With this mod, I've added a unique merchant to the Denerim brothel house, The Pearl, to host my armors and future items. You will no longer have items added to the player automatically - you'll have to purchase them.

****** When I took most of these screenshots, it was with my Arcane Warrior, so some of the screenshots that list a requirement of Magic should really list a requirement of Strength instead. Arcadia/Solanari requirements, for instance, should be strength, not magic. But if you are an Arcane Warrior, it doesn't matter. ********


Newest version, 1.7: Added in a new belt, and new armor styled for dual wielders, and one for "tanks" - both have restyled textures and item set bonuses. I have added item set bonuses to my rogue armor as well. I've also added in Ancient Elven Boots because we are unable to get them in game until Bioware fixes that bug. They are a unique ID and not part of the campaign - so they won't conflict with any "fixes" out there, nor with the real thing when Bioware fixes the error.

These armors, robes, and future equipment are for both males and females.

2 new sets of armor: A new set of armor that's styled for a front line warrior - the textures have been redone for both male and female. The helm was made to be brighter, with darker shadows and brighter highlights. I did the same to each piece of armor. I have also given the armor a bonus when the set is worn. Also a new set of armor for a dual wielder - the textures for male remain about the same (enhanced some details), but for females the original texture was horrible - almost looked like a low-res texture. I put in more details, designs on the armor, shadowing, and highlights to bring it in line with the male texture. This armor also has a bonus when the set is worn.

The belt added is with all classes and professions in mind.

There are 2 new sets of armor for rogues. They both have the same stats, the only difference is their looks. I've done some custom texture work on the gloves, boots, and main pieces in order to make them darker. They were too "bright" for my tastes. I've also gotten rid of the annoying shadows under the female skirts and done a bit of cleanup on one of the male textures as well. It didn't look quite right on the other male texture, so I'll work on that one later. I'll be continually tweaking the textures.

A new bow has been added in for Rogues - its nice, but not cheap! The "rapid fire" on the bow simply increases the speed of the bow without penalties - such as the penalties applied by the "Rapid Fire" ability.

For Arcane Warriors, I have added in a set of robes that will give them an "armor" option, without looking like a walking tin can. You'll keep the look of a Mage. It gives a matching "helm" and robe that have stats with the Arcane Warrior in mind. I made the helm because I was really sick of the "conehead" hoods for mages, yet I wanted something with the same effects. I have also added in different colors to this set.

I have added a 2h sword for Arcane Warriors too. Other classes with the strength can also equip it, but the bonuses on the sword are with the mage in mind. A new staff that radiates cold and a new amulet have been added for all mages as well.

If you need storage, check out Tal's storage chest on the Bioware forums (he's a Bioware employee): http://social.bioware.com/project/463/ It adds a storage chest to camp that doesn't conflict with anything I know of.


Installation=========================================

First, you must be at version 1.02 for your game. If you aren't and try to load it, I have no idea if this mod will run properly or not.

Second, if you already have my Arcane Warrior Robe and Hood mod, then you must uninstall it. Follow the "Uninstall" instructions below precisely, then continue with the "Install" instructions.

Locate "daupdater.exe". It is in your program folders "dragon age origins\bin_ship" folder. Run it by double clicking it. Now either drag and drop my
Ras Armory.dazip file into it, or click on "Select dazip" and locate where you saved my .dazip file to. Once you have done so, hit Install Selected.

FYI....If you are using Dragon Age Modmanagr this mod works fine with it, but it reports the version number incorrectly. I have no idea why, but I started using it recently, and it works fine with my mod.

That's it! When you run Dragon Age, you'll see "Rasana's Armory" show up in your Downloadable Content section under "Installed".

If you load up a save in the Brothel, you may have to exit The Pearl and come back to it to see the new merchant spawn. Its best to use a save that is outside of The Pearl when updating this mod.

Uninstall============================================

Fire up your game, go to Downloadable Content, and under the section "Installed", uncheck Rasana's Armory. Exit the game. Then go to Documents/BioWare/Dragon Age/AddIns and delete the folder ras_armory_01. That will take it out of the list you see.

Updating=============================================

Just uninstall and then reinstall it via the "uninstall" and "install" steps above. While I'm sure just updating it via the daupdater will work as well, this is a clean install if you are having issues.

Possible Conflicts===================================

None known now that I moved the merchant to another area. However, any mod that tries to alter the Brothel's list file by adding in a custom area could conflict with this one.

Future Plans of this mod=============================

Near future: Start playing with building my own custom area so I can use one of the unused buildings/areas in Redcliff, the Elven camp, or the Denerim Market place for my own merchant "shop".

In the future: I'm also seeing a future problem for all modders who design "merchants" to sell things to the player: There is a finite amount of sovereigns out there. Meaning, there are not many ...or any...repeatable quests to where you can gain money to buy the things you want (there is one, but only one, in the beginning of the game, and only if you don't do a certain...unethical...thing). So as we add merchants and things to buy, the player will simply run out of money to buy these things. So a future plan of mine is to branch out, and add a combat quest (basically a bounty hunting quest) that is repeatable but scales with the player level. It will be given by the merchant. Also, once a good, user friendly, tool comes along for modding meshes and putting them back into the game, I'll start making my own custom armors instead of just redoing textures and stats.

Use & Permissions====================================

You cannot use any part of this mod in your own mod/project. If you wish to use any part of my mod for something you will be releasing, please ask my permission to do so first. I'll probably give it. :)

This "mod" is a modification of the original game. You will accept it as such. Meaning, if this modification blows up your game, creates such a problem that you have to reinstall everything from scratch, or even causes Cerberus to drag your soul down to Hades, then you will accept these risks by downloading this mod and installing it yourself. If you don't like these terms, then don't download this mod - I will not support people who simply want to ignore the requirements I've laid out or ask questions laid out in these details or the readme. I deal with people every day who simply haven't read a "manual", a "faq", or who simply don't want to learn anything new themselves in any way (even by just using Google, for instance) in my "real-life" job - I'm not going to deal with that kind of self-imposed incompetence here in my relaxation time. So don't even try that with me, and we will get along fine. :) If you try it with me, I simply won't respond to you.

Read. Learn. Don't like that? Too bad. That's life. Deal with it.

Thanks goes out to John Vanderbeck for his wonderful tutorials on scripting and getting custom content into the game. Without his instructions, I would have never been able to learn and build a custom merchant.

Thanks goes out to Werikk on the BioWare forums for getting me started on scripting and learning how to do it myself.


Version History======================================
1.7 Added in 2 sets of armor, both with new textures - in game, the armor will simply appear to be more detailed, and different colors in areas. 1 set is with a "tank" warrior in mind, the other set was made with a dual-wielding warrior in mind - it could be worn by a rogue, but they would need fairly high strength. The belt was made to be useful to most anyone. Item set bonuses have been added to all armor except my robes. Ancient Elven boots have been added because they are unobtainable until Bioware fixes their bug. Its a unique ID and part of the module, so won't conflict with any "fixes" nor the real thing when Bioware takes care of the problem.

1.6 Moved the merchant to an unlocked room in the Denerim Brothel, The Pearl. To get access, you'll have to unlock the area by hiring a prostitute if you have never done so yet. After that, the area remains unlocked. This should prevent any conflicts. Added in a new staff for mages, a new amulet for mages, and a new bow for Rogues. Everything is priced accordingly.

1.5 I changed the appearance of the merchant along with the dialogue. Added an idle animation for the merchant. Sorry, no voice overs. I added in a 2h weapon styled for Arcane Warriors, but can be used by others with enough strength. I duplicated an issue with the clutter of the merchant being left behind in one save game, so I removed the clutter. Might as well, as in the future the merchant will be moved. Adjusted the prices of custom items.

1.4 Balanced the cost and buy back ratios so the prices of items are more in line with the rest of the merchants in the game. As a result, I ended up taking off all the class restrictions on the armor.

1.3 Added some Lyrium dust to the merchant. The merchant has a few crafting items already, and Elsellel had this suggestion. Also cleaned up some "behind the scenes" stuff.

1.2 Initial release. My original Arance Warrior Hood and Robes from 1.1 are still here, but this mod is entirely new. As I saw myself adding more and more custom armor and possibly other items to the game, I didn't want it all just spawning on the player automatically. Felt too much like a cheat. So I spent a long time figuring out how to add my own merchant to the game to carry all my equipment for sale. Think I did it. We'll see.