Imperials, well-educated and well-spoken Cyrodiil natives, are known for how well trained and disiplined their citizen armies are. Although Imperials are physically less imposing than the other races, they are shrewd traders and diplomats. THese skills, along with how well they utilize light infantry have enabled them to subdue all other nations and races in Tamriel and have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that makes up the Glorious Empire. Imperials are also known throughout the provinces as Cyrodils, Cyrodilics, Cyro-Nordics, and Imperial Cyronds, such as they are the well-educated and well-spoken natives of the civilized and cosmopolitan Cyrodiil province. Throughout the eras, their hegemony has waxed and waned, leading most historians to refer to three distinct Empires, the ends of which each mark a new epoch in Tamrielic history. Cyrodiil as a word is also a blanket term for most elements of the Imperial Province; the people are called the Cyrodiils, their provence is called Cyrodiil, the capital city is also called Cyrodiil, and their ruler is called The Cyrodiil, derived from the ancient elven king-is-the-land tradition from when Imperials were ruled by Mer.
Arena
Imperials were introduced in later games and in Arena, there is no specific race attatched to the Imperial Province. Ingame, this area's population appears as Redguards due to an oversight by Bethesda.
Daggerfall
Just like in Arena, Imperials still don't exist and no specific race is associated with the Imperial Province.
Morrowind
Finally conceived of in Redguard, Imperials make their appearance in TESIII Morrowind. These well-educated and well-spoken Cyrodiil natives are known for how well trained and disiplined their citizen armies are. Although Imperials are physically less imposing than the other races, they are shrewd traders and diplomats. THese skills, along with how well they utilize light infantry have enabled them to subdue all other nations and races in Tamriel and have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that makes up the Glorious Empire. Imperials are also known throughout the provinces as Cyrodils, Cyrodilics, Cyro-Nordics, and Imperial Cyronds, such as they are the well-educated and well-spoken natives of the civilized and cosmopolitan Cyrodiil province. Throughout the eras, their hegemony has waxed and waned, leading most historians to refer to three distinct Empires, the ends of which each mark a new epoch in Tamrielic history.
Imperial Base Attributes (M/F): Strength(40/40), Intelligence(40/40), Willpower(30/40), Agility(30/30), Speed(40/30), Endurance(40/40), Personality(50/50), Luck(40/40)
Breton Skill Bonuses: Speechcraft(+10), Merchantile(+10), Long Blade(+10), Blunt Weapon(+5), Light Armor(+5), Hand-to-Hand(+5)
Imperial Powers: Star of the West (Absorb Fatigue 200 pts on Target), Voice of the Emperor (Charm 25-50 pts for 15 secs on Target)
To get a bit meta, if you are thinking about booting up Morrowind and playing an Imperial yourself, you should know how to utilize their racial abilities most effectively (or at least be aware as to how best utilize them). First off, Imperials are very versatile and are considered the most balanced race in Morrowind and are suited for adaptability due to the fact that they can specialize in any of the three main archetypes very easily with their beginning skills and attributes. Also, while Imperials don't have a standard combat talent, their flexibility can be utilized effectively in a miriad of situations, and Imperial characters throughout Morrowind can be found in a variety of roles. One unique thing about playing an Imperial is that they start out with the highest personality, and with Charm Power, Voice of the Emperor, and the bonus to both Mercantile and Speechcraft, an Imperial player would be hard-pressed to get a bad deal. In summary, traning is cheaper and equipment is easily obtained. If you're looking for a good birthsign, The Lady and The Lover both have great synergy; starting with 85 Personality can lead to amazing things early game, and the Star of the West power can counteract any negative penalties of the Lover's Kiss. An Imperial's skill bonus to Speechcraft and Charming power makes persuasion a powerful tool in their arsenal. In addition, Natual Disposition will be very high more often than not and in most senarios allowing for different opportunites than would otherwise be available for the average player. If you want to know about combat for this race, Melee is most effective. This is especially true if the player pays attention to raising their Strength, Agility, and Endurance as quickly as possible. Imperials also posess a bonus to Long Blade, which can help with some of the most common and powerful weapons in the game. If the battle isn't going well, an Imperial can use The Star of the West power to absorb fatigue. In the early game, a character with Hand-to-hand, either as a minor or major skill, can combine Star of the West to level up Hand-to-Hand with the added bonus of stunlocking most opponents. Even late game Star of the West could potentially prove useful. As for Stealth and Magic, Imperials can easily take advantage of these skills with their high personality, raising Illusion immediately. However, other skills and attributes shouldn't be neglected. Magical characters need more Willpower and Intelligence while Stealthy characters should try to level speed and agility. Overall, The Atronach as a birthsign is a good way to go, and buying Potions of Magicka can help overcome the Wombburn effect.
Oblivion
In Oblivion, Imperials, also known as Cyrodiils, Cyrodilics, Cyro-Nordics and Imperial Cyrods, are a well-educated and well-spoken people native to the civilized and cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil. In game, they are described as follows; "Natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil, they have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders. They are skilled with heavy armor and in the social skills and tend to favor the warrior classes". As for gameplay, Imperials are best suited for being warriors based off of their bonuses of +5 Blade, Blunt, and Hand-to-Hand. Because of this, Imperials can practically take their pick from all weapons and craft a top-grade warrior with a bonus of +10 in Heavy Armor, giving your Imperial ample durability. Also, with their extremely high personality stat, with an additional +10 in Speechcraft and Merchantile, any Imperial would be hard-pressed to find a bad deal with how well they are at haggling, negotiating, and convincing other people to like them. For any player who wishes to have a more roleplay focused experience with less combat focus, an Imperial is definitely a good choice. Seeing as how Oblivion takes place in the Imperial's homeland, its natural to expect them to be one of the most un-directed races classwise in the game. Thus, even though Imperials have a few slight bonuses in Heavy Armor, Blunt, and Blade, there really arent any restrictions against them being especially stealthy or magical, so they can really be considered "Jacks of all Trades". Imperial NPCS, in particular, make up the entirety of the (nameless members) Imperial Guard and are clad in either Imperial Legion armor or a Variant of Steel Armor or even Chainmail Armor. Of the vampires of Oblivion, Healers (mislabled as Sorcerers) and Monks are imperials. In addition, Marauder archers and Warlords also have a chance to be Imperials. As for birthsigns, the Warrior can make an imperial an excellent Knight or Pilgrim.
Imperial Attributes: Both Sexes get +10 Personality while recieving -10 Agility, while Males get an additional -10 to Willpower and Females get -10 to Speed.
Imperial Skills: All Imperials recieve +10 to Mercantile, Speechcraft, and Heavy Armor, while getting +5 to Blade, Blunt, and Hand-to-Hand.
Imperial Traits: Imperials recieve the greater powers of Star of the West (Absorb Fatigue 100 points on touch, once per day) and Voice of the Emperor (Charm 30 points for 30 seconds on Target, once per day).
Imperial NPC Reactions: Imperials don't have any modifiers on base disposition.
Skyrim
In Skyrim, like previous games, these well-educated and well-spoken Cyrodiil natives are known for how well trained and disiplined their citizen armies are. Although Imperials are physically less imposing than the other races, they are shrewd traders and diplomats. THese skills, along with how well they utilize light infantry have enabled them to subdue all other nations and races in Tamriel and have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that makes up the Glorious Empire. Imperials are also known throughout the provinces as Cyrodils, Cyrodilics, Cyro-Nordics, and Imperial Cyronds, such as they are the well-educated and well-spoken natives of the civilized and cosmopolitan Cyrodiil province. Throughout the eras, their hegemony has waxed and waned, leading most historians to refer to three distinct Empires, the ends of which each mark a new epoch in Tamrielic history. In game, Imperials are described as follows: "Natives of Cyrodiil, they have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders. They are skilled with combat and magic. Anywhere gold coins might be found, Imperials always seem to find a few more. They can call upon the Voice of the Emperor to calm an enemy."
Imperial Skills: Imperials recieve +10 to Restoration and +5 to Block, Destruction, Enchanting, Heavy Armor, and One-handed.
Imperial Traits: Imperials posess the ability Imperial Luck (Anywhere gold coins might be found, Imperials always seem to find a few more, constant; 100% chance of 2-10 extra gold in all chests that normally contain gold, as well as to the corpses of various gold-dropping enemies, such as bandits, dragons, draugr, Falmer, Forsworn, giants, and rieklings) and the greater power Voice of the Emperor (Calms nearby people for 60 seconds, once per day; Pacify, 99 pts in 75 ft for 60 secs on Self; The power only affects NPCs, and despite being similar to the Illusion Pacify effect, does not benefit from any Illusion perks). All Imperials have a height of 1.
As for gameplay, an Imperials' skill bonuses tend to be perfectly balanced between being a mage and warrior. While having lesser bonuses to the Heavy Armor and One-Handed skills, Imperials also have bonuses to Destruction and Restoration, meaning that a player wanting to go down either path, or a combination of the two, whould find both equally attractive. However, despite the Imperial reputation for being shrewd buisnessmen and diplomats, in Skyrim Imperials recieven no bonuses to Speech, a starch deptarture from how they were portrayed in Morrowind and Oblivion. At most levels, the Voice of the Emperor power is useful; the magnitude of this ability is high enough that it should affect everyone in vanilla Skyrim until the player levels past 81. Also, it should be noted that Imperials can rest next to calmed enemies to fully restore your magicka, health, and stamina.
Extra Imperial Notes: Unlike the other Skyrim races that start with +10 in a magical school, Imperials are the only one to not gain an extra spell at the beginning of the game from that school.
