Always nice to hear from a fellow Paul   Glad you like it!

1. That could work.  I guess it depends how you view the motivation for not looting.  Does the character avoid looting because he doesn't feel entitled to the stuff, or does he avoid it because he is living an ascetic, minimalist lifestyle?  If the latter, I'd avoid looting altogether.  

2. I honestly can't remember if I chopped wood that much for cash.  I had a woodcutter's axe with me since Riverwood, and I certainly chopped wood to make arrows.  I probably did a bit of woodcutting in order to afford a night at an inn, or perhaps to get enough coin to buy ingots to make more arrows - that sort of thing.  But it was limited - I certainly didn't chop for hours at a stretch!  I'm not sure it would ruin the roleplay if you're just going to spend that coin on training anyway, though.  

Thanks for the kind words!

I think I'll play this soon as I'm done with my current building projects. (If I'm not archery'ed out) 

I was thinking an Arrowsworn might hunt and skin animals (during travel, not a dedicated hunter), smith the leather and sell it to level smithing. All profits from the hunt would be donated to temples. This was my potential solution to leveling up to Arcane Blacksmith, in order to improve Zephyr.

I was also wondering what the Arrowsworn's motivation might be in starting Lost to the Ages to get Zephyr? He isn't a treasure hunter. I'm stuck on that part, but I figure once I meet Katria, I could finish the whole questline- rping that I'm merely holding on to the Aetherial shards while helping Katria's soul find closure. I suppose I'd place the crown on her physical corpse back in Arkngthamz, or RP that it is a gift for helping Katriah. 

This is why I come to the blog. So many creative builds. Builds with a heavy emphasis on roleplay are my favorites. Those are the only builds I actually end up using. The only reason I would even use someone else's build is if the roleplay guidelines and story behind the character are better than anything I could have come up with on my own. The "vows" in connection with Arkay are well thought out, imaginative, and just plain bad ass. Alteration is a "pre-battle ceremony"? What an awesome way to look at alteration! I always struggle to find realistic ways to limit myself and enhance roleplay and/or add realism. I'm getting older and it's hard to find time to play games let alone immerse my in a fantasy world, but after I put my daughter down for bed tonight... I will begin my journey as the Arrowsworn. Thanks for the build, man!

Hunting, smithing, and donating the profits sounds like a great task for a character like this - very RP friendly!

I can't remember if there was anything other than metagaming that got me started on Lost to the Ages.  I'm sure I found a copy of 'The Aetherium Wars' first.  It's likely that I had relatively few active quests going on at some point during the playthrough - you can focus on bounties for awhile, but they do run out, and then it would be metagaming just to rush straight to all the undead dungeons you know about as a player.  So I guess the best thing is to play it like that - help out as much as you can in a given area, and then, after you hear about Arkngthamz (in-game), head on over for the sake of exploration.  

You could definitely justify taking the shards like that, as well.  You could also justify keeping the crown, as IIRC she pretty much tells you 'you've earned it' or something similar.  

Thanks for the kind words, from one dad to another! :)  I completely understand the desire to limit yourself with roleplay/realism constraints - it really helps flesh out the game.  

I hope you have fun with this - or some variant of your own!  Taking out bad guys with just a simple bow and no sneaking around is pretty fun, once you get the hang of it.  

The use of a simple bow reminds me of a build I'm running through a play test, basically, the son of a Thalmor and a Bosmer rebel. He was a Thalmor, but went rouge after the assault on the Imperial City. He's more Bosmer aligned than Thalmor, but he does love lightning.

This is amazing Paul, I might try and mesh this with the Visionary....

Thanks Chris - hope it works for you!  Whenever I play builds from this site, I always alter them or blend them with different ideas - I've never played a build exactly as its author laid it out.  Finding out a way to take an idea from a build and make it your own is the fun part.

I love builds like this with interesting and unique roleplay aspects. Brilliant work.