Hey guys,

We all know that there is little to no accurate information ever recorded in TES about the actions of the player character from previous games. There are obvious reasons why this is in reality. But from an RP stand point how do you rationalise it?

Personally here's how I go about it.

My character in Skyrim, is the same Character as I had in Morrowind all those years ago, the exact same. He is ancient. His soul was set aside by the gods at the end of his life (I've a massive back story about him.) after a pledge he made. The Gods call apon his services in times of need, once his usefulness has come to an end, he is returned to the void.
When he is called apon, he doesn't know why, he doesn't know where he is. All he knows is that there is some serious issue that needs tending to, and its upto him to find what that is.

This is why he can have the impact on Nirn and Tamriel he does, and yet his actions are never recorded in detail.


Does anyone have a similar method?

I just go around swinging my axe.

Haven't put much thought into it. I like your method though, very true to the genre.

I laughed so hard at this.


Anyway, my characters aren't very well developed, they have little to no back story. Basically I just develop the premise of the character, and go from there...

I like to take my cues from history (non-fictional). A lot of historical figures, especially ancient ones, have very little known about them other than the fact that they (probably) existed.
So my character(s) have slipped through the cracks, wandered the world, etc. I just pretend the human ones become vampires and cure themselves before the events of the next game.
Lazy, I know.
Your rationale for your character is really good, btw.
(In answer to OP. Edited for lack of clarity about that.)

I can never get into these games if there is anything left open and not making sense. Its almost as bad as "To be continued" (Looking at you Mass Effect...)

Zero - That works, and it fills in the gaps, so it's not lazy - its just simple. I often over think things .

My characters a new each time. I create a small backstory for them and then develop it from there.

In Skyrim my Nord has a reasonably deep backstory but the main part of it is that he was caught coming back over the border from Cyrodiil after smuggling his grandfather out of Skyrim. He returned to Skyrim to find out which side was responsible for his parents death (cliched or what) and that is why he was captured coming over the border but is forced into stopping the return of dragons above his own personal agenda, otherwise there would be no world for him to bring justice to his parents killers.

As for previous characters I made and there apparent lack of detail in history I just don't think much of it as I can't think of any logical reason for there to be no detailed records of such big events

Your backstory seems very interesting and quite deep and I would be interested in reading more of it if you have a link to a thread where you have detailed it more. Is your character an elf hence his long life cycle?

Meh before crossing into Skyrim my Nord was a nobody- a farmer's son from some backwater village in Cyrodiil.
Why was he going to Skyrim?

God knows.

I don't really like the idea of having a lot of adventures before each game, and I definitely don't want a character that took major part in everything that has been going on in TES history. All my character are simple young people with short and rarely interesting backstories (just to explain why they would use magic/melee/sneak, why they have no connection with their parents/family and so forth). But the real stories of their life starts (and ends) with each game.

Same.

I don't have a thread, Its written down in a note book, 200 page note book 2/3 full .
I may copy it at some point how ever.

In brief, no my Character isn't an Elf, He's a Nord - Angael Theru-tum.
The life cycle is of no consequence, as he's not technically alive. Sure, he's mortal. He can be killed. But his true life ended not long after the end of the Merethic Era.

He's a stout racist, stemming from the original wars with the Falmer and associated experiences. His wife and child were [censored] and murdered by skirmishing Falmer. After a brief period of grief induced psychosis he vowed to the Gods that should be given the ability to for ever hunt Mer and any who stand by them, then his soul could be used as the Harbinger of progress as seen fit until time its self is ended.

There's allot more to his personality then that though, he's not a psychotic. Apathetic to other causes yes, but willing to take part in less matters if he feels the issues warrant it.

its a family line my grandfather was the neravarine my father was the champion of cyrodill and eventually became the madgod himself. and me im just here to save the world. also being assassins my parents didnt like giving out there names and neither do i.

Sounds very intriguing. Good to know some players really do role play the game.

Well my Morrowind character is the same as my Daggerfall character; Alric Alcras.

I just imagined that he was blamed for the whole warp in the west issue, and combined with a messed up timeline, ended up in the prison ship to Morrowind.

My Oblivion Character Jinn Alcras, was then the son of Alric, left behind in Cyrodil and thrown in prison by one of Alric's enemies.

Jinn also ended up in Skyrim; my explaination being that he was trapped in Oblivion these last 300 or so years, finaly managed to escape ending up reappearing near the border of skyrim worn out and exhausted before getting caught.
Obviously when he tried to tell them that he was the Hero of Kavatch, Champion of Cyrodill, they thought he was delerious or crazy and packed him up with the stormcloaks.

Thats my story so far =P
My explaination for the loss of skills for Alric is obviously the dragon break, and Jinn's is the harsh mental strain and physical punishment his body went through trying to get out of Oblivion.

I never use a character more than once. And for their past, i do not care what they did, it is more important what they do than what they did in the past, and i let Bethedsa to take care what happened to them in past games, like my Nervarine traveled to Akaviri and my Champion of Cyrodiil became the new Sheogorath. I really liked meeting him in Skyrim, he actually reminded me about the nord warrior i played in Oblivion.

TES is just a hack and slash without a personality for your Character.

I agree, which is why I do give my character some backstory. It doesn't appear however to be a deep as yours.

Out of interest how do you explain in your story (seeing as how it is the same character) how he loses all his gained skills from previous games. For example you are a master illusionist during the Oblivion crisis only to in Skyrim have none of your characters previous abilities

Same way I explain his slightly different physique. His physical form is destroyed when its returned to the void. He has memory, but not physical ability. Same as someone who suffers a serious brain injury.
When the gods call for him again, they provide a "husk" in which is soul lives. He has to learn to use the body.

Ok then, seems rational enough, so your character go into a type of coma whilst in the void, pretty interesting.

Kind of, I toyed with the idea of him being elevated to another plane of existence. But it seemed a bit cliche and not really appropriate given the fact that he's essentially sold his soul to pursue a malicious vendetta.
So, by being cast into the void and called apon at random its kind of a blessing and a curse at the same time. For long periods of time, he simply ceases to exist. There is no memory of him, there is no family, there is no evidence he committed any act what so ever. All his actions are for naught, yet for everything and all.

He will never end, but he will never really achieve anything either. Constant state of limbo.

My fiancee has read the story, and once she understood that what she had read was the prequel to what was happening on the screen, she became fascinated by it. So far she's spent a good part of the 40hrs I've been playing, watching it as if it were a movie.
There was an instance where I had Lydia with me, and she was being swamped by Draugr, Angael being as he is, isn't usually bothered by the loss of another being. But in this instance I decided he should help, and save Lydia's life.
My fiancee turned and said, "why would he do that? I thought it didn't matter to him?"
I replied "It's quicker to get through this with two blades then it is one."
Her retort was, "...He really is a callous bastard, he didn't save her at all... She's just a tool he still needs'

My character was born in Skyrim, from a long line of those who eventually become werewolves as advlts. When she was young her family moved to Bruma in Cyrodil where her father was a smith and jeweler. Her family were hunted and killed by Silver Hand when she was still young. Though she didn't know exactly who they were. She travelled around picking up some skills and using the tradecraft her father had taught her until she had picked up the trail of the murders of her family and tracked them back to Skyrim.

I use the same method Greg Stafford did in explaining the many contradictory accounts of his hero, Argath, in Glorantha. There wasn't one Argath, there were many heroes who used that name, all of whose stories contributed to the myth and which prevents scholars from agreeing on the "true" story.

Ditto.

Also, I make so many characters for the games that I play over and over (Oblivion, Fallout 3, etc) that I don't really even remember the earlier ones. I certainly don't try to connect the various games in the series, because they're all stand-alone. :shrug:

My Nord is the direct descendant of my Nord from Oblivion, but he doesn't know it. My Champion of Cyrodil ended up moving to Skyrim and hiding in seclusion as a farmer and hunter, he never told his family of his deeds. They knew he was handy with weapons however, and it's been a tradition to train all the males in the family with swords on their naming day.

My character ended up lost in a storm near the border of Skyrim after being chased by trolls, and he made his way through the mountains to the border and was arrested as a suspected spy.

He's heard vague allusions to the past, but has never cared for history. As for the rest of the world, I pretend everyone who studies history knows full well who my character in Oblivion was, vaguely. About as much as we know about Attila the Hun, since he was a man of few words and never spoke of his past with historians since he left the Empire shortly after the battle at the temple. His name and Nord heritage was all that history recalls of the Champion of Cyridol, and his aid to the Imperial heir is all he's mostly known for.

It's not something that's expected to come up really, outside of some book you find. There's not much need to explain it or find a problem with not hearing of your deeds from prior games as far as I'm concerned, but that's how I like to think of it.

I also play plenty of alts who know of some of my other characters. I enjoy fleshing out every character I make because I can't help being compelled to do so. I draw them as well.

You should scan some of the drawings and post them.

I can't draw for [censored], so I have to draw them with words.