[Olorin]

I don't use a huge number. The list I linked contains some that I wouldn't consider because they make the game too easy, others I'm just not interested in. I like the list most because it's a quick way to see a lot of mods and what they do without reading a bunch of threads or project descriptions (and it doesn't include projects that never got completed).

My current list is Adv. Tactics and Party, a chest for camp, Qwinn's fixpack, Dragon Age redesigned (changes the faces of a lot of NPCs and has some choices for companions) and Dragon Age Mutator--a compilation of small mods with an installer that lets you choose to enable each one separately--I got if to silence Shale's footsteps. It also includes many options that skew game balance (upping power of some spells), but also some utility things like no auto-leveling of companions, remove steal cooldown, and display items received (though I already had mods for these things, so didn't use the Mutator version). I tried out the more transparent and faster stealth, but uninstalled it because I thought it might be causes some crashes (though even the basic game suffers from a memory leak that sometimes does that).

I don't consider it a huge list of mods (not compared to some of the lists I ended up with for BG2).

Mods I'd recommend installing right away:
Adv. Tactics--helps give you the choice to micromanage less, but doesn't change the way tactics work, just gives you more options.

Qwinn's Fixpack--fixes some bugs in quests or dialogues to how they were intended to work. I consider it another patch.

Items received--personal preference, but I like to know what someone gave me for a quest reward or what I got from stealing without searching my inventory.

Stealing cooldown--if you're playing a klepto rogue, it's a must have. Waiting 10s in-between steals serves no purpose (since I'm anal enough to actually wait). Arguably, once you get to combat stealing, it could unbalance the game somewhat since you'll be able to steal from more enemy targets (since by that point your party should be able to drop more than one enemy per 10 s, but I consider it a minor problem. Just don't abuse combat stealing.).

Camp chest--I still remember on my first playthrough running back through long dungeons just because I didn't have room to pack out the last 10 items in chests. I should have just destroyed some of the cheaper loot, but having a chest in camp solves the inventory problems nicely.

The ones I would wait on for future playthroughs is Adv. Party (or no auto-level from Mutator). Might as well try out the builds that Bioware gave the companions before playing them custom.