Looking to start "Canon" play through, and based on what I have learned from 300+ hours of messing around an only ever completing the Mages College and Companion guilds... I know there are lots of opinions out there and I want to hear you chime in! Is what's below your idea of canon? What would you change? Thanks!

Race: Nord- Male, of course. By Canon I picture the guy that blesses every picture of Skyrim advertising, with the horned helm on (look, it's the background of THIS website).

Style: Heavy Armor, Shield & Sword Warrior... true Nords like Iron & Steel.... and leave fancy elven stuff for the elves... I know Nords get a racial bonus towards 2H, and I might still go that route, but was looking forward to maximizing the Block tree.... I could be talked out of this I think... but would kind of model him after Boromir of LotR, which being a "Horse Lord", if Boromir was in Skyrim I think he would be a Nord...

Guilds: Companions, of course... will probably stay Werewolf... so Dawnguard later in the game...

Civil War: Stormcloaks... true Son of Skyrim (yes I know they are racist, but I think Canon wise the MP would be a Stormcloak supporter, which brings me to...

Crafting: Absolutely NO magic/alchemy/enchanting.... Nords dislike this, and I think avoiding any Alchemy/Enchanting and only Smithing the game will have a nice challenge (I only play on hardest difficulty).

My plan, is after escaping Helgen going right to Whiterun, and joining Companions... and following that questline all the way through before progressing MQ at all (unless required to progress), then MQ to a point undecided while balancing MQ, and mixing in Dawnguard at some point...

And blogging the whole experience because I'm crazy like that...

So, what would you do different on your Canon playthrough?

the Hearthfire trailer showed Aela as the player's spouse. probably not canon, but the closest so far

I would probably pursue the Main Quest right off the bat. The way I see it, you get attacked by a big black dragon and don't immediately wonder why but instead go off and do fetch quests for rando's? That's just me though. Might edit this post when I have more time between studying.

I wouldn't see any issue with using all four of the combat type skills, 1H, 2H, Block and Archery. My reasoning being that you see a spread of weapons used by Nord npc's, and you would think that warrior types would at least have some training or skill in other melee weapons, and regarding the archery skill, they live in a land of forests and tundra, flocking with deer and other game...they mightn't be robin hood with a bow, but it would make sense to put free food on the plate (despite what the Jarl might think).

I'm not so sure that the Nords have any issue with alchemy, but I could be wrong. Again, if someone lives in a forest, the odds are they will have some knowledge of herbalism.