Stop Right There, Criminal Scum!: An Oblivion Live Blogging

How far I will get with this will depend on a lot of factors, and it may not get very far, but it's worth a shot, so without further ado, an Elder Scrolls Oblivion Liveblogging.

To get started, I need to have a few things out of the way. Can't quite play when I don't have a character, y'know? So, I'm leaving it up to you all to decide one what I'll be playing.

The options are as follows:

Races of Oblivion. On top of that, I have Cute Elves and Mystic Elves added. I'm not quite sure of their starting stats, but needless to say, they're both magic oriented. Obviously, you only get to choose one race, and you can choose between male and female.

Birthsigns. You can choose only one.

Attributes. You can choose two main attributes, which adds +5 to them.

Skills. You can choose seven main skills, which adds +20 to them.

I'll also need a name.

If you've got any suggestions on the character's appearance, I'm open to hear it.

Also, at the very beggining, you encounter a rather... annoying prisoner who taunts you from his cell, safe in the knowledge that you can't hit him. However, using console commands, you can unlock your and his cell to smack him around a little bit. Again, I'll leave that up to you all to decide whether I should do this.

edited 5th Sep '09 5:25:37 PM by Miijhal

MIIJHAL OH BELOVED SOVEREIGN I AM YOUR ETERNALLY LOYAL MINION AND ALSO AN OBLIVION FAN! IF YOU REQUIRE MY ASSISTANCE IN ANY WAY THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THIS LIVEBLOG DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK!

Also, given the title of this Liveblog I suggest you go for something stealthy. I'd like to see a Kaiijit PC, personally. Get the feeling they aren't too popular. Other than that I can't think of anything.

I remember back when I played Morrowind I ended up taking the Steed as my birthsign for every one of my many alts, just because it tended to speed up travel a bit. Guess that isn't as important now, what with Fast Travel and all. I'd suggest going with The Ritual, just because those powers seem cool.

edited 5th Sep '09 5:37:36 PM by DireSloth

Cute Elf, Strength & Personality, Tower.

Skills: Hand-To-Hand, Speechcraft, Heavy Armor, Athletics, Acrobatics, Illusion, and Alteration.

Voting for an awesome Cute Bruiser in other words. I have no idea how optimized this is but I think an optimized playthrough might be kind of boring. If Bare-Fisted Monk isn't viable, I'll vote for Blunt instead.

Oh, appearance: short girl with pink hair. (Alternatively, make her look as much like Molly Hayes as possible.)

edited 5th Sep '09 5:45:38 PM by Haven

Well, for the most part, I'm going to be ignoring the fast travel option. Because I'm going to be taking suggestions as to what to do, I need to add some time in between both options. Oblivion doesn't like it when I alt+tab out of it, so I can't post the choices as they come up.

@Haven: I never worry about optimization.

I actually already have a pink haired cute elf. She's even in the game now as a possible companion.

Anyway, so far the suggestions are:

• Race: Argonian(1), Cute Elf(1), Khajiit(3), and Mystic Elf(1)
• Birthsign: The Ritual(1), The Mage(1), The Shadow(1), The Theif(2), and The Tower(1)
• Attributes: Agility(1), Luck(1), Personality(1) and Strength(2)
• Skills: Acrobatics(1), Alteration(1), Athletics(1), Block(2), Destruction(1), Hand-To-Hand(1), Heavy Armor(1), Illusion(2), Light Armor(1), Speechcraft(2), Restoration(2), Sneak(3), Marksmanship(1), Blade(2).

edited 12th Sep '09 2:14:10 PM by Miijhal

Instead of Heavy Armor, go with Block. And add Destruction attacks in there, for some serious DBZ action. It'll be fine, I promise :3

Also, there's no height slider in character creation, but I think it's possible to make your character shorter using the console.

Destruction? She doesn't need DBZ, she has the strength of her arms! Her magic should be more utility-based.

edited 5th Sep '09 5:51:46 PM by Haven

Khajit, female. Just because I like Khajit, and my ringmaster in Morrowind was one (the head with the neat little earrings, if anyone wonders). Their stats aren't that great, unfortunately; if you want it for stats, one way to go is Imperial, especially for their greater power.

I'd highly suggest getting Restoration as a skill, so you can heal sooner. Also, I'd suggest not taking Acrobatics or Athletics, as those raise in levels too fast. Anything else is up to you, of course.

I'm also voting for Khajit. Also, if you're doing a mage, go for The Mage as a birthsign.

I'm not opposed to this Khajiit idea. Argonians are still the best, though.

Seems I'll be doing a Khajiit then.

I personally think Sneak for a stats or what have you. It's REALLY handy. Then again I always make a rouge/thief character soo ^^;

EDIT: Plus Kajiit are naturals for thieves! They have that nightsight race ability which means no having to make nightvision potions!

edited 5th Sep '09 5:58:20 PM by Jinxed Blackcat

Sneak is fun. Especially when you mix in a bow and a chameleon spell, at which point it becomes hilariously cheap. :P

As to leveling, that's not an issue. If things get too hard, I can always recruit a few teammates to help me. Plus, the difficulty bar is a wonderful thing.

edited 5th Sep '09 6:01:43 PM by Miijhal

Alright, considering that we've got the race down, I'll start up my character, since the other stats aren't brought up until a little while in. Now, should I smack the prisoner around a little?

I vote yes. I haate that guy! I usually useleslly punch the cell doors during his taunting.

I second the yes. Also, if you have time, Resurrect him and kill him again!

Looks like thusfar we're voting on some sort of sneaky kung-fu guy. That's pretty cool. The unarmed sneak-attack animation is sweet. Just a quick word of advice though: don't take Security as a class skill. One of the Daedric shrine quests gives you an unbreakable lockpick, which basically makes the skill useless once you hit level ten.

Also, what mods are you using?

NINJA EDIT: Screencaps or it didn't happen.

edited 5th Sep '09 8:39:27 PM by DireSloth

He can't be killed. You can still punch the crap out of him, though.

yes.. yes you can...later >:3

For those who have yet to see it, the intro.

Immediately after the flashy little intro scene, the character creator pops up. We've determined that I'll be making a female Khajiit, who, unfortunately, get less options for customization than most characters. You're stuck with yellow eyes, and your choices for hair are severely limited. On the plus side, you don't really have to worry about making a freakishly ugly character, since you're a cat person.

Once you finish making your character, the game you've been waiting to play begins, and you're thrust...

Into a jail cell. They don't really explain why you're there, so, for the sake of a backstory, we'll just make one up. The character in question is Chelsea Cheeto◊. For somewhat obvious reasons, she has anger issues. Very bad anger issues. Most notably, even mentioning her last name sends her into a bloody rage. Unfortunately, a poor Nord found this out after having his eyes clawed out for suggesting that it must 'not be easy being cheesy'.

Of course, jail kind of mellowed her out. She even made a friend with a Valen Dreth, the Dark Elf in the cell across from her. In fact, as we join her, she was just about to say 'hi' to him.

Say◊ ‘hi’◊ Chelsea◊ Cheeto!◊

As she was saying hello to Mr. Dreth, though, the Emperor and his guards decided to pay a visit, so she went back to her cell like a good kitty would◊. However, it was all for not, because it seemed the Emperor and his guards weren’t there for chit-chat.

As it turned out, the Emperor was being chased by assassins from the Mythic Dawn. The cell Chelsea was in was actually a secret escape route from the castle, but, due to the power of IMPERIAL BUREAUCRACY, she wound up in the cell which she could have escaped from at any time. The guards were kind of pushy, telling her to get up against the wall and not bother them, but the Emperor seemed nice, if a little flirtatious. “You’re the one from my dreams.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Emperor, I’m flattered, but we just met.”

Due to the power of IMPERIAL BUREAUCRACY, the escape route was a one way affair◊, so they left the gaping hole in the wall open so Chelsea could waltz out of her cell. She kindly obliged.

Next part will come tomorrow. It'll start getting shorter once the tutorial is through.

edited 5th Sep '09 10:19:04 PM by Miijhal

Cheetos are delicious.

Haha, great start, oh Beloved Sovereign. Can't wait for the next part. I heard tell that it is possible to kill one of the Blades before they leave your cell, netting you a free set of armor, an invitation to the Dark Brotherhood, and inexplicably not netting you a bounty. Don't know if it's true or not.

Hey, what happens if you use the console to unlock your cell and just leave the prison that way?

You can't. The door to the outside world isn't actually a door, just a texture on the wall.

I wasn't aware you could kill one of the Blades. I know one dies almost immediately, and you can loot her sword(s), but she doesn't drop any armor.

You can however strip Uriel Septim of all his equipment through console commands. I've even heard you can prevent him from being killed.

edited 6th Sep '09 4:24:19 PM by Miijhal

OUTLANDER

By the way:

Intermission.

You / you-you violated the law (STOP!)

Oh Lady Miijhal wonderous as always, you are!

In all seriousness this is fun to read. That intro video. I do have things to say about it. The old man looked funny. His face was weird. The giant...cannon...thing o' doom made me think of Shining Force! You know the the cannon that bad guys get to blow the Shining Force off a bridge and stuff? If not...nevermind me. Last but not least, the music sounded rather piratey to me. That may just be me though. In fact I'm sure it is.

Continuing from where I left off...

With the escape route from the cell now open, and the guards seemingly not giving a damn that a prisoner who may or may not be an Omnicidal Maniac will now be on the loose, Chelsea Cheeto began trailing Patrick Stewart Old Man Septim and his katana wielding henchmen. It didn’t take long, however, for a group of Mystic Dawn assassins to leap out from above and attack the group. Apparently, while there was only one way out of the escape route, there were plenty of ways in. One must wonder whose idea that was.

The assassins didn’t last very long, but they did manage to take down one of the Emperor’s guards. To show her respect for the fallen warriors, Chelsea looted their corpses and stripped them naked◊… Then donned the outfit of said assassins◊, as one would do when trying to establish oneself as an ally.

With the assassins now defeated, the Emperor and gang continued down the passage, shutting and locking a door in Chelsea’s face, leaving her alone. Suddenly, though… RATS!◊ (Because you can’t have a generic fantasy romp without rats.) They, like the assassins before them, didn’t last very long against the mighty KHAJIIT FINGER STAB◊.

With the rats cleared from the room, our Khajiit protagonist was allowed to escape from a newly opened hole in the wall, because not only was the escape route poorly thought out, it was also poorly constructed. For some reason, a fairly elaborate cave system was connected to said hole, which was filled with quite a few treasure chests, most of which were locked. Conveniently, the cave was also full of lock-picks.

(This was obviously meant to introduce the lock-picking mechanic◊. To sum it up, click on “Auto Attempt” until the lock opens or all your picks break, because actually trying to open it manually is pointless until you’re at a high enough Security skill level that you can pick most locks in a single try anyway.)

Having looted the entrance of the cave and equipped herself◊ in some fashionable attire, she began to make her way through the caverns. Being the sneaky type, and due to the hilarity of watching her foes fly 30 thirty feet upon death, she used sneak attacks with her bow to take out the hoards of evil… Rats… And more rats… And MORE rats… And an indecent zombie◊… And… Wait.

BOOZE!◊ Oh thank the Nine Divine! For her crusade against the Rodents of Unusual Size and reanimated nudists, she has been rewarded with wonderful STUPID JUICE! It was now time to party her way on through to the end o’ the tunnel. Well… After she marveled at the wonders of Cyrodiilic paintbrushes◊, who by means unknown defy the laws of gravity, and planted a few arrows into a friendly little goblin◊ (because you can’t have a generic fantasy romp without goblins).

The path to the end was treacherous, filled with many traps◊ (this is one of the many uses of bows. With good aim, you can cut the rope from a safe distance◊) and angry◊ flying goblins◊, but also filled with valuable loo… Oh dear god◊…

…-Ahem-. Anyway, the tunnel soon came to an end◊, placing Chelsea right back in the secret passageway, where one of Septim’s guards was making a conveniently timed statement◊. As Chelsea came to their aid, another group of assassins◊ came by for some tea and bloody murder. Tea time was, however, cut short for them due to a severe case of ‘arrow to the face’, and this led to the Emperor going on a rant about fate and stars. He apparently expected us to have payed attention in astrology class.

(So, it seems it’s now time for us to pick a sign◊. I mean, how else will all the catboys and lesbian catgirls flirt with Chelsea?)

edited 6th Sep '09 7:00:09 PM by Miijhal