Yep, I second that suggestion - first thing I do is get 2 stacks of clay, sand, and gravel, find some fuel and cook up my Tinker's Grout. I'm talking the very first day. I collect a little wood, make a wood pickaxe, mine some cobblestone, make a full set of cobble tools and then off I go hunting for the 3 stooges (clay, sand and gravel hehe). The Tinker's Construct (TiC or TiCo) tools are all so great, you really want to make them as soon as possible. And process all your ores in the Smeltery too - it will double them for ya. Other than that, you're pretty much free to head in whatever direction you prefer - industrialization, magic, farming. Your preference will really determine which mods you will focus on most during early game. I think for Monster it will be Thaumcraft for magic, Thermal Expansion for Industrialization and Pam's Harvest is a big food/farm mod (especially if Monster has "Hunger Overhaul" mod which I'm not certain it does).