2021 Project Update

It has been a while since I've put out a general update and thought this would be a good time. 2021 has already been incredibly busy for the project, even though a new product hasn't been released since March 2020 with Enemies of Elsweyr. There has been a lot going on in the background. Over the last 20+ weeks there have been two content drops on the website each and every week. This has been the most frequent content shared since the project started. I think that's something to be excited about! There's lots to talk about and so much still to do!

Reflecting on 2020

At the beginning of 2020, just before the whole pandemic started, Enemies of Elsweyr came out. I am really happy with how E0E turned out and it was a massive project. It has some errors here and there, and I might have done a few things differently, but it was a work I was really proud of. After that, I took a bit of a break before working on the next thing. I had set up the beginnings of the next project, Legionnaire's Guide to Cyrodiil. While I recovered, others were starting their work on this book. It was the first time I had ever opened up the project to others. At first, it was pretty slow going, but by August, there was nearly 500 pages worth of content. I've been making my way through that, and by October I was posting some of the content each week.

Looking Forward to 2021

There are lots of things to be excited about with 2021, with most of the things being outside of the project. But in the project, every day Legionnaire's Guide gets closer and and closer to being completed. There are 8 chapters planned, and 3 of the chapters are complete. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but many of the other chapters have had a lot of progress.

The next project is already in motion, which was announced a little while ago: Shadows Over Skyrim. Much of the writing is done. There are a few more things in the works with that, but it should be ready to be put into layout soon. And if that wasn't enough, another project was announced as a collaboration: Castaway's Guide to Yneslea. Working with the Uutak Mythos team, this will likely be a while in the making, due to the nature of the project, but it is really exciting to see two TES fan creations come together.

Past and Present

There is still lots to talk about. A lot changed with UESTRPG over the last year. Two people were brought on as admins, Crimson and Whistle, who have been helping a ton with content creation and with the community. A bunch of other people have been super involved with writing, including Juan, Gugu, Swampy, the Vile Clavicus, Abe, and Mini. The White Guar has provided priceless and much needed editing. Of course, this isn't everyone that has helped, but I wanted to give a shout out. I love it when new people get involved and want to add their touch to the project. The discord community has been great and is something I look forward to everyday with so many helpful people providing their own creations to the project beyond those I've already mentioned. UESTRPG is a hobby project for me. It is not a side hustle. I don't do it to make money, but it has been almost like a second job. I put a lot of time into the project—and I need to start putting in less—but there is still so much I want to do. Personally, my plan is to keep working on LGtC until it is done, take a short break, then jump into a much needed update to the basic rules. Next up, a new website is desperately needed. This is being worked on, but I expect it to be a slow go. I'm excited with what we have in mind, it's just a matter of doing it. There are a few other books I'd like to see get put together. Two smaller books, The Secrets of the Dwemer and a Clockwork City book would be nice. Villains of Vvardenfell to cover many of the things we've seen in Morrowind, and an Oblivion book. These would likely cover the vast majority of what we know about TES. To do all this, I need help. I think the areas I need the most help with is layout. Creating the books and quality content is time consuming, and often takes longer than the writing—or at least currently takes long than the writing. Of course, this is all a hobby, so there isn't much to be offered for money (like none). I am more than happy to keep on as it is, but if you have the interest and the skills, please reach out!

Goals of UESTRPG

I've had a chance to rethink about what the goals of UESTRPG is, and if I've been hitting them, or if there's a need to rethink what some of those goals are. It also helps for me to list them out, both for me and for others.

Have Fun. First and foremost, this project is a hobby. It's supposed to be fun. It's not always fun, but the majority is. I enjoy writing, the problem solving of rules, and I love creating layouts. I even find editing fun sometimes. Sometimes the amount of work gets a bit hard. Burn out ensues. Sometimes you make something you're really proud of but there's little engagement (or even none). Those times get hard, but the last while has been way more rewarding than punishing.

Recently, Matt Colville posted about MCDM's expectations of their employees. One of the things that has stuck with me is that he expects writers will put in 1200 words each day, believing that is an achievable and reasonable expectation. As this is a hobby project, and not a full time job, I can't be expected to be putting in 6,000 words a week. I have a full time job and a family that needs my attention. As a hobby, if I can get 2,400 words in a week, I should and can be happy with that effort. It means things might take time, but I won't burn out. This has already had a positive change to my outlook. This post alone is over 2,000 words. I'll still do more this week, but it makes me feel good knowing I've put a good amount of effort in the project.

Create Value. Originally, this was mostly about creating Elder Scrolls content for 5e. There are quite a few other TES 5e projects out there. This isn't meant to compete with any of them, but to provide new options. I know when I work on 5e games, I take a little bit from a lot of things, adjust some, and homebrew the rest. The hope is to create some things that a GM will be able to use as is, or something that they only needs some minor adjustments to work for them. I never expect the work to be used in whole. Take what you like, leave what you don't.

Another part to creating value is to make stuff that looks great and works. I think I've been getting better at that as time has passed. Looking back at older stuff helps me see that growth, and keeps me wanting to improve what's there.

I don't keep the website up to date with all the additions, but have kept it down to just what's available in the basic rules. This has been on purpose, and not from laziness (it can sometimes be due to laziness). What is fun for me, and what has been my focus, is making books (pdfs, but you know... digital books). The website was put together as a supplement to the books. A place to post ideas, get feedback, create previews. The main focus has been on books.

This can be kinda seen in how the quality of the books has slowly improved with each step. The Basic Rules is a simple text document created in Word. B&C add images, but is still just a word doc. Summerset was the first book to be created in real publishing software and was quite small. Murkmire and Elsweyr pushed those layout skills a little bit further each time, to the point they were starting to look like real books. With LGtC, I built everything from scratch to give it a unique design and custom feel, to make it look different from a WoTC look-a-like.

The hobby, for me, is pushing to make quality, good looking, authentic feeling content that looks like something you could get from a professional. While the stuff remains free to use, I wanted it to be something that could hypothetically be compared to the best third party content. Having an exhaustive website would remove the need of having a book at all, and the extensive effort I put into creating custom books would be mostly a waste of time. The idea has been about creating a false prestige—about having a product worth buying, except it's free. Best case scenario, I want it to feel like bought something, or feel like you're pirating something.

Lately, I've been contemplating this a lot. Is having a comprehensive website going to be more rewarding than creating cool looking books? I still don't have an answer for it.

Celebrate Others. I'm not always great at this one (not even close), but I have tried to showcase other works and other websites that do a similar thing. I also want to get better at celebrating the people who have helped make this project better. Part of that is about getting better at attributing peoples work. Last year, I used a good portion of the donations from the project to send gifts to those who helped out with LGtC in 2020. I'm hoping to do the same again this year. It's not a lot, but I hope it show my appreciation.

Build With, Not Build On. This is a bit of a new goal. UESTRPG is based on 5e, which is a very very popular TRPG. It's part of the reason why this project exists and why it's been generally successful. There might be better RPGs better suited for TES. It could even be worth making a custom game for it (like Heralds of Nerevar). But, the popularity of 5e has made the project very accessible. So many people already know how to play it, so switching over is relatively easy. It also means people who aren't playing TES games can still take the monsters, items, spells, whatever, over to their 5e game, regardless of where they play.

With UESTRPG, you can get pretty far with knowing 5e, but it does make some differences that generally need to be understood to play. It uses Magicka Points, which uses a play on the official Spell Points variant. The currency is different. You gain a Birthsign at first level, which alters the player power level. The races are balanced with standard 5e races, but they feel just a little different. The ability scores are cosmetically different, and the schools of magic have changed. There is a bit of a curve to get into it and the 'similar but different' changes can be a little challenging. LGtC introduces some new variant conditions, which some spells and some subclasses rely on. While these create a strong connection to some key Elder Scroll effects (chameleon, frenzy, etc), new conditions can be really disruptive in play—needing to learn how to use them, when not to use them, and know how to reference them quickly.

In the future of UESTRPG, I want to do our best to stay within the core rules, and the revised or new rules already included in the Basic Rules. Each change or addition to the rules creates a new barrier, even if it seems small.

Waiting on the Future

There are lots of great things coming for UESTRPG. With all the projects in motion, and other things in the background, I am really looking forward to what's coming. On top of what I already mentioned above, TheElderMemes announced a podcast in Summer 2021 using the UESTRPG system, called The Lesser Prophecies. I can't wait to hear what stories will be told and am so thankful they are making use of this work. I'm looking forward the the days where LGtC is out, the revised Basic Rules are in use, and the next projects are on their way.

I wish we were already there, where all of this is already done and we can enjoy our efforts, but I am trying to sit back and enjoy the process of getting there!