ah yeah I forgot about sleeping

6) sleep at least 6 hours a day unless I can't find somewhere - I have spent over 24 hours in one dungeon before now.

Something I have done with all the characters I've played so far is I never perk more than one crafting skill. To be honest it doesn't make sense to me that anyone could be really good at more than one craft anyway (and still do adventuring on the side).

Something I have started doing recently is I carry some mining and smithing clothes with me and I put them on whenever I mine or smith.

No Waiting. No Fast Travel (unless I'm testing something) No getting caught. Try and sleep regularly. Don't stay away from home for too long. Create an army of chicken followers.

I took a character to level 81 with all capped skills to get all the min/maxing, uber-numbers style play(alchemy/enchant/smithing exploits) out of my system. Now, I can play characters without that nagging feeling of trying to squeeze a few more points of damage/smithing/enchanting%, etc.

I play with the following restrictions now, and the game feels much more comfortable and fun:

1. No 100% reduced magicka cost gear. I'll get it to maybe 75%-80% reduction, but never 100%. Actually makes magicka regen an important aspect of play again. Makes magic combat much more tactical and challenging.

2. Never more than 1 damage%+ perk (Armsman, Barbarian, Overdraw, etc). I limit myself to only the first perk in the tree so I can gain access to the others, such as reduced stamina usage for power attacks, etc. I've found that taking the first perk more than 1/5 takes away any challenge in combat. Got tired of obliterating enemies with 1-2 hits.

3. Expert or Master difficulty only. If something becomes too challenging, well, GOOD. Expert mostly for my pure mages, Master for my warrior characters.

well, no marrying
https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTKSUIIvsxiGFIqsxJBiDEcuYp_9PN247mezMXz7ay6Xe9Z7uH-WA
BB codes don't exactly work here

Oh, forgot one.

4. No Gaurdian Stones that grant increased skill gain(Warrior Stone, Mage Stone, Thief Stone, and Lover Stone). Only current exception is I'm using the Mage Stone to get enchanting back up on my current character, because I had to start over after accidentally saving over the file; damn mage was level 50 before I erased it. So, just getting Enchanting out of the way, leveling everything else without xp bonus.

My current character is not allowed to level up - so she's a permanent level one. That also means no perks.

As far as armor and weapons are concerned, live off the land or purchase from traders/smiths.

Main weapon is a bow, 2H sword for backup. Heavy armor - although she's now wearing two pieces of light armor because they both had archery damage increases that I needed more than the armor protection.

There is a very limited amount of smithing you can do. I presume the same with enchanting, but I don't have access to an enchanting table yet. Have to be careful with this, because you could level up and not increase your combat capability, while NPCs will increase theirs.

Have not told the Jarl about the dragon attack in Helgen and requested help for Whiterun - so no dragons yet.

My only restrictions are, stick to my role, and never use fast travel (after I got a horse) only carriages. I also try to eat and sleep an average amount. I would have liked to have never fast traveled at all, but it just seemed unrealistic for my character to sprint through miles and miles of woods on foot. I'd make my guild lend me a horse before I'd agree to undertake a job so far away.

No fast travel, unless I get stuck in the environment, and there is absolutely no way out of the situation, and then only fast travel to the closest landmark. It can happen, trust me. Everytime I go to a certain ruin, I always come out the door to the balcony, only to see a 250ft drop, fall off the side because I want to see off the sides, then fall off and get stuck between the structure of the ruin and rocks all around with no way to jump out.

Dead is dead, once the character meets his demise, I start another character. Has to be a different name, but the race can be the same.

Eat twice a day, sleep at least once every 48 hours. I could go longer, but there is no basis in this game for it in my opinion. In Iraq, I stayed awake for about four days because of a slow and long road march (in vehicles), and in peace time I've stayed up for 72 hours straight, so 48 is a better model for me to use.

I turn map markers off and floating things off for the PS3. I leave the hud on, because the other options don't sound appealing to me.

I use carriages because you can pay to use them, and it makes sense in game terms.

I always explore an area I find. There is no reason not to, quests are a dime a dozen in this game.

Like some others have stated, if playing a warrior, I only smith. If playing a mage I will enchant and use alchemy. If an assassin/thief, alchemy.

That's all I can think of at the moment, but that's generally how I play.

I'm playing two characters and they each have their own rules, besides the general rules of no fast travel, must sleep at least 4 hours every two days or so. Edit: I did wait and fast travel to test a bug. Stupid bug.

Nord Stormcloak soldier/mercenary:
Steel or Iron armor and weapons only
No alchemy or enchanting
No recharging of enchanted weapons- I use what I find and sell/toss when depleted
Won't join Dark Brotherhood, Mage College, or Thieves Guild
Will pursue main quest
No stealing or assaults/murders EXCEPT Imperials and Thalmor, who have it coming
Distrusts all non-humans
Followers must be worthy warriors- either beaten in a bar brawl, met in her travels and proven well disposed toward the Nords' plight, or hired (she's got a soft spot for mercenaries like herself) BUT NO mer, mage, or beast race followers allowed

Breton rogue mage:
Obsessed with controlling life forces, she specializes in conjuration and illusion
Spiteful attitude- she'll slit your throat for an insult
Hunts wildlife, and uses Fear if she feels she can't defeat her foe. Never uses Calm or Courage.
Strong preference for Alchemy, dabbles in Enchanting. Has a small amount of smithing knowledge, enough to upgrade her armor.
Only wears Leather/Hide/Fur armor.
Followers must share her attitude- got a grude? A ne'er-do-well? She's your friend.
Joining Dark Brotherhood and later, the Mage's College. She's hungry for power.
Probably won't do main quest.

My characters all use fast travel to return to thier homes, but a new location must be walked to from where my character is at the moment, or from a hold capital reached by carriage. My characters do not attack unless they are attacked first, but I break this one in relation to wildlife when colecting crafting and alchemy supplies, and getting Destruction to fourty on a pure mage.
I will bend the magic hating rules for Restoration and Alteration for a Nord.
I like to have a backstory that will fit a character, a Dunmer warrior will be from house Redoran or Indoril. A Bosmer will have no issues with cannibalismNamira worship, and will have appropriate food on thier person.
I also will disregard a rule if it causes my character to become boring to play.

Khajiit isn't allowed in the cities. J'rahzir does not impose this rule upon himself, the Nord does this to J'rahzir. He is quite annoyed, he assures each and all.

I've stayed stage 4 vampire my whole game, illusion, alchemy, conjure, lockpicking. Still wearing ragged robes and footwraps. Khajiit. Higher illusion spells are fun and interesting to use. Getting to the alchemy dealers in the holds while their opened is fun.