Elder Scrolls GLOG: Morrowind Campaign

Having made all this material for a GLOG campaign in Tamriel, one must ask, "How do you run a game here?" It's a very particular setting with mountains of lore, books, maps and resources, with an accompanying fanbase numbering in the millions, many of whom don't play tabletop RPGs. From the outside, it can all seem a bit daunting.

The key here is to use those resources to your advantage. If your players walk into Sadrith Mora, you have resources for that on the Elder Scrolls wiki. Maps, NPCs, shops and even quests which you can modify to suit your needs. You can find screenshots online of those locations. Hell, you may be able to navigate the whole location from memory if you've spent hours navigating them before.

But what kind of campaign would work in Tamriel? The games tend to focus on prophesied heroes, who take on very specific quests. Do you create a new prophecy? Are your players the chosen ones?

That would certainly be the tack if you're playing latter day D&D or Pathfinder. But GLOG and the OSR really doesn't lend itself to that. The whole 'prophesied heroes' schtick doesn't work if a long-running campaign has a complete turnover of characters between the beginning and end. If the characters are told that they are the chosen ones more than five minutes before the final battle, chances are they'll die, run for the hills or otherwise derail the prophecy.

And that's fine. Actually, that's exactly what I want my players to do. So the campaign must take that into account.



[If you are playing in my game, read no further. GM's eyes only.]




Here's how I would run a game set in Tamriel. More specifically, in Vvardenfell, the setting of the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

It is the year 427 of the Third Era. The emperor is Uriel Septim VII. The players begin as prisoners (natch) in an Imperial prison fort on Vvardenfell. I'm leaning towards the east coast, close to Sadrith Mora.

While having the maps is useful, they don't control you. You can plop a dungeon or a fortress or what-have-you wherever you so please. Also, we're giving Tamriel proper proportions, a la Daggerfall. Vvardenfell is big. Traveling from Dagon Fel to Ebonheart by road takes weeks at a fast pace.

The players are unjustly (or justly) imprisoned for crimes they may or may not have committed. Have the players describe their crime and whether or not they really did it.

The game begins with the players being escorted to a dungeon. The fort commander discovered a buried structure nearby, and is sending in prisoners to scout it out. The party is not the first to enter. This far from home, the Empire doesn't much care what some corrupt warden is doing with his prisoners.

Without weapons and with only a few basic supplies, the party must explore a small dungeon. They may find some old weapons, or improvise them. Hazards and ancient traps remain deadly, with the bodies of fellow prisoners hinting at the dangers. Combat is likely contained to an encounter or two with a weak monster, or another surviving prisoner. There are a few valuables there, which the warden will be wanting.

At the end of the dungeon, an escape. The party doesn't have to return to the prison. They can run with what they found, hide and create new identities while the guards think they're dead and send another group. The area is wild and rugged, and the Imperials don't have accurate maps.

From here, survival is up to the party. There are ashlander camps nearby, as well as several Dunmer cities and fortresses. They may become bandits, or seek refuge with Dunmer eager to have pawns against the empire.

This could very easily become a murder-hoboey campaign of wacky hijinks. However, the party should repeatedly have the option of joining guilds, earning money and gaining reputations. This adds some early goals and advancement opportunities for the party. But the real structure of the campaign comes from a particular character. This character, though a hero, will be based on the techniques for building effective villains.




The Nerevarine

The campaign takes place contiguous to the story of Morrowind. The Nerevarine arrives on Vvardenfell at the order of the emperor, makes their way to Balmora and is inducted into the Blades by Caius Cosades before building their reputation and influence. The Sixth House works to infiltrate every settlement and organization. The Blight is spreading. But who is the Nerevarine? Who is the chosen one?

Well, the players certainly aren't.

That's right, the players are not chosen ones. They are under no prophecy, have the attention of no Daedra prince (at least at first) and most importantly, they have free will. If the players do nothing, then the Nerevarine will eventually come forth, unite the Houses, become Hortator and defeat Dagoth Ur. But the players are a wrench thrown into those gears.

Building the Nerevarine

At the end of each session, have one of the players roll a die. The first decides the sex of the Nerevarine. The second foretells which of the ten races they belong to. The third indicates if they are a Warrior, Mage or Thief. Build the Nerevarine like a powerful player character. 4d6 drop the lowest for stats with rerolls each level up. But unlike PCs, the Nerevarine's health does not cap at 20 and is capable of taking more than 4 class templates.

Have the Nerevarine level with the party, or be the level of the highest level character you have had in the party up till now. Early on, they will be comparable to a single PC. Later on, they may well be a match for several on their own, on top of commanding armies and having numerous magic items.

Introducing the Nerevarine

After that, have the party encounter the Nerevarine in some fashion, while both are still low level. Perhaps they are competing for the same bounty. Or the party is hired to gather information that the Nerevarine needs to pull off a heist. Maybe the party seeks out a rare book the Nerevarine needs to solve some arcane mystery.

The party should not be aware of who the Nerevarine is. They are another NPC the party is working with or for. The first time they meet, the Nerevarine is low level and inexperienced. The party has an opportunity to influence them. There should be substantial gaps between meetings, at least until things start to heat up.

Complications

By the time the Nerevarine has located the dissident priests in Holamayan, Vvardenfell has begun to change. The Blight is spreading faster, with more contagions. Raving madmen are attacking people in the streets. Vvardenfell is under quarantine. If the party wishes to leave Vvardenfell, make it difficult, but possible. The campaign will change completely if this occurs.

By then, the Nerevarine has become the commander of the Blades on Vvardenfell. In the videogame, this has little effect. In the campaign, this is a big step. They gain access to a network of informants and dozens of agents, and will work to acquire more. If the Nerevarine has come to trust the party closely, they will be brought into the conspiracy. If not, the Nerevarine will interact with them through agents to get their help.

As the Nerevarine gains in power, becoming Hortator and likely the leader of a guild, their power grows considerably. At the same time, the party will have racked up a fortune and connections of their own. The assault on Red Mountain will take an army. Both the players and the Nerevarine should work towards recruiting them, and not necessarily be on the same page.

Keep the spotlight on the players

There are some very important considerations. For one, the Nerevarine can die. It won't happen offscreen, but if the players get involved, the thread of prophecy can and will break. The players will have to live in the doomed world they created.

Also, the Nerevarine must not be a DMPC. Most of what they do must happen offscreen unless the players deliberately seek them out to involve themselves in that quest. If this occurs, don't have the party playing second fiddle. They are a powerful quest giver, but do not simply solve the party's conflicts, and have an agenda far greater. Powerful though they may be, so are the players.

I'm a GOD! How can you kill a god? What a grand and intoxicating innocence.

Hero as Villain

Remember what I said above with the Nerevarine being built as a villain? Well, that's not just because they have their own agenda. The Nerevarine should be at least somewhat antagonistic, and not fully trustworthy, like anybody who quickly rises to power.

If the party's goals are aligned to the Nerevarine's, it's because the party was convinced to the cause or the Nerevarine was convinced that the party's way was best.

While the Nerevarine opposes the evil of Dagoth Ur, that does not make them good or nice. When the dust settles and the Big bad is slain, the Nerevarine will have immense personal, military and political power. They may wish to expel the Empire from Morrowind, or destroy the Tribunal. They may be straight up evil. You can roll to see if this is the case, or develop it organically as the campaign goes.

Will the players allow such a person to become so powerful? Will they lay plans to assassinate them after Dagoth Ur is defeated, or will they play their hand earlier and take the Sixth House on themselves?

While the PCs lack the option to join the Sixth House, being outlanders, they can still defy the prophecy, take down the Nerevarine, collect the artifacts and destroy the Heart themselves.

This campaign structure, built around a single NPC whose identity and role in the story is fluid and malleable, is how I would run an Elder Scrolls campaign. A dynamic world, a questionable NPC, and absolute player freedom to screw up the plans of destiny.