Resource palette
The following classes of resource are available in the palette window.
Areas - An area represents a level in the game. It has a visible model associated with it, as well as a walk-mesh (for hit-finding) and walk-grid (for path-finding).
- Waypoints are simple objects for marking points within an area for reference purposes.
Area lists - An area list a grouping of area objects made in the toolset. These areas are considered to be a block and will always be loaded together. The player will be able to wander between these areas without requiring a major area transition, at least until they try to move to another area list. 
Characters - this resource is for coordinating voice-over and localization efforts, and is not used directly by game code.
Conversations - collections of questions, answers, statements, and other interactive activities laid out in a tree structure.
- Conversation plots and scripting discusses how plots and scripts can interact with conversations.
- Conversation cinematics and animation discusses how to direct the visual performance of your virtual actors.
Creatures - Creature objects are used to represent the player's characters and every other living creature in the game. Creatures can run actions or scripts, move, cast spells, use talents or skills and engage in combat.
- Morphs are highly customizable heads that can be used to create an enormous diversity of unique character appearances. They are not listed in the resource palette, to create new ones go to the File menu and select "Morph" from the "New" submenu. This will bring up the morph creator tool.
- Creature groups are used when determining who is hostile to whom.
- Ambient behaviour determines how the creature behaves when not doing anything else in particular.
Cutscenes - A cutscene is a pre-determined cinematic sequence played back using the game engine.
Items - items that can be taken into inventory, and are often equippable by characters or otherwise usable within the game.
Maps - images of maps with location pins whose location and appearance can be scripted.
Merchants - where the player can buy and sell items. Often linked to a creature.
Placeables - items that can't be taken into inventory. They can serve a wide variety of roles such as decoration, obstruction, or container, and the player can interact with them in various ways.
- Doors are a type of placeable but are complex enough to warrant special treatment.
- Trap system - placeables are used as triggers for traps.
Plots - The plot manager maintains a list of variables that are important to the storyline. They are stored with the party and serve as a gameplay history. Each creature will also maintain a plot table of local variables that can be accessed through scripting. These can be used to keep track of player progress through quests and control journal entries.
Scripts - Scripting is used whenever the designers need control over the game's behaviour. The syntax for DA scripts is very similar to the C programming language.
Client scripts - The client side scripting language is meant to be used for automated testing. It's similar to the server scripting, except that it's designed to simulate client input. 
Stages - a form of cinematic cutscene that's applied during a conversation to control character and camera placement.
Triggers - A trigger is an invisible polygonal area painted on the floor in the toolset. This game object will receive events whenever a creature enters or exits it. They are most commonly used for plot scripting in an area.
Sounds - audible sounds that can be generated by objects or scripts. These cannot be edited within the designer toolset; the FMOD utility is used for this.
Models - the basic physical appearance used by physical objects. These cannot be edited within the designer toolset, though see morphs for altering the appearance of character heads.
Creating new resources is done by selecting "New" from the File menu, or from the right-click dropdown menu on the resource palette.
See checking in and checking out resources for information on how Dragon Age's database manages multiple editors working simultaneously on the same database. You will need to know how to check out and check in resources for certain tasks even when working on your own.
Object templates vs. object instances
A template is what is loaded into the specialized editor to define its characteristics, an instance is what is actually loaded into the game and interacted with by the player. For several resource types (creatures, placeables, items, and others) there is the opportunity to make changes to individual instances.
For example you might create a generic Hurlock template in the creature editor, with various settings for how tough it is in a fight, what sort of treasure it's carrying, and so forth. When you then set up an area and place a number of these creatures in an area for the player to fight, the creature instances will start out with all their properties set the same as the template. However, if you wish you can edit some specific properties of each instance to change it from that default. You could make one individual Hurlock tougher than its peers, perhaps add a special droppable item to its inventory, or you could choose several Hurlocks and add them to a specific team.
Only some of the properties of an object instance are editable. In the example of the Hurlock, you wouldn't be able to change the creature's appearance.
When you edit a template that has already been used to place instances of that object in an area, all of the instances you've placed will automatically be updated to match. The exception is any per-instance changes you've made, these will remain as you set them.
Moving resources between modules
To move and/or copy content in the toolset you need to either duplicate the resource and select your new module name on the new resource dialog, also change the owner module as well. Or if you want to move the area to the new module then make sure the resource is checked in and right click in the palette, select properties and change the module and owner module from there.
By moving an area to another module you may break dependancies to other resources, however. Use the resource's "properties" window to check what other resources reference it and are referenced by it to help ensure no dependencies are broken.
If the other resources are core then you are fine. But if you created a creature in single player and then places it into area 1 then moved area 1 from single player to a new module then the creature will not show up anymore unless you either move the creature to the new module as well or else move the creature to core.
Global Resource properties
Every such resource has the same set of generic properties that can be viewed by right-clicking on it in the palette window and selecting "properties". The general tab of the resulting popup window shows the following properties that can be modified:
- Resource name - This is the Resource Name. It must be unique across the entire database (not just the current module) and lower case. When the resource is created this name is also set as its tag. Oddly, the tag must be in lower case also. To edit the resource name, or any of the resource properties you must first save the resource, check it in, then right click on the name and select Properties. Once done be sure to right click on the resource name once more and select Refresh, this will update all the instances in the module with the new changes.
- Folder - This setting will move the new Resource into a specific Folder of the Resource palette. This is only for navigational aid.
- Module - Sets the environment of the Module, as either "Game Core Resource" or *Module*, where *Module* should equal the Owner Module. Exported Resources will be put into either the Core or Module directory of the Owner Module. The Game will treat Game Core Resources as available to other Modules, while setting *Module* makes a Resource only available within that Module. Other settings are irrelevant and treated as if setting the Owner Module.
- Owner module - Sets the Module which shall inherit the Resource. The exported Resource is put into that Modules directory, and the Game will treat that Resource as only available when the Module is activated. Default should always be the custom Module you are working on. Other settings can cause potential problems.
- State - A flag that can be set to NONE, Written, Edited, Pre-localization, Localization, Voice over, Voice over ready. [Undocumented]
The "references" tab lists all of the other resources that this resource contains references to, and the "referenced by" tab lists all of the other resources that contain references to this one.
