Been on this game for a while now 2 accounts and -250hrs game time, which I understand isn't a lot, lol. Just wondering on ways to spice up the game a lil'? And how do you guys play? Give me some inspiration!

Play from the character's perspective, make the progression into the game a story.
For instance at the moment I play an Altmer who came to Skyrim to be as far away from the Thalmor as possible, he was born in Cyrodiil and one day packed a kit and just went North.
Entering Skyrim he is arrested and has no idea why, nor does he really care. Through a series of incredibly lucky events he is saved from execution and ends up free.
He then decides never to be powerless again.
His quest for what he would call the power to be free leads him first to destruction, then conjuration.
Joining the College seems like a good idea, they can find someone else to do their errands he's just there for access to power.
Maybe hell collect a book now and then for the Orc librarian he likes.
Soon he reached the limits of what magic could offer. Not statisfied he then went into pacts with various Daedra to obtain powerful artifacts. He still believes he only wants to defend himself but meanwhile the innocent body count stacks up. He would say you cant make an omelet without breaking eggs.
Daedric pacts can only take one so far and even though as an Altmer he can expect to live a very long time, he sees eventual mortality as a weakness to overcome.
So he studied means and measures and decided to force a vampire to infect him.
Now he is immortal, nearly untouchable and feeling empty inside, apart from a craving for living blood..

Soon it will be time for redemption, a cure and to save the world from Alduin as atonement.

See?
You just make it into a story, thats how I roleplay

An Ashlander. Illiterature. Has a fear of big buildings, especially stone ones that may collapse. Doesn't have a clue what money is for - it has someone's head on it, and until she finds out whose head that is she's not going to touch it, in case they think she's stolen it. Stealing means having your hand cut off, don't you know? She plays the lute, but all people ever do is give her those shiny things and she doesn't want those. Has a skooma addiction and a fear of cats after she tried to buy a Khajiit.

She's a little lost...

My Dunmer was born in Bruma, Cyrodiil and went north to Skyrim. (I "dropped" the part where dovahkiin is about to be executed because he's not a dovahkiin, "just" a dunmer. I don't like RP'ing the hero, even if he could be anyone...) He gained entry, because he was a member of the Imperial legion. He goes there so that he can live closer to Morrowind, and find out more about his ancestors (especially his mysterious Telvanni father) and is planning a trip to the ashlands very soon. He currently lives in Windhelm and works as a Penitus Oculatus agent for the empire. He has taken some classes at the college of Winterhold to gain some knowledge of the old Telvanni traditions of magic, but he's more into the "knife in the dark" kind of way.
He's a good guy, but with some questionable actions...

I usually start with a simple idea and let the games randomn events shape where it goes from there. Like my Altmer, I imagined to be a Thalmor spy going undercover and acting behind the scenes to prolong the civil war because it was an embarrasment to the Empire and keeping that war going helps the Thalmor cause.

But after playing a while, my Altmer got attacked by some Thalmor Jusiticators for no apparant reason. That seemingly randonm event stuck with him. Then some of the Nords like Jarl Balgruuf were really accepting of him, Altmer blood notwithstanding, so my Altmer is starting to develop a bit of a conscience and is having second thoughts about his alliegences. Kind of like in a movie where a sky or undercover officer starts developing friendships with the people he is supposed to be spying on and considers switching sides.

I still do not know which side that character will ultimately land on . . .

The character I'm playing now, in a role-playing sense, is a Redguard veteran of the conflict between Skyrim and Hammerfell, specifically the divide in Dragonstar. He's been a soldier ever since he was old enough to hold a sword and has killed his fair share of men by the age of 15. Although he's somewhat good at heart, he's seen a lot of terrible things and acted out even more just out of necessity. His time spent in the War changed him for the worst. Especially after he is captured and taken North over the border with his lieutenant and 3 fellow brothers-in-arms. His comrades are executed, but by the grace of the Gods he is set free and escapes into the wild. Realizing he is stranded in this cold, foreign land and that there's no way he'll make it back over the border he reluctantly surrenders himself to the realities of Skyrim. Thankfully, he knows how to kill and how to do it well. After slaughtering an entire bandit camp in their sleep with no more than an iron knife and piecing together a rag-tag suit of armor, he was ready for his life as a Mercenary....

Basically I'm a Sellsword trying not to be dragged down to the level of a common, corrupted criminal. Lately I've been turning toward the easy septim more and more..slaughtered an entire mine full of orcs so that I could capitalize on the ebony ore inside.

(btw he's Heavy Armor, Dual-wield's swords and uses Archery when it's convenient. Mostly on wolves and other game.

I had a back-story for my breton, but i kind of have forgotten it.

Anyway, i would make i set of rules for myself.

- Sleeping during nights
- Eating three times a day
- No fastravel
- No more than two guilds

Christ fellas he asked for tips on how to spice up his game not for your character's life story, are you guys actually trying to help or do you merely jump on any opportunity you can to bore everyone with your characters backstory?


Dont forget to take regular toilet breaks remembering each time to discard a piece of paper afterwards to add to the "immershun".

But seriously if you are bored with the Vanilla game why not try out some mods? That is probably the best way to spice up your gameplay experience, unless of course you are on console.

I'm pretty sure they're trying to help, Dudebag. OP asked for inspiration specifically, not just "try mods lol".

I'm to the point that I rp what I would do if I lived there. I don't run in town but I do outside to save time. I eat all meals and change clothes and I don't wear armor . I only do quests to get money.. stuff like that.

Spice up the game, eh? Go unarmoured. You can die at any level if you mess up, and I am only on Expert.

My Breton Mage has a general backstory as to why he is in Skyrim - He is traveling Tamriel to gain knowledge and further his skill in the Magical arts.

I also have a plan of his journey through the game, in the way that he will head to the college as soon as possible, this will allow him to get more knowledge in the magical arts by training with the mages, it also opens up the door to some of the dwemer ruins that he would like to study. I also plan for him to get a taste for the Deadra when he first encounters a shrine and continue to gather information and artifacts from them whatever the cost.

He is not evil but is prepared to do just about anything to fuel his thirst for knoweldge.

I suspect he will get involved with the Drak brotherhood at some point is his journey so he can study them from the inside.

I plan on steering clear of the Main quests until a point where he uncovers his first word wall, then his interest in this and the dragons will mean focusing on these.

He collects books on all these subjects and keeps them in his room at the college.

Thats about all I plan, how he gets to uncover the patch through these quests I take on a day by day basis.

Thats awsome

This is just really awesome and how I also roleplay. I also go for as much immersion as possible, which means HUD/crosshair/music completely off. Play on expert or above, and only carry what you would realistically be able to carry. (no having 10 swords in invent) These are the basics for me, without these I wont enjoy playing the game.

I like to keep it simple and make a character of each race and I try to make them typical of that race and equip them as I feel is suited to that race. I don't really roleplay them as such but try to equip them and level them up in the skills and perks to suit.

Nord is my first and main. He is long haired in heavy armored warrior in dragonplate.

My latest character is a red haired Breton female mage warrior who I will dress in Forsworn armour.



In Oblivion I did the same. Examples being...
a Nord in Crusader armor with mace,
a Bosmer archer in Elven Armor & red hood,
a Redguard in full Dwemer armor (as fitting with Redguard lore and their love for dwemer artefacts),
an Imperial soldier in ebony / Imperial dragon who I named after the character from the film Gladiator.
An Orsmer in full Orcish named Attila.

Read my character's background story linked in my sig. Might give you some ideas.

I tried playing with the HUD off and it was really awesome from an immersion perspective. But not knowing how much health I had got annoying, so I turned it back on. I wish there was a way for console players to turn off compass and sneak crosshair without loosing the health/magicka/stamina bars.

i use a printed copy of a map and physically mark locations on my map and then never use the in-game map and character location icon. i also write notes on a separate piece of paper. there's a sense of accomplishment when i find a location on my own.

along, with a backstory, i give predetermine the major (can max) and minor skills (50ish) and then decide which ones i must get in-game training for. for example, my nord loyalist does not know how to pick beyond novice locks until he trains to the next level. i then use a journal to mark unopened chests i may want to go back for. he also can only do simple alchemy potions through eating unless he gets training. he does smith but only as needed for usable gear and he must reach certain levels before smithing particular items.

i turn the hud down so that i can just see enough of it to be able to reasonably grab items, see health, new locations, etc.

i regularly turn down or do not complete inappropriate quests for any particular character. i predetermine which skills i will not ever use.

depending on how i'm playing i will limit weight, items, and potions during combat.

My current favorite way to play is as myself.

I woke up in the midst of a strange world. I play it as if me, from the real world, is suddenly dropped in Skyrim. I chose a Breton because in my mind I am not a magical person so I don't use magic and magic doesn't work as well on me. EDIT: Thinking in terms of racial bonus here. The 25% magic resistence.... and I simply don't cast spells... but I tell you a healing is very tempting.

The first time I met a Draugr I ran away. Eventually, I tried experimenting with an axe... but I prefer a woodcutters axe to a war axe as that is what I'm used to.

No way would I wear heavy armor as that is completely foreign to my real world experience. But leather is kind of fun!

I just made a new male khajit and this is his backstory

He was a underground skooma dealer with his 2 borthers untill the age of 24. He lived in elsweyr with his 2 borthers and mother. One day a deal went wrong and he is arrested at the local prison. His 2 brothers break into the prison to free him. They die in the process and he is the only one who make it out alive. His mother is ashamed of him and she never wants to see him again. He crosses over to cyrodeal to leave is drug smuggling in the past and becomes a hunter. In less then 3 months he becomes broke and he is desprate for money. He then gets news of a job available in skyrim (ivrastead) about hunting many bears for there fur and the person will pay well. while crossing the border he gets ambushed

The character will begin as a good hunter but will slowly turn back to his old ways while getting greedy for money and power. While always attacking in the shadows he will learn how to become a proffesional assasin by join the dark brotherhood.

Thats how i will play it

For RP purposes:Being a Khajiit, I avoid water at ANY cost, if I have to go across it, it is when it's my only choice. I horde Moon Sugar, Nightshade, Deathbell and a little tipple of Skooma. As a beast-kin, I only hunt and kill animals when I need their hides, Pacifying nearly all wild / aggresive animals. I like to use Last RItes spell which turns them into a pile of ash, which to me serves as great kitty litter!

After a few playthroughs I decided full armour sets were just too good. So I wear a mix and match heavy Dwarven boots (because they look cool) and a crafted heavy fur hood (a new craftable item from a mod) with light gloves (because they're Gloves of the Pugilist) topped off with the Arch Mage robes (unhooded and reduced magicka regen to 75% from 100%)

Above all, I try to complete quests in the most interesting and unusual way. If I have to kill a camp full of bandits, you can pretty much guaruntee I will only kill a few remaining stragglers and generally let them fight it out amongst themselves. Illusion can be very OP, but I love it. Today I rescued a guy from the Thalmor, forget his name, I did it with only killing the only person I had to, was pretty hysterical to watch the Thalmor cut wach other to ribbons whislt I casually strolled out the gates with their prisoner.

I play a Dunmer necro-mage-assassin who can't be seen by an enemy. Makes for pretty interesting games of cat & mouse.

I've got a character modelled after a viking berserk, which is interesting. I used the console to give me the stormcloak officer helmet (bear skin) and I use a battleaxe, actually a really cool great norse axe from a mod. Lots of vigor/fortify stamina/berserker/fortify health potions. Nord.

My particular character is not exactly a nice man. He's a cold hearted mercenary out for fortune, wenches and mead. Takes a lot of bounty quests from the taverns and goes all berserkergang on their asses. Doesn't care what he has to do as long as it gets him a good reward. He's not a stranger to dungeon cells either, it's more than once that he's killed a man for just saying the wrong thing to him.

Edit: oh and the barbarian armour which is from another mod. Perfect berserk armour along with the bear skin!

May as well throw out some other ideas from other characters I played, I'm just going to list the cliff-notes.

- 2H Orc Berserker in Heavy Armor
- Born 20-25 years before the Skyrim Civil War, in a long-since destroyed Skyrim Orsimer stronghold
- As a child he was recruited by Imperial Emissaries looking for young, strong Orcs to train as front-line soldiers in the growing Thalmor conflict.
- The circumstances surrounding his enlistment with the Empire are cloudy. It's suggested that his tribe was scammed into handing over all it's able-bodied children, Imperial trickery/etc. Or they were just not intelligent enough to understand.
- First major battle in his 12th year.
- Decorated Veteran of the Empire by his 17th year.
- Stranded/deserted by his Imperial Legate/superiors deep in Thalmor territory shortly after watching every other Orc in his unit (from his childhood stronghold) incinerated by Aldmeri Pyromancers.
- Fought his way out, then back to the Empire where he slaughtered each and every one of them. Then he made for Skyrim, hoping to find his long-lost home..
- Joined The Stormcloaks for vengeance against the Empire. Proved himself and is respected by the Nords.

Haha! Okay, dare I ask: If she doesn't "get" money, what exactly did she try to buy the cat with?