I love playing stealth characters in games, but in Oblivion for me they're kinda meh. Sneak attacks are great and all, but that's pretty much it. After I use a sneak attack (which doesn't always down someone or even significantly wound them at earlier levels), every NPC within range of my target homes in on me and the fights always leave me pretty close to death. Now I know I'm not going to be fighting 4 guys at once, that's what I have my paladin character for, but are there any mods that make being a ninja more fun? Any suggestions are appreciated, but I'm looking for something that maybe improves archery, changes the way stealthing works to give me a better edge, or maybe something with different tools if that even exists? With tools think like how a ninja has smoke bombs and stuff. Anyone know a couple of good mods?

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1203105-looking-for-some-stealthdetectionguard-mods-and-general-reccomendations/page__view__findpost__p__17936627__fromsearch__1

thieves arsenal
Midas Magic (it has a smoke screen spell)
assassin trip wires
numerous disguise mods
combat mods like Deadly reflex, unnecessary violence, or duke patrick mods.

I think you would enjoy my SDR mod (link in signature) in combination with the following:
SM Combat Hide
Reneer's Guard Overhaul
Cava Obscura
Thieve's Arsenal
Morrowind Lockpicking