A Change in Leadership – Dragon Age: Origins Quest

This guide will walk you through the “A Change in Leadership” quest in Dragon Age: Origins. We will go through all the steps to complete this mission.

Background

You can receive this quest from either Blackstone Irregulars box (in Redcliffe or in the Denerim Market District) once you’ve completed all of the other Blackstone Irregulars quests.

A Change in Leadership

For this quest, Taoran will ask you to eliminate his father Raelnor — “since it is clear his judgment is faulty with age” — so Taoran can take over the guild. You’ll find Raelnor in the Denerim Market District south of the entrance (where Sara was standing in the quest “Notices of Death“).

When you talk to Raelnor, he’ll tell you that he prefers the guild to act with “honor and integrity,” while his son wants it to be a “violent band, bolstered by secret funding from the nobility.” This will give you four ways to complete the quest:

• You can attack Raelnor and the handful of mercenaries with him. The battle should not be difficult, and when you return to any Blackstone Irregulars liaison (in Redcliffe or the Denerim Market District), you’ll receive 4 sovereigns and 350 xp.
• You can side with Raelnor, and agree to kill his son for him. You’ll then encounter Taoran at his camp the next time you travel on the world map near Lothering. Taoran will have twice as many mercenaries with him as Raelnor had, which will make his fight much more difficult. But after defeating him, when you return to any Blackstone Irregulars liaison (in Redcliffe or the Denerim Market District), you’ll receive the same reward: 4 sovereigns and 350 xp.
• After siding with Raelnor and meeting with Taoran, instead of fighting Taoran, you can intimidate him into giving you money to stay out of the conflict. Taoran will then pay you 3 sovereigns.
• You can tell Raelnor or Taoran that you don’t want to get involved, but then you won’t receive any sort of reward.

Note: This quest has a bug. If you encounter Taoran at his camp before talking to Raelnor (which will probably happen if you accept the quest in Redcliffe), then Raelnor will disappear, and you won’t have any way to complete the quest. So always accept the quest in the Denerim Market District, and talk to Raelnor before exiting to the world map.