First thing you do when you start a new game

[NoobusExtremus]

I'm still on my first playthrough - when I actually start a second character, I'll let you know. :tongue:

[jbranin]

I think I follow the typical route - head to riverwood, do some smithing, grab faendel as a follower, do the bleak falls barrow quest, head to whiterun and talk to the Jarl, turn in the dragonstone and kill the first dragon. By that time i'm usually around 6th or 7th level. Then depending on what type of character I've decided on, I join one of the guilds. I usually don't jump back on the main quest til around 15th -20th level.

[groupoffriends]

After reaching Riverwood, I solve Camilla's problem, which gets me Faendal as a companion (once I tried Sven - he's just as good). Then I go hunting in the forests for bandits and creatures to build up my stats. I also clear out the Embershard Mine nearby. When I think I'm strong enough, I go face the draugrs in Bleak Falls Barrow, then release Faendal from duty and head to Whiterun, where I lay down 500 to hire Jenassa. Boy, is she worth the 500!

 

The companions of Riverwood start off in your employ at Level 4. The companions of Whiterun start off at Level 6. But Jenassa starts off at Level 10! She's such a great fighter, perfect for the early game! You can build your stats and solve quests in relative safety with her around. And she says "We're two of a kind, you and I. I'm glad to have met you!" Nice!

[justwannaddl]

After starting a new game for the sixth or seventh time, I just run through the beginning without fighting anything because I am sick to death of hearing the same dialogue and going through the same dungeon. I really wish they allowed another character creation window at the exit like they did in Oblivion.

 

edit: Whoops. Didn't see the "please no escape Helgan complaints." After words, I avoid Riverwood at first so that I can go on a minor rampage. I usually kill some old lady who lives alone in a hut somewhere nearby.

Edited March 24, 2012 by justwannaddl

[Rennn]

@Justwannadll

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8207

That should fix it for you. :)

 

Now, to business.

When I start a new game, I immediately run in some direction that I haven't run before. Half the time I don't even hit Riverwood until I eventually wander over to it accidentally. I always dump all my gear as well, as soon as I exit the tutorial cave. That's like an illegitimate part of the game for me, and I prefer to actually start right out of the cave and disregard the story entirely. This means dropping my weapons and armor, wearing the prisoner gear, and avoiding the wolves until I find something better on my own.

 

I also buy a horse ASAP, because on my serious profiles I have a policy where I don't run unless I'm mounted, in combat, or in another situation where running would make more sense than walking. Even mounted I don't sprint unless something is chasing me, and I'm looking for a mod to make it impossible to access my inventory during combat. My self-control starts to fail when I realize that I'm going to die, so I usually break the policy and end up taking potions, which doesn't make any sense in combat. That's why I'm looking for a mod to enforce it.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Rennn

[justwannaddl]

Thanks for the link, Rennn. :) That's some harsh rules you use for yourself though. I could never follow that with my mage builds. Then again, the only time I am downing potions is when I am running for my life, which is pretty much every encounter. I really have to stop making 100 hp pure mage builds. :psyduck: Edited March 24, 2012 by justwannaddl

[Rennn]

It's not too harsh. Most of it, like not taking potions in combat and dumping my starting gear, I find actually adds to the experience in time. At first I thought, "No potions, this is gonna suck." After a few battles I realized that playing without ever pausing combat added a lot to immersion and made the game more enjoyable rather than less.

 

A couple of the 'rules' though, like never running anywhere, really set my nerves on edge if there's an option to run and I'm not using it. In Oblivion I imposed a stamina limit on running, but that just made it more annoying because I'd just start and then stop constantly and it grew frustrating. I'm still trying to think of some way to make walking more plausible. I was thinking about making the fatigue bar larger (by maybe 25x), making it deplete when you run, and having it never recharge without sleep, food, or a potion. I think that'd probably be the best way to go about it...

 

Likewise, dumping my starting gear really opens up a lot of possibilities that I never would have considered otherwise. Normally if I see a bandit my first line of defense is, "Ram that battleaxe so far up his behind, blood won't be the only iron he's tasting," but without a weapon it seems much more plausible to sneak around and hide behind trees and that sort of thing.

 

Since I'm quickly moving this off-topic, I'm going to get back on-topic now.

 

My favorite thing to do when I start a new game is punch whichever kid says something annoying to me first. Usually I reload since the townsfolk all attack me. (they just can't admit they wanted to do it first)

Edited March 24, 2012 by Rennn

[RedRavyn]

First of all, I have a crafting mod installed which makes it a LOT more difficult to grind smithing. Yes, I know ... Bethesda supposedly "fixed" this with 1.5, but they broke so many things with that "downdate" that I'm not installing it. Still, after logging in at the Thief Stone (I usually play a stealth-based character, and I'm on my sixth playthrough of Skyrim), and talking to Gerdur (I use a save game to start a new game that has me just exiting Helgen Keep, following Rolaf), I head to Embershard Mine to get some iron ore. I then make a complete circuit of the lake, west to Moss Mother Cavern, and then back along the north shore to Riverwood.

 

Before I installed a mod that put a home with crafting facilities in Riverwood (stopgap until I own Breezehome in Whiterun), I raided Anise's Cabin to get access to her enchanting and alchemy stations in her basement (warning -- she'll go agro on you when you go down there). My circuit of the lake will have me clearing every site I come across along the lake and for a short distance away form it, unless those sites are specifically quest-dependent (like Ilinalta's Deep). I'll hunt and gather extensively, and don't sell pelts I get from the local wildlife. At this stage in the game it makes more sense to turn them into leather for smithing.

 

It can take many days to do this systematically and thoroughly, selling everything I find to Alvor, Lucan/Camilla, and Orgnar. I buy all the iron ingots, iron ore, and petty/lesser soul gems I can (and all unfilled common soul gems). I make my own charcoal from firewood, so I don't bother buying it. My focus is on improving my smithing and alchemy skills at this point. Naturally, I do Lucan's quest to retrieve his Golden Dragon Claw. There's no reason not to, and you'll have to go to Bleak Falls Barrow for Farengar in Whiterun, anyway, in order to advance the main quest, so why not kill two birds with one stone? As for Camilla's little problem with Sven and Faendal, I always side with Faendal because I can then use him for Archery training (he can train you up to level 50). I'm not even sure if there's an advantage to siding with Sven, since I've never particularly liked the guy, anyway. Besides, I play a stealth-based archer / destruction mage, and I need Faendal more than I need a bard. No, I don't use Faendal as a companion. I hate followers. They mostly just get in the way and have an annoying tendency to continually bump up against me when I'm trying to do things (I once had Barbas actually shove me over a cliff to my death -- insufferable mutt!).

 

By this time, selling stuff and grinding at the smithy I can make better armor (full set of improved leather) and weapons (steel, including steel arrows from a crafting mod) than I'm likely to find, and probably have enough coin to be able to afford Breezehome, once I further the main quest by going to Whiterun and talking to the Jarl. I generally hold off on that and just do a lot of hunting and gathering in the Whiterun area (the entire valley west to Rorikstead). Then I'm ready to take on Mirmulnir. So, yes ... I guess I do a lot of "puttering around", but I think the game is more challenging and fun once I get some levels under my belt before I take on any of the really serious questlines.