Immersion in Skyrim - A Guide

[Katastrophe]

Introduction
Skyrim is arguable the largest and most open single player RPG game that we currently have access to. The level of depth and possibilities that this game presents to the us, not only in terms of the quests but to plain character development, is simply insane. For most, this openness and freeform style is welcome - we can put the disc in, play for a few hours doing absolutely nothing other than kill time and then move on our way. For others, like myself, this openness and freeform style can be a bit of a curse. This game demands hours and hours from us to complete and fully enjoy - that amount of a commitment is not something we make lightly, without having an investment in it. So how does one create an investment in their Skyrim character? By becoming immersed with the world the game offers. This guide is about how to do this, but primarily focuses on character build, creation and development for those who desire to roleplay their way through this divided, dragon infested world called Skyrim.

Creating your Character
The first step in truly enjoying Skyrim is truly enjoying your character. A lot of people first attribute character creation to simply their race and appearance, but if you want to enjoy Skyrim, it goes much deeper than that. The game itself provides you with a bit of a backstory leading up to the events of the actual game - Ulfric and his gang were captured near Darkwater Crossing (almost like they knew they would be there) as well as Lokir, a horse thief. You were caught attempting to cross the border. If you want to stay with the canon storyline (this isn't something I do often, and I'll go into how to avoid it), this is a fairly good place to start, and you should do so by asking yourself "Why was I trying to cross the border?"

Were you trying to enter or to escape Skyrim? Perhaps you've heard of the civil war and came across the border to try and join the Legion (or the Stormcloaks)? Perhaps you're trying to escape this conflict but now you're dragged into and, even worse, a fugitive? Perhaps you're an Argonian slave the Stormcloaks and you were trying to escape during the confusion?

There are a lot of options to choose from, especially the deeper you poke into the lore of the game. For that, I highly recommend doing some research on either the UESPWiki, TESWiki or Elder Scrolls Lore. While largely incomplete, what is provided has great detail. Although it's not required to become some sort of lore buff just to play Skyrim, it may help to know simple things, at least about the race you play. Where are they from? How are they perceived in Skyrim? For example, without knowing the Argonians and Dunmer are horribly discriminated against by the Nords of Windhelm, you might end up play an Argonian loyal to the Stormcloaks... which wouldn't make a lot of sense, would it? Or that Khajiit are almost always perceived as skooma addicted thieves.

In my opinion, the best place to start is really what you want your character to be and grow from there to give you a background worthy of such progression. I mean, being handed the fact that you snuck across the border doesn't give you a lot of build direction. Perhaps if you want to play an archer, you could be a hunter who accidentally wandered across the border - wrong place, wrong time. The point is that you want to give yourself a good foundation and proceed from there. The stronger your foundation is for your character's history, the easier the rest of the process will be and will come to you.

If you're like me and don't want to be pidgeonholed into the canon beginning, proceed through Helgen as normal (or better yet, let the NPCs do everything). Take anything you think would make sense, like a bow, food, potions, gold... whatever. When you get out, run to Whiterun and fast travel to another city. Completely ignore the main quest and start your life as an up-and-coming pickpocket in Riften, a scholar in Winterhold, a a traveling minstrel in Solitude. You'll always be able to continue the main quest in a roleplay sense, seeing as how Gerdur owns the mill and her family founded Riverwood, and Alvor is the blacksmith. Finding a reason to talk to them would be simplicity itself.

Let the Game Work
I see a lot of people grasp the first part of this post, but really struggle with what comes later. They get so stuck in how they want their character to progress that they try to force character into this role by avoiding certain game aspects entirely. In my experience, the best thing to do is create that strong foundation and build upon it as minimally as you can. It's fine and great to have an overarching idea for your character and where you want them to go. Maybe you start out as a simple mercenary with no magical inclination, but you want to end up as a master spellsword vampire. Great! Fantastic! But please, don't run aimlessly across Skyrim to a vampire cave and become a vampire and enter the Collage, do the quest... your character has no real reason to do anything of things or be in any of those places, and that is going to cause you grief. You're disassociating yourself (and your knowledge) with your character's, and this is where the problems really begin. We're going to keep this example and show how I flesh it out later, so let me just add one more thing...

The game will guide you, most likely through it's radiant quests and encounters, into certain areas and roles. This is how your character will grow and develop. By truly letting go of your own desires for your character and simply letting the invisible hand of Skyrim push you along, you'll find that your character not only becomes more relatable, but more real. This is especially noticeable if you further the roleplay and go beyond simple dialog options and really develop something with the NPCs. As an example, click the banner in my signature and read The Hunted - my character forms a deep friendship with Ri'saad, one of the Khajiit in the caravan that can be found outside Whiterun. At his core in game, he's really not all that interesting. But when I put the world of Skyrim on him along with my characters actions, even NPCs can become fleshed out and become crucial parts in your character's development.

An Example
So let's say we're going to follow the canon story of the game. We want this character to just start out as your typical mercenary, but we want to end up being a spellsword vampire. So how do we make this happen?

Well first, a mercenary... what race should we be? While you can literally choose any, the easiest option is to default on which race would do it best. However, you can obviously change this up to fit your desires. For example, while an Altmer (High Elf) probably wouldn't make the best mercenary, he would make a decent spellsword. For my sake, I'm going to be simple and suggest a Redguard - they make great mercenaries, and Hadvar even refers to you as possibly being one in the opening. So now I'm a Redguard mercenary that got captured with some Stormcloaks while trying to cross the border. At this point, in my be a good idea to think about which side you want to aid in the civil war, if either? From a story perspective, it might be hard for you to sympathize with the Imperials, considering their eagerness to chop your head off within the first 10 minutes of the game... for the sake of simplicity then, let's say favor the Stormcloaks. But why? How? You're neither a Nord nor from Skyrim, so what could your reason possibly be...?

The Empire. You'll recall Ralof mentions that it was like the Imperials knew where Ulfric would be. And they did. Why? Because they hired you to join their cause and give them up. As a Redguard, you may feel some animosity towards the Empire - they did, after all, sell out your homeland to the Aldmeri Dominion - but as a mercenary, you must follow the coin. And oh, was it a large sum indeed. However, when they captured the Stormcloaks, they captured you. You know that the Empire planned to capture and execute Ulfric without a proper trial. Perhaps they plan to make it look like an accident? Regardless, you're a liability - and that's why you're going to be executed. So when you escape, you go with Ralof - better a false friendship than a treachery, right?

So maybe you go and you're lead through the point where the Greybeards shout out for you to come to them up at the Throat of the World. But do you? You're a mercenary - you're know damn hero. That, and you're a mercenary who's been cheated - you want vengeance. So you travel to Windhelm, per Ralof's instructions, and official join the rebellion. Or maybe you join the Companions - they seem like your style. One way or another though, you want to become a spellsword vampire, so how? Perhaps you run into a vampire (quite possibly, especially with Dawnguard) and, after becoming a vampire, you head to the College to seek a cure or some answers. Maybe you stumble across a spellbook, study it, and find that the ability to set your foes on fire comes in quite handy. Don't forget that Redguards, in their lore, look down upon magic except the school of Destruction - they like that one. Maybe you recall that and decide to expand your horizons?

As I said, one or way another, the game will eventually guide you where you want to go. If you take anything from this small guide, take this: the key to successfully enjoying a good roleplay through Skyrim is to become invested in your character by taking yourself out of the equation and letting s/he experience the world for you - you're simply there to watch. It starts with a strong foundation, some flexibility and creativity, and some patience. Trying to force yourself to become something simple for the sake of being it is going to make for a bland and distant gaming experience.

FAQs
I feel like this guide will benefit from the questions I'm asked more than just what I've written, so ask away, even if it's simple for assistance.

 

[Clau]

I enjoyed reading this guide. In all honesty, I would like a series of this Immersion Guide where you tackle the immersion busting tendencies of gamers like fast travel for starters.

 

[Katastrophe]

I enjoyed reading this guide. In all honesty, I would like a series of this Immersion Guide where you tackle the immersion busting tendencies of gamers like fast travel for starters.

I'm not entirely too sure what you mean.

Do you want me to follow up with additions about how certain aspects (like fast travel) remove from the immersion, or how to tackle things that come up and force you to deviate? An example is in my story, The Hunted, my character becomes broke. Flat out broke. This sort of forces his hand into going to Embershard Mine and kill the bandits to get the money, something he had been avoiding.

 

[Therin]

This is a good start, but I'm surprised you didn't touch on your own self-imposed rules from your fanfiction threads. They definately create a realistic immersion in the world.

There is another thing I would add. Skyrim has been out for ten months now, and I'm assuming that a person reading this has had some experience playing the game. Use that experience to create touchstones in your planning process. As Katastrophe said, don't try to plan out every single detail of your long and arduous quest before you even start the game; let the game guide you in its own ways. However, you can use certain events to create guideposts, or touchstones, to keep you on a general course.

For example, when I get my desktop back, I'm going to create a character journal for a character that will start out as a Thalmor agent, but who gets betrayed by those he serves. While I was still forming this character in my mind, I kept trying to create a scenario where he gets betrayed, but it kept eluding me. Finally, while playing another character, I came across a random world event where three Thalmor jumped me in the Reach and one of them had an attack order on them. The game solved the problem for me! So, when I start my new character to write the journal, I know that I want to force that event to occur again, but I haven't detailed everything that happens up to that point, nor everything that happens after. I do have a general idea, but hopefully the game will fill in the details for me, and that will make it a much more interesting story, both for me and--I hope--the reader.

Another point -- Motivation

Katastrophe brought a lot of good ideas when it comes to motivation, and that's key. Everything we do in life has a motive behind it. Same thing goes with your character. One thing that I've seen in some of the stories that I've read is lack of religion. The Elder Scrolls, at large, have extensive religions behind the Aedra and Daedra. A lot of the quests in the games are driven by these beings. In Skyrim, the dethroning of Talos as one of the Nine Divines is the catalyst for the entire civil war! And yet, a lot of the characters in a lot of the stories don't touch on religion at all as a means of motivation.

Details

I hope Katastrophe will post his rules on here because a lot of them touch on details. For example, the game doesn't make you eat. It gives you a small buff to reward you for eating, but you can starve your character for a year without any negative side effects. If you want to immerse yourself, you need to hold yourself to a higher standard. It may take you an hour (and several arrows) to find and kill a rabbit in the wild. That's realistic. You also can't instananeously cook said rabbit, but the game pretends you can. You have to take it upon yourself to pretend you can't. If you're stuck out in the wilderness and you can't cook said rabbit, maybe you get sick from eating it raw and you force yourself to rest for a whole day. Its an idea.

This caveat is more for fanfic and roleplaying authors, but try to keep anachronisms out of your story. For example, time. I know that you can hit your T button (or whatever button Xbox and PS3 users use) to wait and look at the time, but don't write in your story that you woke up at 5:07AM. That breaks the immersion of us readers and takes us out of Skyrim a bit and back into our world. I've never heard an NPC say, "My shop is open from 8AM to 8PM, every day!" Azura isn't the Goddess of 5AM-8AM and 6PM-9PM; she's the Goddess of Dusk and Dawn. I think time and distance are the biggest offenses of this rule. It shouldn't be 12 miles to Solitude; it should be half a day's journey on foot.

Details Vs. Minutae

Again, this is more for the writers. Instead of saying, "I woke up, picked 14 snowberries, caught 6 salmon, and sold them all for 36 gold" you should rephrase this in a more interesting way. (For one thing, its not gold, but Septims.) Nobody really cares about the quantity of snowberries that you picked. Instead, say that you picked a handful of snowberries, and then describe them to us. We all know they're red, but what do the snowberries in your Skyrim taste like? It may be different than what they taste like in my game. Are there prickers that you need to be careful of? Do the leaves cause a rash on Argonians? These are details that may immerse yourself and/or readers into your experience, but stating that you picked 14 of them and sold them for XX Septims is just minutae. As for catching the fish, how did you do it? I haven't seen a fishing pole in Skyrim, so how did you get them? Was it a frigid lake that you swam in to? Did you strip down so your iron armor didn't drown you? Was it a stream and you stood on the rocks as stepping stones to catch the salmon as they jumped out of the water? These are details that can really suck the reader into your story, or you into the game.

Just my two cents. Take them for what you will.

 

[Katastrophe]

I agree that the self-imposed rules are a great tool in adding to that immersion, but they aren't for everyone and there are varying degrees to use them. BIGWooly has used some crazy in-depth rules for his journals, and I've developed a few myself, but really it depends on your comfort level. No fast travel seems to be the most commonly self-imposed rules, even by those who aren't interested in roleplay. Most then, as you said, go on to add eating and sleeping to that to sort of round out the 'hardcore' mode presented in Fallout: New Vegas. If you want to use them, I believe you'll find them to be an excellent tool in adding to your experience. If not, however, then the core focus still becomes your character's foundation and motivation.

I think the motivation is the important part. While Jarl Balgruuf and the others in Whiterun might tell you repeatedly how important it is to speak to the Greybeards if you're dragonborn and what a great honor it is, this may seem unescapable. You may believe that you're obligated to do as they tell you, but you're not. Just now in The Hunted, Irvine throws a fit and briefly slips into alcoholism because he feels as if that responsibility is too much - it isn't something he wants. It's sort of a childish argument (the whole "I didn't ask for this!" approach), but it's entirely valid, in my opinion. My point is that even as the game forces you down certain paths, it is possible for it too be too forceful and you can slip out, back into the openness, and wait for it to gather you up again. Like I said, Irvine copped out of the whole dragonborn thing and mentions how he has more wealth than ever before and could easily just spend it as a more wealthy nomad. However, because of the apparent attempt on his life via the Dark Brotherhood, he focuses on this - a threat that must be addressed before he can truly move forward.

Also, your point on details is excellent. I never mention time as an actual number because I'm fairly certain Skyrim doesn't have clocks, even of the sun dial variety. Nor is it necessary to really go in-depth into your inventory and what not - this is your journal/roleplay, not your checkbook. However, I think that falls more into just writing, not the actual roleplay. If that's just your style, it's your style.

 

[LiL KiNG]

As for catching the fish, how did you do it? I haven't seen a fishing pole in Skyrim, so how did you get them?

Way off topic here, but just wanted to say that there are indeed fishing poles in Skyrim. You can't interact with them in anyway so they are just scenery, which is a shame because actually fishing for my river betty would be more fun than swimming after them.

 

[Katastrophe]

Way off topic here, but just wanted to say that there are indeed fishing poles in Skyrim. You can't interact with them in anyway so they are just scenery, which is a shame because actually fishing for my river betty would be more fun than swimming after them.

This is random, but I actually have encountered these fishing poles and was very disappointed to find it was just part of the scenery.

 

[Renegader]

Thanks for this, it was a great help.

 

[Katastrophe]

Thanks for this, it was a great help.

Happy to help!

If you need any other assistance, I'm always able to lend a hand. Lately, some of my self-imposed rules and build/character concepts have garnered some interest. One of the few benefits of never really settling on one character, I suppose.

 

[Estel]

Thank you for this great guide!
I enjoyed it very much.Yes,there are some good tips about how to become one with your character/with skyrim
Thx again!

 

[jRi0T68]

I've been lurking here for a while, and only registered because this thread got me thinking on ways to enhance my Skyrim experience (my first real TES game, I hated the console controls on oblivion and sold it within 2 hours of game play, stupid mistake on my part).

I greatly appreciate all of you guys/ladies here.

Developing my backstory will be interesting as my current/2nd character is a Khajit who prefers heavy armor, but I alternate between 2H, archery, and sneaking around with a dagger. He's a mixed breed resembling modern day spec ops. I picture him more like Punisher of comic book fame than any existing class, lol.

 

[Katastrophe]

I've been lurking here for a while, and only registered because this thread got me thinking on ways to enhance my Skyrim experience (my first real TES game, I hated the console controls on oblivion and sold it within 2 hours of game play, stupid mistake on my part).

I greatly appreciate all of you guys/ladies here.

Developing my backstory will be interesting as my current/2nd character is a Khajit who prefers heavy armor, but I alternate between 2H, archery, and sneaking around with a dagger. He's a mixed breed resembling modern day spec ops. I picture him more like Punisher of comic book fame than any existing class, lol.

Well I'm quite honored that my little guide is the reason you registered.

In my opinion, aside from the Altmer (High Elf) and Orsimer (Orc), race means absolutely nothing in terms of gameplay. Altmer have the lovely +50 Magicka bonus (five extra levels of stat points, basically) and the Orsimer racial ability is very nice. Beyond that, the initial stat modifications are only evident in the early game and quickly overcome, especially based on your starting stone choice. Whatever race you decide to play should be entirely based on personal preference or for their lore. For example, my character Irvine Delaroso in "The Hunted", he's a Redguard and this was done primarily because Redguards are typically very strong, although militaristically unorganized, fighters. Since he's spent his life living off the land, it makes sense. Perhaps a Bosmer (Wood Elf) would have made more sense, and I considered it, but that seemed to narrow and it almost seemed to emphasize sneak more than I wanted it to.

Also, in "In the Shadows", you're look at Garret Dok, a thief. It would make the most sense to go with a Bosmer or Khajiit or Argonian, even a Dunmer, but I chose Breton to play off the fact that I use Illusion magic quiet often and none of the aforementioned races really have much to do with magick (except maybe the Dunmer) and really, anyone can be a thief.

It's all just about however you want to play. Unless you're planning on roleplaying, which I recommend, race is irrelevant. Even though, it's possible to create your own, believable lore with some research.

 

[jecomans]

Before I started I had an idea of 3 characters I knew I'd play and thought up my backgrounds for each of them, including there thoughts on the war. Once I got to Riverwood (so I knew what the intro was) I wrote a journal entry for them. When I'm playing I generally just do things that me as the character feels is best for me. That keeps me immersed in my morality/desires, etc.
In terms of general immersion, I don't fast travel (Hrothgar is an epic mission). As long as it makes sense, I take off my clothes to swim, I don't travel in full armour because I'd never walk long distance in those uncomfortable boots, and I keep a third set of clothes for my war-maiden so I have town-clothes. I also put gloves on when it's snowy. Eat, drink, sleep when your tired. Disrobe to sleep, unless it's freezing. In Solitude my war-maiden sleeps in the cellar of her house so she has an escape route close to hand.

Characters, briefly, if you care:
1. Dunmer shadowcreep calls himself Scorpion X - Assassin, Thief - grew up in Morrowind on the Inner Sea thieving for his life. A wrethced, cruel and selfish shadow of an elf. Has come to loot Skyrim as he thinks the Civil War will provide the distraction he needs to pillage the place. Will do anything for good coin and kill the innocents he needs to to get it. To him being Dragon-born seems like a get-rich opportunity, followed by the glory he's never had.
2. Imperial war-maiden named River - Warrior - She grew up near Bravil in Cyrodiil, long term intrest in self-defence she used to protect herself from the criminals and scum in Bravil. Her kind, land owner father has sponsored her journey to join the Legion to protect the Empire. Thought all Nords were backwards thugs until Hadvar saved her. Becoming Dragon-born shows the ultimate courage, which would make her father proud.
3. Redguard mage named Sameen (Arabic for 'Fat') - possibly the only overweight, battle-shy Redguard in history; scared of conflict, can't swing a sword, can't even swim. Grew up hidden away by his parents shame and got into books and discovered magic. Most magic is taboo to the Alik'r so he was banished. Now is travelling to the College to seek wisdom. Dragon-born? His bitter mind sees the potential to have power no warrior possesses...

Yeah... any way, I love this game. The difference in enjoyment between playing it as an RPG compared to an action game is enormous. I guess I'm lucky enough to live by myself so I don't have to deal with distractions when I'm in the zone.

 

[Jei El]

You can always integrate a RP type of style too.

 

[Bone Of The Foz]

Superb Guide

I know its a bit late for comments now, but it is a wonderful post with a helluva lot of good ideas, i currently have around 40 characters saved on my xbox hard drive, mostly of the female Breton/Nord agenda, couple of (to quote barbus) "Giant Talking Cat People" lol i do find how ever since my second or third run through when i had gotten to know things better of course, Master difficulty is an out and out must, but im afraid my play style is rather "Linear" after that, with my Character living in Riverwood while he/she works on her smithing abilities, with regular trips to the inn and standing stones to power level smithing and enchanting at the same time, this is something in recent games ive tried so very hard to resist doing, as most of you know, if your power leveling especially smithing, trips to blacksmiths for resources are a must, and during those trips more often than not you will find Weapons of "Banishing" or "Expelling" which will also (with the help of Lucian at the Riverwood trader) build enchanting quickly, i admit at times i have made use of the Riften Ugandia Glitch for power leveling speech, but this method, i have rinsed and repeated so often, maybe 20 out of the 40 times ive played the game, its losing its appeal, I mean its great how I know i can level smithing and enchanting in 4 hours (i know may sound a bit like cheating, and i do agree, glitching is a drug that i have alot of trouble refusing lol) but i do believe im now at the stage where I have completed everything at the very least twice, maybe not all in the one game but over the 3000 odd hours ive spend wandering the wider skyrim world, and jsut the other day started a new character, and felt a feeling of "and here we go again...." which now after having succumbed to the speech glitch and power leveling my smithing, enchanting and alteration magic for extra perk choices, im truely feeling a little bit (im sorry theres no other word for it and it pains me to say it....) "bored" with the natural run through, (Okay beat me with sticks, i deserve to be, as Skyrims the single greatest game i have EVER played) Ive spend days now looking for further encourage ment to play the game in a... well... Deeper fashion, ive scoured the forums, and walkthroughs etc, but i must admit Katastrophe's ideas for giving your Character a background, never really occured to me, maybe im just thick or slow i really dont know but i can say ive never thought of looking at the game like that before, then i read a post on another forum today about a guy who decided to start his game as a wood elf Alchemist, in skyrim researching the various plants and reagents, he went as far as to start a little journal outside of the game and write his "finding's" in a small yet brilliently set out "book" i really didnt think insperation of that digree could be found in something as simple as a computer game, its facinating me more and more, his ideas coupled with Katastrophe's has inspired me to think outside the box when creating my next character, i.e Realism, eating 3 cooked meals per day, in bed before 11pm each night, and up at 6am every morning, not obtaining armour from slain enemys, rather just what i find, and even then only using once its improved to fit my character, not using the fast travel option, and traveling everywhere via horseback or on foot, making sure my followers have armor that matches my own with suitable enchantments that are useful to the follower etc, i even thought of the extreme measure to add even more difficulty of basing a character in the "outcast" group, not welcome in any capital city, never buying in traders in cities and only visiting citys when suitably hidden (i.e only entering cities with the said City Guards Armor equiped to avoid attention) and only trading with the Kajiit caravans.
Anywho, ive rambled on and on and on, im going to go put these ideas into practice,
and hopefully anything i have written will also help to give peoples a few new views and angles to approach the game

Thanks To Katastrophe for a highly useful post to begin with