Dragon Age Origins MOD LIST

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There are some very interesting mods for Dragon Age Origins and I've decided to make a list. This list will be edited as new mods are released. I will only include mods that I've tested or that somebody else has tested so that it will serve as a reference. There are many mods that change the appearance of NPCs and I won't try to list them all but there are some mods that greatly enhance gaming experience.

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=>TEXTURES and VISUAL MODS:​

-FtG UI Mod - More Readable Fonts and UI
It's still beta but the updates are regular and the mod is well documented. If you find the ingame texts to be too tiny this mod will greatly improve that aspect of the game.

-JBTextures.
Olimikrig: "Really does a lot for the general look of the game. Personally I have little to no performance hit using it as well, as long as I steer clear of the very high terrain optional."

-CC Extra Tints and Tones
That mod allows you to access colours that were not allowed in the character creator. Simply put you don't have to use the toolset to get access to the nice (or weird) options. It also enables you to pick Duncan's or Morrigan's hairdo, different eyes and adds more colour to your tatoos.

-Chargen Package
Adds more face presets (non replacers) and more options to customize your characters (including some rather nice scars). There is a compatibility file to use it with CC Extra Tints and Tones.

-PT's Vibrant Colors
Adds even more skins, colours and everything.

-More Hairstyles
What it says. They're available at character creation.

-Bidelles Makeup Studio
More skins and it includes a compatibility file to combine it with other mods.

-White teeth.
This one makes everybody look better with less yellow brownish teeth. Smile!

-Circles be gone.
It does just that, it gets rid of the circles. Now screenshots won't be marred by those huges yellow and red circles that are totally useless (you've got the map to indicate foes anyway).

-Natural Bodies
Warning: nudity. This mod gets rid of the underwear. It makes the love scenes less awkward. If you find nudity offensive skip it but if the fact that Morrigan puts on a bra for the love scenes annoys you then this is a must have mod. Bear in mind that there is also male nudity in this mod so you'll have to delete a few files or use another mod if that makes you uncomfortable.

-Amazon Curves
Warning: nudity. This mod provides and alternative to the natural bodies mod. There is no male component in this mod and you can choose between three versions (one is more athletic whereas the others are rather voluptuous).

-Curvaceous Attire and Dalish Glass appearance (Warning: nudity).
Olimikrig: "You can use the two mods together, just don't copy the MESH folder from Dalish Glass appearance to your override, since you'll be using the ones from Curvaceous Attire instead. I'd like to recommend the Ornamental version of the Dalish glass armor, since personally I find it a little silly to run around killing Darkspawn with nipples exposed (there are also other version which will cover up the nipples, I just happen to prefer the ornamental ones). I'd also recommend going with the arms and legs version since there's no shadows or underwear underneath the skirt, so every time your archer position herself to fire you can look right up her private parts (of course he hasn't actually done private parts, but I still think it looks a little silly)."

-Blood Dragon textures
The Blood Dragon Armour has very good stats but looks out of place in the medieval setting. There are some mods that change textures and provide alternate textures (with or without the glow). You'll still need the DLC to be able to get it in game of course. Blood Dragon Armor Textures with different options and Elder Blood Dragon Armour if you prefer a darker texture.

-Sacred Faces
There are several mods that change the appearance of NPCs to make them look like the way they look in the Sacred Ashes trailer but I've chosen to include this particular mod because it allows you to get the "Sacred Warden" morph as a template at character creation including the glowing eyes, the tattoo and the scar without opening the toolset (I did get that mod so my human noble rogue could have a scar).

-Trailer Edition
If you really like the look of NPCs in the trailers then this mod offers another alternative (I like the way the Sten and Leliana look with this mod).

-Morrigan and Leliana Sacred Ashes Face Mod
Yet another version. Morrigan in this mod looks a lot like the Sacred Ashes trailer. It's nice for a change.

-Sly Zevran
There are many mods that change the appearance of NPCs and all these changes are really easy to make with the toolset, I didn't want to include too many of these files in that list but I have to make an exception for this mod. It makes Zevran look really good. There is also an option to use this face for your elf instead.

-Angelina Jolie Facemorph
I don't like adding too many face mods in this list but I have to make an exception for this one. This face really looks like the famous actress and is a perfect match for Isabella the Duelist in the Pearl (you just have to rename the .mor file as "hf_den200_isabela" and put it in your override folder). I use it for Leliana (with a different hair), it makes the idea of romancing everyone's favourite bard even more appealling.

-Dragon Age Redesigned
This mod offers alternative faces for most NPCs. Some of them look really good and you can pick the ones you want in your game. Of course most companions are included.

-Dalish Elves Beautified
I don't usually care much for new morphs but I don't mind making an exception for this mod. I really like what the modder has done with these morphs (especially Tamlen). Have a look and see for yourself.

-Dr.DJ's Bandit Emporium or Simple Tattoos
Adds some nice scars and tattoos for your characters but you have to use the toolset (or edit the chargenmorphcfg.xml to get the scars in the character generation screen - open the file with the note pad and simply add the references in the skin section at the bottom -regarding tattoos, if you don't want to open the toolset you have to add them to the skin section as well, I'm still trying to get that right but there is no perfect solution without the toolset).

-Atoms Better Male Presets and Atoms Unique Presets
Use only one of them. These files add new faces as presets during character generation, you can modify them as you wish. It saves you the trouble of having to fiddle around the toolset to get some cool tattoos or eyes in game.

-Royal Welcome at the Pearl
I don't really know where to put this. The idea behind this very little mod is based on one of Zevran's comments... It's totally irreverential and hilarious.

-All in the Family - HM Cousland Preset and All in the Family - HF Cousland Preset
Two presets (one male, one female) which are meant to make the Human Noble look like his relatives. You can modify them in the character creator and they bear a great resemblance to the Teyrn, the Teyrna and Feargus. Great for better immersion.

-Resized Shale
Makes Shale look bigger.

-Elven Daveth and Elven Wynne
Nice for a change and since the game itself doesn't specify that these characters are not elves it doesn't break immersion. I like Wynne better as an elf and Daveth makes a pretty good Elf.

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=>GAMEPLAY MODS:​

-Qwinn's Unofficial DA:O Fixpack
Fixes many bugs with the 1.03 patch. It's well documented and compatibility shouldn't be an issue.

-Advanced Quickbar
This mod gives you three extra quick bars so you can have more abilities or items available just one click away. Simply drop the "Next" or "Previous" buttons in your quickbar to access them. It's very useful especially in the late game and with mages.

-Auto Loot
This mod adds a skill that you can drop in your quick bar, when you use it your character will collect all the loot nearby provided your inventory allows it. Definitely useful when you've played the game long enough to be sick and tired of having to get all the loot manually. There is a work around to get it to work with Awakening (I haven't tested it yet).

-Party Command Unlock
With this mod if your character can't pick a lock but one of your party members can you won't have to select that character to have him or her pick the lock. It's incredibly convenient when playing a Mage or a Warrior (or if your Rogue wants to leave all the lockpicking to Leliana). Next time Leliana says "I can do that for you" she will actually do it. Note that this mod doesn't work in Awakening (won't break your game or anything, it just doesn't work).

-Two Specializations Sten
It didn't make sense that Sten didn't get two specializations like every one else, this mod fixes this.

-Silent PC
At character creation you can select a silent voice so you won't hear comments from your main character. A great immersion mod.

-No Helmet Hack
Olimikrig: "for those who, like me, dislike the look of most helmets. It's rather simple to use, you get a "no Helmet rulebook" in your inventory, which you then simply just use on each of the individual characters on which you wish to disable the helmet animation."

-Sex Movies Always Play Human
The love scene movie will play every time you invite a character to join you in your tent (not just the first time). Dwarf version and Elf version.

-Detailed Tooltips
There is a lack of information in game and this mod fixes that. Now you can find out what abilities and stuff do before picking them and testing them.

-Item Set Descriptions Codex Entry
Adds a description of the bonuses from the different item sets in the codex.

-Madd Gift Guide, Gift Guide DLC and Gift Guide Awakening
Adds the name of the companion to gifts descriptions so you can have a much easier time figuring out who you should give a gift to. It's a bit spoilerish but may save you some time on a subsequent playthrough.

-Camp storage chest
Jhonka: "Exactly what it sounds like, puts a storage chest in your camp. Very handy if, like me, you can't stand selling items that have names."

-Character respecialization
Jhonka: "Allows you to unlearn and reallocate all of your (or any party NPC's) attribute, skill, and talent points. Especially useful for mages, if you want to try out all of the spells or if you're unhappy with some of the ones you picked. It also works for specialization points, so if you don't want Morrigan to be a shapeshifter anymore you can do something about it."

-The Winter Forge
An amazing mod. It adds an NPC to your camp with a forge that will allow you to customize many items and forge some new ones without opening the toolset. You can edit names and materials, customize abilities and change heraldic symbols on shields. If looks matter it's definitely a must have (you don't have to wait for ages to get two Tevinter blades for your Dual Wielding character for instance, you can have you shield tank sport a nice Grey Warden Griffon on his or her shield or you can upgrade the Cousland family sword so it won't be useless). It's still beta and you can create overpowered items (there are options to add limitations as well so it's your call). The latest updates require the use of a custom skill and components so it's no longer overpowered (you can still change the way your gear looks like). On that point if you don't want to modify your game experience too much you'd probably be better off using the old version of the mod (the one that doesn't add a skill and crafting components).

-Dog Gift Tweaks
This mod changes the gifts that are meant for the dog so that they can be useful by giving him some bonuses. It's certainly not overpowered and it's a perfect mod for players who like to have the dog as a companion.

-Skip the Fade
This mod allows you to skip the Fade part of the Circle Tower quest when you face the Sloth Demon. It gives you the attributes bonuses and adds the codex entries. You'll also get the XP from the fights. The mod takes you to each of your followers' nightmares before confronting the Sloth demon. You don't miss anything except the tedium of going through this area. It's perfect if you don't like the Fade or if you are just bored with that part of the game after many playthroughs (I know I am).

-Extra Dog Slot
This mod adds an item to your inventory, you can use this item to summon the dog and alternatively make him go away thus bypassing the limit to the number of characters in the party. The dog is fully functional (you get all the regular dialogue options). If the dog gets killed you can send him away and summon him again (that will get rid of the lasting effects of wounds as well). Don't try to level him up when he is in the summon slot and you'll be fine. It's the perfect mod for players who like the dog but feel bad about having him take the place of a regular party member.

-Slap Morrigan
I should make a useless but incredibly fun mod category. This mod allows you to slap Morrigan (the latest version doesn't modify your approval, the slapping is just for fun). By the way, you should expect Morrigan to slap you back... Sometimes.

-Kick-and more-Templar Carroll-and others--into Lake Calenhad
Celtic Dream: "the graphics are a bit rough but surprisingly it doesn't detract from its purpose. Ever want to do something to Carroll, that templar trying to keep you from the tower? Want to see Vaughan Kendall get what's coming to him in another way? Or just sick & tired of how Isolde and Anora are in their snottiness? This mod might be just up your alley. I've tried it and had some very good laughs from it."

-Nukenin's Stealing Fix
Olimikrig: "fixes the stealing bug introduced in the 1.03 patch (you can't steal minor random items)"
It works with the Dragon Age Mutator component that reduces the cooldown.

-Dalish Mage Origin
Allows you to play a Dalish Mage, works better if you use Non-Circle Origin Mage Dialogue Fixes.

-Dragon Age Rules Fixpack
Olimikrig: "It fixes a lot of bugs. You can pick and choose which fixes/tweaks you want. I'd recommend against the auto loot function as it breaks some quests (like Captured!, you cannot equip the guard armour with this tweak enabled, or the Drifter's Cache quest, the quest will stay in your log forever - the latter being just a minor inconvenience really), and quest marks will stay over the corpses of creatures you've killed in certain quests."

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=>MOD COLLECTIONS:​

-Combat Tweaks v323
Mongerman: "combat tweaks fixes quite a few bugs as well as made minor changes to some skills. Overall the changes are hardly noticable and really subtle. Like momentum consuming more stamina but granting movement speed boost, stacking haste and momentum works etc. [...] The area scaling tweak simply scales all creatures up to lvl 20 (with some exceptions), making late game encounters difficult as well. Otherwise everything is a joke past lvl 15. Creature scaling is where you modify monsters to your taste. You can add a flat multiplier to monster's all attributes, health, level relative to yours, damage bonus, cost of using skills etc etc. Basically, this makes all enemies stronger, have more health, and use skills more frequently."

-Improved Atmosphere
This mod adds many things to the game to make it more immersive. NPCs will engage in activities, your companions will adopt more realistic stances at your party camp, etc. It affects many aspects of the game so it is recommended to start a new game. You can select some components and ignore others. It also introduces more variety in items and an option to increase difficulty to make the game more challenging consequently to the introduction of these new items. The readme is well done and goes into details regarding all these changes.

-Dragon Age Mutator
A customizable mod collection, easy to use and very useful. Each component has a risk rating by the author so you know when you're taking chances. Some components will change gameplay quite a bit and will feel like cheating but others are just fantastic and make the game more convenient. The mod is updated frequently so expect new components.
My pick includes "Finishing moves happen more frequently" (don't overdo it because you may still take damage during some of these animations), "Less transparent and faster in stealth" (visual change), "Stealing without cooldown" (the cooldown makes stealing a real pain IMO), "Disable auto leveling for new companions" (only works when you get the companion, great when you've played the game a few times and wonder what Leliana would be like as a dual wielding rogue or Morrigan with a different spell selection), "Silence Shale's footsteps" (a must have mod, gets rid of the awful noise Shale makes when moving), "Make shapeshifting instantly and without downtime" (shapeshifting is really weak so at least this makes it a little bit better), "Display rewarded and stolen items" (a must have mod, simply lets you know what item you get, the way the game should have been). There are a few others but these are the ones I've tested so far.

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=>ITEMS MODS:​

Link.

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=>QUEST MODS:​

-Alley of Murders
This is a nice quest mod that introduces several small quest that take place in Denerim. It features competent voicing (especially for a mod) so it doesn't break immersion and it makes a clever use of game ressources. Although it is short (it won't take more than one hour to complete it and probably closer to 30 minutes) you will probably enjoy the choices that have to be made and the story behind them.

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->Mongerman's tips for increased difficulty:

Links: GDApp - GDA Editor or GDApp.

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There are so many mods that it's hard to keep up (and I wish the Bioware Social Network was more user friendly) so don't hesitate to post links to any mods you've played and liked.

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Most mods I've listed don't use the dazip format but you may want to check this:
-Guide for installing/uninstalling/updating Mods for Dragon Age. Follow the instructions and you shouldn't run into any problem, DAModder is your friend.

Last but not least, if you're not sure about using DAModder to remove dazip mods, it's not a bad idea to back up your override folder (don't forget to disable them first and force load your save and make a new clean save before though). Most mods can simply be deleted from the override folder but dazip mods are trickier.

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For more information on the use of the toolset to make characters with a customized appearance check this thread.

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Last but not least, when starting a new game, you should disable mods that add items or new skills before starting the game. If you don't then they may not show up in game (while they're still enabled). Official DLC work fine in that respect and are not affected so you don't have to disable things like the Lucky Stone for instance. If you run into this issue, you should make a save, exit to the main menu, disable the content that is not showing in game, force load your save, make a new save, exit to the main menu, enable the content and load your last save. It's easier to just disable modded items before starting a new game. Of course, you don't have to disable items that are added to a shop or a chest later in game, this is only relevant to items that spawn in your character's inventory.

 

This mod here appears to be interesting as well. It allows to reset character skills and stuff. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like a solution to the 'dang, I mis-skilled my char and need to re-start' problem.

Character Respecialization v1.6

That said, I haven't tried it yet, and make sure that you make saves before you try anything out of the ordinary with mods.

 

Thanks Ragusa, it's in the list, Jhonka has already recommended it in another thread.

You're quite right, it's always better to be extra careful when testing mods and I can't stress strongly enough the importance of having a clean save to go back to in case something should go wrong. Back up your saves and back up your override folder before installing a mod you're not sure about.

Some mods won't work together so if you run many mods at the same time you increase the possibility of a conflict. Some mods may overwrite themselves (for instance custom morph files for NPCs) but others won't so you'd better check before installing two mods that do the same thing as that may create some conflict. For instance adding custom textures and morph files won't break your game (you just have to delete them if you don't want them anymore). Mods that need to be installed with the daupdater are trickier.

Also note that you may have to exit the zone where you saved and come back to it in game for some mod content to appear (it's the case with the Winter Forge). In any case caution is advised (there are actually different area files for the party camp and the Camp storage mod only modifies one of them so be careful if you put some loot you really don't want to lose in there).

That being said I'm using most of the mods on the list and they didn't break my game (so far).

 

These mods are many of the reasons why I will be buying DAO on PC.

 

Whoa. SP's still here? And I still remember my nick / PW? Daymn. Nice topic, got the game a while back and it's damned near impossible trying to find a list of proper mods without having to wade through hundreds and hundreds of junk. These here seem like exactly what I'm looking for, thanks mate!

 

You're welcome, I try and check for new mods regularly but Dragon Age is certainly not Fallout 3. What I mean by that is that most mods are custom morphs that edit the appearance of NPCs while this is fine it's not that interesting and doesn't bring much to the game (not that Dragon Age need mods as badly as Fallout 3 to be fun). There is a few item mods that would be interesting if you couldn't get what you wanted in game with the Winter Forge mod (an incredible mod let me tell you).

I had plans about starting modding Dragon Age but I have absolutely no idea what I could do since with the Dragon Age Mutator, The Winter Forge and a few purely cosmetic changes I have all the mods I need to enjoy the game so far.

I'm waiting for player made modules though as these may prove really good and give us an excuse to get closer to the level cap. I guess I could try making one myself but I can't afford to spend that much time on such a project (you've got to respect modders who find the time to put together fan made modules like these, with all the testing and bug crushing it takes some serious commitment).

 

Caradhras, I too want to thank you for pulling all off these mods together in this thread. It looks like there are some nice ones out already. If I ever get a break from work, maybe I'll even get the chance to try a few of these out. Wow, the natural bodies mod... looks very realistic in the screenshots. While I don't consider myself a prude, I'm finding myself not completely comfortable with either this mod, or the vanilla alternative. Am I alone in finding the semi-graphic intimate moments a bit awkward?

 

Well, compared to the list I've posted for Fallout 3 it's still very short.

Considering the Natural Bodies mod I understand your feeling. I think Dragon Age didn't manage that part very well. I find the love scenes more funny than awkward to be honest and I find that this mod just makes these scenes slightly less ridiculous. Still, it's a very sensitive area and we could discuss this subject for ages but that won't change the fact that the mod is rather graphic and that's why I did put a warning.

You could try using it with the Beta Undies mod, I haven't tried this but it seems to be a simple texture replacer (reading the comments, it seems it won't change male textures though). If then you want to get rid of male nudity the easiest way is to remove the male dds files from the mod in your override folder. That will perhaps be a better alternative as it will remove the huge vanilla bras (am I the only one who thinks of One Million Years B.C. when seeing the Dragon Age underwear?) without including nudity. It won't change the love scenes (if you're playing on the PC you can use the escape key to skip them though).

 

Nice list...but I am determined to finish my first run-through with no mods, cheats, or hacks.

I'll come back to this thread once I've finished the game...so mods sound awesome.

 

A first run through should be without mods so you can decide which mods to use. I steer away from game fixes as much as possible but I made an exception with the Mutator as Shale's footsteps were making me crazy.

I've used White Teeth and Circles be gone before completing my first run though because they're small mods that won't break your game and they make quite a difference in the way the game looks.

Regarding quest mods, there's still only a few of them around and there seems to be some major bug squishing to do. Besides if you use DLC items it's been reported that your characters will be stripped of them in any fanmade module...

 

I'd like to recommend JBTextures. Really does a lot for the general look of the game. Personally I have little to no performance hit using it as well, as long as I steer clear of the very high terrain optional.

 

I've updated the list, thanks for the tip. These high def texture mods can really mess up with performances unless you have a high end computer. Could you tell us what are your specs (memory?), that would be a good indication whether or not others can expect to run this mod.

 

I have an E8400 running at 3.45GHz, 4GBs of memory and 3 GeForce 9800 GTX.

 

Thanks Olimikrig. I will give it a try later since I'm currently running the game on a laptop, it might tax its performance.

 

Another mod I'd like to recommend is the No Helmet Hack addon for those who, like me, dislike the look of most helmets. It's rather simple to use, you get a "no Helmet rulebook" in your inventory, which you then simply just use on each of the individual characters on which you wish to disable the helmet animation.

 

I totally agree, helmets look really bad in this game. They are so ugly in fact that so far I've decided not to use any (with a few exceptions like the Grey Warden helmet or the Ancient Elven helmet).

Thanks for the link Olimikrig.

 

I'm going to give the Improved Atmosphere mod a try this week end. Looks promising.

 

The Improved Atmosphere is still buggy but it ought to be upgraded soon.

In the meantime I've noticed a very interesting quest mod Alley of Murders there is a trailer on youtube and the mod features voice acting. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but the first feedback on this mod is very promising and it seems to be a top notch quest mod that should take 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

 

Added two more mods to the list (Party Command Unlock and Two Specializations Sten). I'm playing through the game with the latest version of Improved Atmosphere and it's a very smooth experience so far. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test Alley of Murders this week end.

EDIT: Alley of Murders is incredibly good (certainly better than Return to Ostagar). I've updated the list with some other mods as well.

This mod looks really funny: Slap Morrigan. I've got to give it a try.

 

I'm a little confused on the Improved Atmosphere mod. Do I just copy the folders over exactly as they are after extracting the .7z file, or do I have to open each folder and copy the files over to the override folder?