The best Skyrim quest mods add hours of new story to a game you have already finished: DLC-sized lands such as Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and Falskaar, voiced questlines such as The Brotherhood of Old, and expansions that give vanilla quests like Paarthurnax’s the choices they always lacked. The 25 below are for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and Anniversary Edition on PC, all from the Skyrim Special Edition section of Nexus Mods, and going by each mod’s own page, every voiced one uses human actors or the game’s own recorded lines rather than AI voices.
The list runs from new lands and expansion-sized questlines to standalone quests you can slot into any playthrough, and ends with four expansions of quests the game already has. Each entry says how its story starts and what it needs. For the frameworks and fixes every load order needs first, see our list of the 100 best Skyrim mods, and for company on the road, our Skyrim follower mods list has 25 more.
New Lands and Expansion-Sized Questlines
These are the closest thing to new official DLC: whole regions, cities or guilds with their own main stories.
1. Legacy of the Dragonborn
Legacy of the Dragonborn is the most endorsed quest mod on the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus, with more than 105,000 endorsements and 7.6 million downloads. It builds the Dragonborn Gallery, a museum beside the Blue Palace in Solitude with display space for nearly 4,600 unique items and sets, and a new guild, the Explorer’s Society, that you found and grow yourself until it sends you on three large expedition quests with boss fights. Its rewritten main questline, about relics tied to Lorkhan and Akatosh, assumes you are the Dragonborn, so its authors recommend starting a new game with it and your other mods already installed. As of November 2, 2026, version 6.11.0 (October 27, 2026) is the main file; SKSE64 and SkyUI are optional, for its script features and menu, and its official patch installer detects the mods in your load order and suggests the patches you need. Creator: icecreamassassin. Download: Legacy of the Dragonborn on Nexus Mods.
2. Beyond Skyrim: Bruma
Beyond Skyrim: Bruma takes you over the border into County Bruma, the northernmost corner of Cyrodiil, rebuilt from scratch with a city of more than 70 residents and a region its team says is larger than the Dragonborn DLC. Oblivion players can revisit Cloud Ruler Temple, Frostcrag Spire and Frostfire Glade and find out what became of the city’s people since the events of Oblivion, across new questlines with over 24,000 lines of voiceover from a professional and semi-professional cast. You can cross the border with an existing character, but the team does not support removing it from a save once installed. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.6.4 (July 12, 2026) is the current release, split into an assets file, the main file and a DLC integration patch, and its page lists no other mods as requirements. Creator: The Beyond Skyrim Cyrodiil Development Team. Download: Beyond Skyrim: Bruma on Nexus Mods.
3. Falskaar
Falskaar adds an entirely new land, independent of Tamriel and roughly the size of two or three of Skyrim’s holds, with 26 quests: a nine-quest main story and 17 side quests, plus unmarked content. Its page promises 20 to 30 or more hours of play and credits almost 30 semi-professional and professional voice actors. To start, speak with Jalamar in Riften or walk into Echo Deep Mine, a new dungeon just northeast of the city; there is no level requirement, and the page asks you to wait a few in-game hours after first loading it so the new characters settle. As of November 2, 2026, version 2.2 (April 2017) is the main file, offered “as is” with no promise of further updates, and it needs no DLC and no SKSE. Creator: AlexanderJVelicky. Download: Falskaar on Nexus Mods.
4. Wyrmstooth
Wyrmstooth sends you north of Solitude across the Sea of Ghosts to the island of Wyrmstooth, chasing a dragon that is disrupting trade routes across Skyrim. It is a fully voice-acted, DLC-sized quest with new landscapes, one of the largest dungeons in Tamriel (with a band of mercenaries at your disposal), new weapons, spells and a shout, and an abandoned imperial fort you can buy from Lurius Liore, staff and defend as your own. Without its optional menu, the quest starts once you reach level 10 and finish “The Way of the Voice.” As of November 2, 2026, version 1.20.3 (September 2025) is the main file; no DLC is required, and the menu needs SKSE64 and SkyUI. Creator: Jonx0r. Download: Wyrmstooth on Nexus Mods.
5. VIGILANT
VIGILANT is a dark, sprawling story about the Vigilants of Stendarr, the Daedra hunters you meet on Skyrim’s roads, with its own lands, many unique armor sets and weapons, new creatures and a New Game Plus mode. It was written in Japanese, so English players should pair it with VIGILANT – English Translation (Plus Voiced Addon) by Aelarr and The Skyrim Voice Alliance, which adds more than 1,200 lines of dialogue recorded by 23 human voice actors; its page notes that a few characters are still unvoiced and use subtitles. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.8.2 (June 16, 2026) is the main file, and the English add-on’s version matches it, which its page says you must keep in step. It needs Dawnguard, Dragonborn, SKSE64 and Fuz Ro D-oh, plus SkyUI for its menu and PapyrusUtil for New Game Plus, so check that each SKSE plugin has a build for your game version. Creator: Vicn. Needs: Dawnguard, Dragonborn, SKSE64, Fuz Ro D-oh, SkyUI, PapyrusUtil. Download: VIGILANT on Nexus Mods.
6. Moonpath to Elsweyr
Moonpath to Elsweyr opens a hidden path from Skyrim to Elsweyr, the Khajiit homeland, with burning deserts, jungles and its own questlines, including a story involving the Sload. It was one of the first quest mods ever made for Skyrim, started before the original Creation Kit was even released, and the Special Edition version by An_Old_Sock fixed many of its bugs and improved its lighting and visuals. Its page warns that it is an old mod built with techniques no longer used, so some things may seem strange to modern players. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.16.1 (January 2017) is the main file, its page lists no requirements, and an optional patch swaps its spiders for chaurus. Creator: MuppetPuppet and An_Old_Sock. Download: Moonpath to Elsweyr on Nexus Mods.
7. Project AHO
Project AHO takes you to Sadrith Kegran, a hidden Great House Telvanni settlement built on the ruins of a Dwemer city beneath Eastmarch, near Steamcrag Camp, to uncover the Aetherium Hyperspace Observatory. Its creators compare it to a medium-sized DLC: more than 40 new locations, a non-linear main quest that decides the settlement’s fate, more than a dozen side quests and over 20 fully voiced characters with daily routines. To begin, reach level 15 and travel to Mixwater Mill, where you will be contacted. As of November 2, 2026, version 2.0 (April 2019) is the main file; it needs Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn but no SKSE, and its page says not to install the separate Snippy follower alongside it, since Snippy is already included. Creator: Haem Projects. Needs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn. Download: Project AHO on Nexus Mods.
8. The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal
The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal picks up the story of the Gray Fox’s cowl after the Oblivion Crisis, and its creator calls it DLC-sized, at 8 to 10 or more hours. It starts the moment you steal or pickpocket any item, when a vision of the Cowl appears, and the journey takes you to famous places, an island in the Coldharbour realm and a hidden corner of Hammerfell. Thieves and assassins get the most out of it: its page recommends level 15 or higher (level 10 is the minimum, 30 to 35 is ideal), good sneaking and pickpocketing, and dismissing followers for the main quest. If you have not joined Riften’s guild yet, our guide on how to join the Thieves Guild sets you up. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.3 (January 2017) is the main file, it needs no DLC, SKSE or SkyUI, and its creator does not support uninstalling it mid-game. Creator: MannyGT. Download: The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal on Nexus Mods.
9. There is No Umbra
There is No Umbra – Chapter III bundles all three chapters of the story of Daumbra, the newest incarnation of the cursed sword Umbra, into one download: 11 quests and around 5,000 lines of professionally voiced dialogue, with many endings shaped by your choices. Daumbra can follow you as a companion or serve as your weapon, and she brings mechanics no other quest mod has, from riding her like a hoverboard (even over water) to throwing her like a javelin, mind control and teleportation. To start, find the “There Is No Umbra” book, which turns up in loot, or read the copy on Farengar’s desk in Dragonsreach. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.12 (June 2024) is the main file, with an optional inventory performance patch added October 21, 2026; it needs SKSE64 and Dynamic Animation Replacer or Open Animation Replacer, and Spell Perk Item Distributor is recommended. Creator: Fableforge. Needs: SKSE64, Dynamic Animation Replacer or Open Animation Replacer. Download: There is No Umbra on Nexus Mods.
10. Midwood Isle
Midwood Isle adds an island far to the northwest of Tamriel, home of the little-known Sonmer elves, roughly the size of two Skyrim holds, plus a “spirit world” version of the same size. It has an 11-quest main story, 27 side quests, two new shouts, nine new spells and a Hearthfire-style house to buy and build, and every character is voiced by a team of more than 30 voice actors. Its page says you can add it mid-playthrough without a new save, except when updating from a version older than 3.0. As of November 2, 2026, version 3.15 (July 10, 2026) is the main file, in a light and a heavy texture size; it needs Dawnguard, Dragonborn and Hearthfire, and Hearthfire Multiple Adoptions if you want your family to move into the new house. Creator: Will Evans. Needs: Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire. Download: Midwood Isle on Nexus Mods.
11. Carved Brink
Carved Brink, from the team behind Project AHO, opens The Pits, a Daedric plane of Peryite, and the Faceted Stones, a pocket of Oblivion once home to Snow Elves and now ruled by goblins. It has two main questlines (a Daedric trial and what its creators call a funny adventure), side quests about goblin life, more than 40 locations and over 50 fully voiced characters. Start it by reaching level 10 and visiting Abandoned Grotto, near Hillgrund’s Tomb and Lost Knife Hideout. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.1 (March 2019) is the main file, and it needs Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn. Creator: Haem Projects. Needs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn. Download: Carved Brink on Nexus Mods.
Standalone Quest Mods
Single stories and quest systems that slot into any playthrough without taking it over.
12. Moon and Star
Moon and Star follows a mysterious, powerful criminal who has turned up in Skyrim with hunters from Morrowind on his trail, and as its page teases, he may be someone Morrowind players know. It adds one branching main quest, four side quests, nine fully voiced characters, a new town, a new kind of boss in a puzzle dungeon and aftermath events that reflect your choices. A courier brings a letter the next time you fast travel, or you can find the quest giver at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. As of November 2, 2026, version 3.2 (November 2016) is the main file, and it needs no other mods or DLC. Creator: Gan Xingba. Download: Moon and Star on Nexus Mods.
13. Skyrim Extended Cut: Saints and Seducers
Skyrim Extended Cut overhauls Saints and Seducers, the official Creation set in the Shivering Isles, replacing its unvoiced quests with a new questline voiced by a cast of professional actors. You explore the Asylum, a new open zone across both Mania and Dementia with its own weather, flora and fauna, three new dungeons and two shopkeepers, and the Creation’s artifacts are now earned through the story. Its page puts it at one to three hours. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.1.3 (August 21, 2026) is the main file; it needs the Saints and Seducers and Rare Curios Creations, both free to every owner since Bethesda’s November 11, 2021 update, and its page warns it requires a new game. The story begins once you are level 20 and have finished “The Mind of Madness.” Creator: Team EC. Needs: Saints and Seducers and Rare Curios (free Creations). Download: Skyrim Extended Cut: Saints and Seducers on Nexus Mods.
14. The Wheels of Lull
The Wheels of Lull is an expansion-sized sequel to Sotha Sil Expanded that recruits you into a rejected platoon of Chronographers at Lull-Mor, a Clockwork City outpost deep beneath the Throat of the World. Its seven-part main quest runs through five huge dungeons with puzzles, mini-bosses and full boss battles, and it leans into the strangest corners of Elder Scrolls lore. You must be level 20 to start and level 35 to finish. As of November 2, 2026, version 6.0.0.4 (October 27, 2026) is the main file; SKSE64 and SkyUI are optional but recommended for its menu, and an official fishing add-on is available. Creator: Trainwiz, DarthVitrial and themayor897. Download: The Wheels of Lull on Nexus Mods.
15. The Tools of Kagrenac
The Tools of Kagrenac brings back Sunder and Wraithguard, the other two of the Dwemer artifacts from Morrowind, and restores Keening to its full power through a fully voiced quest with more than 300 lines of dialogue and sprawling new dungeons. It starts with a courier letter a couple of days after you finish the College of Winterhold’s “Arniel’s Endeavor” questline with Keening in your inventory, provided you have also finished “The Way of the Voice”; an alternate start in its menu skips those requirements. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.62 (January 4, 2024) is the main file, and it needs no other mods, with menu support through SkyUI. Creator: Titansbane and PrivateEye. Download: The Tools of Kagrenac on Nexus Mods.
16. The Brotherhood of Old
The Brotherhood of Old continues the Dark Brotherhood after the end of its vanilla questline: you rebuild the family with new recruits, one of whom carries the blood of a legendary Speaker, while a reformed guild and an old enemy try to wipe you out. It has 24 quests (16 main and 8 optional), roughly 8 to 12 hours of play, two new Sanctuaries and a safehouse, and is fully voiced by 26 semi-professional and professional voice actors. It starts with a courier once “Hail Sithis!” is complete; if you have not joined yet, our guide on how to join the Dark Brotherhood covers the start. As of November 2, 2026, version 2.0.0 (November 1, 2026) is the main file, and its page marks its patches and translations as outdated until they catch up with the new version. Creator: Ignition Workshop. Download: The Brotherhood of Old on Nexus Mods.
17. SIRENROOT – Deluge of Deceit
SIRENROOT is a dialogue-heavy dive into flooded Ayleid ruins under Lake Honrich, where the Black-Briars hire you and a team of divers to salvage a strange plant, and things go wrong fast. It is a two-to-five-hour quest with multiple endings, puzzles, platforming, diving and water control, characters who live or die by your choices, and around 1,000 sentences of voiced dialogue from a cast of voice actors. Speak to Frissa Black-Briar at Elgrim’s Elixirs in Riften to begin; its page suggests going in without followers. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.30 (May 1, 2026) is the main file; it needs the Ayleid assets from Bethesda’s free November 2021 update but no other mods, it is fine on an existing save, and its page says not to uninstall it from one. Creator: Everglaid. Download: SIRENROOT on Nexus Mods.
18. Undeath Remastered
Undeath Remastered lets you hunt a powerful necromancer, then decide whether to stop his ritual or finish it yourself and become a Lich. Its questline gathers the components for the ritual of undeath across three new dungeons, including the sewers beneath Solitude and a Daedric realm of Hermaeus Mora, and adds a host of necromancy content without changing existing perks. The first quest begins automatically at level 30. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.7 (December 2016) is the main file, and it needs Dawnguard and Dragonborn. Creator: Antioch08. Needs: Dawnguard, Dragonborn. Download: Undeath Remastered on Nexus Mods.
19. The Second Great War
The Second Great War picks up where the civil war ends: with the Empire weakened, the Aldmeri Dominion declares war again, and you choose whether to defend Skyrim or join the Thalmor (which you can only do during the first quest). Holds fall and change hands through sieges, defenders can retake lost holds, and the cast is voiced by credited voice actors. A letter arrives soon after the civil war ends, so pick your side with our guide on which side to choose in the civil war first. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.10 (January 2023) is the main file, last updated in October 2025; it needs SKSE64, plus SkyUI for its settings menu, and its page says it works on an existing save but recommends a new game. Creator: Reath. Needs: SKSE64, SkyUI. Download: The Second Great War on Nexus Mods.
20. Konahrik’s Accoutrements
Konahrik’s Accoutrements sends you into Revakheim, a lost Dragon Priest temple, and back through its past to collect the armor of Konahrik, the warlord whose mask you can already earn in the main game. Along the way you find and craft all 26 Dragon Priest armor sets, cleanse the high priests’ armor with a forgotten school called Abjuration to reveal its magic, and can even resurrect slain Dragon Priests with their masks for a rematch. As of November 2, 2026, version 5.5.3 (January 2019) is the main file, and its page lists no other mods as requirements. Creator: Edhelsereg. Download: Konahrik’s Accoutrements on Nexus Mods.
21. The Notice Board
The Notice Board puts two boards outside the inn in every town: one of quest notes that each start a radiant or one-off quest, and one of messages full of gossip, love letters and pranks about the locals. The quests range from bounties (dragons included) and deliveries to gathering ore, pelts or ingredients for a skill point, plus one-off jobs such as retrieving Dwemer artifacts for a court wizard, and they can send you to Solstheim or to mod lands like Falskaar and Wyrmstooth. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.4 (November 2016) is the main file, it needs no other mods, and a patch adds a board to Raven Rock. Creator: MannyGT. Download: The Notice Board on Nexus Mods.
Vanilla Quest Expansions
These four rework quests the game already has, adding new choices and new voiced lines built by splicing the original actors’ own recordings, not AI.
22. Paarthurnax – Quest Expansion
Paarthurnax – Quest Expansion roughly doubles the length of the Blades’ demand that you kill Paarthurnax, with around 60 new voice lines that give both sides a real case: Esbern argues harder, Paarthurnax answers for his past, and you can spare him with both the Blades and the Greybeards still at your service, or face him in a new boss fight. If you are still weighing the choice, our guide on whether you have to kill Paarthurnax covers the vanilla outcomes. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.13 (May 26, 2026) is the main file; it needs no other mods, but it does not work alongside other mods that change the same quest, including The Paarthurnax Dilemma from our big list, so pick one, and install it before the quest reaches your journal. Creator: JaySerpa. Download: Paarthurnax – Quest Expansion on Nexus Mods.
23. College of Winterhold – Quest Expansion
College of Winterhold – Quest Expansion adds seven apprentice lessons that you complete before the trip to Saarthal: each master (Tolfdir, Faralda, Drevis, Sergius, Phinis, Colette and Urag) teaches a spell or skill, gives a short lecture, then sets a task that tests it. The quests can be done in any order, some have alternative paths and outcomes, and there is always an objective marker pointing the way. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.16 (April 2025) is the main file; it needs no other mods, and its page says it works without patches alongside Immersive College of Winterhold and most other College and spell mods. Creator: JaySerpa. Download: College of Winterhold – Quest Expansion on Nexus Mods.
24. House of Horrors – Quest Expansion
House of Horrors – Quest Expansion adds an optional good-guy ending to Molag Bal’s quest in Markarth: talk the Vigilant Tyranus down with high Speech, intimidation or other means, and you can destroy the altar instead of serving the Daedric Prince. Siding with Tyranus brings new scenes, a crumbling cave and different rewards, including Tyranus himself as a follower with around 90 new lines, while the vanilla route and its mace stay available. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.14 (August 11, 2026) is the main file, flagged as a light plugin, and it needs no other mods. Creator: JaySerpa. Download: House of Horrors – Quest Expansion on Nexus Mods.
25. The Only Cure – Quest Expansion
The Only Cure – Quest Expansion reworks Peryite’s quest so you no longer have to do a Daedric Prince’s bidding: find Kesh’s journal, attack Kesh, destroy Peryite’s altar, or summon Peryite and refuse him. Orchendor, a generic enemy in the vanilla game, gets a conversation before the fight that explains his betrayal, plus new combat lines, and the original route is still there with more options. As of November 2, 2026, version 1.05 (November 2024) is the main file, and it needs no other mods. Creator: JaySerpa. Download: The Only Cure – Quest Expansion on Nexus Mods.
How to Run Quest Mods Without Breaking Your Save
Quest mods change saved data more than most mods, so a few habits from the creators’ own pages save a lot of trouble:
- Decide what to install before you start. Legacy of the Dragonborn’s authors recommend a new game, and Skyrim Extended Cut: Saints and Seducers requires one. Bruma, Falskaar, Midwood Isle and SIRENROOT can go into an existing save.
- Never remove a quest mod mid-playthrough. Bruma’s team, The Gray Cowl’s creator and SIRENROOT’s page all warn against it, because the game keeps quest data in your save. Keep a backup save from before you installed each one.
- Meet the start conditions. Many of these wait for a level (10 for Wyrmstooth and Carved Brink, 15 for Project AHO, 20 for The Wheels of Lull and Saints and Seducers, 30 for Undeath) or a finished quest, such as “The Way of the Voice,” “Hail Sithis!” or the civil war.
- Pick one mod per vanilla quest. Paarthurnax – Quest Expansion and The Paarthurnax Dilemma both rewrite the same quest, so use only one.
- Check SKSE plugins after game updates. VIGILANT, There is No Umbra and The Second Great War need SKSE64, which supports only the Steam and GOG releases, so make sure SKSE and each plugin they use have builds for your game version.
Install everything with a mod manager (Vortex or Mod Organizer 2), and save your game before adding a new quest mod. Several entries need Dawnguard, Hearthfire or Dragonborn, which Special Edition and Anniversary Edition include, and our guide on when to start Dawnguard and Dragonborn helps you fit those stories around the new ones.
How We Chose These Mods
Every mod here is for Skyrim Special Edition or Anniversary Edition on PC and comes from the Skyrim Special Edition section of Nexus Mods, from its Quests and Adventures and New Lands categories. We ranked candidates by Nexus Mods’ own popularity data, endorsements and downloads, read through Nexus’s public API, and kept the most loved quest and questline mods that are published, free and have files available to download. We left out adult-flagged mods and any that need adult frameworks, paid Creations, unfinished work its own creator calls a work in progress, near-duplicates, and every mod whose page or Nexus tags show AI-generated or cloned voice lines. We kept to four entries per creator and repeated nothing from our follower list. Five entries also appear in our 100 best Skyrim mods list (Legacy of the Dragonborn, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth and VIGILANT), because no quest list is complete without them.
For console versions, we checked Bethesda.net’s own Creations listings for uploads by each mod’s creator. Only download from the creator pages linked above, since several of these creators forbid re-uploads, and for everything else in the series, see our Elder Scrolls guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best quest mod for Skyrim? Legacy of the Dragonborn is the most endorsed quest mod on the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus, but it is built to anchor a whole playthrough. For a new land, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma is the most endorsed, and for a single story you can add to any save, Moon and Star and The Brotherhood of Old are two of the most endorsed.
Are any of these Skyrim quest mods AI-voiced? No, going by their own pages. Falskaar, Bruma, Wyrmstooth, Midwood Isle, The Brotherhood of Old, There is No Umbra and SIRENROOT credit human casts, VIGILANT’s English voices come from The Skyrim Voice Alliance’s 23 actors, and JaySerpa’s four expansions splice the original actors’ recorded lines, as each of their pages says, with two of them stating outright that they use no voice synthesis.
Can I get these quest mods on Xbox or PS5? Some of them. Wyrmstooth, Midwood Isle, Project AHO, Moonpath to Elsweyr, The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, Carved Brink, Moon and Star, The Wheels of Lull, SIRENROOT, Undeath Remastered, Konahrik’s Accoutrements and The Notice Board have Xbox versions on Bethesda.net uploaded by their creators, and Falskaar’s page links its own Xbox version. The Brotherhood of Old is the only one here with a PlayStation version from its creator. Mods that need SKSE, such as There is No Umbra, cannot come to consoles.
Do I need a new game for Skyrim quest mods? Usually not. Most quest mods here start from a letter, a note or a level, so they work on an existing save, and Midwood Isle and SIRENROOT say so outright. The exceptions are Legacy of the Dragonborn, whose authors recommend a new game, and Skyrim Extended Cut: Saints and Seducers, which requires one.
Which of these quest mods need the DLC? Project AHO, Carved Brink and Midwood Isle need all three add-ons (Dawnguard, Hearthfire and Dragonborn), and VIGILANT and Undeath Remastered need Dawnguard and Dragonborn. Special Edition and Anniversary Edition include all three, so you only need to have them enabled. Skyrim Extended Cut: Saints and Seducers needs two Creations that Bethesda gave every owner for free in November 2021.
Are these Skyrim quest mods free? Yes. Every mod on this list is free to download with a Nexus Mods account, and the console versions named above are free on Bethesda.net. Some creators accept donations or run Patreons, but none of these mods require payment.