First and foremost: I'm not sure whether this is the correct place for this request. Since this has to do with downloading mods I've posted it here in the Skyrim Mod section. Clever, eh?
Please do not flame me needlessly; if you are a troll, don't bother. I'm too easy a target due to mental health issues (and not the fun kind like seeing flying monkeys). It would be boring.


This is a somewhat long post. If you do indeed want to help me it would do well to read all the way through so that you don't misunderstand what I'm getting at.
I come to you in desperation (yeah, I'm hyperbolic) as I've spent the past few hours scouting around the web.


Okay!
So, my flatmate and I are saving up for a decent gaming PC to play Skyrim with mods.
The trouble is we're both complete newbs!
I was told that SkyrimNexus and Steam Workshop make it very easy to install the mods, and that's wonderful, but I've just discovered just how many mods there are.

I want to use a lot of them. I'm daunted by the amount that's out there and also not sure on what is compatible with what. A lot of the more popular modders tell you in their descriptions about compatibility, however I'm a tad scared.


What I'm asking is for some help in planning out which mods to get.


REALISM
I'm an absolute nerd for realism. I've been looking at 'Imps More Complex Needs'. Is anyone here using it? If so, what other mods do you have working with it?

I also want things which would come under the advlt/mature category. I know that you are not allowed to link to these mods but I'm pretty sure that it says we can still talk about them. I'm not necessarily looking for pormography, you understand. It's more about things making sense: young age not granting immortality, being able to do more to your spouse than stare at them, etc.

Also anyone know anything about this Project Legacy? I saw it on Skyrim Nexus.


TEXTURES
There seem to be an endless amount of texture mods. Could anyone suggest a decent 'all-in-one' mod? I know I'm being pretty vague. Maybe you could tell me what you are using and why you like it?


FOLLOWERS
Should I use UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul, Amazing Follower Tweaks, or neither? In your own opinion.


MAGIC
Are there any mods which stand as a good 'rival' to the Midas Magic mod? Or is it the best choice for someone looking for more from magic.


SUGGESTIONS
Have you got any mods you'd recommend to me?


You could always simply tell me your mod set ups and why you picked them, then I could just try and work out stuff from that.



Lastly: Once more I ask you not to bite me, scary internet peoples!

Since your first topic is Realism, you may enjoy taking a look at http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11163. It's my baby, and I'm shamelessly plugging it. It adds a great deal of depth to cold weather survival gameplay, and is highly configurable in-game depending on what features you'd like to play with. Give it a look. It is compatible with Imp's More Complex needs, which I do recommend. The author of Imp's has been absent for some time, so if you're looking for something else, take a look at http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10843 (also compatible with Frostfall).

I don't believe Project Legacy is continuing any longer, or the author is taking a long break. His last update on his Nexus page was the 15th of April.

The http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11 will probably answer many of your questions. It gives a nice, detailed set of instructions and different categories to choose from, and gives a lot of information about what is compatible with what.

Welcome to the modding community! It's great fun

I'm using Imp's MCN at the moment, and it works great. I use it with Frostfall and Cloaks of Skyrim (goes with Frostfall) and they all work together perfectly - now there is a need to eat, sleep, drink and stay warm! It's awesome. I also haven't had problems with any of my other mods. I don't use any advlt mods, but I'm sure there would be very little incompatibility. It only arises if they edit the same thing. The children can die is a simple edit, it should have no incompatibilities. Frostfall is here:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11163

For textures, start with the official texture pack. My other reccomendation is Skyrim HD:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=607

I don't use followers, so sorry there. Someone else will have to help you

Midas Magic doesn't really have any alternatives - it adds in new spells and effects. There are MANY other magic mods that rebalance it, but not many that compete with Midas. I can only think of one other off the top of my head, and it works with Midas:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=11163
Some of the more popular balanced magic mods are Balanced Magic:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2275
Better Magic:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=4374
and Improved Destruction Magic:
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=611

The one mod that you really NEED to get is SkyUI. It's amazing, just get it

I actually have been eyeing Frostfall today. ;P
It's one of the mods on my 'I really want this' list, actually.

Thank you for that link to the STEP Project. I've bookmarked it to read through when my mind isn't mushy.

Frostfall is really very good, and it's very easy to use. One mod that you will need no matter what, but doesn't add anything, is the script extender.
http://skse.silverlock.org/

Very cool. As Arcaian mentions, Cloaks of Skyrim is also very complementary to Frostfall. As of yesterday, http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=13486 is also fully compatible, and the cloaks in WiC may give you a warmer feel than those offered in Cloaks.

I also second the recommendation for SkyUI. It's practically must-have, along with the http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=19, which fixes many, many, many bugs.

And you're right, the number of mods available now is daunting, and there's a lot of junk you have to sift through sometimes. And even highly-endorsed files may not be the best there is; they may just have happened to publish at the right time, or gotten to the idea first. The STEP project is pretty good about bubbling up many of the best items to the top however.

Awesome, the WiC cloaks look so much ... warmer.

Anyway, what other types of mods do you want? it may not be perfect at the moment, but look at Duke Patrick's Heavy Weapon Combat mod as well - I think it's pretty awesome.

I'll be frank and say I wouldn't recommend Midas Magic, as it isn't a magic overhaul, but adds spells instead. It's nice, but it's also a bit out-of-date with an absent author, and the spells, I don't think, are well balanced in any form at all.

That said, there's a lot of different mods. Improved Magic System, Better Magic, Balanced Magicka, and more. For added spells, Phenderix's mod, and the Apocalypse spell package. Probably more I'm not thinking of.

I second the STEP recommendation. It's probably the easiest way to jump in.

For textures, I'm using the optimized HD DLC (not as powerful a PC), overwriting with Serious HD, and overwriting all of that with Skyrim Realistic Overhaul. I'm using all 1024 versions.