The Daggerfall Character thread

[Jay_H]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share and see about characters in Daggerfall. I've been trying something new to keep the game exciting, since playing it the way I always do gets way too easy.

Here are the rules I'm currently using, inspired by Veriax's Ironman Morrowind Adventures:

• One life only. If the character dies due to anything except a known glitch, the save file is wiped and a new character is started.
• No loading to change outcomes. Loading is only used to escape known, game-breaking glitches, or at Daggerfall boot.
• All quests must be accepted when offered, except for the main quest. I make small exceptions for the Mages' Guild quests that require the Sleep, Open, and Banish Daedra spells.
• No glitches. That means no using "Critical Weakness to Paralysis" on a High Elf; putting "Inability to Regen Magicka" on a character who already uses Light-Powered Magicka and Darkness-Powered Magicka; using magical items to replenish magicka; using cautious travel on a settlement you're already in to regain stats; Rusty Ogre Lodge or loitering inside shops; etc.
• No secluding self in a tavern and increasing skills to gain levels. Progress is gained by searching for it.
• An Anchor can be set anywhere, but Recall can't be used from within a dungeon, unless the character's life is in mortal danger. To teleport away from a dungeon the character has to be outdoors first.
• Reflex is always set to Very High.
• When doing the main quest, no using a walkthrough (tentative).

I also have rules imposed for each character, and a goal for each one. Once the character's goal is met, he enters into the archives and gets to live.

Current character:

• "Berserker," a character who has no restrictions except to use or even pick up no armor whatsoever. His goal will be to buy a house above 600,000 in value.

Paused characters:

• "Marathon Runner," a character who will either beat the main quest or achieve rank 10 in every joinable faction (only one knightly order and one temple). No restrictions, but can't die.

Retired characters:

• First Warrior. This was just my tutorial character after re-installing. He's about as ordinary as it gets. My goal was just to familiarize myself with Daggerfall again and make sure I knew what I was doing before trying some challenges.
• Swiftfoot. I thought it would be challenging to do a no-spells character, which I have tried before. In the case of this guy, he had no advantages whatsoever, so there were no strengths to play off of. I could've kept working until I became rank 10 in the Thieves' Guild, which was my original goal, but it just seemed so boring that I forced him into retiring after he joined the guild. Also, some weird glitch kept killing him every time he got imprisoned.
• The Riskmaker: No restrictions other than Max HP = 4 in Classmaker, and Endurance < 20. The goal was to reach level 5.
• The Magician: This character can kill enemies only through spells. No physical attacks are allowed. The goal was to achieve rank 10 in the Mages Guild.
• The Master Thief: a character whose abilities will tend towards thievery of all kinds. Little combat intended, and no magicka. The goal will be to obtain 1,000,000 gold. (I made it to 500,000 and everything was trivial by then.)
• Spider II: a character whose only spells are effects of Paralyze and Continuous Damage, beyond basic utility spells. His goal is to get an enchanted piece of equipment on every possible equipment slot, including jewelry.

Dead characters:

• Burning Axe: A warrior who could only use axe weapons, and only use spells of Fire element, as well as general utility spells. Died to a zombie at level 4, since I was just overconfident and I was hoping he'd die with 17 hits.
• Earth Warrior: A warrior who could only use hand-to-hand, and only heal magically via Absorb Health and Absorb Fatigue spells. Also was permitted to use Sleep spells, but it never got to be efficient enough to use. Died at level 7 to an imp after getting interrupted from rest at low health.
• Shieldmonk. Uses hand-to-hand weapon only. Cannot heal with spells. Can use general utility spells. Can cast spells with effect "Shield," "Resist Magicka," and "Spell Reflect." His goal was to reach rank 10 in the Mages' Guild. Died to a Lich at level 14 in melee.
• Atronach Sign: Restrictions are inability to regen magicka, and cannot use spells that are based solely in Restoration or Destruction. His goal will be to wear a suit entirely of ebony armor. Died to a Lich at level 10 at range.
• The Charitable: A character who uses no money whatsoever. Attempting as a zero-magicka character. Goal will be rank 10 in a knightly order. Jumped down a chasm in a dungeon which couldn't be climbed out of at level 4.
• Spider, a character whose only spells are effects of Paralyze and Continuous Damage, beyond basic utility spells. His goal is to get an enchanted piece of equipment on every possible equipment slot, including jewelry. Died to an Imp at level 2.

Planned characters:

• "Wind Watcher." A character with no restrictions, other than being unable to use any armor whatsoever. His goal will be buying a boat.
• "Luckless," a character who will never have more than 20 luck. I don't think any more restrictions than that would be necessary, although I might choose a specific kind of weapon to give him some flavor. Goal: to buy a house. Not sure whether this will provide an appropriate level of challenge.
• "Erudite," a character whose primary and main skills will be the least useful ones: language and movement skills (excluding Running and Stealth). The goal will probably be to get to level 3. I might set certain attribute limits on as well.
• "Leech," a character whose magic will entirely focus on gaining and reducing stamina, beyond utility spells.
• "Glass Robe," a character whose magic will be greatly biased towards spell reflection, absorption, and resistance, aside from utility spells.

I'll update this when something changes with my current character. I'm always looking for new angles on how to play and new challenges, so come share your characters.

[Interkarma]

This is awesome. I love self-imposed challenges where the core gameplay has been so thoroughly mastered that it becomes necessary to layer in your own mechanics to keep the challenge fresh. Keep the stories coming.

[Jay_H]

This is awesome. I love self-imposed challenges where the core gameplay has been so thoroughly mastered that it becomes necessary to layer in your own mechanics to keep the challenge fresh. Keep the stories coming.

Thank you. I want to be fairly creative in making a challenge for myself, and it helps roleplay as well, which is one of the things I most enjoy in Daggerfall. Sadly, my prediction was correct. My Shieldmonk went much further than I ever expected of him, but a Lich sent him to the graveyard. I had no memory they had such powerful melee attacks.

[EpicSpellsword404]

I wonder if someone could make a mod that adds more challenging enemies at high levels, to make things more interesting.

[Jay_H]

I wonder if someone could make a mod that adds more challenging enemies at high levels, to make things more interesting.

I've been trying to think of things that would extend Daggerfall's mid- and end-game. I think DF cuts short too soon; once your character just barely gains the power to obliterate anything in sight, then there's nothing left to challenge you.

We'd have to wait until about 2017, when mod tools will presumably arrive, but we can still think of things. I've been storing my ideas in the general thread linked in my sig, and once mod tools are finished, I'd do the necessary art modifications and create the enemies myself. (Or if there's some way to increase the existing enemy capacity in Daggerfall right now, I guess there could be some more rudimentary way of doing it. I'm only aware of things like AndyFall, that had to replace some enemies with others.)

[LypyL]

I love doing stuff like this as well, it's great for RPing. Though I'm not usally as harsh on myself as the "Risk Maker"

[Jay_H]

I usually just edit my posts instead of replying to them, but this one's worth mentioning. I put my Marathon Runner character on hold to try out something I thought of earlier today: the Berserker.

The Berserker cannot use any armor whatsoever, or even pick any up. This means two-handed weapons are the winning strategy. I maxed out Speed, and then Intelligence (shield and spell reflection ASAP), with major points in Strength as well. The result is a gameplay style that sort of feels like something out of Dark Souls; I can go roaring through enemies and entire hallways with this Elven Daikatana at 100 speed, with no encumbrance whatsoever (not sure whether that affects anything but it keeps me in character), while knowing that any hit could take away half my life. The adrenaline of trying hard to avoid any hit whatsoever is just pure fun -- at level 3, a hit from even a spider takes away like 1/4 of my health bar. This is everything I love about Daggerfall in concentrated form. I haven't enjoyed a character this much since my Magician, who couldn't use any physical attacks at all. If you want to have some fun, set Reflexes to Very High and only let yourself have one life, and I think you'll see it's like a whole new experience.

My advantages are Adrenaline Rush, Magicka = 3x Int, and Expertise in Long Blade. My disadvantages are Inability to use Leather Armor/Chain Armor/Plate Armor and Darkness-Based Spellcasting.