Skyrim Mods That Let You Remain Neutral In The Civil War
The civil war between the Stormcloaks and Imperials is one of the major conflicts in Skyrim, to such an extent that the game's main storyline can't even be completed without the Dragonborn getting at least partially involved with the war. This can be frustrating for players who are trying to roleplay a more neutral character, those who have already played through Skyrim several times over, or even just individuals who aren't particularly interested in getting involved with the questline in the first place. The civil war is also presented as relatively black and white throughout the game, leaving little to no wiggle room for neutral parties. Fortunately, there are a few mods out there that attempt to address that exact issue.
Players are effectively immersed into the civil war questline from the moment the game starts and the Dragonborn awakes on a cart alongside well-known Skyrim civil war figure Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion. The ending of Skyrim's prologue even serves to throw them further into the conflict, pushing players to pick either an Imperial soldier or Stormcloak rebel to accompany them on their escape from Helgen. Later on, the quest "Season Unending" - a necessary step in progressing through Skyrim's primary story - requires the civil war to be either resolved or temporarily put on hold before the questline can progress. Even if peace is achieved at the conference, it will only be a temporary solution. This is only one example of Skyrim making it difficult for players to stay out of the conflict, though. Passing soldiers from both sides will encourage the Dragonborn to join up with the army, and just about every NPC in the game has some sort of opinion about the war, which they'll vocally express without prompting.
For players who want to either opt-out of the civil war questline altogether or simply find a way to approach the conflict without taking sides, Skyrim's extensive and active modding community is a great place to turn to. Several big mods that address Skyrim's civil war have been ported over to Skyrim Special Edition, and most of these mods should still work even with the release of Skyrim Anniversary Edition, meaning that just about every player should be able to take control of the storyline as they see fit. Not all of them completely add full neutrality into the game, but the majority of them do address the idea of a neutral Dragonborn far more than Skyrim's vanilla storyline does. Here are a few of the best mods to help change up how the Dragonborn progresses through the civil war storyline.
The Civil War Neutrality mod, originally created by plunket and ported to Skyrim Special Edition by Nexus user lethielnyrond, helps give players all the benefits of completing the civil war questline without actually forcing them to pick a side. It even removes the game's journal entries related to joining the Legion or Stormcloaks, freeing up space and sparing players from being pestered to do a questline they may have no interest in. Not only does the Civil War Neutrality mod unlock Korvanjund and all the benefits that come along with it, but it also enables the Dragonborn to become the Thane of Eastmarch without joining the Stormcloaks, providing access to a new Skyrim house and housecarl at Hjerim in Windhelm.
For those Skyrim players who simply want to ignore the civil war questline entirely, another mod can be found on Nexus as Civil War F Off - No Season Unending, created by lordkenyonkmp on Nexus. True to its name, it effectively removes the "Season Unending" quest from the main storyline, skipping war negotiations and allowing the Dragonborn to progress without setting time aside from the main quest to address the war. When the Dragonborn isn't forced to take a side, they can remain a truly neutral party by staying out of Skyrim's regional conflicts entirely, all the while still getting to meet iconic characters from the main questline like Paarthurnax.
The Choice is Yours, made by Nexus user kryptopyr, actually allows players to opt out of most quests in Skyrim by not adding objectives to the journal until the Dragonborn has made the explicit choice to assist. Passing Stormcloak or Imperial soldiers will no longer start the quest to join either the Legion or the Stormcloaks, allowing Skyrim fans to play through much of the game without acknowledging the civil war at all. Unfortunately, those who do want to progress through the main questline will still have to play through war negotiations during Season Unending, but the mod is still a great way to avoid unwanted distractions. It's also good for players who are looking to roleplay a more immersive character, as it makes it much easier to opt out of questlines and even smaller assignments that their character may have no real interest in completing.
Like the previous mod, Helgen Reborn by Mike Hancho on Nexus doesn't actually allow full neutrality throughout the entirety of the civil war questline. It does, however, allow the Dragonborn to rebuild Helgen following Alduin's attack as a fully independent city, resulting in factionless guards and no involvement with either the Stormcloak or Imperial armies. It's a unique roleplaying opportunity in a game that otherwise doesn't allow for much neutrality, and could be a nice middle point for those who don't want to miss out on the questline entirely but still don't feel a strong allegiance towards either side. This mod is also fully voiced and introduces several new characters and quests to the game, making it worthwhile to look into even for those players who have been through the whole of Skyrim several times over already. Whether Skyrim players are looking for complete erasure of the civil war or simply a different approach from what's offered in the vanilla game, there are quite a few options to explore.
Source: plunket, lordkenyonkmp, kryptopyr, Mike Hancho/Nexus