I really want to play the Dawnguard side of the questline first, mainly because of the crossbows. Now usually, for an archery character, I would go Light Armour/Sneak/Archery and do the DB and the TG. But I wouldn't feel right doing the DB/TG and then doing the Dawnguard. So, how can I go about doing a character which fits the DG but makes use of the crossbow quite extensively?

My next character (for when I am bored of my mage/vampire lord) will be a heavy armor crossbow user. Either 1h/shield or 2h mace or both. But definitely trying something different with heavy armor and crossbow use. A walking ranged tank, vampire slayer. You can build on the character from there with more advanced details.

My first Dawnguard character was a tank, and that worked really well.