OblivionXP might work nicely for you. It changes the leveling system to a more traditional, experience point system, in which you get experience for completing quests, killing things, etc. IIRC, nGCD and realistic leveling get rid of the optimal leveling problem, but, for example, you still have to use restoration spells often to increase the skill. I use OblivionXP, but I used nGCD for years and GCD before that. Either one is still an improvement over vanilla, IMO.

As for lore, I recommend getting the lore through the game. Watch the starting movie, read the occasional in-game book. You won't be an elder scrolls lore expert, but you'll know enough to immerse yourself in the game. I've never worried too much about lore, myself. The unofficial elderscrolls pages (www.uesp.net) has a lore section, but I think it's quite a bit of reading.

And even though he doesn't support it anymore, I would recommend that Duke Patrick melee combat mod...especially since deadly reflex has become more complicated to install. If you aren't a sword and board type, though, his mod might make you a little too squishy. The combat is much more realistic, making combat more difficult to win but more rewarding (although, the occasional sneaky wolf killing you from behind can be very annoying). You won't get any decapitations with Duke Patrick's combat, though.

I'd give a thumbs up for All Natural, and one more suggestion to make your life more complicated. If you don't go the FCOM route and use just OOO instead, you can probably still use Martigen's Monster Mod. Definitely worth checking on to see if you want it. TIE + MMM might work as well, you'd have to check into that.

One more thing, purely cosmetic: I like TNR, especially because the author worked to just improve the inhuman vanilla faces. But there are still some weird faces in there. So I use the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=17189 with the optional Handsome Gents files as well. The Beautiful Women author probably leaned too heavily on the age slider, but he definitely got the "faces that actually could walk down a street without eliciting screams of horror" part right. If in doubt, just go TNR, but it's worth a look.

About Realistic Leveling: I'm on my 1st playthrough with it, at level 9, so I can't give a comprehensive review. In general, it "just works" and nothing about it has needed to be fixed, changed, or has annoyed me, so in that sense it's already a win. Leveling is a little slower, but not too slow, IMO, and it's configurable.

The only nitpick is minor (I think): As you play, it will automatically raise all of your attributes. In order to do this, it will sometimes pick misc skills and advance them. So you'll be running along and suddenly get a message that your Blunt skill has increased even though you've never used a blunt weapon. It looks like this is done in a round-robin fashion, so the effects by end of game should be minor, but I can't say for sure until I see the long-term effect. I'm not sure if nGCD has a similar system, because it's been a long time since I've used it. Abilities that you use do rise faster, as you'd expect. So far, I think this has happened about 6 times in 9 levels, but I only started paying attention after I realized what was going on.

I won't speak for Unnecessary Violence, as I have not used it, but if you are going to use Deadly Reflex--I would download version 5. Version 6 has bugs and requires quite a bit of extra content imo. I tried to use it and my game became unstable. I went back to version 5 and everything was fine. Version 5 improves combat quite a bit and will probably suit your needs.

Just my opinion.

Again, thanks for the responses and valuable input.

Regarding Experience Mods
It sounds like OblivionXP would suit me. While the idea of a more sophisticated leveller that responds to your actions is appealing, this sounds like the best way to achieve your desired character without possibly painfully being forced to use a weak skill for a good while until it's sharpened up. Realistic though this may be, that doesn't necessarily make it fun.

Regarding Combat Mods
It sounds like I should try Deadly Reflexes 5. I have read about its relative stability versus 6, which many say is unstable. If I find my game breaking, I can remove it, but it does sound like the right path to the spellsword-type character that I'd enjoy most. I will augment this with a few of Duke Patrick's mods, since it doesn't sound like he has a well-supported melee one at present.

Regarding Creature/Foe Leveling
This is the one area that concerns me most. I'm not looking to make my game super-tough or draw out the leveling process. And I'm reluctant to attempt to load an FCOM mod like OOO because of its complexity. At the same time, the idea of mudcrabs leveling with you to remain a challenge or, contrastingly, deservedly powerful foes being downgraded so you can face them successfully at level 4 is concerning. So if there is a mod that does a far better job of balancing combat with your enemies, I think that's mandatory for me. Which of the mods that accomplish this is right for me is an open question.

- ELB

OOO is not complex to install at all.
Here, look at this link from planetelderscolls: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=3953
Scroll down until you find this version of OOO: "OOO 1.33 OMOD-ready Complete "
This is the whole thing, in omod-read format which means that it's a one-click install with OBMM.
After having installed it, you can upgrade to version 1.34 Beta 5 if you want. Changes compared to version 1.33 are minor so this upgrade is entirely optional.

In my last playthrough I was using OOO1.33 alongisde LAME, OblivionXP and deadly reflex 5 so I can guarantee this combination works great and is very stable.

In fact, one of the few threats to stability that I see in your list is "fearsome magicka" (since it requires the OBSE plugin "pluggy"). Another disadvantage of FM is that you can't really enjoy it with a low level character since the number of times you can cast its spells depends, mainly, on your level (skill mastery is also a factor). So I'd recommend that you wait a little (perhaps until your character is level 10 or so) if you really want to install this mod.

Finally, I'd like to suggest "QTP3 redimized". This is a texture pack that makes cyrodil much more beautiful and detailed. It's very easy to install: you get two folders: meshes and textures, and copy-paste them into your data folder. Then you do an archive invalidation, either via OBMM or, better yet, by downloading a small mod called "archive invalidation invalidated".

Tiny Lampe.

Tiny Lampe, fantastic suggestions. Very timely, too, since I'd just decided to install OOO after all. I believe that its level adjustments are crucial to the game I'm hoping for. However, I think that I will forgo the other FCOM mods.

And I will add QTP Redimized to the list.

- ELB