Purpose
Rather than attempting to focus on a particular era or region within the greater Elder Scrolls setting, we have chosen to take a “toolbox” approach. This means that instead of using a specific story, location, time, or place as the focus of the game, we have provided a set of tools to allow players and their game master (GM) to work together to create their own adventures in the world of the Elder Scrolls.
We’ve provided you with rules and content, but it’s up to each group to decide how to use it all. In many other role-playing games, the players are agents of some group or organization with an explicit mission. However, the UESRPG provides no such context, simply existing to give you the tools you need to create the story you want. Admittedly we have had to do some framing: we assume that most campaigns will take place in Tamriel, probably during the third or fourth eras. But there is no reason that you cannot explore other parts of the setting.
What’s New in Third Edition?
Third edition has been our opportunity to polish and streamline all of the cool, but awkwardly-executed ideas from second edition. You’ll find the game is simpler, more streamlined, better balanced, and generally easier to understand.
Lore, Design, and Canon
The guiding principle of all our design decisions has always been the spirit of Elder Scrolls lore. Due to the nature of video games as a medium there are a number of holes in our knowledge about the setting. Unfortunately there is no official Elder Scrolls role-playing game and so most of those holes will remain, officially, unfilled.
Because of this, and because of the level of detailed knowledge required to create a role-playing game for a specific setting, we have had to build our own interpretation of the Elder Scrolls. Conflicting game mechanics, contradictory lore, and differences in themes and presentation are all obstacles to any unified vision of the setting. We have had to make many tough choices about how we want things to work in “our” Elder Scrolls, and you may disagree with some of our decisions. That’s okay; just understand that everything in the game is the way it is for a specific reason.
With that in mind, it is also worth noting that “canon” in this setting is a rather fuzzy concept. We have tried to build an interpretation of the setting that is generally agreeable. Fortunately it should be quite simple for one to expand or alter the game to fit their own vision of the Elder Scrolls universe.