So far the three characters I have completed the MQ with - Nord, Altmer, and Imperial - have hung up there Dragonborn boots and are awaiting DLC at levels 48, 52 an 60 respectively. My Dunmer Dovakhin is at level 30+ and just completed "Diplomatic Immunity". He is currently collecting artefacts to go with his Daedra worshipping way of life. My Bosmer has also taken the path of the Dragonborn and is level 20+, so I decided to see how a non-Dragonborn playthrough would be.

My Argonian Jam-Rock split up with Hadvar when he went into Alvor's House, so doesn't have to get a message to the Jarl in his journal. And when he got the Golden Claw he didn't pick up the Dragonstone from Bleak Falls Barrow. Originally he didn't read the word of power and went straight back to Lucan, but when meeting with him there was no dialogue option to hand the claw back. Fortuately I'd made a save at that point because you have to read the word of power to get the boss who has the Dragonstone.

I've not done the Thieve's Guild with any previous characters, so he has joined up with them, and no characters have bought Honeyside yet. Apart from those quests I'm unsure how to make an enjoyable conclusion to his story or a fitting endgame. I've started with a goal of making a million gold by level 50.

He is level 14 at the moment and will put those 50-ish perks into Alchemy Sneak, Pickpocket, Speech, Illusion, Alteration and Archery. Skills that will level but have no perks are: Restoration, Lockpick and Light Armour and maybe one handed (??) because I'm using daggers for sneak attacks. The rest of the skills: Two-handed, Block, Heavy Armour, Smithing, Enchanting, Destruction, and Conjuration will be untouched.

So far gameplay is a big change without the shouts. Not being able to do Unrelenting Force on opponents is the biggest difference for me, as it's been a major part of all my previous characters defences. I'm playing on master difficulty, so whereas I could pull off a Fus Ro Dah before, now I have to turn and run, but that adds to the immersion of being "not-the-dragonborn-but-an-Argnian-seeking-riches" character that I'm playing. He was even chased all the way to Honningbrew Meadery by the troll that dwells in the cave below Ivarstead.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7052/6974607221_9ca2a16329.jpg

Also...no dragons! It's a completely different game without their presence.

I'd suggest giving it a go to anyone who's made muliple characters and are looking for something different, or want to RP a character whose way of life coflicts with that of the Dragonborn.

you dont need to be dragonborn to shout, even ullfric shouts. what you can do is to quickly take the scales from a slain dragon and run away before you absorb its soul. cuz thats actually the only real unique thing about being a dragonborn. other being you can learn shouts with an instant

Other than the Shouts, ignoring the MQ is a great way to play this game.

Just don't active Dragons at all. That's what I do as they bore me.

I tried this with my thief character as I was sick of having to deal with dragons, they are a bloody nuisance. But . . . .


Hopefully this has been fixed by now.

What I absolutely love is that all the Dragon Peaks with the word walls actually have their own unique enemies before you release the dragons into the world. For example, Autumnwatch Tower near Ivarstead is full of bandits, while Lost Tongue Overlook south of Riften has a single powerful Necromancer with a thrall and some skeletons. The treasure chests remain and you can still read the words for when you do feel like eventually releasing the dragons.

Also your Argonian thief character is using practically the exact same skill set that my Bosmer thief (who has also started the TG quest before starting main quest) is using! Great minds etc.

Agreed. My latest character hasn't gone after Horn yet. It's quit a lot of fun not using shouts and to have way less dragon battles.I liked that stuff when I did it, but I'm finding the game plays differently with a different mind set, so to speak.

On my first character, I completely forgot about Bleak Falls Barrow, not even realizing it was the main quest. It wasn't until level 35 or so that I even bothered to do it. The lack of shouts svcked (but made finally using them all the sweeter. Fus Ro Dah!, indeed), but the lack of dragons made the game far more relaxed and made the exploration aspect more enjoyable. Problem is that it also blocked off a lot of exceedingly cool items, and, of course, the entirety of the main story as well as the story-locked areas such as Blackreach, the Throat of the World, etc.

I have always played dragonless. My first two characters had the same problem giving the claw to Lucan, and I had to resort to using the console to make the quest finish. I found out with my third character that if you never talk to Lucan about the robbery and start the golden claw quest, you can clear our bleak falls, and then the next time you talk to Lucan ask him about the robbery. You will get an option to say "What, you mean this claw?" That gives him the claw back and completes the quest.

I just started a Bosmer to play "dragonless" with. I'm sure the other critter's will be problem enough. She's going to be a hunter/explorer. I plan on staying away from all the questlines. Though I'm sure I'll end up with some undone quests in the menu.

I got right to the point where dragons show up, just so my character can live in the setting with the actual menace. I much prefer my mage to my Dragonborn, so much more fun it's not even funny.

It's half and half for me...depends on my play style if I do the main quest...I like not being "special" though..makes things a bit more fun

I was figured ulfric was dragonborn... hmph

My only and unique Khajit character is level 28 and has not seen dragons yet (save for the intro one) and has been mostly exploring and clearing dungeons.
I actually have no idea what combat is like against them.
I've collected about 10 shouts that I can't use but it's absolutely not an issue, I do not feel underpowered at all.
I will probably activate them when I'm level 50 which will take some time to reach at the rate I'm advancing in the game.

Only thing you'll miss out on is Dragonscale & Dragonbone.

what i did was start my new character and i did the first dragons reach quest so i got the full unrelenting force and one word of whirlwind sprint. i still have no dragons and i got unrelenting force so this has worked out perfect for me!

I had one too not doing the MQ. She actually made it to lvl 30ish. Foreknowledge is a bleatch though...hard to RP when u skip places b/c u know 'where' to avoid...

You could sneak in through the Dungeon and then go down to the basemant area of Dragonsreach Jarl's chamber.

Try this: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=9048

I have invested many, many hrs in this on the Xbox, with 7 characters. I have yet to make it past the Gretbeards first encounter. Now that I am on the PC, I doubt I will even be starting the MQ unless I just want the Dragons. They can be daunting and pesky at times, but at least they aren't as bad as those damn things in Morrowind. I quit playing the console version because of them. I see a GOTY of Mor for the PC in my future. Will mod those things down.

Still, there is so much more to do for yourself in this game. The MQ and the others are just a small as far as I'm concerned.

I use a mod which allows you to choose a variety of game starts depending on how you're going to play. For example, my Bosmer ranger chose the "Camping in the woods" option and spawned in Falkreath Hold at a campsite with archer gear and my smalltown farmer character appeared at his own farm east of Dragon Bridge.

It's only because of this mod that I never get caught up with the MQ really.

One of the saves I've enjoyed the most was a Bosmer hunter. I loaded lots of "hunter"-type mods for it. Ignored almost all quests. I just walked the land, hunting and adventuring.

That's good to know because I had planned on ignoring them, thinking there'd be nothing there.


Wish I had known that at the start.

It's good that Bethesda put things in the game like that. It means more freedom for the player to play how thay want.