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BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
UPDATED 5.6.12 WITH NEW RESTRICTIONS AND EASIER-TO-READ FORMAT

If you're looking for more of a challenge from Skyrim, in addition to enhancing the gameplay experience, try this on for size:

PLAY RESTRICTIONS
- proceed through the game intro and then leave the cave with NOTHING
- difficulty set to 'master'
- HUD set to 0%
- brightness dropped down 2 notches
- only carry 30% of what game allows
- only carry 30 arrows max
- must fully sheath weapon to use a potion
- must have a hand free to pick anything up
- must not move around crouched for unreasonable amounts of time
- may not harvest unreasonable items (if a dead elk has a garnet don't take it)
- may not activate overpowered/unrealistic perks (like conditioning; heavy armor weighs nothing)
- must sleep for at least 8 hours every day (allowed to make rare exceptions)
- must eat 3 meals a day (allowed to make rare exceptions)
- must always carry clothing (worn under armor)
- may not use smithing or enchanting (must find/purchase all gear)
- may not swim while wearing armor
- may not enter freezing water unless on a horse
- may not use in-game map unless at a known location
- may not fast travel (except by cart)
- may not use exploits
- may not cut wood for money
- if you set off a trap and it injures you then you are dead
- may only use manual saves after sleeping (resting)
- when character dies must load from the most recent save
- if character dies must return to an inn and wait (recover) for 7 days
- must spend 300 gold with the innkeep to cover room and board

- a mercenary's fee is for (1) 24-hour period
- a companion may carry 10% of your carry ability
- when a companion/mercenary dies they are dead, no save loading

- a horse may carry 10% of your own carry ability
- you may not access the 10% that your horse is carrying during combat
- when carrying items back to your horse you may not use sneak or have a weapon drawn
- horse must be fed 5 points of health per day (it is assumed horse will also eat grass)
- if horse dies it is dead, no save loading

ALTERNATE RESTRICTION IDEAS
- not allowed to pick locks
- not allowed to steal
- not allowed to sneak
- not allowed to read
- not allowed to purchase items in stores (live off the land)
- not allowed to use magic (other than shouts and/or powers)
- only allowed to use magic from one school
- not allowed to use shouts
- must carry clothing with you at all times
- use only a bow as your primary weapon (may have a dagger as backup)
- no use of potions during combat
- may poison multiple arrows if decided prior to combat, decision cannot be adjusted
- only allowed to carry 2000 gold
- only allowed to carry 20 lockpicks
- not allowed to place any perk points in sneak
- not allowed to use perk points at all
- not allowed to level up



OTHER SUGGESTIONS
Honestly I would love to hear any other suggestions of what others are doing to self-restrict and make the game more challenging. It's getting harder and harder to do since Bethesda seems dead-set on dumbing down each release even more, but there are still things you can implement. Feel free to share any ideas you have. d;-)

Check out this "Day is Dead" thread for other ideas: Dead is Dead alternative | Skyrim Forums
 

Garrison

Active Member
I give you full props for creating a well thought out 'hardcore' game style, and kudos to the environment immersion you must experience. I know myself that I could never maintain such a protocol... just isn't my type of "fun".

I assume that once you die, you never play the game again, right? ;)
 

STiROCKET06

Member
That's crazy. I have no idea how you are going to beat some of the higher level enemies with only 30 arrows and a dagger. Great idea, but it seems like its not very well thought out.
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
I give you full props for creating a well thought out 'hardcore' game style, and kudos to the environment immersion you must experience. I know myself that I could never maintain such a protocol... just isn't my type of "fun".

I assume that once you die, you never play the game again, right? ;)

Thanks, the immersion is intense! Like .. really intense. I even do crazy things like finding another route other than swimming across an icy river, even if that means I have to spend 10 minutes sneaking past a troll that I'm sure I couldn't kill.

As for the dying part .. no, lol. Although I have played several characters that way in Morrowing and one in Oblivion. Trust me, it really makes you care a lot more about your character and your choices. But I'm not going to do that in Skyrim with these restrictions because that would be maddening, lol. I'm level 18 and I've already died probably 30-40 times. d;-)
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
That's crazy. I have no idea how you are going to beat some of the higher level enemies with only 30 arrows and a dagger. Great idea, but it seems like its not very well thought out.

I have no idea if it will be possible to beat the game doing this, but I've already been in some situations where it looked like survival was impossible but I found a way. One of those, without giving away any spoilers, I have to enter a room and get 3 things from someone. As soon as I enter they make conversation with me and let me know I won't be getting those things. The room is really well-lit, which is really bad for my stealth character, plus I'm already visible because they were talking to me. There is no cover and nowhere to hide and my enemy is a very capable mage. For some reason I also cannot use my shouts (glitch? not sure).

First try I die very quickly as the mage summons a pair of flame atronachs. Straight on combat is a no go. Second try I drink an invisibility potion before the combat starts and try to go grab everything. It works until I grab the first thing, which cause me to become visible and I get smoked again ... quickly. On my third try I drink invisibility and also poison my dagger with a paralyze potion. As combat starts I go invisible and the mage can't find me. So I sneak up and attack from behind for 15x with a power stroke from the dagger .. mage dies ... I think. I run to collect the items but take too many hits from the atronachs and die first. On my fourth try now ... d;-)
 

hexperiment

The Experimentalist
I assume that once you die, you never play the game again, right? ;)
LOL. Yes. If you die, you uninstall. :D

Anyways, I am doing something like this. I never fast travel and I turned off crosshair. However, I am not turning off the HUD though. I tried but then I had too much difficulty knowing what in oblivion I am picking up. Sometimes, I pick up wrong things and I don't even know if I am stealing or not.
As for the potion rule, I just can't follow that =/ You might as well never use a health potion if you are going to use them during combat. But I do restrain myself from using potion in brawling though. That's just cheap
 

bjb68

Outback Elf (Aussimer?)
I can understand limiting your carrying capacity, because sometimes I look at my inventory, laugh, and think "How in the hell does he carry all of that with no pack?" But 30? If you are not a mage character, this idea makes no sense. 30 will not allow for a full set of heavy armor and single weapon. I think limiting to your equipped weapons/armor +30 (or 10% as your said) would be a bit more reasonable. Because, surely you should be able to carry something if you are wearing/holding it.

I do love the idea though, mate. I might give turning off the hud a go. Sounds like a way fun way to freshen up my exploring tangents.
 

J747L

Member
It's just unfair to burden yourself with such "realistic" standards but give a pass to the most "unrealistic" aspect of all. The ability to reload saved games.

Realistic carrying capacity... realistic etc. but you can still make 30 or 40 mistakes and reload a saved game. Let's be truthful, is this just a way to give the illusion that you're playing "realistically"? A way to convince yourself that this is realistic?

If being realistic, the mode "one death then it's all over" should be the first priority. Many RPGs have this, I was quite surprised that you left this important thing out since it's a standard feature of some RPG series. After settling the one death issue then move on to the carrying capacity, no hud etc.
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
LOL. Yes. If you die, you uninstall. :D

Anyways, I am doing something like this. I never fast travel and I turned off crosshair. However, I am not turning off the HUD though. I tried but then I had too much difficulty knowing what in oblivion I am picking up. Sometimes, I pick up wrong things and I don't even know if I am stealing or not.
As for the potion rule, I just can't follow that =/ You might as well never use a health potion if you are going to use them during combat. But I do restrain myself from using potion in brawling though. That's just cheap

I hear what you're saying about the HUD. I think there may be a few (non combat) situations ahead where I reactivate it temporarily for info. The most annoying thing for me right now is when a skill increases or someone gives me something I have to go look to see what it was. But I'm getting used to it. For me it's worth it just to make aiming spells/arrows more challenging and losing the radar. d;-)

The potion thing is just to prevent me from pause-drink-heal play. That just feels cheap to me, and it sounds like you feel the same. I have debated allowing myself to drink potions when I get myself out of direct combat but I'm not ready to go there yet since so far this is working. Plus I may play another character down the road who does alchemy and I'll save potion use for that one.

By the way I found a potion that increases your health regen by 70%. So that's a potion I could take BEFORE combat and still get some use out of during combat. Too bad it cost me 1400 gold, lol.
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
I can understand limiting your carrying capacity, because sometimes I look at my inventory, laugh, and think "How in the hell does he carry all of that with no pack?" But 30? If you are not a mage character, this idea makes no sense. 30 will not allow for a full set of heavy armor and single weapon. I think limiting to your equipped weapons/armor +30 (or 10% as your said) would be a bit more reasonable. Because, surely you should be able to carry something if you are wearing/holding it.

I do love the idea though, mate. I might give turning off the hud a go. Sounds like a way fun way to freshen up my exploring tangents.

My first playthrough of Morrowind was like that; carrying around 5 swords and a million arrows and potions. I got bored and had to change the rules on myself to better enjoy the game. So that's where this system comes from. As for what you're saying, I'm with you. I went with 10% for this character because he's an archer-mage and is not intended to be a strong physical character. My next character will likely be a nord warrior and I'll definitely adjust the carry capacity for him.

My current character simply wears hide boots (with a carry enchantment - lucky find!), robes and a hood. No armor aside from the boots. I'm at level 18 now and very happy with the 10% rule on this character so far.
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
It's just unfair to burden yourself with such "realistic" standards but give a pass to the most "unrealistic" aspect of all. The ability to reload saved games.

Realistic carrying capacity... realistic etc. but you can still make 30 or 40 mistakes and reload a saved game. Let's be truthful, is this just a way to give the illusion that you're playing "realistically"? A way to convince yourself that this is realistic?

If being realistic, the mode "one death then it's all over" should be the first priority. Many RPGs have this, I was quite surprised that you left this important thing out since it's a standard feature of some RPG series. After settling the one death issue then move on to the carrying capacity, no hud etc.

I completely respect your opinion. The primary reason for not using that rule with this character is that I DO still want to complete the main quest story on this playthrough. Trust me, these restrictions are VERY difficult to work with and I've probably died 40 times already (5 of those were falling off cliffs trying to get to a treasure, lol). So the thing is, I don't want to spend the next 2 years trying to get through the main quest without dying using these restrictions. Honestly, I would venture to say it's impossible to play with these restrictions and not die.

The whole reason I enforced these restrictions was to make the game more challenging and fun for myself. I totally agree that 1-life-1-death adds another dimension (I've done it before in both Morrowind and Oblivion). But it's not what I'm looking for in this playthrough. d;-)

EDIT: I forgot to mention I only save when I quit for the night. So if I enter a dungeon I don't save first. Or if I'm about to go into a fight I don't save first.
 

J747L

Member
I completely respect your opinion. The primary reason for not using that rule with this character is that I DO still want to complete the main quest story on this playthrough. Trust me, these restrictions are VERY difficult to work with and I've probably died 40 times already (5 of those were falling off cliffs trying to get to a treasure, lol). So the thing is, I don't want to spend the next 2 years trying to get through the main quest without dying using these restrictions. Honestly, I would venture to say it's impossible to play with these restrictions and not die.

The whole reason I enforced these restrictions was to make the game more challenging and fun for myself. I totally agree that 1-life-1-death adds another dimension (I've done it before in both Morrowind and Oblivion). But it's not what I'm looking for in this playthrough. d;-)

EDIT: I forgot to mention I only save when I quit for the night. So if I enter a dungeon I don't save first. Or if I'm about to go into a fight I don't save first.
At least that clarifies your intent and purpose and it's fair enough for me.
 

hexperiment

The Experimentalist
I hear what you're saying about the HUD. I think there may be a few (non combat) situations ahead where I reactivate it temporarily for info. The most annoying thing for me right now is when a skill increases or someone gives me something I have to go look to see what it was. But I'm getting used to it. For me it's worth it just to make aiming spells/arrows more challenging and losing the radar. d;-)

The potion thing is just to prevent me from pause-drink-heal play. That just feels cheap to me, and it sounds like you feel the same. I have debated allowing myself to drink potions when I get myself out of direct combat but I'm not ready to go there yet since so far this is working. Plus I may play another character down the road who does alchemy and I'll save potion use for that one.

By the way I found a potion that increases your health regen by 70%. So that's a potion I could take BEFORE combat and still get some use out of during combat. Too bad it cost me 1400 gold, lol.
For the potion thing, you can probably put it as one of your hotkey so you can drink them in real-time. I don't like to pause time to heal either. I do wish there was some mod that allows 'auto-heal', using your healing potions automatically if you are at very low health. It's probably cheating kind of but at least you won't be going like 'DAMN! I didn't pause time quickly enough to heal! I totally could have survived that'. It might make the game an easy-mode if you carry like 50 healing potions but at least it doesn't break the flow of the game and that is my main concern...
 

Umbranar

Member
Some of these restrictions are worth a try on my next char. Going to be a full mage. Also, do not use followers (if you do that at all) is something to think about.
 

Chezzy

I used to play FPS games once...
I would be bad at the whole hardcore stuff so I have set a few rules for my Assassin
  • Turned my brightness down back to default so it's not as easy to see (may mean using torches)
  • No crosshair (i'm an archer so going to see how this works out)
  • very faint HUD
  • No fast travel (I will use the horse and cart guy)
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
Some of these restrictions are worth a try on my next char. Going to be a full mage. Also, do not use followers (if you do that at all) is something to think about.

So far I've only used one follower (he was part of the quest, although I could have denied his help). I may keep to going solo although I feel it's also totally realistic to take on a follower. As long as they don't make the game too easy. The one follower I took on died pretty quickly so it wasn't an issue. d;-)
 

BIGwooly

Well-Known Member
I would be bad at the whole hardcore stuff so I have set a few rules for my Assassin
  • Turned my brightness down back to default so it's not as easy to see (may mean using torches)
  • No crosshair (i'm an archer so going to see how this works out)
  • very faint HUD
  • No fast travel (I will use the horse and cart guy)

Turning off the crosshair makes you feel like you're actually having to aim the bow. I think if you're an archer you will actually get more enjoyment out of aiming your bow 'manually'. It doesn't really affect melee play all that much. Give it a try as I think you'll enjoy it.
 

brandon

Active Member
i do some of these things. ie i hardley ever fast travel unless im on a time crunch. and i have the brightness turned down. but i dont turn off my hud. another thing is eating and sleeping like from new vegas. with health potions taking time to heal you and sleeping to recover from injuries. and eating/drinking so you dont starve to death.
 

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