Oblivion:Resist Normal Weapons

Resist Normal Weapons reduces damage taken from normal weapons by M%. Normal weapons can be melee and ranged non-enchanted weapons or bare fists (only if below level 50 in Hand to Hand); creature attacks, however, are unaffected by resist normal weapons. There are several generic magic items with this effect. In addition, there are also some unique items, such as the Hands of Midnight. Also, becoming a vampire grants you a 5% Resist Normal Weapons bonus at Vampirism 25% and up to 20% Resist Normal Weapon at Vampirism 100%.

100% Resist Normal Weapons
Obtaining 100% Resist Normal Weapons as a character is difficult (especially since custom items cannot be made), and is only possible if you are willing to be a vampire and have at least one official plug-in, Unearthing Mehrunes Razor.
Full vampires have 20% resistance.
Rings of Steelskin provide 13% resistance (Ring of Steelskin) and 15% resistance (Grand Ring of Steelskin). These rings are found randomly in loot starting at levels 9 and 14, respectively. To wear two steelskin rings, you must have two different rings (i.e., you can not wear two Grand Rings of Steelskin simultaneously).
Greaves of Resilient Flesh provide 11% resistance. These are found randomly in loot starting at level 12.
Hands of Midnight provide 10% resistance. These gauntlets are available to Dark Brotherhood members only, in the Cheydinhal sanctuary. Also wearing them adds Sun Damage (but if you're a vampire you will already be avoiding the sun).
Gauntlets of Resilient Flesh or Cursed Stoneskin Gauntlets provide 15% resistance. These gauntlets are found randomly in loot starting at level 12 in the Shivering Isles expansion. Wearing these Gauntlets adds 5% Weakness to Magic.
Morag Tong Cuirass provides up to 25% resistance. This is a leveled item only found in the Mehrunes Razor plug-in, and its level is randomly determined (i.e. luck and/or reloading from saves is necessary to get the best one).
Bladeturn Hood provides up to 15% resistance. It is also a random-level item found only in the Mehrunes Razor plug-in.
A full vampire wearing all of these items will have 114% Resist Normal Weapons; non-vampires will have 94% resistance.

As an alternative to the Cuirass, the player may equip the Forgemaster's Smock, available in the Mehrunes Razor plug-in as well. It provides 15% Resistance to Normal Weapons and does not reduce your Spell Effectiveness.
A full list of Magic Apparel providing Resist Normal Weapons effects can be found here.

The Knights of the Nine plug-in also has a couple items of that provide resistance, although both of these items can only be equipped by players who have at most 1 Infamy point:
Cuirass of the Crusader provides 15% resistance, for all versions of this leveled item. The Morag Tong Cuirass is preferable, since it provides up to 25% resistance.
Greaves of the Crusader provide 15% resistance, but only if you acquire the light armor version between levels 16 and 20. This is 4 points better than the 11% resistance available from the Greaves of Resilient Flesh.
Therefore, 118% Resist Normal Weapons is possible using the best possible combination of items; for non-vampires the best possible value is 98% resistance.

It is far more feasible and beneficial to obtain 100% Reflect Damage, which:
only requires three items, giving you more freedom to choose your equipment,
only requires finding two particular random items instead of three random plus two semi-random,
does not require being a vampire or an assassin,
does not require paying for a plug-in,
sends damage back at enemies, making them die faster,
works against creatures as well as people,
and is not worthless in Planes of Oblivion where everything is either a creature or wields Daedric or Dremora equipment.
Reflect Damage does not protect against arrows, however.

Notes
This effect is unavailable at both the Spellmaking and Enchanting Altars.
Any creature, NPC, or player who is immune to normal weapons (100% Resist Normal Weapons) will suffer no damage from attacks using most unenchanted weapons. They can however be damaged by any of the following physical weapons:
Silver, Daedric, or Dremora weapons. There are also less common weapons that will work, some of which are highlighted in blue on the Weapons page.
Poison applied to the weapon. Even if they are also immune to poison, the weapon itself will still damage them.
Enchanted weapons. Even if the weapon is completely discharged, or if they are immune to the weapon's enchantment, the weapon itself will still damage them.
Fists, if the attacker is at least journeyman level in Hand to Hand skill.
Bound weapons.
In the case of a bow, either the arrows or bow itself must be one of these types to be effective.

See also
Sections:
Resistances and Weaknesses: General information on how resistances and weaknesses interact.

Related effects:
Weakness to Normal Weapons
Resist Disease, Resist Fire, Resist Frost, Resist Magic, Resist Paralysis, Resist Poison, Resist Shock