Skyrim is among the best modern open-world games for players to exercise their creative muscles. This is especially true once mods enter the picture. Even in the vanilla game, however, Skyrim's RPG-lite, adventure-style gameplay lends itself well to the player crafting their own experience both within and outside the bounds of the main story; in fact, players are actively encouraged to do so.
For example, many quests can be completed in more than one way while others are completely optional in nature, both of which allow the player to craft their own narrative within the world of The Elder Scrolls, and that's just a start. There are tons of tropes for players to adopt for their character when playing Skyrim.
Updated on October 17, 2022, by Gregory Louis Gomez: It's looking like Skyrim is going to be sticking for a few more years until the next Elder Scrolls game finally comes out. That means many players are going to need as many role-playing ideas as they can get in order to make the game last until it releases, whenever that may be. Thankfully, Skyrim is practically an endless font of creative potential in regard to Skyrimroleplay ideas, with the player having the freedom to take on just about any role they want. With this in mind, we've decided to update this article with a few more entries to illustrate this point.
11 The Pacifist
Bethesda games are famous for allowing players to make silly character builds. Skyrim is no different, with it even being possible to build a pacifist character, meaning the player never uses violent methods to solve problems. This can be deceptively challenging as Skyrim is a very combat-heavy game. What the player ought to do to accomplish this is level up defensive and agility-based skills (magic and alchemy skills are also extremely important), allowing them to not only run away from violent threats but survive them if necessary.
Spells like Calm and Pacify are also very useful because they can stop enemies from attacking outright. The Dragon Shout, "Become Ethereal" is also extremely useful since it makes the player invincible for a short time.
10 The Last Dragon Priest
What if the Last Dragonborn, rather than becoming a slayer of dragons, instead became a Dragon Priest like those found across Skyrim and Solstheim? Nothing good; that much is clear. Yet, this is something that is definitely open to the player should they choose to pursue each of the in-game Dragon Priests and claim their masks. Doing so will reward the player with the Konahrik mask, which the player can wear themselves.
This, combined with the Dragon Aspect shout (as well as Bend Will when appropriate) and some choice robes, will allow the player to take on the visage of a Dragon Priest. Don't forget to grab a Staff of Flames to use just like many of the in-game priests (or simply just steal Miraak's stuff).
9 The Psychopath
Being a Psychopath in Skyrim is as much of a mentality as it is a proper build. Players who choose this route ought to be as violent as possible to anyone at a moment's notice. They may invest in some of the more brutal perks, such as Savage Strike, which increases the chance of decapitation. Effects like Fear (which is both magical and alchemic) also cause enemies to run in fear from the player's terrifying presence.
Questlines may also serve to reinforce the Psychopath character trait. For example, the Dark Brotherhood questline is perfect for a Psycho character as well since it involves wanton murder of all sorts of people.
8 The Stay-at-Home Spouse
Ever wanted to just live the life of a housewife or househusband? Well, Skyrim allows players to do just that! They can completely forgo their destiny as the Dragonborn and simply buy a house, get married, and adopt a few children. The spouse will run a shop on their own and bring in the profits every so often, giving the player a steady influx of money to "live" off of, so to speak.
They will, of course, have to stay away from any big questlines and refrain from serious leveling in order to fulfill this role. This playthrough would benefit greatly from mods that enhance the realism aspect of the game.
7 The Daedric Worshiper
In much of Tamriel, the worship of the various Daedric princes is outlawed due to the fact that many of them are inherently malevolent beings that use Nirn's inhabitants for their own amusement. That said, There are many ways in which the player may serve the Daedric lords in Skyrim and gain their artifacts, though it often comes at a rather terrible price. Usually, the player has to commit one or more depraved/evil acts, such as in the case of Boethia, where the player must find a person to sacrifice. Meridia is one notable exception to this, however.
This build focuses on doing quests for Daedric Princes or joining Daedra-aligned factions whilst using mostly Daedric weapons and armor. This may include unique armor like the Ebony Mail and weapons like the Mace of Molag Bal or Mehrunes' Razor, though the non-unique Daedric armor and weaponry will do just fine. One need not exclusively utilize bladed or blunt weapons, however. Destruction, Illusion, and Conjuration are all worth investing in as well.
6 The Lone Wanderer
The Lone Wanderer trope can be fun for players who enjoy companion-less traveling across Skyrim's vast wilderness. The basic idea behind a playthrough like this is that the player is taking on a samurai-like role in which they travel light, live off the land, and can defend themselves when absolutely necessary.
This is done alone for the most part. For this playthrough, skills which emphasize stealth, combat, and crafting are imperative. This way, the player can be self-sufficient and not need to settle down in a house or need help from others.
5 The Sorcerer Supreme
Magic is a big part of the Elder Scrolls universe, to the point where it would be impossible to play any of the games and never come across magic in some form. For this reason, magic-centered builds are very common among fans. In Skyrim, the player can become extremely proficient in magic and Dragon Shouts, even to the point of never needing to use a physical weapon. Magic can be leveled up via reading skill books and practicing magic often.
Any player attempting this playthrough should go to the College of Winterhold. Following the questline here can help improve magic-related skills and even result in the player becoming the Arch-Mage, which is the leading position at the college in the game.
4 Slayer of the Undead
For fans of Van Helsing-type characters (or fans of Doomguy), the undead slayer build can be an extremely fun one. This particular character build focuses on combat skills that are especially devastating to undead enemies such as Draugr, Vampires, Skeletons, Ghosts, etc. For starters, frost resistance is a key element due to the fact that many undead enemies will attack using frost.
Leveling up Destruction spells like Fire and Shock damage is also important as Vampires are weak to those damage types. Certain weapons will also do extra damage to undead enemies, such as Silver bladed weaponry or unique weapons like Dawbreaker, making them desirable.
3 The Vigilante
Amazingly, building a Batman-like character in Skyrim is very doable. Aside from specializing in things like weapons, magic, and/or armor, the world of Skyrim lends itself well to Vigilante-style gameplay. This is to say, prowling the province's bandit and monster-occupied forts and dungeons in the dead of night dressed as some sort of mythical hero is not only easily accomplished but also tempting to try out.
Players can even build a house that has a basement containing all their best weapons and armor, acting as a sort of "Batcave." Bonus points for players who make use of the always awesome-looking Nightingale armor.
2 The Low-Life Criminal
As much as it is encouraged to play the part of the hero in Skyrim, the game makes it pretty easy to portray the role of the criminal. Stealing, lying, killing, etc., are all options that are available to the player if they build their character the right way. Certain factions like the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood feature questlines in which the player engages in all sorts of criminal debauchery.
Certain NPCs like Maven Black-Briar in Riften or Daedric Princes like Boethiah will ask the player to do some criminal work for them in exchange for a reward. Partaking in these deeds should be on any criminal's to-do list in Skyrim, though beware of getting caught and arrested by guards.
1 The Clueless Idiot
While Skyrim does not reward the player for building a low-intelligence character like some of the Fallout games do (there is no intelligence stat), the player can "soft-roleplay" as a dumb character if they're creative enough. This refers to the player's preferred backstory for their character, their motivations for certain choices, choice of attire, and weaponry, all informing the "stupidity" of the character.
Maybe the player's character went out for a drink and got lost and accidentally crossed the border into Skyrim, getting sucked into its struggles unwittingly. Perhaps this character also runs around with nothing but a wooden sword and a chef's hat. The creative potential truly is massive.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming on November 11, 2021.