Your family has always been large, and life as the seventh heir in line is not easy. You’ve spent most of your life hidden in the shadows of your older, more skilled and charismatic siblings. As such, you were positively surprised when you heard that your distant uncle had died and, in his will, left you a considerable amount of land. There was only one catch - you have to move and manage it yourself, leaving your family and previous fortune behind! Happy to snatch up the opportunity and make something of your own you accepted the generous offer and sailed off to make your own name in a distant land...
Rules for the challenge are behind the cut, as I am still testing things out and they may be subject to changes and tweaks!
General Rules:
-You must play on a normal time span
- You must pay your bills “taxes”! (If you have Island Living you may use the off the grid lot trait)
-You may not age up your sims before their birthday
-No gameplay cheats (no influencing sims with cheats - build mode cheats such as moveobjects are fine)
- No gameplay-altering CC (custom traits, furniture and clothing is allowed as long as it’s not especially overpowered/cheap in comparison to the unmodified game’s content)
- You are not allowed to woohoo. You must always “try for baby” if the option is available! (if one of them is already pregnant, an elder or your household is full, this doesn’t apply. Full households and elders can woohoo as much as they want.)
- You are not allowed to purchase seeds, medicine or vampire tomes through the computer. You may purchase seeds through a planter pot only when specified.
- You are not allowed to answer your phone to join events or agree to party (though you may allow others to visit you). You must schedule all of your events in advance.
- You are not allowed to take part in San Myshuno events or travel to San Myshuno
- You may not use the club system unless so specified
- Children and Female Teens must have an adult accompanying them if they visit any non-home lots
- You may send children and teens off as “wards” to other families - you must pay a fee of 10 000 simoleons for their upkeep, however. You may return them to the family whenever, but do not get any of the money back and must repay it if you wish to send them again.
- You are allowed to adopt sims as usual, but they cannot be a Heir to the household.
In Buy/Build Mode:
- You are not allowed to use any items that could not feasibly be found in a fantasy/medieval context unless otherwise specified (toddler potty is allowed)
You can't place or use:
- Any electronics (unless otherwise specified)
- Amy modern-looking build or buy mode items
- Any showers
Marriage:
- Every played sim must pay a dowry of 15 000 simoleons before marrying, unless they stay in the played lot. If they stay in the played lot, they must pay 10000 instead.
Sims can only marry once unless:
- despite the player’s attempt their marriage isn’t consummated (sims decline to try for baby after marriage, one of them dies, etc)
- they are left “unsatisified” during that time and have never tried for baby since (implying consummation was not succesful)
- their partner is caught cheating
- Their partner dies as an elder but they are still an adult/young adult (in this case their dowry is lowered to 10000/5000 depending on if they stay on the lot or not)
Determining the heir:
If you are playing this challenge just for fun, you can disregard this part. Otherwise, here is how you determine the heir to the household!
The Heir of the family is the oldest legitimate male child of the previous Heir (unless otherwise specified or no male heirs are available).
If the Current Heir’s eldest child has been born out of wedlock, they are uneligible to be the heir - unless the parents marry while the child is still a baby and hasn’t been shown to anyone.
Example:
The Family has three children: A(male), B(female) and C(male). A was born before their parents wed, making them an illegitimate heir. B is skipped because they are female and there is a male child further down the line. That makes C, the third child, the Heir to the household.
However, if C dies before becoming an adult, B becomes the heir.
If C dies as an adult, already having children, their child will become the heir.
Adopted children are incapable to be Heirs to the household, as they are not a blood relation. But they can still live in the household and help around where needed.
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Step 0 (optional) - Setting up your savegame
It is my recommendation that you remove all lots and premade sims from your save and download new medieval ones for the gallery. This isn’t needed but makes it a lot more fun in my opinion!
Recommendations for medieval CC (not affiliated with me in any way):
http://ts4medievalfantasy.tumblr.com/
http://valhallansim.tumblr.com/
https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/browse/category/sims4/search/medieval/
http://sssvitlans.tumblr.com/tagged/s4medieval
I recommend downloading much more sims than you would need and setting a large majority of them to not live in houses - this makes the game able use them in many roles it would otherwise create new random sims for. This makes it so that you’ll see significantly less “modern” sims walking around.
Step 1 - Survival
You survey the land you’ve been given and see that while it is blank, it is very fertile. This would make for good farming land. You’re unaccustomed to manual labor, but are determined to make this work.
You must move into the Von-Windenburg estate lot (if you don’t have Get Together, the largest lot you have available is also okay - Windenburg is just a great fit for a medieval look). The lot must be completely empty when you start.
You must purchase:
- A bed
- A toilet or a bush
- A “washbasin” (sink)
- A bath
You must attempt to use any remaining money you have to make this cottage more homey. In an ideal case your sims will not have any money left after it is finished.
In this stage, you can make money by farming, fishing and collecting.
To survive, you must farm and fish. You can only eat what you farm/catch!
Goals:
- Fishing Level 5
- Gardening Level 5
Step 2 - Homestead
Time passes, and you learn the secrets of farming and how to stay alive on your own. You’ve managed to start your little farm, but something is missing from your life. It’s a lonely job, and you start wanting for company. If you haven’t already, it is time to get to know the locals!
Goals:
- Make 5 friends
- Complete the Freelance Botanist Aspiration
- Build a Cellar ( to simulate a cold cellar, you are allowed to purchase a fridge. When you own a fridge, you can use it to cook from like normal)
- Acquire 10 000 simoleons
Step 3 - Beginning of the Legacy
Now that you start to be more comfortable with your new home and a feel for the new community you’ve become a part of, you start to yearn for a family of your own. Maybe it’s because of the time spent apart has made your memories of your own family feel better than they actually were, or maybe it’s just the loneliness talking. Either way, you’re ready to move on with your life. First you need to prepare, though...
You may now own a carpentry table and make money by carpentry.
Goals:
- Upgrade your house to a proper farmstead to fit a family.
- Pay a dowry (you can use cheats to remove the money)
- Get Married
- Consummate the Marriage (try for baby)
Once your husband/wife has moved in, you may make a family club to keep track of them better.
Step 4 - Family Life
Family life as a farmer may or may not be what you always wanted, but overall you’ve become very happy with your lot in life. Working daily on the farm and spending time with your lovely family at home has become very important to you. You didn’t really plan for this when starting out. Thankfully you got here anyway.
Goals:
- Have at least one legitimate Heir
- Handiness level 10
Step 5 - Fort Legacy
As your family and your farm grows, so do also the dangers surrounding you. It’s time to secure your home with a fort, and hire some help for the fields so that you have more time for the family.
Goals:
- Build a tower fort for your sims to live in. You may keep their previous home on the lot and use it for your workers instead.
- Create housing for your workers (if you decide to bulldoze the farm)
- Recruit workers for your fields (create a club with a gardening activity and/or hire a professional gardener)
- Have a family member complete the Leader of the Pack Aspiration
- Host a Wedding
Step 6 - Production
Your fields are doing well - so well, in fact, that even after you have plenty enough to sell. At home things are getting a bit complicated...
Should you so choose, you may buy a store or a restaurant at this point.
Male non-heirs to the family may now work in the following careers: Business
Goals:
- Have a family member complete the Big Happy Family Aspiration
(Bonus: - Have an Illegitimate Heir)
- Have a family member complete the Soulmate Aspiration
- Have a toddler in the family
- Reach generation 3
Step 7 - Ruling Class
Your family has become very influential in the area, and people have grown to respect you, seeking your advice on many matters big and small.
Male n on-heirs to the family may now work in the following careers: Business , Painter, Entertainer, Criminal. Working at a job makes them uneligible to ever become the heir unless no other heirs remain.
You may now make money by painting.
You may now hire any services.
Goals:
- Extend the tower fort you previously built to make a castle
- Recruit servants (create a club with a cleaning/fixing activities or/and hire a butler or a maid)
- Have a family member complete the Mansion Baron Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Friend of the World Aspiration
Step 8 - Legacy Kingdom
Your family has been here for longer than most, and people know it. People often come from elsewhere to visit you. You are now responsible of the well being of a great number of people. Hopefully you won’t squander it.
Goals:
- Crown your family head as a King/Queen and have a party in their Honor.
- Recruit Knights and have quarters for them (create a club with a fitness activities)
- Allow Nobility into the Castle (create a club with art/ socializing activities)
- Have a family member complete the Fabulously Wealthy Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Chief of Mischief Aspiration
- Build a Collections Vault
Step 9 - Happy Kingdom
Time goes on and so does life. New things are brewing in the kingdom. The Kingdom is blooming, and the court is full of life.
You can now purchase seeds through the planter. Or “from the local shoppe”
- Have a picnic
- Host a Ball
- Have a family member complete the Serial Romantic Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Party Animal Aspiration
- Have a sim die as an Elder
Step 10 - Enlightement
There are more things to life than fun and games - and your family is an especially keen supporter of the arts. It feels like change is in the air, but no one can quite put their finger on it.
Goals:
- Visit an Art Gallery
- Visit a Museum
- Have a social gathering at a Museum
- Visit a cafe
- Have a family member complete the Painter Extraordinare Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Musical Genius Aspiration
- Find and harvest a Plasma tree
- Meet a Vampire
Step 11 - Neverending Kingdom
You have seen them, and they are powerful. The only way to protect your family and Kingdom is to fight fire with fire... or Vampires with Vampires. You cannot risk allowing this plague to spread its devious roots in the general population. This must be dealt with. And yours is the only family with the power and the means to do so.
Goals:
- Have a family member complete the Vampire Family Aspiration
- Have a family member complete the Master Vampire Aspiration
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(From left to right: Agnes, William, Marjorie & Richard Gaunt)
Dearest Diary,
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Dearest Diary,
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William & Agnes Gaunt
1303, The Diary of William of Windenburg
Dearest Diary,
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Agnes Gaunt 1303
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Dearest Diary,
As the leaves bid their final, fiery farewell, and the chill of winter begins to seep through the cracks of our home, we find ourselves reflecting on a season of both sparse blessings and looming challenges. This year’s harvest, the first since Father John’s passing,…
