Among these, a handful are really quite impressive and tend to stand out from the rest. The best ones are typically those with custom dialogue and associated questlines. Follower mods in Skyrim range drastically in their quality.
Fortunately, that's where mods come into play. Nevertheless, most players by now have likely traveled with just about every vanilla follower in the game. Plenty of recruitable followers are willing to tag along with the Dragonborn in their adventures. This myriad collection of activities, however, doesn't have to be experienced alone. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offers players plenty of things to do and see.