Name: Ashara's CM Partners
Version: 3.1
Date: 28-5-2008
Category: Companions
Requirements: Oblivion Patch 1.2.0.214, CM Partners Mod Basic and Ren's beauty pack full.
Author(s): Ashara
Source: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16135


Description
===========
This mod adds 10 new companions based on Blackie's CM Partners mod. These companions are ten of my characters, Amroth, Blane, Elanna, Fabio Germanico, Hugh, Lorayne, Raynarr, Silvana Flavia, Sorcha and Zinnia.

You can find Amroth, Elanna, Hugh and Lorayne at The Tiber Septim Hotel in the Talos Plaza (Imperial City).
You can find Fabio, Raynarr, Silvana and Zinnia at the Chorrol's Castle Great Hall.
You can find Blane and Sorcha at the Skingrad's Castle County Hall.

* Amroth, a high elf male. Class: Spellsword, NPC type Magic
* Blane, a mystic elf male. Class: Witchhunter, NPC type Magic
* Elanna, a wood elf female. Class: Archer, NPC type Stealth
* Fabio Germanico, an imperial male. Class: Crusader, NPC type Combat
* Hugh, a nord male. Class: Warrior, NPC type Combat
* Lorayne, a breton female. Class: Nightblade, NPC type Magic
* Raynarr, a dark elf male. Class: Thief, NPC type Stealth
* Silvana Flavia, an imperial female. Class: Sorcerer, NPC type Magic
* Sorcha, a mystic elf female. Class: Agent, NPC type Stealth
* Zinnia, a redguard female. Class: Barbarian, NPC type Combat

All of them will level with you being always 1 level less than you.

I've set all of them to Essential, so they cannot die.If you want to change them to Non-essential, you can use the mod Set Essential Actors Needs OBSE. It adds a spell that allows you to change the Essential tag of any NPC.

In order to be able to add the hairs an eyes to this mod, I have created custom races for them, that are just copies of the vanilla races. To allow them to have standard dialogue, I've had to mark those races playable. Therefore, you can choose to play with one of them for your main character but they add nothing new to the game and would only cause problems in some quests like the Boethia Shrine. So I recommend not to use them.

I haven't set map markers for them, because this mod is adding 10 potential companions and I think that adding eight new map markers can be confusing. But if you want me to do it, let me know.

Savegames of my characters can be found here:

* Amroth
* Blane
* Elanna:
* Fabio Germanico
* Hugh
* Lorayne
* Raynarr
* Silvana Flavia
* Sorcha
* Zinnia

A mod that adds all of them as NPCs, for use with Talkie Toaster's Companion Share and Recruit, can be found here: Ashara's Characters as NPCs.


Required mods
=============
All versions of the mod require
* the latest Oblivion Patch (1.2.0.214).
* CM Partners Mod Basic.
* Ren's beauty pack full. Only the meshes and textures files are required, you don't need to activate the Ren's beauty pack esp file.


Recommended mods
================
To improve the facial textures, I strongly recommend:
* Natural Faces.
* Danis13 beauty Patch for MD Natural Faces.
* Danis13 for Mystic Elves.

I also recommend Glenvar Castle, apart from being one of the best quest and house mods, the castle has large Guest Quarters where more than eight companions can feel at home.


Install
=======

1. Install the version of CM Partners Mod Basic you prefer (read the mod's readme for more information). It is required that you active both the CMPartners.esm and the CMPartners.esp (no other .esp is required).

2. Install the meshes and textures files of Ren's beauty pack full. No need to activate Ren's esp file.

Manually:

3. Extract the files of this mod to a temporary location and chek the folder structure.

4. Decide which esp file you want to use:
* The default esp adds eyelashes to all NPCs, Luchaire's natural eyelashes to the males and Kalikut's longer eyelashes to female NPCs.
* The esp file included in the "EyelashesOnlyFemales" folder, only adds Luchaire's natural eyelashes to female NPCs.

5. Copy to (install folder)\Oblivion\Data\:
.- the selected .esp
.- the meshes folder
.- the textures folder
If asked if you want to overwrite existing files say "Yes to all".

6. Start Oblivion Launcher, click 'Data Files' and place a checkmark beside the .esp file.

Using the OMOD version:

3. Place the omod in your (install folder)\Oblivion\OBMM\mods\ folder

4. Start Oblivion Mod Manager

5. Select the AsharasCMPartners OMOD, and press the "Activate" button.

6. You'll be asked if tou want to add eyelashes to all NPCs or only to females:
* If you select adding them to all NPCs, it will add Luchaire's natural eyelashes to the males and Kalikut's longer eyelashes to female NPCs.
* If you select adding them only to females, it will only adds Luchaire's natural eyelashes to female NPCs.


Upgrade
=======
To upgrade from version 1.1 or higher to version 3.1:
* Install the meshes and textures files of Ren's beauty pack full. No need to activate Ren's esp file
* Decide which esp file you want to use:
** The default esp adds eyelashes to all NPCs, Luchaire's natural eyelashes to the males and Kalikut's longer eyelashes to female NPCs.
** The esp file included in the "EyelashesOnlyFemales" folder, only adds Luchaire's natural eyelashes to female NPCs.
* Copy to (install folder)\Oblivion\Data\:
.- the selected AsharasCMPartners.esp
.- the meshes folder
.- the textures folder
If asked if you want to overwrite existing files say "Yes to all".


Uninstall
=========
Manually:
1. Start Oblivion Launcher, click Data Files, uncheck the .esp file(s).
2. Delete:
.- the .esp file associated with the mod.
.- the folder \meshes\characters\CH4O\ and its contents (provided you haven't installed the Corean mod)
.- the folder \meshes\characters\Nequam\eyes\
.- the files \meshes\characters\imperial\teethhuman.nif, \meshes\characters\imperial\teethhuman.egm and \meshes\characters\imperial\teethhuman.tri (provided you haven't installed Scanti's merged teeth)
.- the folder \meshes\characters\JC\ (provided you haven't installed Throttlekitty and Jclyde6108's eyelashes)
.- the folder \textures\characters\corean\ and its contents (provided you haven't installed the Corean mod)
.- the folder \textures\characters\Nequam\eyes\ and its contents (provided you haven't installed Nequam eyes with other mod)
.- the file \textures\characters\imperial\teethhuman.DDS (provided you haven't installed Scanti's merged teeth)
.- the folder \textures\characters\JC (provided you haven't installed Throttlekitty and Jclyde6108's eyelashes)

Using the OMOD version:
1. Start Oblivion Mod Manager
2. Select the AsharasCMPartners OMOD, and press the "Deactivate" button

Incompatibility
===============
None that I am aware of. As it only adds NPCs with their own races, there shoudn't be any incompatibilities with any other mod.

Known Issues or Bugs
====================
None that I am aware of. If you find any, please tell me.


History
=======
3.1, 11-9-2008 - added an alternate esp file in which these companions have lower responsability to allow them to fight "good" NPCs. Beware that that could also make them get into trouble more easily.

3.1, 28-05-2008 - added eyelashes with two options. The default option adds eyelashes to all NPCs, the second option only adds eyelashes to female NPCs.
3.0, 12-05-2008 - added two new NPCs: Blane and Sorcha. Meshes and textures from Ren's beauty pack full are required, but there is no need to activate the esp file of that mod.
2.1, 14-04-2008 - solutioned a mistake when creating the custom races for Zinnia and Raynarr that made their eyes appear odd if you were not using Beautiful People.
2.0, 10-4-2008 - added two new companions, Zinnia and Raynarr. Modified AI of all the companions: now if you order them to stay here they will stay where they are. Added also daily routines for them, including eating, drinking and sleeping.
1.2, 29-3-2008 - modified AI to make them equip their weapons. Now they shouldn't fight with their fists if they have a weapon available.
1.1, 24-3-2008 - added hairs and eyes to the mod to allow them to be used by my companions even in vanilla version and to get rid of cosmetic mods dependancy.
1.0, 23-3-2008 - Initial release.


Contact
=======
You can contact me leaving a comment at the mod's thread or sending me a PM. Any ideas on how to improve this mod are wellcome.


Credits
=======
Thanks to Bethesda for creating Oblivion.
Thanks to Blackie for creating the CM Partners Mod Basic and for his excellent guide on how to create custom partners.
Thanks to Nequam, Ren and idkrrr for creating such beautiful eyes, hairs and races mods.
Thanks to Scanti for the merged teeth.
Thanks to Throttlekitty and Jclyde6108 for the eyelashes meshes, and to Luchaire and Kalikut for the eyelashes textures.
Thanks to TESNexus.com for the a one-stop-shop resource for authors and players.
Thanks to LHammonds for the Readme Generator this file was based on, and for and for all his OBMM scripting tutorials and tools used to create the scripted OMOD.
Thanks to all of you that are using this mod and are helping me to improve it with your suggestions, especially to Sarya at TESNexus and Kenzee at PlanetElderScrolls for their valuable suggestions.


Licensing/Legal
===============
Feel free to use this mod as you want. You can use it as it is or you can modify it in any way you want to.

If you want to use any of the meshes/textures included in this mod, give full credit to their original authors.