Hey,

I was staying away from Oblivion for a damn long time (probably about 8 months or so), but now I finally want to play the game again. I thought about what type of character I would like to play (Roleplaying). I wanted him to be physically weak, but also not supernatural, so a stealthy character was the solution.

Now besides having trouble finding a fitting character in terms of race, I seem to be needing some input not on how to play, but rather what to play. The world is big, and I already see myself getting lost in it again. So besides thief guild and maybe the dark brotherhood (probably not), what can I do in this game? All I can come up with is looting some houses and diving into some dungeons. There must be more in this game?

I know it quite well, and nevertheless its damn difficult for me to find things to do.

Next point is the race and the overall character Im going to play as.

I need some advice: Would you recommend me picking up my old character (who was a knight/necromancer/assassin hybrid) and refresh him playing only as thief? I could easily import his face into the new savegame and I really love him. On the other hand, Im not sure wether not to pick something fresh, and I also know him quite well and Id have to change his personality completly in order to make him fit into the new role.

If not, then Im not sure how to create my new character. I'm definetly not playing as Argonian, Orc, Redguard, Bosmer, Imperial or Nord this time.

What remains is Breton, Khajiit, Dark Elf and High Elf.

Elves: To be honest, I dont really like them. The only reason Im considering them is because it could make up for some pretty good roleplaying because of their relationship to the Ayleid and the Daedra, and they could be used as some kind of graverobber/artifact hunter kind of character.
Breton: This was the race of my fav character. Because of this, Im not really getting into creating a new one of this race, because no matter how hard I try, I cant create one that is nearly as good as my old one. Nevertheless I would like to play as a human because I can identify with them most.
Khajiit: Im very uncertain on this one. Somehow it's tempting to me to play as one. The reason might be that they suit perfectly to a stealthy character. They are low-ranked in society, they are known as great thieves in Elder Scrolls history, and they are cats, and cats are stealthy. On the other hand, I cant identify with them and while it gives a good feeling because of this unique Elder-Scrolls-Style, it also feels weird knowing Im a cat. Furthermore, most of them seem to be not that intelligent and not well-estimated in society, as I mentioned before. So it's hard to imagine this kind of character could get powerful and be a hero or something.
Also, Im torn between playing a male or a female Khajiit. Female look better in my opinion and fit even better to a stealthy character, but I always feel weird when playing a female character.

Okay, so I hope I explained my problems in deciding what to play and whome to play as. I know its difficult but I would appreciate some input.

To summarize:

- What can a thief character do besides doing thieves guild, burglary and dungeon diving? (Also the question is why I should dungeon dive or break into houses, because what do I do with the gold? Im probably going to wear clothes and no armor, so maybe a good bow, a house, but what else?)

- What race would you advice me to choose regarding what Ive written to them above?

- Do you know some mods for thieves? (I have Thieves Arsenal and Thievery in the Imperial City ; I would like some more quest mods that suit a thief and maybe something worth saving money for)

Thanks in advance.

Possibly because I've seen City-Swimmer steal so many loaves of bread over the years, when I think "Thief" my first thought is Argonians, lol. Over the years I've often found that some really interesting roleplaying has developed when I just went with a race or class or an appearance that I never would have chosen, if left to my own devices. You might think of giving Argonian or Khajiit a try. Who knows, you might develop an affinity.





Here are a few I can think of:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1202294-relz-tie-tamriel-immersion-experience/ An overhaul mod geared toward thieves.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1205751-relz-reneers-guard-overhaul/ This is almost an essential mod for anyone playing a thief. If you don't use RGO you'll at least want to use http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=129 to prevent guards from hearing you pick a feather up off a desk through two stone walls and halfway across an Imperial City district. RGO does this and more. It is much more ambitious in scope.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1216515-relz-sdr-sneaking-detection-recalibrated-3/ Overhauls how the game handles sneaking (all equipment impacts your sound penalties, not just boots; takes into account peripheral vision angles; takes into account the light falling on the detector as well as the player, ect).

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1100019-sultericdrums-mods-viconia-saerileth-stoker-vampire-hunter-etc/ A dark-themed quest and companion mod that borrows heavily from Baldur's Gate2. If you're planning to play a darker character or if you like Dungeons and Dragons you might want to take a look.

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=29087 A very dark quest mod. Oriented more towards assassins but I figure, hey, assassins and thieves, they probably hang out together.

My assassin is also a thief I used the standard assassin class before, but now i that i've tried Agent i have to include illusion magic for her from now on. Make it kill it's friends and finish off what left

Anyway, khajiit IMO fits best for stealth character. Having cats all my life has taught me they are quick, silent and deadly. When not sleeping :hehe:

Problem with playing a thief is that gold is of little use in Oblivion in the long run, but you could include an economy mod to make gold more difficult to acquire and have better items to buy.

Only stealth mod i use is the old http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=6359, along with the aforementioned guard changes does all i need.

Khajiit are hardly stupid. Yes, their speech is a little odd... but remember, most of them are likely speaking the common language of the Empire as a second language. (If I remember right, Khajiit have their own language.) If they were dumb, they wouldn't be nearly as good of thieves as they are.