Here are some mods for TES IV: Oblivion that I have found to have high quality, that seem to work well together and that subtly enhance the world instead of replacing chunks of it wholesale.
Please note that this list...
You should only have at most one alternate start mod active at any one time, especially ones that modify the main quest, and that if you use several such mods, you should continue use the one you created your character with. This makes switching between characters created using different such mods a bit of a hassle.
36 Lessons of Vivec adds the book series of the same name from Morrowind.
Alive Waters adds seaweed, explorable wrecks, various kinds of fish and other aquatic wildlife and many other items to the sea, the rivers and lakes.
Alternative Start Arrive by Ship lets you begin the game by arriving by ship to either Anvil or the Imperial City. It also lets you choose your background in some detail and gives you initial equipment matching your choices. You can even choose an initial disease, including advanced Porphyric Hemophilia. It includes versions both with and without hooks into the main quest.
Argonians and Khajiit Wear Tail Armor adds tail armor to the greaves of Argonians and Khajiit. Whenever you or an NPC puts on armored greaves, the tail is automatically armored as well.
Bravil Real Roan Stables makes the Bay Roan Stables in Bravil sell actual roans and updates the interior of the stable to look much more like an actual stable. Also included is a mod that updates the interior of the other stables across Cyrodiil in a similar fashion.
Bravil River Shack and Village adds a large, improvised and run-down village outside the walls of Bravil. It sports a tavern, several shops, a number of residents and a small ownable shack.
Book Jackets makes the vanilla books look much better, with readable titles and consistent covers across series.
Clocks of Cyrodiil adds fully functioning clocks to many locations around Cyrodiil, including many inns and every district of the Imperial City. It also adds clock towers to a few cities, with detailed interiors including a clockmaker and moving Dwemer clockworks.
Creatures Alive makes the non-magical creatures of Cyrodiil behave in a more realistic fashion. Animals now move in packs, they eat and drink, some have young following their mothers and weaker creatures will flee rather than blindly attack the player.
DarNified UI vastly improves the user interface, including options for smaller fonts, more detailed lists, a much larger map view and many options to customise the game HUD. Expect many questions when activating this mod.
Dirtier Bandits and Varied Chests adds rusty or dirty versions of armor and clothes for use by bandits. Their weapons still level along with the player, however. It also makes most chests found outdoors, in ruins or caves weathered, rusty or covered in moss.
Dungeon Actors Have Torches makes some NPCs inside caves and ruins carry lit torches. The mod has extensive rules to avoid silly situations (no ghosts, no Dremora, no vampires, etc.).
Enhanced Water makes water look like actual water, primarily by removing the blue tint of the vanilla water. If the sky is gray, bodies of water will now also be gray.
Expanded Villages expands and improves many of the named villages around Cyrodiil, giving them farm animals, distinct local industries with shops and generally making them feel more alive.
Fighters Guild United gives all Fighters Guild members a unified set of armor in colours matching the banner of the guild. Spare sets can be found in the storage areas of the guild houses if your character joins the guild.
Harvest Flora lets you see the change when you pick ingredients from plants. Includes separate parts for the Shivering Isles and the official mods.
Imperial City Temple Clean cleans up the temple district three days after you pick up the Imperial Dragon Armor. No more scorched earth for years after the event.
Kendelford Avon adds a ruined and abandoned trading post south-east of Leyawiin. It includes a full-sized church refurnished as a player ownable house. There is also an associated alternate start mod that lets you begin the game as a vampire waking up in the crypt underneath the church.
Let the People Drink adds working fountains to nearly every district of the Imperial City and an aqueduct to transport water into the city from the mountains. It also includes an optional quest, with full voice acting, to get the water flowing into the city again.
Map Marker Overhaul improves the behaviour of map markers in many ways and adds the ability to create your own named markers. Expect many questions when activating this mod.
Millstone Farm adds an unbelievably detailed farm and a quest to gain ownership of it. The farm is richly interactive but requires a measure of patience, as nearly anything you want to do requires the product of another task, just as it would on a real farm. Requires a fairly good graphics card, mostly due to the large number of items on screen at any given time.
Morrowind Books adds many books from Morrowind to Cyrodiil.
Q More and Moldy Ingredients replaces the fresh food found in caves, sewers and ruins with moldy or otherwise spoilt versions. While useless as food, they make good ingredients for poisons.
Reneer's Guard Overhaul makes city guards and legionnaires behave in a much saner fashion, including having them not be psychic, making them keep a close eye on you if they see you sneaking around and making bounties local to each city. It also allows you to bribe any guard.
Reneer's NPC Name Mod replaces the name of NPCs with the name of their race until after the first time you have spoken to them.
Risky Inn Beds adds the risk of catching various diseases when sleeping in lower class inns. Choosing the cheapest room now has consequences.
Salmo the Baker transforms the vanilla Salmo into the master baker he was supposed to be and transforms his shop into a stunning display of his skill. You can now buy sweetrolls from him, as well as many other kinds of pastry, bread, pie, cheese and cake. These ingredients also appear in smaller amounts across Cyrodiil.
Sewer Hideout adds a secret home suitable for a master thief to the sewers of the Elven Gardens District of the Imperial City.
SM Plugin Refurbish prevents the official plug-in quests from triggering as soon as you step out of the tutorial dungeon. Instead they are integrated into the world and are added at suitable times, depending on the path your character takes.
Stealth Overhaul Redux makes many changes relevant to stealthy characters, such as changing sneak damage bonuses based on the weapon.
Stop Dark Brotherhood adds a morality check after each time you have murdered someone. Unless your intent really was cold-blooded murder, the Dark Brotherhood will not take note of you.
Thieves' Grotto adds many hidden locations that work as sanctuaries for beggars, Thieves Guild members and, in some cases, pirates. In some of these locations, a book may be found that describes them.
Unofficial Oblivion Patch fixes an absolutely incredible number of issues, problems and bugs not fixed in any of the official patches.
Unofficial Official Mods Patch fixes an absolutely incredible number of issues, problems and bugs not fixed in any of the official patches.
Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch fixes an absolutely incredible number of issues, problems and bugs not fixed in any of the official patches.
Vaults of Cyrodiil adds a very tough vault to each of the cities of Cyrodiil. Very good for the bored master thief.
Waterfront Market transforms the run-down Waterfront District into a living, breathing community, including a smith, a forger, a chapel, a weekend market with many tents, a cookshop, new food items and a completely new and very beautiful interior for the shack for sale.
© elmindreda