So much effort and energy went into knocking off the big bad guy -- very impressive cutscene, by the way -- I'm not sure I feel like continuing with other more mundane quests. Oh, there are still lots of things I could do. Certainly, I'll pick up my reward armour and probably do the final arch-mage assignment, but beyond that?

What do you folks do once the MQ is over? Or do you hold off the MQ ending until you're ready to quit?

Please don't misunderstand me: I will start a new game with a new character immediately if I shut this one down.

In TES IV I only completed the main quest once and I didn't do much afterward - I enjoy playing lower level characters more than high level ones so it had more to do with that than the game's plot. There are probably still tons of misc. quests around and perhaps you still have some guild quests left to do as well?

KoTN and SI is your salvation!

And Mehrunes Razor too. Nice quest that feels like a worthy task for the Champion of Cyrodiil.

Maybe do SI last as it′s a good ending quest... "You beat [Numinit] and live out the rest of your days in [Numinit] eventually [Numiniting] [Numinit]..." Crack that if you can! In a crack-the-code way... Not some other crack way. In case any mods get triggerhappy.

If you are past level twenty, finish off the quests you started. When you start a new character play differently, make your new character really evil, join the factions you would avoid in your first playthrough. When you have completetd most of the vanilla questlines, then start adding mods slowly, You could add landscape and beautification mods at any time, If you have a computer that can handle it, the game will definitely become more vibrant and realistic.
Look at the first link in my signature if you want to start adding mods, and follow the advice of Tomlong.

Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I'm at level 15. I don't think I want to start adding mods ... yet. But I'll hang on to that link. How or where do I find the KoTN and SI? I'm playing GOTY version.

Both KoTN and SI are included in the GOTY version, they should be atleast. Just open Oblivion, get the starter up, press "Data Files" (or something) and toggle "Knights" on. For Knights of the Nine that is (KoTN). You can add in all the others if you want, or add them in one and one. You can also turn them off and on any time during the game, almost. Dunno what happens if you turn it off while in a place that only exists in the DLC... Propably you will have to turn it on again.

The second disc contains Knights and SI in the GOTY edition for a PC. Running the second disc should also bring the game to the 1.20416 patch.

If you have the GOTY version, than it includes Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, make sure their activated under data files. For Shivering Isles, you should get a journal entry at some point telling you where you need to go to start it, if not swim out into the bay east of Bravil, and look for something out of the ordinary, I don't want to say more to avoid spoilering more than is necessary. As to Knights of the Nine, try heading to Anvil.

But what to do after completing the main quest is really up to you. You could do some of the quests you never did before, of course, or if doing more mundane quests once you've been named Champion of Cyrodiil seems odd, you could also start a new character, ignore the main quest, and try some of the things you didn't do with your previous character. To make things more different, I'd also choose a different race, birthsign and class, in order to help make your second player more of a different experience. In Oblivion, you have the freedom to continue playing after the main quest, but you certainly don't need to take advatage of it if you'd rather start over, sometimes, doing so can have its own appeal as it allows you to try a different character from the one you used before.

I usually don't do the Main Quest with my characters.

But when my characters do the Main Quest, it's usually after they've completed most of the other things they had intended to do (like complete some guild questlines, and some specific misc quests, and explored).

So by the time my characters finish the Main Quest, it's usually time to move on to another character. Although it is possible to keep playing.

I hate the idea of finishing the MQ at a low level, then start a guild questline that has the Hero of Tamriel doing some low level quest like dealing with some rat problem. That just doesn't make sense to me.

But that's what I do, since you asked. You might prefer something different.

Daedric shrines quests are really good and intriguing - and completing all of them is a massive challenge - kept my poor dunmer amused for days after she'd sorted out Mehrunes Dagon... don't know about anyone else, but I felt v. deflated after finishing the main quest.... it was like Boxing Day - all the presents were open... nothing to look forward to....

KoTN is also awesome, and might suit your char - problem with daedric shrines is that not all of them are nice quests ... but maybe the time has come for your char to turn from the light, in a sort of anti-redemption thing and embrace the darkness - perhaps they get bitten by a vamp, or find out that their sister they'd come to Cyrodill to find was eaten by Ogres, so they decide to go on a rampage etc etc.... depends how much you RP I guess. Other good thing about Daedric Shrine quests is that they generally aren't of the "go and find such and such" variety, they're specifically attuned to each Daedra and some are short, others longer, some tricky, some really tricky, and others fun or straightforward. And to complete all of them to get the final prize is a total buzz!!

Or you could start a new char, of course!

Wonderful suggestions; thanks so much. I think I'll wind it up and create a new character and go a fairly different route. I'll probably ignore the MQ entirely this time. Thanks again, and see you soon with new questions!

You can try to get a high level, or roleplay, or do as me and finish everything that fits your playstyle.. i have pretty much done every quest i can with my character, i am thinking of starting a new Female Dunmer Blade block style.

I've done the main quest three times out of a couple of dozen characters.

The first one didn't do a whole lot after the main quest, but he'd taken his time doing it and did a bunch of other things along the way, so there wasn't a whole lot left to do anyway. He was, IIRC, level 32 or so when he finished.

The second one was my first pure mage. He did the mages guild line (the first and only time I've done that - at least beyond the recommendations - almost all of my characters do those), then knocked around for a while just doing side quests and this and that, then languished for a while while I played other characters, then I brought him back out just to do the MQ with him. He was about level 23 and was an incredibly overpowered mage (Breton, 85 points of enchanted clothing, Mundane Ring), so it was pretty easy. He just ran headlong through everything. The high point that I still remember was once when he ended up battling two Xivalai (and their clannfears), two Spider Daedra (and their spiderlings) a Storm Atronach and a Dremora Markynaz, all at the same time. He walked away with barely a scratch. When he finished it, I parked him in the Arcane University and haven't visited him since.

The third time I just finished up last night. It was with an Imperial fighter named Tina. She just barely went to level 17, so she's got some life left in her. The only other thing she's done is the MG recommendations and a few of the Fighters Guild quests. But I'm pretty sure.... see - she started out as a very righteous, noble, honorable, proud, arrogant.... jerk, pretty much. Very judgemental and haughty. And somewhere along the way, in the midst of the main quest, she had something like a mid-life crisis. She started questioning the way her life was going and ended up dumping her mithril armor and elven longsword and switching to a slinky and skintight chainmail thing and a sleek and dark sword. She's become quite the seductress. Then, just last night, right after she finished the main quest, she staggered back to the waterfront shack to get some sleep and was rudely awoken by Lucien Lachance. As near as I can figure, she got credited with a murder for either one of the named Dremora in Paradise or for one of the Camorans (I know I could find out easily enough on the wiki, but I prefer that it's sort of a mystery). In any event, her first instinct was to kill him, but she was intrigued, and still is. I think - I'm not sure, but I think - that the noble, steadfast, honorable and proud Champion of Cyrodiil is going to take up a secret life as an assassin....

Hear that distant thunder? That's Molag Bal laughing as another soul joins his flock.

I too am on the cusp of completing the MQ w/ an old fav of a character.

I think after I'm done I'm going to attempt a vampire character, maybe that could be an amusing character type for you.