Elder Scrolls Development Blog #6: The Great Plan Part 3

By Gavin Dady

In this update we will give you some target dates for the forthcoming releases. COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has thrown our original timetable into the depths of Oblivion. Our valiant teams of crack Dwemer Tonal Engineers have worked round the clock with Wraithguard, Sunder and Keening to produce an updated timeline:

6th August 2020
We’re releasing the first of our Elder Scrolls themed terrain STL’s in partnership with My Mini Factory. First up is an amazing set of ruins based on the iconic Western Watchtower, with tower sections, walls, stairs and rubble pieces for you to build lonely outposts or mighty fortresses.

We’re also investigating making this available as finished 3d printed models through MyMiniFactory as well so please bear with us for news.


24th August 2020
Adventurer Allies
Adventurer PDF card release

August brings us back to our scheduled sets of releases with the first of two expansions of the Adventurers faction. The Chapter 1 card pack has had to be pushed out of August due to lockdown delays, so instead we will release the Hero and Follower versions of these miniatures as a print and play PDF whilst you wait for the card deck. This set brings you Lydia, Kharjo, the Breton Ranger, Khajiit Thief and Orc Barbarian.


25th September
Adventurer Followers
Nord Tomb Scatter Terrain

September sees the adventurers bolstered by the second set, this including Jenassa, Marcurio, Derkeethus, Vorstag and Mjoll the Lioness. Over on the webstore we have some more items to populate those ancient Nord tombs with. In the Scatter set you’ll get two sarcophagi (with sleepy Draugr to snooze in them), a floor mounted brazier and one embedded in a stone pillar and a host of pots, funerary urns and vases for you to loot and smash in the search of treasure!

30th October
Chapter One: Civil War Card pack
Imperial Officers
Stormcloak Chieftains

The Civil War heats up in October with the arrival of the top brass. Stormcloaks and Imperials gain a set of leader and support figures. You can look forward to General Tullius, Ulfric Stormcloak, Galmar Stonefist and the indomitable Legate Rikke leading the troops into battle. Each faction also gets an unnamed commander and a couple of support figures like the Stormcloak Quartermaster, Imperial Headsman or Priestess of Arkay.

We’ll also be releasing the Chapter 1 Card Pack: Civil War. This pack contains 218 cards, including all the new Heroes, Adversaries and Followers for Chapter 1, all of them usable in Battle or Delve mode. We also have new upgrade cards, spells, shouts, events, quests and traps.

20th November
Draugr Ancients
Draugr Guardians
Dragon Priest
Draugr Faction Rules Draft (PDF Release)(TBC)
Into the Depths (Random Dungeon PDF release) (TBC)

November is a bumper month with releases for the Draugr, including a new Adversary Master miniature of a Dragon Priest!

The Draugr Ancients sets brings the fearsome Draugr Deathlord, the Restless Draugr Frostblade with his icy Frostbite attack and three Hulking Draugr to menace anyone brave enough to venture into their tombs. The Draugr Guardians expand the deathless forces with three Draugr Warriors with sword and shield and three Restless Draugr with axes, ready to chop any intruders into tiny, little pieces.

We’ll also be aiming to get our Random Dungeon Creator released in PDF and Draugr as a Playable Faction with draft rules out in November in PDF to go alongside the new Draugr figures. Defend your ancient halls from interloping Adventurers, protect your secrets from Stormcloak Looters and guard ancient shrines from Imperial despoilers!

20th December
Imperial Legion Reinforcements
Stormcloak Skirmishers
Tales of Tamriel: The Thanehold Saga (TBC)
Histories of the Empire: The Stormcloak Rebellion (TBC)
Dragon
Dragon Supplement (TBC)

The Imperials and Stormcloaks get some added forces in December with the Reinforcements and Skirmisher respectively. Both sets bring vital new forces into the ongoing conflict. The Imperials get their Heavy Infantry and Archers and Stormcloaks bring new Warriors with Swords and their own ranged support in the Stormcloak Hunter and Archers.

To support the expanded forces we have our first Histories product that looks in detail at the Civil War, or Stormcloak Rebellion, depending on your side in the conflict. You can fight your way across Skyrim in a series of linked campaign missions!

December also sees the long awaited release of Thanehold Saga. This epic supplement will take your hero on a journey of discovery and adventure, and includes rules for character progression, settlement building and an epic narrative campaign.

Also, is that the sounds of leathery wings I hear in the distance?

January
Skeleton Horde

We round out our first Chapter with some additional Adversaries to hinder and harass your Adventurers. The Skeleton Horde brings more creaking, bony adversaries to the table.

A few items above are still marked TBC and they may move around in the schedule depending on how the final design, approval and production schedule shakes out. That concludes our first chapter and in February we move onto Chapter 2: Steam and Shadow. But more on that later…


Community Content

We’re already seeing some amazing content being generated by the community, including some alternate quick reference sheets, some really clever AI behaviour flowcharts on cards and lots of nice alternates homebrewed cards. We want to encourage the community to develop material for The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms and several people have asked us questions about what they can and can’t produce. Here’s the replies, plus a few suggested guidelines for Community Content.

Q: The rules are available for free, can I edit them/add comments/translate them/reorganise them for my own use and publish them?
A: No. The rules in their entirety cannot be reproduced in any format. They are available for free but they are not commons content. Selected sections may be reproduced for the purposes of creating reference sheets, but not the rules in their entirety. We are negotiating with partners to produce translations. If you would like to help create a translation get in touch with support@modiphius.com

Q: Can I reorganise/rewrite/annotate/copy parts of the Quests book and post them?
A: No. The Quests Book is paid for content and may be quoted from for illustrative purposes (“How does the Breaking Dawn rule work?” “It’s on page 8, you roll a blah blah blah”) but may not have content reproduced wholesale. The exception to this is any of the headings, structure, wording or tables required to produce a new scenario. You can use the Scenarios in the Quests book as templates, but you can’t reproduce the scenarios themselves. You can also use the two Campaign sections as templates for your own campaigns if desired.

Q: Can I sell the products that I make?
A: No. If you have an idea that you think would make a great product, then drop us a line and we can talk about creating it officially instead. However, unofficial products cannot be offered to sale. It’s part of our licensing agreement with Bethesda and allows them and us to control the quality and content of products that are associated with The Elder Scrolls.

Q: Can I make and publish my own cards?
A: You can create your own, homebrewed cards as long as they are unique creations that are noticeably different to our cards and free for the community. They should be clearly marked and identifiable as unofficial content. You can use our card icons and art within your own creations, but, again, you can’t sell those cards.

Q: Can I publish alternate versions of existing cards, like an Imperial Soldier Follower card with a picture on it, or named versions of the Stormcloaks with Greatswords?
A: No. We don’t publish all the cards as PDF’s, and so cards that are just name swaps, or alterations that have no or minimal effect on the cards are effectively publishing material that is paid content.

Q: Can I make up my own scenarios or campaign material?
A: Yes, bearing in mind it must be clearly identifiable as Unofficial and cannot be sold or charged for. We want to actively encourage the community to generate content, hence the Campfire Scenario!

Q: Can I produce stats for other ranges of figures? I love my (INSERT FIGURE RANGE HERE) and want to use them in Elder Scrolls?
A: Yes, again, as long as they are clearly identifiable as Unofficial and you aren’t charging for them. We also want to respect other companies and individuals intellectual property, so please remember to attribute images and text appropriately and respect other peoples work.

Q: Can I write an app/create a database of cards/build a online tabletop simulator with all the rules and content?
A: Yes and No. The paid cards and rules may not be reproduced in any other format. You can use the information from the free to download cards for list building sites, and you can use the counters and tokens on VTT sites. There is a Tabletop Simulator Demo version of the game right now and we hope to offer an app like the one being developed for Fallout Wasteland Warfare in the future.

Q: Can I share/upload to an object sharing site/give to my friends the Elder Scrolls Terrain STLs?
A: No. The license for the STLs is an exclusive license for you, the purchaser only.

Q: Can I share this cool Elder Scrolls STL I found on the Facebook page/Forums?
A: We don’t allow IP infringing files to be uploaded or linked on our official sites. As a rule of thumb, if it is an identifiable Elder Scrolls Bethesda asset that isn’t from an official, licensed source such as us, then it is not allowed. Bethesda and Modiphius take IP protection very seriously. Very. The same goes for files that are infringing other IP’s. Items not tied to any specific IP, such as a generic castle, or dungeon walls or village scatter are fine.




The elder scrolls: call to arms