So, in a month or two, I plan to play through Oblivion again, along with all the main sidequests (Mage's, Thieve's, ect.) I haven't played Oblivion in about 2 years, so I think it will be a neat experience in anticipation of Skyrim. I had the idea of building three characters, and having each one play at a different part of the game. I'll play each one a little bit each day, maybe like one game-day for each character.

Nord Warrior
- The Nord character will be similar to the stuff we've seen in the Skyrim trailer. He's going to focus on both Heavy Weapons and Swords, along with Heavy Armor, Blocking, and Armorer. I still need two more skills to focus on. Any ideas here?
- He's going to focus on the Fighter's Guild, the Arena, and finally the Main Questline.
- The Nord won't be able to use magic, except for Greater Powers. I'm thinking of using Alchemy as a Major Skill, to help with making Healing Potions when health gets low.
- He'll be the noble, heroic type; although he won't be one to help out someone he doesn't know Could be described as arrogant. He's known for his strength, but will still use his cunning to win his battles.

Mage
- I know there are two main races that play fairly well as a Mage. I'm not sure which one. He'll use the 6 magic skills. I still need an idea for the last one. I might consider Alchemy, but that seems redundant, since virtually all the effects of potions can be recreated using magic. Ideas?
- The Mage will focus on the Mage's Guild. The Mage will also help out the many quests that are offered to him around Tamriel during his travels.
- The Mage is a scholar, and fascinated in the magic arts. He's also willing to help someone in need. In combat, he generally uses tactical spells along with destruction; using Conjuration as a last resort.

Wood Elf Theif
- I'm thinking of having the Wood Elf be a female. Her major skills will be Sneak, Security, Acrobatics, Archery, and Alchemy. The last two are probably going to be Light Armor and Speechcraft, although I'll take suggestions as replacements for these two.
-She'll focus on the Thieve's Guild, while dabbling around in the Dark Brotherhood.
-Like the Nord, she'll only be able to use Greater Powers; not magic.
- The Thief will try to avoid battles if possible. If its necessary, she'll use poison arrows at range to kill off her foe before that can get close. She isn't one to socialize with others, but will seduce others if she needs to.


I'm still looking for names for all the characters. Any other suggestions or ideas to make the game more immersive will be welcome. I'll be referring to this thread once I start playing in a few months.

If you get silenced use alchemy to have dispel potions handy so you can continue fighting or use alchemy for restore magicka potions and alchemy can make great shield potions. So alchemy isnt useless for a mage and it saves magicka for restore magicka and shield spells.. Just my 2 cents.....

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I have virtually no experience with a Mage character. I can't really think of any other skill that a Mage would use, so I think I'll settle with Alchemy.

Alchemy levels up insanely fast. I would continue to use it, but I would advise you to put it in as a minor.
My former mage:

Destruction
Conjuration
Restoration
Block
Alteration
Marksman
Acrobatics

Destruction and Restoration help level up your Willpower, Conjuration (and Alchemy) do your Intelligence, Block for Endurance, Marksman for Agility and Acrobatics for Speed.

On a side note, I played two characters at once, at one point. Confusing much? I found that I couldn't effectively immerse myself in either one. These days, I stick with one.

I've played more than one character at a time, and found that I tended to continue the tactics for one player after I switched to the next, which didn't work too well. It's OK if you're trying out two similar builds to see which works best, but it will be confusing if they're totally different, like yours.

You'll find yourself counting on skills you don't have, reaching for weapons you don't carry etc. because they're on another character.

On the other hand, a great mental exercise if you can pull it off!

Depending on what sort of Mage character you want to play will depend on what race you choose. If you want to be steadfast and stand your ground take Breton. If you want to be a Glass Cannon that has to keep moving then Altmer is the way to go. Both play very much the same to me but choose carefully.

Alchemy I don't tend to take as a Major due to the amount you need to level it before it can become useful for you. Keep it as a Minor just to be safe. I've taken Mercentile on my Mage due to it being a slower skill and the extra little boost to Personality doesn't go a miss either.

If your quick enough as a Mage you shouldn't need to worry about being silenced. Over 550 hours played now on my Mage and she has only ever been silenced twice.

It may be a good idea to do the Collector quest with either your Mage or Warrior as your spend a lot of time dungeon diving to complete it.

Just my views of course.

I alternate among multiple characters all the time, and you're right, there is a bit of "mental exercise" involved.

One of the tricks I use is to make my hotkeys consistent across characters by purpose, rather than by the actual item that's assigned to it.
So... Hotkey 1 is my "close-in" skill; on a melee character it would be my main weapon, and on a mage it would be an on-touch spell...
Hotkey 2 is my ranged skill; my bow for a fighter, or an on-target spell for my mage...
Hotkey 3 is a secondary weapon or spell... It almost always involves soultrapping. Et cetera.

If you know that when you hit hotkey 6, you're going to get healing, regardless of whether it's a potion or a spell, it's one less thing you have to keep in mind when you're playing.

Oh yes, I'm already doing that. But it doesn't stop me from hitting the key to unsheathe my sword, and bringing up a pair of empty fists.

It's particularly noticeable when you have a ranged and an up-close character at the same time. You'll start running in exactly the wrong direction a lot of the time.

Ha, that's pretty clever. I'll try to do that.

I don't think I would get too confused from using three characters at once, but I can see where the confusion might come from.

Sabarel Tatheth, from what you're describing the difference for the Mage, I think the Altmer would fir the Mage role for me, although I'll still have to look into this. Also, Mercantile does sound like a decent alternative to Alchemy.

Also, I should ask. Is there a way I can find a list of names for Tamriel characters? I want to find a name that matches each one's race. I know some of the races have prefixes or other odd peices on their names. I know Orcs tend to have a prefix at the beginning of their name.

Anyways, thanks for the comments guys!