Im thinking of making a dark elf thief, and was wondering is developing vampirism would be good for a thief character??? i usually do most of my stuff in the night time such as breaking into houses and going into caves etc...

Sounds like a plan to me. :shrug: I've never fully played a vamp, though, others here who have should be able to tell you what you're in for.

Being a vamp is actually as easy as you want to make it, it has some very good perks immunity to paralysis for one.
As long as you feed often nothing bad really happens, the longer you go without feeding the stronger the perks get but you become more bestial and take sun damage in the open.
Plenty of people to feed on though, just be sure to only wait or sleep indoors as these actions are what trigger the time trigger to warn you about feeding.

So those are the basic ins and outs, its just how you roleplay your vamp that makes it worth it to you or not.

Since your a dark elf you won't have to worry about fire damage as much due to them canceling out at some point. But be warned you may need a charm spell or feed if you have gone very vampire due to disposition lowering some people will prbrably not even talk to you if your 100% vampire.

I recently considered being a mage vampire, but the guys on my thread : http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1113307-vampirism/ discouraged me.

However, Vampires are perfectly suited for Thiefs and Assassins. As you have to do stuff at night anyway, being a vamp can be pretty cool. Super speed, various immunities, and *great* powers. Life detect should be invaluable to a assassin and I think you even had some kind of Illusion spell too.

Sure, you have to feed, but if you're steeling some guy's silver ware, why not steal some blood too?

Just be aware that to get the perks I mentioned, you will need to wait a few days before feeding and you will get sun damage. Fast travelling is dangerous. Travel short distances, start at sun down and you should be safe, make sure you wait until sun down again before moving, otherwise you will get caught out and die.

Staying in the Blackmarsh and cloudy areas can help a bit too.

Not sure if Oblivion counts as being sunny, i think it does, so feed before going in a Gate, and you wont get sun damage.

Hope that helps

Nah, you don't recieve sun damage in Oblivion, they don't have a sun so your good.

Really? Firey burning depths of hell and no sun? Huh. Guess all the lava is what keeps the place lit!