Trying to make a character that will last

[ReaperHemingway]

Just got Dawnguard, and after not playing Skyrim for months, I decided to give it another go. I tried to stick with my character this time, but I keep having the same problems that made me stop playing before.
I planned out my character ahead of time, a Breton who starts off wandering between towns with just a bow, dagger and an Oakflesh spell. I collected ingredients, hunted deer, and made potions and leather armor to sell when I got back to town. The idea was to have my character focusing on being something of a self sufficient hunter/gatherer early on, then have him gradually move more towards magic. Originally, I wanted to walk between at least half of the towns in Skyrim, before eventually joining up with the Bards College, but finally focusing more on the College of Winterhold.

The problem is that I'm already at level 6 and I haven't really done anything. I walked from Riverwood to Whiterun, spent the night there, then headed off to Rorikstead in the morning and then fast traveled back to Whiterun.
My character is supposed to be a guy who is hunting for his food, while making cheap armour and potions to get a little money.
I haven't done a single quest of any kind, and haven't gone down into any dungeons or anything. Yet I can't seem to go anywhere or do anything without getting dragged into some bandit fight, or I just stumble across a bunch of money or equipment laying around. Exploring the wild was supposed to be one of the things my character would do, but I had to start avoiding it because the next thing I know I'll level up again and I'm not even sure what skills I'm raising.
I'm not trying to level up or anything, I'm just playing the way my character would act. I thought maybe if I did that, I'd be able to walk between more than two towns without constantly leveling up.
I'm really not sure what to do at this point. I've always enjoyed Elder Scrolls games but I am having the hardest time getting into Skyrim. I really don't want to be level 30 by the time I start the main quest. With previous characters,I found myself very often using the 'kill' console command just so I could avoid leveling so much, but I really don't want to do that again.

 

[Katastrophe]

I know your pain, so allow me to critize the hell out of you in an attempt to maybe bring to light some of the issues you're having, as I feel they may be similar to those I had, and continue to have.

To me, it just sounds like you're not getting involved. For most people, Skyrim offers a vastly open game that allows you to do whatever you want, and for your everyday run-of-the-mill gamer, this is great. Bored? Jump on in Skyrim and dick around until your heart is content. But I'm operating on the assumption that you're more like me and this openness can be somewhat daunting. Because there's literally so much to do, perhaps you never really feel satisfied? Not to mention it's a game - you want to be able to beat it and play without having to die ever few minutes. This often pigeonholes us into certain builds - sneak archers, sword and boards, etc. While incredibly effective, they can also be incredibly dull at times. This is where you may have to take things into your own hands.

It sounds to me like you've come up with how you want your character to grow and to develop, but rather then using the game to provide you with those opportunities, you're fighting the process because it isn't going the way you planned. This completely negates the entire aspect of immersion and I think this lies in your lack of character development, but not lack of build development. WHY is your character roaming from town to town? WHY does he go to the College and transition into magic? There's no substance. Take my narrative for my character Irvine, The Hunter (link in signature). I developed the backstory that his father whisked him away from their down during an Aldmeri raid, sacrificing his wife in exchange for his son's safety. Irvine was not made aware of this until his father's passing. This caused him to develop a resentment for his past and the life of a nomad he was thrust into, so when he comes to Skyrim, he wants to settle. However, he lacks any real skills to do so with, so he defaults into his hunter's instinct which, not surprisingly, does not afford him many advancement opportunities. By part 6 or 7, in fact, he's flat broke. Absolutely 0 septims. This forces him to to resort to using his hunting talents to kill in order to make a living, and now he's fairly wealthy. In later parts, readers will see Irivne's skills develop and refine, and while he most likely will never be able to broke himself of his wandering lifestyle, his life will have far deeper purpose than just your average hunter.

Irvine will, in all likelihood, not see any major build development and will remain predominantly a sneak archer which, in the end, is the style I find most enjoyable. However, his character development is why I will continue to play him. He's slowly shifting from the nomadic, lone wolf hunter, into building actual relationships with people and areas. Because Irvine is not just some two dimensional character in a vast and open world, I'm invested in him. That, and I've found journals and other narratives to be extremely useful.

TL;DR: You probably need to develop your character further, beyond just their perk placement. If you want to be immersed in the game, don't fight what it gives you. Instead of reloading a save to avoid the bandit, your character should question why the bandit attacked him? Where he came from? The fact that he had to take a life and fight for his own. If you have a plan on how you want your build to development, and you want immersion, you need to let the game flow you into the right path.

Everything is possible in Skyrim - you just have to let the game shift you there naturally.

 

[Soulcano]

You may already be avoiding these things, but I'll suggest them just in case.

-Don't sleep, there's a resting bonus to experience.
-Don't use the stones that apply leveling bonuses

Also, your leveling will probably slow over time, especially if you are using the same skills repeatedly.

 

[ReaperHemingway]

I know your pain, so allow me to critize the hell out of you in an attempt to maybe bring to light some of the issues you're having, as I feel they may be similar to those I had, and continue to have...

Thanks for the reply.
As to the back story, I have a much more thorough back story that I developed, but trust me, if I had started writing about it in my previous post, I doubt I would've stopped. I tend to ramble with that sort of thing. It's actually a slight variation on a character I had a lot of fun with playing Oblivion.
Essentially, my character is a Breton who grew up with intense pressure from those around him to become a great mage, because even as a child it was clear he possessed a rare degree of intelligence. Like any good adolescent he did exactly the opposite of what his parents wanted. When he finally struck out on his own he found life in Tamriel much tougher than anticipated. He became removed from all others, often seeing them as inferior in intellect, and soon began hitting the moon sugar as a way to cope with what was clearly becoming a failed life. One day, after a particularly nasty bender, he wakes up on the back of that cart with Ulfrich and the boys. Still not fond of contact with others, and still unsure what to do with his life, he goes from town to town, just scraping up enough money to get by.
But with a big old brain just dying to learn new stuff, he decides to study books and history, hence the reason for going to the Bard's college. At that point, he's still refusing to give in and admit his parents were right, but eventually he realizes he was made for the College of Winterhold.

Okay, and that was about the most condensed version of the back story I could give.
I also got rid of everything I had on me at the end of the tutorial(my reasoning is that he was in shock, what with the near beheading and the dragon attack) just so I could really start from scratch.
I guess the main problem is that the early part of my character, the just time where he's still struggling to get by, really doesn't last at all. For instance, while he's not yet willing to become a mage, he knows he's got a knack for magic and starts using select spells. I liked the idea of my character trying to save up the money the buy the Muffle spell in order to better sneak up on animals, but going out into the wild even briefly would end with me having much more than I need to buy the spell, get a bed for the night, etc.
I know I could ignore some of those items, I haven't been picking up armour or weapons for instance, but if I kill a wolf and he's got a silver ring, or if there's an unlocked chest full of gold on the side of the road, it's not like my character would ignore it. Which I guess comes back to what you mentioned before about fighting the process...maybe if I keep finding a bunch of loot and such, my guy could give in to his old demons and get back on the moon sugar. That way, I could still roam town to town, just now I'd be searching for the Khajiit merchants.

Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Soulcano]

...maybe if I keep finding a bunch of loot and such, my guy could give in to his old demons and get back on the moon sugar.

That's a nice angle. Regularly searching for skooma dealers. Collecting bounties to support your habit.

f I kill a wolf and he's got a silver ring, or if there's an unlocked chest full of gold on the side of the road, it's not like my character would ignore it.

It is hard to ignore, but when I find treasure on wild animals, I do no pick it up. Just walk away.

Also, try a self imposed carry limit to reduce your looting income. I avoid carrying bundles of weapons and extra suits of armor into town to sell. Sure, the pack rat in me says "strip those bandits clean!", but I limit myself to selling their boots or daggers or stuff that seems plausible to haul.