I play a heavily modded game



I think that progressively adding more and more mods is part of why I keep getting tired of my characters. I play them for a while, and get off to a great start, then I add a couple mods, and do gamey things to explore how they change game dynamics, then the character feels hollow and uninteresting.

The other thing is, I really find it very hard to "roleplay" in this game. I don't know how you guys do it. The NPCs are robotic. Other than the actual quests, they never actually interact with you in any meaningful way, its just "How are you!?" "I saw a mudcrab the other day . . ." and "Alessia Ottus has really bad halitosis . . ."

I don't know if I haven't got into the lore enough, or if I focus too much on grinding for +5 / +5 / +5 or what. With the mods and settings I use, the game is certainly sufficienlty challenging. With OOO and MMM and Enhanced Econ + HungryThirstySleepyTired, it is literally a struggle just to make a couple thousand septims and not get killed. I much prefer to play dead-is-dead, but have starated using Kuertee's alternatives to death.

I think another part of my problem is that I played without OOO for so long, I'm finding it difficult to get a feel for how to develope my character to get more powerful without so much grinding of skills. The one character I played with most prior to my current one (and prior to installing OOO and MMM) I just basically abandoned because she was too powerful really. Nothing was a challenge. She had got into Arcane University and pretty sweet kit of enchanted gear, and had also got a bit into Thieves questline and had got into the Assassin's guild too.

I have never actually finished any of the main quests (Amulet or any of the guild quests) and I think I've repeated some of the "side-quests" probably far too many times, a habit that I for some reason find hard to break . . . it just seems natural to automatically start doing the same things as I've always done (go clear caves on the island; get into thieves guild and make a buck from robbing everyone blind; finish some of the urban quests, etc.).

I also had one "Paladin" character that I developed pretty far. He had found got into the Priory of the Nine and won all the bouts.

I tend to like to play sneaky, thieving, amoral types of characters, though that one Paladin was fun. I have only played Imperials, Bretons, and most recently a Redguard. I did play one Altmer pure mage for a while. I found that he was incredibly powerful even before he got to level 3, though that was playing without OOO and MMM . . . Mostly I guess what I've gravitated toward have been jacks of all trades types: assassinating-thieving-battle-mages who join which ever guild they think they might get some advantage from . . .

My most recent character is a female redguard: Dierdre Shambala, who iis now, after about 20 hours, level 4 (OOO set on slow, plus I tend to play slow). She still has no magical weapons or armor, and has really focused on getting her Intelligence and Wisdom up from the 20s and low 30s where they started. She has advanced a ways in the Thieves Guild (one or two chapters) but I still have not got any furhter than I ever did with any previous character, and bought the Brew House in Anvil, and has also visited her Frostcrag Inheritance (it almost seems like a bad idea to have ALL those offical DLCs running for any one character, and perhaps best to either deactivate all except one "archetypal" DLC, else to ignore them?).

So having said all of that, I'm asking for some suggestions here. I feel like I've got a pretty satisfying set of mods that are stable, and which I like and provide all the extras I want; like I said, the process of adding them and trying them out is partly why I've gone through so many characters and have yet to find one that I settled on. Though I cannot say that I won't add more mods, I dont' imagine adding that many more. Mostly I like mods that either add functionality (Expanded Hotkeys or TQP, e.g.,) or immersion (HungryThirsty, Enhanced Economy) or add more content/texture to the game world (Arthmoor's villages, etc.).

I like characters that use bows and stealth, but I'm finding that with OOO+MMM, not getting those one-shot kills can be very bad for a character that is soft in the melee area.

I think I've visited and cleared one Oblivion Gate, the one at Kvatch. While the basic idea of the Oblivion crisis seems cool, the quests inside the gates themselves just felt kinda samey-gamey.

I have yet to play an Orc, or Lizard or Cat person. Honestly I am kinda old school D&D on that stuff. I sort've wish we had Dwarves and Halflings instead of cat and lizard people, but C'est la vie. I find it difficult to think of an Orc as something besides a monster that is not much different than a Goblin or Hobgoblin . . . the other two species are even more difficult for me to get into. Though I'm not saying those alternative species are out, I need some basis to take them seriously I guess. I just don't understand how all these wildly different species get along so relatively well, and if I did play one of the "non-humanoids" I'd have a hard time not roleplaying them as a "I hate all these oppressor Humanoids; must kill them all . . ."

I tend to like to play sixy female humanoids . . . I guess I like to ogle myself or something

Playing a filthy, stinking, crass disgusting, huge powerful dumb orc smasher type does sound like it could be entertaining . . . for a while. Then he'd probably get killed and I'd either abandon the character or breach my basic "dead is dead" inclination and then feel like he was no more fun . . .

1. Given my current mod suite, and the tastes I've outlined, are there any other absolute must-have mods that I should consider?

2. Should I deactivate all the DLCs (not Knights and SI, but the true downloaded ones [Frostcrag, Deepscore, etc.]) except plan to "reactivate" one or maybe two of them that suit my character at some key stage (e.g., upon reaching level 5 or upon reaching a certain level of infamy or something?)

3. Despite owning it right from the get-go, I have yet to EVER go to Shivering Isles. Should I design a character with the intent of going to SI as soon as it is tenable and do that? What kind've character should I go for if I plan to focus on SI?

4. Any other suggestions on a character/build I can "believe in" and stick with? Suggestions on how to take roleplaying more seriously would be welcomed in that regard.

5. What is the most completey random character you can suggest?

6. How do I break the +5/+5/+5 "addiction?" Particularly now with the much increased unpredictability and lethality of OOO+MMM, getting those attributes up seems more critical than ever, but (a) using the console feels cheap; and (B) clicking incessantly to cast Heal to get my Willpower up is not "fun" its tedium.

7. What is the most fun way to play a Vampire? I have yet to play a vampire at all. Note: I have Kuertee's Simple Vampirism installed. Perhaps I should consider a complete Vampire Overhaul mod?

8. I like playing thieves, but find the limited number of Fences and the entry only through doors to be a serious deficiency. I have Thieves Arsenal installed, but it seemed to be causing some conflicts at one point and deactivated it in OBMM. I forget if Thieve's Arsenal included entry through windows or anything like that. Can someone recommend a good total Thievery Overhaul mod?

9. I think I need a character that has a long-term goal. The Paladin was kind've nice in that regard because the KotN quests are obviously building up to the big brawl with the Unfeathered Demon guy. I've tended to play too opportunistially like: Oh, here is a cave, lets go in here. Getting distracted by things is one of the great features of the game but several hundred hours of just wandering aimlessly doing largely disconnected quests and building a more powerful character starts to get old.

I cannot say I feel any intrinsic allure to fighting for the Septim line. Indeed, playing a pure evil megalomaniac bent on becoming ruler of Cyrodil and ruling with an iron fist sounds more interesting. But I'm not sure how far you can actually go with that, given the highly scripted NPC relations. So what if you kill everyone? You still didn't exactly 'conquer' Cyrodil. Can you become a friend to the Daedra or something?

I can't answer this one, as I don't know your tastes. Only you can decide what you like best. However, a couple suggestions:

Progress: Completely control how fast skills advance.
nGCD: Should destroy that +5, +5, +5 addiction.
Oblivion XP: Alternative leveling mod, and now being updated again!



Only if you wish to. If you have room for them, I say leave them in to add a little something extra to the world. If you don't think you're ever going to use them, though, go ahead and pull a couple.



A character that sticks should be one that reflects your personality, and you will know when you find the one. It can take awhile, but I myself have found the one build that clicks for me:

Race: Bosmer
Birthsign: Steed
Class: Ranger

-Specialization: Stealth

-Favored Attributes: Strength (archery mod makes this important), Agility

-Major Skills: Armorer, Marksman, Blade (only short blades used, however), Illusion, Sneak, Light Armor, Alchemy

This is what works for me, but likely not for you. You just need to ask yourself: how do you get the most enjoyment out of this game? I get the most enjoyment out of exploring new places and finding untold, beautiful treasures, as well as the thrill of combat with a bow and and a shortsword. Thus my character reflects this, he is a ranger and insatiably curious explorer. His curiosity has gotten him into trouble many times, and I won't have it any other way. He likes to dash around, especially during combat, and is particularly well known for using those centuries-old traps inside ruins to his advantage.

He is me, that's why we get along so well. :tops:



You can't get a good character for yourself by randomizing, so I'll pretend you didn't ask this one.



Acadian method: pick a few attributes that you will never, ever use, and never use those related skills.

My method: Plug in nGCD and forget the vanilla leveling system ever existed.

How about creating a character and completing a quest line, since that's something you've never done?

Seriously, it seems to me that you're getting so caught up in the sandbox aspect of the game that you're missing the fact that there actually are stories going on. The NPCs may seem "robotic" to you because you're not involved in the things that are important to them.

I'd be the last one to suggest dropping roleplaying in favor of playing through a linear story-quest, but I think that any Oblivion player owes him/herself the experience of doing the questlines at least once. (Not all with the same character, though.)

All of the guild quests have actual stories going on, with real conflicts, real drama. It's in the quest lines that some of the NPCs become "people."

At least finish the Knights of the Nine!

I concur, monsiuer. Why not do all the main guilds and the DB? The KoTN? SI? The MQ? The Arena? That's eight characters right there and you haven't even touched on the mini-quests!

Trust me, doing those quests make the NPCs become more life-like.

Great suggestions guys. Checking out nGCD now.

@ Glargg and HeroofKvatch99: Wow. Finish one of the quest lines . . . so brilliant, so simple. I'm on it!

In fact, I think I'll just use my current Redguard female. She is sufficiently flawed that she'll stay interesting.



Perhaps this is my fundamental problem. I seem to be drawn toward being a sixy, girlish, sociopathic thieving assassin, suggesting that is the "real me." Being a happily-married 40-year old heterosixual male professional, the revelation that I should've been born a murderous Bosmer chickie is probably a bit difficult to digest subconsciously!

I have this problem occasionally too. One tool that helps me break out of this pattern is an alternate start mod. Starting in a different location prevents me from heading right for Vilverin. The other thing that will help you break out of this is roleplaying. Roleplaying has nothing to do with NPCs and whether they are or are not robotic. Roleplaying happens entirely inside your mind. Imagination is what makes or breaks roleplaying, not NPCs. Choose a character from a movie or TV or a book that you like and that you feel you know really well. Roleplay as that character. Do what that character would do.

I notice you have Et In Arkay installed. I played that recently with one of my recent characters. What I did was to skip all the quests in the vanilla game and play only that mod. Skipping vanilla quests that my characters almost always do every time (for me, this is Fighters Guild quests) really made the game feel fresh for me. Once you finish EIA you can install another quest mod and do only quests from that mod. I guarantee, that will help to break many old patterns.




I agree. One of my golden rules of using mods is this: use only those mods you need for a given character. I have a short list of mods I use for every character I play, but the other 95% of my mods are there because a specific character needs them. If your character can benefit from using one of the DLCs, use it. If not, don't use it.




You may know about this mod already but I'll mention it anyway. http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=9858 won't eliminate the 'samey-gamey' but it will spice up the experience a tiny bit.




You might enjoy reading this thread: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1115805-completely-random-character/page__view__findpost__p__16384187__fromsearch__1




You're using Realistic Leveling. The whole point of using mods like Realistic Leveling (or nGCD) is to eliminate +5 addiction. I configure RL to eliminate level-up messages altogether. Most of the time I don't even know what level my character is.





Here is some reading that hopefully might help you break out of old playing habits:

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1116923-re-starters-anonymous/page__view__findpost__p__16406202__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1123563-anybody-ever-play-as-a-character-which-is-counter-intuitive/page__view__findpost__p__16519583__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1121584-what-personal-rules-do-you-apply-to-your-characters/page__view__findpost__p__16501462__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1115709-self-imposed-rules-for-a-new-game/page__view__findpost__p__16390151__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1113643-an-interesting-new-way-to-play/page__view__findpost__p__16341241__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1117184-has-anyone-ever-just-played-as-the-unchanged-character/page__view__findpost__p__16411708__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1114533-how-do-you-limit-yourself-in-morrowind/page__view__findpost__p__16579862__fromsearch__1

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1121067-does-your-character-have-a-personal-mission/page__view__findpost__p__16494963__fromsearch__1

Thanks Pseron! Great suggestions

Having the right mods and a long term goal definately helps. I don't know if OOO and MMM are the right mods for the job, I haven't played with them. I actually use mods that you don't use at all - Francesco's, Unique landscapes and natural environments. The cool thing with Francesco's is the way guild questlines are done. Quests are leveled with you, but limited. The first few quests can always level one, and the last quests have a minimum level of +/- 20. So you can't achieve your long term goal without becoming truly powerful.

So, here's an RP idea for a beast race:

Race: Argonian Male
Birthsign: Shadow
Class: any sneaking class that uses blade instead of marksman

The story:
You were born a shadowscale in one of the outer provinces, and so you were donated to the dark brotherhood by your parents. Young and bold, you always seeked out the most challenging contracts and this quickly caught up with you. Lacking the skill and knowledge to complete a particularly difficult contract, you were caught and imprisoned. The guard captain was afraid however, that the dark brotherhood would try to rescue you from prison, which didn't really help his promotion plans. Striking a deal with someone he knew from the imperial watch, you were knocked unconscious and shipped to the imperial prison in the middle of the night. That's where you start. The long term goal is the same as it always was - serving the dark brotherhood and advancing through the ranks.

The lesson learned from imprisonment is an important one - training and gaining knowledge is vital to grow. So in between contracts you'll hone your killing skills in the wild, practicing on outcasts and collecting useful equipment before doing difficult contracts.

That's the idea. I'm now playing a character quite like this, only I forgot to choose shadow as my birthsign. It's a decent story to continue with, and playing as a sneaky character with blade skill instead of marksman is really fun to do. For the class, I usually just choose the skills that go best with argonians (mysticism, illusion, alchemy, security, athletics, blade) together with light armour of course. The way I approach the world is that my character doesn't want to kill anything in his sight, but is rather busy with gaining something from every situation rather than helping people. Even though he is sometimes hateful to others, he won't kill them and risk getting imprisoned for something so trivial.

I'm not as much of a roleplayer as others, but I like playing with a logical character with logical goals, and I don't focus on always getting the strongest character. Also, I don't join just any guild, only the guild I really want to advance in. So I won't join the thieves guild with this character, even though I'm suited for it, and I won't join the mages guild for the spell-making and enchanting.

Thanks for the suggested Argonian Frank.

I've given up on my last character and restarted as a "random" character. I just closed my eyes and slide the slider back-n-fortth; back-n-forth. Wound up with a male redguard Scout (stock class). Pretty happy with him so far, just focusing on becoming a very skilled and wealthy thief.

Based on Pseron's comment, I realized I have not made good use of Realistic Leveling. I have been using it with vanilla leveling, but with number of training sessions upped. Instead I reset it to default Realistic Leveling. I'm not sure what exactly that does, but I am not paying attention to the +5 grinding

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions folks!

Hey Antropoid! Some general comments.

Difficulty: boringly easy v. fun v. frustrating
I, too, found the game (before returning this month, my last game was this time last year) either too easy or too difficult.
Thinking of it now, I think it was MMM's heavy spawns.
There was waaay too many to kill that even with a specialised-class character (i.e. either only a warrior, archer or mage rather than a hybrid), I was levelling-up too quickly.
And so, I was finding the game quite easy.
But at the other end of argument, I found some areas waaay (especially in the planes of Oblivion) too difficult to the point of frustration and impossibility because of the same: waaay too many spawns.

In my current game, I have only Fran's as my main "overhaul".
I'm finding the world more sparse and unpopulated outside of the cities/townships - more like how I imagine it should be.
The spawn groups are smaller than MMM's but I am finding the fights quite enjoyable.
Some spawns are easy-beats: a couple of levels below my character. NPCs actually decide to fly (NPCs yield mod) before engaging in combat. While goblins and such, I kill with a hit.
Some spawns, a challenge: 2 or 3 of the same level.
But some, a real challenge and still deadly: one of the group would be 3 levels above me.
I hate dying because of my Alternatives to death and reload.



Griding:
I use tejon's nGCD, Progress. Its very slow - especially now that I do not have MMM's heavy spawn numbers.
But I find it saves me from worrying about levelling-up. And it satisfies my specialisation (no hybrid characters) obsession.
What I do find frustrating is that everytime nGCD is updated, my level-progress takes a hit - i.e. I lose some of it.

Oblivion:
Ummm...another non-invasive (i.e. it uses Oblivion's own system of opening gates - rather than adding any more to the game) mod of mine: Ignoring the main quest has consequences.

Vamprism:
With the right mod, being a vampire can pose some challenges.
And it doesn't have to be a vampire mod that does this.
E.g. My high Timescales (it increases up to 90 in the wilderness) is sufficient to make being a vampire very dangerous to the player.
But I find that it offers good risk-with-benefits in-game decisions that makes the game interesting.

However, I found the mods that I tried waaay (ummm...and waaay, waaay) too powerful.
Even so, I really liked CDM's The vampire experience and his companion werewolf mod.
I believe those have been abandoned (or put aside for now).
Regardless, I decided to create Simple vampirism.



Long-term goals:
This is a tough-one.
I've finished the FG and DB guild quests. But not the others.
I still wish to get to the end and close all the gates.
And I don't know what happens when that happens.
I've avoided (more like I've not really been interested in) reading up on any spoilers.
And so, that is my long-term goal.

My other long-term goal is mod-wise: to achieve my in-game long-term goal with a commonsensical "realism" (i.e. not true realism).
The game should not be frustratingly and impossibly difficult for no reason other for being frustratingly and impossibly difficult.
I should have a sense of accomplishment in progressing my character along.

E.g. Check your Days in game And People killed numbers. Do they seem out-of-whack?
Hundreds of people killed by one person? The Hero of Kvatch?
Regardless of whether those killed were undesirables, those high numbers would/should bother not only the NPCs but also the player in-game.
Those numbers are not very commonsensical.



Roleplaying is quite hard in vanilla Oblivion.
But I actually love the game.
And I know that in a couple of weeks time, I'll be leaving it again. Life. Sigh.

And that's a good hour writing this post.
I hope that helps revitalise your outlook of the game, Anthropoid!

I play on the PC and tend to abuse the crap out of the console, givingthe MC a gajillion gold, maxing out all his/her attributes, major/minor skills, making his/her fame be 2000, have all the weapons, armor and clothing.

This time, I created a female character named Lydia Oscarus who lives and works in The Grey Mare Inn in the city of Chorrol. I only used the console to set the items in the first room upstairs as hers (as well as disabling the door so it wouldn't lock on her). This time, I'm not going to make her a demi-goddess of Tamriel. I'll resist every urge to abuse the console, only using it to give her a modest sum of gold or removing it from her inventory.

Anthropoid, have you thought of giving your character some particular motivation for doing something?

I read a thread about someone playing as a Knight / Paladin infected / curst with vampirism. So, this character was on a constant dillemma between either maintaining the purity of his soul and suffering the miserable existence of having to deal with bodily weakness, or having to kill to survive at the cost of his ideals.

I had a character who was a Shadow Assassin whose little town was destroyed by Imperial Forces on one of their 'civilising missions', so she grew a hated towards anything related to the empire, nobilitity and military. She'd 'seduce' high-end targets and assassinate them in the quite of night, always leaving a bouquet or flower as some sort of signature. Targets considered extremely important she'd trap their souls in some soul gem and either keep them as such in some sort of collection or enchant jewelry with the 'Burden' effect naming after the assassinated. Despite the signature, she'd not search for fame, so she'd not do the Arena for instance, but would take part in other guilds using disguise, thinking that higher rankings could get easier access to higher targets of nobility, government, etc...

Give your character weaknesses / setbacks, like low strength and agility. limit yourself to use only the skills you think fit your character... I had a Paladin who would never engage in quests for $, thieves, DB, arena... he'd never pick a lock or loot corpses, as Paladins are supposed to keep a code of honour and condduct.

Great stuff guys! Getting sleepy will respond more later