Aurbis is a mod that turns The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into a shared, persistent online roleplaying server, and it is running now as an invite-only open beta. PC Gamer describes it as an MMO in all but name, built around the idea that what players do stays in the world.
The project’s own site calls Aurbis a text-based, heavy-roleplay multiplayer server and a roleplay province of Tamriel. Its ModDB page, as quoted by PC Gamer, promises “a persistent world where player actions create lasting consequences.”
What is Aurbis, exactly?
It is a community-run server rather than a patch for single-player. You install a custom launcher, load a session key, pick a character and join other players in the same Skyrim world.
Roleplay is the focus, but PC Gamer reports that the creators treat it as optional. Players can also chase cooperative dungeon runs or PvP.
What changes compared with normal Skyrim?
Quite a lot, according to PC Gamer and the project site.
- Slow growth: characters develop over time instead of becoming powerful at once, and your Birthsign affects how efficiently skills improve.
- Player economy: crafting professions feed an economy with bank accounts, property ownership and player-made quests.
- Cohorts: clans, houses, warbands, guilds and cults that petition for recognition, with factions forming from groups of cohorts.
- Death: the site lists a 60-second countdown with a lootable corpse, then the Halls of the Dead, or a temple sanctuary for those who are blessed.
- Languages and literacy: ten tongues exist, and how much you understand depends on what you have learned. Books and scribed works are carried as real items.
- Politics and law: the High Kingship is contested at a Moot, and crime, bounties and guards are part of the system.
PC Gamer also mentions more detailed survival systems, horse management and the option to start as a vampire or a werewolf.
How do you join the beta?
You need an invite code or an existing session key, then you follow three steps on the beta page. Verify access, generate and keep your session key, then download the desktop launcher, point it at your Skyrim folder and press launch.
The session key is your account and holds your characters, up to 6 per session. The page warns that losing the key means losing the characters.
What do you need to run it?
A Steam copy of Skyrim Special Edition or Anniversary Edition. The Anniversary Edition must be downgraded to runtime 1.6.1170, and the project publishes a guide for that step. The launcher downloads and keeps the required mods up to date, so manual setup is optional, and a full modpack page exists for those who want it.
Prices
None of the sources we read lists a price, subscription or fee for Aurbis. The beta page does not mention one, and neither does PC Gamer. You still need your own copy of Skyrim, and no price for that is given in the sources either, so check the Steam store listing for your region.
Who it suits
Roleplayers are the clear audience. Cohorts, languages, literacy, a shared clock and a political system give them tools that single-player Skyrim never had.
Players who like MMO structure may enjoy the crafting trades, the player economy and the death penalty, which make choices carry weight.
Cooperative and PvP fans are covered too, since the creators say roleplay is optional, though the heavy focus on roleplay will shape the community you meet.
Players who want a quick drop in session may find it demanding. Access needs an invite, a downgrade of the game and a launcher, and the setup is more involved than installing a normal mod.
What is still unknown?
The sources do not say how many invites exist, whether the beta will open wider, or when a full release is planned. Pricing, long-term server rules and how the world will hold up with many more players than the current count are also unstated. Read the beta page and the rules page on the Aurbis site before you start, and check back for updates.
