Skyrim Roleplay Ideas Options

[Lady Saga]

Hey all. It's Lady Saga, and today I'd like to talk about some Skyrim roleplay ideas I've come up with over the last few months. I got the game at midnite on 11/11/11. So I've come up with quite a few.

There are far more ideas than I've had time to implement of course, which is okay because I know I'm gonna be playing this game for years anyways. Some of these characters would never work in Oblivion, especially since I'm playing the vanilla game (I'm on PS3).

Feel free to share your own Skyrim roleplay ideas.

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The Bandit:
This one will be a male, either a Redguard or a cat-person. I've never played a Khajiit, so it's possible my bandit will be a cat-person. With the bandit, I'm planning to simply travel the roads for awhile (after raiding Riverwood, which is not heavily guarded). The bandit uses no magic...none. Only simple armors and weapons, bows, etc. He'll know about ingredients, but not how to make potions. He's not that bright.

The bandit will travel the road until he finds some sort of an encampment he can take over by the side of a busy road, possibly inhabited by other bandits. He will take this encampment over and live there as long as it seeems fruitful. During his time here, he will simply sit and watch. He will wait for travelers to drift by. Those travellers which seem weak? He attacks them! Guards and such will be avoided if possible, although perhaps an eventual bounty might change this.

He will be very much like a medieval bandit, in other words, who waits by the road in ambush.

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The Cleric:
I've already made a cleric. Clerics often were played as support characters during the great Dungeons & Dragons days (before videogames took over the genre). They are not usually in the midst of battle. their role was often on the sidelines: healing up the fighters, keeping them alive as they fought monsters head-on.

In Skyrim the cleric is still somewhat of a support character, I've noticed, but he or she can wind up fighting enemies head-on as well. Claire Voyance (Breton, currently Level 28) hooked up with Brelyna at the Mage's Guild College. I was originally trying to play Claire Voyance as Restoration, Illusion, and Alteration-only, but she eventually had to take on some Conjuration as well.

Brelyna usually took the role of the magic-user during battle, with lots of Magika to spend. Both Brel and Claire could cast Summon Fire Atronach, so both usually did so. After this, Claire would be free to support Brelyna at times, healing her up, and casting certain helpful spells as well.

But the Cleric isn't as specific as it was in DnD, where we could make large parties of PC's, each character playing a specific role. Eventually, the Cleric must also become part-fighter and magic-user as well.

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This is the third and final RP idea I'm going to present, as it's already 6:10 pm and I need to get dinner started.


The Paper map
When I first got Skyrim, I opened the box, and then purposely made myself not look at the big, tan-colored map. I didnt' want any spoilers. I didn't even look at the 3d in-game world map. I didn't really need to, since me and my first 2 characters mostly spent all our time in the Riverwood/Whiterun area. I spent a LOT of time in this area folks!

But at some point during my 2nd character's existence (Thor a'Zaene the mercenary fighter I mentioned earlier), I figured it's possible Thor could have a paper map. Then the idea was born. Why yes! He has a paper map. He can look at it in any time. It'll be hard as heck to find locations during future quests, but I like a challenge! I need challenges! Can it even be done? Can we use only the paper map and find our way around?

Turns out, it is possible, but very very hard. I eventually decided that as long as Thor is in a town, he's allowd to look at a "better" map than the paper one. If he's in a town, I therefore will look at the 3D map. I'll look at the area where the next quest marker is, and I'll try to mark its location with a pencil on the paper map. You have to use pencil.

Once he's out of town, I'm no longer looking at the 3D map, only the paper one. There's an X on it, jsut as if he's got it marked by somebody in town, and now this map is tucked away in his backpack or something. I keep reminding myself I need to find a place that'll copy the paper map, this way I'm not always putting X's on it!

I personally feel it's far more immersive this way. I have a theory Bethesda actually included the paper map for roleplay purposes, for those of us who are hardcore enough to try it! I've tried it and it's challenging, but for those who persist, it's a good way to really get into the game.

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Pasta's boiling...here's one more idea.


The Scout
The Scout is another idea which stemmed from the map one. The scout (the way I'll eventually play him) will only ride his horse through rough territory. He will not do any dungeon diving. Instead, he will be a support character to other characters I'm gonna make in the future: especially dead-is-dead types.

My Scout will be an American Indian looking character to start, but looks aren't really that important. Neither is race. Here's how The Scout works.

Let's say I've got a character who's supposed to go on a quest in some remote, uncharted location. We'll call him Character #1. The Scout will go there first. He'll ride a horse (gotta have a horse), and get a feel for the terrain and any enemies which are about. As he travels, I'll be using the paper map idea, taking notes as we go.

Let's say the location he's needing to scout is a fort. He eventually gets there, sees what enemies are about, and immediately leaves. He may be detected....that's okay. As long as he escapes and can make a note of it, he's done his job.

After The Scout returns to wherever he was last camped at, Character #1 now has the information he or she needs to advance into that fort, or not advance into it. It's my way of keeping my dead-is-dead characters alive, like I said.

I'm also picturing the Scout as being someone who's able to hunt and live off the land. There's lots more harmless wildlife in vanilla Skyrim (compared to Oblivion) and The Scout will be able to live off of this. He'll definitely carry a bow and a daggar.


Stay tuned for another idea I've had: The Witch!

[SubRosa]

Using the mod I created you can buy Breezehome without dragons. Without mods you cannnot. But even without mods you can still become thane of any other hold and buy the house there without triggering the dragons.

[Lady Saga]

Using the mod I created you can buy Breezehome without dragons. Without mods you cannnot. But even without mods you can still become thane of any other hold and buy the house there without triggering the dragons.

Yaah! I can buy a house! Beth can buy a house! Yahhh! I'm like dancing right now ha ha....

[Darkness Eternal]

Wait, is this about buying houses in the RP?

I agree with no dragons. I only played the main quest to get my trophies because a friend bragged he had more trophies than me. Other than that, four of my five characters are not dragonborn..

[Fawkes]

Sooooo what you're saying SubRosa is I can get a house? Just not the Whiterun one? Or can I just not buy a house, period?

Riften, Markath, and Solitude are the houses that you can get without spawning dragons.
That and if the person you marry has a house.

I only spawned Dragons twice, one to finish the main quest, and another to finish the Imperial Civil war Quest line.

This post has been edited by Fawkes: Mar 8 2012, 05:45 AM

[King Coin]

I have yet to finish the main quest. I was pretty close once from what I gather. I haven't touched the DB or the TG. I don't care for evil characters. I'll have to create throw away characters for those quests. Maybe DiD.

This post has been edited by King Coin: Mar 8 2012, 06:17 AM

[Lady Saga]

Cool that rocks, everyone. If this were 3 or 4 months ago I would have been crying spoiler! But that's a spoiler I don't mind getting.

King Coin: that's not a bad idea: making your evil character DiD. you might still wind up getting attached to 'em though. During character creation, perhaps you can choose your least favorite race, and don't spend any time making the character look to your liking.

My very first character Blade 'n' Bone was dead is dead. I knew he wouldn't last long, but I just wanted to learn the game a bit, get into the game for a little while and just see how things work. What I did with him (so I wouldn't get attached to him) is I used the default Nord face. No character creation at all!

He only lasted until 11/13/11. When he died, I did get a little upset, I pretty much always do.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Mar 8 2012, 01:24 PM

[Darkness Eternal]

So when do we get to roleplay?

[King Coin]

DiD for my evil character might backfire on me like you pointed out. It will definitely make their life more intense and I might get too attached just because of that.

@Darkness Eternal: I don't think this is a thread like what you are thinking. It would be in the RP section if it was.

This post has been edited by King Coin: Mar 8 2012, 10:56 PM

[Lady Saga]

What's your least favorite race, Coin? Or do you have a least fave?

[King Coin]

Probably orcs. I've never had an orc before. An orc thief or assassin? That's pretty funny.

[Lady Saga]

Probably orcs. I've never had an orc before. An orc thief or assassin? That's pretty funny.

Do it!

[McBadgere]

I haven't touched the DB or the TG. I don't care for evil characters.

The daughter made a character simply to do both those...Amie Durer (A murderer)...She was ace...And she did a load of Daedric quests too...She seemed to have a blast...But could I get my head around it?...Nope...I cannot even start those...I killed the DB and haven't been anywhere near the TG other than the section in the MQ where you have to...

My son made an Orc character...He was cool, he had luminous blue hair!...The Orc, not the boy ...But then the boy stopped playing him... ...

I made my Argonian character, J'Drell as a laugh, and some other way of playing...He was all about speechcraft and going into dungeons and "Blundering" his way through them and spending the money on cheese...No, really... ...

Aaand then, as he kept levelling up, I realised how fond of him I was getting, and suddenly he was full-on Knight and then I got him a complete enhanced glass armour set and made him Green Lantern of Cyrodiil...And he is genuinely the best character I've had on Oblivion...

I remade him for RP purposes on Skyrim, but haven't done much with him so far...Been too busy with the other Knights...

[King Coin]

...and haven't been anywhere near the TG other than the section in the MQ where you have to...

You don't have to, my character wasn't interested in stealing something for that guy, so she walked away. It turns out the innkeeper can direct you in the right direction.

[Grits]

I’m keeping my thief character (Allek the Breton) until he’s gone through his questlines, just so I can see what they’re about. He won’t be dead-is-dead because I don’t want to go back over ground that doesn’t interest me so much. Though the threat might actually make it interesting. Hmm…

The Boy made a bulked-up Nord character with a huge beard for his assassin. It’s hilarious. He’s having a blast.

[King Coin]

I’m keeping my thief character (Allek the Breton) until he’s gone through his questlines, just so I can see what they’re about. He won’t be dead-is-dead because I don’t want to go back over ground that doesn’t interest me so much. Though the threat might actually make it interesting. Hmm…

The Boy made a bulked-up Nord character with a huge beard for his assassin. It’s hilarious. He’s having a blast.

I was going to do something similar for an orc thief.

[McBadgere]

You don't have to, my character wasn't interested in stealing something for that guy, so she walked away. It turns out the innkeeper can direct you in the right direction.

Ah, sorry mate ...One of the joys of clock-watching on my dinner hour...I should have said I wouldn't go near them except the point where you have to go down the Ratways and through the TG bunch...

I'm pretty sure that up thurr is what I did...I know I never nicked that stuff for Brynjolf...No way...Oooh, maybe I intimidated him, thinking about it?...Olfsson was pretty intimidating at that point... ...

[King Coin]

Ah, sorry mate ...One of the joys of clock-watching on my dinner hour...I should have said I wouldn't go near them except the point where you have to go down the Ratways and through the TG bunch...

I'm pretty sure that up thurr is what I did...I know I never nicked that stuff for Brynjolf...No way...Oooh, maybe I intimidated him, thinking about it?...Olfsson was pretty intimidating at that point... ...

Ah I see what you are saying. My character had to pay a pretty steep bribe after that to someone she was sure was part of the TG. Oh well. She doesn't normally fight anyone that isn't openly hostile so she just paid.

[Lady Saga]

Hey McBadgere cool stories. I like that name: Amie Durer! How cute. how old are your kids? My daugther's just turned 8 and is in first grade now. She has no idea what TES is, and I'm not about to tell her "mommy" plays these games. She just knows I plays Sims once in a while. She gets nightmares, though, so I don't think she's ready for TES.

One day I'll introduce her to TES, and i think I'll definitely start with Oblivion. It's more traditional fairy-talish and probalby willl be easier for her to understand and accept.

I’m keeping my thief character (Allek the Breton) until he’s gone through his questlines, just so I can see what they’re about. He won’t be dead-is-dead because I don’t want to go back over ground that doesn’t interest me so much. Though the threat might actually make it interesting. Hmm…

If you've never done DiD before, you don't wanna start with a character whom you know you're going to do a lot of quests with, or who you've already invested a lot of time with. It's too much pressure if you've never tried this before (I"m assuming you've never tried this before, but correct me if I'm wrong). Instead, try making a character that (at first) doesn't do any quests. Or he or she can just do easier quests, nothing too extensive.

The very challenge of keeping such a character alive as he/she travels from place to place (or whatever) is actually a quest in and of itself in a way! You may find yourself creating strategies you normally wouldn't have thought of, also.


Another thing: I have one rule with DiD. If a character dies because of a game-glitch I'll rule the death unfair. Like if he gets stuck in an area where he should be able to just walk over, but a terrain feature like a small crack in the ground won't let him, and then he dies as he's running in place, that's an unfair death. The death has to be something I could have prevented, without game interference.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Mar 9 2012, 09:16 PM

[McBadgere]

Girl is 13 grumblemuttersnassnfrassnstroppycow *Cough*...And Boy is 11...

We've had Oblivion since...September or October 2010...So however old they were then is when we let them play...There's nothing in the games that the kids can't handle...*Shrug*...The cartoons on The Cartoon Network and stuff are worse than Oblivion...And now we've got Skyrim too...

They're pretty good gamers RPG-wise...Bless them... ...

Have to remind the boy to not spend all his gold on useless enchanting or weapons, but he's good in a fight... ...

He was the first to do Orc or Khajiit in th'house... ...

[Grits]

If you've never done DiD before, you don't wanna start with a character whom you know you're going to do a lot of quests with, or who you've already invested a lot of time with. It's too much pressure if you've never tried this before (I"m assuming you've never tried this before, but correct me if I'm wrong).

I have, but thanks for the advice.