How do you justify it? And what is this guy doing here? That's what I was thinking crawling through Goldenglow, considering maybe I should drop this char and get the Necrothief char I've been thinking about rolling. But armed Muffle and Calm the job went alot smoother than my fledgling thief character would've managed it, and this guy never intends to take Illusion further than that. In fact I don't think he will bother with the sidejobs at all, preferring the big jobs and leaving small jobs to the rabble in the Ratway.

I'm not sure what there is to justify, exactly. If the character has the talent and frame-of-mind for thievery, where else would he/she/it go?

On the other hand... I seem to recall a certain safe in the Goldenglow quest, so the character MUST be a thief by his nature to complete it. If that is true, he is no longer a pure mage. Thieves are not created by a skill set, but rather by a state of mind and a particular set of morals or moralistic reltivism.

Personally, I think playing "pure" classes is usually not good roleplaying. It is my belief that roleplaying ought to replicate real life as closely as possible. And real human beings are rarely "pure" about anything they do, or anything they think. We are very complex beings. If we are roleplaying truly, I believe our roleplaying characters ought to reflect that complexity. "Pure" characters can be very fun to play. I often play them. But, when I do, I rarely (with a few exceptions) call it roleplaying.

So my approach to these kinds of issues is not to ask, "What should a Mage do?" but, rather, "What should this character do?" I believe the character is more important than the class. If you are roleplaying, put aside notions of class for a moment and focus on your character. What is his/her personality, his/her likes and dislikes? What actions suit this particular character? If you know the answer these questions, you should know why your character would, or would not, be in the Thieves Guild.

True, purity in his skillset maybe, but not in thought. He was damn near broke when he entered Riften with barely 50 gold in his pocket and Brynjolfs offer seemed to good to pass up.

i completely agree

I never thought about having a mage thief. Sounds like a fun combo.

Every guild should have a mage in the group.

My Telvanni justified it due to curiosity about these strange gems he wanted Vex to explain; then, he sensed there was some power there. He also needed money since the Legion stole what he had when he crossed the border, and he had expenses to pay at the College.


It's all about what makes sense for that specific character; my Telvanni did the side-quests, even though he stopped the TG MQ as soon as he got his hands on the Skeleton Key. He already outmaneuvered any pact with Nocturnal by being Volkihar at the time (given what Serana says about being a vampire and the Soul Cairn).

Notice the different types of people in the dark brotherhood? That wouldn't be a bad example for the thieves guild either. It has been said before but does your magic wielding character have larceny at heart? By the way I enjoy playing magic using types that enhance other skills. For example paring illusion with sneak. Or if you get in over your head conjuration to bring in a bit of help.