Favors are miscellaneous objectives or small activities that you can find throughout Skyrim.

Favors are controlled by the game’s Radiant Story system, which uses a variety of factors to determine when to start a given quest.

This means that not all Favors will be available at all times; in particular, you can only be on one Favor of each type at a time.

For example, if you start one Rare Item Hunt, you must finish it before beginning another.

This section details all of the available Favors you can attempt during your exploration of Skyrim.

Note that each of these increases your Relationship with the citizen you’re doing the Favor for, which is important for your standing within a particular city.

If the citizen isn’t a resident of the city, then you perform the Favor simply to accrue a reward, to pass the time, or to be a pleasant person.

This chapter is segmented into three parts:

Part 1—Activity Favors: Deals with manual labor you can do to earn an honest pay. Which you can then share with beggars if you wish.

Part 2—Favors for Citizens: Lists every resident in Skyrim who has a job for you to do if you speak to them.

Part 3—Thane Tasks: Reveals how to become a Thane (or a land-owning, respected resident) of each particular Hold, and the house you can purchase.

Part 1: Activity Favors

Favor (Activity): Chopping Wood*

Please click to enlarge

Visit one of the following locations and speak to the person specified (usually a lumbermill owner) in the table below.

They will gladly pay for any firewood you chop. Find a Woodcutter’s Axe (there should be one near the woodpile at this location), find a pile of wood, and continue to chop, before heading to the person for a reward.

Woodcutter’s Axe

Five gold pieces per piece of firewood chopped

Favor (Activity): Mining Ore*

Please click to enlarge

Head to one of the following locations, and converse with the character specified (usually a mine owner) in the table below. They are happy to pay for any ore you mine. Find a Pickaxe (there should be a few inside any of the mines you visit) and locate a vein within the mine. Strike it, gather the ore, and head to the person for a reward...