» Mon Nov 15, 2010 4:39 am
I have three more or less non-combative characters.
The first is Maelyn. She's a Dunmer Courtesan, inspired by a similar character posted here (I wish I could remember whose it was, so I could give due credit). As the class name sort of implies, she's something akin to the default Agent, though with a feminine twist. She uses her.... erm..... assets to aid her in making her way through the world. She relies on a fair bit of illusion - mostly charm and the rest. If, for instance, she encounters a bandit on the road, she'll cast charm on him and keep going, leaving him flustered behind her. If he insists on following her, she'll look for the nearest soldier or guard to handle him for her. If she's faced by more than one opponent, she'll command one of them, or, if possible, frenzy all of them (she hasn't yet learned any invisbility effects, so that's a bit of a gamble) and let them duke it out amongst themselves. She's not fully non-combative though - if all else fails, she'll grudgingly whip out some good ol' destruction magic, but she simply finds that to be too messy and does pretty much everything she can to avoid it.
The second is Clive. He's a dissipated, middle-aged, alcoholic Imperial assassin. He was once wealthy (certainly inherited wealth) but fell on hard times (probably just wasted his fortune). He's arrogant and haughty and refuses to degrade himself by doing anything that resembles work. But since he found he had to support himself somehow, he turned to assassination. It worked well for him - he really has pretty much no concern at all for other people, other than to manipulate them to his gain, and killing them doesn't bother him in the least. And since his targets are generally approached unaware, he's free to engage them in a manner that suits his own aversion to work - he conjures some sort of creature, makes himself invisible and simply watches from safety as the creature destroys his opponent. He also relies a bit on command and/or frenzy, but not as much as Maelyn. He'd rather watch a fearsome creature tear apart his opponents than simply watch them kill each other. And his assassination targets are often alone.
The third is Jeff. He's entirely the result of a random face gen. I was working on a male Breton and came up with a face that was just the personification of the young, naive, idealistic pacifist, so I created him right there on the spot. He's a pure pacifist - he simply can't kill or even believe himself to be in any way responsible for a death. He's the kind who'd cry over finding the body of a rat by the side of the road. (In fact, when he finds such a body, he "buries" it. Since the game doesn't allow that entirely, he drags it off (feeling guilty over the fact that it's bumping along the ground) to a secluded spot and arranges it in a dignified position, then tearfully says a few words over it). He can't even use most of the illusion effects or any conjuration, since commanding things or summoning things still makes him responsible, if only indirectly, for a death. And he's virtually unplayable. The first obstacle he ran into was upon leaving the Imperial City, when he met Aelwin Merowald along the road through Weye. He really feels badly for the kindly old dude and really wants to help him, but he can't even bring himself to kill, or be in any way responsible for the death of, a slaughterfish, and just hasn't found any other way to get their scales. I finally just gave that up and went on with him toward Chorrol. He got past the highwayman by simply paying him, and made it safely to Chorrol, but quickly ran into Valus Odiil, who wants him to help his sons fight off the creatures that are attacking their farm. Again he found himself faced with a kindly old dude that he really wanted to help, but this one explicitly wants him to help kill things, and he simply can't do it. At all. And that's it for Jeff - I really like the concept of the character, but I just don't think he's playable.
I love the idea of an archeologist/explorer. Claudia played that role for a while, after first spending some time as a thief, then falling into the KotN quest (Claudia's a bit flighty, which is in part a reflection of the fact that she was my first female character and thus my first real roleplaying character, but has now become part of her personality). However, she's extraordinarily gifted as a fighter, so she never gave that up. It was fun exploring Ayleid ruins with her, but it made me think that it would be nice to do the same thing with a non-combat character and that's on my (ever-growing) list of things to try in the game.
I'd think it would require some combination of stealth, illusion and conjuration, and possibly a good bit of straightforward running away. I'm sort of thinking a character who doesn't fight not because s/he's averse to violence, but more because s/he's sort of baffled by it. I see a scholarly character focusing on the things in which s/he is interested and sort of being vaguely aware of the rest of it, but not willing to give it his/her full attention. So I tend either toward a character who travels with a companion or who relies heavily on conjuration. S/he would maybe sort of vaguely wave toward enemies and sigh and say, "Could you handle that please? I'm busy here." I haven't yet put it together though - I've been distracted by other characters and am currently struggling to get my ever-more-modded Oblivion stable. But that's a different subject altogether.... :confused:
)
which makes for plenty of longevity with these characters. I can literally play Oblivion as a theif, and never explore a fort or ruin, but still have plenty of gaming to finish: quest-driven and spontaneous non-quests.
). 
and my char. gets a murder charge after all is said and done. :whistling: Oops. 
