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]

Some very neat ideas!

I can add in The Bounty Hunter. Skyrim makes this real easy, as you can get bounties from the steward at your local Jarl's house, and even from inns sometimes. Your character can simply go from bounty to bounty, hunting down wanted criminals. You might stick to one area, or drift across the province.

I created my Animal Friend and Nature Summoning mods to make a Witch (what old school D&D types would call a Druid) character possible. Although I realize that folks like Saga on the consoles have to make due without mods. With them however, you can be a guardian of the wilderness, living in peace with the natural animals, and even being able to call upon them to fight on your behalf. Alchemy would likely be a large part of such a character's repertoire. They might make regular trips to a local town to sell their potions in return for whatever supplies they might need. The only problem here is that you need someplace with an alchemy table, like the Alchemist's Shack in the Rift.

So far Primrose has been a combination of these two.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 5 2012, 05:12 AM

[Grits]

Some very neat ideas!

I can add in The Bounty Hunter. Skyrim makes this real easy, as you can get bounties from the steward at your local Jarl's house, and even from inns sometimes. Your character can simply go from bounty to bounty, hunting down wanted criminals. You might stick to one area, or drift across the province.

This is a good one. I played a Bosmer archer bounty hunter for a while (Selador). He and Faendal lived in Riverwood and just did Jarl work that they picked up in taverns. It was fun and a very easy role to play, but the character didn’t really develop. Or rather, my other characters demanded to be played more loudly.

I need to learn more about Skyrim Orsimer culture for my two axes orc dude. I know that anyone could just drift across the border, but to me that feels like a waste of lore. Ditto the Redguard blademaster/soldier that liliandra described. That sounds like a great idea, I’m just missing the background Redguard culture. For me, I already have a duel axe wielding Khajiit and an Imperial whirling dervish with two swords, so it will probably be years before I get to new versions of them. If ever. Of course, playing dead-is-dead would hasten the process. (Kidding! Put down the axe, J’Shanji.)

A character that I loved from Oblivion is an Altmer ranger. SubRosa’s animal friends mod would be perfect for a mystical character, or a regular character (who lives on a console) could live in harmony with the animals the way the other animals do. (By killing and eating them when necessary.) I love that the Skyrim bears don’t always attack you. The thing I wanted most for my Oblivion ranger was a summoned bear. This is how Jensa started out, as a Nord archer/alchemist with some illusion magic. Then she picked up a greatsword, and it was barbarian time.


Map wise, I used the paper one until I got a decent idea where the different mountains and passes were. I still get characters lost around Falkreath and when it’s foggy, but then a check of the in-game map represents a solid sense of direction. I really don’t have a problem using the compass, but I also must admit that my immersion is pretty sturdy. The blood splatter is the thing that annoys me the most.

[SubRosa]

I need to learn more about Skyrim Orsimer culture for my two axes orc dude.

The town orcs are the same as town orcs in Oblivion. Basically they follow the same culture as the general population. The orcs from the strongholds are very different though. Each stronghold is ruled by a Chieftain, who is the alpha male in all respects. He is the only one who can have sex with the women, and my understanding is that every female orc amounts to his harem. Except for the shaman/priestess of Malacath, who is a female mage, and seems to be some kind of counter point to the Chief.

I think they got the idea from lion prides, but I cannot see it working. With lions, the alpha males (usually one or two) are the only males in the pride. They drive out all the others. But there are lots of males in the strongholds. Trying to stop them all from screwing would result in a never-ending chain of dead Chiefs. Although I suppose that would eventually result in only one adult male left in the entire stronghold. But with all their warriors dead from fighting over poon rights, it would make the entire stronghold easy prey for bandits and other outsiders.

So imagine they would be different. My Scylla was a Orsinium orc, so she followed Trinimac, and did not think much of the whole tribal nonsense. Especially not of the strongholds worshiping Malacath. To her mind, they were a bunch of backwards hicks.

A character that I loved from Oblivion is an Altmer ranger. SubRosa’s animal friends mod would be perfect for a mystical character, or a regular character (who lives on a console) could live in harmony with the animals the way the other animals do. (By killing and eating them when necessary.) I love that the Skyrim bears don’t always attack you. The thing I wanted most for my Oblivion ranger was a summoned bear. This is how Jensa started out, as a Nord archer/alchemist with some illusion magic. Then she picked up a greatsword, and it was barbarian time.

You have the PC version of Oblivion right? Download my Witchcraft mod and the animals will be friendly, and summonable. Including Bears of course.