This is the pack i use over top of my long-running "vanilla" world that i transition between minecraft versions.

All new pack

Old Minecraft 1.10.2 description below

Power up your vanilla world with powerful tools and toys, balanced by a higher difficulty curve in the early and mid-game .

Intended for playing and building with vanilla blocks in regular terrain generation, to basically feel like you are playing vanilla, but with lots of items for movement, building, and combat. It has a few mods to make the game more convenient, and add some simple automation, without going all out.

Highlight of a few features

Higher difficulty caused by tougher vanilla mobs and modded mobs and animals
Wooden tools are important
- Stone tools need smoothstone
- A furnace needs coal in the center to craft
- Or sandstone tools are another early game option
Spawners are unbreakable
Torches are fragile (can be knocked over by entities)
Hammers, several different building tools, grappling hooks, baubles & charms
Power up your horses, boats, and ender pearls for transportation
Get double jump, walk on air, climb anything, use grappling hooks
Creeper damage regenerates over time, and Enderman wont pickup blocks
More dungeon loot: all music discs, heart containers, and other powerful treasures
Use Storage Network to access your chests remotely
Bloodmoon events similar to terraria
Mobs do not spawn much at the surface or areas with low light, but mobs get stronger as you go deeper
Wild Animals: Penguins, ducks, turtles and lizards
Tame Bats and smart wolves that use wolf armor
Ore in the Nether and End
Peaceful mode is a viable option
- Hunger drains in peaceful
- One special ore can give you mob drops

Rules that guided the making of this pack

No power systems such as RF
No decorative blocks
No new biomes
No major world generation changes

Below I will list some of the mods included, grouped into categories to give you a feel for the pack (Note that several mods have been heavily configured and re-balanced, or they will have some blocks or items removed or their recipes changed to fit this pack)

Difficulty

Bloodmoon
Chameleon Creepers
Creeper Awareness
Ender Zoo
Rough Mobs

Fun & Exploration

Reptile Mod
Waddles
DuckCraft
Pet Bats
Wolf Armor

Automation

Progressive Automation
Super Crafting Frame
Tiny Progressions
Vanilla Automation

Convenience

Storage Network
Gentle Harvest
Gravel Miner
JEI
JER
Mouse Tweaks
Forge Creeper Heal
Journeymap
VeinMiner
Visible Armor Slots

Tools & Toys

Cyclic
Sparks Hammers
Disenchanter
Gravestone Mod
Grapple Hooks
Boatiful
Psi

Building

Schematica
Helper Tools
Similsax Transtructors
Builder's Guides
Better Builder's Wands
Painting Selection GUI
Cyclic

Graphics & Sound

Better Foliage
Better FPS
Dynamic Surroundings
Sound Filters
Mo' Bends
Custom Backgrounds
Chunk Animator

Non-Content

Ambience (Music Mod)

AppleCore

AppleSkin

Attachable Grinder

AutoRegLib

Bailey's Dailies

Baubles

Bed Bugs

Better Builder's Wands

Better Foliage

Better Title Screen

BetterAchievements

BetterFps

Bloodmoon

Boatifull

Bookshelf

Builder's Guides

Ceramics

Chameleon Creepers

Chunk Animator