• What I'm trying to accomplish:

I'm trying to change the name of a type of arrows added by the mod Requiem. These arrows are called "Silver Arrow". To make them sort better with the rest of my arrows I want them to be called "Arrow - Silver".

• How I'm trying to do that:

I load the mod (Requiem.esp) in the CK, go to [Items] -> [Ammo] and change the Item name from "Silver Arrow" to "Arrow - Silver" and save it as a seperate ESP called "requiem_arrow_fix.esp"

• What's happening:

As long as I stay in the CK it works, but once I save and load the new "requiem_arrow_fix.esp" the CK made a dublicate instead of changing the original.

The original "Silver Arrow" has the EditorID "SteelArrowSilver" and FormID (040FAV0E).

The new, dublicated "Arrow - Silver" has the EditorID "SteelArrowSilverDUPLICATE001" and FormID (050FAV0E).

• The Problem:

Why did the CK create a dublicate when I wanted to change the name of an existing item? Up until now edits like this always worked for me. I'm sure this is something trivial for most experienced modders, but I have absoulutely no idea what is happening here.

PS I just re-read your post and I think the reason it is doing that is because you have loaded them both in the CK.

The first two digits show which mod load order it is. It probably won't work in-game, either, as they won't replace Requiem arrows or arrows in levelled lists. I think that only works when you replace Vanilla items.

When you find silver arrows, check if they are called "Arrow - Silver" or "Silver Arrow". If you use the console, you will be able to player.additem both of them as separate items.

But when you saved it, did you tell it not to make a new form, with your mod active at the time?

Do you have your mod esp Active in the CK when you change the name of the Arrow?

You need them both loaded with your mod Active.

If it is for your own use, you could also just change the name in Requiem and save it without creating a new Form.

~.~

My bet would be that Requiem isn't added as a master for your new plugin and so CK has to create a copy of the form as your plugin wouldn't be able to simply modify a form, which exists in a plugin that isn't among your plugin's masters.

You need to make Requiem a master file with TES5Edit or Wrye Bash. Then you need to load Requiem in CK, make your modification, save as a new plugin and then make sure that Requiem is listed as one of the masters in your new plugin. Finally switch Requiem back to its previous state (non-master plugin).

Yes, I think MrJack has the right answer. To make a mod "patch" another mod, the original has to be a Master to the new mod.

What you say is true. My fix plugin didn't have Requiem as a master file and your explanation made perfect sense now that I think about it. As for your instructions:

1. You need to make Requiem a master file with TES5Edit or Wrye Bash.
2. Then you need to load Requiem in CK, make your modification, save as a new plugin and then make sure that Requiem is listed as one of the masters in your new plugin.
3. Finally switch Requiem back to its previous state (non-master plugin).

I understand how to use TES5Edit to set master file dependencies for existing plugins (make mod A require mod B as a master) but how do I make Requiem into a master file without having made the modifications in the second [2] step yet. Since you said "make Requiem a master" before "make your modifications".

• TLDR: Could you explain how to make Requiem a master file with TES5Edit?

So in short, I have to make Requiem into an esm while I make the modifications and covert it back to esp afterwards? Is my assumption correct? Also, does TES5Edit even provide this functionality?

Alright, I found out how to change the Records Flag and make it into a master file. I'll make my edits and tell you guys if everything worked out.

For a simple edit like this you should really just use tesVedit. Find the silver arrow entry in requiem and right click the header as in http://i.imgur.com/HJNMxue.png and choose copy as override into... and choose new file. Name it requiem_arrow_fix.esp (delete or rename your broken esp first). The new mod's copy will show up as the rightmost column in the main panel, then just edit the name entry in it and save (ctrl+s). No messing with making esm's or whatnot.

TesVedit supports mods with esp masters (and will automatically make requiem.esp the master to your new mod), the creation kit doesn't. Trying to edit an item in another esp in the ck will always make a duplicate when you save it. If you modify a mod that uses esp masters in the CK all the modified files will be duplicated when you save breaking the mod.