Recommended Mods

The following mods either nicely complement Forgotten Magic or greatly improve gameplay or immersion. Always read the description of the mod and its readme to avoid any problems!

Please remember to endorse mods you use and like, to show the mod-authors that you appreciate their efforts and encourage them to continue their work. Also remember to give kudos from time to time.
Mod-authors deliver hours and hours of enjoyment for free. They sacrifice their free time to do this. All you need to do to motivate them to continue modding, is to press the "Endorse Me"-button on the front-page one hour after the download. It's not that hard (the mod manager actually tells you which mods you haven't endorsed yet - the star: if it's yellow you have already endorsed the mod, if it's not, you haven't --> Then go to the nexus-page of the mod and endorse it; that only takes a few seconds).

Without further ado, here are the mods:

Overhaul

T3nd0s Skyrim Redone

This mod changes the perk-trees, the enemy-AI, the combat system (including armor and weapons), the sneaking mechanic, the race-bonuses, the standing stones and other things.

If you use this mod you won't need "Open and Lock spells", "Better Magic", "Mighty Magick" listed below.

Compatible with Forgotten Magic (load Forgotten Magic after Skyrim Redone). Some of the newly added, more advanced destruction-perks of SkyRe don't apply to Forgotten Magic spells yet (this will probably be added in the future). All perks that are based on the vanilla-perks apply though.

One of the downsides of SkyRe is that it's not very modular (all the perk-tree changes are in one package) and that it requires the "Reproccer" as an additional mod. So if you don't like some of the changes your only option is to not use the main-module.

I don't use the main-module of SkyRe anymore (don't like several changes), but I still use the "Encounter Zones" module and the "Standing Stones" module, which are compatible with almost everything.



Requires SKSE*

Interface

Categorized Favorites Menu Config - Skyrim Redone
This is a configuration for the popular mod Categorized Favorites Menu, which you need to install first. This update makes the favorite-menu work with mods like SkyRe, Apocalypse Spell Package and since version 2.10 also with Forgotten Magic! Please remember to endorse both mods.

Immersive HUD – iHUD
A nice mod that makes the interface more immersive (you can hide it completely with a single hotkey, crosshairs only appear when using ranged weapons or magic, etc.). Requires SKSE*

More Hotkeys Please
This is a fairly new mod (just as Forgotten Magic), which allows you to set several custom hotkeys for one keyboard-button (for example: “C”, “shift + C”, “alt + C”). Definitely recommended for users of Forgotten Magic and magic-users in general. Requires SKSE*

SkyUI
Not much to add here. If you don’t use it already, you should definitely take a look at it. Requires SKSE*



* see “Known Problems” section on the main page for a tutorial on SKSE


Magic

Apocalypse Spell Package
This mod adds an enormous number of spells, some of them pretty spectacular, and can be used in addition to Forgotten Magic. Use this mod if you want even more spells, than the 42 from Forgotten Magic (together the two mods add over 240 different spells - almost 500 if you count every upgrade of the Forgotten Magic spells as a single spell). IMPORTANT: The "Elemental Cyclone" spell of Apocalypse seems to mess with several spells of Forgotten Magic (causing weird stutter and graphical glitches).

Better Magic
This mod makes several changes to the vanilla magic-perks (mostly Alteration and Destruction trees). I recommend to use either this, "Mighty Magick" or "Balanced Magic" alongside Forgotten Magic, if you play on Master-difficulty (or use mods that increase the game’s difficulty). If you are using "Skyrim Redone", you don't need any of these magic-perk overhauls. Fully compatible with Forgotten Magic.

Blaze of Eventide
Summon a fire-elemental horse with this mod. It looks amazing and even leaves burning and smoking hoof-prints on the ground.

Mighty Magick
This is a nice alternative to Better Magic. Mighty Magick also changes vanilla perks, but in addition it also changes several spells and adds new ones. The mod is built in a modular way, so if you just want your Destruction spells to scale properly, you can pick just this option and ignore the added and changed spells. Fully compatible with Forgotten Magic (but to be on the safe side, load Forgotten Magic last).

Open and Lock Spells
A small mod that adds spells to open chests. Recommended if you don’t want to pick locks as a mage or just miss such utility spells from the previous games.

Spell Combos
An ingenious mod that allows the combination of vanilla-spells to produce additional effects (explosions, disarm, etc.). The mod author has now resumed his work on the mod and is working on a compatibility patch for Forgotten Magic, on the balance of the combos and on compatibility patches for other mods.

I recommend to keep track of this mod. One of the hidden jewels on Nexus that deserve way more attention and just needs a little bit more polishing.

General gameplay or immersion

Deadly Dragons
Also created by 3jiou, the author of Forgotten Magic. One of the best known and most endorsed files on the Nexus. Use this if you want your dragons to be actually powerful and not just victims for the Dragonborn. Use the Loremonger-edition if you don’t want to break immersion.

Dragon Soul Relinquishment
Ever wondered what to do with your superfluous dragon souls? Then this mod is for you. The process of using dragon souls for perks or other bonuses is also displayed in a very immersive way, which is a nice bonus, compared to other mods that let you use dragon souls for perks.

Frostfall - Hypothermia Camping Survival
Probably the best immersion-mod for Skyrim so far. The author, Chesko, has set up a beautiful website with all sorts of guides and tutorials for his mod, which you can reach via the mod-link above, so I won't waste anymore words about it here. Don't miss out on this masterpiece! Works well together with the mods "Wet and Cold" and "Winter is Coming", see below.

Improved Combat Sounds
Does exactly what the title says: Vastly improves the sound of combat.

Predator Vision - Vampire and Werewolf
This mod adds a new nightvision-power with very vibrant colours. SKSE is required (for werewolves). If you don't play as a vampire or a werewolf, you can still get this special nightvision by adding the "Vampire Nightvision" power to your character via console (a mage should be able to see in the dark with magic - for those who need a plausible reason to add it via console to not break immersion, like myself :-P)

Pumping Iron - Dynamic Muscle Growth
Another, very immersive mod by Gopher. With this mod your character gets more muscular as his combat skills increase, in a slow and realistic way. At the moment this mod is only recommended for male characters - because for female characters only the breast-size increases.

Realistic Needs and Diseases
Ever wondered why Bethesda bothered to put food and drinks into the game? Or why the player should bother removing diseases?
This mod makes it necessary to eat, drink and sleep in regular intervals (with bonuses associated with being well rested and satiated). Almost everything in this mod is customizable.

Realistic Ragdolls and Force
If you don’t want your enemies to ricochet off the moon, after hitting them with a measly apprentice-spell.

Wet and Cold
A great mod for immersion, that, among other things, implements frost breath for NPCs and the player during cold weather (if you use this mod together with More Hotkeys Please, load Wet and Cold last). Works well together with Frostfall.

Armor and Co.

Bandolier – Bags and Pouches
Adds lots of bags, bandoliers, pouches and other things to the game. Not only do these accessories look great and immersive, but they also increase the weight you can carry.

Dragonbone Ebonsteel Armor
A mod that adds several different dragonbone armor pieces, fortified with ebony steel. There are also different variants of helmets, gauntlets and boots, if you want to combine them with, for example, the Dragon Knight Armor below. A highly recommended mod for dragon slayers.

Dragon Knight Armor
A great looking piece of armor. If you, however, don't like the helmet you can just use the vanilla dragon-plate helmet or use this small mod in addition: Dragon Knight Helmet-Alternate- STANDALONE

Ire of the Shadows Armor
A great looking light armor-set, that is intended for thieves, but also looks great on spellswords. If you want an unenchanted version (because the original enchantments cater to thieves/assassins), just use this mod in addition: Ire of the Shadows extender.

Nordic Spellweaver Armor
A very nice armor for spellcasters, that comes in a heavy, light and in a cloth variant.

Robed Steel Plate Armor
A great armor for battlemages/spellswords.

Skyrim Knights
Based on the Robed Steel Plate Armor, but by a different author.

Tribunal robes and masks
Proper mage gear, that comes in a cloth, a light and in a heavy version. Only the heavy version has the (in my opinion) overly large pauldrons.

Winter Is Coming - Cloaks
A very immersive mod that adds warm-looking cloaks and hoods, crafted with furs and hides. This mod is compatible with "Wet and Cold". Take a look at the "Wet and Cold" page to see how to make the two mods actually work together.

Graphics and visual effects

Burn Freeze Shock Effects
A great mod that makes the devastation caused by your magic actually visible.

Deadly Spell Impacts
Vastly improves the textures of the spell impact marks.

Enhanced Lights and FX
An amazing mod that changes the lighting in interiors. Compatible with "Climates of Tamriel", "RCRN", "Realistic Lighting with Customization", etc.

Ethereal Elven Overhaul
Makes the elves in the game actually look humanoid and not like hags and trolls. Highly recommended! (not compatible with the SkyRe-Races module, but you can just deactivate this module in the load-order)

MacKoms Real Skin for Men
Greatly improves the skin textures for male characters in the game (player included). Install this after "XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement", if you are using it (see below).

Nuska Real Skin for Women
Greatly improves the skin textures for female characters in the game (player included). Install this after "XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement", if you are using it (see below).

Project Reality - Climates Of Tamriel - Weather - Lighting
One of the most popular lighting and weather mods out there. And with good reason, because the weather-system is pretty sophisticated and compatible with "Frostfall".

SkyRealism - ENB Evolved
I normally don't use ENBs, because they tend to blur the game. But this mod is an exception, it's very well done. Personally, I recommend the "Vibrant"-preset.

Be warned though: You need a graphics card with at least 1 GB memory to be able to properly use this mod (which applies to most ENBs). The fps-hit was a bit too much for my machine, but if your PC can handle it: go ahead and try it out. You might like it.

Ultimate HD Fire Spells
This mod changes the effects of fire spells, to make the flames look more realistic. A must-have in my opinion.

XCE - Xenius Character Enhancement
This is a compilation of Xenius' great work. This mod vastly improves the textures of characters (player and NPCs).