so i wanna start a new character and i want him to be either a full mage or a full theif and RP as that but i'm really hung up on which to choose, which to really dedicate myself to and get that good 100-200 hours out of. any suggestions? how different can i expect the gameplay to be? i like the idea of having mastery over all forms of magic and becoming full self-sufficient without even any armor, but at the same time i like the idea of sneaking/archery/light armor and all the RP ideas that go with it. any mages/thiefs care to share some opinions?

thanks!

Play both. I always play more than one character at a time. Personally, I think limiting oneself to only one character is boring.

And how about some hybrids while he is at it?

i have hundreds of hours on various hybrids

I've always had trouble playing Mages in TES because of my own personal limitations, but Thieves I can do and are a lot of fun to play. However, many persons here have no trouble whatsoever with Mages and clearly have great fun with them as well. As suggested above, try both and see how you like them. They can be very different both gameplay wise and role play wise. That's primarily up to you. Limit the Guilds each will want to enter as well as who they interact with and how they accomplish their goals.

Peace, +Petrose

Play hybrids they are the best. Pure mage is the most powerful thing in the game, but thief is a bit harder and more fun to play in my opinion.

I play hybrids. I would not play a character that did not use magic. Therefore, if I was going to play a 'pure' class, it would be a mage.

I suppose it may depend on what you want and how you react to combat. I would find a pure mage much more effective in combat than a thief who was too dumb to cast spells.

My character is a mystic archer. She considers herself an archer first, but if push came to shove, she could survive with magic and no bow. She could not survive with bow and no magic however.

Note that when I refer to pure thief, I am assuming no spells, no enchanted equipment, no potions or poisons; I consider all those things magic. Why would a thief not cast spells? Because he is too dumb or he hates magic, I guess. If he is too dumb, I don't think I would enjoy him. If he hates magic, I imagine that would extend to the trinkets and alchemical products of magic as well.

Personaly, if I had to choose a pure, I'd pick the thief. I always run out of things to do with mage characters. Once you finish the mages guild and get a full spellbook theres not really anything to do that you can't do with other characters. Thieves however can almost always do something. After completeling the thieves guild there are still tons of places to rob. It only ends when you've stolen everything from everywhere. Even then, there are probably more than a few respawns. I find the TG quest to be more fun anyway. To keep it from feeling too much like a warrior type build you could try using bows exlusively. That adds a bit of challenge and bows are just fun anyway.

A full mage can do anything a full thief can do and more IMO.

If you master Illusion and Alteration you're basically a master thief right there. Nobody can catch you with Chameleon 100% and Open Very Hard Lock can get around anything that Security skill would..besides, a full mage can use the Skeleton Key as easily as a thief can.

Part of the fun is a risk of getting caught, one of the scariest things I can do in the game is actually to sneak around and clear out the palaces. No you are not allowed to fight the guards; you can run away and drink an invisibility potion but it does not always work.
I have a screenshot where I had cleared out the imperial library of books just for fun. Was not able to pickpocket all the unique books.

Problem with mages is that is to easy to make an overpowered mage, only serious problem I had as a pure mage was the top level flesh golems in SI, they have high chance of reflect, high magic resistance and was immune to poison.

Sure, from a technical standpoint a mage can fit pretty much any mold but I was taking RPing into consideration as well. Zaria said pretty much everything else that was on my mind. And as my own little bit of advice/oppinion, I would recomend against getting the skeleton key. It takes all of the challenge, thus any level of immertion, out of lock picking.

What it seems to be coming down to is this:
Do you want to be an all powerful wizard or do you want to be challenged by life as a wiley thief.

I agrre, partly - a Thief shouldn't use magic, but I wouldn't think that he's too dumb to put on a piece of enchanted gear. Maybe he doesn't know what it does or its enchanted as im guessing it doesnt say on the armour *This is Enchanted*, but to say that the Thief wouldn't use it at all, bah .

Just started a Warrior who keeps well away from magic and is very weary of magical objects, pretty fun as its hard ^^

I like to win

Don't get me wrong. I've played pure or mostly stealth before. My last character was an Argonian in light armor with marksman, who used a little magic along. Was a really fun play through. Mastered the stealth guilds. But like you said it's more of a challenge than doing the same quests with a powerful wizard.

actually that reminds me, doesn't the Oblivion class "Thief" have Illusion bundled into it?

No. The Thief premade class has all Stealth skills. Illusion is under the Magic specialization.

I'm roleplaying a pure thief at the moment - that means no combat with anything bigger than a mudcrab, no fighting guards (the exception being using "Lover's Kiss" to paralyze them) and very little magic (I use small scale Charm and such, but that's it). Anything that attacks me, I usually run away from. Preferably try and avoid combat altogether, even though on normal difficulty I would generally be pretty capable of killing larger enemies like Bandits. I roleplay that she's scared senseless. Which, to be honest, if I saw a Khajit ambling over with a Battle Axe, and I was a girl with a Shortsword, I probably would be too.

I do theivery in all situations. I steal food and drink for meals wherever possible, try to sleep in areas where you don't have to pay to sleep (there are plenty in the game); if that means picking a lock and trespassing so much the better. And then, of course, my character is a member of the Thieves Guild and steals for profit too.

In order to RP this effectively and enjoyably, you need a good imagination. There's no combat (generally speaking), so you have to be able to get inside your character's head to make it interesting. Think about why they do the things they do, and what item they're going to steal next and why. Don't steal massive, unrealistic amounts of loot. It has to be something you can conceal and carry around without it being obvious if Oblivion were real life (in other words, if I did what a previous poster said and cleared the Imperial Library I a) would not be able to walk due to the weight and b ) would be immediately conspicuous due to the bulk.

Having said all that, there really is a wealth of options available in roleplaying a pure mage too. My advice if you choose to do this is to get a birthsign that really boosts your magicka (Mage or Apprentice, but not Atronach as it can be quite frustrating) and not try and cover your weaknesses. Playing with weaknesses is much more fun, as it causes you to be selective in what you do and really involves you in the game. Personally, one of the more dull expeiences I have had playing Oblivion was when I had beaten Knights of the Nine with a melee character and that character was nigh-on invincible with the Crusader's Relics and high levels of Blade, Block etc. I was just able to walk around killing everything in my path, although at least I roleplayed that he was lawful and wouldn't attack innocents which gave me some restrictions. But still, not particularly engaging or challenging. I've restarted that character now.

for my part i prefer thief, because bow got 2x more attack power than other spell/weapon of their level (well it got the same, but with the arrow that add more damage, well it double the damage) and mage can't loot big loot cause they have no STR, in oblivion, you need str to carry more, and it's not a mage that will be able to do this except if you use mod.

A pure mage is the most powerful character in the game at higher lvls. Mages can do anything, and I mean anything. I've rarely played pure ones, but I think they're fun.

Stealth and archery is a lot of fun too, and sneak attacks sure are useful. I always mix in a little magic, however, or else I get bored quite easily. I hope you can decide for yourself, or find a hybrid model that fits you.

I personally like to play as a nightblade type character who use a lot of alchemy and sneaking. its a lot of fun as when you are playing as a theif you have to be carefull to make sure sure that you come in at the right time and such. I dont know i dont roleplay and its up to u

Angel would tell you that it is very gratifying to be the most powerful living thing in the universe. It leaves her free from trying to prove herself to anyone. She often peacefully coexists with creatures in the wilderness. She has also left dead Daedra behind her, piled up like cordwood.

I started her out on a whim two years ago when I read a thread that there were no children in the game. I resized her with the PC console and qickly discovered that in addition to being a pure Mage, she had physical handicaps. I really didn't expect her to survive very long. I play dead-is-dead.

Within that first week of cowering in the IC she stole my heart. I had always hated the speechcraft minigame but she was trying desperately to get some passerby to listen to her situation. She made lots of friends but no one took an interest in her plight.

Angel is the first character I have ever had that joined the Thieves Guild and I have been playing TES since the Daggerfall days. She has invented her own minigames and played some her older sister (my previous character) played.

I never know what Angel will get into next. My point is that even dumb things like speechcraft can become fascinating if it becomes important to your character and if your character is someone you like. In time, I even made up a Cyrodill style joke to go along with her speechcraft.

Make it about your character instead of about some arbitrary goal or set of rules and you will find the game endlessly new.

Did I mention Angel is a Mage?

the one thing i'm sketchy about for a thief is marksman....the first character I played (who was a hybrid) was an archer and it always seemed i was constantly running backwards using ungodly amounts of arrows to take down a wolf, and i always would just whip out my blade and get the job done in a hurry....but that character wasn't focusing on his speed/agility. do those make a big difference for the damage that arrows do?

Agility, yes: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Agility

The exact formula for ranged damage can be found here: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:The_Complete_Damage_Formula

speed has impact of anything relevant to movement, so casting spells, using weapons, et....

What evidence do you have that speed affects your casting or weapon strike speed?

I think if you test it you will find that speed affects only your speed of travel and the length of your jumps. My character has 100 speed. She shoots her bow and casts spells no faster than when she started the game.

Ref: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Speed

Speed does however, if drained to 0, have some nifty effects on your enemies - also detailed in the link.

i really had the impression my mage was casting faster the higher my speed, and not because of the hold dodge button.

now, i cannot say if this happened because he was getting more proficient in his magic skills as well. but he was casting faster.

EDIT: yes, the wiki contradicts my statement above. it might be that at the time i played i also played Arena, where it affects some combat stuff.