Hark Dovahkiin,

I speak to thee today as a friend, and I urge thee to be cautious. If thou art doth not have the clout necessary to undertake such a quest as I am about to suggest, turn back now. No man shall think less of you.

As for the rest of you. Welcome. You seek a challenge, which is admirable for this game is not yet released. You seek to pit yourself against your own worst enemy. Yourself.

Here, we shall lay the ground rules for a "Self Inflicted hardcoe Mode." The idea is to make the game more immersive/difficult/frustrating/fun in ways that the game itself was not designed for. In addition to Skyrim, it could apply to other games as well, but the primary objective is to design a rule set for Skyrim specifically. These rules may change depending on new information.

Let's begin:

1- No reloading save games.
Save the game, by all means. And save often. Keep multiple saves in fact, but unless it's for the purpose of continuing play after having not played, under no circumstances may you reload any save. Saving is merely insurance against save corruption, and as a kind of pause button. There is no rewind. This isn't Prince of Persia, it's SKYRIM. Deal with your consequence, and see them through. Your tale will be more interesting as a result.

2- If you die, you are dead.
Death is permanent. Once you die, you must delete any save games related to that character. The only option once you are dead is to start over with a new character. It is a shame the story ended that way, but such is life. Knowledge of this will put a new kind of fear in you. A fear of death. Take further precautions, and you'll be alright.

3- Difficulty setting must remain at default, or higher.
Find an enemy that is too hard? Tough. No sliding the difficulty down to make it easier on you. If you can't beat him, find a different way. If you are REALLY hardcoe, you may turn the difficulty UP, but never down, not even after you turned it up in the first place. It's probably just safer to leave it at medium.

4- No fast traveling.
You have legs/a horse/a dragon mount/a woolly mammoth/a pet Bosmer. USE THEM! Fast travel is for the weak of mind and constitution. Fast traveling is skips any danger you may come across on your destination, and thus is forbidden.

5- You must eat something twice a day, and you must sleep at least 4 hours in a 24 hour period.
If the situation makes this impossible, you must make up for it by sleeping, or eating what you missed as soon as possible. So if you were stuck in a dungeon the entire day and night with nowhere to sleep, you must sleep at least 8 hours the next day. Skipped a meal? Eat twice as much for the next one.

6- Roleplay your character.
Play the game as though you ARE your character. Try not to think in meta game. Try to think as your character would. This becomes difficult with multiple play throughs, as you effectively can see the future, IE: You know what's going to happen, but roll with it anyway. Maybe pretend that you saw it in a dream or something.

7- No drinking potions in the middle of combat.
Healing spells are OK, as they can be considered quick to cast in combat, but unless you are in a situation where you can realistically, and safely quaff a potion, keep that cork stoppered. Resist the temptation, and instead, run away until you are safe enough to drink, then re-enter the fray.

8- ???

I've run out of ideas, but I think this is a good start. Thoughts? Opinions? Adjustments? Additions? Post them here, and together we will come up with the ultimate self-inflicted hardcoe mode.

Hark Dovahkiin,

I speak to thee today as a friend, and I urge thee to be cautious. If thou art doth not have the clout necessary to undertake such a quest as I am about to suggest, turn back now. No man shall think less of you.

As for the rest of you. Welcome. You seek a challenge, which is admirable for this game is not yet released. You seek to pit yourself against your own worst enemy. Yourself.

Here, we shall lay the ground rules for a "Self Inflicted hardcoe Mode." The idea is to make the game more immersive/difficult/frustrating/fun in ways that the game itself was not designed for. In addition to Skyrim, it could apply to other games as well, but the primary objective is to design a rule set for Skyrim specifically. These rules may change depending on new information.

Let's begin:

1- No reloading save games.
Save the game, by all means. And save often. Keep multiple saves in fact, but unless it's for the purpose of continuing play after having not played, under no circumstances may you reload any save. Saving is merely insurance against save corruption, and as a kind of pause button. There is no rewind. This isn't Prince of Persia, it's SKYRIM. Deal with your consequence, and see them through. Your tale will be more interesting as a result.

2- If you die, you are dead.
Death is permanent. Once you die, you must delete any save games related to that character. The only option once you are dead is to start over with a new character. It is a shame the story ended that way, but such is life. Knowledge of this will put a new kind of fear in you. A fear of death. Take further precautions, and you'll be alright.

3- Difficulty setting must remain at default, or higher.
Find an enemy that is too hard? Tough. No sliding the difficulty down to make it easier on you. If you can't beat him, find a different way. If you are REALLY hardcoe, you may turn the difficulty UP, but never down, not even after you turned it up in the first place. It's probably just safer to leave it at medium.

4- No fast traveling.
You have legs/a horse/a dragon mount/a woolly mammoth/a pet Bosmer. USE THEM! Fast travel is for the weak of mind and constitution. Fast traveling is skips any danger you may come across on your destination, and thus is forbidden.

5- You must eat something twice a day, and you must sleep at least 4 hours in a 24 hour period.
If the situation makes this impossible, you must make up for it by sleeping, or eating what you missed as soon as possible. So if you were stuck in a dungeon the entire day and night with nowhere to sleep, you must sleep at least 8 hours the next day. Skipped a meal? Eat twice as much for the next one.

6- Roleplay your character.
Play the game as though you ARE your character. Try not to think in meta game. Try to think as your character would. This becomes difficult with multiple play throughs, as you effectively can see the future, IE: You know what's going to happen, but roll with it anyway. Maybe pretend that you saw it in a dream or something.

7- No drinking potions in the middle of combat.
Healing spells are OK, as they can be considered quick to cast in combat, but unless you are in a situation where you can realistically, and safely quaff a potion, keep that cork stoppered. Resist the temptation, and instead, run away until you are safe enough to drink, then re-enter the fray.

8- ???

I've run out of ideas, but I think this is a good start. Thoughts? Opinions? Adjustments? Additions? Post them here, and together we will come up with the ultimate self-inflicted hardcoe mode.

I play with numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Ive always wanted to play with 2, but I always end up dieing once I get to a high level or in a stupid way like dieing from fall damage from walking down stairs.

7- No drinking potions in the middle of combat.
Healing spells are OK, as they can be considered quick to cast in combat, but unless you are in a situation where you can realistically, and safely quaff a potion, keep that cork stoppered. Resist the temptation, and instead, run away until you are safe enough to drink, then re-enter the fray.

Difficulty setting should be maxed out. I don't care if it turns enemies into damage sponges, it's in the spirit of "hardcoe mode".
[...]
No need to roleplay or whatever.
[...]
Download and install the most brutal mod for the game. <--- Honestly, only this step and "dead is dead" really matter.