I started a new game of
Skyrim over the weekend. An Orsimer (that's an ork, for those unfamiliar with the Elder Scrolls) warrior. Heavy armor, shield & one-handed weapons, bows, with a side dish of sneaking and lock-picking.
So far I'm about 14th level, my best skill, 1-handed weapons, is like 42 or something, and I've pretty much stuck around Whiterun. The one mission to free the dude from the elvish prison up on the north coast took me pretty far, but otherwise I've mostly hung around the starting area. On the way, I stuck my head into Solitude, just so I can fast-travel there later.
Some mods: Something that improves the UI; something that improves the graphics, particularly of the 'background' stuff, like rope and chains; something that adds atmospheric background sounds to towns, dungeons, and the wilderness; something that adds more functionality to companions, so you can set their gear and behavior and do silly things like make them dance or use idle animations when nothing's happening. That one also lets you have more than one companion - so far I only have Lydia and Jenassa. A few other mods that I can't remember right now. And no, I'm not using any NSFW mods. I thought about it, though.
The atmospheric sounds mod has some funny knock-on effects. I was unable to find a good mod for increasing the populations of settlements, so the sounds mod for towns & villages is way out of whack with what you see onscreen. It
sounds like you're surrounded by a great hubbub of activity, but you look around and it's the usual half-dozen people. In dungeons, there are all sorts of groans and creaks and distant wails that are hard to distinguish from actual monsters lurking around the corner, so the mod has made me totally paranoid and ready to get jumped at any moment.
The companion mod also lets you set up a camp in the wilderness, which gives you a bedroll, a cooking pot, and a tanning rack. I haven't really used it, though.