I'd been wondering how to retire my main PC for a while. I'd taken him as far as I could go in Skyrim and there really wasn't much else to do other than radiant quests and anxiously waiting for new mods to try out. So after a long deliberation over it, I just up and clicked 'delete'. As humane as possible, he passed in his sleep never feeling any pain.

I've decided to start him over from scratch, a 'natural' start, no mods, complete play through. But I want to do some things differently this time. I want to roleplay this character a bit more than I did before, and spend more time in exploration and discovery. No fast travel, keeping a log of events, and try to focus on the environment more than rushing to complete a questline. Making him travel during the day, find shelter at night, and eat at least one decent meal a day. I think I'll try to let my character have more control over his direction this time. I went into his last play through already decided on a few issues, and this time I think I'll let his experiences make those decision. (especially when it comes to things like the CW questline) I might post his progress in the Character Stories Thread.

Yay!! Good for you! I think, and hope, that you'll be surprised by what you find just wandering. Role playing can be...illuminating. Some love it, some don't. You'll be most welcome in the stories thread should you decide on that!

While it isn't impossible to role play with no mods... I did it on 360 for almost 4 yr's... consider adding only mod's that can "help" with your RP. For instance, camping... add a camping mod.. other wise if you are caught out at night, you either "wait"... or imagine you are camping ( been their ). Something as simple as a bedroll and a fire really helps with "camping" and thus Role Playing. Those types of mods... simple...

But if you really want a no mod play through... at least put in USLEEP and the HD unoffcial patch... as they fix issues.

The no fast travel rule it sounds somewhat harsh considering some radiant quest that love to spawn a whole province away from you. I 'd say roll without any fast traveling rules and do whatever you feel like at the time. The same for role play, don't put any rules and do it whenever you are in the mood.

Now for a slightly different starting experience, choose a hold that you have spend the least amount of time and complete as many quest for that hold as you can.

For those long distance radiant quest locations, I try to wait for several quest destinations in a given area before heading that way. At some point, the travel is worth it. It doesn't always work out that way, but having two or three quest locations on, say, the far west side of the map makes it much more tolerable. Sure, that doesn't knock out the radiant quests quickly, it's just my way of managing that issue. I get around to it when I get around to it.

I've also found that traveling on foot/horse all the time will make the time required seem less and less. It is nothing to run from Solitude to Whiterun now, though it did seem to take forever when I first started with previous characters.

Good luck with the build! I very much enjoy having a story behind my character and allowing him/her to take me where they will. The first time was an Orc and I actually got to the point where I could imagine him grumbling in my head as he traveled. He hated the rain and didn't like the dark. Big ole brute Orc that didn't like the dark.......it made me laugh on more than one occasion.

Now I may have to start another Orc.

Yes, be a brother/sister to me!

Oh yes, Borgakh says that Malacath is with you!

I do this too...it helps a lot!

I'm sure I will. I usually keep an Orc, a sneaky Dunmer and some other type, maybe a Breton again. I'm new to the PC and still running a test character.

I'll get there. It is time to get ole Uncle Ghorbash moving again.

My character's approach to travel is that her travel plans trump any quests. That is, she travels nonstop on what is basically several different circuits that each cover all the cities, towns and strongholds - completely independent of questing. She picks up quests (or not) as she travels. She completes the various steps only as her normal travel brings her near the objective locations. To me, traveling Skyrim by horse and clearing random dungeons is the primary draw of this game. Happily, those activities allow for neverending gameplay.

I like it. Kind of what I meant when I said if there were several quest markers in a given area, it may be time to mosey that way for a bit. It usually means I haven't been there in a while. I can be sidetracked by a discovery, though. My characters tend not to sit long and usually stop at "home" only to leave loot they want to keep and for crafting.

Huh. Missed this thread for some reason.

I still have a toon who's just trav'lin'.... Seriously, she's been just trav'lin' for - uh.... I don't even know how long now. She was just trav'lin' in Morrowind, and in Oblivion, and she's still just trav'lin' in Skyrim. Whenever I need a break from the other girls, I load up Selthaen and travel some. She kills things that attack. She lets things that don't attack alone. She doesn't enter keeps, towers, forts. She just.... travels and enjoys.

It's refreshing. Hmm. Probably adding hunterborn and campfire to her game would be good....

I know you said no mods, but there are mods that make that type of play through less frustrating. I've used one where you are not dragon born. lets you just try and survive in Skyrim like any other NPC. I think you also need one to enhance the value of game and pelts if you want to be a hunter/gatherer.

Just have fun.