Hi, I just wanted to review the mods I have downloaded before I start a new play through and see what other mods you suggest and questions I have that you might be able to answer. I do not want to stray to far from the story line and want the mods to be cohesive while leveling up as well. For example, nothing goofy, no cheats, nothing given to me that is overpowered.

Audio

1. Sounds of Skyrim - Civilization, Dungeons, Wilds

2. Immersive Music

(any other audio recommended or are these sufficient?)

Armour/Clothes

3. Cloaks of Skyrim

4. Winter is coming - Cloaks

5. Immersive armour

(Any more/other that make NPCs look more interesting. Or any other for my character that I should download?)

Combat

6. Dual wield parrying

7. Archery Overhaul

8. Pretty Combat animations

9. Scoped Bows

(Any others like finishing moves, or combat with certain weapons, or magic combat, or do these cover that area well?)

Character looks/Customization

10. Apachiiskyhair

11. enhanced character edit

12. the eyes of beauty

13. Better Females by Bella

14. RS Children Overhaul

15. Ethereal Elven Overhaul

16. ShowRaceMenu Precache Killer

(Want characters to look cool/sixy/unique. Want a wide range of customization i.e. races - beards - eyes - facepaint - etc etc. Any more that is recommended?)

Immersion

17. Frostfall

18. wet and cold

19. animated clutter

20. Realistic needs & Diseases 2

21. SkyTEST - Realistic animals and predators

22. Immersive Creatures

23. Immersive Fallen Trees

24. Real Roads

(any others suggested?)

Map/Hud/patches

25. Unofficial Skyrim Patch - Dawngaurd - hearth - dragon

26. A Quality World map and Solstheim Map

27. immersive HUD - IHUD

28. moreHUD

29. SkyUI

(anything else needed?)

Follower

30. Extensible Follower Framework

31. Follower Commentary Overhaul

(Was wondering if I should download specific followers now or is that something that should wait until later/end game so it doesn't mess with leveling process/story immersion)

Weapons

32. immersive weapons

33. JaySUS swords

(feel that I am missing a lot of potentially good weapon mods. Recommendations?)

Other

34. Alternate Start - Live another life

35. Move it Dammit

36. Enhanced Blood Textures

37. Dual Sheath Redux

38. Wintermyst - Enchantments

39. Extensive Encounters

40. Enhanced Camera

41. Ordinator perks of Skyrim

42. Equiping Overhaul

43. Real Shelter

(recommendations?)

Quest

44. Stones of Barenziah Quest

45. The Paarthumax Dilema

(Didnt know if I should keep downloading other quest mods because I didn't know if it interferes with leveling up/story line. Should I be downloading quests ahead of time that scale with leveling or should I just wait until end game? and which do you recommend?)

ENB

46. RealVision ENB

(I know many people have their preference, what I have seen/read I think I like this one. Is it Solid? Also, does this come with climate/weather/etc. If not, then which climate mod should I DL that runs well with this?)

---- Ok, That is all that I have DL so far. Any recommendations and guidance will be greatly appreciated.

.... One more question. I installed game and booted it up once without playing yet. I installed the SKSE off of steam since they had it on there now. Do I just start skyrim from the SKSE for now on or should I have DL SKSE another way. Thank you.

You have a nice list of mod's, I would add LOOT and Wyre Bash to that list and add everything in that you want. Play a test character for just a bit to make sure everything run's smooth, then start your Play through...that's the way I do it when I add in a few new mod's or more anyway.

Depending on your story you could add in

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/35841/? as it lets you rebuild Helgen, add's new dungeons and quests, a player home and some new NPC's, including one marrigable female.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/68125/?- No Animals Report Crime...self explainitory...it work's, if you plan on doing TG or DB

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3829/? it play's well with Immersive creatures.

I would look in the Nexus or Steam and see which body face and texture mod's that you prefer, because what I really like, might not suit you at all. As I said before I would install all the mod's I plan on using from the begining...sort them with Loot and make a bashed patch for them...this is pretty much how I do it... I have added things, re-sorted Loot and made another Patch, but I don't remove anything.

aMidian Books of Silence, for awesome textures. There are multiples of this, for creatures, armor, weapons, etc. Also, a bunch of the mods on your list have other mods as requirements that I don't see on your lists.

When Vampires Attack and Run For Your Lives will help keep the npc populations in cities and towns alive. FNIS, SKSE, Racemenu are just a few that are requirements for some mods you have listed. They are excellent too!

Welcome to the forum!

Cutting Room Floor : cut content
Wintermyst : Enchantments
Complete Fast Travel Overhaul
Left Hand Rings modified
Immersive Patrols
Acquisitive Soul Gems Multithreaded
Extended Encounters
Backup Movement Speed Reduction
Guard Dialogue Overhaul
Combar Evolved
Starting Spell Choice with patch for LAL, no more healing and fire spells

Traps makes noise more dangerous traps
Skyrim Immersive Creatures
No combat music
Dawnguard Sentries Plus
Scarcity Less Loot
Lore friendly Spells
Trade and Barter (must have)
Marco's intergrated levelled lists (hidden gem)
Glowing ore veins

Plus the ones mentioned above : sorry without Nexus links as from top of my head.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22650/? -- breathes life into the Companion's guild. Dreamking also has an Aela follower mod, which I've heard good things about. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/64820/? -- npc's celebrate various holidays including your pc's birthday if you want. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22745/? adds footprints to the game.

Also have a look at more of http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/users/684492/?tb=mods&pUp=1 -- Provencal Courier Service, Gildergreen Regrown, Run for your lives (as mentioned above).

Commonly quest mods can be enabled mid-playthrough. I recall only Civil War Overhaul required upfront installation before starting a new game.

I like your list. For the combat mods, you can try Duke's and Deadly Combat. I find them to be very good alternatives.

Thank you all for the suggestions, I appreciate it. Do not hesitate to add anymore if you would like. Thank you!

For weather you could add the "Project Reality - Climates Of Tamriel - Weather - Lighting" with the "Climates of Tamriel - Weather Patch".

For environment I would recommend these:

SkyFalls and SkyMills - Animated Distant Waterfalls

Realistic Water Two

Relighting Skyrim

Enhanced Landscapes

Dynamic Distant Objects LOD - DynDOLOD.

Depending on the settings of the DynDOLOD it can be a bit resource heavy (e.g. grass plugin) so I don't use any ENB in my current game due to fps drop. DynDOLOD setting isn't the easiest to do but there are good manuals available.

For sixier character looks you could use UNP with the "SG Female Textures Renewal". In my opinion UNP is more lore friendly than CBBE. There are a lot of armor/clothing for UNP at Nexus but for starters I would use at least these:

UNP Female Armors

Default Outfits for Females Elder NPCs.

For quests there are these two that I like to have in all my playthroughs:

Wyrmstooth

The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal.

The latter is more to the roguish characters.