As TESIII gives you wide selection of races to play, certain are more suitable for freelancing than others.

Dunmer – Do you want to fuel the rage behind treachery of your previous incarnation even more? Pick Dunmer, as their lava red eyes and ash skin will constantly remind you, what have those certain 3 ( insert proper noun ) brought upon proud Chimer people.

Orsimer – Born outcasts and perfect for role of freelancer, former followers of Trinimac, mightiest of all Mer they were, and then, during Dawn Era, they turned inside out, after their diety entered Boethia’s mouth, was eaten, digested, and relieved in front of his people in form of...
( insert proper word for Holy Sh1t )
And so Malauch arouse, to become god for all of his people once again.

Altmer – Closest of kin to Chimer (IMO), they may seem soft, but obstacles are meant to be overcame, right? You are a freelancer, right?

Breton – Hardy folk of High Rock are more than suitable for life of freedom and as Lady Azura predicted, Nerevarine will be foreigner ( furriner if you want to play as Khajiit for any reason,
or lack of it... ), so why not the one from High Rock?

Nord – Aaand here’s THE reason why. They hail from Skyrim and feels no compassion with other races, for they believe, that they have nothing in common with all of those that inhabit Tamriel
( and Akavir or Yokuda… being it above sea-level ). Children of the sky see themselves as eternal outsiders and invaders, being exhaled by sky at the Throat of the World and formed to perfect shape, to conquer it with skill, steel and wind in their back.

Saxhleel – Speaking of someone alien to other mammal inhabitants of Tamriel, reptilian inhabitants of Black Marsh, People of the Root are forin on the first sight, so why not pick them to fight for their freedom in an environment most suitable for them? ( like Dren Plantation )
If you want to be greeted warmly : „N’wah?!“ for the most part of game, go for it, further more,
if you believe, that shoes and helmets are for losers, go for it, run for it, run till you grind of your toes...errr claws?

Redguard – After Yokuda hit the rock bottom ( literally ), some of their people did not.
These descendants of great civilization, washed upon the shores of Iliac Bay in Hammerfell just refuse to die out…
I would not chose these guys, no matter how strong they may seem in early game.
But if being „rear-guar“ does not bother you, you can clearly overcome obstacles I could not.

Suthay-rath – If you’re from Elsweyr, I suggest you go elsewhere. ( Arvel plantation maybe? )
I’m not a cat person really…

Bosmer – Valenwood you said? Well, why don’t you go back the way you came from?
You're no boss of mer...tree-huggermugger…

Imperial – From all those amazing beings you could choose from, you picked imp? Really?
Imp real? Then, why don’t you speak to some of your kind? His name is Vodunius Nuccius, he lives in Seyda Neen, and he can tell you right away, that Morrowind is not a place for two fine gentleman such as yourselves… Give him suitable dowry of 100 Septims, accept his ring, go back to Cyrodiil together and breed toy dogs... or stay on the island to become...
Crassius Curio’s ( insert proper body part ).

As you can see, I favour first five races I mentioned, but at the end it really doesn’t matter.

What does matter is how much freelancing you want to do and that math homework that goes hand in hand with it.

Classical example of Imperial lies...There is only one way, and that is to fill in the form yourself!



Ask yourself, how many levels you want to be able to grind...
Results may vary according to your race and set of skills you chose.

For higher level cap, pick skills, that race of your choosing does not receive bonus points in.
( simply put, create cute oxymoron, like magic oriented Orc/Nord, or combat oriented Breton/Altmer )

If you add up your Major/Minor skills and subtract result number from 1000,
you get number, which divided by 10, gives you the number of levels you can obtain.

Now if you add up all missing attribute points ( how much you need to have 100 in all attributes ) and divide it by your level number, you get how much attribute points you can distribute per level, so you end up with all 100's at your last level.

Those numbers contain fractionals, so you need to adjust it by adding that extra point every few levels.
Closer to your level cap you get, easier the math gets.

But I shall present an example:

Nordic freelancer Raven specializes in Magic,
his favoured attributes being endurance and luck,
born under sign of Lady
and his Major/Minor are:
security, armorer, sneak, illusion, enchant
restoration, mysticism, heavy armor, block, short blade

( I prefer wholesome blend of 3 S’s - spell,skill and steel )

that gives 750 points left – max. lvl 76, thanks to Lady’s Favour and Lady’s Grace, I got 50 extra attribute points, leaving me with 420 to distribute through 75 levels ( 420 : 75 )
And our magic number is 5,6…



If you want to keep an easy track of these fractional-points just invest them in luck.

As I level up, first three levels, I train solely Heavy Armor, so I get 100 in Endurance at level 4. But to make it happened I have to distribute 7 attribute points per level.
( 5x endurance, 1x luck, 1x strenght )
From level 5, I distribute 11 points for every two levels, which leaves me with 14 ( 12 if you help out certain Nordic nudist ) points to devide among last three levels.

Please, accept my apology, for such math-mess. Math-ness? MADNESS!
Sheogorath, be my witness!
I am still not sure if I counted it right.
( I belive I did, but that may be just a joke of the Mad One, nesting between my ears )

If I managed (+/-) to do it, I am sure you will get your freelancer to 100 in all skills and attributes as well.

As you're about to pick your birth-sign, I found but 3 aforementioned suitable for the noble class of freelancer.

Each has its own +/-

The Serpent - I love this one, for Star-Curse is one of those spells, that does not belong to ANY school of magic...



The Atronach – An amazing way to overcome Altmer handicap…



The Lady – Sure...If you value those few hit points so much go ahead and be The Lady…



And that's it, unless you forgot to change class name from Adventurer to „freelancer“ with matching description, if so just adjust character sheet as you wish before you quit character creation.

After you do, you may want to experience tutorial to its fullest. Take unique dagger ( it has value of 1! ) and letter it used to pin to table, hack away with dagger a bit, so you lose some fatigue, pick up crab meat and eat it to restore said fatigue.
Take a bottle of flin and fight the temptantion to drink it right away, rather brighten up your day by that silver candelstick standing next to it.
Than pick up lock pick, to pick a lock on a...clock? no it rhymes, but no... on a small chest,
just for practise, leave the cash, nothing's more disgraceful than having stolen drakes in your pocket...
And isn't such behavior the very reason of your fomer accomodation in an Imperial City prison?

Now you're in Morrowind, and here, we have other ways to rob someone blind... We call it... Mercantile!

As long as you are able to persuade trader, ( get his disposition to 100, blacksmiths are especially easy to win over ) you can sell for more, than you buy for. Even with next to none skill in Mercantile ( basic 5 ) you can successfully deal with Arrille (Arrille's Tradehouse - Seyda Neen) to gain all of his gold, and gear of your choice. ( and his selection - I recomend scrolls of Vitality, Vigor, Summon Skeleton and Almsivi Intervention ) Of course you need something to trade with...just help yourself to various pieces of flora, fauna and mushrooms around Seyda Neen.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

If you wander about the aforementioned things you picked up as part of tutorial, don't worry, none of them is flagged as owned, nor is book on shelf called The Firmament, which you can read through ( and take ) , to gain additional information about various birth-signs.
Now, with new insights, you are ready to leave Census and Excise Office.

This part of tutorial was optional but now comes the real deal.
You just HAVE TO explore THE BARREL standing next to door in order to enter them.

After you do, submit your release identification papers to Stellus Gravius and enter the game world as a free man. ( sort of )

Now you can ( and should ) save your game, for who want to go through character creation, and tutorial twice, right?

What makes freelancer alive and well, you ask? The ability to be self sufficient!
That is where Enchanting comes in.
If you have it as your Major ( unless you're an Altmer, in which case you are better off as major alchemist ) you can create basic magical objects for everyday use with little to no effort.
For starters you should get either 4 petty soul gems or even better 4 lesser ones, also you will need to extend your spell book...
Desired spells are Soul Trap, Levitation, Heal Other and Bound Axe.
When you’re at it purchase Fireball and Jack of Trades as well.
Arrille's Tradehouse, Balmora Mage's guild and Moonmoth Legion Fort should provide those

Now comes the tricky part, that divide you from the rest of flock, if executed right. With 4 petty soul gems find a way to soul trap a skeleton and harvest it’s soul...
With 4 lesser ones find either diseased rat ( spawns in wilderness later, as you level-up )
or gentle and beautiful Bull Netch, entrap that poor creature’s soul and slay it.

If you can acquire any potion and/or scroll that fortifies Luck and/or intelligence, good. If not, just use The Ultimate Spell called Save Game, and proceed further.
Try to turn a common piece of clothing into life-saving gear, that will get you to mid-game with ease.
Since common shirt and pants has only 2 enchant points (EP) and expensive belt and robe has 5 this shouldn’t be a problem.
Buy expensive belt and robe.
( nothing is more annoying than having your enchanted gear confiscated for being flagged as owned )

„safety-brown pants“ restore 11 health on self
„sky-blue shirt“ 1 point of levitation for 19 seconds
and now something with more punch…
Turn expensive belt into „side-sash“ 59 seconds Bound Axe
Enchant expensive robe with Soul Trap on target 39 seconds, so it becomes „robbed-soul“
( or vice versa for nice golden gleam your robe gets if conjuration spell is woven into fabric )

This will get you started, and you can progress towards brighter days and higher levels.
( I tend to level-up above 6th after last quest for Caius Cosades, so I can enjoy game curve )

About leveling itself…

As a freelancer you stand above all guilds, trainers and the rest of herd of flesh, calling themselves citizens of Empire, so you don’t train, you exercise.

Armor and Block skills are best to practise in water with several slaughter fish around...
Think about it as radical fish peeling...
( full set of armor and shield, any healing magic at ready to cast - important, so you don’t level up your block skill, unless you went in that blender to hone your blocking abilities - and enter slaughter fish infested waters )

Weapons are best to train on solitary ancestral ghost, for you can train as much as you need to, as long as you use mundane weapons ( wood, chitin, iron, steel )

Armorer is a ( insert noun for female dog ) to master.

Enchant on the other hand is quite easy to raise...
Once you perform a certain task for certain someone...

Security can be mastered easily by enchanting common glove with lock on touch 1-37.
( use at least Fire Atronach soul 105 charges – common soul gem needed )
Said glove can lock anything you unlock, making it a great tool for practise
( along with butt-load of lock picks of course )

Various colleges of Magic can be risen by cantrips ( custom made spell from desired college with minimal casting value, Alteration has one already, called Fenrick's Doorjam, Conjuration is best to practise with custom made Turn Undead )

Also at certain points in game you will encounter people, that are not hostile towards you,
but you just feel that your relationship will be short and swift ( like a dagger by your waist ) .
Why not take advantage of it then, ( if it’s merchant with restockable items, like lock picks or armorer’s hammers ) by buying and selling desired product back, to create stockpile, which you gain, after getting rid of said individual.

I need to add, that I play Morrowind since it went out. I did not even have to buy it, as I got mine copy of TESIII and its construction set as a gift from computer shop, where I bought Nvidia GPU. At those times there was no Steam, and my first update for TESIII came from bonus cd of Score magazine.
As years passed, I bought new PC, switched to Linux OS and finally,
thanks to OpenMW I can play and enjoy the game as everyone should.
With max draw distance, so you can navigate while flying around this beautiful island.
It also has nice features, like a box, which you can tag to prevent merchants equip bought goods, and many more.



And that's that...

As you ascend in skill, only your fantasy ( along with item's enchant value ) limits you,
but here are few suggestions of mine:

Before you soar up to the skies, get „down to earth” a bit. Look for solitary characters in wilderness. They usually have some task ( or a sharp blade ) for aspiring freelancer like yourself. Be especially perceptive on main road leading from Caldera to Ald'ruhn. Pemenie the Trader can totally change the pace of your game.

If you have trouble keeping track of your game, or level up proces, why not take notes?
I know I did.
Or, just make a screenshot of conversation window containing crucial information.



Use Mark/Recall along with Almsivi/Divine Intervention.
If you find a „sweet spot” you can travel among Seyda Neen, Balmora, Pelagid, Vivec and Ebonhart just by using proper order of those spells.
Where is this „sweet spot” you ask?
Poke around Seyda Neen and you can find recently murdered body of Socucius Ergalla.
This Emperor's loyal magpie lost its life right where you want your Mark.
Face Seyda Neen, and position yourself between body ( within your reach ) and tree with Bungler's Bane and Hypha Facia growing from it's side like cute little shelves.
Save your game, Mark and try out Almsivi Intervention.
If you set your Mark right, you should face door of Balmora Temple.
Recall and try out Divine Intervention.
Welcome to Pelagid, while there, cast Almsivi Intervention,
and you'll find yourself in front of High Fane, Vivec.
If you cast Divine Intervention there, you'll appear at Imperial Chapels, Ebonhart.
Quite a network if you ask me, and permanent corpse within reach, so you never have to deal with encumbrance again, on top of it?
That's what I call a „sweet spot in swamp” ( 3 S's again! )

If you feel brave, take Hand-to-hand as your weapon skill. This way you'll be truly independent, with indestructible weapon at the end of each arm.
( you can't suffer a fracture in game, no matter what, or how hard you hit it )

After you get your hands on the ultimate reward ( Azura’s Star ), you can start producing artefacts of your own, but first you need to obtain items of great quality, able to withstand your constant effect enchantments...



Daedric Tower Shield ( 225 EP ) is good for anything, I have at least 3 of those with custom enchantments

Daedric Shield ( 150 EP ) is perfect for constant effect of restore fatigue 1 point and summon Dremora

(or to bound helmet, cuirass, gloves, boots and Battle axe for those those who want all of their combat gear gear weight around 80 weight units – 45 said shield, 2x10 for Imperial Chain Pauldrons ( 7 EP ) and 9 for Glass Greaves ( 10 EP )



Telvanni Cephalopod Helmet ( 100 EP ) is ideal for creating constant effect invisibility artefact

Ebony Staff ( 90 EP ) is a weapon able to carry the strongest of enchantments...
imagine the possibilities …



Exquisite Skirt ( 60 EP ) I tend to call “scamp-skin skirt” for it can hold summoned scamp as long as you wear it

Exquisite Robe or Belt ( 40 EP ) can give you a constant effect 2 points of night eye and summon Ancestral ghost

Bonemold Longbow ( 40 EP ) is the best and only bow worth enchanting

Expensive Amulet ( 15 EP ) can be turned to constant effect 1 point of levitation

Expensive Ring ( 15 EP ) can become your best friend with constant effect water breathing
( speaking of devil, if you ever tried to raise your athletics, you know, running is not enought... put on your invisibility helmet, water-breathing ring, amulet of levitating, find a spot in water that locks you in place, so you don't swim back to Cyrodiil, and press Q, or any key you have assigned to Auto Run.
Now just go to kitchen and prepare four-course meal for that loving family of yours.
After you eat together and discuss how did this fine day greet you, you can return to find out, that your athletics have risen by 7 points!
Well I might have exaggerated a bit, but raising your athletics IS time consuming process, that goes faster if you swim )

all of extravagant ( 60 EP ) and exquisite ( 120 EP ) jewels can become whatever you want or need



...sadly, you can’t enchant to full potential of item's high-capacity, unless you at least once exploit “alchemy glich” that let you make fortify intelligence and luck, drink them, make more of those, drink...until you get at least 3500 points in intelligence ( 300 luck can’t hurt either ), that should be enough to enchant that Daedric Tower Shield with anything you want. Also while potions still works their magic, you can make a stockpile of potions, for your future enchanting experiments...

And there's a lot more, so feel free to explore...

I want to thank a LOT to The UESPWiki and it's creators for all their hard work.
That page is invaluable source of game lore, general info and solutions...
( TESIII obtains some journal related quest bugs, that either prevent you to proceed further, or just leave finished quest in your journal as active. Then the console commands comes in… )

If you have any questions about „freelancer's” trade in Morrowind,
or you just got the need to tell me what I forgot, or where got I wrong,
feel free to do so in comments section.