Welcome this is version 2.0 i actually finished the first one but accidentally clicked a banner ad and it Deleted itself 
Anyway
Character Creation
Sex-Yes this actually makes a Difference Females usually have Skills more beneficial to Magic while Males are better at Combat
Races-There actually is Factored in Racism in oblivion altering a NPC's reaction to you based on their own and your Race Basically the Biggest ones are Dark Elfs who are the most hated followed by High elfs and orcs bringing up the rear,Also Bethesda in a rather Racist move made all the White Humans hate Redguards a bit
Anyway ill split them up into 3 groups Stealth,Magic and Combat although if your doing a mix i suggest Dark elfs,Imperials or Bretons or Redguards
Combat
Redguards-Great with Blades and such plus theyre are almost Immune to both Disease and Poison also their Greater power is quite kickass
Orcs-Great all around Warrior types although their Beserk power has a downside they also have a slight resistance to magic
Nords-These guys have a decent resistance to frost Theyre Greater power allows them to protect themselves and they also have a pretty much Insta Kill Once per day spell until level 10
Imperial-These guys are great alrounders and you usually get a better price for your loot playing one
Stealth
Khajitt (Cats)-These guys get a bonus to all stealth related skills plus they jump higher and run faster and they have a spell that costs nothing and allows you to see in the dark
Argonians (Lizards)-They dont get a bonus to sneak at the start however the do get a bonus to the stealth based magics which is good, They are also completely immune to poison hardly ever become diseased and can breathe underwater without spells
Wood elfs-These guys make great archer characters and since they have a bonus to alteration they can magically pick locks without picks theyre also almost completely immune to disease
Magic
High Elf-These guys are Glass canons i wouldnt suggest them as anyones first character however they do get a massive magicka Bonus at the start of the game so theyre good for spell spamming
Bretons-These guys are great they have a 50% resistance to magic a bonus to their own and their greater power lets them max out theyre armor for a minute a day
Dark elfs-These guys make good Combat mages hitting people with a blade and spells also they have a summon ghost ability which most enemies cant damage till around level 5 but is still useful after that and theyre also almost immune to fire
Okay now we are up to birthsigns
Warriors
The Lady-More health and More Power attacks
The Warrior-More Health and More Damage
The Lover-this is a good all round birthsign it allows you to paralyze someone for 10 seconds which makes it great for beating on someone who cant hurt you
The Ritual-Another Good all round Birthsign it allows you to make Undead flee from you as many times as you want per day and a spell that will fully heal you once a day up to level 15 and stays very good even beyond that
The Steed-Good for Stealth and Warrior types allows you to close on those pesky ranged characters faster
The Lord-Gives you a minor weakness to fire and also gives you the ability to heal 90 points of damage as much as you want per day on yourself
Magic (Include those good all round Birthsigns i put in combat)
The Apprentice-This makes you weaker against magic wielders but gives you a good boost to starting magic theres also a slight upside in that spells you cast on yourself are also buffed by your weakness to magic
The Mage-This just gives you a good boost to magic with no downsides
The Atronach-Gives you a Giant Boost to starting Magic However stops your magic from Recharging except through the spell absorbtion it gives you meaning you have to let enemy spells hit you too recharge or use potions mkaes Bretons basically invulnerable to magic at the start of the game
Stealth
The Serpent-This just gives you a pretty weak poison ability its rather useless
The Shadow-Allows you to go Invisible for a minute good for making a quick getaway however Invisibility comes off if you interact with anything at all,Chameleon from Illusion doesnt have this Drawback making it far more useful
The Steed-Gives you bonus's to stealth and Acrobatics and such
The Thief-Gives you +10 to all Stealth skills and Luck which like on Fallout gives a buff to all skills
The Tower-Largely Useless however it does give you the Reflect Damage at spell making altars allowing enemies to beat themselves to death
Skills
Okay there are too many of these to tell you what to take and it depends on your personal style however i can tell you what to avoid
Blade-Either Take this or Blunt not both
Hand to Hand-Combined with a Paralyze spell this is actually useful and it doesnt Degrade like weapons do
Athletics-Avoid this the bonus's it gives are largely useless and you level it up anyway
Acrobatics-This might sound useful but just jump everywhere and it will level itself up
Speechcraft-Even at higher levels you just end up bribing everyone anyway
Alchemy-This skill is immensely useful however i advise taking it as a primary although you can make good money as a side buisiness
Restoration-This sounds good on paper but even with it you use Healing potions and it is a bitch to level up unless your training
After youve done this and got the Amulet of Kings make a save before exiting the sewers so you can come back at any time without doing the tutorial
Okay so now you should be out of the Tutorial ill focus on getting you some decent equipment
As soon as you exit theyre should be a sparkling white Ruin directly in front of you over a River Swim to it and fight about 2-3 Bandits if they have anything you want take it but the reason i directed you here is because in the nearby tent is a book that permanently increases on of your skills for free
Okay now youve done that open up your map and fast travel to the Imperial city Market district to sell the loot no doubt weighing you down from the Tutorial if you came out at night press back and wait until 9 AM once youve sold all your loot to individual shops (Note that pressing Y and bartering will give you better deals tweaking it to get the best deals from individual shopkeepers is great)
Now you should probally Join a Guild there are 4 in Oblivion with Various benefits once you join a guild all theyre Stuff becomes owned by you this includes food to make into potions and sell and Armor
Fighters guild-Not just for warrior types joining can net you a full set of Steel Armor from the Leyawinn hall or an Almost full set of leather from the Bruma Hall,Also in Chorrol there is a couple of Fine Steel Longswords which are good till about level 5 and a Silver Longsword good till about level 8 as it can Damage Ghosts
Mages Guild-Doing all the Recommendations nets you a few good beginner spells and Access to the Arcane University which has Spellmaking and Enchanting Altars also a good place to find a full set of beginners alchemy equipment Alembic,Retort and Calcinator
Thieves Guild-Speak to beggars about finding the Gray fox or Read on of his posters scattered around to find them once you join the guild you have access to a good source of lockpicks and you can sell stolen Items to Fences and your Doyen can pay off any bountys you have for half the price
The Dark Brotherhood-To join these guys you have to murder someone if you dont get spotted doing it you dont even get a bounty,Joining them gives you a good Enchanted set of Leather armor which is Black and a Ebony Dagger (I dont suggest going further in their Quest line until later as theyre are alot of good leveled items in there Quests)
Also Doing the Arena is a good option as theyre are no leveled rewards and it nets you a pretty damn decent sword and some Armor and if you do the Grand champions Quest before fighting him he doesnt Fight back and beating him to death will count as murder but not incur you a bounty but let you get access to the Dark brotherhood
Now you have Equipment and such you can do whatever you want however here are a few more Tips
Places to Raid
Rockmilk Cave-This is a great place to get loot as their are Bandits and Marauders fighting in here the Bandits carry pretty good Black bows usefull till about level 10 and the marauders wear heavy armor when you get to the tent save outside before going in if the chest inside doesnt have any good loot load up the save and try again (To get here go north along the road from Leyawinn until you come to the town of Waters Edge its a litte Northwest of the town and should appear on your radar)
Fort Strand-Theres an enchanted Mace in this place for Blunt characters that is quite Useful as well as a boss level treasure chest (It can be found DIrectly East of the Anvil Castle gate on your map
Things to avoid
Sleeping-Waiting an Hour will heal you to full health however Sleeping can inadvertantly cause you to level up which you dont want to do until you have used your 5 training points for that level heres a list of trainers
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Trainers
The Main Quest-Unless you plan on doing it all on one go do not advance it past The Path of Dawn otherwise Oblivion Gates start popping up outside every single city Although going to Weynon Priory and speaking to Jaufre then Prior Malbory can get you a free horse
The Dark Brotherhood-Anything after killing Rufio the Bonus's offered by Contracts are usually Awesome leveled rewards and Jewelry also Save before Each quest because if you fail the bonus part of the mission you should start over
Pickpocketing-Unless Specifically told to for a Quest this is a Really fast way to get Arrested since oblivion is stupid
Other Helpful Tips
In the Arena District are two people fist fighting if you watch them for awhile your Hand to Hand should increase by 5
To close an Oblivion gate you must take its sigil stone Saving before doing this and reloading until you get one you like is good also Rapidly tapping A can Net you up to 3 Sigil stones from 1 gate
If a guard likes you they will pay off Minor FInes up to about 200 gold for you
At Lower Levels always take Scrolls,Arrows,Jewelery,Ingredients and potions to sell as well as Jewelery
2 Handed weapons and Heavy armor are pointless to pick up as their Weight makes them not worthwhile to sell compared to Light Armor and 1 handers
Stealing is useful if your in the Thieves guild I suggest robbing Red Diamond Jewelery (Note Picking the key from the owners pocket is useful just save beforehand in case you fail),The Gilded Carafe,All the Castles in every town except Bravil and Leyawinn with Bruma being the best if you need lockpicks then Shady sam sells them 100 at a time hes found be going east of the Imperial city Stables hugging the wall the entire time hes in an Alcove
In Skingrad is a Crazy Elf by the name of Glarthir after asking the Townsfolk about rumors he should contact you he should ask you to spy on some people (You dont have to do this)Just wait 24 hours and report to him again tell him they are following him for maximum gold eventually he should ask you to kill them at this point you have 3 options Kill them all for 1k Gold and Infamy Kill Glarthir yourself for Infamy or Turn Glarthir into the GUards for Fame they will kill him loot his corpse and take his housekey in a Waste paper basket in his house is 800 gold for anyone who got/killed Glarthir
Anyway
Character Creation
Sex-Yes this actually makes a Difference Females usually have Skills more beneficial to Magic while Males are better at Combat
Races-There actually is Factored in Racism in oblivion altering a NPC's reaction to you based on their own and your Race Basically the Biggest ones are Dark Elfs who are the most hated followed by High elfs and orcs bringing up the rear,Also Bethesda in a rather Racist move made all the White Humans hate Redguards a bit
Anyway ill split them up into 3 groups Stealth,Magic and Combat although if your doing a mix i suggest Dark elfs,Imperials or Bretons or Redguards
Combat
Redguards-Great with Blades and such plus theyre are almost Immune to both Disease and Poison also their Greater power is quite kickass
Orcs-Great all around Warrior types although their Beserk power has a downside they also have a slight resistance to magic
Nords-These guys have a decent resistance to frost Theyre Greater power allows them to protect themselves and they also have a pretty much Insta Kill Once per day spell until level 10
Imperial-These guys are great alrounders and you usually get a better price for your loot playing one
Stealth
Khajitt (Cats)-These guys get a bonus to all stealth related skills plus they jump higher and run faster and they have a spell that costs nothing and allows you to see in the dark
Argonians (Lizards)-They dont get a bonus to sneak at the start however the do get a bonus to the stealth based magics which is good, They are also completely immune to poison hardly ever become diseased and can breathe underwater without spells
Wood elfs-These guys make great archer characters and since they have a bonus to alteration they can magically pick locks without picks theyre also almost completely immune to disease
Magic
High Elf-These guys are Glass canons i wouldnt suggest them as anyones first character however they do get a massive magicka Bonus at the start of the game so theyre good for spell spamming
Bretons-These guys are great they have a 50% resistance to magic a bonus to their own and their greater power lets them max out theyre armor for a minute a day
Dark elfs-These guys make good Combat mages hitting people with a blade and spells also they have a summon ghost ability which most enemies cant damage till around level 5 but is still useful after that and theyre also almost immune to fire
Okay now we are up to birthsigns
Warriors
The Lady-More health and More Power attacks
The Warrior-More Health and More Damage
The Lover-this is a good all round birthsign it allows you to paralyze someone for 10 seconds which makes it great for beating on someone who cant hurt you
The Ritual-Another Good all round Birthsign it allows you to make Undead flee from you as many times as you want per day and a spell that will fully heal you once a day up to level 15 and stays very good even beyond that
The Steed-Good for Stealth and Warrior types allows you to close on those pesky ranged characters faster
The Lord-Gives you a minor weakness to fire and also gives you the ability to heal 90 points of damage as much as you want per day on yourself
Magic (Include those good all round Birthsigns i put in combat)
The Apprentice-This makes you weaker against magic wielders but gives you a good boost to starting magic theres also a slight upside in that spells you cast on yourself are also buffed by your weakness to magic
The Mage-This just gives you a good boost to magic with no downsides
The Atronach-Gives you a Giant Boost to starting Magic However stops your magic from Recharging except through the spell absorbtion it gives you meaning you have to let enemy spells hit you too recharge or use potions mkaes Bretons basically invulnerable to magic at the start of the game
Stealth
The Serpent-This just gives you a pretty weak poison ability its rather useless
The Shadow-Allows you to go Invisible for a minute good for making a quick getaway however Invisibility comes off if you interact with anything at all,Chameleon from Illusion doesnt have this Drawback making it far more useful
The Steed-Gives you bonus's to stealth and Acrobatics and such
The Thief-Gives you +10 to all Stealth skills and Luck which like on Fallout gives a buff to all skills
The Tower-Largely Useless however it does give you the Reflect Damage at spell making altars allowing enemies to beat themselves to death
Skills
Okay there are too many of these to tell you what to take and it depends on your personal style however i can tell you what to avoid
Blade-Either Take this or Blunt not both
Hand to Hand-Combined with a Paralyze spell this is actually useful and it doesnt Degrade like weapons do
Athletics-Avoid this the bonus's it gives are largely useless and you level it up anyway
Acrobatics-This might sound useful but just jump everywhere and it will level itself up
Speechcraft-Even at higher levels you just end up bribing everyone anyway
Alchemy-This skill is immensely useful however i advise taking it as a primary although you can make good money as a side buisiness
Restoration-This sounds good on paper but even with it you use Healing potions and it is a bitch to level up unless your training
After youve done this and got the Amulet of Kings make a save before exiting the sewers so you can come back at any time without doing the tutorial
Okay so now you should be out of the Tutorial ill focus on getting you some decent equipment
As soon as you exit theyre should be a sparkling white Ruin directly in front of you over a River Swim to it and fight about 2-3 Bandits if they have anything you want take it but the reason i directed you here is because in the nearby tent is a book that permanently increases on of your skills for free
Okay now youve done that open up your map and fast travel to the Imperial city Market district to sell the loot no doubt weighing you down from the Tutorial if you came out at night press back and wait until 9 AM once youve sold all your loot to individual shops (Note that pressing Y and bartering will give you better deals tweaking it to get the best deals from individual shopkeepers is great)
Now you should probally Join a Guild there are 4 in Oblivion with Various benefits once you join a guild all theyre Stuff becomes owned by you this includes food to make into potions and sell and Armor
Fighters guild-Not just for warrior types joining can net you a full set of Steel Armor from the Leyawinn hall or an Almost full set of leather from the Bruma Hall,Also in Chorrol there is a couple of Fine Steel Longswords which are good till about level 5 and a Silver Longsword good till about level 8 as it can Damage Ghosts
Mages Guild-Doing all the Recommendations nets you a few good beginner spells and Access to the Arcane University which has Spellmaking and Enchanting Altars also a good place to find a full set of beginners alchemy equipment Alembic,Retort and Calcinator
Thieves Guild-Speak to beggars about finding the Gray fox or Read on of his posters scattered around to find them once you join the guild you have access to a good source of lockpicks and you can sell stolen Items to Fences and your Doyen can pay off any bountys you have for half the price
The Dark Brotherhood-To join these guys you have to murder someone if you dont get spotted doing it you dont even get a bounty,Joining them gives you a good Enchanted set of Leather armor which is Black and a Ebony Dagger (I dont suggest going further in their Quest line until later as theyre are alot of good leveled items in there Quests)
Also Doing the Arena is a good option as theyre are no leveled rewards and it nets you a pretty damn decent sword and some Armor and if you do the Grand champions Quest before fighting him he doesnt Fight back and beating him to death will count as murder but not incur you a bounty but let you get access to the Dark brotherhood
Now you have Equipment and such you can do whatever you want however here are a few more Tips
Places to Raid
Rockmilk Cave-This is a great place to get loot as their are Bandits and Marauders fighting in here the Bandits carry pretty good Black bows usefull till about level 10 and the marauders wear heavy armor when you get to the tent save outside before going in if the chest inside doesnt have any good loot load up the save and try again (To get here go north along the road from Leyawinn until you come to the town of Waters Edge its a litte Northwest of the town and should appear on your radar)
Fort Strand-Theres an enchanted Mace in this place for Blunt characters that is quite Useful as well as a boss level treasure chest (It can be found DIrectly East of the Anvil Castle gate on your map
Things to avoid
Sleeping-Waiting an Hour will heal you to full health however Sleeping can inadvertantly cause you to level up which you dont want to do until you have used your 5 training points for that level heres a list of trainers
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Trainers
The Main Quest-Unless you plan on doing it all on one go do not advance it past The Path of Dawn otherwise Oblivion Gates start popping up outside every single city Although going to Weynon Priory and speaking to Jaufre then Prior Malbory can get you a free horse
The Dark Brotherhood-Anything after killing Rufio the Bonus's offered by Contracts are usually Awesome leveled rewards and Jewelry also Save before Each quest because if you fail the bonus part of the mission you should start over
Pickpocketing-Unless Specifically told to for a Quest this is a Really fast way to get Arrested since oblivion is stupid
Other Helpful Tips
In the Arena District are two people fist fighting if you watch them for awhile your Hand to Hand should increase by 5
To close an Oblivion gate you must take its sigil stone Saving before doing this and reloading until you get one you like is good also Rapidly tapping A can Net you up to 3 Sigil stones from 1 gate
If a guard likes you they will pay off Minor FInes up to about 200 gold for you
At Lower Levels always take Scrolls,Arrows,Jewelery,Ingredients and potions to sell as well as Jewelery
2 Handed weapons and Heavy armor are pointless to pick up as their Weight makes them not worthwhile to sell compared to Light Armor and 1 handers
Stealing is useful if your in the Thieves guild I suggest robbing Red Diamond Jewelery (Note Picking the key from the owners pocket is useful just save beforehand in case you fail),The Gilded Carafe,All the Castles in every town except Bravil and Leyawinn with Bruma being the best if you need lockpicks then Shady sam sells them 100 at a time hes found be going east of the Imperial city Stables hugging the wall the entire time hes in an Alcove
In Skingrad is a Crazy Elf by the name of Glarthir after asking the Townsfolk about rumors he should contact you he should ask you to spy on some people (You dont have to do this)Just wait 24 hours and report to him again tell him they are following him for maximum gold eventually he should ask you to kill them at this point you have 3 options Kill them all for 1k Gold and Infamy Kill Glarthir yourself for Infamy or Turn Glarthir into the GUards for Fame they will kill him loot his corpse and take his housekey in a Waste paper basket in his house is 800 gold for anyone who got/killed Glarthir
