Hey guys. I'm new to this forum. I'm a big fan of the Elder Scrolls series.

I thought I'd get started with my first topic by offering some unique role-playing tips for you.

I hope this will help some of you be able to immerse yourself in the game even more. You don't have to agree with, or use any of them, but you can pick and choose the ones that are to your liking. The mentioned ideas and tips are just things I've done to help me role-play.

Also I will mention that I play on the Xbox 360. I use headphones (Turtle Beach X41 Wireless Headset) and an Xbox Kinect. While these are not mandatory, they enhance your game-play experience tenfold in my opinion. I will mention what specific things really help with having a kinect and a headset.

In this topic, I will mention three types of play-styles:

The Adventurer - This style of play is for people who want to become the great hero or the feared warrior. If action is your thing, this is the one you want to read.

The Assassin - This style of play is for people who enjoy stealth above all things, and deal with their obstacles behind the curtains and in the shadows. If stealth is your thing, this is the one you want to read.

The Merchant - This style of play is unique, and I only recommend this style of play for hardcoe role-players. Contradicting what I have said earlier about "Play your own way," this style must be followed more strictly. Instead of being the "All Muscle No Brains" or "I'm going to kill you in your sleep" type, this style will help you immerse into the game and grow a larger bond with the citizens of Skyrim. It also is one of the most difficult ways to play, and it is actually a lot of fun. If you want an alternative play-style, this is the one you want to read.

Living The Day:

As a citizen of Skyrim, you can do more than just adventure and kill things. There are ways to live in the cities and travel occasionally if you wish. Or if action is more your game, I have some ideas for you, too.

General Tips:

- During the day, there are a few rules I follow:

- I eat cooked food between 1-3 times a day, with a drink if I have any.

- I always find a place to rest during the night, whether it be an inn, a house, or a random resting place.

- I balance my adventuring and my time spent in towns wisely. If I find myself wanting to do a lot of adventuring, I usually set out for a couple of days, but otherwise I balance it by adventuring every other day in game.

- I try not to make too much money at once. If I'm working at the lumber mill, I only activate the stump a few times per day. This is also why I don't adventure too much at once.

- I change my clothes depending on the situation. (I only dress myself in private places. Not in public or out in the open)
- In town, I dress casually and arm myself with a dagger.
- In bed, I dress only with clothing and no weapons.
- In the rain, I usually wear a hood.
- If I'm going swimming, I usually swim with only pants on.
- If I'm going to see the jarl or someone important, I usually dress up in fine clothing.
- If I'm working my trade skills, I wear something that fits the part. (Example: Blacksmithing - Blacksmith's Apron)

- I walk in town instead of running.

- I try to talk to as many people as I can. (I've learned a lot about the game just by talking to people)

- I do my best to have my companion interact with what I'm doing. If I'm sitting in a chair at the inn enjoying a drink, so is my companion.

- Never fast travel. (Sleeping in a bed is considered fast-traveling through time if you ask me. I'll talk more about this in the "If You Have Spare Time" section.)

- If someone dies, even if they are very valuable, that is the way it happened. There's no turning back after that.

The Adventurer:

An adventurer's main goal is to seek out all rare items/weapons, dragon shouts, and quests. Even from the beginning of the game to the end of your long journey, the adventurer will always have something to do. I find myself a "base," typically starting at Riverwood. Once you've established your "base," then go out and explore the immediate areas in search of dungeons, ruins, etc. Collect all of your loot, sell what you don't need and hoard the rest where you see fit.

The Assassin:

The assassin is not only a cold-blooded killer, but a master thief. They literally put the "steal" in "stealth." Most of your time will be spent traveling and exploring the many houses of rich folk. People who you don't like, "disappear." Catch my drift? Your goal as an assassin is to find the many loots of the fortunate, fence what you don't want, and master your art of stealth to take down powerful opponents. While you can explore dungeons and scout the lands for large prospects, your main objective is to become filthy rich, and perform the deeds that no one else is capable of.

The Merchant:

Your goal as a merchant is to enhance the three trade skills (Smithing, Alchemy, Enchanting). As a merchant, you spend your day mostly in town collecting materials to enhance your skills. Meanwhile, you can talk to the townsfolk to learn more about Skyrim and also learn who are your friends and enemies. Not everybody likes you, after all. The large goal with this character is to learn as much as you can through reading and talking to people, and eventually gain enough money to earn yourself (as an honest merchant) all the housing and horses available. Not to mention, a lovely spouse to go with.

At first it will be rough, because you will start with almost nothing. The best advice I can give you at first is focus mainly on alchemy, for it is the easiest way to gain septims from nothing.

The Rules of the Trade:

Here will be how to play and get into your character. Again, you don't have to agree and follow every one of these for it to work, it all depends on your preference.

The Adventurer:

As the adventurer, there are a few rules you can go by to help you immerse yourself even further. Here are some of mine.

- Always interact with random occurrences to the best of your ability and the preference of your character.

- Always accept random quests, look for jobs with innkeepers or jarl's aids (which helps you explore the area while making more money).

- Talk to as many people as you can for quests and hidden spots.

- Never give up the opportunity to engage in a battle, and never run away from a fight or quit.

- Always participate in activities such as drinking games, pub fights, etc.

The Assassin:

As the assassin, there are a few rules you can go by to help you immerse yourself even further. Here are some of mine.

- Kill any random people/animals you see as you walk down the roads (as long as you can get away with it. You're an assassin, not a renowned criminal).

- Search the towns for the richly dressed people, scout out their building and steal from them when they aren't home. If they are someone you really don't like (Nazzim for example), wait until they fall asleep, break in and kill them.

- Try to be creative with your assassinations. Anybody can put a million arrows in people's heads. Try to make a large variety of assassinations for your arsenal of killing. Use poisons, etc.

- Practice your bow skills on random creatures. Nothing makes you a better archer than a running deer or a long-distance shot.

The Merchant:

As the merchant, there are several rules I follow and to be frank, if most of them are NOT followed, the play-style is at great risk of being tainted or ruined.

- You have to play this style on Master difficulty. No option.

- When you level up, you can only spend your attribute points on Stamina. Doing this allows your character to run longer distances, and carry more objects at once.

- You cannot fight at all. You won't even be carrying a weapon. It would be a really bad idea to fight with this character anyway. For support, you are allowed to hire a mercenary to accompany you.

- In addition to a mercenary, you can also buy or find a dog to travel with you.

- You are allowed to buy a horse, but you cannot fast travel.

- In addition to carrying no weapons, you cannot wear armor either. Your armor is going to be the finest clothing you can afford.

- No spells at all. Not even Transmute Ore.

I'm tired. I'll add some more sections later.

Nice start! I have a big problem though - you've said a number of times that role players HAVE to do this, or HAVE to do this. For example, your merchant idea - you've said that you HAVE to play on master, no option. This, to me, ruins the idea of roleplaying. It rips the freedom from the player, and makes them conform to one set idea. That's not roleplay to me.

Shall we add our own roleplay tips? These are some I've posted on the other roleplay thread:

Yes, the rules help the roleplay. In my case, the difficulty is a sensitive think. Im using Skyrim redone + Asis, and imagine this, in adept, you need to use at least 2 companions to survive a simple dungeon like redoran′s retreat.
May be the difficulty (as the mind-follow of the rules) may be up to the player′s taste. Now Im in this play 32 and I raised the difficulty to Expert, quite a challenge.
But I agree, this is a nice guide!
In my role play case, is a little bit intrincated.
As my character is a Dunmer , very reluctant, he uses to help the ones who give him more money, and ALWAYS help dunmer. He only uses Dunmer as companion, unless the task is too hard, and then he uses wathever mercenary (who mostly end death ) .
He hates argonians, and some nords (specially the border Nords, who are probably involved in the raids against house redoran wich my character is an exiled)
So he is usually a lawful one, but when he finds an argonian alone in the road, he kills him with no mercy.

I'll edit it out if I put the word "have to" too many times. I mentioned in the beginning that you can feel free to pick and choose what rules you want to follow. For the merchant it is especially important. I feel that breaking too far away from that one specifically would ruin the point. Thanks for the advice, and yes you can add your own ideas.

Yes. You're right. I'll make a note of adding the difficulty section later. I was going to get to that but my fingers are too tired right now lol.

Hehe but the guide is cool for so much people are always asking "how do you roleplay?"
I think in time you will enlarge the list and the options, so the players new to RP will have a pallete of choices to be helped with.