Hi everyone, how's it going? I uh....I know I made a post back in June saying I was interested in going Nord for a Mage character in a fresh restart of Skyrim and maybe Oblivion, but I just couldn't find any fitting names. I also began to reconsider going Nordic, only to find myself thinking of four other races that might prove enjoyable - Breton, Imperial, Dunmer, and Orsimer (you read that correctly....Orcs.), each with their pros and cons to me. So I'm wondering if you all could give me your opinions on which race might be the most enjoyable and interesting choice to make for a Mage-character (Skyrim-era character being a Necromancer, Oblivion-era being a Conjurer of Daedra). So please read the reasons behind each race and tell me which one might be most enjoyable and/or use this poll. Your input might help my indecisive self make a choice. XD

And sorry in advance for the amount of text to come. X.X

Reasons for each race:

-Breton: A classic and obvious choice - a race of magically gifted Men with Elven ancestry seem like a pretty ideal although too obvious a choice. Their lore's interesting, they have natural magicka resistance, and bonuses to their skills can be handy gameplay-wise but these can be overlooked with proper enchantments and leveling in general. In all honesty - long ago I played a Breton Mage character but became uncertain of him after a rather petty yet nerve-wracking (to me) discovery that a Elder Scrolls Online character had a extremely similar last name - which made my very picky character-creating nature gnarl away at me as I grew unsure about a Breton character. If I go Breton, I'd need to find lore-friendly names for one besides what I originally went with. The problem is that a good number of French origin names are either unappealing to me, or some of the ones I actually like the look of are already used in different TES games. I also read a post someone made on another site saying Breton names are regional - so I need to ask if someone says Bretons, are they?

-Imperial: A diverse people, another of Man, and a race full of potential. A Necromancer character for Skyrim that comes from Cyrodiil (for people like me that enjoy creating a backstory for one's characters) is easier to see with the legal nature of Necromancy, the dissolution of the Mages Guild, and according to "Corpse Preparation" from Morrowind, some Necromancers can purchase criminal and traitor corpses legally - and could give them a reason to go to Skyrim with the political nature of the Synod and College of Whispers (who needs politics if you just want to learn arcane secrets?). Just like Bretons though, naming could pose a problem. I'm not sure if I should stick with the traditional Latin naming conventions for an Imperial, or go with names of Italian-origin, seeing as Skyrim brought about these style of names compared to Oblivion and Morrowind. I would also need to read a bit more into the Imperials themselves - including the whole Colovian vs. Nibenean thing.

-Dunmer: Dark Elves are a rather popular race and I'm sure a lot of people may mention House Telvanni and their amazing nature - and I respect that, but please take into consideration the other three races before posting a reply. Now that that's out of the way, a Dark Elf Mage could be enjoyable as well - seeing as they excel at both magic and martial combat and abilities as a race. Having a Dark Elf that breaks the traditions of their people regarding the use of necromancy (using it on Dunmer and non-Dunmer alike) could prove interesting for an evil character, or even a true neutral character that serves himself. And of course they have a rather fascinating lore and culture among their Houses and as a whole. However...I attempted time and time again before I even joined the site to create a Dunmer name - and even if I had a name I rolled with briefly, it just didn't feel right to me in the end. Thankfully, Dunmer names aren't as painful to create as Altmer names (I've given up trying to create an Altmer name unless someone can teach me ), or Bosmer names, but even then they're just real tricky to me.

-Orc/Orsimer: Yes, an Orc Mage/Necromancer/Conjurer... Why, you ask? Well, they're not respected by any of the races - they're looked down upon typically, seeing as barbaric beasts rather than the tragic, cursed Mer they are - victims of Boethiah and the Daedric Prince's influence in creating Malacath out of Trinimac. And yet this race endures hardship head-on - they strive to achieve perfection in whatever path they seek out - be it smithing or combat. Perhaps the same could be said of an Orc that wanted to learn the ways of stealth, or in this case, magic? They have potential in terms of story creation - they could hail from a place like Daggerfall or the Imperial City, be a civilized type of Orc that grew up outside of tradition - or could be the odd Orc out in their Stronghold for being uninterested in training his body and instead was fascinated by books, scrolls, and maybe adventuring Mages/other Magic users that might be wandering outside their Stronghold. Names for Orcs aren't a problem for me - but unlike the other three races I have a slight sense of uncertainty in the idea of playing an Orc Mage in Skyrim, Oblivion, or even Online (I plan to have my Mage choice act as part of a "lineage" concept for my characters, linking them together by a bloodline).

Altmer make the best mages but it's not in the poll so I voted Orc.

Necromancy is an Orsimer tradition in the Elder Scrolls, even if Orsimer make great candidates for experimentation by other Races due to size and Musculature.

I think any old race will do really. After about level 6 the racial abilities become irrelevant anyway.

I would probably go with an Orc out of the choices you gave.

You know there are lore pages with names for each of the races? If you want to go the traditional route that is. It also gives the names of characters from all the TES games ( not online)