If you're going to be a Paladin, you might just want to choose Redguard and modify them a bit.

Hi Purge. I don't really want to powergame, I would rather play a character I like playing. I like the build I have (Imperial race for balance, Combat focus, Str/Wis main attributes, Blade, Blunt, Block, Heavy Armor, Armorer, Restoration, Destruction). But thanks for the suggestion, seems indeed that Redguard would be an optimal fit stats-wise.


Edit: Just to report, I've activated all the Unique Landscapes mods (I had the OMODs already, waiting for this fateful day ) as well as Open Cities Complete and Texian's Window Lighting System. Wow, what a difference.

I still think OC is one of the greatest mods regarding the increase in immersion that it provides. You really have to experience it to know how cool it is to not have any loading screens when going in and out of cities. As for Texian's, it's definitely more subtle than IWR, but it's still nice.

About the UL mods, I've only walked around Chorrol for now, and the changes are interesting (seems that think Chorrol would be much more militarized than Bethesda envisioned it, there's guard towers all around and guards patrolling). But for now I can't see any ill effects. I guess I'd see problems as I go into the other areas they changed, if any, so this report doesn't count for much, but I guess I'll see.

I'm getting close to the Oblivion I want to play. I have a few quests mods from TOQL that I want to add for flavor, but the world is mostly in the shape I want it.

Does anyone have an opinion on the OOO mods? I'm interested in playing this but without the stupid "world levels with you" feature. What I want is to strip that out completely and add in a bunch of other mods enhancing the world. Thoughts?

Do you know that on the Octopus Overlords board, saying "OOO" and "opinion" in the same sentence is like casting a "summon Blackhawk" spell?

Unfortunately, I didn't copy-paste that part of the OO thread, but I'm sure he'll be happy to give you his opinion here.

In a nutshell, you can use Francesco's Leveled Creatures and Items mod, which will give you a more challenging game that doesn't really level with you, but won't change the spirit of the game Bethesda created, whereas using OOO will make a totally different game. If that's what you want, that's ok, but if you want to play Oblivion, just without the world auto-leveling with you, then you probably want Francesco's.

The other issue is that OOO is a really big mod and isn't modular, so if you like some of what it does but not all you're essentially screwed. You must use it all, and stick to it, and you can't really install other big mods as they'll conflict. Francesco's is very focused, and even then you can activate/deactivate or customize most of it, so you can make the game and leveling behave the way you want and then add other mods that will affect other parts of the game without conflicting.

I hope I got that right Blackhawk?

Yep.  Caves, ruins, forts, all that stuff.  Bandits, undead, conjurers, vampires, bandits, marauders pack these things full of fights and loot.  Wander the wilderness.  There are dozens of them (like the one straight ahead when you come out of the sewers.)

I just wondered if I'd run into something I couldn't handle. For example, the Sideways cave (to the right when you leave the sewers) had a spriggan (dryad?) guarding it, which was way too tough for me at my current level. I generally do that cave right at the start...

That's pretty much the nature of the problem.  If you're going to use Open Cities, you'd probably be better off with Texian's Window Lighting System, which applies the effect to the textures rather than the world.

Might be a good compromise, though I think Texian's doesn't have the nice glow that IWR has.

I'm not sure.  I pretty much crossed the bad ones off of my list and haven't looked back at them for a while.

OK, I think I'll try them tonight and report back on my experiences.

Once again, thanks for your replies, very appreciated.

Any clothing or armor mods for this?

This OMOD collection has a bunch of OMODs for armor and clothing additions for Exnem's. Especially cool IMHO is "Stock Clothes and Armour", which makes the armor and clothes in vanilla Oblivion have female versions that match Exnem's "attributes". For example the normal leather, steel etc.

There are a bunch of others, just search for Exnem at tesnexus...

These quests will also get you travelling around the world instead of wandering around aimlessly looking for mobs to kill.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to avoid... I have scarce little gaming time (most of which was spent modding Oblivion of late...  ) so I'd like it to be quality time if possible. Thanks for the pointer Molière.

Levelling a melee character is done by fighting (assuming you put your melee skills as primaries.)

On that note, since I didn't use any mods that change the leveling scheme, I stuck to the generally accepted vanilla-Oblivion wisdom of choosing skills that you actually use in combat as primaries, while still staying true to my character. I wanted a character close to the D&D archetypical Paladin, so I went with Blade, Blunt, Block, Heavy Armor, Restoration, Armorer, and threw in Destruction for kicks. I didn't follow the opposite generally accepted wisdom of choosing skills that you have strict control over in order to not level when you don't want to, and in turn control where your skill points will go... I'll get skill points in the skills I use most, which suits me.

When you're finished, you'll have fought a handful of opponents. 

Makes sense. Bummer. I thought I'd have a clear path to leveling up a bit...

In that same time, you could have run through two or three 'world dungeons' and fought dozens. 

Can you suggest some? What do you mean by 'world dungeons'? I honestly didn't wander much in my first run through Oblivion (unmodded), and I started the Oblivion Gates right away, which I don't really want to do this time around, which is why I ask these questions... :-)

A tip:  experience is by the act, not by the kill.  Killing an enemy in two blows with your UltraMagicEltonJohn Sword of Enemy Whomping gets you two 'boosts' to blade.  Killing him in twenty blows with a rusty iron sword gets you twenty boosts to blade.

Makes a lot of sense, but then again it seems to contradict your following point of not min-maxing...

Another tip:  Don't try to min-max too much.  Oblivion isn't too forgiving of it.  It isn't hard to become a god in Oblivion, even with something like Fran's.

I don't have the habit of min-maxing at all. It's just too much work and kills the immersion factor for me. All I want is to be able to do the quests I want to do without getting plastered, and that's why I thought getting a few levels right at the beginning would help.

In any case, thanks a lot for the tips Blackhawk. I really appreciate it.

P.S. Did you get to play the questlines of Kvatch Rebuilt yet? You mentioned in the OO thread that you'd post impressions, I was looking forward to that from you!

Edit: I have a few more questions, Blackhawk.

First of all, I've seen on the OO thread that you recommended the Unique Landscapes series of mods, except for a few of them, saying they caused loads of conflicts. I've seen a few mod sites where they recommend them all, and also they seem to have released some new versions. Do you think they've cleaned up their act? Have you looked at them lately? Are you sure that assessment still holds? (sure, I could just try, but I'm a bit skittish, don't want to bork my install :-) )

Second, I was wondering about combining two mods. Open Cities Complete and Illumination Within Revived. I imagine, since OC moves the cities into the global world space (is that the term?), that IWR will just not show up on those cities and will instead affect the original cities (which we can't get to anymore). Is that right? I'm really wondering which one of those I should use, as I find they both add a lot to the immersion factor (though I think I prefer strolling straight into cities to the rather cosmetic appeal of having windows lit at night).

Thanks again.

Seeing as how OO is still down and the other current Oblivion thread is centered around mods, I figured I'd ask these gameplay questions here. Mostly my questions are about Francesco's.

Without the old crutch of auto-leveling world, which meant that I could just go anywhere, do anything and most of the time get away with it, I find myself wondering where I should go at the beginning of the game to level up. Coward that I am (but mostly lazy, don't want to die and reload 30 times before I find something I can kill), I'd like suggestions of where I can go early in the game to get my combat skills up. I'm playing a mostly melee character, mixing in a few spells here and there. I've got a companion I can bring with me, though, so that may help make things a bit easier, but will also slow down my leveling. Not sure how I feel about that.

So, in Francesco's new world, what suits a starting character well? I'm thinking of putting off triggering the Oblivion Gates until I become a bit more battle-hardened. Would starting the guild (fighter, mage) quest lines be a good starting point? Surely Francesco would have kept those low-level at the start, since you're supposed to be killing rats and the like according to the Elder Scrolls lore... Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

By the way, I think the "16 for 25" is 16 wins for 25th Cup, not necessarily 16 wins in a row.

That's not how I understood it, but maybe that just shows I'm as fanatical about the Habs as the people I'm laughing at! (how many personalities can you have in a single mind again before you're declared crazy?)

I was at the Habs game last night against Boston. Good game, good atmosphere, Boston never had a chance, and that one goal that got in was a really weak one. I can totally see how people think they'll win the series in 4, but allowing a weak game I'd say 5.

Funny thing - before the game they ran a video with images of old players and new ones, with good music (Phil Collins "I can feel it" and U2 "Where the streets have no name"), and the title of the video was "16 for 25, all for one". I found that really funny, and really representative of how fanatical people in Montreal are about their Habs, and how the media and the team's management are feeding that.

If you don't get the reference, it would be Mtl's 25th cup in history, and they're saying they'll win each series in 4 games, hence 16 games for the 25th cup - which even being a Mtl fan, I personally highly doubt.

I haven't read the whole thread, but I'm another OO refugee. Any news from the front, Rip?

I normally only lurk/occasionally post in the PC Games forum on OO, so I expect I'm going to do the same here at least until OO goes back online... Good to see some familiar faces (avatars) here, as well as some new ones (Daehawk, what happened to the knights?)

[First off, Backhawk's advice on creating OMODs and using Wyre Bash (not the whole post, but most of it)]

So since this is the new official mod thread now that OO is down (and no telling when it'll be back) I'll just post what I had copy-pasted from that thread here, for the benefit of the whole OO-GT Oblivion community :-) Sorry for the really long post, I only do this because I think it might be useful to someone...

First off, Backhawk's advice on creating OMODs and using Wyre Bash (not the whole post, but most of it)

When it comes right down to it, it isn't hard if you've installed Morrowind/Oblivion mods before. The OOO guide linked above is good, but note that it's method will only work with archived files that have been prepared (intentionally or accidentally) for OBMM. Most aren't.

If not, you just create a temporary folder somewhere that contains what you'd put in Data were you installing the mod manually. Example:

Qarl's Redimed probably contains a Textures folder and a Meshes folder. Normally, you'd put those in /Oblivion/Data to install the mod. Instead, create a folder on your desktop and put them in there. Pretend the temp folder is /Data/. That means that any subfolders, .esp files, .bsa files, whatever you'd normally put in /Data/ go in there, just as if you'd installed it.

Now, start OBMM. Go to Create, then Add Folder, point it to the folder on your desktop, and tell it to do its thing. It will create the OMOD all by itself at that point. Once it has made it, you can delete the original files (the OMOD is something like a .zip - it contains a compressed version of all the files.)

I've found it handy myself to create OMODs of groups of mods. For instance, I created a desktop folder called 'Houses', and all put all of the house-related mods I wanted into it, the created a single OMOD out of all of them. Of course, I'd recommend against that if you aren't comfortable with troubleshooting mod installs, as it can make it harder to remove a single problem mod later.

----------------------------------------

Wrye Bash does about a hundred different things. The most important for the average user is to combine data from multiple mods together, allowing them to be used at the same time - the same thing that TESTool and Leveled List Resequencer did for Morrowind.

Here's the idea: You have a mod that adds an item to the list loot is picked from. You then have a second mod that adds a different item to that same list. The second mod will effectively erase the change that the first one made. A different example: You have a mod that makes swords do more damage. You have a second mod that makes swords more valuable. The second mod will overwrite the changes the first mod made.

What Wrye Bash does is go through every change made by every mod and combine them all into a single mod. In the examples above, it would create a mod (called Bashed Patch), loaded last, that adds both items to the list and changes both statistics on the sword.

Here's the process:

1. Install your mods.

2. Open Wrye Bash, go to the 'Mods' tab, and manually select all of them (click the first, shift-click the last.) Right click them, and choose 'Mark Levelers'.*

3. Right-click on the Bashed Patch.esp that should have been added automatically (if not, there's a copy of it in /Oblivion/Mopy/Extras - it is an empty mod.)

4. Select 'Rebuild Patch'. This tells Wrye Bash to get all the relevant data from your active mods (those with checkmarks) and add it to the Bashed Patch.)

5. I'd highly recommend you click on the help icon at the bottom of Wrye Bash and read what each of the options you can change does as you go down the list. There are a lot of handy tweaks you can make here. At the very least, you'll want to make sure Leveled Lists is checked. 'Automatic' should be all you need. Depending on which mods you have, you may also need to have some of the 'Import' items checked.

6. Click 'OK'.

7. Wait.

8. Wait.

9. It will give you a summary, at which point the Bashed Patch has been populated. Exit Wrye, open OBMM back up, and ensure that Bashed Patch.esp loads absolutely last on the list. The only mod that should come after Bashed Patch.esp is Deadly Reflex if you're using that.

That SHOULD be all you need to do. The help file for Wrye is very well done if you have any problems. You'll want to re-do this (it only takes a few minutes once you have done it the first time) if you add or remove mods.

*Wrye uses tags added into the mod descriptions to tell it what to add or remove from the patch. Many well-known current mods already know to have this info in place. Some don't, and older mods (from before Wrye was released) didn't have it. Wrye has a list of many, many mods and what tags they should have. Selecting them and choosing 'Mark Levelers' adds this information to them.

-------------------------------------------------------
Here are a couple of handy tricks with Wrye that aren't necessary, but can be very useful:

Wrye can be used to switch between sets of saves. For instance, I have two active games - one a 'noble Knight' playing the Fighters' Guild, Mages' Guild, KotN and main quest, the other a stealthy smuggler/thief doing the Dark Brotherhood, Thieves' Guild, Daedric, and Shivering Isles quests.

Go to the 'Saves' tab. Right click on the bar at the top. Go to 'Profile/Edit Profiles'. Add a profile for each set of saves you want. Now go to /My Documents/My Games/Oblivion/Saves and move your saves into the appropriate folders. Now when you want to switch between sets of saves, just go right click on the bar again, go to 'Profile' and select the profile you want to play. For instance, I just finished playing my knight. If I wanted to play my thief next, I'd right click, Profile, Smuggler, and when I loaded Oblivion, all I'd see would be my thief's saves.

It is capable of having a different set of mods for each profile, but I haven't fiddled with that yet.

--------------------------------------------------

The other trick is the Import Face. Basically, you can click a save, choose 'Import Face', and choose any mod file or alternate save. It will then copy the face details from that mod/save and replace the details in the save you selected with them.

One of the problems with Oblivion is that you make your face initially under very different lighting conditions than you actually play the game in. You might get out of the sewers to find that you have bluish skin and purple hair. Alternately, you might get a ways along and find that you hate your character's mouth. Fixing it with the console is a pain in the ass, and it can have some ugly side-effects (like screwing up your skills.)

With this, you can make a hard save of your game (Save A), then use the console to fix your face, make a second hard save (Save B), then use Wrye to import the face from B into A. Load A back up and keep playing with the new face and no side-effects. Of course, you can also use it to duplicate any NPC face from the core game or any mod - say, if you saw an NPC that had the perfect face, or wanted to play the Emperor's twin. Just choose the appropriate .esp/.esm instead of a save.

-----------------------------------------

Wrye can do a lot more, but that's all I've fiddled with, personally, and so far it has been enough to ensure that at a week and a half with a 130+ mod game, I've only had one crash. I'll get to playing with the rest later, but this should get you started.

Now, to get my carpals back in their tunnels. Razz

Then, robslifka's list of nice mods, with links (some added by me too)

=========================
MOD ENABLEMENT / PATCHING
=========================

- Oblivion Mod Manager
http://timeslip.chorrol.com/current/obmm.zip

- Oblivion Script Extender
http://obse.silverlock.org/download/obse_0012.zip

- Wrye Bash
(Manage Oblivion mods and save games)
http://wrye.ufrealms.net/#WryeBash

- Unofficial Oblivion Patch
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5296.

- Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10739


=============
CORE GAMEPLAY
=============

- Francesco's Leveled Creatures / Items
- Francesco's New Creatures / Items
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=OblivionMods.Detail&id=268

- Reneer's Guard Overhaul
(Changes the way guards react to player crimes)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5977

- Quest Award Leveler
(Scales quest rewards to your level)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=13536

- Deadly Reflex
(More realistic combat)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8273


=========
INTERFACE
=========

- Color Map
(World map in color)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1950

- Harvest Containers
(See which containers you've already searched)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3979

- Harvest Flora
(See which plants you've already harvested)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2037
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10330 (SI)

- DarnUI
(Many UI improvements)
http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=813932


===================
BEAUTIFICATION / FX
===================

 - Unique Landscapes
(Metric ton of landscape enhancements)
(SKIP SKIP SKIP - Fallenleaf, Beaches, Imperial Island)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8688

- Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Reduced (best for 256MB cards)
(Incredible updates to world textures)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=14057

- Realistic Ragdoll Force
(No more slumpy dolls)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5011

- Natural Environments
(Seasonal weather, improves night time and water)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2536

- Natural Environments Colour Override
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5433

- VA's Better Gold
(Improves appearance of gold)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1826

- VABG Icon Removal
(If you don't like the Better Gold icon)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=5122

 - TNR
(Make NPCs far more believable and unique)
(BH: Get it modular, pick and choose races to replace)
http://www.stephanewuttunee.net/tnresps/tnrallracesfinal.zip
http://www.stephanewuttunee.net/tnresps/tnrsi.zip - SI


=======
UTILITY
=======

- Cyrodiil Transportation Network
(Adds back Morrowind style travel to Oblivion)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4520

- Skip Tutorial
(Allows you to skip the tutorial and not break the main quest)
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=10663

- Nearly Perfect Frame Rate Optimizer
(Automatically adjusts detail levels while playing)
http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=7706

Note that there are a few of these I would replace, such as using QTP3 Redimized and further reduced OMOD, using the Redimized option (I have a 512MB card) and using Blackhawk's own DarkUI'd DarN for the interface (with loading screens too). Also note that on TesNexus you can find some OMODs for a lot of those if you look hard enough (it's not always in obvious places, such as this collection which was originally made to have all the mods required by a particular ahem adult ahem mod in OMOD format, but still, just pick off the OMODs you need and use them :-)

Finally some load orders you can use as examples for your own load order. First Blackhawk's:

Active Mod Files:
00  Oblivion.esm
01  Francesco's Optional New Items Add-On.esm
02  Francesco's Leveled Creatures-Items Mod.esm
03  Francesco's Optional New Creatures Add-On.esm
04  OblivionMountProject.esm
05  Kvatch Rebuilt.esm
06  HorseCombatMaster.esm
07  HrmnsOblivionScriptOptimizationv1.0.esp
08  MIS Low Wind.esp
09  MIS New Sounds Optional Part.esp
0A  Symphony of Violence.esp
0B  Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
0C  Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp  [Version 1.2.0]
0D  Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp
0E  LightsOut.esp
0F  HarderRepairs_2.esp
10  DurableEquipment_5.esp
11  Francesco's 7 days respawn time - 1-16 day lenght rescale.esp
12  Francesco's level up mini mod - Slower skills x1.5.esp
13  Francesco's Optional Dungeon Chest Loot.esp
14  Francesco's Optional Leveled Guards.esp
15  Francesco's Optional House Chest Loot.esp
16  Francesco's Optional New Adventurers.esp
17  Francesco's Optional Chance of More Enemies.esp
18  Francesco's Optional Leveled Quests.esp
19  Francesco's Optional Leveled Arena.esp
1A  Fransfemale.esp
1B  Real Lava 1.3.esp
1C  Unique Companion.esp
1D  Cheydinhal_Pines.esp
1E  Slof's Dogs.esp
1F  Slof's Horses Base.esp
20  Book Jackets Oblivion.esp
21  LetThePeopleDrink.esp
22  Less Creepy Guild Porters.esp
23  Cliff_BetterLetters.esp  [Version 1.1]
24  FineWeapons.esp
25  Leviathan Soulgems.esp
26  RustyItems.esp
27  VA_BetterGold.esp
28  ALE_greenglass.esp
29  Visually Enchanted Drains 1.esp
2A  Visually Enchanted Fire 3.esp
2B  Visually Enchanted Frost 2.esp
2C  Visually Enchanted Shock 1.esp
2D  Visually Enchanted SoulTrap 1.esp
2E  IWR-Lights.esp
2F  IWR-Shutters.esp
30  IWR-Windows.esp
31  DLCOrrery.esp
32  DLCThievesDen.esp
33  DLCMehrunesRazor.esp
34  DLCVileLair.esp
35  DLCSpellTomes.esp
36  DLCFrostcrag.esp
37  DLCHorseArmor.esp
38  DLCBattlehornCastle.esp
39  DLCShiveringIsles.esp
3A  Knights.esp
3B  DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
3C  DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
3D  DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
3E  DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
3F  DLCVileLair - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
40  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.3]
41  DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
42  DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.2]
43  Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.6]
44  DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp  [Version 1.0.1]
45  ArcaneVelocityDMG200.esp
46  Deadlier Traps.esp
47  EnchantmentRestore.esp
48  EnchantmentRestore_Wells.esp
49  HorsesTurnFaster.esp
4A  Landmarks, w Wells.esp  [Version 1.10]
4B  No_Load_Screen_on_Death-5824.esp
4C  Quest Award Leveller.esp  [Version 2.0.1]
4D  Quest Award Leveller - Knights of the Nine.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
4E  Quest Award Leveller - Mehrunes Razor.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
4F  Quest Award Leveller - Vile Lair.esp  [Version 2.1.0]
50  RenGuardOverhaul.esp
51  RenGuardOverhaulShiveringIsles.esp
52  ScriptIcon_Replacer.esp
53  Wrye Shivering.esp  [Version 08]
54  dyseso_Light_Ingred_Appar.esp
55  Morrowind Ingredients_Fran.esp  [Version 1.5]
56  Syc_AtHomeAlchemy.esp
57  RealisticForceHigh.esp
58  RealisticMagicForceHigh.esp
59  Enhanced Water v2.0 HD.esp
5A  Natural_Weather_HDR_by_Max_Tael.esp
5B  Natural_Weather_HDR_2.1.2_coloroverride.esp
5C  Harvest[Containers].esp
5D  Harvest [Flora].esp  [Version 3.0.0]
5E  Harvest [Flora] - DLCFrostcrag.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
5F  Harvest [Flora] - DLCVileLair.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
60  Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp  [Version 3.0.0]
61  za_bankmod.esp
62  ActorsInMadness.esp
63  actors_in_charge.esp
64  Seph's new animations.esp
65  CT-Backpacks.esp
66  Rideable Wolf.esp
67  XSPipeMod.esp  [Version 1.2]
68  bnmDLTIC-1-6fix.esp  [Version 1.7]
69  Cheydinhal Petshop.esp
6A  Cliff_RankDependantArenaSpectators.esp  [Version 1.0]
6B  Dark Legion.esp
6C  Dude Wheres My Horse.esp
6D  MaxArrowIncrease.esp
6E  FewerOBGatesNOCLOSE.esp
6F  ImperialPlate.esp
70  MRP - Loading area.esp
71  MRP - Not enough charge.esp
72  MRP - Quickloading.esp
73  MRP - Quicksaving.esp
74  noglo-.esp
75  Potable Pastiche.esp
76  Reznod_Mannequin.esp
77  Shady Sam Enhanced.esp
78  Slof's & Orc's Armours.esp
79  The Butcher.esp
7A  WarriorBandages_V2.0.esp
7B  talkwithyourhands2.esp
7C  Slof's Oblivion Pillow Book.esp
7D  fwDropGold.esp
7E  TNR - THE ALTMER.esp
7F  Slof's Oblivion Better Beasts.esp
80  BulkyNord.esp
81  BulkyOrcs.esp
82  Better Redguard v2.esp
83  tkHairPack01.esp
84  ElaborateEyes.esp
85  TNR - THE BOSMER.esp
86  TNR - THE ARGONIANS.esp
87  TNR - THE BRETONS.esp
88  TNR - THE DUNMER.esp
89  TNR - THE IMPERIALS.esp
8A  TNR - THE NORDS.esp
8B  TNR - THE REDGUARDS.esp
8C  TNR - ShiveringIsles.esp
8D  DarkAltars.esp
8E  HRMHorseArmor.esp
8F  HRMHorseArmorSlofsHorsesPatch.esp
90  Update My Statue.esp  [Version 1.30]
91  allinonebasement.esp
92  ArmoryLab.esp
93  Ingredient Storage Shelves.esp
94  Shining Flame Atronachs.esp
95  DarNified Books_BJ.esp
96  bartholm.esp
97  TOTF.esp
98  AyleidArrows.esp  [Version 1.7]
99  BrewHouse.esp
9A  Castle Ravenpride.esp  [Version 1.01]
9B  DexwoodsHideout.esp
9C  TheStorytellersBrotherQuest.esp
9D  Enhanced Quest Roleplaying.esp
9E  NakedNord.esp
9F  OldCrowInn.esp
A0  Ruin.esp  [Version 2.50]
A1  Zealotsofthenine.esp
A2  The Lost Spires.esp
A3  Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp
A4  CDM-Wanted Criminals.esp
A5  BattlehornCastleEnhanced.esp
A6  cyrodiil transportation network wz.esp
A7  Kvatch Rebuilt.esp
A8  Bashed Patch, 0.esp
A9  DeadlyReflex - Combat Moves.esp

And Moggy's

Load Order   Mod Name
101   Unofficial patch 2.2
201   Qarl TP 3.0
202   BTQ Landscape LODs 1.0
203   Almost Everything Large 2.6
210   UL - remainder 1.0
220   Natural environments 2.1.3
230   Enhanced water 2.0
231   Far and Away 3D Moons 1.0
232   Improved Trees and Flora 1.0
233   Low-Poly Grass for SI 1.5
234   Visually realistic Lava 1.0
235   Coloured Enemy Health 1.0
238   Hit shader replacement 1.0
239   Slof's Horses 1.0
241   Younger NPCs 1.0
242   Better Looking Tools
243   Grape textures
244   shiny gold
245   Armored Circlets better rings
246   LBM Weathered Direction Signs
247   cities Alive at Night
248   Illumination within
249   sound Overhaul
250   weather Inside [Seasons]
251   Book Jackets
252   Encyclopedia Cyrodiilica
253   Slof's pillow book
254   Book mod compilation
255   MJY paintings
256   Paintings and Tapestries
301   AF Level
302   Elven Map
303   Living Economy
304   Pursusation Overhaul
305   dark UI
307   Streamline
308   TF Timemod
309   Stealth Overhaul
310   Harvest [Flora]
311   Female eyecandy
312   Life
314   pestilent afflictions
316   eleven weaponry
317   Shadow armor
318   Advanced Alchemy Apparatus
319   ingredient sorter shelves
320   rusty items
321   visually enchanted
322   at home alchemy
323   attack and hide
324   bank of cyrodiil
325   beast tongue evolved
326   bounty reduction over time
327   Dude, where's my horse 100
328   expanded hot keys
329   Guild Skill requirements
330   Improved Ancestor Guardian
331   keychain
332   Khakit night eye toggle
333   Magic Foci
334   multitude of magecraft
335   no more annoying messages
336   no psychic guards
337   open very hard lock
338   Perception spell
339   Phinix master summon
340   PJs spell compendium
343   alchemists reference
344   better letters
345   more books teach
400   OOO 1.3
453   Px New vampires
501   Knights of the Nine
502   Shivering Isles
503   Unofficial SS patch
504   Unofficial KoN patch
601   UL - Ancient redwoods
602   Quest award leveller

On the subject of load order, I always suggest this page as a general guideline: dev_akm's load order page

Once again, sorry for the long post. Using this info, I have a seemingly very stable Oblivion running with about 100 mods and counting. I will have questions for Blackhawk and other experts soon. :-)