CREATING A THIEF
by: Carbon

When I got Morrowind, I spent a half-hour making my character. Spending about ten minutes each on name, race, and class. That character wasn't even kept for too long. That's how it is for a lot of people; they spend forever on making a character, just to find out their build sucks. So, here's our scenario: new/inexpeirienced player looking to start their game with making their character.

First, let's get this out of the way. If you randomly pick classes/races/birthsigns with little to none thought or planning, chances are your character plan WILL FAIL. Why is this? It's because High Elves don't make the best Knights. It's because Imperials aren't mages. It's because a Khajiit was made for stealth. Of course, High Elves could be a knight, just as Imperials can be a mage. However, the truly successful builds have the race, class, and birthsign working in harmony. So, let's first take a look at the races, and how they match up to being a thief.

Races

Argonian

Judging by it's skill bonuses, Argonians are meant for combat. Although, as I see it, they could also be fairly good mages. I, personally, don't like these guys too well for their weirdo walk. But then again, I don't like Khajiit for their walk either, but they're the best thieves.

Breton

An alternative to the High Elves for a mage. So, obviously, they're meant to be mages.

Nord, Imperial, Redguard

I grouped these guys together because they're all fighters. They're differences are only in their personal stats. For example, Imperials are really good with people. None of these make an ideal thief.

Dark Elf

The Dark Elf could very well be the most well-rounded out of the races. They get bonuses to combat, magic, and stealth skills. They could do pretty well in any of those categories. They also make pretty good thieves. A good option.

High Elf

Now, I'm trying to do a kind of Nightblade with one of these. I'm not sure how good of a thief they would make, but from what I've seen from them is that they're not the fastest of all people. A mage/thief would make for an interesting combo. But, there could be better choices.

 Khajiit

Simply put, the best thieves. They have bonuses to all the stats a thief needs: sneak, security, light armor, etc. If you are really serious about thieving, the Khajiit would be your choice.

Orc

Well.....let's just say they're not stealth inclined.

So, looking over all the races and their skill bonuses, we get the following list of top thieves.

1.)Khajiit

2.)Wood Elf

3.)Dark Elf

Dark Elves get the Stealth combat skills: light armor, short blade. Wood Elves get some stealth skills: marksman, acrobatics, sneak. And the Khajiit get just about all of them.

Classes

After you got a race, you get to do the hardest part, choosing/making a class. Of course, you can always take the easy way out and choose a Thief pre-made class, but it's much better to make one of your own. Before making a custom class, look over the pre-made classes to get a look at how they're made. You'll get to see what makes a good class. However, a lot of the pre-made classes are just themes with skills to match the theme. Doing the question part is pretty worthless.

First off, a custom class (for a thief) would be under Stealth. The favorite attributes are really up to you, but I would suggest Agility, Speed, or Intelligence. Sometimes, you might even want Luck. Unless you're trying to counter the crappy level-ups you get while cheesing the Sneak skill, Sneak should be a major skill. As should Security. Things like Acrobatics and Athletics should be put into Minor Skills as they level up quickly. If you want to leave those two out, that's still fine. Although putting them as a Major/Minor skill would help with leveling up. Light Armor and Short Blade might be put into Major Skills too. If not, put them into Minor. Basically you want as many Stealth skills as possible. Some thieves might want to mix in some Alchemy. That's fine. If you're wanting to use a Magic School, I would suggest Illusion.

An ideal setup:

Class Name: Example

Specialization: Stealth

Favorite Attributes: Speed, Intelligence

Major Skills: Sneak, Security, Short Blade, Marksman, Light Armor

Minor Skills: Illusion, Acrobatics, Athletics, Speechcraft, Alteration

That class would work pretty well. I've never tried that exact setup but I have something similar.

Last on the agenda is the birthsign. Although not the most important aspect of your character, choosing a good one will prove to be a valuable aid.

For thieves, I would recommend The Thief (duh), The Shadow, The Tower, and the Steed. Although not having anything to do with thieving, The Lady can be helpful, especially for the Dark Elves.

That about does it for creating a class. Some common knowledge and a little experimentation can create a great character. Overall, just stick to the basics and try things out. Trial-and-error is the moral.