Replaying through Skyrim as my first pure Mage. I've made mages before, but never without a sword for backup weapon.
I've got my own rules to try and up the challenge and immersion a bit:
- No fast travelling (except for carriages)
- No potions in battle
- No saves except auto-saves
- Have to eat and sleep once a day
- No travelling at night
And a few more. I'm having a real hard time currently, as high level bandits will one hit me with any weapon, even bows. I like to sneak around casting frenzy, to make them kill each-other, but as soon as I'm spotted it's usually game over

I persevere though, I'm looking forward to wielding the arcane and fucking up shit.
I really wish they'd added a hardcore mode a la New Vegas, as playing on Xbox denies me access to the mods that are available.