Oh, I forgot to mention that. I'm using acts_as_authenticated right now, so I've got logins working. It was suggested to me by the IRC guys.
http://technoweenie.stikipad.com/plugins/show/Acts+as+Authenticated
The access control I'm talking about is more like admin functions, and making sure users can't see each other's private data. I started messing around with acl_system http://brainspl.at/articles/2006/02/20/new-plugin-acl_system
I may use ActiveRBAC or something else in the end, though.