So I always find it odd when I'm playing these games to have this big overarching story that is some huge threat to the land, but I am skipping around doing random quests for this person or this faction. For those of you who care about this sort of thing, what do you tell yourself as you map out your character's story? Starting out it was easy. Without getting into too much detail, my character was a big game hunter/trapper, who was accused of a crime he didn't commit, blah blah blah. I won't bore you with the details. But as my quest log got bigger, I began to lose sight of my character's personal journey and story. It all just became random. This is NOT the game's fault at all. It's just something I like to always be mindful of and find difficult. Anyone else going through this or have a fix for this?

BTW, the game continues to amaze at every turn. Thank you Bethesda.

Hmmm. For me, the character that is farthest into the game, I didn't really have a backstory in mind.

More or less I just wanted to be a mage. As the game progressed however, I began to do more and more roleplay related things, which eventually shaped out who my character was.

From his highs to his lows.

The file I am rping atm the moment has a longer backstory than most other rps I have ever done.

Luckily for me, this playthrough requires me to never look at my journal, nor use my compass.

So when I get a new quest, I decide if it is relevant or not. If it is, I do it.

If it isn't then I never have to read about it again.

Hm. That is interesting. Never thought of the journal thing before. So you're less of an errand boy and just handle problems as they come if you feel you need to/should. Anyone else have a way to justify the random quests or a way to keep in mind your character's overall journey as they wind down so many random paths?

No one else?

Ok my current and favorite character, Noxius, has a LONG back story. You see... he was a character I made in Morrowind who never completed the main quest. Going before even Morrowind he was a Dunmer boy whos parents were deadra worshippers. He learned magic at a younge age, but sadly his parents were killed by the authorities for the obvious reason. He grew up a very troubled life after that until he was imprisoned and later released in Morrowind. There he found his home, the Telvanni. A group were you could win any argument by proving you were right by winning a duel of magic.

The reason he didn't finish the game is that he was trying to find a way to unlock the powers Dagoth unlocked, never figured out how, and I wouldn't kill Dagoth the correct way because I was convinced I could just overpower him(never did, his health regenerates so freaking fast). For his story I just say the Neravine(my other character) screwed that up when he killed Dagoth.

That Telvanni mage had a tower in Morrowind where he studied magic and did things the Ordinators would frown upon... like studying vampires by becoming one. Then using invisibility and command spells to move an entire vampire family into the dungeon of his basemant. The Ordinators did not like this when they found out, and launched an assault against his tower. His dwemer constructs fought hard but died, his atronachs killed many but were snuffed out, and the vampires were forced to defend themselves... the Ordinators attacked in daylight so escape was not an option. Rather than die himself he teleported to the Imperial shrine in Sadrith Mora and gave himself over to the Imperials promising to give them magical secrets in exchange for a 'fair' trial. One of the vampires in his basemant is one of the other characters I play, a vampire assassin gift in illusion and alchemy.

So he was imprisoned in the Imperial city. The assassin followed, and this follower got into the Imperial prison and made a change to the records so Noxius would be put in the prison cell that was an escape path. He did not release Noxius as easy as that would be because then he would just be a fugitive again... he wanted to get him a pardon. So he started telling groups(like the Mythic Dawn) that might be interested about the hidden path into the prison. Yea, they are both fairly evil.

Noxius grew to power in the Mages guild and helped out with the Oblivion crisis. Only because his extensive knowledge of deadra and desire to learn even more did he get involved in the Oblivion crisis(amulet, what amulet?). He did not care for the mages guild, only their secrets. He only became Arch Mage because he was the only one powerful enough to kill the Worm King. Once that and the Oblivion crisis were over he stepped down from the Arch Mage position citing, "I am a Telvanni at heart, and this guild is to soft for the likes of me. I am here because war called for someone harsh and brutal who could get the job done no matter the cost. Now we are at peace, and you are better served by someone soft...." Then he introduced his replacement before moving to a tower he built himself in the mountains where he studied the magical arts for a couple hundred years in seclusion.

As the Thalmor moved into power he saw what was coming. The Thalmor would not allow a powerful ex-Telvanni wizard with close ties to the old Mages Guild to sit overlooking the Imperial city in a tower full of dark secrets. They wanted those secrets, and that power for themselves. Knowing they were coming he set a trap. An army of atronachs forged from fire, frost, and void salts guarded the tower. When the Thalmor made it past the atronachs, and then the imps they found a dremora in the vault below the tower holding a sigil stone in his hand with other sigil stones arranged in a big circle. The dremora spoke, "He told me I could have the tower, and everything inside, I just had to make sure I took you with it." Then the entire tower disappeared into Oblivion. Noxius was long gone by then. As to not attract attention to himself he wore plain garbs, carried nothing of value with him, and avoided using spells. He headed towards Skyrim, knowing the civil war would make it a great place to hide from the Thalmor, and if needed he could always go from there to Morrowind or Solsteim to hide in familiar lands.

He of course got caught, and chose to still avoid using spells to keep his identity hidden once in Skyrim. If that dragon hadn't come... well Helgen would still have burned.

Ocemar is an Altmer from Summerset Isles, a Thalmor Justiciar and a Great War veteran taking part in both the Dominion's greatest victories and greatest defeats. After the war he was commissioned to office work, but on his request allowed to go on solo missions in Skyrim after the Stormcloak rebellion broke out. By the time the game starts he was following Ulfric in order to assess his abilities. Simple for-the-record work.
When Ocemar was captured and escaped he was afraid to return to the Thalmor until he could complete his mission. Wandering around Skyrim alone, he became acquainted with locals and in time began to question the Thalmor's policies of Elven supremacy though he still enforced some of the Thalmor's fundamental policies, like Talos ban by which he covertly executed the Talos priest in Whiterun. In time however his connections to the Dominion began slipping away and knew he had probably been declared dead. Ocemar meeting non-Thalmor High Elves, mainly Niranye who he married was the last nail to the coffin of his Thalmor loyalties. He does not openly act against them, and in Morthal helped the local Justiciar, but he is steering clear from any high-profile missions. In time he will defect completely if the situation demands so.

A summary of the Khajiiti Mage, Taela. (Tay-la).

- Born in the 3E 410 in Torval, Elsweyr, she was the daughter of a Suthay merchant named Dra'Kaviir and a beautiful Ohms-Raht tailor named Ashirani.

- In 3E 415 a large revolt relating to the Imperial's acquiring of Leyawiin erupted in the city and being on the other side of the issue, Taela and her family were forced to move to the coastal town of Senchal.

- For 2 years, They lived in poverty. Then in 3E 417, Taela was kidnapped by a dunmer agent and was sold into slavery on the Island of Vvardenfell.

- 7 years passed as Taela was forced into the fields and abused until 3E 424, when she and an older Argonian male escaped the plantation. Taela used her magic to help her and the Argonian escape Vvardenfell to the Province of Black Marsh, and after bidding farewell to her new friend she travelled to Elsweyr.

- 3E 426, Taela was adopted by a new family and life seemed peaceful. 2 years later in 3E 428, she started a quest for knowledge. Wanting to find her real parents and the Argonian she helped escape. At the same time, hone her skills in magic and become the most famous Khajiit Mage.

-3E 431, Taela receives a vision from Mara and joins her Temple in Torval where she studies restoration magic more thoroughly. However, Mara was displeased by Taela's delusion of grandeur, and cursed her with anonymity. Taela accepted her fate and has since become humble about herself as she lives her life as a pilgrim and healer of Mara.

- 4E 1, Taela was attacked by the rare werelion on the road to Elinhir in Hammerfell. Believing it was a naturally large mountain lion, she never cured the werelion disease thus became one.

-4E 2 to 4E 168 She's given up on looking for her family and has narrowed her search to at least finding records about them. Also excepting that there is no cure for being a werelion, she is questing for the mystic Hircine's ring so she may control her transformations.

-4E 200, With the divide in Elsweyr between the Anequina and Pellitine tribes; not to mention the support of the Thalmor, Taela has been reduced to a refugee and has found herself in Skyrim.

+ She always refers to herself in the 3rd person when speaking, however she can write about herself in the 1st person.
+ She holds much resentment towards Dark Elves of any kind, but has since eased up on her hatred.
+ She can be really blunt with her opinions
+ Despite all this, she is still kind and a warmhearted person
+ Because of her naturally high ability in the arcane arts, she has used the large source of magicka in her own body to keep herself alive for so long.
+ She is extremely vain about her appearance, thus uses the magic in her body to make her appear extremely younger than she really is.
+ Taela also despises stereotypes against Khajiits, which is one of her primary motives for being a mage.
+ Every 100 years, Taela must perform a restoration ritual to renew herself.

I even have a thread in the Fan fic section dedicated to my characters adventures. See my sig.

My character is basicly a barbarian, mage, and mercenary in Skyrim, nuff said.

@http://www.gamesas.com/user/650980-the-tamriel-terror/

WOW, Cool... That is deep... You must have RPed in online-chat, with a back-story like that.

ME: I talk to myself in third-person, while I play. Like I am his conscience or an invisible observer. Funny how "shocked" I seem to be, at his actions... I have justified my multi-characters personality, as being a test of the gods, or a joke... He dies a lot, doing stupid things, never actually in battle at the time... He is constantly being re-born as another race, with conflicting skills to previous lives... He is as unsure of his role in the world, as the developers have ensured that is his fate... He longs for his life to actually continue beyond the repeating days of pointless chores, which have no impact in the world he was thrown into... He fails to remember anything prior to his close-call beheading...

He is just here learning, observing, and doing things... Until his real master comes to give him a challenge... With MODS! lol.

Thanks! It took a lot of studying of lore and a visit to tvtropes to create my character .

Your character sounds nice as well. It almost seems like your character has reached CHIM . CHIM is a state of mind in the TES series where you are aware that you are in a dream world yet you retain your identity. With this knowledge, one with CHIM has the power to shape reality (i.e creation kit). Vivec is an example of that.

I've played through the entire series with a Dunmer spellsword/warmage; younger son of the aristocracy in Ebonheart who went to make his fortune as a mercenary. He's gotten a lot older, even for an elf, through the series.
He ran The Angry Porcupine for a while in the Daggerfall days, if anyone remembers that from Daggerweb.
He came out of semi-retirement to deal with the events in Morrowind and Oblivion.
He smiles quietly and keeps his own counsel when people speculate about the whereabouts of the Nerevarine.
He doesn't plan to die peacefully in bed, and has magically prolonged his life about as far as he can, so he went to Skyrim expecting plenty of work for an experienced merc and long-time archmage, and probably a glorious death. He's not as fast as he once was, but he's a lot craftier and more relentless than ever.

Of the two new Nord characters I've started, one is a grizzled veteran of the Empire, a warrior with a bit of magic as a backup, a blacksmith's son who used his skills during his long service and was intending to settle down after returning to Skyrim after a long absence, until getting caught up in events. The other is a retired Imperial scout, disillusioned with the compromises made with the Thalmor, returning to Skyrim to see whether the Stormcloak movement is worthy of his allegiance or whether he should--or even can--find himself a quiet life as a hunter and ignore politics. Events have caught him up, too.

I honestly appreciate the backstories. Seems a lot of time and thought went into them. But I'm still not getting a sense of how y'all (those of you who care) justify doing all of these random side quests or even guild quests while the overall threat of the Dragons looms (in the main quest).

One thing I thought while starting out was that my character was a big game hunter and was convicted of a crime that he either didn't commit or one that was justified. He winds up in Skyrim to be put to death, but then get's caught up in this whole Dragonborn thing. BUT, in order to defeat the ultimate evil, he must become a TRUE RANGER and conquer it's 4 disciplines (fighting, sneaking, archery, and magic). So he must be trained by each guild. This works fairly well in justifying why I am ignoring the Main Quest at this point. PLus the fact that he is a sort of dragon hunter, so kills them/abosrbs their sould/earns the shouts all toward being powerful enough to defeat the Main Quest threat.

SO this works for a while, but I think it's the side quests not linked to a guild that get's me off track of my overall story. Now again this is not the games fault at all. I love all the content here. But it's just dumb me trying to maintain a clear overall story/journey for my character that doesn't involve me jumping to and fro across the map, taking random jobs, and ignoring the dragon threat.

One useful thing that someone mentioned was that they only take side quests that their character would have a vested interest in or one's that adhere to their character's belief system. So as their character journeys for the guilds or MQ, they naturally meet people and decide if they can simply turn their back on their plight. That works fairly well I guess. Just curious if anyone else had another way to justify the "winding character road".

Thanks again for the replies.

My character, Maggot Sathren, is Dunmer thief; highest priority besides the well being of the Thieves Guild is coin. She's also the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood but it doesn't feel as much like family as the TG.

I don't find myself losing sight of my character. I just play out those quests as she would, and I don't do certain quests for this reason, such as the Companions questline.

Alaric (the Nord) has a touch of ADD... a hard touch. He feels every place he encounters just makes him stronger for when he faces the next dragon. It did not help that Sven, his faithful companion was also... touched by ADD. "OOOhhh there is a ruins, I wonder what treasure it holds. OOOhhh there is a cave... Ooohhh there is a fort." They where made to be best friends.

However the friendship was cut short at when upon Sven's urging they entered a ruin. It was towards the end when King Olaf put an end to the mighty duo, but alas Sven died a hero giving Alaric enough time to gather his wits, shove as many potions down his gullet he could without puking, and pick up his weapons...

After that sinister day Alaric spends most of his times getting drunk in bars... Walking from town to town, and doing what ever work he can so he can afford more booze. He seems to have forgotten all about any greater threat, and is now focused on making his way back to Whitehaven to inform Camilla that her 'friend' has died honorably...

High Elf, Kain World-Reaver, harkens from the Summerset Isles. For generations, clan World-Reaver was one of the most hated Altmer clans in the Isles, dating back to Uuthmer World-Reaver, a very powerful necromancer who would steal young women from local towns and use them in his dark rituals. Eventually deciding to reveal his powers to the Summerset Isles, Uuthmer World-Reaver led his large coven across the land destroying towns and enslaving his fellow elves. It didn't take long for his actions to be noticed by the Empire, and a vast legion was sent to destroy World-Reaver and his followers. Uuthmer's followers were not as loyal and obedient as he had thought, and they quickly abandoned their master in his time of need.

Before his execution, Uuthmer World-Reaver foretold of his return in the body of his descendants. He promised that his powers and spirit would follow down his bloodline until the day his soul would posses the body of a descendant and he would return to plague the world with his darkness.

Uuthmer's family was cast into exile as his head rolled off the chopping block. For hundreds of years, clan World-Reaver survived in seclusion and secrecy, too afraid to be noticed by the rest of the world, lest persecution fall upon them once again.

300 years later, a young High Elf mage breaks free of his family's exile and travels across Tamriel in search of knowledge and the way of magic. He is Kain World-Reaver, a descendant of Uuthmer World-Reaver, and one of the last. Following the last Great War, the clan of World-Reaver was discovered by the Thalmor and nearly eradicated. Only Kain, his mother, and young sister survived the massacre of his family. After their mother died a few years later of illness, Kain and his sister departed for other realms of Tamriel to explore.

Decades later, Kain World-Reaver received news that his sister had been killed in Skyrim, caught between a battle between Imperial and Stormcloak soldiers. Kain traveled to Skyrim to obtain his sister's body for burial. The young Altmer's arrival in Skyrim was an untimely one. Caught in the middle of an Imperial ambush, Kain was mistaken for a Stormcloak soldier and sent to Helgen for execution.

The rest has yet to be written....

My first character, Bob the Orc. He was born in Skyrim, and lived in a Orc stronghold until it was burned down by bandits. After that he left The Reach, to explore Skyrim. He became a expert in smithing and battle axes. He later saves Whiterun and a maiden named Lydia joined him in his crusade. He helped the Storm Cloaks taking over Skyrim, and he got married shortly after. He now a Giant & Mammoth hunter living in Whiterun.

Marcia was born and raised in High Rock, she grew up with her Mother, Father, and her many other siblings. She has a schocking resemblence to the nords, causing her father to belive her mother was not 100% faithfull. Marcia was always interested in defensive schools of magic, she could paralyze her foes before they layed one hand on her, she could cast a very strong spell that acts as armor even though she was not wearing any, and turn invisible. Marcia had a strong dislike for the Thalmor, as did her whole family. So when they showed up looking for a "dragonborn" they did not treat them kindly, but the Thalmor outnumbered her family. Marcia hid in a corner, invisible, watching her family get slaughtered by the Thalmor. Once She could no longer stay invisible, she ran. Far, far away, only to get captured by the impearils. She must have been a stormcloak, she looked exactly like one! After she escaped Helgen she dedicated herself to helping people. She is now a thane in more than one city, and has helped many many people around Skyrim. Oh, and she's dragonborn too.

Pre-birth Background: J'derras' ancestors hailed from the southern Elsweyr city of Senchal, where they worked for a wealthy Khajiit merchant-lord who made most of his wealth farming and exporting Moon Sugar. His ancestors were sold into slavery to Morrowind in 3E 351, where they worked in the city of Blacklight in northern Morrowind for House Hlaalu as spice farmers until Helseth Hlaalu renounced the slave trade in Morrowind. When his ancestors were freed, they migrated to Hammerfell where they settled down in Dragonstar on the year 3E 428, where they became merchants that specialized in selling spices, herbs, and other botanical alchemical components, picking up their skills from their jobs as slaves in Morrowind. There J'derras' family stayed, content with their new home, even during the Oblivion Crisis and the following struggles in the Imperial Empire.

Family Background: The other citizens of Dragonstar generally viewed J'derras' family as upstanding citizens, breaking the Khajiit stereotype of thievery and skooma addiction. During the Redguards' war with the Thalmor, J'derras' family refused to take part, viewing war of all kinds as self-defeating. J'derras was an only child, which led to a bit of a sheltered early life before he was thrust into the world due to unfortunate circumstances. He does have an aunt and uncle living in Elsweyr. Other than that, he has little knowledge of his relatives.

J'derras was born on the 25th of Heartfire (born under the sign of the Lady), 4E 180 in the city of Dragonstar, the same year that the Second Treaty of Stros M'kai was signed, much to his parents relief. J'derras was a curious and inquisitive youth, as well as friendly and helpful to everyone he met, even races that often have ire towards Khajiit or vice-versa. J'derras' education combines home-schooling with self-education. He is incredibly resourceful and cunning, driving him to teach himself more advanced subjects, after his parents got the ball rolling with reading, writing, and mathematics. He later took up alchemy and lockpicking as hobbies. Like most Khajiit, J'derras has a bit of a sweet tooth, but abstains from direct and indirect consumption of Moon Sugar because of the known narcotic effects it has on others. He will still use Moon Sugar in alchemy however, believing that the narcotic effects are burned out of the mixture, in a manner similar to alcohol. He favors the worship of the Nine Divines, despite the White-Gold Concordant banning the worship of Talos in the Empire. Fortunately, Hammerfell was dropped from the Empire, effectively allowing people in Hammerfell to worship Talos without persecution from the Empire, but this position still grates on the Thalmor's nerves. His childhood friend was a Breton named Reynard Copperford, who convinced his parents to teach the two of them alteration and illusion magic.

When he was 21 years of age (right before the game begins), his parents were murdered by Bosmeri Thalmor Agents after his father lost a bet and couldn't pay his dues, and J'derras fled Dragonstar before the Bosmer were able to kill him. He crossed into Skyrim in an attempt to flee into Cyrodiil, where he could board a ship to Elsweyr, when he was apprehended by guards and arrested because he unwittingly crossed paths with the Stormcloaks who were caught in an Imperial ambush. (The reasons he didn't try to flee to one of Hammerfell's port cities is due to the desert J'derras would have to cross and the fact that most ships leaving Hammerfell were under close watch by the Aldmeri Dominion, making it unsafe.)

Myself if I were a Khajiit born in Tamriel.

Meh, sure i like this kinda of thread...

so Olav was the name given to my Nord from cyrodell (could never spell that place). you see, he had a name, but he was to young to remember it. he and his parents moved there just before the war started to start... you see, his parents were close friends with Olaf stormcloak, so they thought it best to escape the region with their new child. If it weren't for Olaf, they would not have escaped.

After settling down in Cyrodell, in the forest, Olav's father became a master hunter, and would quite often be gone for months. having grown up around this, Olav began doing this as well. until once, Bandits raided their home, killing his parents as he was gone on a hunting trip. When he came back to it, he knew it was a sign from the 9 divines. he must return to Skyrim. he knew this because it was the dark brotherhood who had killed them, he found the note. He needed a new name, so he picked one that had be important to him, but not close enough to it that he might be found out. Olav.

He now wonders the 9 holds of Skyrim looking for people in need to aid.

long back story short, black-birds-cry's village was sacked by imperial soldiers so he became a bandit in cyrodill and moved north where he got caught in skyrim (bad timing and a lot imperial troops, he could have taken them if ulfric wasnt in the way though). now he is a shadow scale in brotherhood still chasing his dreams of revenge, and the ending of the brotherhood was not enough, he still feels the need to attack whats left of the empire.