Hello all, I recently bought myself a copy of the GOTY edition, and am looking forward to getting back into what is quite possibly the best RPG game of all time. I got all nostalgic after installing it, harking back to the good 'ol days when I'd get myself up early before school to play on it, and prety much spend every waking hour exploring. It is one of the two games that I have ever truly found immersive, (Black and White being the other one.) and so with much relish I am in the process of making a new character.

Though I could do with some general tips and advice regarding this -

I'm quite into the RP side of things, but every time I made a new character, be it on Morrowing or Oblivion, I'd tend to just make a combat specialist Nord, which becomes tedious after a while. Can anyone recommend a good Build-out to use? (I am thinking of being more magic-orientated this time, but I don't want to be a pure mage.) Alchemy definitely appeals to me.

Is there any mods you could recommend, to make things a little bit more difficult and RPish? (Links would be nice, nothing too complicated though, I want to take things slowly.)

And is there any strictures I should stick to to make the experience more immersive? (Like a limit of 1 save per real-time hour for example.)

Thanks in advance!

For the mods, I would suggest checking http://btb2.free.fr/morrowind.html. All excellent suggestions with explanations why. I'm currently using his Alchemy and Character mods, so I can definitely recommend those. Races will play and feel more unique, store potions won't be worthless anymore even at high level and all ingredients will be useful for alchemy.

Maybe you could take a look at some crafting mods, if that sounds interesting to you. There's realism mods too, if you want hunger, thirst and sleep management. I didn't include links for those, because I didn't try any, so yeah...

Also, try not to stack same effect potions (like drinking 20 'Fortify something potions'). If you stick to that simple rule, the game will remain fun a lot longer.

Build-wise, I would say I'm still too inexperienced to recommend any, sorry.

Anyway, have fun!

? Race: A Redguard
? Class: Custom (Majors-Short blade/Heavy Armor/Block/Athletics/Marksman, Minors-Alchemy/Speech craft/Armorer/Enchant/Mysticism)
? Sign: The Lady

These skills allow you to join and eventually lead most of the playable factions if you do some minor development of the miscellaneous skills of sneak and unarmored. The high endurance gets you good health and a Redguard has a great combat boost.
Don’t play characters after they die, just start over. Don’t cheat, steal or murder (unless a quest gives you no choice). Good luck!

Thanks for the tips guys, keep 'em coming. I've just recently acquired "Morrowind Ultimate mod pack" courtesy of the Arrrrr!, so I'll pick and choose somes good 'uns from there.

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1060141-mod-recommendations-for-new-players/page__p__15392814__fromsearch__1&#entry15392814
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/507083-character-database/ - tons of ideas for building a Class.

For extra roleplaying, I suggest http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8707 or http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=4077, or maybe http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=2030. (keep in mind these add a lot of new features to the game, so they do change how you would normally play)

Just a bit of advice, if you use both GCD and NoM, don't drink from the barrel of wine in the census office until after you finish with making a character. My brother did it once and when GCD calculated his stats they were really low from the drain effects of the wine. :laugh:

As for character ideas, I suggest some sort hybrid, use magic and stealth for example. It opens up room for a lot of strategies.

But they work so well... I know the feeling, though. Why not try a pure mage? It can make parts of the game a little difficult although the average enemy is actually easier to handle with a pure mage. The best part is the fact that it makes Alchemy useful rather than just overpowered as it would be for a Nord. A puny Breton pure mage needs it. If you want a little extra advantage (assuming you're on PC) use GCD which gives magicka regeneration at the expense of health and non-mage skill progression.

One thing I've done is stop making custom classes. I just pick from the class list and try to play that class as it should be. My favorite is the Nightblade class. A good mixture of stealth and magic with just a hair of combat thrown in there .... mmm, good!

Well there is really no problem if you′ve made a combat Nord. As in real life just leave that alone if you′re tired of it and maybe focus on magic and alchemy

Playing with the Ironman rule kind of svcks if you go through a lot of effort in writing your character beforehand*. I personally find stuff like that to be a bit too extreme when I prepare my characters background, personality etc. beforehand, so I like to go for a compromise instead...Something along the lines of using "save points", and never reloading for any reason but death or to continue playing. That way, I'll still feel the fear of dying - provided the save points are rare enough - but I won't have to ruin my roleplaying experience by starting over again every time my character dies. I've found that the Ironman rule tends to result in waves upon waves of faceless cardboard cutout characters rather than characters I actually feel attached to enough to actually roleplay.

*Which, to me, is necessary to roleplay, as opposed to just playing a character with realistic needs and thought patterns.

pure mages are great fun with a mana regen mod, or as mentioned earlier GCD which impliments mana regen. they do start off weaker than an especially weak kitten but by middle to end game you will have by far the most powerful character imaginable. 30ft wide fireballs 100 points for 3 seconds will be common if you're looking for restrictions then the only advice i'd give is skip enchanting altogether as it's just TOO powerful (instant casts that never fail, recharge without mods, stupid high numbers that can be spammed for as long as the charge holds out and at high levels with the right soul that can be overkill to say the least) and use alchemy to make money only (you could just make negative effect potions and RP by selling them to the morag tong as poisons for example).
would also agree with lordmidnight, the built in classes are quite good fun too. my favourite find was the witchhunter class. covers all 3 'disciplines' nicely. i was running around in a shabby common robe, summoning various weapons and armour as and when i needed them, and still being good enough to sneak to the end of a dungeon and then fight my way out with bags full of loots

Nord stock class Barbarian is a must try, great fun and it is pretty easy. House Hlaalu is the best house, only one that for the most part doesn't spit in your face and pays the best. Oh and Morrowind is a dangerous place, save often.