The year is 203 of the Fourth Era, twenty-eight years since the end of the Great War between the Empire of Men and the Aldmeri Dominion of the Elves. A war that ended with the White-Gold Concordat, a controversial treaty that saw the Empire agreeing to ban the worship of Talos, the founder of the Empire and one of their Nine Divines, as well as ceding part of its territory of Hammerfell to the Aldmeri Dominion. Two years ago, internal tension within the Empire caused by the controversial treaty erupted in the form of a civil war in the province of Skyrim, as some among its Jarls sought to secede from the Empire. Two years ago, just as the Empire seemingly was about to execute Ulfric Stormcloak, the leader of the rebellion, the dragons—hitherto thought to be extinct—returned, putting a halt to the civil war as Skyrim was forced to deal with the Dragon Crisis. In a different timeline, one where the Imperial Moth Priests might peer through the Elder Scrolls, a doom-driven hero rose against Alduin, the dragon of the end times. The Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn. This is not that timeline, there was no dragonsouled mythical dragonslayer of legend, and so in a mere two years, chaos swept across the land of Skyrim, the Fatherland of Men, and is now threatening to spread into the rest of the continent.
Welcome to Skyrim: Apotheosis. All right, so first of all, despite the name, this RP does not, in fact, have any connection with the widely anticipated Skyrim Mod Elder Scrolls: Apotheosis set to release in 2025, the name is just a coincidence. This is basically an RP using a modified DnD 5th edition set two years in Skyrim after an AU of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where the main character of the game, the Dragonborn, just wasn't a thing, and so things go from bad to worse for Skyrim. The player characters are part of the Dragonbane Vanguard, a coalition of armies from all across Tamriel that was formed in 4E 202 after Skyrim fell to the dragons, its mission is to defeat the dragons and liberate Skyrim. Due to your characters' accomplishments, you have been gathered to form one of the elite mobile task forces, intended to be the tip of the spears for the campaign to liberate Skyrim.
As mentioned, this would be modified DnD 5th ed. To be specific, we'll be using the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Table Top Roleplaying Game based on 5th edition DnD. The basic 1.4 rulebooks will be the basis of the system, but feel free if you want to bring stuff in from the supplements they have on the site. There is also a wiki for more ease of access.
While knowledge of Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls (henceforth TES) in general would certainly help, feel free to jump in even with little to no knowledge of the original franchise. I'm not intending to run the RP under the assumption that the players are familiar with TES lore.
The tone of the RP would be power fantasy. That is to say, while you won't start as OP beings of mass destruction, TES is a setting choke-full of stories of mortals rising up far beyond their station. So this will be an RP where the plan is to have the characters go on a journey where they will end up as powerful entities. Think of Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous RPG as the sort of power fantasy tone.
To start with, I'd like a minimum of 4 players, so we'll see how it goes.
THE LORE OF THE SETTING
If you've ever dabbled in TES lore, you'd probably know that the unreliable narrator is key. The lore of TES is written from the perspective of in-universe with many conflicting accounts and theories, and aside from the hard canon of what's shown in the game, it's up to the players' headcanon to determine what is true or false. So in this case, as the GM, I would be using my own interpretation to fill in the blanks, so to speak.
That being said, I'm willing to be flexible with it, if there is an aspect of the lore your character's backstory can't work without, like say, Argonian pulling the uno reverse card on Mehrunes Dagon during the Oblivion crisis being true rather than just a propaganda, feel free to notify me, and barring some extraordinary reason, I'll canonize it. Or even just wanting to fully integrate your backstory into the lore of the world.
Now that the foreword is done with, here are a couple of lore that are relevant to the RP or might be helpful to newcomers to TES. Again, you don't really need to know all this, but I'm the type of guy who would usually be hooked mostly on the lore, so just in case some of you are like me. Though the basic premise of this RP AU is on the Dragon Crisis part.
The Setting
The events of TES mostly take place in the plane of Mundus, on the planet Nirn, and on the continent of Tamriel. Aside from Mundus, there are other planes such as the Daedric realms, home to the Daedra (basically TES version of demons, kinda they're more agent of chaos for the most part) and Aetherius, the realm of gods. The suns and stars are actually holes to Aetherius from where magic pours forth into Mundus. Aside from the planet Nirns, there are also other 9 other planets in Mundus mostly named after the gods. There are also other continents aside from Tamriel, such as the Akaviri and Atmora. While there might be some reference to them, the RP will mostly concern itself with Tamriel, specifically Skyrim.
Cosmology of TES
The continent of Tamriel
THE HISTORY OF TES IN A NUTSHELL
The current year is 203 of the 4th Era (4E 203). Eras are periods that divide the history of Tamriel. There have been six eras so far. The Dawn Era, the Merethic Era, the 1st Era, the 2nd Era, the 3rd Era, and the 4th Era. The events of Dawn to 2nd Era are for the most part no longer relevant to modern events and geopolitics, but just a quick rundown:
The Dawn Era or the Beginning Times is the era before creation stabilizes and linear time begins. The existence of gods and their role in creating the world is a fact of life in Tamriel, so the Dawn Era is considered part of history. The Dawn Era ended with the mythic war between men and elves, ending with the killing or exile of the God Lorkhan
The Merethic Era is the age of myths, with no clear dates for the most part, though its events are dated backwards from year 0 of the First Era. This is the era of the Elves, hence the name Merethic since Elves are also known as Mer in TES. This is also the era when dragons were at the peak of their power before the Nords of Skyrim rose up against them in the Dragon War, which ended their dominance.
The First Era begins with the founding of the Camoran Dynasty in Valenwood, but the most important event of this era was the founding of the Alessian Empire, the First Empire of Men in Cyrodiil after a slave rebellion against the elves ruling over Cyrodiil. Later on, the Cyrodiilic Empire became responsible for the protection of human kingdoms at large. Eventually, it conquered all of Tamriel except Morrowind. The First Era ended with the assassination of Emperor Reman III and his heirs, leading to the collapse of the Empire.
The Second Era was a period of turmoil that preceded the fall of the Reman Empire. The most significant event was the one that ended it, the Tiber Wars. Where a warlord known as Tiber Septim or Talos of Atmora in Skyrim, conquered the entirety of Tamriel, establishing the Third Empire of Men that ruled over all of Tamriel. Tiber Septim later was declared to have ascended to godhood and the Eight Divine of the Alessian Church became the Nine Divines.
During the events of the game, The Elder Scrolss IV: Oblivion, the last of the Septims were killed and an event called Oblivion Crisis occurred which ended up disintegrating the Septim Empire and starting the 4th era.
Currently, the Empire (under the Medes dynasty) only have the lands of the Imperials (their centre of power), Bretons, Dark Elves (only in name since the entire province got decimated by a volcanic eruption), and Nords (Skyrim). In 4E 171, the great war between the Aldmeri Dominion (Empire of the Elves that seceded after the 3rd era. Consisting of High Elves and Wood Elves, with the cat humanoid Khajiits as their client state) and the remaining empire occurred. Ended with the White Gold Concordat.
The White-Gold Concordat was a peace treaty ending the Great War. The Aldmeri Dominion demanded several concession chiefs among them the outlaw of Talos worship (they kinda hated the guy since they thought he committed massacre during his conquest, he basically sent a reality-bending, time-warping giant robot to conquer the Elves) which the Empire agreed on. This outlaw resulted in a rebellion in Skyrim. This is the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Dates in Tamriel are denoted with Days, Months, Era, and then year. Each day is 24 hours, seven days in a wekk, and the months correspond to Gregorian Calendar, with a year having 12 months, the second month even observing a leap year. For example, 1 Morning Star 4E 203 would be 1st January year 203 of the fourth Era.
Morning Star - January Sun's Dawn - February First Seed - March Rain's Hand - April Second Seed - May Midyear - June Sun's Height - July Last Seed - August Hearthfire - September Frostfall - October Sun's Dusk - November Evening Star - December
Races refer to the various intelligence lives that inhabit the world of TES. Both mortals and immortals. Though there are many races, here are the playable ones relevant to this RP (and the TES games it is based on).
The Altmer, or self-titled "Cultured People", are a tall, golden-skinned race, hailing from Summerset Isle. They are also known as High Elves by the denizens of Tamriel. To the Altmer, they take High Elves as a reference to their 'high culture', to the humans High Elves refer to proud and snobbish. Altmer live two to three times as long as humans; with a 200-year-old Altmer being old and a 300-year-old Altmer being very, very old. Altmer consider themselves to be the most civilized culture of Tamriel; the common tongue of the continent is based on Altmer speech and writing, and most of the Empire's arts, crafts, laws, and sciences are derived from Altmer traditions.The Altmer are the most strongly gifted in the arcane arts of all the races, and they often become powerful magic users due to both their magical affinity and the many years they may devote to their studies.
Argonians (Saxhleel, or People of the Root in their native language of Jel) are the reptilian natives of Black Marsh, a vast swampland province in southeastern Tamriel. The other races often refer to them as lizards or the Lizard Folk instead, especially when meaning to be derogatory. They are known as the foremost experts in guerrilla warfare throughout Tamriel, a reputation brought upon them by defending their borders from enemies for countless centuries. They have a connection to the Hist, a race of sentient trees. They are also naturally adept spellcasters and excel in the art of stealth. They have a lifespan comparable to humans
The Bosmer are the Elves of Valenwood, a forested province in southwestern Tamriel. In the Empire, they are often referred to as Wood Elves, but they typically call themselves Bosmer and the Tree-Sap people. Bosmer rejected the stiff, formal traditions of Aldmeri high culture, preferring a more romantic, simple existence in harmony with the land and its wild beauty and creatures. Many in the forests of Valenwood follow the tenets of the Green Pact. These "Green Pact Bosmer" are religiously carnivorous and cannibalistic, and do not harm the vegetation of Valenwood, though they are not averse to using wooden or plant-derived products created by others. Their agility makes them well-suited as scouts and thieves and makes them the best archers in Tamriel. However, they are also quick-witted folk, and many pursue successful careers in scholarly pursuits or trading. Bosmer live two to three times as long as humans; with a 200-year-old Bosmer being old and a 300-year-old Bosmer being very, very old. The Bosmer are also relatively prone to producing offspring with 12 being considered average number of children in the family. As a result, they outnumber all other Mer on Tamriel.
Bretons are a hybrid race of both human and elven ancestry that primarily inhabit their ancestral homeland of High Rock. High Rock is fractious and divided politically, and warfare between kingdoms accounts for much of Breton history. Despite this, Bretons across the province share many facets of culture, including language, bardic traditions, and heroic tales. Bretons make up the peasantry, soldiery, magical elite, and ruling families of the feudal kingdoms competing for power within High Rock, but the race can also be found around the rest of Tamriel, often as merchants or mercenaries. What it means to be a Breton is considered an age-old quandary by their people. To make sense of it all. Some Bretons hold their elven heritage in high esteem, which may influence them to worship Phynaster, the patron deity and "teacher" of the Direnni Elven Clan who used to rule over them. Others attempt to seek out the druidic roots of their Nedic ancestors and reconnect with nature. Knighthood is pivotal to the Breton identity; its earliest practitioners served under Clan Direnni, but knights are credited with kickstarting High Rock's modern cultural history through tales of liberating the race from their Elven oppressors.
The Dunmer, also known as Dark Elves, are the grey-skinned, typically red-eyed elven peoples of Morrowind. In the Empire, "Dark Elf" is the common usage, but they and their Aldmeri brethren prefer the term "Dunmer". "Dark" is variously interpreted as meaning "dark-skinned", "gloomy", and "ill-favoured by fate", with the Dunmer and their national identity embracing these various connotations with enthusiasm. Their combination of powerful intellects with strong and agile physiques produces superior warriors and sorcerers. On the battlefield, Dunmer are noted for their skill with a balanced integration of the sword, the bow and destruction magic. Dunmer live two to three times as long as humans; with a 200-year-old Dunmer being old and a 300-year-old Dunmer being very, very old. Being the only culture that officially worships some of the Daedric Lords, Dunmer distrust and are treated distrustfully by other races. They are often called proud, clannish, ruthless, and cruel, from an outsider's point of view, but greatly value loyalty and family, ancestral worship being an integral part of their culture.
Also known as Cyrodils, Cyrodilics, and Imperial Cyrods, the well-educated and well-spoken Imperials are the natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil. Imperials are also known for the discipline and training of their citizen armies, and their respect for the rule of law. Imperials have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders, and these traits, along with their remarkable skill and training as infantry, have enabled them to colonize various other nations and create the Empire. Their hegemony has waxed and waned throughout the eras, and most historians refer to three distinct Empires, the ends of which each mark a new epoch in Tamrielic history. The defining feature of Imperial culture is its cosmopolitanism perceived through the lens of Imperialism. Although some individuals may be the most arrogant bigots in Tamriel, culturally the Imperials are very conciliatory and congenial, making them skilled diplomats and traders. Regardless, most still dream of the Septim Empire of the 3rd Era that ruled the whole of Tamriel and see their rule over Tamriel as the golden period of Tamriellic culture and civilization.
Khajiit (from Ta'agra, meaning desert-dweller) are cat-like people who come from Elsweyr, known for high intelligence and agility.These traits make them very good thieves and acrobats, but Khajiit are also fearsome warriors. Khajiit mostly stay on land, but piracy and Skooma drug trade does draw some to work as sailors. Bound to the lunar lattice, a mysterious force understood by the khajiit, the phases of the two moons at the time of their birth determines the form, or 'breed', a khajiit will assume. There are several distinct "furstocks", different variations of Khajiit. Within Khajiiti society, all forms are granted respect regardless of size or shape, but outside of Elsweyr, less humanoid Khajiit such as Alfiq and Senche-raht face more discrimination than their bipedal counterparts.
Nords are the Children of the Sky, a race of tall and fair-haired humans from Skyrim who are known for their incredible resistance to cold and magical frost. They are fierce, strong and enthusiastic warriors, and many become renowned warriors, soldiers and mercenaries all over Tamriel. Eager to augment their martial skills beyond the traditional methods of Skyrim, Nords have a long history of being sorcerers and mages. Despite their old tradition of magic as the clever craft, however, modern-day Nord culture shuns magic. They excel in all manner of warfare and are known as a militant people by their neighbours. Nords were known for a time for their nautical prowess when they migrated from Atmora, with many ending up as Seafaring merchants or smugglers. In the years since the third era, many Nord cultures have fallen to the wayside due to cultural assimilation by Imperial culture, perhaps another reason that caused the civil war.
Orcs, also called Orsimer or "Pariah Folk", and Ornim in their native tongue, are the elves of the Wrothgarian Mountains, Dragontail Mountains, Valenwood, Skyrim and Orsinium (literally translated as "Orc-Town"). Orcs have elven blood, but often considered to be both Beastfolk and Goblin-ken. In the past, Orcs were widely feared and hated by the other nations and races of Tamriel and were seen as nothing more than uncivilized beasts. They have slowly won acceptance in the Empire, in particular for their distinguished service in the Emperor's Legions. Many Orcs in the Third Era have actually received an Imperial education as a benefit of serving the Imperial Legion. Orc armourers are prized for their craftsmanship, and Orc warriors in heavy armour are among the finest front-line troops in the Empire. The law of the Orcs is based on the Code of Malacath, an unwritten law. The Code prohibits things such as theft and unwarranted violence, but also places heavy emphasis on honor and personal strength in resolving conflicts. Traditional Orcish society is centred around stronghold settlements, each one striving for complete independence in all matters. A stronghold's tribe is controlled by a chieftain, and no other males are permitted to take wives or father children. The chieftain is replaced by whichever one of his sons grows strong enough to challenge and kill him. Orcs that disagreed with the tradition often left the strongholds, finding work as mercenaries or soldiers in the Imperial Legion. Orc has the same lifespan as humans, and old orcs are often found on the road looking for one last honourable fight to send them to the afterlife.
Redguards are the most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel. The dark-skinned, coarse-haired people of Hammerfell seem born to battle, though their pride and fierce independence of spirit make them more suitable as scouts or skirmishers, or as free-ranging heroes and adventurers, than as rank-and-file soldiers. Redguard society is extremely martial, and nearly everyone is expected to have a grasp of basic weaponry and combat, although only the rulers are generally expected to have detailed knowledge of strategy, formations and tactics. Only the strongest, fastest and smartest Redguards are accepted into the demanding military (which consists mainly of various knightly orders; Redguards don't traditionally have a standing army), and they are expected to prove themselves worthy by facing death. Even their entertainment, like snake charming, bears some risk to it. Sword is an important part of Redguard culture, their now lost but legendary feat is the Shehai, a sword manifested from their spirit by Redguard warriors known as Ansei or Saints of the Swords. Although being suspicious of magic is regarded as a hallmark of modern Redguard culture, it was not always so pronounced. In ancient times, Yokudan war-wizards were part of their armies, albeit rare, and Shehai is speculated to be a form of magic in academic culture, an interpretation that many School of Swords of Hammerfell reject.
The Dragon Crisis
On the 17th of Last Seed, 4E 201, the civil war that had been raging in Skyrim appeared to have come to an end. The leader of the rebellion, Ulfric Stormcloak had been captured in an ambush and was set to be executed in the Imperial outpost of Helgen. The execution was halted when a black dragon descended from the sky, decimating the outpost. This dragon later declared himself as Alduin, the World Eater. The Dragon who was said to appear in the end times and eat the world. Alduin revived dragons that had been dead for thousands of years, acting as a general of his army, the army of the dead that emerged in droves from the burial grounds all across Skyrim, the Draugr and their Dragon Priests, remnants of those who worshipped the dragons in the Merethic Era.
The Whiterun Hold, along with its capital, Whiterun, was the first to fall, as Alduin resurrected the legendary dragon Numinex, whose skull decorated Dragonsreach, the Jarl's palace of Whiterun. Numinex destroyed Whiterun, before the city was claimed by Alduin to be the centre of his stronghold.
A truce between the Empire and the Stormcloak was called before the year's end as the two armies marshalled their forces to retake Whiterun. As their main forces gather on the border of the Whiterun Hold, however, both of their strongholds in Solitude and Windhelm are taken by different forces than the dragons. In Solitude, the stronghold of the Empire, the Wolf Queen Potema returned from the dead and after joining forces with a large coven of vampires off the coast of Solitude, captured the city and turned it into a city of the dead. Queen Potema Septim then declare that she will rid Skyrim of the dragons by any means necessary. In Windhelm, an armada of cultists led by someone claiming to be Miraak, the first Dragonborn arrived from the island of Solstheim, capturing the city and making it a centre of the cult's worship. A worship of Miraak, who has claimed that he is the messiah, the promised Dragonborn that will liberate the world from dragons once and for all.
With the two strongholds of Empire and Stormcloak fallen, the remaining army was quickly routed by the dragons, the scattered remnants forced to retreat to Cyrodiil as they lost all contact with Skyrim only horrifying tales of refugees remain, as they fled the region while dragons and their armies constantly attack the bordering province, attempting to invade. By 4E 202, Tamriel created the Dragonbane Vanguard to deal with the dragon threat and retake Skyrim. The first year of their campaign was fought defensively in the borders, as the combined marvel of magic and engineering from the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion erected an anti-draconic forces wall on the provinces bordering Skyrim, dividing the war in the High Rock Front, Hammerfell Front, Cyrodiil Front, and Morrowind Front.
Now, in 4E 203, with the wall finally erected, the Dragonbane Vanguard began their offensive into Skyrim, finally managing to gain a foothold in the Falkreath hold, its eponymous capital becoming the stronghold of the Dragonbane Vanguard in Skyrim. Seeking to scout the area and expand their foothold, the Dragonbane Vanguard has decided to create several elite task forces for rapid mobile deployment.
THE SYSTEM
As noted above, we're using the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Table Top Roleplaying Game based on 5th edition DnD, with the milestone system for levelling up instead of the traditional EXP system. Players are not exactly newbies, so your character will start at level 5.
NAME RACE AGE CLASS
BACKGROUND You can make this as long or short as you want, but I would like to have it at least contain:
1. How was your character recruited to the Dragonbane Vanguard, were they conscripted perhaps? Or join voluntarily? Or just a sellsword looking to make their fortune? And so on.
2. How has your character distinguished themselves from the common rank-and-file soldiers that they were picked for the taskforce?
Here is an overview of the classes available in the core rulebook. But they do have others in their other supplements, so feel free to grab one from those if you're interested
Cool, I've got an idea for a character just got to work out the details aside from class and race. Character would be a male Colovian Imperial ranger, formerly a member of the Imperial Legion.
So I tried asking around in spacebattle, and it seems like there might be more interest there. @Lurking Krog do you mind if we move this to that forum?
Not really up for going to a different forum... plus I am juggling a bit at the moment anyway, so I think I'm gonna drop out. Have fun with the RP, however, I hope it goes well.
