“You’ve never done an honest day’s work in your life for all that coin you carry, eh lad?”

Brynjolf’s opening gambit to all characters provides the inspiration for this character who has come to Skyrim seeking fame and fortune but he doesn't want to have to work very hard to get it. His main sources of income are thieving and selling somewhat questionable potions but he is happy to accept a quest if he thinks he can make some money without putting himself in any danger, or get someone else to do the dirty work for him.

Unlike many thieves who feel honor bound to avoid killing, The Charlatan avoids fighting because he is just plain bad at it. From a gameplay perspective this means there are no perks in any combat skills so the character has to rely on Sneaking as well as Illusion and Alteration magic to avoid fighting wherever possible while resorting to dirty tricks (poisons, potions) and enchanted items (no self-enchanting though) to boost what meagre damage he can do and create the appearance of being able to fight.

While not a wholly evil character he does allow himself to be influenced by some of the Daedric Princes, particularly Clavicus Vile who as the Prince of Trickery takes a keen interest in him from an early stage.

Background

The story of The Charlatan is the classic tale of the man who had it all but threw it away, so he’s trying to steal it back again.

From an early age it was apparent that Jeremias Favareaux lacked any martial prowess known to man, with his attempts to swing a sword likened to a troll trying to chop down a tree with a sleeves. This startling ineptitude meant that any sort of military career was out of the question, so his nobleman father made an arrangement with the local monarch for him to become a court mage in his home town of Evermore. The only condition of the deal was that he had to study successfully at the famed School of Julianos in Daggerfall but his didn’t prove to be as straightforward as you might imagine for someone with his innate Breton magic abilities.

Due to equal measures of lack of interest and lack of application Jeremias was unable to grasp Destruction magic beyond the most basic of flames and perhaps more embarrassing for a Breton, all he managed to Conjure was a fairly puny familiar.  His solution to this problem showed the beginnings of his deceitful side as instead of producing powerful fireballs and Atronachs for his professors, he used his illusion skills to make them think they had seen them.  Alas, it wasn’t long before his deception was discovered and after a particularly unfortunate incident involving fellow student who had been led to believe that his ears were on fire, he was dismissed from the school.

Rather than confess his failings at the school to his father, Jeremias decided to convince him that his time spent among his peers had left him overcome by the quest obsessed culture in which they lived and he had put his studies on hold to seek his fame and fortune.  What he actually planned to do was somewhat different. He had always had a natural gift for alchemy so he figured there was easy money to be made as a traveling alchemist.  This would also give him time to come up with some suitably heroic tales of his adventures to tell when he returned.

After one too many complaints about unfortunate side effects from his potions, that he of course claimed to be entirely unaware of, Jeremias decided that the life of an alchemist was a lot more like hard work than he was prepared for.  It did however make a fine cover for an altogether more unsavory profession.  His ability to use what he had learned of Illusion and Alteration magic gave him an edge over other thieves he soon decided that this was the career for him.  Initially this went very well but he made the mistake of trying to trick Daggerfall’s biggest crime boss out of a large sum of gold and so had to make a quick escape on a boat to Hammerfell.

With a return to High Rock not an option and the weather in Hammerfell not to his taste Jeremias decided to head East to Skyrim. There he could leave his past indiscretions behind and remake himself however he saw fit. Only when he had come up with the vast coffers of gold and notoriety (deserved or not) of a successful adventurer would he consider returning home.

The Build

Race – The chosen skills and background story were designed for a Breton but an Argonian would also fit the build.

Stone – The Lover at first to level, then either the Shadow of the Serpent.

Stats – M:3/H:1/S:2

Skills - Sneak, Illusion, Alteration, Pickpocket, Alchemy, Lockpicking, Restoration, Speech

Shouts - Disarm, Become Ethereal, Whirlwind Sprint, Throw Voice, Ice Form

Gameplay

Combat (or the avoidance thereof)

The fundamental aim of this character is to avoid direct combat wherever possible.  In the early going before you have a chance to develop your skills, you can also make use of followers whenever you know that killing will be unavoidable.  As an example of the influence of Clavicus Vile, these are the poor fools to whom The Charlatan promised great wealth and glory if they helped him, only to take it all for himself.

Another underrated tactic for avoiding combat is simply to run away. This was probably my first playthrough where I didn’t attempt to kill every enemy I encountered and there’s a certain satisfaction to be gained from grabbing whatever it is you are after and leaving a crowd of angry enemies behind you.

Sneaking is a fine way to avoid combat but on the occasions that you do get caught, Calm and Fear spells can be used to distract Human or animal enemies, while frenzy is used to thin down larger groups to make them easier to get by. There’s also Invisibility which speaks for itself.

Alteration is a highly underrated skill for thieves as detect life can help you avoid enemies and telekinesis lets you grab things out from under their noses. Paralysis is also invaluable for knocking out enemies before they see you coming, particularly when combined with Quiet Casting.

This gives you early access to Paralysis and Invisibility which are two of your most useful tools. It also provides the last line of defence in the form of poisons and potions to help you out of any particularly sticky situations.

Dungeon crawling can be particularly challenging for a character that doesn’t know how to fight so Turn Undead spells can help buy you some time. If you do start to get outnumbered this is where the Sanguine Rose comes into play. Who better to help you clear a crowd of pesky Draugr with their weakness to fire than a flame sword wielding Dremora?

Finally the flying, fire and frost breathing elephant in the room, dragons. In an ideal world you would just run to the hills whenever you saw one but unfortunately if you want to use shouts you need to find a way to get their souls. When they appear near towns you can get the locsn guards to do a lot of the work for you with their trusty bows. If you encounter them in the wilderness, you can again try an lure them to someone or something else to do the fighting for you but if you’re totally stuck then it’s time to bring out the Wabbajack. This is because when it's used against dragons (as well as giants) it always exclusively causes elemental explosions, the damage from which is not affected by resistances or difficulty settings.

Making Money

A word about pickpocketing, don’t be afraid to get caught. Once you have the Bribery perk and a Calm/Pacify spell, if you get caught you simply calm the offended party and wait for the guards to show up. Bribing the guards is a good way to level up Speech and you can then level up Pickpocket further by stealing the bribe money back from them.

Potions are another good money maker and for a recipe that sells for plenty and is made with plentiful ingredients you can make Favareaux’s Super Conjurer's Solution. A mixture of Blue Mountain Flower and Blue Butterfly Wing this potion has fantastic benefits to the duration of a mages Conjuration spells. The but he doesn’t tell them is the side effect of a complete loss of Magicka regeneration.

Perks

The wide, shallow perk spread for The Charlatan has been designed to reflect the character who has natural ability in a number of areas but lacks the dedication to master any of them. It also helps maintain a balanced character that can’t rely on any one skill.

Sneak – Stealth is the first perk on the list of any thief character as staying unseen is a fundamental method of avoiding combat. It’s only been perked twice though to avoid it being overpowered.  Silent Roll is the most important perk here as it is great for diving between cover to avoid detection.  Backstab is The Charlatan’s only offensive perk as it reflects his reliance on fighting dirty.

Shouts

Most of the shouts chosen for this character are taken with damage limitation in mind. Become Ethereal can get you out of some very problematic situations when you have no need or desire to fight back. Disarm on the other hand can give you the edge when running away isn’t an option. Ice Form is used as a means of crowd control and in place of Paralysis when you want to take out more than one enemy. When combined with Quiet Casting, Whirlwind Sprint can be very handy for darting past enemies when there is no cover for sneaking and Throw Voice excels at moving guards out of the way so you can sneak by.

Equipment

“Fancy robes, what are you a wizard or something?” 

Long before he attempts to get into the College of Winterhold, The Charlatan decides that the Mage’s Robes he came across in Helgen will provide the ideal cover for his exploits as a thief and help persuade people that his potions are legitimate. I went for adept robes as they look good with the Masque of Clavicus Vile and Alteration as flesh spells tend to be on the expensive side.

Speaking of the Masque of Clavicus Vile, this is the most important piece of equipment for the character as it allows him to make very favorable deals with merchants and boosts his powers of persuasion.

The Sword of Jurgen Windcaller is an ancient sword once owned by the founder of the greybeards himself and is imbued with the power of the Thuum, or so The Charlatan would have you believe. The truth of the matter is that it is a random Ancient Nordic Sword he took from a draugr in Bleak Falls Barrow that he has been spreading stories about in order to scare off anyone who may consider crossing him. As well as the role play aspect this also works from a gameplay point of view as limiting yourself to such a weak sword reinforces the character’s lack of fighting ability.

The Sanguine Rose and Wabbajack are helpful in getting you out of sticky situations and they both fit the character of The Charlatan. The Sanguine Rose is the kind of ostentatious looking artefact that looks like it cost him a large amount of gold, when in fact he got it for free because Sanguine thought he was a bit of a laugh. The Wabbajack on the other hand reflects his troublemaking nature with its range of random effects, after all who doesn’t get some amusement from turning their opponent into a chicken.

Quests /Roleplay

Early Game – Follow the main quest up to the end of Ustengrav (remember to grab the Mage Robes in Helgen and The Sword of Jurgen Windcaller from Bleak Falls Barrow). This will get you a follower in Lydia and should take you to level 9 or so when you get the letter from the Jarl of Falkreath. Complete the Jarl’s quest, with Lydia’s help of course, to allow you to buy Lakeview Manor as your base of operations. From a roleplay perspective it makes sense to keep Lydia with you through the building process as all that building manual labor would be a bit too much like hard work for The Charlatan. Once you have your greenhouse set up (see Alchemy Corner) all the Smithing required should have bumped you to level 10 which will trigger A Daedra’s Friend when you head back down to Falkreath.  Once Barbas has helped you gain his master’s boon you’re ready to head to head to Riften and join the Thieves Guild, which will complete your early game gear.

Main Quest – While The Charlatan doesn’t have much choice in getting caught up in the main quest at the start, how far along you take it depends on how you want to role play the character. If you’re a fan of tales of redemption, The Charlatan can overcome his selfish nature and save Skyrim. Perhaps more fitting is that he gets so far before finding a fight he doesn’t want any part of and abandoning Skyrim in its hour of need.

Thieves Guild – After his experiences crossing the criminal underworld in Daggerfall, The Charlatan is happy to get on the Thieves Guild’s good side in Skyrim. This questline is a natural fit to take right to the end and the promise of riches on offer on becoming guildmaster should be too much to turn down.

College of Winterhold – After his experiences at the School of Julianos, The Charlatan is wary of attempting to join up at Winterhold but after a while (whenever one of your magic skills reaches around 50) he realizes that he still has much to learn about magic if he is to truly excel as a thief. Joining the college will give you access to higher level spells and the promise of rewards should take the character through the questline but in the end the offer of becoming arch mage sounds like more responsibility than he is willing to take on.

Bards College – This seems a natural fit for a character who is keen to tell glorious tales of adventure, regardless of how much truth is involved.

Thane Quests – “The title of Thane is an honor, a gift for your service. Guards will know to look the other way if you tell them who you are.”

As soon as The Charlatan heard this he saw an opportunity to make his life easier by being above the law. They are also a good example of his propensity to take credit for the work of others. Always take followers with you for these quests and let them do the heavy lifting while you take credit for their hard work.

Daedric Quests – The following quests are required to get access to the equipment you require. From a role play perspective these look fit the character as they are among the less evil Daedric Princes.

A Daedra’s Best Friend.  A Night to Remember. The Mind of Madness. 

 Epilogue

The Mage’s Rest Inn in Evermore was particularly quiet even for a Tirdas afternoon in late Sun’s Dusk. The innkeeper was almost set to close up for a couple of hours to run some errands when as if from nowhere a man in some tattered mage robes appeared at the bar.

“Well met traveller, what can I get y.....Favareaux? Is that you old friend?”

“Aye, ‘tis me indeed, now how about a drink?”

“Sure, sure, here you go. But where have you been all this time? Noone around these parts has seen you in years.”

“Mattheaus, my friend, I could tell you a tale of Dragons, Mages, Daedric Princes and riches beyond your imagination.......... but you probably wouldn’t believe me.