What character to choose? : IV

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:35 pm

I can't decide on which character to play. There are the three directions: Knight, Mage, Assassin, but I have no idea which one to pick.

I want to roleplay this character. The quests Id like to do are at least Main Quest and Shivering Isles, but I dont know how to give my character a realistic reason to do both.

I want to do SI first and then MQ. But I dont want to do it that fast. I have an overhaul installed so I have to level up first anyway. And I want to connect this leveling-up with RPing.

There are so many possibilities for what character to play. Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Robes, Clothes? Blade, Bow, Destruction? Sneak, Illusion, Mysticism? Block, Armorer, Alteration? Conjuration?

I dont know. I want to play a Knight in heavy armor, but also a mage with no armor. But then again I dont know whether to be dark, white or in the middle. Which gods to serve? What aims to follow?

I always start a character and after a few hours I cant play it on anymore. I tried a thief and I got bored of thievery, I tried a mage and couldn't think of how to realize my researches because everything ingame seems so generic and there are only few special places which have a decent background story with documentation or something like that.

A Necromancer? Played this one earlier.

An assassin? I got to know the truth of Sithis and know I cant imagine serving him anymore. Furthermore he wouldnt be able to go through MQ and SI.

A Knight/Mage Hybrid? Cant get into it.

What to do ?

Thanks in advance.

PS: I want to play a Breton I think. Would love to try an argonian but I cant imagine him being champion of cyrodiil and a daedric prince. I already have his face. Ill upload it, maybe it helps when thinking about what fits to him.

http://www.elderstats.com/images/cprofiles/photos/238503_1044sareth%20s%C3%BC%C3%9F.jpg

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:37 pm

I don't have a clue how any of us can help you. :shrug: These are choices we've all made, obviously, and only the player can make them.

Usually, the question is "what starsign should I pick" or "what's the best Majors to pick with a Breton Thief" or whatever.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:49 pm

It's up to your preference. I suggest a bretonian spellsword.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:31 pm

do ALL of the above.

start as the knight, play a whiel... then keep a save for this. do same for mage, assassin...

remember the very wise advice of keeping oone file only for the before leaving sewer door.

as for quests, i did not like SI environment at all , so even if it has awesome quests I wont know.

» Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:14 am

Start off with warrior types.

» Fri Aug 27, 2010 1:53 am

I personally made a character with 1 major skill for each attribute so that I could play him long term and he would be decent at everything and suite my playing style (which is use everything).
Try that out, and for other help iin character creation consult the guide I wrote and linked in my signature.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:38 pm

Personally, I don't think the face you've made looks like a pure Warrior-type. Too... sweet? I don't know if that's really the right adjective, but something like that.

He looks nice and not rough and tough and scaryish, like a warrior would.

Maybe a Spellsword? That way you can use melee weapons and magic, so you don't get bored as easily. An Archer, specializing in some forms of magic as well? He kind of looks like an Archer to me.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:52 pm

You should have posted him in the Hot or Not topic! Seriously, he is awful pretty. I would make him a courtesan, using illusion to seduce people, fight for him, and turn against one another (i.e. charm, command, frenzy). A Breton would be perfect for that imho.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:41 pm

Spellsword all the way. So probably combination of Knight and Mage. I never really use stealth but thats just my style, but like everyone else says its more of a personal choice than anything.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:39 pm

You seem to be trying to 'role play' a class. Try thinking up a person instead. Creating a random character might actually help.

Why can't an Argonian be champion of cyrodil and a daedric prince? They're a playable race; if they couldn't do those things they wouldn't be.

Mara

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:03 am

You seem to be trying to 'role play' a class. Try thinking up a person instead. Creating a random character might actually help.

Why can't an Argonian be champion of cyrodil and a daedric prince? They're a playable race; if they couldn't do those things they wouldn't be.

Mara

Amen to that.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:08 pm

Creating a random character might actually help.

I agree with this. It's strangely liberating to relinquish control. It forces you to explore ideas you might not have explored if you were in charge of every detail. There is a fascinating thread by gpstr called http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1115805-completely-random-character/ This kind of approach can be really creatively stimulating if you feel you're in the doldrums and don't know what to do, or if your old ways of doing things have gone stale.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:22 pm

Random start won't help if you have strong habits on development, too. You'd probably have to look at the stats you got and decide on skills to build up, and skills to avoid to keep the initial bias intact. So if you roll a mage, play a pure mage and avoid weapons, If you roll a thief, no heavy armor, etc.

The hard choices will be the generally useful stuff like mercantile, strength, intelligence that benefit any class. Managing those with the others will be the whole game, this way.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:22 pm

The hard choices will be the generally useful stuff like mercantile, strength, intelligence that benefit any class. Managing those with the others will be the whole game, this way.

Mercantile is useful? The merchants don't usually have enough gold for all the enchanted items you get even if you do invest in them. Seems a little pointless to me.
Plus, you can just make some fortify mercantile armor or a spell. It works the same way as if you'd leveled it up.

As for the OP, the guy you've made looks to me like a marksman type. He doesn't seem stoic enough to be a mage, and he looks a little squishy to be a fighter.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:42 pm

I like watching movies that include people like Steven Segal, Bruce Willis, Chick Norris, Sylvester Stallone etc... Once I realized that I learned that I generally enjoy more action and realized why I got bored so fast playing with a guy who is: Sneaky, Weak, Has to attack from far away, Has to hide behind summons.

After that I made an Orc, Got some help from these dudes and made a behemoth who I'm really enjoying.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 8:35 pm

Mercantile is useful?

More that is general - its usefulness may be low, but it applies equally to all classes of character. They all want to get the max for their loot, so they can all benefit from it. Whereas Heavy Armor is less useful to a mage who never wears it. Intelligence only matters if you cast spells, and so on.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:55 pm

My most recent character who i made like a month ago sounds similar to what you are looking for. Svan is a bipolar breton high priest who became addicted to skooma. He was abandoned by his family and his fellow priests and his addiction landed him in jail. When he escaped, he continued his bad habit, and while being chased by the guards for dealing skooma, he followed a voice in his head that guided him to a portal in the niben and he leapt into it. blah blah blah blah blah shivering isles etc etc, what i like most about playing him is I incorporate his bipolarness into combat. Normally he uses an amber mace and wears his priestly robes, relying primarily on quickness and precision. However, when he is near death or otherwise provoked, his aggressive brute side takes over, summoning a daedroth, a full set of daedric armor, and a daedric axe and assailing the enemy with an unpredictable fury. Good luck with whatever character you end up making

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:57 pm

You seem to be trying to 'role play' a class. Try thinking up a person instead.

This was the best advice ever. Thank you so much.

I want to thank all the others too. There are some great replies that really helped me.

I created Sareth, the Person. Therefore I used a character sheet from a website for writing books. Heres my first rough sketch:

Spoiler

Basic Statistics

Name: Sareth
Age: 18
Nationality: High Rock
Socioeconomic Level as a child: Low
Socioeconomic Level as an advlt: Low
Hometown: Daggerfall
Current Residence: Cyrodiil, no fixed abode
Occupation: Mages Guild Scholar
Income: None
Talents/Skills: Mysticism, Alteration, Conjuration, Restoration, Alchemy, Marksman, Sneak,
Siblings (describe relationship): One sister, Nanette, she disappeared when he was 7 and she was 9
Spouse (describe relationship): No
Children (describe relationship): No
Parents (describe relationship): He doesn’t know his father. His mother doesn’t want to speak with him over him.
Grandchildren (describe relationship): No
Significant Others (describe relationship): No

Physical Characteristics:

Height: 1,74m
Weight: 62kg
Race: Breton
How does he/she dress? Normal clothes. He likes extravagant, colorful clothes, but he hasn't the money for something like that in the moment. He wears no armor.
Mannerisms:
Habits: (smoking, drinking etc.) None
Health: He’s fine
Hobbies: Collecting mushrooms, Swimming, Shopping
Disabilities: None
Greatest flaw: His physical weakness
Best quality: His high intelligence

Intellectual/Mental/Personality Attributes and Attitudes

Educational Background: Went to a school which focuses on theoretic magic
Intelligence Level: Very High
Any Mental Illnesses? Not now
Learning Experiences: He learned the basics of Alteration, Mysticism and Restoration in school. He learned more about conjuration by himself through reading.
Character's short-term goals in life: Advance in his scholarship
Character's long-term goals in life: Become a famous person and make those around him, but especially his mother, proud
How self-confident is the character? He is afraid of disappoint those around him, but nevertheless he takes up the challenges he is presented with.
Does the character seem ruled by emotion or logic or some combination thereof? Yes. He’s very much ruled by emotion. If he sees someone in trouble, he tries everything to help him, or otherwise his heart pains. He believes that his feelings tell him the right way and he does nothing he doesn’t want to do.
What would most embarass this character? Disappointing someone that stands close to him is very embarrassing for him, but even more embarrassing would be if he doesn’t try to help that person at all.

Emotional Characteristics

Strengths/Weaknesses: He is very open-minded and gives everything a chance. This is a strength and at the same time a weakness, because he’s very na?ve and trusts people he shouldn’t trust. He is also very compassionate, which is again a strength and a weakness. He helps those in need, but sometimes he has mercy with his enemies and this could lead to trouble.
Introvert or Extrovert? He is more introvert, he doesn’t talk that much. One reason is that he has many thoughts about everything and then he prefers to be alone thinking about these things rather than talking with someone else in an aimless conversation.
How does the character deal with anger? He can’t really control it. If someone hurts an innocent for example, his compassion makes him very angry and he wants revenge. Especially if someone who stands close to him is hurt.
With sadness? If he is sad, he shows that. He usually wants to be alone then.
With conflict? If something is important to him, he fights for that. If it’s a minor thing, he tends to end the conflict because he hates arguing with his friends.
With change? Sometimes he sees change as good because it helps him on in life, but if it has something to do with leaving someone he likes he hates this. One of this moments was when he decided to emigrate from High Rock to Cyrodiil to study at the arcane University. He had to leave his mother and his friends. But his mother wanted him so badly to take this chance so he did.
With loss? He can’t deal with it at all.
What does the character want out of life? He wants to give his life a sense. For him this means helping other people and stay in the peoples mind for his doings.
What would the character like to change in his/her life? He would like to go back to High Rock to his mother and his friends, but he doesn’t want to disappoint his mother. He sweared himself to go back at least not before he has completed his scholarship.
What motivates this character? His motivation is to help people and understand the world.
What frightens this character? To lose someone.
What makes this character happy? Making someone else happy and learning new things.
Is the character judgmental of others? Not at all, he is very open-minded.
Is the character generous or stingy? He is rather generous. He tries to keep his money but if someone needs it, he gives it to this person.
Is the character generally polite or rude? Hes very polite and tries not to hurt those he interact with through his words and/or behavior.

Spiritual Characteristics

Does the character believe in God? He believes in the Nine, his mother, as a priestress, tought him everything she knew about them.
What are the character's spiritual beliefs? He believes in the Nine Divines, but is also aware of the Daedra. But he has yet to find out more about them.
Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life? He tries to follow the Ten Commands of the Nine Divines.
If so, what role does it play? He wants to find out more about the different gods, but his worship for them plays a minor role.

Heres the build:

Race: Breton
Birthsign: Unsure ... Serpent is an interesting birthsign from Lore aspect, while Mage/Apprentice/Atronach seem most useful...Apprentice would be very fitting I guess, but its not that great...
Class: No naming idea yet
Specialization: Magic
Attr.: Agility, Speed
Skills:
Marksman
Sneak
Alchemy
Alteration
Conjuration
Mysticism
Restoration

I chose not to pick Illusion because I like it, but I realized that it doesnt fit that good to the character I just created...He would have a bad feeling when using Illusion to manipulate their minds.
Instead, I chose Restoration because I thought it would fit to this "I want to help people"-thing.
I chose not to choose any melee skill at all because he would be too weak for melee combat. So I also think about not touching strength and endurance at all. Although this could get quite hard I guess...Im not sure how to avoid melee combat all the time. The idea is from Acadian. How do you do this, Acadian?

Also, if there is anything conflicting, please tell me.

THANKS for everything so far and for all the upcoming replies!

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:12 pm

Glad the advice helped! ;-)

I'll let Acadian speak for Buffy, but I think she's a big fan of Illusion.

Other options: summon a pet to help deal with troublesome foes, slurp a potion or three, run and hide.

I have a Breton marksman who made herself a bow from an absorb health 10 sigil stone at lvl 5 or 6. It did a good job of keeping her healthy during combat.

Good luck to Sareth the Person!

Mara

PS. Illusion doesn't have to mess with minds. There's invisibility, charmeleon, light, and night eye.

» Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:15 pm

I chose not to pick Illusion because I like it, but I realized that it doesnt fit that good to the character I just created...He would have a bad feeling when using Illusion to manipulate their minds.
Instead, I chose Restoration because I thought it would fit to this "I want to help people"-thing.
I chose not to choose any melee skill at all because he would be too weak for melee combat. So I also think about not touching strength and endurance at all. Although this could get quite hard I guess...Im not sure how to avoid melee combat all the time. The idea is from Acadian. How do you do this, Acadian?

I like the base strength because with no melee, there is no combat benefit. I also like the fact that being able to carry less makes it harder to get rich. I like base endurance simply to raise the stakes and emphasize the glass part of my glass cannon. As far as avoiding melee, Buffy relies a fair amount on 'messing with the minds' of her foes.

Basic tactics for differing situations look like this:
-Normal: Long range poisoned sneak shot.
-Dispersed crowds: Snipe the farthest first and stay in the shadows. Repeat.
-Tight crowds: Mind control spells to get the crowd to thin itself to one. Snipe the survivor.
-Underwater: Block with your bow and cast touch damage spells.
-If cornered: Block with your bow as you immobilize your foe with a spell (command, calm, paralyze…), then open fire with your bow.
-If charged: Stop the charge with an illusion spell, then open fire with your bow.
-Panic button: Invisibility, slip away and reapproach for the snipe (combining a cheap summon with your invisiblity spell makes this both easier and more fun).

Not using mind control spells would make a challenging character even more so. Invisibility, paralize, combining invisibility with summons, drain speed are all things that could help I guess. Buffy considers her magical specialization to be illusion though and she embraces the mind control spells to their fullest.

» Fri Aug 27, 2010 12:39 am

It's up to your preference. I suggest a bretonian spellsword.

I Agree, It's up to your preference. I suggest Redguard swordsman, was fun for me.