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Character Build: Fisherman of the Rift (Modded)

Tags: #Character Build Pilgrim  #Character Build Mods 
  • February 6, 2017

    Character Build: Fisherman of the Rift

    (Modded Build)

     

    Concept:

    Fishing is much more than fish. It is the great occasion when we may return to the fine simplicity of our forefathers.

    - Herbert Hoover

     

    The Riften Fisher is a simple and honest man trying to make a simple and honest living. While mercenaries, spellswords and warriors head off on risky adventures, the Fisherman of the Rift is more than content to stay behind and do what they do best: catching fish and selling their haul off at the local marketplace.

    Though satisfying, the lifestyle can at times be lonely, and they are often known to bring along a companion to chat with – one of the many adventurers they’ve befriended at one of Skyrim’s many taverns.

    They carry no weapons, save for the wood axe used to chop up fuel for the fireplace and a small knife to untangle ropes and nets. With keen senses, they can spot danger quickly enough and resort to hiding in the shadows until the dangers pass or sneaking by if need be. If absolutely necessary, they will join the fight, but only when they’re more capable companion is outnumbered or overwhelmed.

     

     

    Build:

    The first installment in my Life as a Commoner series (WIP Tavern Wench here)

    Note: To play this build you will need Fishing in SkyrimRiften Fishing Shack, and a boat mod of your choice.

    See Recommended Mods section for more mods that enrich the Fisherman experience.

    Race: Irrelevant. Lore-wise, Nords, Dunmer, Argonians or Bretons would fit into the city of Riften. 

    Sign: The Thief for speech. The Lord to offset no armor rating from clothing if needed.

    Stats: 0/1/2 (M/H/S).

    Major Skills: Speech, One Handed, Sneak.

    Minor Skills: Light Armor, Archery, Alchemy

    Equipment: Common clothing, leather armor if need be. You are a standard citizen after all.

    Weapons: Wood axe, hunting bow, long bow.

    Follower: Anyone whose company you enjoy.

    Possible Quests: “Deliver and collect this” type quests, earning Windstad Manor (the only home with a Fish Hatchery).

     

    Major Skill Perks

    Speech: 

    Entire left-side tree

    Years of fishing and haggling have made the Riften Fisherman an impressive smooth talker, one able to always purchase items for their rightful price, not fooled into money scams or other cheap tricks others use to earn some quick coin at the expense of a foolish customer.

    The Fisherman also has a good eye for business, and knows who to invest in.

    One-Handed:

    Armsman (3/5)

    The common fisher knows their way around a knife, expertly gutting fish and using their blade to free their nets from a tangled mess. Likewise, they are handy with an axe and know how to use it properly. They are, however, by no means an expert swordsman.

    Sneak:

    Stealth (5/5) and Muffled Movement

    One doesn’t survive Skyrim’s harsh and dangerous lands by bringing attention to ones self. The fisher has keen senses and an instinct that lets them know when danger is around the corner. When life-threatening situations arise, the Riften Fisherman knows his place and quietly hides away until the danger is gone.

     

     

     

     Minor Skill Perks

    Light Armor: 

    Agile Defender (2/5)

    As a boy, the Fisherman did participate in hunting sessions with their father, who taught them various skills needed in life, such as hunting with the bow and caring for a set of armor.

     Alchemy 

    Alchemist (2/5) and Physician

    Potions are expensive, and healing magic is far beyond the grasp of the common fisherman. Thus, they’ve always had to brew their own concoctions to rid themselves of the common illnesses that riddle Skyrim.

     Archery:

     Overdraw (2/5)

    As mentioned above, while the fisherman does not hunt for a living, they certainly occasionally take part in the sport.

     

     

     

    Core Mods of the Riften Fisherman:

     

    These mods build the foundation of the fisherman’s simple lifestyle.

     

    Fishing in Skyrim: The mod adds dozens of new ways to catch fish, ranging from the standard fishing net that you throw into the water, to fishing rods that can be baited to attract certain types of fish and dwarven fishing dynamites to simply blast everything out of the water. 

    The mod also adds dozens of new fishing spawn locations, as well as various other surprise items.

     

    Riften Fishing Shack: Pictured above. A beautiful home along the shore of Lake Honnerich, outside Riften. The house is an exterior home (no load screens!) and comes with a tanning rack, fireplace, alchemy table, wood-chopping block and many storage containers and other impressive features.

     

    Boat mods: For the boats I recommend Travel By Boat and/or Script Free Ship Sailing. As a fisher, you will spend the majority of your time traveling down bodies of water. These will come in handy when navigating from one lake to the next.

     

    (Highly) Recommended Mods:

    Gameplay: Jobs of Skyrim. Offers a variety of jobs the player can do to earn gold, including selling fish to a fisherman merchant.

     

    Clothing: Common Clothes. Adds a variety of different outfits for your common citizen to wear.

     

    Survival: Any you like, really. Campfire + Tentapalooza is great, an eating/drinking/sleeping mod of your choice, Frostfall or Hypothermia and Diseased – Disease System Overhaul can make this playthrough infinitely more interesting.

     

    Marriage: Spouses Can Live Everywhere. You may find this useful if you wish your spouse to move in with you to the Riften Fishing Shack.

     

    Travelling Wagons: For when you need to make deliveries to other holds. I recommend Dragonkiller Cart or Gypsy Eyes Caravan.

     

     

    Gameplay: 

    This build actually isn’t half as boring as you probably think it might be. Rather than attacking everything head-on and being the savior of Tamriel, you are a Nobody – a commoner simply trying to survive the day-to-day life of Skyrim. Being a commoner is an interesting and satisfying way to go about playing TESV.

    After the business at Helgen, you will want to find your way back home to Riften as swiftly as possible. You will arrive to find thieves have stolen everything of worth at home, and you must somehow earn the coin back, in order to purchase your fishing equipment. Maybe the fisher takes up cave-hopping, trying to find anything of value to sell; perhaps they even stoop to looting from the corpses of fallen soldiers and bandits. Luck also plays a role, for the general goods store in riften does not often stock up on fishing nets and rods - perhaps you'll find someone willing to lend you the items in the Riften Fishery, where you work. Alternatively, you can make the journey to Solitude, where rumor is, there is a merchant who sells the highest quality equipment.

    Once the chaos of rebuilding your life is complete, you can resume your simple lifestyle.

     

    Daily Routine:

    The early bird gets the worm. The Fisherman’s day starts at the crack of dusk. After eating a healthy breakfast, they head off to fish in Lake Honnerich, following the stream and hauling in fish wherever they can find it – rowing all the way down to Ivaarstead if necessary.

    By around 9am however, they are back in town to catch the rush of business hours to sell off their daily haul, whether that be at the Riften marketplace or another village they’ve stopped in. During the day, it's not uncommon for them to chop up wood to either sell off or use for their campfires.

    Your weapon is your wood axe/dagger and should be used only when absolutely necessary. Your follower is more skilled at combat and you will typically let them do the dirty-work, though you occasionally will need to support your companion, striking the enemy from behind while your friend keeps them busy. Should an enemy attack and die by your company's hand, it is not uncommon for the fisher to loot valuable items off the attacker, so they may sell them for some coin.

    The Riften fisher is a kind and friendly soul, and doesn't simply fish all day long: they often help tend the crops of their neighbors, do small tasks from those who ask, and spend their evenings drinking and chatting away at the local inn, listening to tales of adventure from the traveler's of Skyrim. Perhaps they even meet their soulmate in one of these inns and eventually asks them to move in with them, where they can hunt and fish together or earn extra income through a shop.

    The Fisher is also an amateur alchemist, experimenting with ingredients and coming up with useful concoctions to either heal themselves or poison and slow down the occasional deer and enemy.

    A fisher is not a man without aspirations, however: they too dream of being rich and living in their own manor where they can retire comfortably. The Windstaad Manor property in Hjaalmarch is one such dream location, being so close to the Capital of Skyrim, with the Solitude Docks offering a great fishing haul.

     

     

    Gameplay Restrictions:

    Assuming you don’t have any survival mods installed, you will need to follow a strict set of rules.

     

    1. 1. You must eat at least once every 8 hours. Never raw food, always cooked.
    2. 2. When travelling in the north, you must wear fur armor, fur boots, and fur gloves. With Dragonborn installed, the Skaal set will do nicely as well. None of this walking around in a t-shirt business when you’re in Winterhold.
    3. 3. Apart from Ataxia and Rattles, all diseases are fatal. You must cure yourself within 2 weeks.
    4. 4. No fast travel. Use the carriages, hike, or your boat.

     

     

    Optional Restrictions:

    1. 1. You are a fisher and will get wet. Always travel with a spare change of clothes.
    2. 2. Clothes also get dirty when worn too long, try to switch up your wardrobe every couple of days (or even daily)


     

     

    Photo Credits:

    hideyoshi/ erenarik/ santeri/ artbytheo/ tomscholes/ tsonline

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Member
    February 6, 2017

    Oh man, this is awesome! :D Fantastic down-to-earth spirit with a deep RP element, along with the reminder to enjoy the simple things in the game. Sadly, the principle mods aren't showing up on the Xbox mod list - believe me, I would be all over Travel by Boat as it was one of my favourite things to do in Witcher 3. That said, only a matter of time before I can fish and sail the lakes of Skyrim :)

  • February 6, 2017

    Ah damn, that's such a shame! Maybe someday somebody kind enough will port those mods to Xbox. Though I'm sure in the future there will be plenty of other more up-to-date alternatives to these mods :D

    I found this Rowboat mod while scrolling through Xbox mods: https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/skyrim/mod-detail/3095835. Maybe it's worth trying?

    Also found this player home: https://mods.bethesda.net/#en/workshop/skyrim/mod-detail/3209596. Not a fishing shack, more of a farm, and a little further away from Riften - but looks beautiful as well!

  • Member
    February 7, 2017

    Excellent RP Build - One I could see myself really going deep into character with. Very well done indeed!

  • February 7, 2017

    Thanks man! It really is a favorite of mine - so simple but still great fun.

  • February 16, 2017

    This is a nice build. I have tried all the mods featured and enjoyed the experience, just fishing and exploring the land. I've done something similar with hunterborn and a bow-toting Nord hunter. Really nice work here. :D

  • February 16, 2017

    Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

    I've done a few hunting playthroughs as well, but I think I'm just too terrible at it hahah. I can never quite aim properly with a bow. Crossbows on the other hand..    

  • Member
    February 16, 2017

    Awesome build, Pestilence! Such a simple theme is often overlooked, but you transformed it into something very appealing. 

  • February 16, 2017

    Thank you! Happy you enjoyed it. Honestly, I've had more fun with "Commoner" playthroughs than any other, most of the time. It really gets you immersed in the Skyrim world.

  • February 16, 2017

    Pestilence said:

    Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

    I've done a few hunting playthroughs as well, but I think I'm just too terrible at it hahah. I can never quite aim properly with a bow. Crossbows on the other hand..    

    You play controller or Keyboard/mouse? I play on pc but with a controller cause I write too much, but it can be a challenge to do archery. One of my favorite weapons to use. Just a good ol'fashioned hunting bow.