Elder Scrolls Development Blog #5: I am sworn to carry your burdens

By Gavin Dady

Our first post launch release expands upon the Adventurer faction with the Adventurer Followers and Adventurer Allies sets. These expansions for the Adventurers include new Heroes and Followers.

The Adventurer Allies introduces Lydia and Kharjo and three Followers. Lydia is a decent fighter, and has the bodyguard ability that lets her protect her Thane by intercepting blows. Her Shieldwall ability also helps her deflect those intercepted blows by adding a green dice to any shield tests. Kharjo is another bodyguard, but unlike Lydia he concentrates on smashing heads instead with his Bonebreaker ability making him more effective with a mace.  Followers in the Adventurer faction work slightly differently to the Stormcloak or Imperial followers in that they aren’t a squad of soldiers like the Imperial Legionnaires or Stormcloak Warriors. Instead, they tend to be individuals with differing skill sets and abilities that you can mix and match to create the supporting characters for your Hero’s adventuring party. Have a Hero who doesn’t know a lock pick from a comb? Bring the Khajiit thief along to pick those pesky locks. Need some ranged support? Invite the Breton Ranger with her trusty hunting bow, and magic resistance for extra survivability. Need some extra impact? Add the Orc Barbarian with his warhammer and crack some skulls with those extra damage boosts.

The Adventurer Followers feature five familiar faces, Marcurio, Jenassa, Vorstag, Derkeethus and Mjoll the Lioness. Marcurio, Adventuring Mage specialises in destruction magic. He has a decent Magicka and Intelligence scores an the Destruction Mastery perk so he can really deal out some damage. Mage Armour also adds some survivability to him. However, he’s not the most sturdy of characters and has a low health, so needs protection. Jenassa is a good, multipurpose character. Like Ralof, she has the Ranger ability, so she can switch from bow to melee weapon with ease. She’s also able to sneak and has some nice bonuses when she dual wields. Vorstag is another solid fighter, with decent stats and health. He has the Low Slash ability, which he can use to help control the battlefield by slowing down your opponent. Once levelled he gains special abilities that let him strike multiple times in combat and bash his opponents out of the way. Derkeethus, our first Argonian, brings a good archery skill set, with sneak ability and power shot. He also has Histskin, which adds a little extra survivability. Finally we have Mjoll the Lioness. Mjoll is a warrior second only to the Dragonborn herself. She has good strength, plenty of stamina and abilities that compliment either one or two handed weapons. She also gains some impressive abilities when levelled that make her dangerous to attack, as she can strike back as a free action!

We’re looking to get the Adventurer sets out in August, to allow stores to catch up with sales after they are permitted to re-open. The bad news is that the Chapter One card pack has been delayed back into September, so will make the Hero and Follower cards for these two sets available as PDF downloads so you can get on and start delving straight away.

The elder scrolls: call to arms