Thanks, it's my real name. I grew out of using handles.

I wanted to make a deep and playable character build that stuck as true to the lore as I could while also being enjoyable to use. I wrote this up in about two days of light effort while procrastinating, and based it off of the character as well as several of my (quite similar) skyrim characters I'd been using before.

I didn't consider companions with an evil path, though the Call to Arms shout is still available to a Tainted character and simulates that well enough. The Horn of Valere works for anyone, even the Shadow after all. Mainly though, a side-effect of the dagger was incredible paranoia and delusions that those around you were plotting against the bearer, so I felt having companions would generally be out of place unless you're using them as canon fodder.

My advice? Kill a bunch of Orcs, put them in Forsworn armor, and use the RItual stone. BAM! You've got your own little band of Trollocs. Not exactly friendly to Wheel of Time lore, but it would certainly be funny, and more than a little terrifying.

The Gambler is a fun path, using pick pocketed poisons and stealing weapons and armor from unaware enemies. It also generates a lot more wealth than the other builds and levels faster, so you'll be able to afford using more consumables like staves and scrolls. It's a lot of fun, especially if you play with limited autosaving and no reloading (outside death) like I do, which results in a lot of running away form guards after flubbing a pickpocket attempt.

I do wish there were more opportunities for gambling in Skyrim (I'd make characters who lived off of it, no question), but I'll take Skyrim's vistas over New Vegas' card games any day.

Why thank you! I wouldn't have posted it here if you hadn't given me excellent feedback before. I'm glad you like it.

Thanks! I sent this to Argonian Fangirl before posting it, and she gave me some good feedback. I wanted to get it right the first time since I'm pretty terrible at editing posts and the like on the Blog.

Yes, the lack of spears and similar weapons in Skyrim was an obstacle in creating the build. I decided that sword-and-board was a better approximation of the character's battle tactics, two-handed is simply too slow and lacks the finesse that Block grants.

I don't think removing any of the text would be a good idea it's all pretty vital to the build, either giving roleplaying advice or detailing gameplay elements.

The images are all quite large and would squish any text placed beside them unless reduced in size. I decided to standardize the images instead (all of them are 500 pixels wide) and use them above specific sections as an indication of a break in the text. They're also generally relevant to the section above which they appear (for example, the image of him tossing dice above the Gambler, or a shadowy/evil version above the Tainted).

Thank you for your advice, I'll take it into consideration with future builds.

The build specifically does not use magic in any way. The only thing you'd swap out for is your bow, and perhaps staves when you're very high level and can afford to recharge them afterwards.

You're right, placing the images to the side would make the document flow better but I fear it would distort the appearance of the text. I'm personally not a fan of text with image to the side, it always used to bug me when I found it in tabletop RPG books. I'm also not very adept with the technical sides of posting things online so I used the method I thought was simplest and most visually appealing with the skills I had.

I actually like the flavor text. Any build can exist as an arrangement of skills and equipment, but I feel the best ones have lore permeating them throughout. It creates a distinct feel for the class as being more than the sum of its parts. For example, the introductory paragraphs are an adaptation of the recurring first paragraph that appears at the beginning of the Wheel of Time books.

An introductory paragraph could be useful. detailing what's in the build, but it's not really a very long document. I kind of want people to read it beginning to end, and not just skip the elements that don't seem to interest them. This is why I intentionally placed the Paths at the end of the document instead of directly after the Skills - I want them to be read in context after everything else.

I seriously appreciate your comments and I'm re-evaluating the presentation now.