How to RP as an Elf and being lore friendly?

[sammmdovah]

I use to always play as a Nord but that's getting boring because i"m doing the same thing over and over. I have never done a play though using magic at all, never even done the mages collage quest line. I'm looking to either be a Wood Elf or a High Elf. Do High elf's use archery like the wood elf's do? Is it lore friendly using a high elf as a archer? because i want to use a combination of Archery, Swords or Dagger and magic.

[Moraelin]

Err, while the Planet Of Hats trope is an easy way to keep it mnemonic and stereotyped in movies, it's also unrealistic as heck. Not every Klingon will want to be a warrior. And not every elf will want to be an archer. Or a mage in the Altmer's case. And more importantly, that's not how TES ever swung.

 

Even in the TES canon you can find Bosmer mages (e.g., Erthor or Baeralorn in Oblivion), or just simple servants and barkeeper (e.g., the one in the Thalmor mansion in Skyrim), or merchants (e.g., Rindir or Eridor in Oblivion), or even warriors (e.g., Huurwen in oblivion), etc.

 

The Altmer are similarly spread around. They can be merchants (e.g., Calindil or Ungarion or Suurootan), or heavily armoured knights (e.g., Elidor), or alchemists (e.g, Eilonwy), or yes bowmen (e,g,, Honditar). They're not just mages.

 

Short version: the lore says: play whatever race and spec you wish.

[Shadeybladey]

Yes, my first character was a Nord Rune Witch and used no armour at all and a Battle Axe only in emergencies until she maxed out her magick skills around level 58 and started operating as a Ranger.

 

I also had an Imperial Bard, a Dunmer Bard, a Dunmer Nightblade etc.

 

At the moment I have a Bosmer Ranger. But the racial bonuses just show what they have the most aptitude for. A Nord can still be a Mage, a Breton can be a Warrior, an Imperial can be an Assassin, a Dunmer could be a Bard etc etc.

 

~/~

[TehKaoZ]

An unlore-friendly character would be like, a Jedi Breton. as Moraelin said, not every race will fit cleanly into one category and nor should it be so. I myself do enjoy themed characters that don't go too much against the grain of the races culture however I realize that not every Orc is a berserker, not every Breton will be a mage, and so forth. You have to define your own character and how he/she became what she is to be. Certain races may be more common in what they use, but that certainly doesn't mean they all follow that path (Can you imagine if ALL wood elves had to be archers, man would they get butchered in war).