Oblivion-ated

I'm getting sick. I can feel the mucus slowly closing up my throat. I'm going to sound like I'm talking through a bottle of glue by the end of the day, I'm sure. :P

I started playing Oblivion again last night. I both love and hate this game. I love it because it's a ridiculously detailed RPG, completely emersive, and crafted with obvious love. I hate it because there is most certainly a "right" way to play the game, and I found out 50 hours in that my level 20 character was simply not capable of progressing with the plot. Depressing, because Aiden Khar, the Dark Elf assasin, was a hell of a lot of fun to play up until this point. I have an infamy score over 100. Due to a "misunderstanding" (see: arrow in the back of the head of a leading member), he's been banned from the Mage's Guild for life. Priests spit on him when he passes, and his gaze curdles milk and makes women barren. He is, in short, an evil bastard.

He is not, however, an evil bastard with heavy armor proficiency, nor does he possess a working knowledge of magic. And I just found out that I cannot, in fact, sneak past demons. Which, you know, kinda sucks when it's been the focal point of your combat strategy for 50 hours of gameplay. Grrr.

I do, however, have a theory: perhaps I can start brewing poisons that will help me push forward! Unfortunately, Aiden's working knowledge of alchemy is such that he knows that he shouldn't drink arsenic, but the jury's still out on sulfuric acid. If you take my meaning.

I've got another character, Drake Greywood. He's your average fighter/mage. He might be seeing more play time, as he's a more standard character type and would thusly have a better chance of making it through the game. :P Besides, I'm going to power-game the shit out of him! I'm also thinking about leveling a monk-ish character, using unarmed attacks.

The question is: Will it blend?