Okay so far, I really really REALLY hate the whole sneaky light armor oooh let's see how much magic we can use today thieves thing.
Can't save up any money to buy a house because I spend it all trying to level up smithing to qualify for Arcane Enchanting, without which the Thieves Guild armor provides less protection than my homemade leather set and is therefore a disadvantage 99% of the time. Yeah, it may be nice for cozy inside jobs where the chances of being dismembered and/or eaten are relatively slim, but for getting from place to place? Fuhgeddaboudit. I lost track of how many times I was killed by the troll between Ivarstead and Riften whose cornflakes I apparently peed in on my last jaunt through the area.
Protip from your Auntie Frau Kaleun: trolls are not impressed with improved lockpicking skills. Trufact!
And altho I am sticking with 1H weapons only, and am learning to block a lot better than last time, it doesn't do me any good against roving bands of mercenaries and scavengers.
I guess the point is that I should be sneaking around these terrors, but then I have to go off the road and SPIDERS!!!! Which have also been the cause of my death on more than one occasion.
I have armor and decent enough weapons for my level and I still can't go five minutes without dying in some horrible fashion. I know I bumped up the difficulty level a bit but COME ON. I don't know how anyone playing a full mage with no armor or (physical) weapons ever survives long enough to become OP.
If I survive this Thieves Guild thing it better pay off with some major dividends because right now the only good thing about it is all the eye candy hanging round their HQ. Rawr.
Naturally, Brynjolf is not a marriage option. DAMN YOU BETHESDA!
*shakes fist, briefly, before being eaten by a randomly enountered bear*
Anyway I got as far in the Main Quest as killing the first dragon and making Thane of Whiterun, poor Lydia was a help on some travels after that but is dead now and I left her that way. Kinda starting to regret not reloading and getting her back, at least as protection on the road. Now I have to go all the way to Solitude to tough-talk some Orc, yeah, like *that's* a good idea at this point. Maybe I'll try to pick up some easier side jobs along the way for cash and XP.
Heaven forbid I meet any dragons along the way, if so... I am running in the other direction as fast as my little grey-blue Dunmer legs can take me.