dont read this if you havent gone through the dark brotherhood questline.

anyways, im going to start a new character with more immersion and thats focused on creating a story of that character; an rpg. so in every playthrough of skyrim, i have either not gotten around to it, or i went through the darkbrotherhood questline, because besides their stupid looking armor, they are awesome! but this time, i was thinking of shying away from them and the other guilds and focusing on dawnguard and dragonborn. so what are the pros and cons of destroying them? so far i know of:

cons - the katariah wont appear in game, meaning you cant get the windshear. hmm... lol i actually think thats it, besides not getting to upgrade it and get those benefits.

pros - you can get all the armor of the people, the blade of woe, even though i think its crappy. a dagger that swings at the speed of a sword. did they ever fix that? you also get the unique hammerfell garb and the red redguard hood, which i think is really interesting. im also planning on supporting the imperials so that would look like an amazing armor combination.

so yeah, are there any other cons i should know about regarding destroying them?

and another side question, since i dont plan on doing the main storyline and wont learn shouts or kill dragons, my character wont discover hes dragonborn, so does that mean i can or cant do dragonborn's questline?

Destroy the dark bruvahood.

oh and another thing, can i become a dawnguard and go through their story while being a vampire? not a lord, just a vampire? i like the added obsticles that comes with it, sortof like hardcoe mode in fallout new vegas

You won't be able to start the MQ for dragonborn, but you'll still be able to experience the bulk of the Dragonborn DLC (but not Stalhrim.. )

I rarely make assassins and thieves so i destroy them almost every time, by far the best reward is the red hammerfell garb!

will the one quest with the unique stalhrim armor become available? because thats always a consolation. and i dont plan on raising smithing at all. i feel that just taking my smithing to 100 makes a weird level difference with myself and enemies. so yeah that wouldnt be too much of a problem

It's been a while since I've done that quest, but I don't think it's connected to the Dragonborn MQ, so you might be alright getting the unique set

Yes, that quest is always available. Doesn't matter if you are or aren't Dragonborn.

You should destroy the Dark Brotherhood.

Kill em.

Don't destroy. You get much more gold from doing their quests, plus things like Shadowmere, Windshear,

, plus access to master alchemist training. Really, the only reason not to join them and destroy them instead is if you are an Imperial supporter and/or you are a do-gooder.

If you destroy them you miss out on the best (of a poor lot) guild questline.

And if you're a Stormcloak you should want to complete it for the final quest.

I'm don't want to turn this into one of "those" threads, but I disagree. You may dislike the Empire, but to kill who know who? There's a potential alliance with the Empire against the Thalmor and you'd risk it.

That's all I have to say, opinions vary.

I usually destroy them, but if I could take back one thing on my main playthrough, that'd be it.
My character isn't really a do-gooder type, and the quest conclusion is just too good to pass up. Some of the loot is pretty nice as well.

Nothing complicated about it.

Is your character morally good? Purge this blight from the world.

Is your character neutral? Both are an option, it comes down to what seems more appealing.

Is your character amoral? Why the fluff would you NOT join them? So much more profitable...

Unless you WANT to be an assassin destroy them for the effrontery of attacking you in game, that's my Modus Aperandi

I usually destroy them most of the rewards they give you can be matched by in game spells/shouts. You don't get Shadowmere but you can still get Arvak and he can e summoned over and over. The Spectral Assassin, plenty of conjurations spells, if you aren't a mage there are a few summon shouts. Plus Astrid insults me by expecting me to join a group that allowed Babbette to be a member. I just go with Maro and get the easy 3000.

Also you talked about wanting to join the war? You need to fight the first dragon and allow dragons to start appearing to finish the war. Balgruff won't take messages from either side while he is worried about the dragon.