Oblivion:Roleplaying/Wilderness Dweller

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Contents 1 Possible Activities 2 Variations 2.1 Ashlander Chief 2.2 Barbarian 2.3 Hiker 2.4 Hippie 2.5 Hunter 2.6 Ranger 2.7 Umbra 2.8 Uncivilized Being/Hermit 2.9 Outlaw 2.10 Native American Tribesman/American Indian

Wilderness Dwellers explore the wilderness, living off the land and spending relatively little time in cities. They live independently and avoid relying on other people.

• Many races and birthsigns are possible
• Possible skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Athletics, Blade/Blunt, Block, Light Armor, Marksman
• Equipment:
  • You aren't going into battle, so you don't need the best quality armor and high quality weapons.
  • Wear huntsman's garments or leather and fur armor.
  • Try not to use enchanted items unless they suit your character. Appropriate enchanted items include:
    • The enchanted fur armor worn by Burz gro-Khash.
    • Boots of the Crusader (if you have installed the Knights of the Nine).
    • Saviour's Hide from Hircine's quest.
  • Since you live simply, you will not have jewelry or expensive items.

[edit] Possible Activities

• Live off the land as much as possible. There are a number ways to do this and make it not only convincing but good fun;:
  • Hunt animals for their meat.
  • "Skin" them for their hides and make a living from trade. (A good way to do this is to sell only to Shady Sam outside the Imperial City as it does not involve going into the city itself and he sells items relevant to your character.)
  • Collect ingredients to make your own potions and poisons.
• Avoid going into towns:
  • Aim to use little gold as possible and try to live independently. (For an extreme challenge, play the game without ever entering a city.)
  • If you need to sell or buy items, visit smaller settlements or roadside inns.
  • Plan trips into town carefully so that everything is done in one go.
  • Make sure you are well-stocked and prepared. Carry lots of repair hammers and try to use the one set of armour for a more authentic feel.
• You should only have a limited knowledge of magic and spells.
  • You may want to actively avoid using magic as a matter of principle, but using basic restoration spells to heal yourself in emergencies would not take away from your character. Some basic mysticism would also be appropriate; being able to sense danger or animals near by would be a well developed skill of someone living in the wild. (Detect Life)
  • Other restraints may limit your access to powerful spells: you will not be able to make spell purchases, and you will not be a Mages Guild member capable of making custom spells.
  • If you want to guarantee that your character never casts any spells, you could reduce your Magicka to zero by damaging your Intelligence. For example; drink custom potions that have Damage Intelligence side effects. Since Intelligence does not affect your Alchemical abilities, doing this will have no negative repercussions on your potions.
• Stick to basic Alchemy:
  • Use only a mortar and pestle.
  • Focus on potions that you need for survival: Restore Health, Cure Disease, Cure Poison, etc.

• Avoid fast travel:
  • Explore the countryside and learn to navigate from landmarks.
  • See other recommendations at traveling.

• Stay in appropriate locations
  • When in town, stay in the cheaper inns (e.g, The Oak and Crosier in Chorrol, Olav's Tap and Tack in Bruma).
  • Spend your nights in campsites. If you don't find a campsite, rough it that night and sleep (wait) out in the open. Look for shelter such as a large boulder, tree, or the overhang of a cave. A list of campsites can be found here
  • Or live in a remote house (Isolated House, White Stallion Lodge).

[edit] Variations

[edit] Ashlander Chief

You are the leader of an Ashlander tribe that has been exiled to Cyrodiil, either because the Imperial merchants complained about your raids or because of treason.

• Race: Dunmer
• Name: Anything Ashlander, or Assyrian
• Birthsign: Warrior
• Specialisation: Magic
• Major skills: Armorer, Heavy Armour, Blade, Marksman, Conjuration, Destruction, and another of your choice
• Attributes: Intelligence and Willpower

Decide where your tribe's new home should be. Lord Drad's Estate after the quest for Malacath has many buildings, workers, fields, and a mine.

The only Dunmers who will follow you are Modryn Oreyn and Harrow, who you may wish to leave alone as he can easily be killed by a wild animal, but Lord Drad's Estate has two Dunmer after the quest for Malacath is completed. However, as the Ashlanders need slaves you can have almost any follower in the game in your tribe (but do not have too many - they are slaves). If you have followers such as Mazoga the Orc who can be told to wait, you can put them in the houses and bring in suitable items such as food and simple decoration as long as you do not ruin the Ashlander style.

You could also use the glitch that makes torches you have thrown on the ground burn, and make a community fire. Use this to cook whatever your tribe eats - mostly meat with a few rare vegetables would be good.

Also, you can invent a religion for your tribe. They do not have to follow the Nine Divines. They could be Daedra worshipers, or any other religion you invent! You could conduct rituals with your conjuration skills, and make sacrifices.

Hunt for food with your bow, and keep all wolf and bear pelts. You could raid nearby ruins and even villages for horses, food, clothes, and loot, and occasionally raid Veyond Cave if you are a militant leader. If not, find the sheep outside Weynon Priory that follows people who have apples (if you are on the PC, spawn a few of them) and herd them around the steppes.

Wear robes or the attire of a huntsman (on the PC, you could also use Pit Armour, available via the console), depending on what you are doing. When fighting, make use of your bow to do as much damage as possible before summoning a creature and running in with war axes or claymores. Remember, you are not a trained fighter, and although you are a fanatic you will not be able to defeat more powerful enemies. Summon something, and use your magic!

Some Ashlanders use face paints (achieved by turning the skin tone slider to the far left, and adjusted by doing the same with the complexion slider) to give them camouflage, and the mystical symbols of which are believed to grant them magical defenses.

An ashkhan on a hunt with her tribesmen.

[edit] Barbarian

Be a fierce and barbaric warrior! Create a Nord or Orc character. Only wear either fur, leather or chainmail armour. Use Two-Handed weapons (Claymores, Battle-Axes, Warhammers or Volendrung is a great choice for this).

Live in the mountains, use the console to create or befriend other bandits and make them your barbarian friends. Make Dive Rock or Gnoll Mountain your home. Live in a nice cave or house in the wilderness (e.g Brindle Home), of course after the place is cleansed of the original inhabitants.

If you live at Brindle Home you might actually not kill the inhabitants for the fact that the people who live there are Hunters and Adventurers, similiar to you: a Barbarian, so you could live with them pretending they are your friends, drink the mead and ale with them, live with them, adventure along with them, etc.

Keep a collection of looted items, bones and skulls (nice for a skeleton puzzle). Keep a nice supply of booze so you can get drunk (along with your friends, see Above) after a successful raid. Go out and raid villages, caves and forts. Don't go into cities, since Barbarians don't really like cities. Barbarians like to explore alot the world that surrounds them. The wilderness is their home and land so try to get a full map (discover all possible locations) and loot many locations such as Rockmilk Cave from time to time.

[edit] Hiker

Nords work the best, with The Steed or The Thief birthsign. A class that Specializes in Stealth or Combat, and has major attributes such as Strength, Speed, Agility or Endurance should be used. For Major Skills, use Athletics, Acrobatics, Blade/Blunt/Hand-to-Hand, Light Armor, Block, Sneak and either Alchemy or Marksman.

Use the right clothes, depending on the place you are. A Full Fur Armor for when in the Snow Ice and extremely cold Mountains, like the Jerall or Valus Mountains (like Dive Rock). Use regular clothes or Leather armor in hotter places, like Anvil or Chorrol.

Your ultimate goal in life is to reach Dive Rock. Prepare for every trip. You won't find deer or food in the mountains. Use followers as helpers, Don't leave anyone behind (unless its too late). Once you've reached Dive Rock you could act as though the diary was written by a relative, you should avenge the relative. Or even if it wasn't a relative, avenge a fellow hiker. Find flat pieces of land to camp at night, wake up early and continue.

[edit] Hippie

Race(s): Bosmer,Imperial or Nord Specialization(s): Personality and Alchemy

• Peace and Love
• Live and let live
• Eat vegetables and not meat
• Go Protesting On the Streets
• Wear Hippie-like Clothes
• Wear sandals or no shoes
• Take Mind-Altering drugs like greenmote to expand your mind
• Love nature and respect life as it is
• live in the wild for days at a time

Respect The Green Pact and harm no nature or plants in return for protection from Mara

[edit] Hunter

A hunter is, simply, a character who hunts deer and the animals of the forest, such as wolves and bears. Your livelihood will come from these animals.

Talk to Honditar to learn about the hunter lifestyle. You might want to pretend that Honditar gave you a map that shows you where the best places are to hunt for deer. Use alchemy to provide you with poisoned arrows so that you don't have to chase down deer. When you come across ruins, be cautious and rarely go in them. You're not out for treasure; leave the adventuring to adventurers. Carry a dagger so that when you need to clean an animal, put in a few well placed swipes, or just carry a knife and pretend you can't look in dead animal's inventories without it.

[edit] Ranger

Rangers are isolated people who protect the wilderness and only kill when they need the food. They are grim in appearance, and dress primarily in green and brown clothes. Some rode rough-haired, sturdy horses and they were skilled with bows and swords. Find, and live in, an isolated house that no one is likely to visit (E.G. roland jenseric's cabin on the road between cheydinhal and the imperial city).

• Race(s): Bosmer,Imperial or Nord
• Default classes that are obvious choices: Scout or Archer
• Specialization(s): Agility and Speed
• Skill(s): Athletics, Blade ,Light Armor, Marksman, Sneak, Alchemy and Acrobatics
• Equipment: Forester's Shirt, Huntsman Leather Pants, Green Robe Hood and Huntsman Moccasin.

Rangers have keen senses and abilities to understand the language of birds and beasts, making them great warriors. Protect the wilderness from all trespassers of the forest. Clean up bandit camps and monsters of nature (ogres, goblins, etc). Only enter a fort/cave if there is evidence bandits/goblins are inside. Pick a certain area to patrol: the Great Forest, the Valus Mountains, Blackwood, etc.

Pretend that in the First Era the Rangers had a group called the Keepers of the wood or something like that but over the the last two eras the rangers mysteriously vanished into the deepest corners of Tamriels forests and now there is only few of your kind left and now the Rangers are a wandering Folk. All of the Imperial Foresters are rangers so treat them as family.

Go on Goblin hunts and try to learn each of the tribes names and conditions, or make them go to war with each other.

[edit] Umbra

Complete the Clavicus Vile quest. Wear Umbra's Armor. Equip yourself with the Umbra Blade. An alternative (if you haven't access or interest in the above) is to enchant your favorite armor and favorite weapon and name them after your new title (eg. rename Orcish Cuirass "Umbra's Cuirass" and rename your Steel Warhammer "Umbra's Warhammer"). Use Azura's Star to charge your weapon when ever needed.

Find a good hideout near each city/village (eg. Quickwater Cave is the perfect hiding place for terrorizing Cheydinhal). Kill all that occupy the hideout (Creatures and especially Orc Adventurer). Keep all your valuables in the hide out. Keep all types of poisons to cover Umbra with.

Enter the village (eg. Pell's Gate) or city (eg. best start small with Bravil as the count isn't essential). Raise your bounty (either by using the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal or by assaulting and resisting arrest). If you are playing the PC version you can remove their "essential" tag. Kill everyone in the area! Men and Mer!. After all are gone move to a new hideout near your next target area.

[edit] Uncivilized Being/Hermit

Uncivilized Beings are pitiful creatures, lost/born in the wild and raised by animals. Thus, they have a loving kindness towards animals and protect them.

• have light armour, hand-to-hand, blade, athletics, etc as your major skills to show you were truly born in the wild and you have grown to use only what is around you (light armour is for fur armour, blade for the rusty dagger, athletics for running from big animals like a bear, etc).

Make your character have dark-ish skin at the start of the game, to simulate a dirty face. Wear the minimal amount of clothes. Only use rusty daggers, as if you found one that someone threw away. Have long hair. Never attack an animal unless it attacks you first (Boots of the crusader are useful for this, as the woodland grace ability stops natural creatures attacking you). Survive off fruits and vegetables. Pretend you are afraid to go into town (or maybe when you do, you go crazy because the buildings aren't natural, and kill everyone).

Alternatively, you could roleplay being found by bandits one day and taken in as one of them. they might teach you their ways in the hope you will join them, or maybe you just kill them as soon as they try to approach you.

"Hermits" are people that live in the hills(preferably the Jerall Mt.). Like exile's, they are isolated from society, but not as a criminal but as a life style. wear grey robes and sandalls or no shoe's at all, a hood is optional. live in a camp or cave(dive rock is good) but never in a house. Avoid fighting, but when you must use Stave's or Hand to Hand. Be old and bearded(you might be an old monk seeking peace and ways to find the Nine, pray to their Daedric princes, etc). Good skills are:

•Hand to Hand

•Athletics

•Acrobatics

•Illusion

•(2 more of your choosing)

[edit] Outlaw

Outlaws are criminals who are either on the run, or living in the wild. They usually attack travellers on the roads, (simillar to bandits), and always have a base camp where they store their loot. You could be a Robin Hood style outlaw, and have merry men. Honditar would make a good follower, so use command humanoid. There are other charcters who work. Experiment! Maybe go solo, work up a high bounty and live in the forest! You could live in a cave, and go outside when you need something. Only visit towns if you have to. It's dangerous to do so.

• Marksman, athletics, acrobatics, stealth, illusion and blade. Maybe fur armour.

These are the best skills. Maybe create a custom class.

[edit] Native American Tribesman/American Indian

Become a Native American hunter!

• Any human class will work, but Redguards are the most suitable.
• For your major skills, select blade, marksman, light armor, sneak, armorer, hand to hand, and another of your choice.
• Find a camp with a large tent. Walker Camp is a great example. Use the tent as a tipi.
• Use your bow to hunt wild animals such as deer, boar or sheep. Use your sneaking skills to quickly take out a herd.
• Use the torch glitch to create a camp fire to cook meat on.
• Hunt lions, wolves and bears. Aim to kill at least 5 a day. After getting around 30 pelts, travel (i.e. walk or run) to a city and sell the pelts. Use the money to buy more arrows, hammers or another weapon.
• For these characters, fur armor is the best, but leather or even normal clothes will work just as well.
• Create a War Cry Spell that will terrify enemies
• Always take a shirt or armor or leave a quill (feather) to show who killed them
• Create a Tribe by recruiting followers