The modpack adds a lot of extra things in the game. Some of these are making it a bit more irritating at the start since it raise the risk of getting killed, mostly by animals. There is some things you can do to make your start a little easier.

You have a torch, use it!

The torch you start with is really useful to avoid those pesky foxes and bears 
when you run around with hardly any armour and weapons that almost feel like they  
heal your targets instead of killing them. :P  

No animals want to go near you if there is fire near. So holding a torch will make them turn  
around before they reach you. 

Since both bears and foxes can kill you really quick at the start, always have a torch ready. 

Make a bow as soon as possible.

Bears and foxes take quite a lot of beating before they are killed when you  
have the lowest grade weapons and hardly any armour and there's more things 
out there trying to kill you from start.

Most of these die quite quickly when you use a bow though and since you can  
shoot them from a distance you don't risk getting killed before you finish  
them off as much as trying to kill them in melee.

(and foxes are quick so it's really annoying trying to hit them in melee)

Build a home as soon as possible

You should build a basic home as soon as you can to have somewhere to run to  
for protection (and for a lot more but we're talking survival here). 

Animals and monsters can break your home, but that take time. Make it possible  
to get access to the roof of the home and you can stand there in safety while  
killing them off with your bow (or arrows, don't throw your bow at them :P).

Make a protective stakewall

You've built your home, now surround it as quickly as possible with a stakewalls!  
The stakewall can handle more hits than the regular walls and offers a second 
protection before all that's between you and the attacker is your house. 

Building the wall a bit out also make it easier to go to sleep since no monsters 
or animals can be right outside your house making you get the 
"You can't sleep because enemies are near" message.

Place fires around your home

Animals (and greylings) fear fire and try to avoid it.  
So if you've managed to collect a bunch of stones and wood, why not surround your  
house or outer stakewall with fires? Since one of the mods in this package make fires  
never need to be refilled with firewood to burn they are place-and-forget,  
just don't walk into them yourself.

Also remember that bad weather will exstinguish the fires until the weather get better 
again, unless you place a roof over them all (which I never have the patience to do).

This is basically a start to help you survive the beginning and I will fill in more here when I have time (I'm moving to a new place atm so that and work doesn't give much time sadly).