Restriction List For Hardcore Players (100% Difficulty)

[ElderScrolls]

Morrowind Restrictions List

The purpose of this list is to encourage roleplay and inspire interesting and entertaining character ideas for a 100% Difficulty playthrough. Morrowind can become an extremely easy experience if you allow yourself to obtain the most powerful items early in the game, and this list is an attempt to approach the game differently.

Some points may be removed or altered depending on the type of playthrough you want to experience. Ultimately, it is entirely up to the player.

1 - Read attentively all topics provided by NPCs:

This will allow you to understand the lore of Morrowind and Tamrielic history much better, but it will also add location markers to your map and unlock certain topics that can lead to interesting discoveries. Do not overlook what NPCs have to say.

2 - Close all doors behind you:

The way Morrowind is scripted means that the game remembers changes made to static objects placed in the world. Leaving doors open everywhere can eventually contribute to save instability and potential crashes.

3 - Avoid picking up static items:

For the same reason mentioned above, taking intentionally placed items creates additional data that the game must track. It is better to store items in containers and avoid picking up objects that are deliberately placed in the world.

To be clear: take valuable loot while exploring caves and dungeons, but do not steal every single item from every house in Balmora.

4 - Try to complete every journal entry:

Some entries are undesirable or difficult to obtain (such as killing an Ashlander during the main quest), but others are so subtle that they are easy to miss if you do not carefully read what NPCs tell you.

A good example is taking supplies from Fort Moonmoth during the "Meet Sul-Matuul" quest or speaking with Raesa Pullia during the "Sixth House Base" quest.

As a completionist, I enjoy trying to obtain every possible journal entry for each quest.

5 - Always sell and buy with maximum Fatigue:

This provides better prices in both directions, so there is no reason not to do it.

6 - Walk inside interiors:

This is more of a roleplaying rule, but running everywhere indoors is not realistic at all.

7 - Avoid obtaining godly items early:

Items such as the Boots of Blinding Speed, Amulet of Shadows, Dragonbone Cuirass, or Fist of Randagulf are extremely powerful. It does not make much sense from a roleplaying perspective for a new character to immediately travel across Vvardenfell and acquire these legendary items.

8 - Proceed through quests in order:

Suggested order:

Morrowind Main Quest
Tribunal Main Quest
Bloodmoon Main Quest
Faction Quests
Miscellaneous Quests

The main reason for this is to keep your journal properly organized if you aim to complete as many quests as possible.

Some miscellaneous quests are intertwined with the main quest. Good examples are "Mystery of the Dwarves" and "Nchuleftingth Expedition." Both are Mages Guild quests that can be accessed through the "Antabolis Informant" quest. While completing them early can be fun, I personally avoid doing so.

9 - No Creeper or Mudcrab Merchant:

This does not make much sense from a lore perspective. Making money is a difficult part of the early game and naturally becomes easier over time. Trading with an animal or a creature from Oblivion is simply strange from a roleplaying standpoint.

A better alternative is Ababael Timsar-Dadisun, a merchant in Zainab Camp with 9,000 gold and the ability to train Mercantile. He is a much more fitting option.

10 - Dwemer Collection:

During the Mages Guild questline, or even earlier, it can be very enjoyable to begin a Dwemer collection and attempt to gather a certain number of every Dwemer item.

I personally like collecting:

A complete set of Dwemer armor
The two Dwemer Pneuma-Traps
50 Dwemer coins
All keys from every Dwemer ruin visited
Dwemer schematics and books

11 - Sixth House Collection:

Many Sixth House bases and caves are optional, and I would guess that the majority of players never explore them.

I always aim to discover all of them and defeat every unique "Dagoth" creature in the game. This allows you to collect:

Every Ash Statue
Every Bell Hammer
Every Sixth House Amulet

12 - Do not steal anything unless it is required for a quest:

This is mainly for roleplaying reasons and to maintain a greater challenge.

13 - Do not kill anyone unless necessary:

Only kill NPCs when required by quests or when doing so for completionist purposes.

Examples include defeating all unique Dagoth creatures or the Wraith of Sul-Senipul during the main quest.

14 - Read documents, guides, and papers:

If you are roleplaying, your character is new to Vvardenfell and knows very little about its culture, history, and geography. It makes sense to study these things and learn about the world around you.

15 - When you search a crate, take what is inside:

It is too easy to abuse containers by repeatedly checking them until a valuable item or scroll appears early in the game.

16 - No Alchemy abuse:

After finishing the game, experimenting with powerful Alchemy can be entertaining, but before that point it completely destroys the balance of the game.

17 - No early Bittercup:

I do not have a problem with the Bittercup itself, but it does not make much sense for a new adventurer to immediately travel there solely to obtain its bonuses.

18 - No Corpus abuse:

This one is more complicated because it naturally occurs during the main quest.

Contracting Corpus can provide a significant boost to Strength and Endurance, sometimes even at level 1, if you know how to exploit it.

I do not mind receiving a few bonus points after completing the quest (roughly 5-25), as this can be a legitimate way to naturally increase Strength and Endurance rather than relying heavily on trainers.

However, sleeping for 100 days straight to gain excessive attribute bonuses is clearly an exploit and should be avoided.

My advice is to play through the quest naturally and accept the bonuses you receive. Another interesting option is completing the "Sleepers Awake" quest, where you attack Sixth House shrines to free infected Sleepers. This takes several days and fits naturally into the storyline.

The timing works especially well because these attacks can be done after the Cultist attack following the "Sixth House Base" quest, during the Corpus Cure storyline.

19 - Cartography:

Throughout your playthrough, explore the entire map from one end to the other, including Solstheim.

Note: After completing the game and allowing yourself to use more powerful tools, exploring the world with an extremely strong Levitation spell becomes much easier. However, discovering Vvardenfell naturally during your adventure is a much more rewarding experience.

20 - Constant Effect Enchantments:

Some players consider enchantments such as 100 pts Sanctuary, 100 pts Chameleon, or 50+ pts Drain Strength to be exploits, but I disagree.

Creating powerful constant-effect enchantments requires the player to obtain:

Extremely valuable soul gems filled with powerful creatures
Suitable enchantment items, such as Exquisite clothing or a Daedric Tower Shield
A large amount of gold

When playing on Maximum Difficulty and following the restrictions listed above, obtaining these resources is a significant achievement. For this reason, I consider powerful constant-effect enchantments to be completely legitimate rewards for a dedicated player.

21 - Capture the souls of unique creatures:

A true collector should attempt to capture the souls of unique and powerful beings throughout the game.

Examples include:

Dagoth Ur
Vivec
Wraith of Sul-Senipul
Dagoth Gares
Ash Vampires
Other unique creatures encountered during your journey

22 - Join factions that make sense for your character and race

Your faction choices should reflect your character's background, beliefs, and culture.

For example, an Altmer joining the Tribunal Temple would make very little sense from a roleplaying perspective. Likewise, certain factions may conflict with your character's personal values or origins.

23 - Ebony and Dwemer items:

Depending on your roleplay, Ebony and Dwemer artifacts may be considered Imperial property and illegal to sell.

If you are playing as a thief or treasure hunter, taking advantage of these resources can make sense. However, if you are playing as an Imperial Legion soldier or a lawful character, you may want to avoid selling or exploiting these materials.

24 - No early trips to Solstheim or Tribunal content:

From a roleplaying perspective, traveling to Solstheim or accessing Tribunal content very early does not make much sense.

Additionally, the rewards found in these areas are extremely powerful and can trivialize the early and mid-game experience.

These regions are better experienced once your character has established themselves and gained enough reputation to justify such adventures.

25 - Do not read Skill Books early:

Save Skill Books for later in your character's progression.

Reading them after your skills are already high allows you to gain additional levels and makes the bonuses feel more meaningful. It also prevents your character from becoming overpowered too quickly.

Following these restrictions creates a slower, more immersive Morrowind experience where exploration, preparation, and character development matter much more. The goal is not to make the game artificially difficult, but to preserve the sense of discovery and progression that makes Vvardenfell such a memorable place.

[AKB]

That's a very good list. I can't really argue with any of these items.

[ElderScrolls]

That's a very good list. I can't really argue with any of these items.

Thanks a bunch 'AKB' glad you liked them. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

[Secret Magic User]

Item 25 seems counterintuitive when it comes to a role play aspect. A character wouldn’t know if a book taught them something new beforehand, and certainly wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to get a little help in the unforgiving land of Vvardenfell, especially as an outlander. Perhaps not purposefully seeking out only Skillbooks would be a better way to outline that stipulation. Otherwise a fun list though.

[ElderScrolls]

Item 25 seems counterintuitive when it comes to a role play aspect. A character wouldn’t know if a book taught them something new beforehand, and certainly wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to get a little help in the unforgiving land of Vvardenfell, especially as an outlander. Perhaps not purposefully seeking out only Skillbooks would be a better way to outline that stipulation. Otherwise a fun list though.

I can absolutely agree with this.

Good point & thank you for reading!

[Dalos]

Good list.

[karma39]

Number 8. When you first meet Caius, his first order is to you to go off and get experience. Join a guild or the Legion. After you do the first two info gathering quests, he says the same thing. It's pretty unavoidable to not do most if not all of the faction quests before advancing in the main story. If you wanted to be totally strict about role-playing, then after you get off the boat, the first reaction would be to dump the package and try and find your way back home. After all, you were kidnapped, held in a prison and shipped off to an inhospitable island under embargo for no reason.

Number 15 - when I look into a crate, I am not going to take a redware cup, a glass goblet and a pewter plate.

Number 7/17 - Well, I do happen to know the location of every godly item in the game. I personally don't go and look for them unless there is a reason. If someone early on tells me a fisherman saw a sunken city off the coast of Hla Oad, I'd bear that in the back of my mind, but I'm not going to do anything about it until my alteration is high enough to cast a reliable water walking/breathing. I'm generally quite sparing in my use of potions except for restore heath/magicka. But as soon as I'm capable of doing so, I'm off to have a look around. (I really like Goldbrand.) I think doing that is acceptable, since I have a reason to go looking.

Some times you do run into things naturally early on. Being sent to Caldera to deal with some agents, you may well run into one of the infamous naked barbarians. If you help him out and go the wrong way, you very shortly run into another traveller that wants an escort. Sort out Wine-Sot, aid the other traveller & get your reward. (I actually don't like that reward at all.) And I don't see why anyone who has played through the game would want the bitter cup for themselves, knowing how important it can be for someone else. Going through the mages guild quests can get you sent to near Ald Velothi fairly early on as well. Help out a dancer by a pond, and there's anther item you mentioned.

This ties in with completing quests and journal entries. Rescuing a pilgrim from small Ashlander camp gets you a an active quest entry from a faction you haven't joined, the same when gaining some of the more powerful items in the game. Going to every cave can also screw you up if you haven't been sent there. An amulet you take from a bandit corpse is vital to advance a Cult quest. Too bad if you killed the guy a few weeks ago and didn't grab it then.

Number 24 - certainly agree with that, just because a horde of Rickling Raiders is going to make very short work of anyone under 20th level or so. First time I ran into those critters I damn near killed myself before I realised they had spell reflection.

Number 18 - Yes, I'd be panicking if I got corpus. First instinct is to get it cured ASAP.

Number 11 - after dreamers awake, you do look for 6th house bases, if just to get the rep boost from the people you've "cured" by killing the local Dagoth. And I like to collect as many amulets as I can, too.

Overall, thoughtful list.

[ElderScrolls]

Thank you for taking the time to read my list Karma39.

Number 8. When you first meet Caius, his first order is to you to go off and get experience. Join a guild or the Legion. After you do the first two info gathering quests, he says the same thing. It's pretty unavoidable to not do most if not all of the faction quests before advancing in the main story. If you wanted to be totally strict about role-playing, then after you get off the boat, the first reaction would be to dump the package and try and find your way back home. After all, you were kidnapped, held in a prison and shipped off to an inhospitable island under embargo for no reason.

True, if you really decide to go for roleplay, there is nothing that stops you from joining a guild. I prefer not to do it to keep my journal clean so I go do some Freelance work. I train my heavy armor with mudcrabs, I sell in cities to better my mercantile, I explore a bit and gather some flowers (…)

Number 15 - when I look into a crate, I am not going to take a redware cup, a glass goblet and a pewter plate.

As a freshly released nobody wearing dirty clothes and without a penny, you would not? Even after you have joined the blades, you are not the wealthiest around and selling such items, even for a few dollars is definitely worth it in my opinion.

Number 11 - after dreamers awake, you do look for 6th house bases, if just to get the rep boost from the people you've "cured" by killing the local Dagoth. And I like to collect as many amulets as I can, too.

Oh yes! I meant that there were a great deal of obscure Sixth House bases with unique Dagoths that you could also explore. They are not related to any quests but they still contain a Bell Hammer and sometimes a unique Dagoth Monster.

[Karma30]

As a freshly released nobody wearing dirty clothes and without a penny, you would not? Even after you have joined the blades, you are not the wealthiest around and selling such items, even for a few dollars is definitely worth it in my opinion.

Pickings in Seyda Neen are pretty thin. There's some nice silverware you can pick up to sell. You get a bit of starting money, certainly enough to pick up a weapon. And you also get 500 gold for solving a murder. To me, that's enough to get you started without the need to loot 1gp items. I will grab ingredients generally if they're 5gp or over to sell off initially. Although you're only going to get half price at best at the initial stages.

And then there's that exploit you can use to get yourself started. At the back of the first office there is a limeware platter with a list price of 650gp. Pick it up, drop it without putting it into your inventory. The guard will yell at you, but then you can pick it up again with no consequences. When you hand your release papers to the captain, there is a key on the bookshelf. Pick it up then drop. Again, he's going to yell at you, but you can pick up the key. That opens the door to the building next door. In the crates in there, you can usually find enough gear to outfit yourself pretty well, as well as some moon sugar and a couple of bottles of skooma. Sell those to the right people and you really don't need to go "dumpster diving" for petty cash.

[ElderScrolls]

Pickings in Seyda Neen are pretty thin. There's some nice silverware you can pick up to sell. You get a bit of starting money, certainly enough to pick up a weapon. And you also get 500 gold for solving a murder. To me, that's enough to get you started without the need to loot 1gp items. I will grab ingredients generally if they're 5gp or over to sell off initially. Although you're only going to get half price at best at the initial stages.

And then there's that exploit you can use to get yourself started. At the back of the first office there is a limeware platter with a list price of 650gp. Pick it up, drop it without putting it into your inventory. The guard will yell at you, but then you can pick it up again with no consequences. When you hand your release papers to the captain, there is a key on the bookshelf. Pick it up then drop. Again, he's going to yell at you, but you can pick up the key. That opens the door to the building next door. In the crates in there, you can usually find enough gear to outfit yourself pretty well, as well as some moon sugar and a couple of bottles of skooma. Sell those to the right people and you really don't need to go "dumpster diving" for petty cash.

Hello, Karma30!

Following this Restrictions List, you should not be using exploits or try to avoid doing so. I came up with this list so I avoid making the game too easy. Also, everyone is free to play the game the way they want but I personally try to keep my Journal ordered and so I do not do miscellaneous quests before having finished the Main Quest. That's just how I do it and it might be non sensical to other players but I like doing that very much. I also like to empty every crates and sell every items individually. By doing so, I achieve level 75 in Mercantile pretty early and that's what my character is all about since she's sort of a trader early on in her story.

If I were to make it easy for myself, I could easily leave Seyda Neen with well over 5k of Gold by cleaning Addamasartus and collecting the hidden items laying around the town. Lockpicking and stealing from locked houses or doing the miscellaneous quests around are all very good options.

[Karma30]

Hi - I didn't mean any criticism, we all play the way we prefer. With some stuff, what I think of as the "tedious" parts of it, I take shortcuts. I'm going to use my knowledge of the game so later on I don't have to go schlepping all over the place to get stuff. You can bet I will be picking some mushrooms in Seyda Neen and some flowers on the walk to Balmora. (and bittergreen leaves, a black and red shirt, 4 pieces of raw ebony, a skull, scrib jelly, netch leather etc.) Time the quests so you don't have to go to the same place 2 or 3 times.

I don't like having too many outstanding things, but I prefer to have the journal grow organically. I just found it a bit of a let down when I first played through when Morrowind came out. I concentrated on the main quest but it just seems weird doing the others after that. You get "I have killed Dagoth Ur! Stopped the blight! I am the Nereverine! The Chosen One! Pawn of Prophecy! Slayer of Gods! All shall love me and despair!" and then "a shopkeeper wants me to kill some rats."

I have the LGnpc mods added so that expands things, especially with Redoran. Those add quite a bit more content.
One of your other points: 10, the Dwemer collection is good. Collecting anything really. I keep one of every helmet in the game and try to build up a library (book rotate & jackets essential!) I does mean I read the skill books though. Getting all the Lessons, or the 2920 books or all of the set books can be challenging. It does mean you have to look through houses and occasionally steal from people. And in keeping with your points 12, I prefer not to steal from houses - although here it's all for the greater good, of course.

[ElderScrolls]

Hi - I didn't mean any criticism, we all play the way we prefer.

Sorry for the incredibly delayed response 'Karma 30', I took a break from the computer and from games for a few months.

I totally understand your points and agree with them. It does make sense to let the journal grow organically and it is quite normal if you go the roleplay route. I just love things to be oredered a little too much at times and the fact I could omit a quest or a journal update drives me nuts

I love collecting all those little useless things as well, even keys frankly.

[Serpya_Wolfgand]

Hmmmm, how about ADDING this one: "No Dark Brotherhood armor."

Why, you may ask? Why... Because it makes no sense for you to be running about fully clad in the Dark Brotherhood Uniform if you arent, yourself, a member! ESPECIALLY not, in the middle of town, where... Well, "Is there a reason why the guards dont try to attack this guy dressed up like a assassin?" Of course, since Dark Brotherhood Armor is the secound best set of non-magical light armor in the game and the first set, the Glass Armor, is EXTREMELY hard to find while DBA is something you are guaranteed to come across quite early on, it can be crippling to some builds.

And, debateably: "If you are currently doing a Imperial Legion quest, wear your uniform through it.". Not necesserially when you are doing other unrelated quests, but. You know. Show some professionalism.

[SeaGtGruff]

it makes no sense for you to be running about fully clad in the Dark Brotherhood Uniform if you arent, yourself, a member! ESPECIALLY not, in the middle of town, where... Well, "Is there a reason why the guards dont try to attack this guy dressed up like a assassin?"

I always thought it was weird (funny) when you've got several sets of Dark Brotherhood armor from being attacked multiple times, so you sell an excess piece to a merchant-- and the merchant immediately puts it on because it's better than whatever gear they had on. So then you're looking at some merchant wearing that freaky-looking Dark Brotherhood head armor.

[sabinscabin]

4 – Try to fill every journal entries

8 – Proceed with the quests in Order: Morrowind Main Quest, Tribunal Main Quest, Bloodmoon Main Quest, Factions Quests, Misc Quests.

These two conflict because some of the Hortator quests require you to kill important NPCs in the great houses. For example, doing the Telvanni Hortator quest will prevent you from doing any of Gothren's mouth quests. Also, the Redoran Hortator quest will prevent you from getting some Journal entries for the last Redoran quest to kill the Venim guy in the Arena.

[ElderScrolls]

4 – Try to fill every journal entries

8 – Proceed with the quests in Order: Morrowind Main Quest, Tribunal Main Quest, Bloodmoon Main Quest, Factions Quests, Misc Quests.

These two conflict because some of the Hortator quests require you to kill important NPCs in the great houses. For example, doing the Telvanni Hortator quest will prevent you from doing any of Gothren's mouth quests. Also, the Redoran Hortator quest will prevent you from getting some Journal entries for the last Redoran quest to kill the Venim guy in the Arena.

Indeed, there are limitations to this approach. One must accept certain sacrifices in the name of 'Roleplay' and accept that a specific kind of character will be forced to forgo certain quests or factions.