It's Nice to Have a Friend in the Guards

[SeaGtGruff]

I'm currently working through the Daedric quests, and the last one I did was Sanguine's quest where you cast the "Stark Reality" spell and (most likely) get a bounty. In my attempts to avoid getting a bounty, I tried hiding in the corner of the doorway to the servants' quarters, and going through the door as soon as I cast the spell, but in every case I ended up getting caught by a guard who tried to arrest me. (I suppose I could have gone looking for an invisibility potion, but I didn't feel like it since that would have probably meant that it was no longer the "right time of day" when I returned to the quest.)

The first time I tried it, I chose to cut and run, which of course meant that every guard I saw started attacking me. I tried swimming away from Leyawiin, only to discover that at least one guard was following me relentlessly. So I kept restoring and trying again, but I couldn't avoid getting a bounty.

Finally, I decided to cast the spell (while hiding) and just stand there, rather than trying to escape through the door to the servants' quarters, so I could just go to jail and do my time (which I'd been trying to avoid). Naturally, about half a dozen or more guards rush up to arrest me. The first one that reached me says something like, "Oops, it looks like you've gotten yourself into some trouble! Since we're such good friends, I'll look the other way and take care of that fine for you." Then each of the other six or so guards came up to me one after the other and initiated a conversation where they basically just asked me how I was doing, or some other pleasantry. (They all had dispositions of 100 toward me.)

It pays to talk to every guard and work up their dispositions as high as possible. (I might add, I never, ever give bribes to increase anyone's disposition unless I've clicked on that option by accident or it's required for a quest.)

[Dark Spark]

Charm 100/3s, cast upon a guard moving to arrest you, has the same effect without having to make use of all those pesky social skills.

Works wonders when you want a guard killed so you can loot his uniform for yourself.

[SeaGtGruff]

Hmm, I'll have to remember that!

I rarely use Charm, since I'm probably the only person who actually enjoys playing Oblivion's little "conversation" mini-game to increase people's dispositions toward me and improve my Speechcraft and Personality.*

But I do use Charm once in a blue moon. In fact, when I was doing the Mages Guild quest this time around and had to choose what kind of mage's staff to have made, I opted for a Staff of Charm, or something like that. Of course, I then stashed my staff in the chest where I keep all of my weapons and armor, and haven't used it a single time yet.

*Now, conversation in Morrowind, on the other hand, is just horrible-- completely random, with no real skill or strategy involved.

[Squalor]

Charm 100/3s, cast upon a guard moving to arrest you, has the same effect without having to make use of all those pesky social skills.

Works wonders when you want a guard killed so you can loot his uniform for yourself.

Would this have to be a "target" spell ? If it was a "touch" spell, would the guard be too close ? Would it be too late ?

[AKB]

Touch spells would work fine, although the timing would be tricky. This is a really good trick to save your gold, though.