Do you have to join a great house?

[raevol]

I know people basically always do, but can you complete the main quest without joining one?

[Gramblosh]

No, you don't have to join one, you can even bypass the part of the main quest that is related to the houses.

[ezze]

I beat the game once using the alternate way... No joining.

(I made a mod that made the health damage normal, not permanent)

[Chris]

And to be clear, even the normal (non-alternate) way can be completed without joining a Great House. I've never done the alternate path, and I've beat the MQ twice without joining any GH.

[raevol]

Good to know. I'm playing a Khajiit this time around, and the great houses mostly just get under my skin.

[dEnigma]

Good to know. I'm playing a Khajiit this time around, and the great houses mostly just get under my skin.

...literally in the case of the Telvanni, I presume

[raevol]

...literally in the case of the Telvanni, I presume

Exactly. I plan to be pretty merciless when I hit Telvanni-involved quests.

[DrCuddlebug]

It's worth noting you can bypass the entire second half of the main quest (where you become proclaimed Hortator and Nerevarine) by being above level 21 and having at least 50 reputation.

Then Nibani Maesa will tell you that you can meet the Arch canon and later Vivec.

[raevol]

I've gotta try that route someday. This playthrough involved re-trying the Redoran Hort quest to get that bug figured out, which fortunately we did.

[Gramblosh]

Level 21 is no problem but don't underestimate the 50 reputation point, you gotta work really hard to get that without doing that part of the MQ. When I was at level 21 I didn't even have half of it and I was already head of the fighters guild and rather far in the imperial legion, imperial cult gave a few points.