Hello folks,

Started a topic a few days ago about my constant restarting of the great game that is Skyrim.... So I have discarded 2 more characters since then so I have decided that I am going to try to roleplay my favorite character in gaming history, Garrett from the Thief's series.

However, I am a little stuck on how to roleplay him. I am basically going to play a character that models him. From the wiki: A cynical, highly disciplined master thief who only wishes to be left alone to steal in peace, but who unwittingly becomes embroiled in a series of epic events.

And here is where I am stuck:

For roleplayers of the Thief class, do you actually play a real thief? A true thief sneaks in and out without killing anybody. I don't know if that would be really fun. In the Thief series, all he really would kill is non-human creeps. But there are a lot of Bandits and random events....

I would like to see the end of both the Imperial and Stormcloak conflict. I can see him being twisted into the fate of dragon slaying but how do I twist him in the other conflicts.

Also, I would like to see the Dark Brotherhood questline but I don't know if I could justify it enough. But I don't know if I really would like another sneaky character. Maybe I should make my mage an assassin?

I don't know. Just kind of stuck in this roleplaying department of late

Thanks ahead of time

If you are good at "calm" type spells, as well as everything that keeps you out of sight, you could do a lot of the game with this characterization. Personally when my thief does DB quests I make it a point of honor to only take out the target and have no-one else see me, though admittedly I think I am only half-way through that line. That is not that hard to RP if say you make him a worshipper of Mephala or something. However the civil war questline would be harder I think (not far into that either). Really you would want to give him or her a reason to put aside his or her principles and fight tooth and nail for that cause if you do want to do those quests.

Mercer stole your voice though, Garrett.

And yet he can shout ha ha. 8)

How could I resist this thread?

One important quality about Garrett is that he has no loyalties. He doesn't affiliate himself with any factions, although he does take a little wisdom from the Keepers (who resemble the Greybeards in many respects). Try to keep out of other people's affairs as much as possible as Garrett only looks out for Garrett. Not sure how you'll go about not killing anybody, but with a high enough Sneak skill, you can get around most enemies. Remember to use your bow for distraction too (similar to Noisemaker arrows in Thief). Invisibility potions are certainly allowed since they made a debut in Thief II, so make use of those as well. I would also pump up your Speechcraft too, not that Garrett is a smooth talker, but he does have reliable fences (hint, hint).

And remember, stay out of shadows and avoid the light...the indicator on the bottom of your screen will...oh, nevermind!

One other thing about staying out of affairs. He doesn't mind getting involved if money is involved and since his moral compass doesn't point north, he doesn't mind taking a job even if it's shady. He is a thief after all, but not a murderer. Here's what his most important skills would be in order:

Sneak, Pickpocking, Lockpicking, Speechcraft, Archery, One-Handed

As with any true roleplaying playthrough you'll want need a set of rules for yourself to get a vastly different experience.
Personally as a thief character I would go with some kind of alter ego character. (as in; you roleplay a normal guy during the day)
Something like:

- You're *only* allowed to steal at night. (Set yourself a time limit like 10 pm till 6 am or something)

- Has to leave a 'token' everywhere he steals. (Pick whatever you want, like a sweetroll, as long as it's consistently the same). This is to make a name for yourself and taunting people how good you are.

- By day is a normal adventurer in armor that switches to thief clothes at night.

- Most importantly: In order to really become a thief you have to have some kind of incentive to need the money from stealing.
That means you have to limit yourself making money by other means. Pick whatever seems appropriate to you. At the very least I suggest no income from crafted items *whatsoever* (If you don't use it, dump it in the river). That way, alchemy will be a real money sink and makes you wanna rob people blind just to pay for leveling it.

- Perhaps you can also add some kind of consequence for being seen at night while robbing. For starters you could make it more exciting by not going with any health upgrades so you're actually scared if they catch you. But it can also be something arbitrary like not being allowed to go back to the scene of crime for X amount of days IF you're spotted and make a run for it.

- Obviously the only shout you should use is the distraction one.

Plenty more options possible. Anything of interest to you?

I've always had the feeling that Garrett is almost exclusively nocturnal, unless he's casing the joint. Certainly make Riften your home. For casual thievery, travel by foot or carriage (to avoid battles) to other holds at night, pick off a few places, then swoop back home to Riften before dawn breaks.

Since most guard in thief know what Garret look like, it would be like he have a high bounty on him. So you better not pay any bounty on you, on not reload on a failed pickpocket.

Yea, Garrett wouldn't pay a bounty. He would much rather escape, if he's able, or take his chances in jail, knowing that he can slither his way out easily.

So long as it isn't Cragscleft.

It can be hard playing a CHARACTER in this game because your options are rather limited by the dumbing down made in this game.

For example, it`s hard playing a traditional Conan type warrior from Robert E Howard`s books since if I want to continue using an enchanted weapon I have to `make` or `repower` it myself, which is just not done. He`ll use magic items like enchanted swords, but won`t begin to start trying to dabble in magic to fix one- He`ll just go to the nearest dodgy enchanter and shove the weapon at him to fix , throwing a few gold coins on the table and saying, "I`ll be back!" When it`s done.

Can`t do that here, so my character just uses up the enchanted blade and throws it away or sells it when its done.

Guess that`s how I do it.

Oops sorry OP, didn`t mean to hijack your thread. Good luck with your thief.

I've played as Garrett in Skyrim and it works fairly well, so long as you keep to yourself and don't go around asking for quests. Garrett is the type of person who takes on challenges when they're offered to him. If he likes the sound of it, he'll take it. If not, he'll continue stealing trinkets and jewelry from fat noblemen.

Thanks all for the great ideas. But I feel like I may need to specify more. I would rather have this personality take me into the game a little deeper and see more of the endings. I have yet to see the end and would like too. I may have to edit his personality. I just desired to keep him as cynical and the attitude. I could have him lead the Thieves guild as more of turning it into the Keepers. As keeping balance but hide behind a group of vagabond thieves. A justification of doing odd good and bad quests. To keep balance. Dragons upset the balance. Too bad you cannot pick both sides of the Imperial and Stormcloak battles.

I may have to sleep on it it seems.

I wonder if people actually do play a thief or they just kill everything and steal on the side

I wonder if on the bounty.. if it gets too high, then don't the guards uses super mind powers and find you again?

Excellent topic. This may seem sacreligious on these forums, but Thief ruined me for Morrowind - I just hold down CTRL for "stealth"? Really?

Anyway, stealth is certainly enjoyable in Skyrim, once you get it up to a good level and keep perking it out. I really think those 5 basic entry-level Stealth perks are worth it. Well, at least the first few, just until you start to get really good. Once I got my sneaking skills up to the point where I could use them pretty reliably, I started to realize that playing a thief in Skyrim was the Thief-iest I have felt since... well, Thief!

There's some good advice above. I would also say that if you really want to go a pure thief route, avoid daggers and the whole throat-slitting thing. In TDP and TMA, Garrett had a *sword*. So go One-handed, and keep that off-hand free so you can block.

Obviously, the bow will be important to you - more so than your sword, which is usually a last resort. Since you'll be sneaking and ideally avoiding lots of encounters, you'll want to buy some training in Archery so you have a chance when you just need to drop that *one* guard to slip into the fort. Using arrows as "noisemakers" is great thematically. No water arrows, alas, but keep an eye out for torches that can be doused (taken) - a great touch!

A great thief uses the environment to his advantage as well. Those oil pools underneath guards' feet? Keep your Flames spell for those times when you get caught and need to do some nasty damage while making your getaway.

For that matter - make *getaways*! In TES games, I'm always more tempted to stick around and fight. But playing a thief is more fun if you *run* when you get caught - as long as you've got a good plan, a place to regroup or hide until they lose your trail.

Lockpick and Pickpocket go without saying. I would consider a few of the Lockpick perks, actually: Treasure Hunter seems like it would fit for RP purposes.

Speech is also good - especially since Garrett would never work for a Thieves' Guild! Farkas is one of the few fences who will deal with an independent like him... oh wait, wrong Farkas. Anyway, fences will be hard to find if you skip the guild I imagine, so speech should be a priority. This is one reason I'm actually disappointed Imperials don't have a bonus to Speech...

Light Armor you can probably skip. I mean, if you find a good set, wear it, but no need to sink perks into it. You'll probably want to wear clothes at first anyway.

Now, the hard thing about this RP is getting your thief "jobs", especially if you're not in the guild. Yeah, you can rob houses and mansions, but my impression is that the return isn't great. However, Garrett was not just an urban City-thief - he was also the kind of guy who would explore forgotten crypts and crumbling ruins if he thought he could make a big score there, or if someone was paying him well. Thankfully, there's plenty of such places in Skyrim, and the great thing about "robbing" them is that you don't need a fence to pawn your loot.

You are going to need a reason to get out to those dangerous places, though. I'm not sure how you can rationalize a big dungeon delve... you'd need to hear a rumor about the wealth in that location, for starters. I can think of a couple of questlines, right at the beginning, where you can easily justify "thieving" a ruin. But beyond that, do your homework. I think some in-game books will tell you about specific dungeons and even mark them on your map. You can plan an expedition and hope to make a big haul.

I would honestly stay away from major questlines. They have a way of shoehorning your character in particular directions, and this RP is all about keeping it simple. You want to find your Horn of Quintus, your Eye; you don't want to have to save the world (although Garrett did get pulled into that role). There may be some minor quests that you could play with a thiefy, sarcastic attitude, though I'm still pretty new to the game and still figuring these things out.

It might also be a good idea to try to establish a home base. You need some way to spend your cash, so consider buying a house, or several. Think of them as "safehouses" for when you need to get away from the law.

What to do with the rest of your gold? Buy the best bow you can find, and a decent sword. Keep yourself well-stocked with potions, especially invisibility, health, and stamina (so you can sprint away), along with other utility potions like true shot, water breathing, and anything that can help you in a scraqe (boost light armor, block, sneak, etc). But BUY them; don't craft them yourself.

You may still have more cash than you can get rid of, so consider limiting what you can carry (though this was never an issue for Garrett's Handy Haversack of 100,000,000 Candlesticks).

In the end, you'll have to adapt your plan a little to fit with Skyriim's world. You'll have to kill people some of the time, and "jobs" will be somewhat different than Garrett's - but you can still have a blast with this playstyle.

Let us know how it goes!

Don't worry, you will never get to such a high bounty as a thief. You have to be a psycho killer basically.

Also, it might be good to have two homes. Remember, Garrett had alternative places to crash throughout the City, so in addition to your safe-house in Riften, maybe buy a house in Markarth or Whiterun?

It gives you something to spend all that gold on, because Skyrim sure gives up a lot of it very quickly.

You don't need to know how to craft a gun to reload one, you don't need to be an enchanter to reload a weapon.