I played as a Nord originally and was feeling alright about the experience until I got to a certain set of guild missions. They were over in a flash with me all of a sudden being top dog. Just over a month had gone by in-game and I hadn't really done much of anything around the 'guild hall'. It felt totally undeserved which broke immersion for me.

I decided what I could do would be to start again with the plan to knowingly pace myself in terms of quests in order to sort of roleplay the time in between, i.e. do other stuff for awhile before taking up the rather fast paced road to 'top guild dude'. I figured I'd roll something other than a Nord as I'd much prefer to play a different race.

This is how I have found myself at a new roadblock.

Apparently the vast majority of NPCs don't recognise you as being an elf, or a red guard, or a khajiit, etc. This will personally ruin the experience for me. I'm very into the roleplay aspect in these games more than anything else. So I'm asking, is it as dreadful as I've been lead to believe by reading online?

At one point a man will ask if you are a 'Skyrim for the Nords' type. I've been told he will ask this of you even if you are a Dunmer or Argonian. This, to me, is a bit strange. Furthermore, he apparently refers to you as a Nord if you tell him you are indeed such a person...

My Breton that I plan to make will have a Nord as a father so I think I can probably make that sort of mistake work. Any extra suggestions to strengthen that would help. For example, do you think a Breton with a Nord father could be mistaken for a short Nord? Hah.

This all probably sounds pretty silly to those of you who are more dungeon-crawller inclined or whatnot. I really truly want to enjoy Skyrim. It has so much potential and it would be a shame for bad writing/dialogue to get in the way.

I know that it is supposedly not Bethesda's 'strong point'. It seems disappointing to give me the option of role playing different races and then not really backing it up. Unless of course all these folk online have been lying.



Thank you for any help you can give me!

Roleplay. That is honestly the best advice I can give you. Instead of running around and just doing quest after quest and dungeon after dungeon take the time to walk around and smell the roses Give your character a job, work your way up from a lowly nobody who worked at the river wood lumber mill to the hero of legend. I have 300 hours invested in my RP character and I have yet to finish any major quest line aside from the companions which took me about a week of real life time to finish.

As for the feeling that the writing/dialogue would get in the way I haven't really noticed it. I think people act accordingly to be honest. You don't want up to someone in real life and say "Hail Scandinavia man, welcome to my lands and thank you for defeating the dragon of lore." You know nothing about people, and while yes you would know a black man is an African American do you make it a point to say that as you talk to him? The NPC's in the game talk to you like your just another person. Thats better then them psychically knowing who you are IMO.

I'm not certain that you understood my problem, fully. Thanks for the reply though.

I was planning on smelling the roses in relation to the quest issue. It's the next part of my post I need help with.

I noticed and replied Like I said, it doesn't really bother me. There are countless mercenaries walking round in skyrim and random adventurers wearing gear as good if not better then what you have. I would find it far fetched if they knew I was dragonborn when I never told anyone I was. Also its not far fetched to think your dad was a nord so you have nord characteristics.

They all acknowledge you as a fellow Nord though, and race seems to have a much larger influence on the story than it did in Oblivion. Khajiit aren't even allowed in the cities, as far as I've seen, so if you played one surely you should get a few raised eyebrows?

P.S. I personally don't care if they acknowledge me as Dragonborn. That's something they'd not necessarily be able to tell.

Khajiit are allowed into cities. Khajiit Caravans are not. (Drug trade issues)

Ah ha! I see. That's a bit better for them then.

Anyway, anyone got an answer to: "For example, do you think a Breton with a Nord father could be mistaken for a short Nord?"
It would solve a lot of my issues.

Part of the joy of RPing, at least for me, is making up stories (reasons or excuses if you wish) as to why those bugs exist. I have just learned to play around them and move on. Like you said, your father was a Nord, so to them you look like a shorter Nord. I know in game all races are the same height but in reality you would expect to see some Nords who are shorter, and some who are taller. Great RPing IMO. Now your character has a bit of a background to him For a beast race I know this wouldn't make sense, so you can come up with another story. Maybe they are legally blind but not fully blind and to them you just look like an ugly Nord? There is also the option of pretending it didn't even happen as well.

By the way what quest are you talking about? I played a Imperial Paladin and never once was called a Nord. Now I haven't completed any of the major quest lines but I have done a lot of them and have yet to come across that glitch.

Well, if you give your Breton character light hair and make him/her look like a Nord, I'd say it'd be pretty natural for npc's to get confused and think you're a Nord. I like the father being a Nord as well.

Unfortunately, I can't give you an answer on your first question, since I'm still doing my thing with my first character, who just happens to be - you guessed it - a Nord. Oblivion taught me well how to take my time for quests and do a lot of random wandering in-between. Well, I've recently also started an altmer character, but he's still too new to have experienced anything concerning that subject.

Eh. For beast races, I'd imagine they get very familiar with me and mean to say they think of you like a fellow Nord, although you really aren't one. Kinda like best friends calling each other brother/sister. And since such close relationships between Nords and beast races in Skyrim is almost impossible (thus making you a special exception), they choose to call you "Nord", because they're used to only have such relationships with fellow Nords. If that aggravates you, then think of it as them teasing you with it, because you get aggravated with it. like every good friend does.

Well, just my two cents, and maybe a bit too far-fetched, lol.

I know the story is solid but I wanted to make sure it fit with the game lore. I can be a bit of a stickler!

Do you mean in relation to the 'skyrim for the nords' part? One of the NPCs in Windhelm says it when you first speak to him. I can't remember his name but you witness him talking with a Dark Elf who is praising him and calling him a war hero. You can get a quest from him but it isn't a main one (you know, shows up in the miscellaneous section).

It is sort of difficult for me to pretend certain things haven't happened partly because I tend to have to do a lot of pretending in games due to like... the lazier sort of retcons and bugs, etc.

I have some, erm, mental annoyances that can make me fixate on issues that shouldn't be a big deal so I look to others to help me convince myself that I can make it make sense. Short Nord but really Breton, FTW!

According to http://www.imperial-library.info/content/racial-phylogeny, most (but not all) racial traits are determined by the mother. So your Breton character had a Breton mother, but she could have a few traits of her Nordic father- I mean, why not?

Thanks for that link, greenwarden! I was aware that but hadn't read the in-game book for full details.

Well, this may or may not help, but after looking at the pictures of Nords and Bretons I do have a small suggestion. Give you character grey hair and a beard. Looking at the grey haired-and bearded Breton and the similar Nord they are pretty similar. There are of course differences that distinguish each race but the line begins to fade when you compare of grey haired old dude to the next. And in the case I could totally believe some might mistake a Breton for a Nord. Hope that helps. (but it won't help if you want to RP a younger character... unless you had some kind of trauma that turned your hair grey... perhaps a particularly bad lightning strike event as a small child?)

I think it would be somewhat bizarre for a female Breton to be running around with a grey beard though. *strokes chin*
I use the term 'dude' for chicks as well so I can understand the misunderstanding.

My bad. , but still, grey hair or lighter colored hair. That's the ticket.

Also, a cowl, or certain helmets would make it hard for anyone to really distinguish race at a glance. Will your character dawn headgear?

Well, I wind up wearing cowls/hoods with magicka enhancing qualities. That's a good point; will definitely help to add confusion.

I was also thinking about how my Breton would feel about Skyrim and the likes. She hasn't visited High Rock as she thinks it sounds like a silly place (you know, how Arthur feels about Camelot in Monty Python and the Holy Grail) but she has always wanted to see the land of her father. She was more inspired by his tales than anything else and never felt entirely bound to Cyrodiil (she grew up in a village between Chorrol and Bruma).

...hehe. Making up back stories is part of the fun.

lol! Silly place. That's funny.

My thief/smith's backstory is much less well-defined than your character. I am newer to TES than most, so about 20 hours into this character I decided to create a backstory. It mainly goes like this: His hometown is Bruma and he is an Imperial. He was trained at an early age in the craft of smithing. I like to think of him as a deserter of the imperial army living in Skyrim because he's used to Nords (from Bruma). During his time in Skyrim he has been learning to expand his smithing skills to include enchantment. Although, I haven't really devised why he is an imperial army deserter yet. He has flirted with both sides of the civil war but, for the most part has minded his own business, mining and smithing, and dipping into the pockets of pretty much everyone. He is a kleptomaniac and an obsessive compulsive and a major pack rat.

My characters also turn into pack rats. I just can't leave loot lying!

I generally have little backstories for characters in most of the games I play if they haven't got one already. Obviously it isn't essential but you can become more invested in your guys.

He could of deserted just because, you know? One day he was like "Pfft, nah. The army life isn't for me. Off for a jaunt across Skyrim!"

What race is he? Imperial?

The OP just hit upon several Skyrim weaknesses.

guild boss right away- we got rid of that pesky ground work which 'bored' and aggravated so many players. And races? They drained many features and gifts away, allowed you cosmetic control, and had a world where despite speech to the contrary they pretty much treat you all the same.

There are some exceptions which no doubt defenders will use to 'prove' all of this false, that the racial distinctions in Skyrim are pronounced and the guilds actually the right length. The guild builds are the right length if one does not wish to be bothered with participation in a guild. All the cream and none of the work.

Why were we developing a character in the first place if he'll just assume command with two of the guild almost immediately? That's not role playing. -well, it is role playing; you get to play the King.

Yep, he's Imperial. Because of his pack rat attitude he is not quite as good a trader as he could be. He has several trunks filled with many weapons of such great value, yet selling them was never the goal. He just wants to perfect his craft and create the ultimate weapon. Probably got tired of the same old Imperial sword the give to all the grunts, since he was skilled as a smith he didn't feel like being an infantry grunt was the life for him. Now, if he had been consigned as an army smith master then perhaps the Imperials would have already won the civil war. But, as it is he has enough legendary weapons to outfit an army but he doesn't quite have the will to sell them to the Skyrim's merchants... yet. If your Breton is ever in Solitude have her swing by the local blacksmith's shop. There may be an Imperial in steel plate armor tending the forge. lol

I was wondering, about the guild quests.. Did you do the quests for Devlin and Vex?

Your character actually sounds pretty interesting. My ones wind up helping everyone because they are perpetually stuck in good samaritan mode, putting the needs of the people ahead of their own. So, you know, no stealing from anyone who isn't a complete and utter scumbag.

I haven't done anything related to the Thiefs quest lines and I haven't met those characters though I heard mention of Vex. Mainly because my characters haven't been thiefs. Why do you ask?

seems to me like you want the game to do all forms of rp for you and you juts sit back and enjoy, well, sorry, that's not how roleplaying works, you have to RP yourself..

Shut up. I'm assuming you wouldn't have been so cutting if I hadn't disagreed with you in the other thread.

For your information, I like my roleplaying to make sense and to fit in with the game, and game lore. I don't want to be an Orc and have someone be all like, "yo, Nord! How's it hanging?" Do I have to assume everyone in Skyrim is mentally challenged?

A game should finish what it sets out to do. It should deliver what it has promised. In this case if it allows you to pick from a set list of races it should do as much as it has with the 'main' race. What I mean is even though Skyrim is obviously 'better' played with a Nord I should see more of a reaction to my choices.

Stop defending potential laziness on behalf of developers who show great promise. Don't encourage half-assed results.

I only ask because if you do the quests for Devlin and Vex then you get plenty of financial reward and it makes the thieves guild stuff seem like it takes forever. If you only do what Brynjolf and Mercer want then you're missing quite a bit. But I s'pose that really only matters if you want to RP a thief. And my character is like fish in water in the thieves guild.

I should also mention that the quests I am talking about can feel really tedious. But if you think about it that's the point. Take the forgery quests for example. You're asked to forge numbers. That's all. And you do it repetitiously. So, in that sense it's tedious. But if you pay attention to the dialogue then there are characters and situations that are affected by these quests, and in that sense the quest are very interesting.

And skaal-breaker clearly hasn't been reading this thread. I think it an excellent point about RP-ing to make the role most accessible to the game and have it all make cohesive sense within the lore.