Posted in: Bethesda Softworks, Games, Role Playing Games | Tagged: bethesda, d&d, Elder Scrolls, Elsweyre

Bethesda Pulls 'Elder Scrolls' RPG Adventure Amid Plagiarism Accusation

Tuesday afternoon, Bethesda released a pen and paper RPG adventure to promote their upcoming "Elsweyr" expansion for The Elder Scrolls Online.

To Paige Leitman, designer and author (along with Ben Heisler) of the 2016 Dungeons & Dragons adventure, "The Black Road", something looked really familiar about the Elsweyr adventure.  Like, really familiar.

Turns out someone at Bethesda liked "The Black Road" enough to copy it. Not verbatim, but seriously close to it.

Here, take a look for yourself:

There's nothing like the desert to make people feel small and insignificant. In every direction, huge dunes roll across the landscape, and an even bigger sky looms above. The oasis of Vuerthyl is a motley collection of sun-bleached tents in the vast Anauroch desert.

Through various means, it has been arranged that you would meet Azam the caravaneer in the large, Calimshan-styled tent that passes for a tavern here. A pair of tieflings, who seem to be unaffected by the heat, eye approaching visitors warily. The dim interior of the tent is a relief from the bright light and wind, though it's as hot here as anywhere else. The gentle sounds of a stringed instrument fill the air, and the people inside are hunched over food, drink, and conversation. A dragonborn with rust-colored scales greets you, and guides you to a private table. There are a few other adventurers here.

-The Black Road, Dungeons & Dragons 5E Adventure by Leitman and Heisler

Now, take a look at the Bethesda offering for their Elder Scrolls RPG:

Nothing beats the desert to make people feel small and unimportant. In every direction enormous dunes roll across the landscape, and an even larger empty air skies above it [sic]. The oasis on the border between Cyrodiil and Elsweyr is a colorful collection of sun-drenched tents in the vast desert of Elsweyr.

In various ways it is arranged that a group of adventurers would get acquainted with the caravan leader named Kar'reem. His big tent is filled with several Khajiit, which seem unaffected by the heat, they stare at you cautiously. The dim interior of the tent is a relief compared to the bright sunlight from outside, even though it is still as hot inside as out there. The soft sounds of stringed instrument [sic] fill the air, and the people are busy over eating, drinking, and conversation [sic]. An Argonian servant escorts you to an empty table.

-"Elsweyr", from Bethesda Games

That really looks like a classic case of plagiarism, and the folks at Bethesda have taken the offending piece down, pending investigation.

The folks over at Ars Technica did a fantastic deep-dive on this, where you can clearly see how completely the orginal D&D piece had been plundered, even to the point of keeping one of the character names the same!

We'll have more on this story as it develops!

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