This is my first time playing a character committed to nonviolence. It's not that Tzirra is a pacifist, oh no. She's a coward- they don't call her The Timid for nothing. Previous characters have toyed around with avoiding combat by using the illusion school, but the motivation there was more "I won't waste my time with these sniveling weaklings *casts Fear and laughs maniacally"". Tzirra is just a plain ol' scaredey cat. She runs away. She makes liberal use of invisibility potions. She sleeps past noon, and if she must go outside she sneaks in the shadows. Eventually, once she becomes skilled enough in the art of pickpocketing, she will be able to plant paralysis poisons on unsuspecting foes to incapacitate them.

So far, Tzirra has not really faced a challenge such as entering a bandit lair. She's been sticking to the cities and pilfering to her heart's content. But soon she must infiltrate Goldenglow Estate, and the thought makes her tremble.

So, fellow players, we are hoping that there are some amongst you that have played this sort of sneaky, non-combat type that might have some helpful hints or suggestions for Tzirra. We are open to roleplay suggestions, tactics, perk choice advice... but magic and shouts are not an option.

Your Tzirra lives in a Skyrim free of dragons? That's not fair, that's not Skyrim.

Anyway, it's a pretty good idea. With a good level at sneaking and some invisibility potions, she sould be able to handle Goldenglow flawlessly.

Some people don't like playing Dragonborn. This case makes sense, as the Dragonborn wouldn't just be a scaredy cat and a dragon slayer.

On topic, Invisibility potions would be a good way to get out of a pinch. leveling sneak and pickpocket would be smart. Take up the poison perk in pickpocketting and slip your enemies paralysis poisons when needed. Also, it may be worth it to invest in the silent casting perk and getting to expert illusion for the invisibility perk.

I did Goldenglow without fighting by using arrows to distract guards. If you shoot at a wall, guards will move to wherever they hear it hit - but they'll pause and very shortly after start looking around semi-randomly. The trick is to stealth as quickly as you can to wherever you want to go in those precious couple of seconds that they're distracted.

If you don't like the idea of quicksaving, you can first get an idea of how much time you'll have by finding two safe spots far from your test subjects, firing into a wall from one spot, quickly stealthing to the other, and watching the guards' behavior. Third-person view helps with this, as it lets you "peek" around corners.

Fair warning, though - "normal" dungeons, skeevers, and random encounters might still be tricky without a companion...

There is some good advice here. Dunno why I hadn't thought of using arrow distractions. I was privately mourning the loss of Throw Voice Shout, since Tzirra is not going to be dragonborn. But arrows make a good substitute for that.

Second the using arrows as a distraction method. It's damned effective most of the time.

Yeah, but something happened with the last patch, or I'm imagining things. Seems like the guards recover a lot faster from distraction than what I was used to before. It's still doable, but, man, I had to time it juuust riiight...

Maybe, but from what I can tell, you can keep firing arrows and they'll keep looking wherever they hit.

Well, I can detail how I went about things when my Battlemage took a detour into the thieving profession...

-Killing is bad, however your characters cowardice is definitely a hook for character development to slowly grow out of it and earn a backbone for those times when it's Fight or Die. Fears, prejudices, and insecurities are obstacles that are meant to be overcome eventually.

-A proper thief never shies away from means to give them an edge of getting in and out without even a whisper. Illusion and Alteration can help. Use arrows to distract enemies away (this actually works, when it wants to. Some save/load may be required).

-You're a thief, not an assassin. Leaving bodies tends to cast a dark mark on a thieves career. However for roleplaying reasons, when you know you're never going to see this particular character again, you can always say you "sapped" them instead.

Ooh I like this idea. I hope Tzirra survives long enough to overcome her fears. Playing DiD with her.

The Power Creep will happen, don't worry. She'll get the experience under her belt, and feel more confident.

Kind of like in Breath of Fire 3, a classic JRPG...in the beginning your character will actually flail their sword and look away, very much afraid. It's not until much later that they swing their weapon with confidence.