Beyond the main quest, Skyrim has six great questlines. Each can be completed regardless of your build, and each ends with you leading the organisation.
The Companions
Join: Jorrvaskr, Whiterun.
Highlight: Become a Werewolf and cleanse the Glenmoril curse.
Reward: Wuuthrad & Harbinger of the Companions.
College of Winterhold
Join: Winterhold (cast a spell to enter).
Highlight: Stop the Eye of Magnus catastrophe.
Reward: Staff of Magnus & Arch-Mage's quarters.
Thieves Guild
Join: The Ratway, Riften (meet Brynjolf).
Highlight: Restore the Guild and expose Mercer Frey.
Reward: Nightingale armor & Skeleton Key.
Dark Brotherhood
Join: Kill Grelod in Riften, then answer the black hand.
Highlight: The contract to assassinate the Emperor.
Reward: Shrouded gear, Shadowmere & the Blade of Woe.
The Civil War
Join: Windhelm (Stormcloaks) or Solitude (Imperials).
Highlight: Campaign hold by hold for the fate of Skyrim.
Reward: Titles, land and a changed world.
Bards College
Join: Solitude.
Highlight: Recover the lost verses of King Olaf.
Reward: Access to the Flyting festival and free skill-book training.
Faction leaders also grant Daedric quest opportunities and rare trainers. Doing all six is the fastest route to a well-rounded, richly-equipped Dragonborn.
Nine you can join, and some you cannot join together
The six questlines above are the big ones, but the count of joinable factions is nine (the four guilds, the Bards College and the two exclusive pairs below; counting minor factions like the Blades, the Greybeards and House Telvanni takes it to fourteen) — and more importantly, they are not all compatible. «Each can be completed regardless of your build» is true; «each can be completed in the same playthrough» is not.
| These exclude each other | What it costs you |
|---|---|
| Imperial Legion vs Stormcloaks | Picking a side in the civil war closes the other — see the civil war |
| Dawnguard vs Volkihar vampires | The whole vampire questline runs one way or the other |
Which is the point worth taking away: outside those two forks, nothing on this page competes. You can lead the Companions, the College, the Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood in one character, and the game never comments on it. So the only decision to make deliberately is which side of each fork — everything else is a matter of order.
Still to verify
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 against UESP and a GameRant ranking. What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.