So my Fallout 3 DVD appears to be warped. Like it got wet or too hot or something. There are faint squggly lines on the bottom and my drive won't read it. I recently installed a new video card and apparently the new drivers require the Fallout 3 Launcher to need to run and detect new settings, or so I heard, and for the launcher to run it requires the DVD to be present. Is there any possible work-around to this? Something that can be changed in the .ini maybe? My current F3 install is heavily modded and really don't want to have to (A) buy a new F3 and (B) redownload/reinstall many gigs of mods.

You could send an http://www.zenimax.com/contact.php and ask for a replacement copy.

Sure, try FOMM (Fallout Mod Manager) or NMM (Nexus Mod manager) from the http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/modmanager/

for http://newvegas.nexusmods.com/mods/36901
or the classic http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/640 only version

Personally I prefer FOMM

but a proper mod manager is pretty essential if you run a heavily modded game