CHARACTER GENERATION

LEGAL STUFF TO KEEP THE SUITS HAPPY

"Daggerfall", "The Elder Scrolls", "Tamriel" and all the rest of that stuff are either registered trademarks of, or copyrighted by Bethesda Softworks, Inc. (ask them which one -- I'm not a lawyer so I have only a vague idea of which is which). The author (that's me) makes no claims to any part, piece or pixel of the game, the music, the images or any of the rest of that (except for my very own registered copy of the game, subject to the license agreement contained therein -- starting to sound like a lawyer, ain't I?). This is a hint book. Nothing more, nothing less.

The maps showing the locations of most of the Witches Covens were made available to the public by Bethesda about the time of Daggerfall's release. Your guess is as good as mine as to whether they are freely distributable or not, but they are not my work and I make no claim to them. Other images were produced or substantially modified by me and you can roll them up on a cardboard tube, put them next to your toilet and use them for toilet paper for all that I care (except that I'd appreciate a credit if you're going to use them in a published work).

Except for materials attributed to someone else, the rest of this stuff (that means the writing) is pretty much mine, mine, all mine. And, subject to my own dubious copyright, you can bend, fold, spindle and mutilate it to your heart's content (but if you're going to copy it, at least do me the courtesy of giving me credit for it).

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Tamriel, the second installment of “The Elder Scrolls” and the Daggerfall province of the Iliac Bay. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and you don’t have to), is to involve yourself in the political affairs of the region, make a few friends, make a few enemies, kill a few people, recover a purloined letter, lay a ghost to rest, and decide who shall receive the Magical Dingus of Ultimate Power (sometimes called "The Totem of Tiber Septim”). Along the way you have to figure out how to keep yourself alive and kicking long enough to get the job done. Your character will probably get filthy rich, but that’s not the object of the game (who says this game is like real life?).

“Daggerfall” is not a traditional Computer Role-Playing Game in that there is no true linear quest line for you to follow. You are free to develop your character along whatever lines you would like. Feel like devoting yourself to a life of crime, slaughtering innocent people, robbing cities blind and generally becoming one of the Bay’s “Most Wanted”? Go for it. Want to be the Knight In Shining Armor, rescue damsels in distress, slay monsters and make the world safe for Truth, Justice and the Tamrielian Way? Go for it. Both paths (and everything in between) are open to you. The main quest does not have to be followed, though you’ll miss out on a good story and a lot of interesting characters if you don’t. When and if you start the main quest and in what order you complete it is almost entirely up to you.

In preparing this guide, I made a few assumptions about you. First, that you own or have access to a copy of Daggerfall (you’re certainly not going to wade through all of this for my brilliant writing style), have installed it (with the v.213 patch) and want to know more about how the game works. I’m also assuming that you have MS Word 97 or MS Word 2000, or you wouldn’t be able to read this in the first place. Beyond that, I am trying not to make any assumptions.

I do not assume that you know anything about the game, other than how to launch it and use the game interface. Consequently, there will be a lot of fairly basic information here (like how to use fast travel to get from one place to another). I apologize to the more experienced players who have to wade through the basics to get to the stuff they want, but it’s not called “The Beginner’s Guide” for nothing.

Almost all of the information here has been up on the web for several years (with occasional additions/changes), but there are a few new tidbits here and there. I hope they are worth the time and effort to download and read all of this.

CHARACTER GENERATION

When you first enter the game you must create a character. Character generation in "Daggerfall" is as free form as the rest of the game. Your first step will be to choose a race for your character.

According to the opening dialog, races have unique attributes that can enhance or detract from your character's abilities. Mostly these are modifications to the range allowed for the initial roll-up of the character attributes. The manual gives a good description of racial benefits, but the High Elf immunity to paralysis is probably the handiest for the new player.

You must also choose your character’s gender. There is a slight difference between male and female attributes, at least for the standard classes, but there does not appear to be any difference in custom class generation.

Your class does not have an effect on the treasure you will find, but gender will affect the styles of clothing and Cuirasses you find. All else is equal between genders and classes.

Unlike traditional CRPG’s, "Daggerfall" does not award levels based on how many critters you kill or how much treasure you accumulate. Instead, your level is determined by skill development. In other words, a mage doesn’t gain levels for beating something to death with a weapon. He gains levels by using magic. A Thief gains levels for being sneaky and other thief-like things, and so forth. How well your character is able to perform certain actions is a function of his/her skill level in various areas.

Your skills are broken down into 4 categories: Primary (3 skills), Major (3 skills), Minor (6 skills) and Miscellaneous (everything else). Not counting race and gender bonuses/penalties, Primary skills tend to start in the high 20’s to mid 30’s. Major skills start in the high teens to mid 20’s. Minor skills start in the mid teens. Miscellaneous skills usually start around 5%.

PRE-MADE CLASSES

There are 18 "canned" character classes. These classes have set skills, benefits and restrictions. The classes basically break down into three categories: spell slingers, skull crushers, and sneaks (or "mages", "warriors" and "thieves"). Most combine skills of two or more of these categories, except the Monk, which is pretty much in a class by itself. You will frequently encounter all but two of these classes as opponents over the course of the game. The two classes you will probably not encounter very frequently are the Acrobat and Healer. This is either Bethesda's way of telling you that these two classes lack serious offensive capabilities or a malfunction of the random critter generating subroutine.

Race affects pre-made classes more than Custom Classes. I've included the information on race provided by Bethesda, in a separate chart but do not vouch for its accuracy.

Mage

Mages are moderately wimpy characters at the start of the game. Their low combat skills and armor restrictions pretty much ensure that they will die frequently (advice: save often). Having all six schools of magic as Primary and Major skills makes it possible to gain levels quickly and puts the highest levels within easy reach. Dumping all 6 bonus skill points into Short Blade, selecting the Ebony Dagger in the background questions, and building END for more health points per level, followed by AGI and SPD early in the game make combat a bit more survivable at lower levels.

Spellsword

The Spellsword is a very playable class at the beginning of the game. High weapon skills provide survivability in combat, but will hamper character development to the highest possible levels. Having all six schools of magic as Major and Minor skills will make for quick advancement if time is taken to develop the skills. The plate armor restriction will tend to make the Spellsword rely on magical protections, but the 1.5x for spell points means the character will either need to find/make items or rest frequently until skills are developed to the point of relatively cheap casting costs.

Battlemage

The starting weapons skills and higher hit points give the Battlemage more survivability than the Mage in early combat situations. Having two weapons as primary skills will slow development to highest levels because the character will have to switch weapons often in order to develop both skills. But if the character runs around without a shield switching weapons is a simple matter. The high Hand-to-Hand skill is handy, but counterbalanced by the armor restrictions. The wise player will build END quickly in order to gain more hit points and will train some of the more useful magic skills.

Sorcerer

The 3x spell points makes the sorcerer a formidable spell caster, but the inability to regenerate spell points means the character must rely on other methods of replenishing magica.

After joining the Mages Guild, speaking to anyone in the guildhall will automatically replenish the PC’s magica reserves. “Restore Power” potions, hostile magic, and aborted Destruction-based spells from items will all provide more ammunition.

Since the ability to absorb spells is a percentage chance based on the average of INT and WIL, absorption of hostile magic is by no means certain. In the beginning dungeon there are only three spell-using creatures (unless you can generate an Orc Shaman as a random monster). Out of three times through that dungeon I was unable to absorb even one of their spells (even with completely empty magica reserves) and got crispy-crittered twice.

The sorcerer demands a very cautious playing style.

Nightblade

Having only one viable weapon skill at the start and serious armor restrictions can be crippling. Unless the Ebony Dagger can be obtained in the generation process, the Nightblade will die or at least be severely injured in early combat situations. This lack of ability is not offset by the increased defense given by the higher Dodging skill. A high Stealth and Backstabbing is nice at later stages of the game, but it's almost impossible to sneak up on anything in the early stages. It is quite possible to win the game with a Nightblade, but be prepared for a high frustration factor as the character will die frequently until better weapons can be obtained, higher skills developed and the odd magic item found or bought. With the high Illusion skill, the Nightblade would be well advised to invest in either "Chameleon True" or "Invisibility True" as soon as access to a spell maker is obtained. A heavy investment in training at low levels (especially in Dodging and Critical Strike) will pay serious dividends later.

Bard

The Bard is an interesting class, but not enough opportunity was provided within the game to seriously role-play this class.

The Bard is a hybrid of all three class categories, but is not especially good at anything. The Bard can fight, but not as well as a Warrior. He can sneak, but not as well as a Thief. He can cast spells, but not as well as a Mage. Three of the Bard's Primary and Major skills are difficult to develop; so reaching the highest levels will be a challenge. Having both Etiquette and Streetwise as Primary skills and an increased PER will make dealing with people much easier, but the Bard will have to talk to a LOT of people to significantly increase these skills. Hand-to-Hand is nice to have, but with the decreased STR and the lack of training facilities, it is a difficult skill to develop to effective levels. The Bard will be able to join the Mages Guild eventually. Either add all six bonus skill points to one of the Minor magic skills and engage in some serious spell casting or join a temple and train the skills to a high enough level to join.

Burglar

The Burglar can be a fun class to play. The single weapon skill and armor restrictions are very limiting at the early stages of the game and wearing Plate armor will interfere with the high stealth skills required at higher levels. Since there is little combat outside of the dungeons, especially with Thieves Guild quests, this proves to be more of an inconvenience than an obstacle. With no starting spells and only 0.5xINT in spell points, the Burglar will be forced to rely mainly on potions and items. Purchasing a "Buoyancy" spell and practicing with it early in the game (in order to be able to join the Mages Guild and get access to a spell-maker) can at least get the Burglar a "Levitate" and a "Water Breathing" spell for dungeon movement, but magic will always be a tertiary skill at best. The inclusion of Lockpicking as a primary skill will present problems, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending) the game tends to throw more locked doors your way at higher levels. The best advice is to spend time in walled towns and pick the locks on the doors around the walls. Once around the walls in every town should provide ample opportunity to develop this skill.

On the positive side, since there are no class advantages, but a couple of serious class disadvantage, training a Burglar’s skills should be relatively easy.

Rogue

The Rogue probably has the best survivability of any of the Thief classes. The armor restriction is a slight obstacle, but a little work on the Lockpicking skill will qualify the Rogue to join the Julianos temples and create any items that he needs. The extra hit points are handy and lessen the need to build END as quickly as some of the other classes. The Rogue gains levels quickly and should easily reach 3rd level by the time he gets out of Privateers Hold provided he pickpockets everything in sight and rests frequently. The decreased INT looks bad, but since the class wasn't designed to be a spellcaster it is more than offset by the increased STR and AGI. The unfortunate trade-off is the decreased LUC, which influences almost everything the Rogue does. The only skill that will be difficult to develop is Dodging. Best advice on Dodging is to find a crypt somewhere with a bat or rat in it and let them munch on you for a while (make sure you're near a temple so you can get your diseases cured). Because of the high Stealth and armor restrictions, the Backstabbing comes much easier as the game progresses.

The Rogue will be offered the Ebony Dagger as a choice in background development, but with his Short Blade skill somewhere around 3% - 5%, it will probably be a wasted choice, at least initially. Because of this, the Rogue will need to hustle to get suitable weapons or resort to Hand-to-Hand in Privateers Hood (remember, Imps require Steel or better to hit them).

Thief

It is often claimed that the Thief is the hardest class to play. Certainly the armor restrictions will hamper combat ability, but no more so than any other of the thief-type classes. The Lockpicking and Backstabbing in the Major skills will make it difficult to reach the highest levels, but are not an overwhelming obstacle. The high Short Blade skill, coupled with the Ebony Dagger and a reasonably good Critical Strike skill make combat more survivable. At higher skill levels the Thief is capable of inflicting serious damage through Backstabbing and the high SPD and Running skill means he can “hit and git” with good chances of surviving to do it again. The Thief should join a temple early in the game in order to gain access to potions and/or items.

Assassin

The Assassin is essentially a souped-up Thief. The bonus to hit humanoid advantage is nice, but only when you have to fight humanoid critters. However, the Assassin does have good weapon skills. With Dodging showing up as only a Minor skill and severe armor restrictions, the would-be Assassin would be well advised to dump level bonuses into END and work on being VERY sneaky. The limited magic ability of the Assassin almost forces reliance on potions, but if access to the Mages Guild can be had (hint: buy a "Bouyancy" spell and practice it until you're sick of it), development of Illusion skill can make the Assassin almost equal to a Nightblade in short order.

Best advice: Kill a few townies in an out-of-the-way province at the start of the game to get access to the Dark Brotherhood and its potion maker, burgle alchemist shops for ingredients and have fun.

Monk

“When you can snatch the pebble from my hand you will be ready to go forth and open a big ol’ can of whup-ass on someone.”

The nice thing about a Monk is that he can hit anything. The sad thing about a monk is that he can usually be hit BY anything. The Resistance to Magic is very handy because of an unfixed bug in the game. Most ill effects (paralyzation, poison, diseases, etc.) are checked against Magic Resistance first, giving the Monk a better than average chance of avoiding such nastiness. Add the Resistance to Shock and the Monk has a reasonable chance of not being killed by the first Wraith or Vampire that he comes across. The Monk starts with enhanced AGI and SPD, but lacks the better staying power of higher Health Points. Pump END up to 70 as quickly as possible and then pump up STR so that you're doing more damage with each hit.

On the downside, the Monk is another one of those classes that demands a very cautious style of play. He can be quite a lot of fun, though.

Archer

The Archer is a variation on the Warrior, but with more restrictions. It's a playable class, especially with the extra health points. But Archery as a Primary will help only if you can see your target before your target sees you and Hand-to-Hand is a difficult skill to develop to high skill levels. If you decide to invest the effort in developing it, dump as many points as you can into STR (so you do more damage with each hit) or SPD (so you hit more often). The Archer's increased speed, agility and health points made Privateer's Hold pretty much a cake walk, but the armor restrictions were a minor hindrance. Best advice is to invest in lots of Healing potions/items, develop those Minor weapon skills as quickly as possible, rest frequently and take the Short Blade/Ebony Dagger options when answering the background questions.

Ranger

Have you hugged your tree or kissed a Spriggan today? I rather like the Ranger as a class. The lack of a Tower Shield is not much of a disadvantage and he starts out with excellent combat skills. Don't know that I've ever had much use for Spriggan, though. The Health Points of 18 per level are not fully offset by the shield restriction, so it is more difficult than average for the Ranger to gain levels. But on the other hand, the extra points are very handy and the Ranger has a few good weapons to choose from. As long as he pursues combat-intensive quests, the Critical Strike and Dodging skills will develop quite nicely. Keep Healing potions handy and join a temple (Julianos would be my preference) to compensate for the lack of magica.

Barbarian

Conan, he ain't, but the Barbarian is a beefy character and the Immunity to Poison is nice. The extra health points are very handy, but I'm not too fond of the materials restrictions. Rather than play an actual Barbarian, I'd use it as a template, swapping the combat skills in Minor to Major, dropping the materials restrictions and changing the Immunity to Immunity to Magic. Yes, it would take a bit longer to gain levels, but it's got potential.

Knight

Play this character like a Warrior, but be polite about it.

Warrior

Warriors are the standard to which all other classes are compared in terms of abilities. Their HP per level are at the top end and they have the standard 0.5x INT in magica. Their strong suit is, of course, combat. Potions and magic items are the normal recourse for warriors since their magic skills will start at less than 10%, but purchasing the "Buoyancy" spell (casting cost is usually 10 points or less at the beginning of the game) and practicing it to 22% in Thaumaturgy will allow entrance to the Mages Guild and access to the spell-maker for cheap practice spells. Additional magical skill development will eventually allow access to the item-maker for some of the niftier items. Because of their combat-heavy skills, gaining levels can be a fairly slow process, but the high HP's per level will make combat very survivable. The shrewd Warrior will maintain a good selection of special-material weapons in personal inventory and give good armor a high priority.

Acrobat

The Acrobat is one of two character classes you will seldom encounter as an opponent in the game. Because of the armor and shield limitation, players of this class should develop a very careful style of play. The Acrobat is one class that should run everywhere, jump at every opportunity and climb everything in sight. With the character's default magica points at .5x INT (which is already lower than normal), getting early access to potions and items should be a high priority. Developing the character to the highest possible levels will be a chore since no Guild offers training in Hand-to-Hand, but the prohibition against shields of any type means Hand-to-Hand is available at a single keystroke. Answering the background questions in favor of the short-blade skill and selecting the Ebony Dagger will get the character off to a good start and building END for extra hit points or STR for extra hitting power would be a wise move. Beyond that, play the Acrobat in much the same way you would play a Thief.

Healer

The Healer has been described as one of the best of the premade classes. I disagree with this assessment, but concede that this is probably due to a difference in playing style. The Healer does not lend itself to a very aggressive style of play, at least in the early stages of the game. Having Thaumaturgy, Mysticism, Alteration and Restoration in the Primary and Major slots allows for fairly rapid advancement. If the early stat bonuses are applied to END, you can offset the 8 HP per level. I do not find the shield restrictions to be a serious handicap because cheap "Heal" spells and "Rapid Healing" can partially offset this.

CHARACTER RACES

According to Bethesda's hint book, increased attributes have a starting range of 50 to 70 while decreased attributes have a starting range of 30 to 50. A normal range is 40 to 60. Remember that you can roll the dice as many times as you like and you get bonus points to add to your attributes (translation: don't take these too seriously).

ARGONIANS

MALE: Increased AGI, SPD; Decreased END

FEMALE: Increased STR, Decreased END

BRETONS

MALE: Increased INT, WIL; Decreased STR, END

FEMALE: Increased INT, WIL; Decreased STR, END

DARK ELVES

MALE: Increased STR, INT; Decreased WIL, PER

FEMALE: Increased INT; Decreased WIL

HIGH ELVES

MALE: Increased INT, WIL; Decreased STR, END

FEMALE: Increased INT, PER; Decreased STR, END

KHAJIIT

MALE: Increased END; Decreased WIL, AGI

FEMALE: Increased LUC

NORDS

MALE: Increased STR, END; Decreased INT, WIL, AGI

FEMALE: Increased LUC; Decreased INT

REDGUARDS

MALE: Increased AGI, LUC; Decreased INT, WIL, END

FEMALE: Increased SPD, LUC; Decreased STR, INT, WIL, END

WOOD ELVES

MALE: Increased AGI, SPD; Decreased END, LUC

FEMALE: no pluses or minuses

Date: 2016-01-03; view: 691