Question 1

What is Mereth?

Accepted Answer

A serious roleplay Skyrim server running on SkyMP, built by a team with years of experience in FiveM and RedM. Everyone is in the same province at the same time, on a shared world clock, playing characters rather than the Dragonborn. The systems underneath it exist to give those characters something to be about.

Question 2

Who is it for?

Accepted Answer

Anyone willing to play a character properly, whether you have thousands of hours in Skyrim or have never opened it. Mereth is an **18+ community** and the standard is serious roleplay: stay in character, think about consequences, and treat what happens to your character as though it happened.

Question 3

What do I need to own and install?

Accepted Answer

Skyrim Special Edition on PC, and our launcher. That is the whole list. The launcher reads the live manifest and installs everything else, the script extender and the full mod list, in a fixed order, then checks your files against the server before you connect. **Do not assemble the list by hand**, and do not update mods yourself: a newer version of the right mod fails exactly like a missing one.

Question 4

How do I log in?

Accepted Answer

Through Discord, not a username and password. Your Discord account is your account, so membership of our Discord is the gate. The client will also refuse a ban, an expired session, an expired token, or a login from a different IP.

Question 5

Is AI-written roleplay allowed?

Accepted Answer

No. Rule **SRP.3** forbids it in any form, and roles, factions and whitelist applications require original backstories written by you. Write your own character.

Question 6

When is this set?

Accepted Answer

4E 185, ten years after the White-Gold Concordat ended the Great War between the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion. This is an **alternate timeline** from Skyrim: named characters from the post-war period are removed and replaced by players.

Question 7

What is the situation?

Accepted Answer

Skyrim is at peace and increasingly divided. Imperial banners still fly, taxes are still collected in the Emperor's name, and the Moot still recognises a High King. Beneath that, trust in Imperial authority is rotting: the Thalmor gained their foothold in 4E 176, the Embassy enforces the ban on Talos worship, and the Reach has not healed since the Forsworn Uprising. You are meant to play inside that tension rather than around it.

Question 8

Can I play a character from Elder Scrolls lore?

Accepted Answer

No. You may see familiar names, especially clans, but copy-paste characters from the games or the lore are not played here. You can aim to recreate similar events, or fill that role in Mereth's own timeline.

Question 9

Why does everyone say magic feels different here?

Accepted Answer

The rules are the same, the look is not. We lean Skyrim's magic back towards its old Nordic roots, called Clevercraft: the magic of shamans, totems and fires rather than robed wizards in towers. A Nord mage here is far more likely to be a village wise woman than a College academic, and it is worth playing that way.

Question 10

Which races can I play?

Accepted Answer

The ten playable races of Tamriel. Race is a real roleplay constraint here rather than a stat block: a Dunmer in Windhelm and an Altmer anywhere under Imperial law are both walking into a situation ten years after a war the Dominion won.

Question 11

When does the civil war start?

Accepted Answer

**No answer yet.** It is asked constantly and it does not have a decided answer, so this entry stays here until it does rather than being filled with a guess.

Question 12

How does the skill system work?

Accepted Answer

You get **18 memory points** at character creation and spend them to set the highest tier each skill can ever reach. They are not levels you grind toward: the rank you choose is a ceiling. Choose carefully, because these choices define who your character is.

Question 13

What does each tier cost?

Accepted Answer

Novice 1 point, Apprentice 2, Adept 3, Expert 5, Master 8. Eighteen does not go far when Master alone costs 8, so plan the build before you sit down. The [planner](/skills) does the arithmetic and will not let you overspend.

Question 14

Where do I allocate?

Accepted Answer

In the starting room, or at any temple in the province.

Question 15

Can I earn more memory points?

Accepted Answer

Yes. At the end of every month you may submit clips of your character **learning a skill in roleplay** through a ticket, and earn a point to allocate. Points come from playing the learning, not from grinding the skill.

Question 16

How many levels are in a tier?

Accepted Answer

Nineteen. Reaching the twentieth advances you to the next tier if your cap allows it. A cap buys the ceiling; experience carries you up to it.

Question 17

What happens if I remove a memory point later?

Accepted Answer

You lose the experience for the tier you dropped out of, though only if you had any in it.

Question 18

How do I gain experience?

Accepted Answer

By using the skills you have locked in. Nothing else counts, and some actions refuse outright without the skill assigned.

Question 19

What is diminishing returns?

Accepted Answer

It used to mean that the tenth mudcrab was worth less than the first. **That was removed from combat experience in 0.72.34**, along with most of the per-target cooldown, which is now one second. Kills pay what they pay. Note the wording: the change names combat, and nothing has been published about gathering or crafting either way, so treat a long session on one ore vein as untested rather than as safe.

Question 20

What is the purple bar?

Accepted Answer

Energy. Activity spends it, sitting refills it and an inn refills it faster. At zero the bar turns to grey stripes and the client calls you Exhausted. Nothing refills while you are hungry or thirsty. [Full detail here.](/survival#exhaustion)

Question 21

What are the attribute points I keep being given?

Accepted Answer

The eight Elder Scrolls attributes came back in September as a spendable pool. They are what your health, magicka, stamina and carry are actually calculated from, now that the per-level health bonus is gone, and every five points above 50 in a relevant attribute is worth about a skill level. **You spend them at a temple**, the same place you set your skill plan, and you can reset them there too at the cost of a cooldown. [The formulas and what each one governs.](/progression#attributes)

Question 22

Should I dump Luck to afford something else?

Accepted Answer

No. You may push any attribute up to five below your racial base to fund another, and Luck is the one place that genuinely bites: **below 50 it works against you**, with thinner yields, more failures and worse finds. It is a tax on every gathering and crafting roll for the life of the character.

Question 23

Can I reach Legendary?

Accepted Answer

Legendary is level 100 and cannot be bought with memory points at all. A plan caps at Master. Legendary is what happens at the very top of a Master skill, not a tier to plan for.

Question 24

Do perks work differently?

Accepted Answer

Perks unlock every ten levels on skills that grant them, halved from every twenty at the end of July.

Question 25

Combat feels completely different from when I last played. What happened?

Accepted Answer

It was rebuilt. **0.70.21 on 28 August** brought in Valhalla Combat, TK Dodge and Improved Camera together, and the fortnight after added poise, crowd control with diminishing returns, stances, a dual wield block and a target lock that stays locked. Timed blocks turn a blow, you dodge by double tapping a direction, and stamina rather than health is what decides a fight. [The whole of it, explained.](/combat)

Question 26

How do I dodge?

Accepted Answer

**Double tap a direction key**, and it has to be the same key twice. On a controller it is a double tap of the stick or your bound d-pad movement. If you tried it in late August and it never worked, two fixes since then made it reliable.

Question 27

Why do I suddenly have a body in first person?

Accepted Answer

Improved Camera, which shipped with the combat rebuild. You now have arms, a chest and the third person animations playing on them, leaning included. Nothing is broken.

Question 28

What is the second bar under my health?

Accepted Answer

Poise. Everything that would stagger you drains it, and you are only actually staggered when it reaches zero. It is what ended stun locking, and TrueHUD shows it the moment it starts dropping.

Question 29

Why can I barely hurt anything with this sword?

Accepted Answer

Almost always because that weapon's specialisation is not on your plan. **Combat skills feed the damage formula**, tied in back in 0.31.0, so an untrained character swings like one. Check your plan before you report a bug.

Question 30

Why is that a rule rather than a penalty?

Accepted Answer

To keep civilians civilian, to give a reason to roleplay clumsiness with a weapon your character never trained on, and to make specialists actually feel like specialists. A swordsman should look like a swordsman and an archer like an archer.

Question 31

How good is my character with a weapon at each tier?

Accepted Answer

There is no table, and that is deliberate. The tier text for weapons is written as description rather than numbers, because **a fighter's reputation is meant to be earned in front of other people**. If you want to know whether someone is better than you with a blade, the answer is a duel, a spar or a witness. [More on what is published and what is not.](/progression#foic)

Question 32

Does armour matter much?

Accepted Answer

More than it used to. Damage mitigation was reworked in August and armour became roughly ten times more effective, so a build that dodged damage rather than absorbing it changed underneath its owner.

Question 33

Does my gear wear out?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Durability and tempering are both modelled, so equipment degrades and needs a smith or a grindstone. Budget for repairs the way you budget for food.

Question 34

Is crafting one skill?

Accepted Answer

No. It is split into separate skills rather than one umbrella smithing stat. A blacksmith might hold any combination of Weapon Smithing, Armor Smithing, Carpentry and Leatherworking.

Question 35

Why does that matter?

Accepted Answer

Because craftsmen end up genuinely uneven. The town swordsmith may be a Master of weapons and only an Adept at armour, so anyone wanting quality work has to find a master of that specific craft. Finding the best leatherworker in the hold becomes its own quest, and that quest is the economy.

Question 36

What should I make first?

Accepted Answer

Carry capacity. A 200 carry weight chest comes off the carpentry bench at level 5 and needs materials from several professions; a 50 carry weight satchel comes from leatherworking at 5 for less. Both are worth more as trade goods than most weapons.

Question 37

Which gathering professions exist?

Accepted Answer

Mining, fishing, saltmaking, hunting, herbalism, woodcutting, farming and beekeeping, each with its own nodes around the province. Unlike weapons, **gathering tiers name exactly what opens up**: the ore, the bait, the salt. [Read the tier text](/skills) before you commit a point.

Question 38

How do I learn a spell?

Accepted Answer

Two ways, and both take time. **Read a tome**, found in the world, bought from a shop or handed to you, or **be taught by a whitelisted Teacher** who takes you on as an apprentice. Either way the spell enters your grimoire as a timer and you wait it out.

Question 39

What do I need before any of that works?

Accepted Answer

A rank in the school, bought with a memory point, because that is what lets you learn its spells at all. **Spellcasting** is the separate skill that sets your maximum magicka. On day one take the **Mystic** kit from `/kit`: it comes with robes and a Candlelight tome, and you need **at least one point in Alteration** to read that tome.

Question 40

How do I get my first spell without a teacher?

Accepted Answer

A tome. The Mystic starter kit ships one, and after that they are found in the world, bought from shops and traded between players. A Hold's Court Wizard is still the usual route to a proper apprenticeship, and you need at least one spell already before the College of Winterhold will take you.

Question 41

How long does a spell take to learn?

Accepted Answer

Seven days for a Novice spell, and a week more for each tier above it: 14 for Apprentice, 21 for Adept, 28 for Expert, 35 for Master. Every use of a Teacher's Teach interaction on a study already running takes **one day** off. The table is on the [magic page](/magic).

Question 42

Can I learn two spells at once?

Accepted Answer

No. A mage studies **one spell at a time**, and starting a second while the first is running fails rather than queueing.

Question 43

How many spells can I know?

Accepted Answer

As many as **50 spell points** will hold. A spell costs what the matching skill rank costs in memory points: 1 for Novice, 2 Apprentice, 3 Adept, 5 Expert, 8 Master. The only published route to more is [becoming a Teacher](/teaching), though holding the court mage rank in a holdstone grants another 50 while you hold it.

Question 44

Where is my grimoire?

Accepted Answer

`F8`. It lists what you know and what you are still learning, with the time left on each, and a spell you have finished learning can be unlearned from there.

Question 45

Does unlearning a spell give the points back?

Accepted Answer

We have not published an answer to that one. The grimoire lets you unlearn a spell once it is learned, but whether the points return to your pool is not something written down anywhere we can point you at, so ask in a ticket rather than plan around a guess.

Question 46

Who is allowed to teach me?

Accepted Answer

A **whitelisted Teacher**, and nobody else. Knowing a spell is not the same as being able to pass it on: the Teach interaction only exists for players who have been through the application, the interview and the mock lesson. One Teacher holds at most three apprentices, can teach them as far as Adept, and may teach one other person a week. [What the role demands](/teaching).

Question 47

Can a Teacher take me past Adept?

Accepted Answer

Not on their own. **Adept is the ceiling for an apprenticeship**: anything beyond it means a place at the College of Winterhold, or approval from staff for advanced learning outside it.

Question 48

How do I become a Teacher?

Accepted Answer

Reach Master level in a school, learn 40 spell points' worth of spells, keep a clean record, then open a ticket asking for a Teacher Whitelist Application. It runs in three stages: a written application, a voice interview, and a mock lesson taught in game. A denial means waiting a month before trying again, or three months after any denial that follows. [The whole process](/teaching).

Question 49

What does the College of Winterhold teach?

Accepted Answer

Three semesters of formal instruction, priced increasingly: Novice, Apprentice, Adept. To advance past Adept you stay on as a researcher or a professor's assistant rather than as an ordinary student.

Question 50

Where do spellbooks come from?

Accepted Answer

The College library, effectively unlimited for students. A Court Wizard's limited starting selection. The East Empire Company, for purchase. And adventuring: spellbooks are placed randomly in dungeons on a bi-monthly cycle.

Question 51

Can a magical organisation outside the College teach?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and the number of such organisations is limited. They have no spellbook access by default: the head may be a Master Wizard and may teach apprentices, but every book has to be acquired through roleplay.

Question 52

What tier is a given spell, and where is the list?

Accepted Answer

Every spell carries its own tier, from Novice to Master, and the full list is on the [magic page](/magic) filterable by school and by tier. That tier is read from the spell itself rather than estimated.

Question 53

What kinds of spells will I see?

Accepted Answer

Mostly utility. Magelight, Candlelight, Detect Life, Detect Dead and the like. Every school is being redone around roleplay-friendly spells rather than raw combat power. Expect tools, not just weapons.

Question 54

Who handles healing?

Accepted Answer

Priests. Temple priests hold Master Restoration, are authorised to teach disciples, and serve as Mereth's doctors. If you need healing, find a temple, or a faction like the Vigilants of Stendarr.

Question 55

Can I play a mage from the start?

Accepted Answer

You can start on the road to one. The Mystic kit gives you robes and a Candlelight tome on day one, and five days later you know Candlelight. What you cannot do is arrive with a trained mage's repertoire because your backstory says so: **the spells are earned the way everyone else earns them.** Play the history with `/mes` and let the grimoire catch up.

Question 56

Can I train a magic skill by casting the same spell over and over?

Accepted Answer

Not without roleplay attached to it. Magic skills climb by casting, which makes them the easiest thing here to grind by accident, so train somewhere it makes sense, train with somebody where you can, and make the fumbling part of the scene. Standing silent in a tavern casting the same spell at nothing is powergaming and is treated as such.

Question 57

Is magic legal everywhere?

Accepted Answer

No, and this catches people out. **Every hold sets its own magical law.** What is fine in Winterhold may not be in Markarth, Windhelm or Solitude. Check which spells are legal where you are, whether teaching requires a licence, and any local restriction on Conjuration, Destruction or Illusion. Ignorance is not a defence in any Jarl's court.

Question 58

How do I become a Jarl?

Accepted Answer

**In character, or not at all.** There is no application and no form: every seat is held, and one changes hands only at a Moot, where the court's own thanes and members choose from among their own ranks. So the route is the long one. Pledge to a hold, earn a place in its court, and be somebody those people would agree on. The role still demands depth, dedication and a voice you can hold a court with; it is simply judged by the hold rather than by staff.

Question 59

Can I become a Jarl as a non-Nord?

Accepted Answer

No. Jarls in Mereth are limited to Nords. We are roleplaying the province of Skyrim and immersion is the methodology. The Jarls of Skyrim are Nords, full stop.

Question 60

Can I lead a rebellion and take over a hold?

Accepted Answer

Short answer, yes. Long answer, no. By seizing a hold you bypass the sacred tradition of a Moot. You will be regarded as an Usurper by all other Jarls, they will eventually move to retake the hold, and when that day comes your character will be executed. **You may sit the throne for a time. You will not keep it.**

Question 61

What happens if a Jarl dies?

Accepted Answer

The court convenes a Moot. All thanes, sword-thanes, shield-thanes and court members select the next leader from among their own ranks, and **the vote must be unanimous**. If the court is divided the Moot continues until consensus is reached. No shortcut, no majority rule, no tiebreaker.

Question 62

Can I challenge a Jarl for the throne?

Accepted Answer

Not for the throne itself. You may challenge a Jarl to an honour duel with a relevant and meaningful roleplay reason, and "I want control" is not one. Most Nords will accept on honour alone, but acceptance is not guaranteed. Defeating a Jarl in a duel does not make you the next Jarl: a Moot must still be held.

Question 63

How many people can be in my organisation?

Accepted Answer

Lore factions cap at 25; houses, Orc strongholds and clans at 12; mercenary guilds, organisations, knightly orders and bandit factions at 10; Khajiit caravans at 6. Every organisation gets two businesses and one headquarters, and **you may only belong to one organisation at a time**. [The full organisation rules.](/factions)

Question 64

How do I own a house or a shop?

Accepted Answer

Through parcels. A hold divides into named parcels that jarls and stewards grant to citizens, each with an access mode, an optional minimum rank, and keys. Doors and containers bind to a parcel as fixtures.

Questions

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