I am a role player in the sense of character decisions. I'm not going to waste my time walking EVERYWHERE but I do limit the things my character will do based on who that character is. That doesn't mean I don't have the option to allow him evolution however. For example, my main:
Dor the Redguard knight
Dor is a large man. His stonewall expression and lack of vocalization often have caused him to be avoided, shunned, or even feared by strangers as he passed through the streets of his home in Hammerfell. Despite, and in fact quite the polar opposite of his appearance, Dor has always had an intellectual superiority to many of his peers. Before leaving his home, the few who were familiar with Dor would often find him within the sweltering heat of his unique home. Four walls encompassed a single dirt floored room, nearly half of which was occupied by a large home built furnace. Strewn along the walls, over a massive anvil, and next to a modest bed pallet were books upon books ranging from brand new publications to ancient tomes barely in one piece. Many nights the hulking wood-skinned warrior would pound a song into metals of every malleability whilst his eyes shifted between hammer and canvas pages. Was....did....were....before leaving home.
He had been captured by the imperial army while being sent to investigate odd rumors his lord had gleaned about a war in Skyrim. The old man was noble at heart, but entirely too nosey for his own good. Now his strongest knight rode in the back of a wagon in shackles, a "Stormcloak rebel" in a war he knew nothing of. No matter, Dor had long enough dealt with soldiers to know that too often words were lost on them. Dor kept his silence, he always kept his silence. Odd that he had never had the moral ambiguity for thievery given his natural desire to remain unheard. Of course his silence mostly kept him out of trouble, quite the contrary to the horse thief sitting across the shoddy vehicle they bounced around in. Regardless it would not save him much trouble this time as he bumped down the road alongside a petty thief, a Nordic rebel, and his silent king-less leader. Clearly this land has little care for lack of words. Soon none of them would have much to say. Dor kept his silence, and pondered the distant roar of an unknown great beast.
Overall Dor has followed this general template. He is now the Harbinger of the Champions and thane to multiple Skyrim cities. A darkness has been brewing within him lately (no doubt a consequence of the deadric princes his curiosity has him associating with) and is likely to cause him issues of moral nature in the near future. Undoubtedly in the end his good and noble nature will shine through in the end.
