It can be difficult to get started with Oblivion once you have Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul (OOO) installed. In the default Oblivion, all of the creatures in the game are leveled with you. So at low levels, there are very few creatures out there who can kick your tail (and conversely, things don't get much more difficult at higher levels either).

Personally, I prefer a game world where there are areas that are simply too dangerous for a young, unskilled adventurer. It provides a bit of excitement as well as things to look forward to because there are dungeons that you won't be able to get near until your late 20s or early 30s. But that still leaves the question, what can I do at level 1?

1) Unlike vanilla Oblivion, the "Major is Minor" trick with attributes is a bad idea. You'll need at least most of your primarily used skills to be starting at skill level 20-30 instead of starting at zero if you want to have a chance of survival. Also, since a lot of things in Oblivion don't auto-level with you, getting +5 bonuses every time you level up isn't as important.

(The exception here is the Shivering Isles add-in, which OOO does not muck with. You may also have trouble with the interiors of Oblivion gates later on if you don't manage to get at least +3 bonuses when you level up.)

So design your character with a bit of care, or else you'll have to move the difficulty slider from the middle (normal) all the way down (so enemies do 1/6th damage and you do 6x more damage).

2) Go to the market as soon as you exit the tutorial sewers. Odds are high that your bags will be nearly overweight anyway when you exit, and you'll need to go sell before you can go adventuring. Getting up the hill to the area around the prison and getting into the market district should not be too difficult. Make sure that the first time you deal with a shopkeeper that you adjust the "barter" scale to get better prices.

I usually guestimate the initial value. If it's too low, I go up 10 percent. If it's too high, I go down 10% until something inexpensive sells (or I buy something inexpensive). Once you figure out where it should be, you can adjust up/down about 3% at a time. Upwards if the merchant is still willing to do business with you, or back off if the merchant refuses your offer.

3) Once your bags are empty, go back down to the sewer tunnel exit on the NE side of City Isle. To your south along the eastern shoreline will be a cave called "Sideways Cave". It's mostly filled with imps and is fairly easy for a young character in OOO. Always save before tackling an instance. Both on the off-chance that Oblivion will crash and because the denizens of the cave / dungeon / ruin may be too difficult for your character. The hardest mobs in here that you can tackle will be the Mystical Imps, who are partially invisible and a good bit tougher then the regular imps.

Once inside, pay close attention for Ayleid Casks in the 2nd "Hidden Lake" section of the instance. They're off to the sides and you'll need to look for them. There's also a Ayleid Reliquary here that contains 1-2 extremely nice pieces. (If you want to save-scum, this is a good place to do it. But you'll have to re-load all the way back to the save point outside the cave if you don't like the loot inside the 2nd zone.)

The third section, "Lost Abagarlas", is much more dangerous. There are shadow wolves along with mystical imps. Use your detect life spell, turn the difficulty down, or whatever you need to do to defeat them. You're not really here for a fight, and you should NOT go past the 4 iron gates that open up. Instead, you should search high and low for a hidden meteoric shortsword weapon that is hidden in this section. I won't say exactly where it is. It's only partially hidden and in fairly plain sight, just don't stare at the floor to find it.

Once you've retrieved the sword and gotten your loot from the 2nd chamber, you should have a decent starting point. You can either save the items for emergencies, or wear them, or sell them to let you buy other goods early on. Sometimes I get two 1500-3000gp items from the 2nd chamber, other times I only get one item.

You may even have enough to buy your shack outside of the Imperial City so you can store goods. (Personally, I prefer the Waldnir's Woods add-on, which creates a small shack near Shadeleaf Copse.)

4) Go to Cheydinhal and do the "Brush with Death" quest. This is a very easy quest to do at low levels. This will give you yet another item that you can sell for 1200-1800 gold.

5) Kill mudcrabs and deer. They're easy kills, and you can walk the shorelines around Wye or the Imperial City without (usually) getting killed.

6) Do the "Go Fish" quest in Wye (west of Imperial City, across the bridge). It's a hassle of a quest, and you'll need to swim around a bit, but the reward is a very nice ring that can be worn or sold.

7) Use the "Gather Ye Rosebuds" add-on to make gathering herbs easier. You'll need about 350 gold to purchase the spell in the market district. You'll also need to install and use OBSE to launch Oblivion.

8) Stick close to the cities and roads. Always know where a guard is when traveling. I've done some more difficult traveling by walking along side a guard as they patrol the road. Guards are also useful help if you get attacked. If they can kill the beastie, you may be able to loot the beastie afterwards.

9) Read every document you can find in-game. Notices posted by the gates, parchments lying around in the inns, etc.

10) Go to Vilverin, directly across the lake from the prison sewer exit. You won't be able to do the boss area, but you may find some decent loot in the first section(s). (Just like Sideways cave, you'll need to come back later.)