January 28, 2012 8:37 PM EST
you dont need to go to the college for the main quest either, just go straight from the throat of the world to septimus signus's outpost directly. works for me. only downside is you miss out on reading some books about the elder scrolls and hearing some lines from the orc librarian. as i tend to play arcane characters i always visit the college anyway.
thieves guild can be skipped too with no incident if you avoid brynjolf, talk to the innkeeper in riften then go straight to the ragged flagon.
to prevent no stone unturned from coming up during the main quest dont ask maul to appraise it showing it to him is ok tho. tbh i have never gotten around to finishing that quest in any of my playthroughs.
unfortunately the daedric quest discerning the transmundane is unavoidable, cant get to blackreach without talking to septimus first. hope i didnt give away too many spoilers.