Something I’ve been working on behind the scenes has finally made its way out of camp.
The Arbiter of Fate v2.0 is officially live.
It’s a free, browser-based companion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, designed to introduce a little uncertainty into an expedition by allowing Fate to make decisions that would normally be left entirely to the player.
What started as an idea for randomly selecting quests has developed into something considerably larger. Character progression, perk selection, quest management, faction restrictions, magic permissions and Dragon Shouts can all be tracked within the same tool.
And rather than force everyone to play by the same rules, I’ve built it around the idea of deciding how much control you’re willing to surrender.
Which naturally raises the question of how much control I’m prepared to give up myself.
My First Expedition
I’ve been thinking about what sort of character to create for my first proper expedition with the Arbiter.
At the moment, I’m leaning towards a combination of Archery and One-Handed combat. The bow will deal with enemies at a distance, while a sword will handle anything that gets close enough to become a problem.
Sneak will also play a part, as will Lockpicking, because apparently I’m incapable of walking past a locked chest without investigating its contents.
Magic might make an appearance later. I haven’t decided yet.
But while I have a general idea of how I want to approach combat, there’s one significant complication.
Fate will be responsible for developing my character.
Whenever I level up, the Arbiter will decide whether I increase Health, Magicka or Stamina. It will also choose my perks from the eligible skills and perk ranks I’ve selected.
I might spend several hours relying heavily on Archery, only for Fate to decide that Lockpicking deserves the next perk point.
That’s part of the arrangement. I’m choosing the possibilities, not guaranteeing the results.
One Quest at a Time
Character progression is only half of the arrangement. I’m also handing control of my quest assignments over to Fate.
However, I don’t want to sacrifice the freedom to explore Skyrim.
I’ll still be able to travel wherever I like, investigate caves and ruins, discover locations, speak to NPCs, collect equipment and accept whatever quests I encounter.
The restriction is simple: I can only deliberately complete the quest Fate has currently assigned me.
One assignment at a time.
A good example would be The Golden Claw.
I could visit Riverwood, speak to Lucan Valerius and accept his request to recover the claw. From there, I could travel to Bleak Falls Barrow, explore the entire dungeon and retrieve it.
But if Fate has assigned me something else, that claw is staying in my inventory.
Lucan can have it back when Fate decides I’m allowed to finish his quest.
Even completing my current assignment wouldn’t automatically give me permission to return it. The Arbiter would have to choose The Golden Claw as my next objective.
It means I can make progress on several quests while exploring, but only Fate decides which one I’m allowed to bring to a conclusion.
There will inevitably be occasions when Skyrim completes something automatically through normal gameplay. Those will be treated as incidental completions rather than deliberate violations of the rules.
I’m not interested in restarting an expedition because the game advanced something without asking me.
Where the Arbiter Fits In
The idea isn’t to turn Skyrim into a list of randomly generated chores.
I still want to explore, discover things naturally and make decisions about how to survive whatever I encounter.
What I’m surrendering is control over where the story progresses and how my character develops.
Some assignments might suit my character perfectly. Others might arrive at inconvenient times or take me somewhere I hadn’t planned to visit.
And with Fate making the levelling decisions, there’s no guarantee I’ll have the character build I originally imagined.
That’s what I want to find out.
I’ll decide how to survive. Fate will decide what comes next.
The Arbiter Is Available to Everyone
Although I’ve developed the tool around my own approach to Skyrim expeditions, it isn’t restricted to those rules.
You can retain control over your decisions, surrender selected parts of your journey or let Fate take a much larger role.
The Arbiter includes a Quest Journal, character progression tracking, faction restrictions, Spellbook, Dragon Shouts tracker and an Expedition Chronicle. It also includes backup and restore options so you can protect your progress.
It’s free to use, requires no account and runs separately from Skyrim. It doesn’t change your game files or install any modifications.
There’s also a built-in guide to help you get started.
You can find the tool and further information on its dedicated Survivor Incognito page:
✦ The Arbiter of Fate — Skyrim Expedition Companion
What’s Next?
The tool is live. The rules for my first expedition are taking shape. Now I need to see what happens when I actually start handing those decisions over.
I’ve got an idea of the character I want to become.
Whether Fate agrees is another matter entirely.
One Survivor. Many Worlds.
🏕️ CAMP UPDATE TERMINATED
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