This modpack attempts to capture a sort of "Vanilla++" style of gameplay. There are no tech-themed mods to speak of, and you're not meant to sit in your bunker while enormous quarries dig up half the map and teleport ores to you. Instead, we attempt to bring the emphasis back to a sense of exploration, discovery, and wonder, achieving minor automation or conveniences through the ingenious application of vanilla or vanilla-like mechanics rather than do-it-all machine blocks.
Many of the "major" mods in this pack (Thaumcraft, Ars Magica 2, Astral Sorcery, EvilCraft, Botania, and Roguelike Dungeons to name a few) are meant to encourage the player to go out and do things; explore, fight monsters and delve deep into the earth to find the items they need to progress. The inclusion of mods like Realistic Terrain Generation, Better Foliage, and Dynamic Surroundings mean that the world you're exploring is far more vast, detailed and diverse than what you would get out of your average vanilla map.
The inclusion of such a variety of magic mods means that whatever path you want to take to ultimate power, you can do it - whether it's huddled away in a library of tomes, gazing into the heavens to harness the power of the constellations, carefully tending your gardens of magical crops, or sacrificing countless mobs on an altar of blood - the choice is yours.