Having run through Skyrim as most of the races, I tried khajiit for the first time, and man, oh, man, does the khajiit have some smooth unarmed combat finishing moves! I'm talking lift the enemy over your head and hurl him headfirst into the ground, totally murder-death-killing him. Time it right, and you can finish off an enemy before he even has a chance to draw his weapon by simply charging up to him and pulling your WWF move on him. Okay, so it's not as cool as some of the Ninja Gaiden II finishing animations, but then again, you don't have to press XXYYYXXXXX-> to get it, either.

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I've played ranged combat heroes in all the TES games, but I highly recommend running at least one character through Skyrim as a melee combatant. There's this perk, see (Devastating Blow in two-handed, Savage Strike in one-handed) that have a chance of decapitating your enemy.

Seriously, while frying an opponent with fire balls or getting a critical strike with a well-aimed dwarven arrow is quite satisfying, nothing compares to the sweet, sweet joy of chopping the head off one of those smart-mouthed necromancers at close range. Sorta just wipes that sneer off their face.

I can hardly wait until I meet up with Ancano.

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Okay, I understand that you can be infected by a vampire during combat and not notice that you have contracted Sanguinare Vampiris until it's too late. I get that.

But what if you're ambling along, enjoying the bright sunny day, shooting wolves and bandits and generally having a grand ole time, and suddenly the screen flares yellow and you get a message "your vampire blood boils in the sunlight"? This has been happening to me recently (the past couple of days), and I'm not finding any explanation.

A reload of a save prior to this bizarre Sudden Vampire Syndrome (SVS, I call it) shows no signs of disease or vampiric powers; nothing to indicate that moments later, my blood, suddenly vampiric, will be boiling in the sunlight. No vampire powers, n…

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There are a few NPCs in Skyrim who, in my opinion, need killin'. With some, it's their snotty attitudes and nasty remarks as you walk by. Others are just creepy. They might be easier to bear, I suppose, if they just went about their business afterward, but no. They say the same things over and over. It's like they're robots or something, and not real people at all.

On my Better Off Dead list:

Taarie and Endarie. This condescending pair of fashionistas treats passers-by to criticism that is completely uncalled-for. "If you're going to the Blue Palace, I'd rethink your clothes." Yeah? Well, rethink this, bee-otches!!1!"

Nazeem. This smugly superior jerk in Whiterun asks you if you visit the Cloud District, and then says "What am I saying? Of cour…

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Hey, it's no Bard's Tale, but there's plenty of funny stuff happening in Skyrim that tickles me—although some of it isn't intentional (I think):

• On your way to kill the dragon at Kynesgrove, pausing to catch butterflies and pick flowers.
• What happens right after Yamarz tells you "this'll only take a minute" (I'm sure this is intentional, but I still laugh every time)
• The gobsmackingly huge number of guards in the various holds who might have been the Dragonborn but for that damned arrow in the knee.
• The goat that actually attacks your foes for you (although after a survey of what's for dinner in that cave, can you blame him?)
• The stink-eye Iona gives me while she's talking about what a great Thane I am.
• The Hans-and-Franz quality of accents poss…

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