Some mods fill obvious gaps. Others, you don't know you need until you discover they exist. For instance, I had no idea I needed a mod that gave me a randomized psychedelic experience every time I drank skooma until I learned it existed, and now it's an essential part of every playthrough.
The Dragonborn's Bestiary is in the same category. It's a mod that adds a new menu you bring up by pressing K, which keeps track of every creature you've encountered. Kill your first mudcrab or skeever and a pop-up appears telling you that you've unlocked the relevant entry, which contains info on what kind of loot they're likely to drop and any resistances or weaknesses they have.
Killing creatures isn't the only way to add them to the bestiary, however. You won't need to murder a dog just to complete your Skyrim Pokédex. Interacting with pets adds them to the bestiary, and you can also fill it out by summoning certain creatures, transforming into them, or reading books about them.
It's not the kind of mod that overhauls Skyrim in a drastic way, but it's a subtle addition that enriches the experience. There's a little counter keeping track of the number of each creature you kill too, so if you needed more motivation for your mudcrab murder spree, here it is.
You can download The Dragonborn's Bestiary from Nexus Mods, and make sure to check the requirements section first. It's got a decent list of preliminary mods you'll need to have installed first, though they're all the kind of thing a dedicated modder probably already has installed. Because it's been out for a few months, there are several compatibility mods as well, like the Dragonborn Bestiary Quest Mod Compendium, which adds entries for creatures from popular quest mods including The Forgotten City, Clockwork, Sirenroot, Wyrmstooth, and more.
