I’ve been tooling around this little two-dimensional world for weeks now, poking at the game here and there while passing through the room. The pace of play feels more like a puzzle than a traditional board game, and I’m fine with that. In fact, this may be the first time I’ve really connected with the solo mode in a board game for an extended period of time. A demo of the upcoming board game is currently available to play for free on Tabletop Simulator - a video game that enables players to interact with dice, cards and other tabletop components digitally - which myself and Wheels were recently guided through by Chris Birch, co-founder of Modiphius. It’s almost exactly what you’d expect from a completely faithful tabletop adaptation of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The world of Tamriel, where all of The Elder Scrolls video games are set, has a rich history that extends for thousands of years. Skyrim - The Adventure Game similarly has its place in that timeline. Last week marked the 10th anniversary of the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the fifth mainline installment in one of the most popular RPG video game franchises in existence. This month also happens to mark the launch of the Gamefound crowdfunding campaign for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Adventure Game, a tabletop adaptation of the from Modiphius - the publisher responsible for other tabletop games based on Bethesda properties, including skirmish miniature games The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms and Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.

The game’s plot promises a prequel to the events of Skyrim that focuses on the Blades, an organisation of dragon hunters and general protectors of the land of Tamriel. I expected campaign narratives that would significantly build upon the existing world, but Skyrim the Adventure game offers thin, minimalistic writing that expects you to be content with name-drops to lore you’ll already have learned from playing the videogame. If it’s been a while since you’ve played Skyrim and you can’t really remember who the Blades are, the game isn’t going to wait around to explain it to you. How many actions can I take in a Stronghold? Each player can take one main action — resolving a City Card or completing a quest — and then they can visit the market. Visiting the market allows the players to sell and buy, craft, upgrade and/or enchant their equipment. Roaming Monsters move as a result of Event cards or specific game events (such as results of Quests.) At the beginning of the game (what’s in the demo), Roaming Monsters are more infrequent and move less often. Later on, there are Chapter-encompassing conditions that spawn and even move all Roaming Monsters of a specific category every turn, making them much more impactful. There are plenty of different ways in which these Monsters are used, and they take center stage in some Chapters. The main way that players interact with the game is through pursuing quest lines that are triggered by players drawing campaign cards at the beginning of the game. This aspect of Skyrim: Adventure Game is actually quite impressive, as quest lines are randomly assigned to players - as if their character has stumbled across this storyline in their own unique way - before smoothly leading from one quest into the next via a kind of choose-your-own-adventure-style system. The Skyrim board game comes with a collection of miniatures representing various different species. A Roaming monster moved onto my space during the event phase, may I still move away from it? No. Unless specified in the scenario rules, when on the same space of a Roaming monster token, the players must spend their Turn action fighting the enemy.

Disappointed sigh-rim

Imagine you’re climbing the face of a six-sided pyramid,” Modiphius founder Chris Birch said in an interview, “and we’re all climbing towards the top; one big finale. But on my pyramid, I can go up the right, I can go up the left, I can go up the center. So I’ve got multiple choices to get to the top of my side of the story with my play style. But there are six other sides.” Whilst we will do everything we can to meet the delivery times above, there may be factors outside of our control and we cannot guarantee delivery within this time frame. When it was announced in late 2021, many saw The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - The Adventure Game as little more than a goof. Many wryly remarked that this would be the last time Skyrim would be relaunched in any form, a kind of final physical apotheosis for the classic video game. More than a decade after its release, Skyrim remains playable on virtually every console and computer platform known to humankind. So, why not a board game as well?

Can I move before or after using a carriage (paying for moving from one Stronghold to another)? No. Players must start and end their movement phase in Strongholds when using a carriage, and may not use any movement points during the Movement phase.I hope that somewhere, as Todd Howard ponders the infinite in the final stages of developing Starfield, he is enjoying his copy as well. When taking threat from an event, does the Starting player have to assign it to their own cards? No. Unless specifically stated, Threat can be assigned freely among all players or the Stronghold Chart, with no requirement from the Starting player to assign any of it to their own cards. The Skyrim board game injects railroading and randomness into this feature. The six playable characters have special abilities tied to skills that mean not levelling up into a specific build is a poor choice. The system for upgrading and enchanting your favourite items also relies on random card draw, meaning it’s entirely possible you’ll draw a bunch of cards that offer nothing to your intended build. This demo of the first first Campaign lets play either a prequel tutorial, or the 1-4 player first, second or third Chapter's of Campaign 1, you will need to read the set up instructions as all the components are provided but not set up for Chapter 1.

I also got the impression that they only move 1 tile at a time, but as it hasn’t been specified anywhere then they might be allowed to move as far as a player at a time for all I know, even if that seems a bit savage. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - The Adventure Game will offer two expansions and a deluxe miniatures set during its Gamefound campaign. Image: Modiphius EntertainmentYou are surviving members of the Blades, a legendary group who long protected the Empire of Tamriel! Abandoned by the empire, you must work together to thwart a plot which threatens the whole of Skyrim Finally, I’m left to wonder if it’s possible to escape combat with roaming enemies like you can with dungeon battles? And if one succeeds in escaping (assuming one can) how does this affect the players move? (limited to that one tile move perhaps?) I mean, seems kinda harsh if these battles are entirely “fight to the death” scenarios. If I have a Heavy Armor equipped, would I automatically fail a Sneak skill test out of Combat? No. The rules regarding Heavy Armor and Sneak only apply in Combat. Of course, both the event cards and the rulebook (later on) specify what happens to the stronghold when a roaming monster reaches it: it gets degraded, which means a threat token is applied. However, nothing within the game demo specifies what happens to the roaming monster itself. From sources outside the demo it seems the monster is then removed from the board.

Build your unique character, upgrade your equipment, delve into dungeons and travel across the Holds of Skyrim. Gain experience, find treasures and battle Draugr, Daedra, Dragons and more. One of the players I started playing the campaign with cannot attend the next session. Is it possible to “freeze” his character for the session and keep on playing? Unfortunately, no. The game is structured so that the number of players affects some setup requirements, therefore changing the number of players could result in the chapter not being finished. In that situation, we recommend asking the other players to use their character cooperatively. Skyrim - The Adventure Game is set long before the events of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Players take on the role of Blades, agents of the emperor driven north by conflict in the heart of Cyrodiil. Across three scenarios, one to four players must work to mitigate a violent civil war, and then uncover a conspiracy before time runs out. The narrative plays out using a sequence of numbered cards, not unlike the sprawling cooperative horror game The 7th Continent, or the tight and agile narrative engine at the heart of Fantasy Flight Games’ Fallout. Whenever a monster is prompted to move towards a Stronghold, the card or event that prompts that movement also specifies what happens when the monster reaches the Stronghold. For example, the Event “Daedric Invastion” says: “Move one Daedra token toward the nearest Stronghold. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game is a campaign-based adventure game for one to four players. Players control one of six heroes typical to the setting, exploring Skyrim, battling enemies, and completing various quests. You’ll gain new equipment, allies, and skills as you progress, and the game includes mechanics for trading and crafting.An event requires to move a Roaming monster token toward its closest Stronghold, but there are two eligible. Which one should I choose? Also, if more than one route is available, how do I choose one? In both cases the Starting player has the final word on the target and path of the Roaming monster token. Is there a Solo mode? Yes. Players who play solo, can either decide to play with one character, following the specific Solo rules provided or to play with more than one character.