I really enjoyed this. Well done, Couch Warrior! Thank you for showing us a rational and entirely doable approach to roleplaying, especially for those of us who might've gotten 'quest fatigue' from doing the same quests over and over again, just with different faces on.

You've encouraged me to give my characters a more in-depth examination.

I had not heard of Robert McKee until now, so thanks for the link!

Just out of curiosity, do you have an interest in script-writing or penning a novel? It's always nice to meet other like-minded individuals. There's a few of us in Tamriel Tales that would like to make a career out of writing some day.

Surprised you didn't also post the podcast where you talked about this as well. (Link for those curious)

Great stuff. "What are the lies they tell themselves?" is a particularly great question to try and answer while creating a character. My canon Dragonborn is heroic, but being seen as the classic hero is part of his subconscious motivation. This can be good (he does help a lot of people) and bad (he's pretty easily manipulated and considering his power, this can be really bad). I'm not sure if he qualifies as a narcissist.

"What are the institutions of society that our character rails against or embraces?" is another one I like. Continuing on with my Dragonborn, he's tried to act like he's above societal standards. This is for a few reasons, namely he knows how complex certain things like the Civil War are. Killing a dragon and other monsters is simple. Killing a local hero is complicated. Complicated is bad when you're trying to be a 'hero of the people.' But avoiding the war still has bad effects in itself.

I haven't fleshed out the next bit, but I'm also thinking a cult eventually forms around him. A revival of the Dragon Cult who see him as the new Alduin, perhaps? They might believe he absorbed Alduin's soul and, by extension, took on his (arguably necessary) role as World-Eater. Obviously he never absorbed Alduin's soul, but they wouldn't know. This means he's almost become an institution of society despite his avoidance of it. A dangerous cult rising up in Skyrim would also be very bad in the eyes of the Empire and Stormcloaks. They might think he's trying to take control and this isn't exactly helped by his avoidance of traditional society and government.

Anyways the point of this comment is basically just to give a small example of a couple questions. Though, for anyone reading, the podcast explores another character in far more detail. Seriously, just listen to it.

Just ran out of time.  Thanks for the comments! Examples are the best test for any model. 

As my favorite author, the great and mighty G.R.R.M. once said: "The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself."

The first time I saw this, it really made me think about what I want my characters to be. This plays greatly with what you've written here. This is a great article, it's well written and shines a light on many things the average player just glosses over. Kudos for writing this 

And I realize my screw up past the edit time. The quote was originally from William Faulkner, but G.R.R.M. stated that his writing, specifically ASoIaF, is based heavily around this concept.

It's a great quote no matter who said it!

so hold on what about say the main quest where you go to the greybeards because im roleplaying a power hungry demi-god but he hates Akatosh so what do I do? 

I can't think of anything to add, so I just want to say that this is an exceptional piece, and you've gained yourself a new listener to the podcast! Hope to see more great things from you in the future.

Hey CouchWarrior, extremely stellar work you've got here. This article has really transformed how I perpetuate Skyrim and my character. I mean really man, it's just brilliant. Thank you for making this, and welcome to the community!