For example, one thing I have worked out is how to do Dark Brotherhood without being deliberately evil. It goes like this. Your innocent char get a couple of assassin attacks automatically, so when you hear the rumour about Arventus in Windhelm, you get involved only with the intent of contacting a DB agent, hoping to perhaps payoff the contract on your head or find out who took it out. But no one shows up! So you go to Riften hoping to intercept the DB there at the Orphanage, and only then come to realise that killing evil Grelod is the only way to get their attention. Then it all takes on its own momentum with Astrid abducting you etc. but still your char is convincing themselves that the initial kills they perform is part of the cover to infiltrate the DB. Soon you char begins to enjoy doing the assassinations and belatedly realises they have become as bad as the DB themselves and then their indoctrination is complete .
Sorry its a bit verbose, but that is how I get from heroic dragon killing village saving good guy to evil psycho.
My question remains...... How, in that kind of realistic story kinda way, can you sweep in the other factions and make it flow from one to the next so eventually doing the whole of the questlines. I mean like no one is gonna just wake up one random morning and say, oooooh today I feel like getting right into the thieves guild and getting promoted to top thief. There needs to be. Rationale, at least for me.
Any ideas even on just one or two starts in like maybe companions and the college at WH. I don't mind what order I do the quests as long as it's got logical flow..........