Getting mods up and running is pretty straightforward once you know the basics. You'll want to grab either the thunderstore app or r2modman first, since those handle most of the heavy lifting for installations. The bepinex framework is essential, it's basically the foundation everything else builds on. Most folks start with gameplay tweaks like moreplayers which opens up more cooperative options, or repoconfig if you want to mess with spawn rates and ui stuff.

The unity engine makes mechanical changes possible, and while there aren't any official tools built into the game itself, the community's done a solid job creating their own solutions. Just make sure you're downloading from thunderstore or nexus mods since those are the main trusted sources. Tip: whenever you're installing new mods, double-check they're compatible with your current version to avoid any weird conflicts that might pop up.