I've seen a lot of people on the forum talk about their characters like they were real of have feelings for them. When they talk about their characters, they use their name, not "my character". Right now I'm roleplaying a http://theskyrimblog.ning.com/group/character-building/forum/topics/character-build-the-lion. It's been really fun so far, but I'm not getting that feeling of him being very close to me, you know? I just feel like I'm playing another character. To immerse myself even more with him, I don't fast travel, I sleep at night until sunrise then I continue my journeys, and I sometimes roam in 3rd person.

What do you guys do to bring your character to life?

On Xbox I would have to pretend my character has needs and stuff.
On PC I have downloaded Mods so I don't need to pretend.
I play DiD (Dead is Dead) so if the character dies once, I say bye to it and make a new one.
I'm male but I really can't play male.

DiD is too much for me :\ I'll have to try it on another character in another playthrough

Also, what kind of needs? Like food and drinks?

I write back stories, otherwise I just can't relate to my character at all. It's hard for me to just give them a personality, instead I write the backstory and then let the writing determine his (never play females) traits and stuff.

Try walking instead of running, try not to fast travel, pick gear for aesthetics. Those are some of the basics for growing to love your characters.

This. This gives "character" to your character. The backstory will justify why your character will make certain decisions and do the things he/she will do. It adds so much more to the game.

Food, Drink, Sleep and all that stuff.

I don't use shrines if my character has a disease. I have to cure it with a potion. sometimes they get many diseases before being able to buy a potion.

I love the description on that website.

"Basically, you want to think "Aslan" when playing this character. He is pure, 100% good."

What the hell does that even mean!

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I usually put my actions and traits through a series of filters.

Here are a few I can consciously think of off the top of my head:

Passive vs Agressive

Deceitful vs honest

Strength vs magic

Male vs female

Nationalist vs globalist

luxury vs necessity

I do a combination of all those thing's. I write a back story, no FT, gear is chosen for look's or to "fit" the characters personality. All my character's eat and sleep. Change clothing, bath ( even if it's just a pond or river.)

Oh, I tend to answer NPC's the way the character should answer them, even if the option isn't their to do so. My last thief knew everyone in the TG and all their back stories ( as much as they have anyway). She said hello to everyone in the TG even if it was in my voice. When Erik say's "good day, Friend". My character say's "and a very good day to you also".

Sometimes I just don't connect at all though. Even with a character that would be a really fun play though, with a great back story. My 1st assassin was that way, I did the DB questline and she was retired. Something was missing. My Battlemage Derik, first character to do DG, I kept trying to find things for him to do that fit his personality. I finally had to retire him, I hadn't gotten DB ( legendary disc) at that time. He was one of my very favorite characters, he had a great personality...even if it was all in my head.

Backstories, giving a character a personality and quirks, (try) not metagaming, etc are all ways i bring my characters to life.

I write back stories, otherwise I just can't relate to my character at all. It's hard for me to just give them a personality, instead I write the backstory and then let the writing determine his (never play females) traits and stuff.

Try walking instead of running, try not to fast travel, pick gear for aesthetics. Those aresome of the basics for growing to love your character.

^^^ This. This. This. So much fun watching the character play out the story.

Pretty much what's been said so far.

- I find that implementing needs like eating, drinking and especially sleeping makes you feel like you're part of the world.

- For traveling I use the horse, and some times the carts outside the cities if I'm in a real hurry. I never fast travel.

- I give my character a backstory and a personality. If a quest doesn't fit with my character I don't do it, and there may be random things I do because that's how my character is.

Thanks everybody. Well, I'm already level 12, and I don't know if adding a backstory for him will change anything at this point. Also, I don't fast travel, and I sleep at night until 6am, when the sun rises. I'm going to try implementing the food and drinks at least 3 times a day. The gear I plan on wearing is going to be for aesthetic - all steel plate without the helmet. I'm using a crown in replacement to show off his nobility. When I'm in cities, I wear fine clothes, fine boots, a crown, ring, and necklace; no gauntlets.

Since my character represents the sun, he uses the Dawnguard Rune Shield, Dawnbreaker, and Auriel's Bow. For shouts, he uses Fire Breath, Clear Skies (to bring out the sun), Dismay (using his "lion roar" to scare enemies away), and Unrelenting Force (to show the power of his roar).

Should I add anything else? and if anybody knows any other Paladin looking armor on vanilla, please let me know

I'm an old school D&D player, so when I'm at the creation screen, appearance, backstory, personality and future skill build all come together.

I decide basics: are they cautious or foolhardy? Honest? Greedy? Helpful? Psychotic?

I haven't done any Alternate-start mods yet, but even my decision of whom to follow (Hadvar or Ralof) is always done in character.

Role-playing (to me) means not always making the best decisions mechanics-wise. There's plenty of loot on most shrines, but some of my characters refuse to take it, many even leave an offering.

As Hagrid mentions, pick gear for Aesthetics. Maybe a Nord would refuse to wear elven, despite better stats than current gear. Maybe a character won't use gear gotten from the dead (or only use gear from fallen enemies)

Most of my characters have a "color" and I try to get gear that fits their theme. Most also have something they collect: daggers, troll skulls, amethysts etc.

One of my characters carried the Old Orc's axe with her all the way to Skuldafn (and beyond!) because she planned to leave it at a shrine to Malacanth and hadn't come across one yet.

EDIT

Sounds like you've got a theme!

Steel Plate is probably the most "knightly" looking armor.

Ebony also looks great, but you may not want to wear black.

http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh611/Trace9569/20140324_183849.jpg look's rather nice http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh611/Trace9569/20140219_1411360-1.jpg in style IMO. Of course that is just my opinion.

Perhap's add restoration for http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Restoration_Spells specifically and healing of course.

That depends on the type of paladin you want and what they are doing.

Is his name Soliare?

I think it would still be worth coming up with something. It does add some flavour to you character. You could make a backstory that makes sense considering your actions in game so far. I've done that before.

The key (for me, at least) is getting into a character's head. It's the difference between playing "a paladin," versus playing "Geoffrey Montmartre, a knight of mercurial temperament who prefers ale over wine and the company of peasants over peers." How to get there, however, is very subjective. Lots of folks enjoy writing elaborate stories or descriptions for their characters, and I'm often impressed by the quality and depth that results.

Personally, though, I'm a big fan of the one-liner character sketch (like what I gave above for Montmartre). I think it's a great tool for getting started, especially if you're new-ish to roleplaying, and it can be used as a seed for a more involved story. If you can think up a sketch that resonates with you, you'll find that a lot of the trimmings and trappings, the rules of behavior, and even your dialogue choices will just fall out of the character's own mind.

Here are a few examples from a classic film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai#Seven_Samurai

Restoration is apart of my build. Also, I don't wear helmets, my lion wears a crown

His name is Othniel, meaning "Lion of God"

It's a bit difficult to make a backstory because my lion is an old and wise one. If I make a backstory, it will be very very long. I've already come up with a few things in mind, how he was arrogant when he was young, then over decades of experience and loss, he became wise and 100% good and finds that his duty is to help/protect the people of Skyrim. Pretty cliche, but it's what I got haha.

Also, I've been debating whether or not I should loot money off the dead. It's become such a habit in all my other playthroughs. It doesn't seem very kingly and wise to do such a thing. Only thing reasonable to loot is Chest loot and maybe special weapons off enemies.

Read "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" to learn what Aslan is, and how to think like Him.

Maybe he thought it said "Asian" instead of "Aslan". I had to read it a second time when I was reading that build as the lowercase L looked like a I at first LOL!

Would Aslan take money from the dead? lol just curious

Yes, I am assuming You are talking of looting the Heathens that fell to the Lies of the Dragon Cult, Worshippers of Foul Daedra, and Others that Prey on the Weak and Defenceless. My "Good characters" always have a bonus to speech from tithing the Homeless.

Paying for Restoration Training is expensive, and even the Gaurds agree Skyrim needs more Healers, as They moan about Sore Knees.