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About this mod
Allows for the completion of both Champions of the Just and In Hushed Whispers in a single playthrough. Both Calpernia and Samson's quests will be available in Skyhold.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
The Best of Both Worlds
Overview
The Best of Both Worlds is a quest overhaul mod that makes it possible to complete both Champions of the Just and In Hushed Whispers in the same playthrough, as well as both “nemesis” quests in Skyhold, Before the Dawn and Under Her Skin. My goal was to make this as immersive as possible, so I have it set to follow a specific path, and edited a number of conversation files and war table missions to remove unfitting references and fill in the gaps. (There are still some cutscenes and lines of dialogue that don’t match up 100% perfectly with the edited scenario, but these should be relatively few.)
With the mod installed:
- Champions of the Just must be completed first. Redcliffe will not unlock until you’ve finished Therinfal Redoubt. This doesn't adjust the amount of Power required to complete either mission, so you may need to do a bit more side-questing than usual to unlock both, depending on your usual play style.
- Conversations that normally take place after finishing either Champions or Whispers will not trigger until Whispers is completed. (Such as the discussion of lyrium provisions with Josephine and the dialogue Cassandra has with a mage.) Most conversation reactivity in this part of the game will ignore Champions being completed.
- Cole will be the companion to appear at the gates during In Your Heart Shall Burn (he doesn't join you after Champions), and Samson and the Red Templars will accompany Corypheus.
- Calpernia will be the enemy you face in the Temple of Mythal, while Samson will be brought for judgment to Skyhold.
For a more detailed guide, see the Walkthrough section below.
Installation and Compatibility
The mod must be installed with Frosty Mod Manager and consists of two fbmod components: the main file, which handles all of the in-game changes, and the talktable file. The talkable file is separate for language version purposes. At the moment, English and Russian languages are available. In order to make it as compatible as possible with other mods, my talktable edits were done to a multiplayer table; as such, you will need to have the multiplayer DLC installed.
Both the main file and a talktable file must be installed. You’re going to end up with a lot of blank war table missions and/or gibberish otherwise.
The Best of Both Worlds is absolutely incompatible with anything that edits the JournalSystem file. As far as I know, the only mod that actually does this is sapphim’s “Always Aiding Kirkwall" from sapphim's Inquisition Mini Mods. You cannot use these two mods together, or The Best of Both Worlds will break. I’ve provided an optional “patch” file for Always Aiding Kirkwall.
The Best of Both Worlds is partially incompatible with mods that edit specific war table assets. This includes War Table - No Waiting and Complete War Table Operations without waiting - for Frosty (or any other mod that edits the timing of the war table missions). The mods can be used together, but TBoBW must be loaded after the other war table mods. (Or rather, the edits in TBoBW must override their edits. Otherwise you're going to get a lot of nonsensical missions again.)
By default, my edited war table missions all run between 25~40 minutes. If you want No Waiting versions of them, download the patch and load it after the main mod.
If you're using Dialogue Wheel Overhaul, Extended Dialogue Wheel (Frosty), or any other large dialogue overhaul, make sure to load TBoBW *after* them. This will revert the specific cutscenes and conversation I made to the non-overhaul version, but my edits are required in order for TBoBW to work.
There may be other small incompatibilities if any mods edit the same conversation files I did, but these are likely to be few. In general, best practice is to ensure TBoBW loads after any dialogue mods.
You should be able to install the mod any time before your first visit to Val Royeaux and have it work properly. However, due to the amount of changes this mod makes, I do not recommend uninstalling mid-playthrough. Something will almost assuredly break, and whatever it is, it won't be pretty. If you use this mod, you’re in it for the long haul.
Notes and Known Issues
While I did my best to remove references that no longer fit, some cutscenes still won't work perfectly. Most of these belong to Cullen. The scene at the gate with Cole appearing has a couple of lines that stand out, and Cullen's intro dialogue for Before the Dawn is information we should really already know. There may be other references in codex entries or conversations that I've missed -- let me know, and if possible, I'll try to work on them!
Because of the scenario created in this mod (the templars not reaching Haven) I had to rewrite nearly all the templar-path War Table missions. I also removed and repurposed Krem's post-Therinfal and post-Redcliffe missions, as they would no longer make sense. You should still receive Bull's Amulet of Power from completing the missions I repurposed them into.
I also made it possible to complete Ser Barris's operations while conscripting the templars. Provided Ser Barris is alive, once you reach Skyhold and complete "Remnants of a Fractured Order" those war table missions will pop up. You'll also be able to do his promotion in Skyhold upon completing the operation chain.
The mission "Track Down Samson" can sometimes be difficult to spot on the war table; I'm not certain if this is a vanilla issue or due to my tweaking, but sometimes the new mission indicator doesn't appear over it. If you're having trouble locating it, make certain you've already completed the Shrine of Dumat quest in Under Her Skin, then look for it in the Orlais map near the Hissing Wastes/Western Approach.
The quest I added to explain the templars' absense, "Lights in the Shadow," will not actually show as completed once it's done. It will just disappear from your journal. I haven't figured out how to fix this as of yet.
I'm uploading the fbproject files for anyone who wants to take a peek in them, and a talktable reference in case anyone cares to take a stab at translation. I was planning on uploading a document of my process/edited files, but it's currently very disorganized and on my to-do list.
Walkthrough
A more detailed walkthrough of how the mod plays out:
Spoiler:
Redcliffe will not become available after your return from Val Royeaux. You must complete Champions of the Just before the rift at the gates will trigger and you’ll be able to enter the town.
After completion of Champions of the Just, Redcliffe will unlock, and a new quest, Lights in the Shadow, will become active in your journal. This quest is simply a series of war table missions created to help explain why the templars don’t join you in Haven, and make the flow of the quests as immersive as possible.
The first two war table missions, Search for Missing Templars and Echoes of Therinfal, must be completed before you can begin In Your Heart Shall Burn. In Your Heart Shall burn will not become active in your journal or available on the war table until both of these missions are complete, even if you have already finished In Hushed Whispers. Once all of this is done, you can proceed with In Your Heart Shall Burn as normal.
Upon arrival at Skyhold, a new war table mission, Remnants of a Fractured Order, will become available. This war table mission must be completed before you can trigger Cullen’s Samson quest, Before the Dawn. This is, again, for the sake of immersion -- trying to fill in the gaps and smooth out the areas in the story where things might not align with both quests and groups being available. (His opening conversation still doesn’t fully work, as I was unable to edit some of the references, but my hope is that it will work a bit better this way.)
Additionally, you must finish Under Her Skin, Leliana’s Calpernia quest, before you can unlock the war table mission Track Down Samson in Before the Dawn. This is not actually for the sake of immersion, but rather because the two areas use the same layout, and I needed to separate them in order for them both to work properly.
You will face Calpernia in the Arbor Wilds, as the chosen “Vessel” for the Well of Sorrows. The war table mission for Samson to be captured and taken to Skyhold for judgment will be available as normal.
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Redcliffe will not become available after your return from Val Royeaux. You must complete Champions of the Just before the rift at the gates will trigger and you’ll be able to enter the town.
After completion of Champions of the Just, Redcliffe will unlock, and a new quest, Lights in the Shadow, will become active in your journal. This quest is simply a series of war table missions created to help explain why the templars don’t join you in Haven, and make the flow of the quests as immersive as possible.
The first two war table missions, Search for Missing Templars and Echoes of Therinfal, must be completed before you can begin In Your Heart Shall Burn. In Your Heart Shall burn will not become active in your journal or available on the war table until both of these missions are complete, even if you have already finished In Hushed Whispers. Once all of this is done, you can proceed with In Your Heart Shall Burn as normal.
Upon arrival at Skyhold, a new war table mission, Remnants of a Fractured Order, will become available. This war table mission must be completed before you can trigger Cullen’s Samson quest, Before the Dawn. This is, again, for the sake of immersion -- trying to fill in the gaps and smooth out the areas in the story where things might not align with both quests and groups being available. (His opening conversation still doesn’t fully work, as I was unable to edit some of the references, but my hope is that it will work a bit better this way.)
Additionally, you must finish Under Her Skin, Leliana’s Calpernia quest, before you can unlock the war table mission Track Down Samson in Before the Dawn. This is not actually for the sake of immersion, but rather because the two areas use the same layout, and I needed to separate them in order for them both to work properly.
You will face Calpernia in the Arbor Wilds, as the chosen “Vessel” for the Well of Sorrows. The war table mission for Samson to be captured and taken to Skyhold for judgment will be available as normal.
Complete list of War Table Missions:
Spoiler:
“Search for Missing Templars” — available upon completion of Champions of the Just
“Echoes of Therinfal” — available upon completion of Search for Missing Templars.
“Remnants of a Fractured Order” — available upon arrival at Skyhold
“Deal With West Hills Mages — available upon arrival at Skyhold
“Defuse Tensions Among Inquisition Allies” — available upon completion of Remnants of a Fractured Order.
“In Their Blood” — available after completing either Halamshiral or Adamant along with Remnants of a Fractured Order. (Must be done prior to What Pride Had Wrought.)
“Whispers in the Wood” — available after completing Deal With West Hills Mages and seeing the listening crystal scene with Calpernia and Linnea in Under Her Skin. (Must be done prior to What Pride Had Wrought.)
“Signs of Passage” — available after completing Whispers in the Wood, prior to What Pride Had Wrought.
“Hunt Venatori Forces in the Brecilian” — available after completing Signs of Passage with either Leliana or Josephine, prior to What Pride Had Wrought.
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“Search for Missing Templars” — available upon completion of Champions of the Just
“Echoes of Therinfal” — available upon completion of Search for Missing Templars.
“Remnants of a Fractured Order” — available upon arrival at Skyhold
“Deal With West Hills Mages — available upon arrival at Skyhold
“Defuse Tensions Among Inquisition Allies” — available upon completion of Remnants of a Fractured Order.
“In Their Blood” — available after completing either Halamshiral or Adamant along with Remnants of a Fractured Order. (Must be done prior to What Pride Had Wrought.)
“Whispers in the Wood” — available after completing Deal With West Hills Mages and seeing the listening crystal scene with Calpernia and Linnea in Under Her Skin. (Must be done prior to What Pride Had Wrought.)
“Signs of Passage” — available after completing Whispers in the Wood, prior to What Pride Had Wrought.
“Hunt Venatori Forces in the Brecilian” — available after completing Signs of Passage with either Leliana or Josephine, prior to What Pride Had Wrought.
List of Changes
A more comprehensive list of edits I made (besides the obvious "made both these quests available"):
Spoiler:
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- edited the post-Champions of the Just cutscene to remove Cole's arrival
- edited the pre-In Hushed Whispers cutscene to remove references to finding the templars (this edit got a little awkward, sorry)
- edited the boss fight in In Your Heart Shall Burn from "Knight-Captain Denam" to "Red Templar Behemoth" (you'll be judging Denam in Skyhold as normal)
- edited Cassandra's intro to Promise of Destruction to account for Therinfal being completed
- edited Cole's first Skyhold conversation to account for Therinfal being completed (this one also says "I already told him he could stay" -- assume you said that when he showed back up at the gate!
- separated Samson and Calpernia's quest locations; Calpernia's is still the Shrine of Dumat, located in the mid-north of the Orlesian map. Samson's is now "Samson's Camp," located near the Hissing Wastes and the Western approach. (I also edited the name of the area to "Shrine in the Wilderness" since they share the name and I wanted it to apply to both; when saving, it will still say "Shrine of Dumat.")
- removed references to Samson as the Vessel; he should now just be Corypheus's general
- repurposed both of Krem's post-Therinfal and post-Redcliffe Chargers missions and edited his dialogue to no longer mention them
- repurposed/rewrote most of the templar-path-specific war table missions
- other small things I am probably forgetting
Credits
A huge thank you to Morriganna for providing the Russian translation!