

That's all I've got for now (kind of have to run), but if you have any other really, really cool mods, be they fun quests, badass weapons, spectacular spells or anything else that you think fits the definition of 'awesome' stick them up here.

No suggestions? None at all? Your lack awesomeness disturbs me...

That said, I also forgot to include Falksaar?, an absolutely spectacular mod that adds a whole new swathe of territory to the game that's about the size of two to three holds, with its own quests, voice-acting, dungeons and everything. It's really damn cool.

Console, but Immersive Armours and Weapons are both bloody brilliant, what!

Those are some pretty awesome armour and weapons right there. And you spelt 'armour' proper way, hurrah!

*Awards Rohirrim with the Colonel Mustard Official Badge of Awesomeosity*

I don’t have mods that add big areas, but I’ve just started Helgen Reborn. So far so good. Neat characters including one I’d like to kick in the shins. Very engaging.

I’d love to explore Moonpath to Elsweyr, Falskaar, and Wyrmstooth, but I’m concerned about my staggering laptop.

Corpse preparation is pretty cool, it allows you to create undead minions.

That is awesome, and for that you are awarded with the Colonel Mustard Official Badge of Awesomeosity. That is so on my 'to download' list.

Grits: That's pretty cool, and I'll probably check it out, but I'm afraid it isn't Colonel Mustard Official Badge of Awesomeosity material. Sorry.

No worries, you should definitely reserve your Official Badge of Awesomeosity for the ones you simply have to try.

Here’s a shot from one of the Helgen Reborn new locations: link. I got so lost in there. The dungeon before this one was smaller but just as awesome. Some of the NPC voice acting is outstanding, and the characters develop as you get to know them. The guy I wanted to kick is now one of my favorites. Jerric was just given a big reward that he actually deserves, and it made him feel part of the victory rather than “Because You Are The Player.”

Rohirrim, I agree about Immersive Armor and Weapons. Jerric just hit level 30, and people are trying to stab him with some very cool swords.

KC, that mod looks tremendous. I should have started my vampire on the laptop. Dammit!!

The Divine Aegis Armor gives one a proper paladin look.

SubRosa, that armor does indeed look Divine. As if blood spatter dare not settle upon it!

I found a few mods to inject some seasonal cheer into Jerric’s Skyrim. I’ll deactivate the mods and delete all of the holiday saves after New Life Festival to prevent future issues, but I haven’t had any while playing so far.

The gang lives at Lakeview (Aravi ) Manor while they are staying in Skyrim, so trips to Whiterun are a frequent occurrence. Plus they have access to Breezehome in Abiene’s game. Normally I use Dawn of Whiterun to give the city a little pizzazz, but I’ve turned that one off for the holiday season in favor of Towns and Villages Enhanced – Whiterun Snow Beta. Then I installed Saturalia – Christmas in Skyrim which adds lots of decorative touches and some fun Saturalia goodies. While this mod does not mention Christmas except in the title, it is not for lore extremists. (Those little strands of lights are chips of Welkynd stones. If that makes your eyes roll, you should skip this one. )

I enjoy the decorations and seasonal cheer, but I will not be pursuing the “Father Saturalia” quest to the North Pole that is mentioned in the description. Instead my crew will likely take a leisurely trip around the province visiting friends and enjoying the season (with plenty of roadside slayage of course), also with me using the console command to make it snow on them pretty much all of the time.

Another one that adds simple decorations is Christmas Lanterns. I’m going to add it for New Life Festival to make the towns even brighter. Then when the hangovers have receded a simple uncheck of the box cleans everything up. In theory.

Oh, and the Saturalia mod offers a way to remove the decorations while keeping all of the goodies that your characters received over the holidays. We’ll see.

The above is probably more fun than awesome, but I didn't think we really needed another thread. Hope it was OK to include it in this one.

Any kind of cool, interesting, unusual or fun mod is welcome to this thread, Grits!

P.S. I'm guessing that mod is where Jensa(?) got her stylish, seasonal hat.

Yep, she got her Merry Hat at the stand right outside the gates, along with a new dress and an outfit for her man Stenvar. She's actually smiling at him in the little pic, it's just hard to see. And kind of hard to tell with her, anyway.

Immersive Armors just got a major update. There's a video on the page. You may need a category above "Awesome" now, Colonel.

Acadian Race - only mentioned for the name!

*races to mirror to see if eyes are glowing*

Take the helmet off first, or you won't be able to tell.

I was expecting it would be a race of Acadian Giants

Inigo
If the vanilla followers bore you, and you like games with companions that have actual personalities... this is the best companion mod.. ever! Inigo's author has put his heart and soul into his creation and it shows. Beyond Awesome!

Oh, I agree completely on Inigo. I have used several very good immersive/interactive follower mods (Anduniel, Sofia, Arissa, Inigo) and rank Inigo at the top. When a follower talks a lot (like Inigo does), it is neat but can get old during a long playthrough. Amazingly, somehow Inigo's chatter just simply never gets old. Just a superb mod all the way around.

After traveling with Inigo for a significant amount of time, Buffy and Inigo were once seated at a tavern. Buffy asked him what he thought of her. He replied by offering almost ten minutes of his opinions regarding her and her performance. His insights accurately ranged from how hopeless she is at melee combat, to the observation that she smells good. Simply amazing.

Yep.. I have used all of those companions, and they rank for me as follows (bearing in mind this is all highly subjective):
Inigo
Arissa and Sofia (for me these two tie)
Mrissi (another nicely done companion)
Anundiel


I have also used Vilja, and I never know quite how to rate that girl. I think she is a truly brilliant creation and the huge amount of work from her team really shows. I'm also in some awe of Emma.. the thought of voicing something in my mother tongue is quite mortifying enough, let alone a different language.
Unfortunately though, Vilja's personality isn't quite my cup of tea. Though, once I have a better computer I have every intention of trying Vilja and Inigo together since they now interact.. which sounds pretty damned amazing.

Honestly though.. I think Skyrim is really blessed with a lot of excellent companions, and I'm very happy we have as much choice as we do. I also intend to try out Benjamin Doon and Rigmor of Bruma at some point as well.

But Inigo really is superlative. I know exactly what you mean, if any of the others talked *that* much I'd probably want to throttle them by the end. But Inigo just has so much soul, perceptiveness and gentle humour that even when he repeats himself, he never gets on my nerves.

I played Vilja in Oblivion and was impressed with the depth and quality of the mod. Vilja's personality is simply too demanding for my nurturing little elf though. Buffy found herself becoming a sidekick to Vilja and that's not exactly what I was looking for. My understanding is that Vilja in Skyrim has continued to set the gold standard as far as interactive depth for followers. But. . . I also know her personality has not changed so I have not installed SkyVilja.

I think BethSoft made fantastic strides in Skyrim when it comes to followers. And even another huge jump forward with Serana in the DLC Dawnguard. I imagine the pioneer work that Emma has done with Vilja is partly responsible for BethSoft's steps forward. I was delighted to see the array of fabulous interactive modded followers available for Skyrim - such as those we have mentioned.

Wow I am really likeing the sound of WARZONES. Perfect, since I just started Civil War / Imperial's side. There'll probably be several Awesome Mods to check out in this thread, for sure!

Now that I have a computer that can handle the more resource-intensive mods.. my game has become entirely different and I've found some mods I *really* like, and definitely fit into the definition of "awesome."

One of the biggest complaints I have with Skyrim is just how empty the land seems. I know it is a cold, harsh environment, but still... it could use a bit more life, especially in the cities. To remedy that I have installed:
Expanded Towns and Cities
Dawn of Skyrim
Interesting NPCs
Inconsequential NPCs
Immersive Patrols

Another awesome combination I've paired is:
Frostfall and Wet&Cold, along with Footprints.
I always adopted poor, little Sophie anyway, but now that Windhelm gets so cold at night that it's life-threatening, it simply isn't even a decision.

All of them.. just wow!

I was looking for a mod to spruce up the towns and cities and tried JK's Skyrim. I've been using it for a few weeks now and am very pleased with it. I'm using the full option so it dresses up every town and city down to and including Rorikstead, but does not dress up the tiny settlements (like Karthwasten or Shors Stone. I've been to all of them. The city that is most dramatically dressed up is Whiterun - which suits me to a tee. The tweaks in the other big cities are much more subtle, which I also find just fine. Another aspect I love is that all the open towns, from Winterhold to Rorikstead now have at least one more shop and some sort of provisions for visiting horses.

I've been using it long enough to be very pleased with it and have had no problems. The limitation or caveat to recommending it is that I have zero experience using any alternative mods like ETAC or some of the others that I also understand are good. I just looked at the pictures, read the reviews and picked one that turns out to be a keeper for me I think.

Is this the one you have been telling me about? From all you have said, it is Awesome! I have been considering putting this on my new PC instead of Sexy Cities, I am concerned my laptop couldn't handle it. The guy who made this mod has a PC that makes my new one look puny, lol.

Yes, that's the one I've mentioned to you. I'm quite happy with it. Again, it is the only cities mod I've used so I can't really compare it to others. It works well and I'm happy so there ya go.

From everything I've heard you say about the mod, I'm highly impressed; it is rare you have a mod this long without finding any fault to mention; or one that you have had this long and continue to find great things even after so much time has passed. So yes, I most def want to try it.

Thank you for the report, Acadian! I love the way that mod author uses plants, especially in the water around Whiterun. Horse amenities must be very nice. That’s something I miss in the town mods I’m using (most of the Expanded Towns and Cities plus a couple of the Dawn Of cities).