Sneaky class: Khajit or Wood Elf?

[Zacaroni_cheese]

I'm planning to do a sneak-type character to do Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood etc, but I just can't decide whether to be a Khajit or a Wood Elf...
Khajit: they're just epic, I mean, c'mon, THEY'RE CATS!!! But seriously, they have good theiving abilities, like lockpicking and sneaking, and I think I would play him as the kind of guy that picks of his targets (with backstabs), specialising in one-handed and light armour (as well as all the obvious sneak skills), without doing archery, or magic, or any kind of crafting.
My biggest fear/problem is that against stuff that has really good health, or stuff that will kill me straight away, like trolls or bears, is that I just won't stand a chance. Also, if i get caught, my character would probably be pretty useless in a fight as he won't be very good at fighting
Wood Elves: this playstyle for focus MUCH more on archery. Can't decide whether to use weapons when they get close, but he would still be a theif/assasin,without using magic and probably not crafting, again specialising in archery and light armour.
There doesn't seem to be any Khajiit in the theives guild or dark brotherhood (apart from the ones you find roaming), and they generally seem much more interesting
I don't want to play as a Dark Elf or other mage before anyone says to, I want to be physically sneaky rather than relying on Illusion spells to kill everyone or go invisible.

[Hamsterbytes , bits and nibbles]

I am a great sneak, I am a Nord though. Level 77, I am an overall jack of all trades and skills and a master of a few.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

Didn't want to be a Nord though, I used one for my warrior type playthrough.

[gnewna]

I think the general idea is to invest a lot of effort into *not* getting caught, which probably means investing in stamina (for all the running away) and distraction techniques, whether that's Illusion spells (which you don't want, but Fear and Calm can both be jolly useful in the wilds for getting rid of bears, sabre cats and the like, particularly if you decide against the whole Dragonborn side of things (and can't use Kyne's Peace or that other one)) or judicious use of arrows shot behind somebody so they go searching for the source of the noise, Throw Voice shout, etc.

That said, my current character is hiding in the inn in Markarth because he spotted some Hired Thugs coming to have a word with him when he tried to leave the city (where by 'he spotted them' I mean 'they killed him about fifteen times in a row and the guards didn't seem to want to help' so the last time it reloaded I legged it back into the city to rethink.) He's only got minimal armour (boots and bracers, plus clothes/hood) and no shield, though he did just sell a shield he found in the Abandoned House, so I may cheat a bit and reload to before he sold it and see if it helps at all. Three massive armoured Nords against one wimpy little Breton with a stolen iron mace, though... Maybe I should try running again. Only got as far as the other side of the stables last time before running out of breath.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

Haha, an iron mace really won't do you a lot of good ;)
Thanks though, I'll just try and be really careful and make a Khajit. He's going to be racist: only trust Khajit, that means Khajit followers and maybe wife. That will take some modding haha.

[Fayde]

I've been flogged by the 3-hired-thugs more than once and, when I'm not up to it, I leg it too. Stacks of potions is the key for them. Seems when dispatched Anise her sis got e onto me. Also, an unnamed Bandit got em after me for pickpocketting. What's really got me worried is I found a Brotherhood Assassin with a note saying my death has been paid for failure to assassinate me is not an option... ????????
I'm a Nord, cos I wanted fighting ability, but upping my Sneak/Thievery now (Level 26) coz those quests look fun :)

[gnewna]

If you're going to play as Khajiit, I *highly* recommend the mod Khajiit Speak (on the Nexus). Basically goes through and turns just about all player dialogue options into the distinctive speech patterns of the typical Khajiit. This one found it most enjoyable when she last was Khajiit. Particularly when she came across filthy Skooma-dealing Khajiit...

[Beliar]

Race is purely cosmetic. I choose khajiit because of night eye(using a lot of graphics mods and they made skyrim's night very dark). Playing with daggers is more fun imo than shooting from a dark corner of a room till everyting is dead. With sneak 100 you can easily run from fight and hide with shadow warrior. Boosting stamina to 200-250 and then rest in health will make you survive few hits until you are hidden again.

[Bartson]

J think khajiit is better on sneak. Wood elf in my opinion is better on hunter or archer.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

Cool, thanks for your input guys! Will definitely go for Khajiit because they are just so cool!
Is there a mod which makes the people in Skyrim.... not stupid? i.e. a mod which stops people "imagining" when the have an arrow stuck in their face and 3 dead friends......

[gnewna]

Originally posted by Zacaroni_cheese:

Cool, thanks for your input guys! Will definitely go for Khajiit because they are just so cool!
Is there a mod which makes the people in Skyrim.... not stupid? i.e. a mod which stops people "imagining" when the have an arrow stuck in their face and 3 dead friends......

Not completely, but there are mods which make them look for longer (sadly I don't think there's any that removes the ridiculous dialogue when they give up looking though). SkyRe definitely does, although it's a massive overhaul so may not be what you're after (I love it, though - it also improves enemy AI if you include that module, among other things - it's still not perfect, but definitely better). I think Requiem also does, it's another massive overhaul (I tried it, really liked what I saw but it wasn't what I'm after for my current playthrough...) I think there are various mods which focus on making sneak better (i.e. probably harder but also more rewarding), can't think of the names, though.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

I have SkyRE, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem :)
They are SO dumb in the vanilla game though...

[Paroe]

Check out resplendant racials (or something, ill link it later) and go bosmer. they can become invisible :P

vanilla, Kitties are the sneakiest.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

I said I don't want to use a mage, or illusion....

[Paroe]

Originally posted by Zacaroni_cheese:

I said I don't want to use a mage, or illusion....

...Bosmer are wood elves.
with the racials mod on the workshop they have a unique power that lets them turn invisible.

i did not mention magic in my suggestion, although i probably should have specified that with the mod in question that have an innate invisibility power.

[Zacaroni_cheese]

Oh I see, I thought you meant be a bosmer, using illusion as a great way to sneak/not get caught.