Hogglord
Article Writer
Ok, so I'm kind of new to the whole 'roleplaying' thing, but what I have tried of it (pretty basic: Honourable Nord who HATES imperials with a vengeance and wants to become glorious etc.), but I thought of something different. I couldn't really find any examples elsewhere, but illuminate me if I am mistaken. Anyway, enough dalliances, here goes:
The Daedric Scholar
Race: Any (I've picked Altmer)
Skills:
Primary - Illusion, Conjuration, Destruction, Alchemy & Enchanting
Secondary - Sneak (no skills, just for hiding from the big scary fighters), Smithing (making daedric stuff) & Speech (because it is fun)
Backstory/motive: A student of magic and a priest of the eight divines in Cyrodill, this guy(or gal) (we'll call him David for now) became fascinated with daedra. Princes, dremora, everything daedric. His studies became more and more in depth and steadily became more time consuming and overt until, eventually, his teacher feared he had become a worshipper of the daedra and had tried to have him arrested. David fled Cyrodill and reached Skyrim. As he crossed the border, within minutes he had wandered into a group of hard-looking men and women, all of whom wore blue leather tunics and were being in the process of being arrested. That is where the story begins.
The motive for this character is to collect Daedric instruments for study. He is far from a fighter and would rather not battle himself, rather leaving others to do so whilst he performs his study.
Equipment/followers/housing:
Go for robes, perhaps armoured boots & bracers (not gloves, as it could impede delicate study of items). Get a follower, preferably a sellsword without morals (Jenassa springs to mind for early game). Once you have done so, attempt to perform every Daedric quest you can, but instead of using the gifts you receive, simply store them in your house. Perhaps, after extensive study, Daedric items can be used, though I'd limit it to staffs like Sanguine Rose and Wabbajack, small weapons like Mehrune's Razor and other magical supplements, one of the stars and the like, though perhaps the armours and heavier weapons could be afforded to followers.
For housing, I thought Herjim or a Hearthfire house for, respectively, the secret evil cupboard (which you can keep full of dismembered body parts if you want, for added creepiness) & the secludedness of a home that is out of town and away from judging or interfering folk. If you choose to have a Hearthfire house, I'd suggest using exclusively followers you have kitted out with daedric armour, for purely aesthetic purposes.
For daedric stuff to issue yourself and your follower (you can then pretend you have possessed them with a daedra or something like that), obviously you can upgrade smithing, but try to avoid making tonnes of armour and weapons beforehand (a soft handed scholar isn't strong enough to build forty war axes per day, now is he?), focus more on jewellery and the occasional dagger, glove or helmet. Later, if there are daedra worshipping followers (I've yet to do at least half of the daedric quests) then they could make fine aides, as they will be well versed in the information you seek
This can, of course, be extended/altered to a person who enjoys the study of almost anything, be it the mysterious Dwemer, the emergence of the dragons (and/or your own sudden ability to eat their souls, surely that's got to come as a surprise to somebody), the taboo of necromancy or even (though this doesn't work too well for a Nord character) an outsider studying Nordic culture.
I personally like the idea of making the character start off as a 'good' person, unwilling to harm people in anything but self defence, honest enough, not a thief, but then, as David steadily begins to perform more and more horrendous acts to obtain his artefacts, he becomes increasingly morally debased and eventually becomes a cruel, dark sorcerer.
Any standing stone will do, barring perhaps the Thief and Warrior stones, depending on personal playstyle.
Quests: I'd start of with Unbound, since you have no choice in the matter (I'm on Xbox, so no modding) then I'd accept the gifts of Hadvar's or Ralof's relatives then spend the coin on getting me and Sven, (or Faendal, I just like the idea of getting the first Nord I can find, dressing him up to look tough and making him my bodyguard) to Winterhold to make my way to Arch-mage and level up all my magical skills as fast as possible. You also gain access to tonnes of books in the Arcaeneum (or however its spelt) which could be used to study daedra. Once done, travel about seeking Daedra and/or money to pay for a nice new house in the countryside. You could also go to war. I can see merits in both sides but, as my David is an Altmer, I can't see him joining the Stormcloaks. At the point where he's slightly flipped from all the Daedric shenanigans, you might decide that your David wishes to prey on the fact that Nords are naturally superstitious to avoid awkward questions (like why are you tying your follower to that stone slab whilst holding some kind of ceremonial dagger?) Either way, you gain a lot of potential cash that way, so it is worth considering. Perhaps, once all vestiges of your morality have dissipated, the dark brotherhood would be plausible, and a fantastic source of cash.
Money: Finally, the money. David will need funding for his research and he can't well earn that money by asking for a loan to study the deadric princes now, can he? As such, he must find alternative reasons to earn his keep. As I'd avoid fighting too much, at least to start with, the number of fetch quests and the like would be advisable. Perhaps, once a bodyguard has been procured, bandit camps could be raided. There will also be a fair amount of money to be earned from the loot in Daedric quests & the College of Winterhold things that you can acquire.
Please share your views on this idea: Is it good/meh/the single greatest failure of mankind to date?
How could it be improved? - mechanics-wise &/or lore-wise
The Daedric Scholar
Race: Any (I've picked Altmer)
Skills:
Primary - Illusion, Conjuration, Destruction, Alchemy & Enchanting
Secondary - Sneak (no skills, just for hiding from the big scary fighters), Smithing (making daedric stuff) & Speech (because it is fun)
Backstory/motive: A student of magic and a priest of the eight divines in Cyrodill, this guy(or gal) (we'll call him David for now) became fascinated with daedra. Princes, dremora, everything daedric. His studies became more and more in depth and steadily became more time consuming and overt until, eventually, his teacher feared he had become a worshipper of the daedra and had tried to have him arrested. David fled Cyrodill and reached Skyrim. As he crossed the border, within minutes he had wandered into a group of hard-looking men and women, all of whom wore blue leather tunics and were being in the process of being arrested. That is where the story begins.
The motive for this character is to collect Daedric instruments for study. He is far from a fighter and would rather not battle himself, rather leaving others to do so whilst he performs his study.
Equipment/followers/housing:
Go for robes, perhaps armoured boots & bracers (not gloves, as it could impede delicate study of items). Get a follower, preferably a sellsword without morals (Jenassa springs to mind for early game). Once you have done so, attempt to perform every Daedric quest you can, but instead of using the gifts you receive, simply store them in your house. Perhaps, after extensive study, Daedric items can be used, though I'd limit it to staffs like Sanguine Rose and Wabbajack, small weapons like Mehrune's Razor and other magical supplements, one of the stars and the like, though perhaps the armours and heavier weapons could be afforded to followers.
For housing, I thought Herjim or a Hearthfire house for, respectively, the secret evil cupboard (which you can keep full of dismembered body parts if you want, for added creepiness) & the secludedness of a home that is out of town and away from judging or interfering folk. If you choose to have a Hearthfire house, I'd suggest using exclusively followers you have kitted out with daedric armour, for purely aesthetic purposes.
For daedric stuff to issue yourself and your follower (you can then pretend you have possessed them with a daedra or something like that), obviously you can upgrade smithing, but try to avoid making tonnes of armour and weapons beforehand (a soft handed scholar isn't strong enough to build forty war axes per day, now is he?), focus more on jewellery and the occasional dagger, glove or helmet. Later, if there are daedra worshipping followers (I've yet to do at least half of the daedric quests) then they could make fine aides, as they will be well versed in the information you seek
This can, of course, be extended/altered to a person who enjoys the study of almost anything, be it the mysterious Dwemer, the emergence of the dragons (and/or your own sudden ability to eat their souls, surely that's got to come as a surprise to somebody), the taboo of necromancy or even (though this doesn't work too well for a Nord character) an outsider studying Nordic culture.
I personally like the idea of making the character start off as a 'good' person, unwilling to harm people in anything but self defence, honest enough, not a thief, but then, as David steadily begins to perform more and more horrendous acts to obtain his artefacts, he becomes increasingly morally debased and eventually becomes a cruel, dark sorcerer.
Any standing stone will do, barring perhaps the Thief and Warrior stones, depending on personal playstyle.
Quests: I'd start of with Unbound, since you have no choice in the matter (I'm on Xbox, so no modding) then I'd accept the gifts of Hadvar's or Ralof's relatives then spend the coin on getting me and Sven, (or Faendal, I just like the idea of getting the first Nord I can find, dressing him up to look tough and making him my bodyguard) to Winterhold to make my way to Arch-mage and level up all my magical skills as fast as possible. You also gain access to tonnes of books in the Arcaeneum (or however its spelt) which could be used to study daedra. Once done, travel about seeking Daedra and/or money to pay for a nice new house in the countryside. You could also go to war. I can see merits in both sides but, as my David is an Altmer, I can't see him joining the Stormcloaks. At the point where he's slightly flipped from all the Daedric shenanigans, you might decide that your David wishes to prey on the fact that Nords are naturally superstitious to avoid awkward questions (like why are you tying your follower to that stone slab whilst holding some kind of ceremonial dagger?) Either way, you gain a lot of potential cash that way, so it is worth considering. Perhaps, once all vestiges of your morality have dissipated, the dark brotherhood would be plausible, and a fantastic source of cash.
Money: Finally, the money. David will need funding for his research and he can't well earn that money by asking for a loan to study the deadric princes now, can he? As such, he must find alternative reasons to earn his keep. As I'd avoid fighting too much, at least to start with, the number of fetch quests and the like would be advisable. Perhaps, once a bodyguard has been procured, bandit camps could be raided. There will also be a fair amount of money to be earned from the loot in Daedric quests & the College of Winterhold things that you can acquire.
Please share your views on this idea: Is it good/meh/the single greatest failure of mankind to date?
How could it be improved? - mechanics-wise &/or lore-wise
