PlayAsMob

v1.0.4·Updated 2026-09-27

Spawn and control Valheim creatures with their native stats and attacks. Choose their level, leave your Viking behind, and return on death or by command. I tested multiplayer successfully.

About this mod Author’s original text

PlayAsMob 1.0.4

Hi, I'm Ten Zly.

A lightweight BepInEx mod for Valheim. Version 1.0.2 keeps the public multiplayer map marker at your character's body when the mod is also installed on the host/server. Spawn a creature at the camera's position and take control of it while your original character stays behind.

In version 1.0.4, I added a synchronized red alert indicator for possessed creatures. Other players see it through the normal game HUD, without needing the mod.

Commands

Open the console with F5 (add -console to the game's launch options):

playasmob troll 2

playasmob Wolf

playasmob Hatchling 3

playasmob exit

playasmob attacks

playasmob help

  • The default level is 1. Level 2 means one star; level 3 means two stars. The game handles health and damage scaling exactly as it does for a normally spawned creature. World difficulty settings still apply.
  • Prefab names are case-insensitive. Press Tab to autocomplete available creature names, including creatures from other mods that use the standard Character and BaseAI components.
  • playasmob exit returns control to your character and leaves the creature alive, with its normal AI, current health, and level. If the creature dies, control returns to your character automatically.
  • Running playasmob again releases the previous creature and spawns a new one at the current camera position. An invalid name or level does not end the current possession.
  • playasmob attacks shows the exact attack assignments for the creature you are controlling.
  • The command works without enabling devcommands. This mod does not provide a server permission system.

Controls

| In-game binding | Action |

| --- | --- |

| Movement / left stick | Move the creature relative to the camera |

| Mouse / right stick | Turn the camera and change the direction the creature faces |

| Run | Use the creature's own running speed |

| Primary attack | Use the first group of creature attacks |

| Secondary attack | Use the second group of creature attacks |

| Block | Use the third group of creature attacks |

| Jump | Jump; for flying creatures, take off and ascend |

| Crouch | Descend while flying |

| Mouse wheel | Adjust camera distance |

The mod uses your existing game bindings. Attacks retain their native animations, damage, and cooldowns. Holding a button repeats the attack when its animation and cooldown allow it. Creature input is suspended while the console, a menu, or the inventory is open.

Attacks come from the creature's own randomly selected equipment. A troll carrying a log has different attacks from an unarmed troll. If a creature has more than three attacks, they are distributed across the buttons and cycled through on repeated use. If it has only one or two attacks, the remaining buttons repeat an available attack. Peaceful creatures with no attacks remain unable to attack. The mod does not give creatures your character's weapons.

Behavior

  • Your character keeps their own stats, inventory, and model. These are not copied to the creature. A panel at the bottom of the screen displays the controlled creature's health and attack assignments.
  • Your character's body can still take damage. If it dies, possession ends. Food and other effects on your character continue to expire normally.
  • The creature retains its species, faction, resistances, and normal rules for damaging other creatures. It does not automatically become your ally or an enemy of its own species.
  • The camera, audio listener, and world streaming follow the creature. The area around your character's body also stays loaded.
  • Creatures spawn at the exact camera position. Ground creatures may fall from that position; aquatic creatures should be spawned in a suitable environment.
  • Possession also ends when you log out, your character teleports, the creature is removed, or your client loses network ownership of it.
  • Automatic detection covers creatures based on Character and BaseAI. Decorative birds, fish, and other entities with separate moveme

Install & use Install: BepInEx plugin

  1. The archive from playbuff is the mod itself — usually a BepInEx plugin (a .dll or a plugin folder once unzipped).
  2. Recommended: use a community mod manager (such as r2modman) — pick this game, import the mod, and the manager sets up BepInEx and its dependencies for you.
  3. Manual route: install the BepInEx loader in the game folder, then drop the unzipped .dll or plugin folder into BepInEx/plugins/.
  4. Launch the game — the BepInEx console logs every plugin it loads; seeing this mod in the log means it is installed.

Mods with listed dependencies need those installed too, or they will not load. Options are usually changed in-game or in the plugin's config file. In multiplayer, the host and every client need the same mods installed.

Dependencies

Install these first, or the mod will not work:

denikson-BepInExPack_Valheim

File & checksum

Filename
PlayAsMob-1.0.4.zip
File size
49.5 KiB