Hints and peculiarities | Other Oblivion Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Law & Order
They say that you can't be a hero without occasional lawbreaking. You'll surely perform a handful of illegal deeds throughout your adventures. Each time you are seen or caught, you'll get a fine.
Crime | Fine |
Trespassing; | 5 Gold; |
Pickpocketing or stealing; | Value of stolen goods; |
Assault; | 40 Gold for each level of assaulted NPC; |
Murder; | 1000 Gold. |
When you have a fine to pay and you are approached by a city guard, you'll be given a choice: go to jail, pay the fine or resist agrest. The last way is just stupid in most cases - save for when you intend to run. You don't stand a chance fighting city guards, they are several levels above you and great in numbers.
Paying the fine always seems the most reasonable choice. Each time you decide to do so, you'll be escorted to the castle courtyard (Imperial City Prison in Imperial City) and disposed of all stolen goods. If you want to avoid loosing them, just drop them on the ground when the guards approach you in the first place.
Going to jail and serving your time results in some random negative points to your skills. You have to serve 1 day for each 100 Gold of the fine, with 24 hours being the minimum serving length. There is a way to escape the prison. You have to possess a lockpick - if you don't have one on you (sometimes you can smuggle one in your inventory), try to steal it from the passing guard.
Escaping the prison is quite troublesome (fighting is not an option here, and you have to find a chest with your belongings) and it increases the fine we have to pay next time we're caught.
HINT: Thieves Guild members have two perks related with breaking the law. When you're with the thieves, you can sell stolen good to so called Fences, and you can pay your fines halved by talking to Armand or S'krivva. Check out our Thieves Guild section for details.
Vampirism
Vampirism is not as important in Oblivion as it was in Morrowind. To become a vampire, you have to contract Porphyric Hemophilia and don't cure it in any way (potions, prayers, magic) for 3 days. After that time, next time you sleep you will awake as a bloodthirsty child of the night.
Where to get the disease? There are two ways: contract it while fighting vampires (you can find them in various caves, for example) or get it from Dark Brotherhood's very own Vicente Valtieri, who offers to turn you into vampire once you complete a number of quests he has for you.
Vampirism has 4 stages, and what determines the stage you're in is how much time passed since your last feeding. To feed you just have to find someone sleeping, and activate him, choosing the "Feed" option. Each time you drink blood you are set back to the first stage of the disease, in which the symptoms are least visible. Each stage is activated after the next 24 hours.
The following table points out vampires' pros and cons in each stage of the disease.
Time passed since the last feeding | Less than 24 hours | One to two days | Two to three days | Four days and more |
Pros | - +5 to Willpower, Strength, Speed, Athletics, Acrobatics, Destruction, Illusion, Hand-to-Hand, Mysticism, Sneak; - 5% resist normal weapons; - Hunter's Sight. | - additional +5 to all first stage skills; - 10% resist normal weapons; - Vampire's Seduction. | - additional +5 to all second stage skills; - Reign of Terror. | - additional +5 to all third stage skills; - Embrace of Shadows. |
Cons | - 20% fire weakness | - 30% fire weakness - sunlight damage, 1 hit point per second. | - 40% fire weakness - sunlight damage, 4 hit points per second. | - 50% fire weakness - sunlight damage, 8 hit points per second. - most NPCs won't talk to you due to your appearance. |
Hunter's Sight - Night-Eye + Detect Life for 30 seconds;
Vampire' Seduction - once a day, +50 to NPC's disposition;
HINT: If you raise NPC's disposition to 100, he will talk to you even if you're in the last stage of vampirism.
Reign of Terror - once a day, Silence+Demoralize;
Embrace of Shadows - once a day, Night-Eye (90 seconds) + Invisibility (180 seconds)
HINT: There is a quest called "Vampire Cure" that allows you to get rid of the disease. See Miscellaneous quests -> Other section.
Horses
Horses are every traveller's friends, companions that can change long and troublesome journeys into quick and enjoyable rides. There are a various types of horses in the game, each having different stats.
 |  |
Name | Price | Where to get it? | Speed | Health |
Bay Horse | 1000 | Ex. Bay Roan Stables (4s3); | 26 | 250 |
Black Horse | 5000 | Ex. Black Waterside Stables (9s27); | 33 | 325 |
Chestnut Horse | 2500 | Ex. North Country Stables (3s5); | 29 | 200 |
Paint Horse | 500 | Ex. Wildeye Stables (6s25); | 23 | 300 |
Prior Maborel's Horse | - | You get it for free after escorting Martin to Weynon Priory in the main plot; | 23 | 300 |
Shadowmere | - | You get it for performing a Dark Brotherhood quest "Purification"; | 33 | 500 |
Unicorn | - | Encountered in a daedric quest "Hircine"; | 29 | 300 |
White Horse | 4000 | Ex. Horse Whisperer Stables (1s1); | 29 | 400 |
Houses
You can buy a house in every city in Cyrodiil. You usually have to talk about it to the city Count - directly or through his or her butler. When you buy yourself a more or less decent home, it's time to furnish it. Each time you get a house you are told the name of a shop that sells furniture for it. All quests called "Buying a house in [city]" end when you buy all the available furniture elements.
 |  |
Person - NPC you have to talk to about buying the house;
Shop - the one that sells furniture in a given city;
City | Person | Shop | Price | Notes |
Anvil | Velvyn Benirus (The Count's Arms); | - | 5000; | See (1). |
Bravil | Count Terentius (Castle Anvil); | The Fair Deal; | 4000; | |
Bruma | Countess Carvain (Castle Bruma); | Novaroma; | 10000; | |
Cheydinhal | Count Indarys (Castle Cheydinhal); | Borba's Goods and Stores; | 15000; | |
Chorrol | Countess Volga (Castle Chorrol); | Northern Goods and Trade; | 20000; | |
Imperial City | Vinicia Melissaeia (Office of Imperial Commerce, Market District); | Three Brothers Trade Goods; | 2000; | |
Leyawiin | Count Caro (Castle Leyawiin); | Best Goods and Guarantees; | 7000; | |
Skingrad | Shum gro-Yarug (Castle Skingrad); | Colovian Traders; | 25000; | See (2). |
(1) - The Anvil house quest is called "Where Spirits have Lease" and is described in detail in out Miscellaneous section.
(2) - Skingrad Manor is connected to two small side-quests. One of them is to hire a servant (Eyja in Colovian Traders will offer her service to you once you buy a Servant's Quarters to your house), and the second one - finding a hidden treasure. In your bedroom upstairs you'll find a letter that triggers the quest. In order to get it, you have to jump to the place seen on the left screenshot below (you might have to buy bedroom furniture before). The treasure is in the basement, hidden in an hourglass. Its jammed in the column - see the right screenshot below. There are a few jewels in there, plus a nice ring for a sneaky character - Ring of the Gray.
 Letter in the bedroom.
|  Hourglass in the cellar.
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