The TES Roleplayer's Thread

[SM-Dreamer]

Nice Finn! Thats my usual style, but Im having to suppress it for Lygias sense of honor.

And wow, that caption does tell a story, and Id love to know more it!

Im working through Lygia and the Dawnguard right now, with Hearthfire and Dragonborn to come next. After I finish her, I plan to make an Altmer Mage, but Im still figuring out how to play her.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Thanks, folks! Dreamer, I'm on it, but as with all my stories it grows in the writing and won't stay quite as 'mini' as I thought it would.

You mentioned on the WYDIST thread that having to deal with Serana could be an opportunity for making Lygia confront her werewolf self, which made me curious. How has Lygia been coping with the beast in her up to now? Is it a part of herself she embraces, like Aela, or something she tries to rein in, keep under control? Does the wolf take over sometimes, and how does she feel about that?

[SM-Dreamer]

At first she embraced it, like Aela does. She lets in loose when she goes into dungeons and the like, and she enjoys the hunt. But sometimes it rises to the surface when she's angry, too, and she feels the desire to do harm to others for only slightly offending her. It clashes with her sense of honor, and she's been trying to rein it in. But she feels herself slipping sometimes, and worries that the beast will take control. When she first got it, she thought it a gift, but now she's starting to feel as Kodlak and the twins feel about it, that perhaps it needs to be cured. Something with working with Serana is making that become more apparent to her.

After she won the war and defeated Alduin, she spent a lot of time just exploring and adventuring, and using her werewolf powers meshed well with that. But when she returns home to her children and husband, she starts to worry more and more about losing control. Like Sinding. This might be why she's been away for longer and longer intervals...

[Finn Wolfshorn]

That's cool, tying the wolf within to Lygia's temper and anger management. Serana's bound to tickle the beast now and then . (Btw since you're on PC you may like to have a look at Serana Dialogue Edit, it makes her use some dialogue lines that were recorded but never used in vanilla or use lines that were tied to unique situations more often when appropriate; made my last Dawnguard playthrough a lot more enjoyable.)

One thing that comes to my mind in this context: I could imagine Serana feeling about her vampirism not so much differently than Lygia does about her lycanthropy. For example, it's anyone's guess whether she ever feeds - she certainly doesn't do it onscreen (although that would be cool IMO!), maybe she just sustains herself by using Drain Life in combat and avoids feeding on innocents. It's made clear from dialogue that she values her vampiric powers too highly to give them up lightly, but she may not be totally comfortable with the needs that come with the powers (and certainly not at all with the way she gained them). That could be something for Serana and Lygia to bond over, if you'd like them to.

The inner conflict of a lawful good character with lycanthropy is something that I've been meaning to explore for a while. I imagine the beast within as something that gets more uncontrollable the more you resist and reject it... whereas if you acknowledge it and let it run free sometimes it may actually become more docile. This is all about the Id and the Ego, of course, and may not apply to your character and your plans for her.

[Dohva.]

I finally got Skyrim to play, loaded up the game, saw Felina is still a vampire, and shut the game off after a few minutes. I can't be bothered to deal with her problems right now. Especially when she's broke from a severe skooma addiction, can't feed because she's too afraid to, and can't buy or find a black soul gem for the life (not) of her right now. UGH.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

That's a pretty harsh situation. Why can't she feed - afraid she'll get caught or afraid of what she's becoming? And can't she do a contract or two to make some money?

[Dohva.]

The inner conflict of a lawful good character with lycanthropy is something that I've been meaning to explore for a while.

That is an interesting topic. I imagine there's nothing in between about something like that. You're either into being a monster, or you're not. A lawful good character, imo, wouldn't join the Companions because of the lycanthropy. It's understandable that characters such as Vilkas are torn between two worlds, especially since he and Farkas were raised in Jorrvaskr. Lawful good characters are boring uphold ethics and the world's goodness. They protect those who are weak and fight for them. Being a werewolf defies that and--if we think of such a warrior as being driven to glory and will stop at nothing to become a Companion--something pretty deep inside that individual would have to shift in order for them to consider killing innocents, which is what totally happens when the pc first becomes a werewolf and can't control their impulses. Skyrim does a terrible job of exposing the pc to what the life of a real werewolf is like...meaning...he can't just go into beast mode whenever he feels like it! The moon dictates that! Anyway, whenever you do start such a character, I would love to follow along with that story line.

RE: Felina's vampirism...well...I could fix it all if I really wanted to, but roleplaying this disease as a disaster in her life is much more fun, even if it means that I play somewhat irritated that my character is hideous. She doesn't feed out of terror that it will be something to lock her into immortality. You see, Felina is ignorant of vampirism in general, so she has no idea what to do, except for that she can get healed but the steps don't seem quite that easy.

[BetaB17]

Wow wee D: never figured you, Dohva as the murder spree type O.o

[Dohva.]

Ha--yeah, well...murder sprees are fun.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Concerning the lawful good werewolf type, well, obviously they wouldn't get their lycanthropy through the Companions, because, as you say, they just wouldn't do that. They'd have to be bitten by a wolf or werewolf and catch Sanies Lupinus that way (which is easy to do wth mods), and miss the time window for a cure because they don't realise what's going on with them. First transformation, and they find themselves in some farmyard the morning after, covered in gore and surrounded by mauled corpses, absolutely horrified at what they've become. They'd fight it, of course, and try to uphold their righteous ideals, but every full moon the beast comes out again, leaving them even more devastated afterwards. They're probably very pious, but even the Gods forsake them now and turn their backs on them when they pray at a shrine (that's a Requiem thing: the Divines don't bless a hound of Hircine).

There's about three ways I could see a character going from there:
1) the Vyrthur route into darkness, à la "My god's forsaken me, now I'll turn bad in revenge!" Boring.
2) They join the Companions (probably already did that some time before) because honour & glory, and are in for an eye-opener when they go on their little expedition with Farkas ("What? You too?"). Talk to Kodlak, learn he's looking for a cure, stay because that's the only hope they've got. May even join Aela's crusade against the Silver Hand out of pity for all those poor furry buggers out there who didn't choose to become werewolves either, and because the SH are after all just glorified bandits. They help Kodlak's ghost cure himself, and either
2a) cure themselves too and become lawful good again, but wiser and more compassionate for the experience (meh) or
2b) learn to accept the beast as part of themselves, control it and use it for good (which is probably the path I'd take them).

See, I know how it all goes, I don't even have to play it. The Breton knight I mentioned on the last page was made with this in mind, but I'm a little burnt out with Skyrim - probably need to give it a long pause.

Concerning Felina's vampirism, I understand now. So I suppose she hasn't met Babette yet?

[CBR JGWRR]

Hi guys.

Pretty long post, so it is under a hide tag for brevity on page.

Hidden:

I found out a few months back that I was autistic - I've known since childhood about being dyslexic and dyspraxic (which is now called Developmental Coordination Disorder) but autism was new.

Anyway, a character of mine got Ataxia from a skeever. Normally, I'd go to the nearest shrine and heal it, but this time I paused and wondered how would a neurological disorder actually affect someone in Tamriel. Now, in game Ataxia just affects lockpicking and pickpocket (which are logical) but really that is quite mild...

And, that led to me wanting to make a character, based around the idea of exploring my own condition in the world of another, as understanding how a person in Tamriel would experience a similar condition to me will better enable me to understand how people who are not like me experience my own. (the whole process of understanding things in how others see things)

Now the character in question is a female High Elf, as rightly or wrongly I've found a synergy with them.


Backstory, 1st revision:

Born in 4E 176 in Alinor, she was a reclusive child who hated company of other children because of the noises they made. She was a quiet, analytical girl who wanted to know things, and classify bits of information from all around her, who insisted on exactly the same things all the time.

As she became an adult however, her differences began to cause problems for her - frequent communication issues and her very different way of perceiving things meant that, after she argued publically against the existence of multiple gods on the basis that while it was logical there was a God - someone had to create the world - it was not logical that this someone would actually be the diverse assembly of ancestor spirits who she was told to believe in. This got her taken for "re-education and conformity lessons", which she knew as torture.

Eventually she fled from Summerset, completely rejecting her Aldmeri heritage because of what they did to her. She then began to travel Imperial Tamriel, exploring it cultures to find her "truth"; but it eluded her amongst the Eight Divines because to her they were just the gods she had already rejected back in Summerset, and so she headed north, curious about the abandoned Ninth who was a human man but became a god.

Sadly, the events of the introduction to Skyrim followed soon after...

-------------------------

As to how she'll develop from that - her reason to be, is the desire to know truth. It is what she has always looked for. Her quest to Skyrim will end as the story progresses; she discovers she is Dragonborn, which presents a completely new situation for her and suddenly the fate of Skyrim depends on her doing what she loves; discovering truth.

Knowing the threat the Thalmor present requires all people, she will support the Empire when the time comes - while she does believe the rebellion for Talos is acceptable; "He is their truth. Maybe not mine, but I know what happens when people force their beliefs on others..." she also knows that all the time the Civil war rages it is just wasted people who are all going to be vital in the fight against the Thalmor perversion of truth that if they are unchecked will lead to the genocide of humanity - and she hopes can convince Ulfric and the Stormcloaks to back down with the promise of allowing Talos again after the Thalmor threat is dealt with.

Her pursuit of truth will eventually take her through the DLC, Dragonborn first (as in the Skaal she'll find a monotheistic faith she could come to believe is "her" truth) then maybe the Dawnguard, if only to protect Skyrim from vampires. The College would also be a good fit for her in her quest for truth and knowledge, but being the archmage is out of the question because of the her bodily limits on magic; 'it is illogical to make someone who cannot use all forms of magic the archmage.'

Thoughts? I've had some ideas on how to roleplay her, but I'm curious to see what you guys come up with.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Hi CBR, long time no read! First of all, kudos for being so open about your condition(s). I know from experience (congenital dysfunction of the pituitary gland necessitating lifelong medication) that such things can be difficult to talk about, so I appreciate your trust.

Now to your character. I guess she's going to have problems with anything requiring dexterity and motoric coordination. In my understanding that rules out all of the crafting skills except maybe enchantment, which doesn't seem to depend as much on manual handling of materials as the others. She probably won't be much good in archery, blocking or one-handed either. If her gross motor control is less impaired than the fine, two-handed weapons might be an option, but I really see her as more of a mage, compensating for her physical deficits by her mastership of the arcane. (Conjuration comes to mind as an offensive skill which requires less precise aim than destruction.) I'm not sure what you mean by her bodily limits on magic - like she has trouble casting certain spells because they demand special gestures which she can't perform precisely, or something like that? Shouts could compensate for that, I suppose, and once she discovers that she's Dragonborn I could see her embracing thu'um as a pure expression of her being unhampered by any physical/neural insufficiency. Really, I think I'd get her every blessing and item to reduce cooldown and make her a thu'um-centric character with shouts as her main mode of combat.

Anyway, the idea of a handicapped character in Skyrim is very cool IMO, and I'm curious what you're going to do with her, so keep us posted! (Gbaji did something vaguely comparable some time ago with his dwarfed character Tyrion Snow, check out his journal on Elder Stats.)

[CBR JGWRR]

What I have in mind is someone with similar difficulties to me. Not a 1-1 match exactly, but similar. Now, I have the advantage of being very highly intelligent, so I can figure out ways to work around my weaknesses - this, being a High Elf, she'll share, and so she'll be able to adapt in a similar manner - no question, she would be weaker than a normal player character, but there are ways to work around her weaknesses and compensate for what is made difficult.

So, smithing and alchemy she'll be able to do, they'll just take longer; she'll never be a master, but they wouldn't be impossible. Archery, blocking and one-handed are similar. Obviously, she has weaknesses, but they are best expressed in lack of perks taken than not using a skill.

Magic skills are where she'd have difficulty - in lore, they are incantations and hand gestures, and they could well be too difficult - consider clapping hands together, I am unable to clap palm to palm in the normal manner, I have to clap palm to back of hand as I cannot touch the hands in the correct way which produces the sound. Enchanting is actually even worse, as that not only involves hand movements but also listening and seeing the enchant as it is weaved, and that is just begging to be difficult. But yet again, not impossible.

I'd compare to the Ebony Warrior* as a guide for what an 'Endgame' her would be like - her equipment would be single enchant only (Dual enchants are out, based on how the book "Twin Secrets" ingame describes the process) and she would not be able to use all spells, but the ones she could she'd be devastating with - if you think in functional terms with conjuration, it would be like she couldn't really guarantee where the summon will appear, or with destruction having to choose AoE effects in order to ensure the hit. So, to her, given her difficulties in actual usage of magic, that's why she wouldn't think it appropriate; logically an archmage should be skilled in all schools and be a master of at least some, and while she could become very competent at magic, it wouldn't be to that level.

Thu'um could be a way to go - given for her it would be a natural inborn language to her, it may even be easier than any learned language. The issue is that I actually have speech difficulties due to it (my mouth doesn't form the correct shapes; English I can deal fine in simply because no one cares at all as long as the first and last letters are what they should be, but a language like Biblical Hebrew is very difficult as I have to carefully control my mouth to ensure I say the correct thing) so, if she is allowed to "benefit" from my particular case, she ought to be weakened in fairness here. Dragon is an interesting subject given like English, and Tamrielic for that matter, is a Subject-Verb-Object language based on words modified by grammatical constraints (the rules of which are very simple by comparison to most languages) but, it is like Hebrew in that, like Hebrew is based on 2 and 3 letter roots made up from 22 consonants which each have a natural significance and potency, Dragon is based on words having a power and potency inherent to the word, and so therefore precise pronunciation matters. The practicalities of this is that she would just have to be careful with her speech, just like I have to be.


I have in mind some ideas for stories, but none written yet...


* One of the Jenniferes has beaten him on master difficulty incidentally.

[Gbaji]

So a while back I made a character that I didn't want to feel obliged to make journal entries for, but I put a brief backstory and some photos up on ElderStats just for drill. Then a follower glitch with Uthgerd created a compelling role-playing hook, and then I found a surprisingly suitable player home mod, and the story just kept going and going, so I updated the bio and added some more photos.

Hey, Finn, thanks for remembering Tyrion! He's gotta finish finding all the Black Books one of these days.

[The SheoDovah]

I'm kinda back in this thread as i am starting to get urges to play Skyrim thus roleplaying and stories will return. Going to have a lot of reading to do before i am caught up in this thread. :O But unlike last time, i intend to write the entire story in wordpad then copy into here and well, hopefully, the quality will match, what is often regarded as my best pieces of roleplaying stories involving my best character Aejiri.

Anyway, i am toying with the idea of either an Altmeri battlemage that uses shields and magic without armour(apart from braces and boots) or a shield and sword nord who uses bows and alchemcy along with blacksmithing to become the ultimate badass of the nords. Or a thief but i suspect i would get bored after awhile due to how er.... iffy the stealth is.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Now imagine me wondering about this SheoDovah guy whom I've seen post here and there and hoping we had actually attracted new blood to this somewhat treeish thread... and imagine a hearty facepalm when I finally read your signature. Should we call you Sheo now? Or TUFKAT? Anyway, nice to see you posting here again, and I'm looking forward to whatever you may treat us to. (Yeah, copypasting your stories from word(pad) or some such is a very good idea. I've lost a few longer posts and PMs too becuase the forum logged me out while writing. )

I'm been horsing around a bit with an Imperial Nightblade of sorts majoring in Illusion, Conjuration and One-Handed (a male Felina, if you like), with Alchemy and Speech as secondary skills; he'll use Archery and Destruction, too, if need be, but is barely competent in either, which is mirrored in taking no perks in Archery and using only basic Destruction spells. Haven't given much thought to his story yet, except that he's probably an Imperial agent gone rogue. I haven't felt driven to write about him either, nor continued my Marilyn stories so far; my creative juices are currently largely tied up in writing some books, notes and journals for a mod I've been invited to collaborate in. It's all about the Dark Brotherhood, so that's enough twisted characters to write about for the time being.

[The SheoDovah]

Tufkat? That sounds like a.... shout that summons angry kittens.

Anyway, i am considering doing this as my character:

A female thief(mostl ikely Altmeri) is caught up in Skyrim after pulling off the biggest hiest in her life. She stole some very rare jewels and the dagger of the Champion of Cyrodiil. Fairly laid back and uses illusion, sneak, conjuration, alteration and alchemcy. She ends up in the Thieves Guild and after Getrud had a rather nasty accident involving her fists and being chokeslammed by a very [&@%!] off dragonborn with such force that she left an imprint, she develops a taste of the assassain life thus she joins up with them. When i decide to do the DLCs, it'll be Dawnguard, 3 Safehouses fileld with stolen loot that i will roleplay as too hot to sell. E.g. the robes of a deceased emperor. and Dragonborn will be done last.


Oh and forgot to mention Archery. Will have her slowly learn how to craft via stories as well, i don't have the patience to spend a lot of in game months becoming an apprentice level smith. Oh and as usual, the brutal violence will make a return! Hell, a part of me wants to somehow include surplexing Alduin or another dragon into a story. What? I just want to do that.

[Dohva.]

I'm been horsing around a bit with an Imperial Nightblade of sorts majoring in Illusion, Conjuration and One-Handed (a male Felina, if you like), with Alchemy and Speech as secondary skills; he'll use Archery and Destruction, too, if need be, but is barely competent in either, which is mirrored in taking no perks in Archery and using only basic Destruction spells.

Nightblades are fun, huh? Although Felina had low speech (the idea was that she sucked at communicating with others). When you get more of your guy's story figured out or some adventures, I'd be interested in seeing what you're doing with him.

I haven't played Skyrim in ages...too much Fallout 4. My character is somewhat like a Felina (they look similar), she uses a sword, pistols, bombs, and major stealth. She's not a wicked brat like the Imperial though. Stealth characters are just good fun. Eventually when I get tired of roaming the wastes, I'll head back to Skyrim and do more gaming. Sylmirie and Lieth still haven't completed any of the DLC quests and I can't even remember where any of these gals live, it's been so long.

[The SheoDovah]

I'v found out that i can't play skyrim unless i've written a backstory for my altmeri. Problem is, i kinda have no intention to do so at this point in time and well, Saints Row IV is having my full attention.

The name is Ayrenti Aedvis though.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Tufkat? That sounds like a.... shout that summons angry kittens.

Your new nick, it seems, is aptly chosen! But yes, it does.

Dohva, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much - I feel like I've pretty much burnt out my capacity for roleplaying with Marilyn II, I just haven't been able to get as invested in any of the characters I've made since - certainly not in Mr Crataegus Levigata (working title), who is little more than a vehicle for dungeon-crawling to wind down after work. Still fun to play, to be sure, and pretty versatile.

I still have a load of unwritten Marilyn stories lying around in my brain which I mean to write some day when it doesn't feel like I'm shirking writing JDgenerate's characters. I've also thought about transferring the gist of her story to an original setting, but that's very hazy. Time will tell.

[The SheoDovah]

I think i will do Oblivion first and well, i kinda have the backstory of my Hero of Cyrodil.(Sounds better then champion, now that i think of it). And if i can avoid laziness's foul hands, i may try to get the first batch of stories done.

[CBR JGWRR]

Shattered Visions

A quick write for Erriene, the new Altmer.

Hidden:

The teacher entered the room, and looked across at her students. They mingled around, some were sat down in their chairs - but one child was seemingly unconcerned with anyone, alone by the corner bookshelf.

She smiled.

"Today class, we are going to consider the true foundations of the Altmeri people, and why it is our destiny to be the guiders and overseers of Tamriel."

None of the pupils spoke in response; the little girl at the back now started rearranging the books. Again. Why did she always do that?

Sit down everyone." The class took their seats. Except for Erriene, who did exactly what she was told to do, and sat down at the bookshelf.

"Erriene, please, sit down." She gestured to the chair.

"I am sat down." She was being defiant - why did she always have to be?

"Sit down. Now." She pointed to the chair, more forcefully.

"I am sat down." She repeated herself.

The teacher was now a bit angry. "In your chair, are you being particularly stupid today? Now!"

"Fine, I only did what you told me to do." Erriene said as she - finally - sat in her chair.

"Look, girl, unless you learn to obey instructions and not disrespect your elders you'll get into trouble. Do you want to be in trouble?" The teacher didn't want an answer, she wanted to get on with the lesson, and so she turned to the board and wrote out the lesson plan.

"No. I did what you told me to do."

The teacher shuddered. "So you want to play that game, do you? Fine." She thought to herself. "Erriene, you are this close to being sent out of class, now be quiet. Stop arguing." She took a moment to regain her composure. "Alright class, take out your Anuads that you were supposed to read before today."

The class did so; even Erriene. Perhaps she wasn't going to be completely obstinate today.

"Now, who can tell me how we came to be the guiders and overseers of Tamriel?"

One of the children spoke up. "Because we are the children of the ancestor spirits, and the lesser races aren't." He said it smugly.

"Exactly right; we Altmer are the oldest and the wisest of the races, and it is only natural that we are in charge."

The rest of the lesson proceeded normally, but the first seeds of doubt were planted in one little girl's mind, as she thought to herself "How can I trust what you say to be true, when you say one thing and mean another?"

Thoughts?

[The SheoDovah]

It's interesting but it's too short for me to form an opinion on the character.

I probably should get around to writing about my Oblivion character at some point and well, Red Dead Redemption has stolen my focus. I intend to do a male altmer mage with the Atronauch birthsign thus giving me 250 Magicka to begin with and i am certain i will find ways to counter act elemental weaknesses via enchantment and alteration. Blade will be a fall back skill and armour is for serious things although i may forgo armour and just rely on magic to avoid being skewered. Am tempted to make my HOC related to my Dovahkiin via bloodlines and it could be interesting to see what the probably evil thief murdering Dovahkiin is like. The HOC is more or less a goody two shoes with magic and the nine save you if you are his enemy. There are many spells like his but it is his magic, without it, he is disadvantaged. With him, it ceases to exist.

Kinda feel that i have to use the Atronauch to avoid accidentally levelling up faster then i can match the scaled enemies.

[Lord Timster]

Thoughts?

Hidden:

Thanks for posting that. A couple of initial thoughts:

we are going to consider the true beliefs of the Altmeri people

My experience is that people who believe that their beliefs are the total objective truth very rarely refer to them as 'Beliefs'.

the first seeds of doubt were planted in one little girl's mind, as she thought to herself "How can I trust what you say to be true, when you say one thing and mean another?"

The impression I get from this story is that you're wanting Erriene to have a first realisation of the flaws/contradictions in the Altmer doctrine/dogma?

My concern is that it is just as easy to interpret the story as saying that Erriene is either (a) a passive-aggressive smart-arse or (b) one of those people who are totally literal-minded. I feel that both of these possibilities suck out a lot of the paradigm-shifting dramatic punch you'd want for a character-defining moment.

Or perhaps I misunderstand and you were aiming for something completely different...

</opinion>

[CBR JGWRR]

Thoughts?

Hidden:

Thanks for posting that. A couple of initial thoughts:

we are going to consider the true beliefs of the Altmeri people

My experience is that people who believe that their beliefs are the total objective truth very rarely refer to them as 'Beliefs'.

the first seeds of doubt were planted in one little girl's mind, as she thought to herself "How can I trust what you say to be true, when you say one thing and mean another?"

The impression I get from this story is that you're wanting Erriene to have a first realisation of the flaws/contradictions in the Altmer doctrine/dogma?

My concern is that it is just as easy to interpret the story as saying that Erriene is either (a) a passive-aggressive smart-arse or (b) one of those people who are totally literal-minded. I feel that both of these possibilities suck out a lot of the paradigm-shifting dramatic punch you'd want for a character-defining moment.

Or perhaps I misunderstand and you were aiming for something completely different...

</opinion>

Hidden:

On beliefs; a fair answer. I just had in mind that it is a school environment, and having gone to several schools and my current charitable work involves going into schools, I've taken my own experience and written it in without being aware of it; which as pointed out is incorrect in universe. Good spot, I'll revise it.

Secondly, all three of those were intended to some extent; the first is exactly right, that is what is going on in her mind.

The other two I'll come back to, life getting in the way... But, if you read her background posts above, she'll make more sense.

Now that I can finish it off: It is not that she is a passive-aggressive smart-arse, but that her hyper-literalness and inability to communicate in the normal manner mean that she comes across as such because she doesn't know that there is any other way. To her, the situation is reversed; she did exactly what she was told to do, but her teacher told her off for doing as she was requested to do, and instead expected her to follow a different instruction that was not said. The teacher then went and asked her a question and then told her not to answer it - from her perspective, it would alarm and confuse her that it could be considered that she is in the wrong here.

Not that her brain has the ability to actually understand that there are different was to understand things than hers yet; I'm still learning how to do that myself.