Can my kids grow up in Skyrim?

While few games offer the immersive roleplaying potential of raising a family like Skyrim, children remain forever young instead of growing into adulthood during play. Even with mods enabling aging, core limitations persist in how NPCs develop over time. We’ll explore what you can and can’t experience while virtually parenting in Tamriel’s northernmost province.

Adoption System Sets the Stage

A major appeal draws many RPG fans to simulate family dynamics lies in Skyrim’s Hearthfire DLC adoption system. Once you purchase a plot of land for 5,000-8,000 gold and construct a homestead outfitted with furnishings like beds and chests, several orphaned children become available for taking in:

Dialogue options appear to adopt after typically completing a minor fetch quest or showing kindness. Your home needs child-appropriate furnishings like a bed and chest for each kid too. Two represent the max number of adoptable children regardless of available space, however.

Interactions Bring Joy and Gifts

So what activities become available with kids? Quite a few options exist, some offering tangible rewards on top of the aesthetic and entertainment value of nurturing a virtual family:

• Gift-giving – Children appreciate daggers, dolls, wooden swords + clothing
• Playing tag, hide-and-seek – Simple but amusing mini-games
• Chores – Asking kids to do chores boosts their disposition
• Spouse meals – Adopted children can request meals from your spouse
• Gifts – Kids return home with presents like ingredients and apparel

Lucia and Sophie, for example, often bring home fresh food from scouring the wilderness near major cities. That venison stew sounds great after a long adventure!

Adoption Benefits:

• Housecarl protection services extend to children
• Provides company and aesthetic appeal
• Valuable inventory gifts
• Harvest ingredients from homestead plot

But can you truly watch adopted youth mature into self-sufficient adults? Sadly no…

Perpetual Childhood Persists Without Mods

Vanilla Skyrim lacks any native capacity for children to age over in-game years. Babette of the Dark Brotherhood famously endures immortality as a little girl thanks to her vampire blood. But no toggles exist by default for the maturation process to organically unfold among adoptable children.

They remain forever locked at set ages, whether you adopt at level 1 or 80. No future awaits beyond the same cycles of playtime interactions and radiant gift deliveries. Does this violation of realism detract from the merits of virtually starting a family? Debatable based on personal preferences.

Mods Enable Multi-Stage Aging

In response to popular demand, Skyrim modders took matters into their own hands so children could plausibly grow older as years pass in-game. Two examples include:

1. Children Grow Up

• Adds 4 life stages: infant > child > teen > adult
• Teens can follow you into battle as non-companions
• Adults behave like regular NPCs but recognize you as family

2. RS Children Overhaul

• More realistic models/textures for improved immersion
• Growth from toddler > kid > teen + elder stages
• School attendance, apprenticeships, relationships for depth

Check NexusMods for fuller details on both mods. While not perfect solutions, they greatly enhance roleplaying family dynamics as close to reality as Skyrim may allow.

Is Skyrim’s Fantasy Violence Suitable for Real Kids?

Given maturity remains absent among virtual children, should actual young gamers below age 18 play Skyrim? This proves a common question among parents. The official rating deserves consideration:

ESRB Rating: Mature 17+ (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Drugs/Alcohol)

Fair cautions. Skyrim features dark, adult themes including Daedra worship, torture chambers, brutal combat, skooma addiction, and sexual references.

7% of Players Fall Under 18

That said, quantitative sales data suggests many younger gamers still access Skyrim despite its rating:

So 7% still represents hundreds of thousands below 18 according to Skyrim’s over 30 million copies sold. Parental discretion remains advised. Customize content via mods or supervision based on your child’s maturity if permitting playtime.

The Takeaway on Virtual Families

While limited in some areas, essential elements exist to facilitate satisfying virtual parenting in Skyrim to those so inclined. Adopt up to two urchins, decorate a homestead, and enjoy quaint interactions peppered with gifts during adventures abroad.

But perpetual childhood imposed by programming limitations hinders full immersion. Growth mod fixes help somewhat. We can only hope developers build more dynamic aging functions into future franchise RPGs like Elder Scrolls VI.

What has your experience been raising Dragonborn dynasty families? Share reactions or further insights in the comments below!