Ive suffered from restaritis for a very long time, but with my new doctrine of "Create one character that you're happy with and convert him into the games beyond" I have defeated it...Sort of.

Ive decided that I want to play a character in the Fallout Series, in the TES Series, and a character to forever rule over House Telvanni in Morrowind. Ive got two of those down - I recently reached 100 hours on Alexander, my rough Fallout survivalist, and Veladas the Telvanni Archmagister has been slowly rising through the ranks while he deals with all sorts of weird bugs coming from playing old Morrowind on win7.

...But for Skyrim, and the rest of the TES Series in the future? I have not been able to defeat it. I have tried quite a few character types, none of which I ultimately took after as much as Alexander or Veladas. Right now I am drawing up Avitus, a Ranger who will hopefully embody a lot of what I like about Alexander, although with as much differences I can cram in while still making him a solid Ranger. So, while I draw up characters and look for one that fits, what would you choose as your "forever character"? A character that would be your old standby through Skyrim and beyond, adventuring throughout the frozen snow wastes of the North or travelling across the vineyards of Skingrad, into the sand dunes of Hammerfell and the clear sparkling water of the coastal cities, or wherever TES takes us next. What would you choose?

A character who always manages to pop up in all tes games I play is my arcane archer who always seems to be named rufio. RUFIO! RUFIO! RUFIO! RUFIO! RUFIO!!!!

I too have restartitis.

My latest venture - Halkorn - got to Level 29 before I just flat out lost all interest. I'm not sure why this is, but it's very obnoxious. I just can't be bothered to keep playing as him.

Actually, that's not true. I know why I lost interest. Halkorn had no character. The problem I'm finding is making a viable character within the confines of the game. What I may do is start pillaging characters from my constantly-tinkering never-to-be-published fantasy setting to find a "fit".

Its amazing how ive been able to beat it for Fallout and Morrowind, but not for Skyrim/TES. Atleast there's hope still, since I have actually been succesful with those two games, which just didnt happen before I embarked on this idea.

Buffy the Bowgirl is my forever mystic archer. She first appeared in Diablo II, then migrated to Baldur’s Gate II, then Oblivion and is currently in Skyrim. She’s a no-melee stealthy archer who backs herself up with magic. She’s a fragile glass cannon who requires care and patience to play. The reason she endures as my only character is because we have become great friends and enjoy adventuring together.

Interestingly enough, my first Skyrim character, Alois, ended up being a sort of "legacy" character. Not for the Elder Scrolls, but for other games. It's interesting because I have this weird thing where the first character I create in the Elder Scrolls games is never the "main" one. At best they'd be the second banana. He is the second banana to my Dragonborn, but he ended up replacing Link in Majora's Mask, "Sparrow" in Fable II (for the first few hours only), the main character of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (eventually, when I replay the game) and pretty much any game that allows customization or a generally "silent" character. I might take him through Oblivion for S&G. I can never play characters like him anymore, they have to be him.

Aside from that, I do have a fist-fighting mage in every installment of the series so far aside from Arena and Daggerfall (completely different characters, mind you). I already have one planned for the next Elder Scrolls game (an Altmer with Taoist stylings).

Damn, thats quite a adventure. Generally my characters will stick to their respective series, Alexander will always be in Fallout, same with whoever ends up in TES. I also feel you about connecting with your characters. I feel like me and Alexander would become great friends if we met in real life, although I would take some issues with his beliefs, the reason he thinks really contray to myself in a lot of ways is that he was raised and lives in a very different society from mine, and generally that's what makes up a lot of the kind of person he is.

Veladas being a hardline Telvanni is more endearing. He certainly can be a absolute dike sometimes, but he has such a eccentric way of thinking that I find him a joy to roleplay. If me and him were to meet eachother, we probably wouldn't get along very well, or not atleast until I showed that I myself have skill in magic or swordsmanship. The majority of the time, being skilled in magic is one of the very few things he finds respectable, and he sees the longsword as more of the proper sidearm and fashion statement to hang to the side of a aspiring mage-lord, but it is also very important to know how to use it effectively.

Starting anew with Ahu Sosmiin, a Forsworn living in the hills north of Markarth.

For those curious, Ahu Sosmiin is translatable in the language of the Dov. He's a transplant of a character concept of mine. We'll see how it goes, if not there are others to try.

Every elderscrolls game since morrowind I always make a imperial named Cercius! He is a warrior type and always is in the legion when possible ahem oblivion

I've always made a warrior/ranger named Lycorth; I've been too lazy to do the resto-loop with my current Lycorth incarnation in Skyrim, so been playing with Ulfius, instead (who is basically the same sort of character).

"CONAN"

Purely and simply because it takes forever to build him up

I'm the same, except with multiple characters, Gilliam, Ein, Jericho, Gornic, Berret, as well as several of my friends characters.. pretty much any game that allows for custom characters gets introduced to their own version of these characters. It makes me real happy in games such as Wizardry or Might and Magic where it's a team based game because I can have all of them together.

For myself, I've learned to embrace the "restartitis"by playing DiD. If I ever create a character who can complete the main quest, and the associated other quest lines I enjoy most, and attain a level of... Oh, say 85, that will be the "forever character" for skyrim. Of course once that happens, it'll be time to move on to something else, like The Elder Scrolls: LVII... or Fallout: New Fairbanks, eh?

Skyrim is the first game that gave me true role play experiences (characters that talk back, in-character emotional reactions), and this has enabled me to create exactly this kind of permanent character. I basically have two.

1. Buffy Summers, borrowed/stolen from Joss Whedon. I've used the name for years, but in Skyrim I decided she really is that Buffy.

2. A Dunmer girl named Brianna Daren, who was my first attempt at staying in character during play and surprised me with those in-character reactions. She eventually started talking back to me.

I conceive of them as self-aware video game entities who can and have played other games (Saint's Row IV, most notably). It gets a bit meta. I play a game with a character who is also playing the same game, and has her own opinions on it.

I don't think ive gotten that deep yet, but I have experimented with roleplaying characters that travel across universes. Overall I find that it causes too much of a disparity in a characters abilities if you are going from say Skyrim to Fallout 4 and then back into TES VI. Its one of the reasons im not touching magic for my TES forever character, and why ive kept my Telvanni Mage-Lord a Morrowind-only thing. It would just kill the experience to have to go from a apprentice to a master-level mage all over again, since it didn't make much sense to me that I would lose that power in conversion. With primarily weapons skills, there's a lot more leeway, since a lot of the progression for that archetype is in equipment, and its a lot easier for you to lose equipment in the folds of time than your knowledge of spells.

I had an idea to play a mage through the last 3 games. Something would happen between games to strip him of his magical knowledge and his goal would be to regain it. But it's too ambitious for me.

Restartitis is only a problem if you make it into one, by constantly remaking the same character. There's a good case for trying out a fundamentally different build from the previous character, because the skill trees don't let one character do it all any more. So I've made mages, barbarians, rangers, who specialize in some set of skills, each being distinct from the previous one.

Recently, I've been testing my own mods, so I've needed to make new characters frequently. Some changes to quests will only take effect in a fresh game, so I'm forced to restart to check it out. But by making a mage when the last one was an archer, etc. it doesn't get oppressive.

i'm with neildarkstar- DiD is the perfect remedy for my restart disease and the need to play different types of characters.

for those who restart AND keep playing the same character over and over again, well, there's not much that can be done, but, there are some support groups i can refer you to... though, it's best to just quit cold turkey.

my forever character is a lawful good paladin: melee with a touch of magic spice and inherent roleplay.

I played DiD once and hated it. I've stayed true to the concept and have never remade that character, but I still regret doing it. never again. Skyrim's lack of true classes severely limited my ability to come up with distinct characters, which is how I came up with my 5 permanent ones, including the two who play other games. I restarted them after every patch and now due to mod issues (I follow the "no such thing as a clean save" philosophy). If I didn't have these permanent character concepts in my head, I would have stopped playing 2 years ago.

My first love was a female wood elf archer, skilled only in archery, played on novice, using no enchantments or potions. My second love is a female nord vampire, skilled only in enchanting, played on novice, with 100% cost reduction in destruction so she can use her vampiric drain. I love them both very much. Great balance being low level, with low damage output, on novice difficulty. And the character type/skills I really enjoy playing.

I've made several other characters, but these are my keepers. I'm currently working on an alchemist because there seems there just has to be an alchemist out there that I'd really like. Just haven't found it yet.

Me. Assuming they'll keep beards and the ability to make someone that resembles me if I were from that world then I would likely continue to create "me" in TES as it's been the longest play I've had on a single character. I'm able to RP much better when I think of it as myself in the Dovahkiin role, born of that world.

I usually make completely new characters for each game but versions of some have been played by me in Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim.

Vanadis Bloodsong is a nord pure warrior

Mirah Firestar is a pure mage and finally a proper fire mage in Skyrim.

Valerius Ruthenius is an imperial battlemage.

Their backstories have gotten more detailed with each game.

Rhowan Swiftfeather is a classic woodelf archer.

My first character in each TES game is the 'do-everything' character. This is so I can get a true taste of what the game offers before I prepare actual roleplaying characters. The race for each game is not always native to the game's setting (though this was so for 'Oblivion'.) In 'Morrowind', it was a Khajiit female. In 'Skyrim', it was a Breton woman. I'm working on having four characters: human (male and female), an elven race, and a beast race to get the full TES experience.

I have a roster of characters to choose from, but three are my mains, made in every game that allows me to make a character.

Briyah is the oldest, dating back to the late 90s. She's based off Sophitia from the Soul series, I was a huge fan of those games and really good with her, and since then her less-married-with-kids incarnation has been my go-to for every character that uses a shield. In TES she's a Breton, blonde/white hair, long or mid-length, with blue eyes. Petite. By and large she's on the side of Good, but just like her inspiration she'll get Gray or even Dark in a hurry.

Svivati dates from around 2005, when I came up with a character concept for City of Heroes. She's dark-skinned more or less, Egyptian in her original incarnation, a Redguard in TES. Short very dark red hair, the silvery eyes in Skyrim, facial scarring. Tall and muscular. Two-handed always, preferably hammers or other blunts. Though she looks pretty tough she's actually on the side of Good, though she's not particularly friendly, and the 9 help anyone that attempts to capture or enslave her.

Alaqra is my go-to assassin. She dates from 2006ish. Dark purple hair if possible, black if not, always ponytailed, red or purple eyes. Tall and willowy. She used to be pale-skinned, but I decided she looked great as a Dunmer in TES (Oblivion at the time) so that's what she'll be from now on. She's usually ranged but can dual wield. Definitely Evil, not a psycho spree-murderer, none of my characters do stuff like that actually, but she certainly might coo seductively in a target's ear before putting a knife in it.

Unlike some, I embrace my Restartitus. All of these have been rolled, and rerolled, several times, only slight variations. Haven't gotten tired of the early game yet.

I've had 1 "Forever Character" in Morrowind, "Valen Dravenus." Dark Elf ArchMagiester of House Telvanni. I've created plenty of Morrowind characters but Valen stuck out for me. Their story seemed "epic" in a way no other character was able to match. Rising from a simple household servant to Archmagister of House Telvanni, using this position and his political power in an attempt to create a Independent Morrowind, similar to Dagoth Ur just without the insane religious cult and Blight monsters. Their story did reach a definitive end however, (Death) So while Valen wasn't a "forever" character my headcannon is that everything from that playthrough has actually happened in Elder scrolls lore, and every one of my Elder Scrolls playthroughs since pays homage to him in some way, whether that be by playing one of his descendants or just an off hand reference to him in dialogue.

I've sadly never been able to recapture the feeling I had playing Valen, mostly due to Restartis. I have this infuriating habit of starting a character only to think "Man, this mage character is TONS of fun! But a sneaky assassin would be even BETTER!" Then dropping my ongoing play through for my new idea, only to drop that idea a week later and start a completely new character. Rinse and repeat. I'm currently planning out two separate characters that I hope to run simultaneously so that I can bypass that problem. Hopefully they'll manage to last longer then most of my characters.