Morrowind Sickos Are Getting Better Than A Remaster In Tamriel Rebuilt’s New Update

It’s a good time for fans of old-school Elder Scrolls games, after an update for a classic game in the fantasy RPG series. No, not that one. Not long after Oblivion Remastered gave players a shinier version of the 2006 entry of the series, an update to a major mod is bringing a whole new area complete with its own quests to the actual best Elder Scrolls game, all for free.

If you’re an RPG player of refined taste, you already know that The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is where the real action is, and you may be familiar with the Tamriel Rebuilt mod. In active development for over 20 years, Tamriel Rebuilt aims to create the entire mainland of Morrowind, as the game only features one portion of the region, the island of Vvardenfell. The mod has been released in what are essentially a series of expansions the size of major DLC packs, and the latest, called Grasping Fortune, has just arrived.

Each of Tamriel Rebuilt’s releases adds another chunk of Morrowind to the game, and Grasping Fortune is set in the region’s southern reaches. Like most of the region, the section added in Grasping Fortune consists largely of vast deserts, but it also contains a sort of crown jewel of Tamriel Rebuilt, the city of Narsis. In the sprawling lore of Morrowind, Narsis is the former seat of House Hlaalu, one of the region’s most important political factions, whose mercantile acumen helped it grow large and healthy. It’s also an important part of the modding project itself. The first version of Narsis was designed in 2004, and Tamriel Rebuilt’s creators say the city has been redesigned three times before arriving in its current form.

“Grasping Fortune centers on Narsis, possibly the largest fully realized, custom-made city in an Elder Scrolls game or mod ever,” the mod’s creators say.

That’s quite a bold claim, but judging from the screenshots and trailer of the expansion the team released, it might not be far off. The massive city is impressive to behold, complete with a gladiatorial arena and some of the most lavishly decorated interiors to be found in an Elder Scrolls game. Grasping Fortune itself is about a third of the size of Morrowind’s setting, and Tamriel Rebuilt as a whole is already much larger than the base game, so it’s not as if showing up the original in terms of scale would be anything new for the team.

The mod expansion also adds around 270 new quests, with all of Morrowind’s factions represented in some way. The quests focus most on House Hlaalu, given that Narsis is their home turf, and take players to some of the 140 new dungeons added in the update.

I’ve barely dipped my toes into Tamriel Rebuilt, but what I’ve seen of it has been consistently impressive in its scope and the ways it expands Morrowind’s already dense story or a province enmeshed in political and spiritual turmoil. The mod more or less replicates the leveling experience of the base game, meaning it’s leveled around the same pace, rather than being intended to take place after the main campaign.

Still, given how much there is in the mod, making your way to Grasping Fortune could take some time for anyone starting fresh, especially if you’re not accustomed to the wild idiosyncrasies of Morrowind itself. Despite that, I’m more tempted than I’ve ever been to try out Tamriel Rebuilt again, if only to see if Narsis really does stack up to its gorgeous first impression. There’s still plenty of time to explore before The Elder Scrolls VI ever sees the light of day, anyway.