Yes, it does include all the other stuff. Some people like having the prestige classes and such in the first game. I didn't use it myself.
My wife reminded me of one excellent mod, created by David Gaider (currently head writer for Dragon Age): the Ascension mod for Throne of Bhaal. It greatly enhances the story of ToB, adds a few tweaks, and makes it more difficult. She enjoyed it immensely, and while I haven't replayed ToB since Ascension was released, I will use it if I ever do replay it.

ill look into it... a year from now when i finish bg1, tosc, bg2 :)

Just wanted to confirm Ascenson.
If you ask me it's the only required mod for the saga.
Personally I used a max hp override as well. Baldur's Gate normally rolls a die for your hp @ each level. I think that one is on gibberlings as well, works for all infinity engine games.
The last battle of Ascension is extremely hard, having maximum potential hp will help you.

TotSC does NOT expand after the original game, but instead adds areas with side-quests throughout it. Strictly playing through the main quest won't have you enter these areas (also some others in the original game), so you'll have to do some exploring on your own. The game DOES however automatically save just before the final battle, so you can always load that up, trace back a few steps, and do he side-quests later.
Just a heads-up.
Also, "throne of ball", nice one :-)

Branwen? Seriously? Take Viconia with you: conversations are much more fun, she es charismatic and much better cleric than probably anyone. Plus she is a fucking drow!!

Sure, but as she's evil, she'll leave (and attack you? I forget) if your reputation goes over 18.

My Advice... AVOID ALL THE MODS LIKE THE PLAGUE
... or at least untill you finished the games once without them.
I spent over 2 years of my time within the BG mod community trying out all the different mods the are on pocket plane, spell hold studios, gibberlings 3 & extra... but in the end most of them had bug or 2 that resulted in me restarting my games over from scratch MANY times... and after all that i've decided is best just to avoid them and play the game as it was instended... they may add lots of content, but its not necesarily good content, balanced or well delivered.
The BGT mod from spellholdstudios is definately a good idea & worth trying, but you miss out on ALOT of stuff from BG1 thats replaced with makeshift solutions that IMO simply aren't as good as the originals e.g. random encounter's & character sounds, as well as your characters simply becomes too powerfull without the XP cap which ruins everything from the BG1 endgame & onwards because nothings no longer a challange.
The only mod's you should Definately be using are the fix packs and the tweak packs, don't necesarily install all content in them although... choose wisely which options.

I think Viconia don't leave you because of your reputation (at least she didn't leave me on my many playthroughs), she just bitch about it and argue with you. On the other hand, she will probably fight Minsc, Dynaheir or Kivan, which is pretty funny.

viconia is evil. she has not place in my goodie goodie group. she is dead btw. i think i removed her from existence not long ago.

You have killed one of the best characters (along with Minsc) of the saga. =(
Shar will come after you!

viconia is evil. she has not place in my goodie goodie group. she is dead btw. i think i removed her from existence not long ago.
SPOILER!!!!!
SPOILER!!!!!
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER Wonder what she says about it when/if you meet her in Athkatla, in the next game SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
END SPOILER!!!!
END SPOILER!!!!

Speaking from a story perspective, Viconia is a terrific character. At least in BG2. Yes, she's "evil," yes, she's a Drow. So what? She's still a very well written character, as are many of the BG2 NPCs. Most of them are great, and she's one of my favorites. Will you have reputation issues if you take her along? You might, but that doesn't mean you should just avoid the character.
Now, granted, I'm biased. I've been involved in the BG fanfic scene for... well... years, and I've read some incredible stuff that features her character, so I know it's possible to spin a good yarn with her character, especially in the second game where she really comes into her own.
And yes, even if you kill an NPC in BG1, they will often survive to BG2, allowing you to ask "Hey, wait, weren't you supposed to be dead?" It can be perversely amusing.

she was chased by authority. i am shining beacon of light and hope so i couldn't kill a soldier of justice. :)
(i am always like that in RPG. except KOTOR2 where you could do bad things for greater good)
I will replay the saga one day. as an evil character so she can then join my team.

bump
and double post
beat bg1 just ten minutes ago. had a blast. last fight was intersting. had to abuse stupid AI to win.
my mage summoned some demon who attacked my enemies. outside my view. one of the enemy mages kept shooting fireballs damaging everyone. apparently one person didn't like it so he killed the fireball mage.
then i summoned a few extra monsters so two remaining enemies (sans severok) come and try to kill them. my archers and few spells killed last mage and the warrior was slaughter by my warriors.
another monster summon and charge on severok. 2 minutes later he is dead and my party is practically undamaged (well two morons stepped on the traps so they got damaged and severok managed to hit my character few times)
great fun
BG2 is next
suggestions on the mods? I wanna the one with "Dating your sister" aka imoen :D but anything else?