Lately I've been pondering a new character that I will possibly write a fan-fic with, but I couldn't really decide what to do. So I looked on the UESP, and read some of the 'making a new character' threads here for inspiration.
All I know so far about the character is that he will be a Breton named Francois Brungen, he will live in Cheydinhal and is either going to be a Smith Apprentice in the Fighters Guild, or a Bookkeeper involved with the mages guild. But I can't decide, I weigh up the pros and cons for each, created a backstory for each idea, set out character restrictions, and got out a basic idea of his personality, but I still can't make a final decision.
So, should I be a Smith Apprentice, Bookkeeper or something else.
If Imma be a Smith Apprentice the class will be

Warrior
Endurance, Strength
Armorer
Blunt
Marksman
Heavy Armour
Light Armour
Restoration
Blade.

If I will be a bookkeeper the class will be

Mage
Intelligence, Personality
Mercantile
Speechcraft
Illusion
Destruction
Restoration
Alteration
Marksman.

I would go with the mage bookkeeper. What better background for a fanfic storyteller?

Perhaps he will be kind of cowardly and academic. A love for reading perhaps and a thirst for knowledge. He could be drawn into some of the mage adventures and discover he has a taste for it - but his 'bookish' nature and a poor ability with the elemental spells of destruction have him favor mind control spells, invisibility and summons - often used in combination, as he shuns direct damage. Possibly he will be drawn to further his academic interests at the Arcane University.

I would give him a build that favors the use of mind control spells, invisibility and summons to keep him safe and from getting his hands dirty with those who interfere with his research. I would actually make him a pure mage who can sneak. No bow or other weapons.

Your Smith Apprentice build looks like a standard boring "fighter-to-be" that's been done to death. The mage build has more promise for a unique character.

By "bookkeeper" I assumed you meant accountant, rather than librarian, someone who has an affinity for numbers rather than words, and possibly an ambition for riches that might take him looking for treasure in mysterious places. The same distaste for direct combat Acadian describes would fit that character, too. it's just a question of his motivations for going into the ruins, mines and dungeons being plain money, rather than a thirst for knowledge. Of course, you often need one to get the other, so those lines blur easily. I'm not so sure he needs to be a pure mage, but I'd limit weapon use to a sneaky back-stabbing dagger from time to time, especially if he's not exactly a saint (and interesting characters are rarely at the simple ends of that spectrum).

That'd be a great roleplaying tool. A fear of elemental destruction magic, not only a fear of using it, but a fear of having it cast in him. It could possibly make him abandon some missions, which elemental magic may be used. Perhaps he was shocked as a boy...
I'd love him to completely rely on mind control and those sorts of things, as I've never played a character who is proficient in Illusion. Maybe I should replace Destruction with conjuration.


That sounds like a good idea actually, I enjoy using daggers, but I think it'd be a great experience to only use the dagger in extremely tight situations, and keep it as a minor skill. Especially since I have never in my history of the game made a character that doesn't rely on some sort of weapon.

The only weapon my mystic archer touches is a bow, but if she runs out of arrows, she survives just fine using this basic illusion-based tactic:

She commands enemies to fight each other while disappearing. Wait or repeat as necessary until there is only one (usually wounded) foe. Then summon a clannfear (of course I know that is a conjuration effect) while disappearing. Wait some more till everyone's dead.

One caveat here is fighting underwater. Bows, summons and ranged spells are out. She tends to use an on touch absorb health spell there.

The reason she doesn't use elemental magic is that she is simply horrible at it. The only elemental damage spells she can muster are only enough to cook a mudcrab or light a torch. Being elemental magic-challenged doesn't seem to apply to other desctruction effects. She is extremely good with weakness to poison and drain speed effects.

I guess my point is that an illusionist, in my opinion, really doesn't need a dagger or any other physical weapon. That said, a dagger has potential for an illusionist. Nick 'em with poison, then command them to run away and die.

One of the best close-in "non-weapons," as Acadian alluded to, is Absorb Health, which you get as a free "starter spell" with a major in Restoration. The mage I'm currently playing uses elemental Destruction (mostly Shock and Area of Effect Fire) for ranged attacks, and then uses Absorb Health (sometimes combined with other magics, like Soul Trap) to simultaneously damage the enemy and heal oneself. She uses Illusion spells to "soften up" groups of enemies, and then the Destruction and Restoration to finish off the survivors. She has Conjuration as a major, too, but rarely uses it.

Thank you for all the idea, guys :foodndrink:
Since I'm not worried about leveling 'too fast', I think I may include Alchemy as a skill as well, as that signifies Intelligence also.
So how does this sound?

Mage
Intelligence, Personality
Illusion
Speechcraft
Conjuration
Restoration
Alteration
Mysticism
Alchemy.

When I'm filling in the last major, I usually look for something I don't want to use, but the first mastery perk would be useful. E.g. picking Mercantile, so I don't need to repair before selling (and this is tedious to level up to boot).

If you aren't using weapons, then you're not using magical ones, and the Armorer perk of repairing them is less useful (still applies to enchanted armor, though). Sneak perks wouldn't be that useful without weapons either.

Alchemy fits the bill, as you get that extra identify, so you can make more potions and poisons, but it's so easy to get there on your own, it may not be worth it.

So you're saying I should swap Alchemy with Mercantile?

In planning your character, have you given any thought to how high you want your character to be able to level?

I always pick some never ever use major skills to cap how high my character can level. I have just never been able to figure out a good reason to allow a character to level higher than 30. In fact, my current character is capped at 20 because she doesn't care about leveled loot.

Also, have you thought about ignoring some of your attributes? I find it not only makes leveling easier, but it makes the character more vulnerable. If your character should be weak and fraile, nothing like leaving strength and endurance at base to bring that home.

Well as I plan to play a 'weak, fragile' mage, I suppose leaving Strength and Endurance un-attended would be great. Maybe Agility may be best ignored, because I plan to ignore Security and Marksman at least.
I think I'll keep my skills attended to, though(apart from Mercantile).

That's basically one of my current characters. She's an Altmer, and uses no weapons or armor at all, and no hand2hand, blocking, or armorer. I use a leveling mod that automatically calculates level based upon skills actually used, and it has her Strength and Endurance in the mid-to-high 20s. She does use Security, though; you are almost forced into it, because the unlocking spells available through Alteration lag behind the leveled locks you find in the game.

Skeleton key as soon as you can get it answers that, so it's only an issue at the beginning of the game.

Interesting what people call "the beginning of the game." One of my current characters, at the level 10 required to get that artifact, had already finished the Mages Guild recommendations, and was 3/4 of the way through the MQ. She finished the MQ at level 11. One of my characters, who took the "Oblivion Crisis" seriously, finished the MQ at level 2.

Note that I was not suggesting making Security a major skill; I was only talking about the necessity for using it, because Alteration won't do.

The Warrior has a better build but you will probably get a better roleplaying experience if you choose the mage