I've recently been struck with the desire to play a rogue-like character. Not necessarily the in-game class to the letter, but a class whose role is semi-combat, a silver-tongued ne'er-do-well. I understand that as I level I will eventually be able to handle combat, but until then what are some helpful hints at playing semi-combat characters. House Hlaalu is number one on my list, would you recommend the thieves guild as well? Would it be smart to have alchemy or some other non-rogueish skill? I am at the mercy of your suggestions.

EDIT: Also, would adding luck as a favorite attribute be a bad idea?

Well, with any character build I like to think about what I need to do and how I intend to do it. The rest is all RP.

For instance, I need to open locks at some point. If I intend to use a custom enchanted ring with an Open spell on it, then I may not bother to have the Alteration skill, or Security. I need to get up into high places, so will I make Levitate potions, use a spell, item, or scroll, or will I just try to have a huge Acrobatics skill? I just don't like to end up with skills I don't really use, and end up trying to use them on purpose just to level up.

For a Rogue, flat out heavy combat would feel wrong, and so would major spellcasting. I might go Hand-to-Hand, and maybe Marksman if that feels like something he would do. I might get into some minor spellcasting in order to avoid combat when needed, such as Chameleon or Calm, which can be done with Illusion or with enchanted items. Calm spells would seem to fit pretty well, since he would have a knack for getting people to not kill him.

Thieves Guild seems to fit pretty well, since your Rogue may have some unorthodox opinions about property rights.

Having alchemy is a matter of deciding how you want to do certain things. If using enchanted items feels right, that might work better, because you need to cast Calm or something on enemies (or on People With Whom There Is A Bit Of Tension At The Moment), and you can't throw potions at anyone. So if you have Enchant, you can use that for healing or for any of 3000 other little chores. Alchemy is good deal cheaper to do, of course, since custom items cost a lot, but it's possible at least, and your Mercantile skill will help with that.

The downside to Enchant is that it feels sort of odd, since you are trapping the souls of monsters and demons and using them to power your arcane magics, which doesn't seem very Rogue-y at all. So maybe Alchemy is better--Rogues are really good cooks, I have just decided.

In that case maybe go with Alchemy for healing, levitation, waterwalking, that sort of thing, and then Illusion for some Invisibility, Chameleon and Calm to get those narsty demons and bad guys to leave you alone.

And yeah, Luck as a fave attribute both works in a practical sense and fits a Rogue pretty durn well.

That is very, very helpful. Thank you kind sir.

Make sure to pick up some scrolls such as taldam's scorcher to help on those tough fights.

I've always thought that Rogues were a jack-of-all-trades type character. A little combat, a little magic, a little stealth. They all fit. There's also different kinds of rogues. For example: a thugish rogue would be a little more into combat. He'd be a little different than a sneaky or a flamboyant rogue.

Luck would certainly fit a rogue. But then so would a number of the other attributes.
IMO Luck, if kept within the normal game parameters of 40-100, is not nearly as useful as Str, Int, Agi, or End are to a rogue.

what is a rogue ? i mean, some rogues just steal stuff and fight normally when need to fight, some steal and get out fastest they can, without fighting. and so on. the way i see a rogue is this(arrange them in whatever order you like, you play style is the key here):

Marksman(primary method of killing foes, from a distance)
Short Blade(if combat comes to close range)
Light Armor(less weight, easier to move around in it)
Conjuration(if you don't feel like fighting, summon a decoy and chill or shoot them while they are busy with the summoned creature)
Illusion(Invisibility and Chameleon for better sneaking around)
Destruction(offensive spells, direct damage or crippling them by damaging or draining their stats)
Speechcraft(talk your way out of trouble? convince instead of killing?)
Alchemy(supplies, if stealing is not the best sensible option)
Armorer(fix your stuff to avoid human contact if the heat is up of something)
[Hand to Hand or Unarmored or whatever the other Stealth skill]

Thanks that was helpful.

I'd play a Rogue similar to a Bard but with more of a chaotic neutral tint, from a roleplaying perspective.

You might invest in fine clothing for town and bartering and wear light or medium armor in the wilderness.

As others have suggested, be stealthy. I'd join Hlaalu, the Thieves Guild, etc.

Some thoughts that might be helpful to custom Rogue building.


'Rogue' means different things to different people. There's no right answer but I'd say there are three main types.

The first are those like the MW standard Rogue class. They are basically flashy swashbucklers, silver-tongued brawlers. The Rogue is actually classed as a Combat class in MW and not a Stealth class, Sneaking isn't their thing, they don't even have it as a Skill. They fight like light or medium infantry in combat, with plenty of charm and good social skills for daily life. They are comfortable with axes and swords, not just daggers.

The typical DnD style 'Rogue' is like MW's standard Thief class (Acrobat and Agent fit too). Stealth, security, light armor, light weapons, speechcraft and mercantile are their hallmarks. These are dyed-in-the-wool Stealth classes.

The third type would be the magical kind, represented in MW by the Nightblade type. The Nightblade is equal parts thief and mage. They combine Sneak with Illusion spells, daggers and bows with offensive magic, and use Alteration and Mysticism for all kinds of thiefly jobs (opening locks, levitating, springing traps, teleporting, etc). Where a Rogue or Thief uses Speechcraft and Mercantile, a Nightblade casts a Charm spell. If you make a Class like this type then you should be sure to get a 'Fortify Maximum Magicka' multiplier from your race or your birthsign, or both. A Dunmer using the Apprentice is a pretty good bet (don't worry about the 50% weakness to magicka, it doesn't affect elemental magic and dangerous pure magicka spells are very rare).


You don't have to take any non-Rogueish skills, you can do fine without, but go ahead and take Alchemy if you want it.


The Thief type is probably the easiest to use, if you're prepared to be sneaky and avoid some enemies rather than duke it out. The Nightblade is very similar but uses magical trickery more than the normal kind, they're a bit more complex but deadlier when used right.

The MW style swashbuckling adventurer Rogue can be tricky, it's not optimized as a pure Combat fighter and it lacks the stealth skills that quests from Hlaalu and the Thieves Guild are often designed for. This doesn't mean you can't become a great fighter or do these quests - you absolutely can, I've done so myself as a Dunmer Rogue - but they it's harder and sometimes needs patience, caution and creative solutions. Of course for a custom class you could just add in Sneak - but if you ask me that kinda defeats the purpose and makes the class a Thief type.






No, it actually works out pretty well. Luck never gets any bonuses to raising it when you're levelling up so getting +10 at the start is a major boost for that Attribute. All the other Attributes are pretty easy to get higher quickly.