Is it possible to have a valid character in Oblivion without having to go through the hassle of min/maxing to get +5/+5/+5 each level? From all that I read, it seems that if I don't go through that truck, I'm going to be a weakling getting my ass handed to me by some crazy Dremora. Anyone care to input on this? I'd honestly just like to be able to play through it. Been pummeling my way through Skyrim, and would like to play through this one for the lore aspect. Reading books in Skyrim has struck this chord in me that there is a TON of lore out there.

At any rate, anything you guys could tell me would be most beneficial. I've been trying to get over to the UESP, but it appears to be [censored]ting the bed right now.

Short answer: Yes, very possible.

Simplest way: Play how you want and adjust the difficulty slider to taste. That is no more ‘working the system’ than +5/5/5.

One other way (of many): Ignore attributes that your character does not need in order to focus on one’s they do. My character, as an example, is a no melee glass cannon mystic archer. This is her approach toward attributes:
-Intelligence, willpower and agility. These are the only three key attributes that my character needs maxed. She requires plenty of magicka, the ability to generate it quickly and the ability to do massive bow damage.
-Personality. This can be safely ignored by any character. That said, mine maxed it, but purely for RP purposes.
-Speed. If your character runs down foes or runs away from them it is important. My character maxed this before I knew better. She could just have easily ignored it. She sends an arrow after her foes instead of running them down. She also doesn’t run away; rather, she disappears and walks away if necessary. She travels on a very fast horse, not by foot.
-Endurance. She doesn’t get hit so she ignores it. Her tiny red bar has served her well for 775 hours and zero deaths.
-Strength. She won’t touch a melee weapon and doesn’t worry about carrying loot. So she ignores this too.
-Luck. No character of mine has ever bothered to add a single point to luck and I like it that way.

You can also play a little trick on the game, and make a character with Major skills that dont' get used very often. LIke if your character is primarily melee-based, put Major skills that focus on magic. The game will level up more slowly, and your character will have more of a chance in the long run without constantly getting faceplanted by enemy after enemy.

Or you can use Major skills that level up really slow (like Acrobatics, Atheletics, Restoration, etc.)

I've used both these methods, personally. The downside to this is there's some questlines that only get activated at higher levels. You'll have to search harder for the best loot too (although personally I like the search myself).

Or, if you're on PC, just install one of the leveling mods like Realistic Leveling, and stop worrying about it.

If you really like using a wide range of abilities on one character instead of having separate fighter/sneaker/caster characters, it can be difficult to strike a good balance between stats and leveling. Gunning for 5s causes gameplay to suffer, since the best way to hit 5s is to focus on specific skills and then switch to something completely different when you level up.

The best fix I've found for that situation is All +5 Attribute Modifiers, when you gain a single skill point its governing stat goes to 5x. You no longer have to carefully portion out miscellaneous skills so you don't raise them too quickly or too slowly. And because you don't have to bury major/minor skills in things you rarely use, slowing the leveling speed is also a good idea.

forget about min-maxing man, just play it as u want. adjust the difficulty if u may, but i dont think u even have to do this... i just got the game thru Steam at USD 6,24 !

I made a compromise between modding and playing minors and majors. I created a small mod that gives you a +4 attribute bonus for 1-5 skill increases in a particular attribute, and a +5 for 5-10 skill increases. Then I pick two skills as majors I will always use, one I will sometimes use, and the rest ones I will never use. That slows my leveling, and makes sure I get good enough bonuses that I keep up with the monsters as I level. It also means I don't have to worry about how I level. I can just play the game and have fun.

Thanks for the awesome replies guys, sorry it took me a minute to get back. I think I'll take your advice, and just play through it as I play through it. I've never been one to 'adjust difficulty cause it's too hard' but I think in this game that's a bit different. Anyway, I'll give a character a shot (the arcane archer sounds fun...) once my time in Skyrim is up Thanks again!