In the land of Tamriel, where might a handsome, wealthy young family go to watch an opera or similar dramatic performance? Aside from the Arena in the Imperial City (that is already one of the choices I am considering...)

Update: I have come up with a build idea that can hopefully force me out of my comfort zone, making me try all the aspects of the game I've been avoiding. I'm going to recreate the Little Sister from Bioshock. Based primarily on the Chirurgeon build, the character will be a purely support crafter mage type build with some lore flair. Basically: a vampire with sneak, conjuration, restoration, alchemy, pickpocket, enchanting, and some shouts, with absolutely no combat ability itself. I'm going to take the opportunity to try out a component of the game I've always wanted to try but never have: cannibalism. Eat a corpse and funnel the bonus health into Equilibrium and then Heal Other on the Atronach or Thrall. I'm thinking Atronach sine perhaps... Breton has the starting summon and daily Atronach stone, but... so many Bretons... Altmer has bonus Magicka and the Frenzy spell helps for a temporary guardian, but... they're like really tall... Bosmer don't really give us anything except a bonus to sneak and alchemy but they're the smallest... hrm... This post was edited by Krishahl at September 5, 2017 8:44 AM EDT

FlamezSword said: I suggest that maybe start off like me? Do a warriror that specializes in proctection magic and low armor, or a beserker that focuses on increases his skills through cloaking (Fire,Frost, Lightining) or maybe a Tank that loves to use Wall Spells to mainly damage a character but having another weapon or staff for backup. And with that being said i think that staffs can also be a good way to sorta test out spells that you think you'd want to experiment with (without all the grind of getting either the Mage or Lady and shooting at hundreds of enemies to get high affinity (mastery) of that skill.   My Crusader, Talion, and my most successful monk are all in the spellsword style, but I tend to ignore my spells on my monk. I try to stick with them on my crusader, but I ignore them half the time as well. It's just too tedious. My Jedi and Sith are a bit more mage-like, and maybe that's why I can't really play them much. I've been considering the newly rediscovered Exorcist build that's been nominated for the new event, but... I mean, in Skyrim, slinging a lightning bolt is exactly like shooting a bow, except it won't fall over long distances, I don't have to lead the shot, and I can still use a shield but... I mean, I have used the Vampire Lord a ton, and specifically its drain ball... I don't know, I just... dislike mages. I'd probably use spells like the skins and cloaks far more if they went on the powers button instead of in my hand. I can see the value I just... maybe it's a variety thing? With melee, i have a whole variety of directional power attacks for the scenario, and archery is both silent and benefits from poisons, but in order to use the variety that magic offers, I have to fiddle around with menus far too much... and on console I lack hotkeys in any real form, so I'm stuck with two quick swap spells and whatever else I want requires menu diving. And I suppose it's also a thematic issue, I can't think of any mage builds with a style that really speaks to me. I just end up replacing my spells with shouts. Even the magic side if the Bronze Sentinel would probably just be ignored by me. It's part of my barrier with Iron Man as well. I'm trying to think of a good character to adapt that really gives me a chance to try magic, but nothing sticks out that isn't basically Gandalf (the 5th level bard!)   I also don't much care for alchemy or enchanting but I don't mind smithing? I don't get that either. This post was edited by Krishahl at September 5, 2017 6:17 AM EDT

Another roadblock: I don't really like playing mages... in anything. Not that I dislike Skyrim's magic system, I think I like it more than most any other game, and I love rangers so it's not about being up close, it's just... I dunno, maybe I don't like all the old spells piling up in my books? I just never enjoy mages, so I'm missing out on the opportunities those things would provide... this, I don't think I ever finished the College (that I recall)...

Edana said: I totally get where you're coming from with this. I think mods have helped a lot on that score. New content in the way of quests and spells made a lot of things fresh for me again. I was able to finally get into the mindset of an evil character and their motivations in a way where it didn't feel totally flat or forced. Something I had always struggled with on vanilla. I feel like phenderix spells for me on PS4 was a big part of that. Some of those spells are kinda wack, but there were a number that fall into that ambiguous "gray" zone of good/evil... something that helped me take my character who started as neutral down a progressively dark path, and it opened up a lot of new RP options for me. I get you about crossworlds. Mine don't come from pop culture as much as they do other ancient mythology and lore because I think the universes have a lot of overlap, but I made a Hecate build this past spring which was LOADS of fun to play. Summons, multiple followers, necromancy... it was a blast. Mods and mapping out just the beginning phases of my RP was a huge part of that, and the rest sort of fell into place. I don't plan beyond that moment when I leave the cave with whoever I've decided to follow out. My suggestion would be... pick an idea, symbol, or character you want to model, do your research on just a few compatible mods which you think might by complementary, and keep it simple. I wouldn't try to force a certain trajectory too much one way or the other. I think letting it take it's course is part of it. For me, I find that it's about the journey (decision making in the moment) not the destination (end of game gear and filled quest log). You're right that once you've played the quests repeatedly, you find yourself being pulled one way or the other because you feel like it's a fit, and so you should do it. For me, I have to fight that impulse sometimes. Turning of the HUD and/or disabling fast travel also helps you stumble across things more.   If you're looking for ideas and collaboration, places to bounce ideas, I'd say this is the place to find it! Whether you want help conceptualizing or executing an idea in game, this is definitely the place to find collaborators and bounce ideas. We're all about creativity and working together here, so feel free to jump right in. I'd say the RP group would be a perfect place to start. :) As I said, I have plenty of characters started and conceptualized. I sorta cheat, I have the smoke test cell mod because when a build say heavily uses the Nightingale armour, I rush my way through the Thieves Guild quests to get it, and I lose some of the experience. The objective isn't "congrats, now you have the armour, time to imagine all the cool things you could do and ride off into the sunset." If the evolution feels natural, I'll do that, but I don't like the artificial gating or forcing of things to get where I'm going. I have a(n evil) Talion build from Shadow of Mordor that is starting with the Blackguard armour and I'm planning to transition to Vampire Royal armour once I get to the DB quest stage where I kill Astrid and move to Dawnstar, then probably gaining Nightingale armour fir my rise through House Volkihar. I opted for the drainspell bow over the Bound Bow because I like being able to quickly swap between my view, greatsword, and dagger/spell with hotkeys. But every time I load him up, standing there listening to Babette tell everyone about eating a pedophile, I get hit with "but I really wanna play Link..." and when I load him up, I think about the Abandoned House in Markarth and I weak my brain trying to come up with someone to live there, then I load my Prisoner save and mess around with designs, and run through to Whiterun and grab all my gear, then... another idea... thus, I have literally 30 character files... soly said: So let's go have a look at the Bronze Sentinel. Dread-tank of fire and brimstone, flaming elemental carnage, juggernaut defenses, dwarven ruins as the character's hunting grounds... no real RP guidelines... I had a vision of the character more as the Obsidian Sentinel's concept: a walking monster of metal that consumes magic, the physical embodiment of the Atronach sign, a machine-like near-golem of anti-magic... but what major section of content in the game let's me experience this so well? The College? Sure, it has lots of magic-focused content, but this is a magic-eating metal monster here, not the dean... so it just doesn't work there. I guess Dawnguard works, but it's not much content. I'm tired of the main quest but I guess what bigger source of magic to eat is there than dragons? There just isn't anything new to experience there besides a different way of fighting the big geckos... the companions are more of a hunger's lodge than a fighter's guild... thus, my roadblock... what vibrant there is, there's so little, or it doesn't fit... This post was edited by Krishahl at August 30, 2017 11:21 AM EDT