My #1 suggestion for good RP in these games:

Don't be afraid to break quests.

In many quests, the thing you are "supposed" to do will be out of character. Don't do it! Do what your character would do instead, or the closest thing you can manage. A lot of the time, this may mean simply walking away from a quest that doesn't fit you. That's fine! There are a million quests in Skyrim. Walk away and find one your character would want to do.

Also, sometimes you find awesome solutions to quests when you don't do them like you're "supposed" to.

I kind of gave up on my RP (too much to do, not enough spare time to bother with eating/sleeping). but my Breton was religious and would pray to every alter she came across, aside from Talos. She also donated to all the beggars and temples. I only learned new spells or picked perks after I'd done some training with that tree, and never used soul gems or Daedric artifacts, due to moral reasons. It made things pretty interesting. I'll pick back up on the RP aspect after I've beaten the game and am familiar with most of the quests. I can't not do any of them at the moment.

This is awesome role-playing. Going through the motions of everyday tedium (eating, sleeping) doesn't make you a great role-player. In my opinion getting bogged down in these little details detracts from good character development. A great novelist doesn't describe every trip to the bathroom. A great film doesn't show the protagonist going to their job and sitting in an office for 8 hours in real-time. Yet characters in fiction are colorful, moving, memorable, and inspiring; often moreso than people we meet in real life.

I guess what I'm trying to draw is a distinction between role-play and simulationist play. In case you can't tell, I prefer role-play. Your Breton was a pleasure to read about. On the other hand I don't want to hear about how some guy made his character eat a potato every 8 hours on the dot. Who cares?

I like this one a lot. I have definitely walked away from a few quests when I figured out what they were. Is there a console command to delete quests? The thing that drives me crazy about walking away is still having them appear in my journal.

you dont really need to follow the rules set by everyone you could make up your own RP rules cuz seriously who will know if u dont follow every RP rule? what ive done with my rp is just made the background for my caracter and planned out what type of person he is. try and make your roleplaying special to you so you will want to keep on engaging in it

Amen.

i do all that and wish it was a easy walk button so i didnt have to slightly push forward on my ls but i just make sure to always keep a overweighted inventory,but when im out of town walls i dump that extra weight in a chest or a random barrel before i go on a journey

oh yeah i try to sit in every inn or bar i visit and maybe request a song from the musicians and when i travel if feel i have travel enough for that day i'll find a safe place or a fellow traveler camping and camp for the night and continue the next morning

This. This is honestly rather tedious.

My recommendation:

1. Think of a character concept with a general skeleton of a biography. It can be 3 lines. Give your character a general personality.

2. Do what the character would do. Don't pick up 10 swords and 32 suits of armor from a dungeon. Would a real character do that? [censored] no. Would they rob every house in the city? For most characters, no. Does the character really know what the random purple potion does? Are they an alchemist? Get real.

3. Etc.


Basically, pretend you are the gamemaster. YOU decide what rules to enforce on your character. Then you put on the skin of your character and follow the rules you set and play your character the way you meant that character to be played.

Others have said it but pick a character personality and play to it, and you'll find that you don't really need most of the rules. For example I play a nord who doesn't trust magic at all, and only puts his faith in Talos and his own sword. So he doesn't use any spells or enchanted equipment, besides his amulet to Talos (which he considers blessed rather than magical). He uses shouts occasionally, which he considers a "real man's magic" but only when necessary.


Also I agree with not exploiting the AI, but also use the terrain to your advantage when it's something one would do IRL. I was fighting a huge spider one time that was clearly more powerful than I was, but I used a large column in the middle of the room to maintain some separation with it. I don't consider it an exploit because it would be a sound real life strategy also.

Well if you are hardcoe player, then no spamming on potions maybe really hard to do. Expert level seem to be more balance, but dont worry about spamming potions, cause you going to need it. If you decided or already have rerolled your character, tried to forget what you been through and play through the game and pretend you havent, at least a different appoach.

You can sprint all you want, infact wearing heavy armor what will slow you down.

* Stick to your chosen starsign. (At least don't change it everytime when you find a damned standing stone -_-)

Kinda. Maybe.

As I said before... your character can change. Maybe the death of a companion or spouse could trigger a change in how you react to the world.