Survival Mode R11 configs for Tuxborn 1.2

February 2, 2026 /

Tuxborn 1.2, currently available as a beta to interested players, is dropping official support for Survival Mode. Which, obviously, may be highly disappointing to Survival Mode fans! The reason we’re doing this is because we were seeing strange bugs in our configuration that our head dev, Ouroboros, does not currently have time to investigate. So for now, we’re dropping official support for it.

This will mean that if you want to do a Survival Mode run in Tuxborn 1.2, you’re going to have to modify the load order (a.k.a. “Rule 11”) to include your preferred survival mods. And since I was in fact planning on trying a survival run in Tuxborn 1.2 before I was informed we were dropping support for it, I am now planning on doing a Rule 11 myself. This page is to document some suggested sets of mods for the benefit of any other Tuxborn players who might want to do the same thing.

And since this is a Rule 11 situation, this is why I’m documenting it here on my own site rather than on the official Tuxborn wiki. It will be supported only by me rather than by the full Tuxborn team.

Primary mods used in these configs

Long-time readers of my blog may remember that I tried a Survival Mode run on the Switch, and ultimately found it unsatisfying. This was one of my motivators for getting into modding, in fact! So when I first started learning how to mod, I looked up a bunch of info about what Survival Mode mods were available.

One of the ones that leapt out at me at the time was SunHelm. This bills itself as being lightweight, and it is also highly configurable, which appealed to me on the grounds of being able to keep the parts of Survival Mode that I like, and ditch the parts I don’t.

My configuration is therefore going to feature SunHelm, as well as several patches to make it fit into Tuxborn’s load order better.

I also want to provide support for camping. My reasoning here is as follows:

  1. The AE includes a Camping Creation, but the supplies you can make with this are single-use only. And they are also heavy. If you’re going to tromp around in Skyrim’s coldest areas (and let’s get real here, most of the Skyrim map is in fact cold AF), you’re going to have to have a bunch of Camping Supplies in your inventory to avoid freezing to death. Which will eat up your inventory space fast.
  2. Our load order includes Gore, who comes with custom camping functionality you can take advantage of if you run him as a follower. However, this is only pertinent if you want to run Gore as a follower!
  3. We also have Legacy of the Dragonborn, which also means we have Rains’ Shelter. The Shelter is a great camping option, and IMO it is the best camping option currently available in Tuxborn. However, you also need to know where to find it. You don’t have to run LOTD’s Tools of the Trade quest to get it, it spawns in the world as soon as you start the game. But you still do have to get to it, and this will likely require you to tromp through cold areas. So you still need camping support before you find it.

I will be tracking two different versions of this config. Both of them will use SunHelm as the all-in-one survival and needs mod. To support camping, one config will feature Campsite, and the other one will feature Campfire.

Which config should you use?

Player’s choice. But here are the things I recommend you think about:

  1. How concerned are you about performance? If you’re on the Steam Deck, you may want to favor the Campsite version of this setup, since Campsite is lighter-weight than Campfire.
  2. Since Campfire has a bunch of features that Campsite doesn’t, how interested are you in those extra features?

Campsite basically allows you to buy a tent and use that to pitch a camp in the wild. You can also make a fur tent at any tanning rack. Once you have a tent, you can then use it to a) sleep, b) craft things or chop wood, or c) store stuff. And if you have enough firewood in your inventory, you can use that to make a campfire. So this is in general a lighter-weight camping option and may work better on Steam Decks, or on lower-end PCs.

Campfire packs a bigger punch, and throws in an entire skill tree to use for your camping experience, as well as its own take on tents, making campfires, and such. Since it’s bringing more to the table, this path may work better for players with higher-performance devices or computers.

Players interested in following either of these configs should keep an eye on whichever one interests you.

What I’m doing with SunHelm

Also, here’s this link to cover what I’m doing with SunHelm in particular, which will be relevant to both of the above configs:

What you can expect in each config

For both of the Campfire and Campsite configurations, I’ll provide:

  • A list of suggested patches to include along with SunHelm and the main camping mod
  • Suggested placement in the load order for all involved mods
  • Notes on what personal settings I’m likely to use
  • Options to consider depending on whether or not you want to get hardcore with support for diseases

Keep checking back for updates, I’ll be adding info to these pages as I continue to do my research.

As Angela Highland, Angela is the writer of the Rebels of Adalonia epic fantasy series with Carina Press. As Angela Korra'ti, she writes the Free Court of Seattle urban fantasy series. She's also an amateur musician and devoted fan of Newfoundland and Quebecois traditional music.