Skyrim charges itself as a fantasy RPG: a vast adventure where you treat with the gods and write your name in myths and legends. But it is not, really. For most of us, it's a life sim. How to live a new being as a sort of itinerant lizard. Sure, you probably still earn thousands of kills, but the vast majority of players like Skyrim exist and explore, not the grandeur of the main plot.

But if the game really accurately portrays the fantasy of reality, you need 1 of the most omnipresent features of reality: intense, mind-bending anxiety. . Thank God for mods like JaySerpa, then their mod stress and fear–dynamic sanity system (via DSOGaming)they are always relevant to the trembling nerve shipwrecks born to be!

According to the description, Stress and fear add "a very simple and lite stress/fear system" on top of the basic Skyrim of what we all know and love. It's not hard to understand. As you take a hit in combat, your stress increases. As stress increases, your stamina and magicka are taking your spirit down, slashing, stabbing and piercing, reflecting the mental toll. Being badly hurt can result in a complete CK3-style mental break, potentially giving you a phobia of any beast that has caused you harm. That phobia constricts your vision and speeds up your breathing while fighting that monster, and you do 25% less damage.

These all sound completely horrible, but don't be afraid. For one thing, you can reduce your stress through all manner of activities. For example, drinking skooma, eating comfort foods such as sweetrolls, taking baths, petting animals, and getting dumped by royalty among others.

You can also overcome these phobias, which involve both great stress relief, and prevent you from developing phobias again, which is also realistic. As someone who was nervous about cutting hair as a child, I now do more than 10% damage to hairdressers.

It's a lightweight mod, but it's a pretty cool idea, and hints its hat at its most obvious inspiration: the Darkest Dungeon. If you're interested in putting Skyrim's character under the weight of a mental burden, you can download it on Nexus.