I'm currently in the midst of setting up a heavily modded and very difficult skyrim setup for my new character, so while I have a lot of options available to me I could use some suggestions, ideas and especially restrictions on how to play this character.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Scholar/enchanter.

• No armour - only clothing or robes.
• Only rune magic - He's a scholar and proficient in enchanting, but he's by no means a "mage".
• His main interest is exploring ancient ruins, adding artifacts and all books to his collection and library.
• Will have to rely on one or more hired mercenaries as escorts.
• No restrictions on what kind of enchants he can use, since that is his specialty.
• Can use crossbow - out of all weapons crossbow is probably the most suitable for someone without combat experience and to keep him out of harms way.
• Melee weapons - Not decided, dagger, while it would fit, is too much of a constant clickfest for me, might decide not to have any at all.
• Will not participate in quests made for adventurer's like fetch quests or bounties. (Unless there's any artifact/knowledge excuse involved).
• Will only join the college to get access to books and enchanting supplies, no quests will be done.
• Keep a journal of everything found/discovered in ancient ruins with the take notes mod.
• Minor knowledge of alchemy - not decided yet.
• No shouts. He's not the dragonborn.
• Neutral character, will not steal unless it's a very rare artifact and there's no other way to obtain it, and he will then only send a recruited theif to do it, never personally.

What else could I do to spice this character up/make it more in line?

Wow thats a great idea. Perhaps check out the skyrim blog for some build ideas? Id go with a bound bow instead if crossbow. Keep it magical.

sounds good. Like the crossbow idead. As Daedric_dovah said bound bow would kinda fit but you would still need to be skilled with bow to use it

I was considering conjured weapons, however, in my head he's more of a low fantasy character. He's a bookworm with the knowledge of runes/enchanting but no other magic. While in the games runes are cast like a spell, in my head it'll be more like he draws it on the ground before combat. Meaning he can only use runes as a preparation, and never in actual combat.

So I felt a physical crossbow would be more suitable.

Maybe not the most lore friendly, but that's more the type I'm going for. (:

@Dovah: What blog are you referring to?

EDIT: found it, cheers!

great idea ..have to ask what is his motivation and overall goal here ...its hard to build a fan fiction without it , perhaps he could be a collector of sorts fascinated and obsessed with relics and other rare items ...you could set your sights on a certain item and document the whole adventure leading up to you getting it which would be very interesting as your not really a fighter and each item would have a intresting story as to how you obtained it ....going after the deadric items would be very interesting as would the masks for he collage of winter hold ......

id defo get the mods that have weather impact you and other survival elements you should make it very hard and require you to plan your routes and methods to each mission very important . there are so many secrets in skyrim that been a treasure hunter type would be fun indeed

It's just a basic character concept for now. The lure of knowledge and obsession with artifacts/relics is a strong motivator, but I haven't begun to think about any deeper/more personal goals than that yet. The one thing I might have in mind might be a certain item from Hermaeus Mora. Every artifact hunt and how it was achieved will be written down in the journal. Hoping more ideas will come up. (:

Yes, all important survial and weather mods (CoT, RND, YouHunger, Frostfall, camping, etc) are already included, they're fantastic. Also new books etc.

love this idea think ill do this myself ...

Love the idea of Scholar/enchanter.

How will you make money? Enchanting and inlisting a body guard is not cheap.

Where will you live, store your books and treasures found?

Will you collect soles or buy them for your enchanting?

I love the vision of runes you are using for this character! I have an idea just to increase the usability of your runes while still following your RP. You could RP that before entering a dangerous place your character writes some sort of rune-related symbol on both of his hands, allowing him to cast these runes onto surfaces with greater ease. You could RP this by always carrying a writing quill with you. Perhaps limit yourself to one rune per hand or if he writes the same rune-symbol on each hand he could dual cast. Just some food for thought.
I don't play on PC so I'm not sure what kind of mods are available or how easy it would be to achieve, but you could even RP that he's tattooed his hands with these Symbols (one for each palm) and actually go in and edit your character to have symbols on his palms (again, not sure f that's possible). Food for thought on the Rune part

As far as the crossbow I'd suggest having around 5 different enchanted crossbows for specefic purposes (undead, fury, etc) and havig your hired-mercenary acting as yor pack-mule so you'd have to talk to him and ask him to hold one crossbow while you take a different crossbow (just dont give him any bolts so he doesn't use up your enchants).

Sounds like a very fun character, hope I was able to help.
Good luck.

Really like the idea. Crossbow fits perfectly with your theme, I'd definitely go for that instead of a bound bow. A dagger could be useful, but the character would shun melee combat anyway, preferring to run away in those cases I think.

Yes, great idea. I love scholar characters, probably because that's the closest I would ever come to an adventurer: a highbrow, don't-get-my-hands-dirty, academic type.

Some things about playing a scholar in Skyrim can be difficult. But here are some ideas I've tried or thought of in the past

-Scrolls are a perfect complement to the scholar, and some are quite powerful (but may need to be used with care around companions). Definitely make them a priority in loot and when in the marketplace.

-Staves *may* fit, depending on the character. If you don't see him as a real wizard type, you can always collect them, use them in a pinch, and sell them once you've studied them enough.

-Speech is a nice skill for this, since you'll be buying soul gems (filled and unfilled) and possibly even buying enchanted gear to learn a rare enchantment - and buying scrolls, too.

-Lockpick might be worth a mention. You could invest 5 perks and get Treasure Hunter, which comes with an increased chance of finding weapons and armor (enchanted or unenchanted) in most chests.

-Given those things, I don't think you'll have too much trouble with money. And if you find yourself poor, well, enjoy it! Skyrim is throwing gold at you most of the time, so revel in being a poor scholar.

Dealing with enemies - Skyrim is combat-heavy, so there's always the potential for a fight (or ten). You can roll with this, relying on your hireling(s) and crossbow (plus scrolls). Or you can invest in some crowd control like Illusion or Restoration (turn undead). Personally, these seem a bit too flashy for the kind of scholar I think you're going for, but I'm just throwing it out there.

General roleplay stuff -

-Spend some time in towns talking to people and getting the lay of the land. Did you glimpse a ruin on your way into town? Does anyone in that low-class tavern have any information on the surrounding area? Does the jarl or a court wizard have any knowledge to share?

-Stay a few days, keeping a room at the inn and going out for expeditions each day.

-Books. Does the storekeeper have any dusty old tomes that might point to adventure? Or books of general historical interest? Spend money and haul them around to read.

-The College has some great quests for you! I'd do Saarthal and perhaps Hitting the Books, but then stop the main quest altogether. The first two are about archaeology and book retrieval; after you go to Mzulft, the questline ramps up in a major way, so I just never go there. But even if you don't touch the main College questline, you can get a lot of mileage out of Urag's side quests, since they're all about finding books! Shalidor's Insights and the other radiant one where you have to find some random book - they're pretty much ideal for a scholar.

-Learn the dragon language! I did this with my Imperial Battlemage. Sketched out the symbols on every word wall I came across, and cross-referenced the familiar symbols with what I had already seen. It was a really nerdy and fun mini-game I made for myself.

Skills

Sounds like you have a lot of this figured out already. I'd go with Archery & Enchanting (obviously), Destruction (grab Dualcasting and Rune Master), Speech (possibly everything here), Lockpicking, and maybe Alchemy as a minor skill, as you mentioned. With Enchanting, you can carry around an imbued dagger or two for an emergency, and you won't need to put points into One Handed, so I'd stay away from that skill.

I think you'll be surprisingly effective! Good luck

Tell me if you come up with any unique ideas for yours. (So I may steal them!)

That is a very good question. The setup I have is very harsh on the economy, even being able to afford food/inns will be a struggle before I get some income rolling. Later on the income will of course come from selling my enchanting services and lesser treasures found in ruins. I do have a mod that allows me to send followers away on missions for a few days, but I can hardly rely on that.

This depends on what race I choose. If I do go for a nord I figure he'd already own a home, and I've chosen one specifically for a huge library. Although, I've always liked to start from stratch with as little resources as possible, but that leaves coming to skyrim by ship/foreigner route for a blank slate. I may settle with simple backstory trick of investing in real estate and that drained all funds.

Buy and/or let mercenaries fill the empty soul gems I have. My character does not have the knowledge of soul trapping. Until he can put the enchant on weapon that is.

Thanks, questions like this makes my loose concept come to together bit by bit.

Hm, sounds a bit like Full Metal Alchemist? Tattoos or gloves would be easy to add, but it goes against the limitations I put in intentionally, for a more old school runes/spell circles, but I appreciate the idea. As for the quill, that should be fairly easy to add as an equippable item and definitely do something with. :3

Yes, different crossbows stored away at the mercenary or horse would be fun. I've decreased the carry weight enough to not being able to have all anyway. So scouting out the dungeon then picking it up from the horse/mercenary is a must. (:

Thanks for your input.

A dagger with any defensive/tactical enchant, like paralyze, or pushback but only to be used to either run away or in defence if mercenary can back you up, every now and then could work.

Some rare scrolls like unlock, but no staves, I'm trying to move away from as much magic as possible, both to play in a new way.

Speech one of the priorities, a must for a scholar imo.

As for lockpick and gold, thanks for the suggestions, but like I stated, my skyrim is heavily modded, so I have the alternative of using scrolls and gold is going to be extremely hard to come by, and even keep.

Agreed, but I appreciate any suggestions.

Cheers!

Speech is good but some of the perks wouldn't fit on this character IMO, like intimidation and allure, and then that will naturally block off the rest at the top.