The Dark Ages rules... feedback welcome
As you might know I am not the biggest fan of the Dark Ages part of the Test of Time challenge. I am quite comfortable with the Ancient era, but after that I always felt like... everyone would expire because a barbarian would walk by inevitably? So below you can find the start of the rule set I might follow... It is not historically accurate, but I think it improves the game play a little bit.
After the Dark Ages, I suggest following MCC or Warwickshire challenge (for the Medieval and Renaissance part). For the Victorian era, there are some simmingregency rules, and I know Victorian Simmer also has some (available in discord).
Throughout this post I occasionally refer to optional health rolls. Optional mods related to health: Bubonic Rats, Disease mod with Weak Constitution trait support and Random Sickness
Edit #1: This didn't occur to me before @sesquedoodle comment, but I am guessing the original rules wanted to ban entertainment to stop sims from skilling up [?]. If you'd like to stop a skill at a certain level, I suggest sim blender with skill limiter.
Suggested free time activities: drafting (for Clergy), playing the flute, pottery, board games like chess or don't wake the llama, archery, fencing. Apparently swords were quite expensive so axe throwing might make more sense for poorer sims... Here is a deadly axe mod if you'd like to add some drama.
probably the biggest change affects the 'Vikings' and all the events around them, so let's start with them
The next Chieftain is the child with the highest Body skill, and combined Fitness and Sports Hobby Enthusiasm. They can come from any of your barbarian households [if you have multiple].
The weaker siblings stay on the lot and help the strongest sim in their household. They are eager to assist with raids, because they cannot marry unless they successfully win a fight during a raid. This is a tool for population control.
If a child becomes a teen with 0-4 Body skill points, they are banished from the clan and must move to an empty lot and start a new life (up to you if it’s a new subhood). They change their surname to their occupation overtime.
Hospitality: If one of your main sims visits a seafarers’ lot and is greeted peacefully, they cannot be harmed.
A walkby is only considered uninvited if seafarers have a feud with them, or they perform a negative interaction, like kicking over a barrel.
Occupation: The seafarers can hold any job, but at least half of their income must come from:
raiding (mandatory in spring/summer)
selling crops (autumnal harvest)
other sources of income like crafting (only in winter season).
Spring & Summer - Sailing Season
In spring and summer, at least once per season, roll D8 [or however many eligible sims you have] to decide who goes raiding, or pick volunteers on your own. Exclude pregnant sims, and sims who have lost fights in the current season.
If a raider is suffering from the flu plague, they infect all sims they interact with during a raid.
If there is a hospital close to your main sims’ lots, the healer is allowed to sell apothecary items or comfort soup.
Useful mods: Biotech station or Herbal station, Sim Manipulator to get sick
Pregnant sims normally stay home to run the household, but in winter everyone stays home. It’s harvest season and no raids take place. Pretend your seafarers are building ship etc.
Even if you find seafarers walking by your main lot, rolls don't apply in the colder parts of the year. Don't interact with them, even if there is an active family feud.
Walkby - roll only once a day
If a seafarer walks past a lot in spring or summer, roll a D6.
1-3: They keep walking… unless it’s a noble house or clergy holding
If the lot is not fenced, the seafarer always raids the noble holding. If the house has a fence, the raider moves on to an easier target. This rule is here mostly for me to remember to fence my lots LOL.
4-5: The family must immediately gift tribute – an item worth §300 [current/depreciated item value]. The item can be any object the seafarer would consider valuable; it might also be your sim’s source of income.
If your sim has no eligible objects, the seafarer can agree to be transferred §600 instead. As it's a „foreign currency”, they only agree to take money if they have at least 4 nice points. Otherwise, they fight as below.
When a fight happens (planned seasonal raid or walkby):
The strongest male adult or elder in the house (highest Body skill) must fight the raider.
If your defending main sim wins: The raider is „wounded”. They must go home and cannot raid again for the rest of the season.
If the raider wins: Your sim gets a health penalty.
If the sim already has the Weak Constitution trait, you roll D8. 1 means it’s a fatal wound.
More Consequences of Raider’s Victory
This always happens when your main sim loses
The raider carries 3 random items in their inventory, and then they set the room on fire to destroy the properly they didn't manage to steal (inspired by the burglar mod).
If you use dangerous fires, this can be bad, but I use Fight or Flight, so this is an extra roll if fires are normally pretty safe for your sims. Roll D20 for every teen+ in the house during the arson. If it’s 1, it’s a fatal fire death roll.
This sometimes happens (optional) - flip a coin
The raider „claims” the loser of the fight. The losing adult/elder is moved into the raider’s household. They are treated similarly to „servants” from the previous era of the challenge. They also receive a health penalty in every life stage.
The original family can „buy” them back after one season for a valuable item like a horse carriage… before it’s too late for that and they have been sold to a „foreign” subhood.
If your seafarer family has too many thralls already, add them to your subhood (or another part of town if you like to play with one map). Those sims cannot get in touch with their original family anymore.
This happens only if the above happened (or seduction below)
Blood Feud - Veronaville-esque Situation
If a sim is taken as a thrall, the families are in a feud. Feud adds a health penalty to the current life stage of all sims in your raided family. It also makes your main sims want to engage the seafarers if they see them on community lots. The feud only truly ends if there is a Romeo and Juliet situation between the two feuding families, and they marry.
How Can Sims Avoid Raiding Consequences?
Maxing out Body skill to improve chances of winning.
Offering an alliance – only available to your Monarch once in a century, so pick wisely. Your ruler can offer their child to the Chieftain. The child is sent to live in the Chieftain’s household. As long as that couple is alive, the seafarers cannot attack their „kin”, and they have a peace treaty. If you don't play by years, 100 years is roughly 2 elders expiring of old age (parent and child or grandchild).
Seduction – risky option only available to Romance, Pleasure, and Popularity sims. They can attempt to flirt instead of fighting the raiders. If the raider accepts, the raid is called off. No money or goods are stolen and everyone is safe. The raider is now „smitten” and they need to be invited over at least once a season to see the seducer. The smitten raider brings stolen medical supplies to help their beloved. This rule is here to encourage me to play Romance sims and turn off eternally faithful settings, or enable cheating. Make sure you get the fixed ACR so sims actually get angry.
If the smitten raider visits more than twice a season, the seducer either falls pregnant or gets a health penalty.
If they have a child, the raider brings a midwife, and birth mortality is lowered. If mother passes away, the child is taken by the heartbroken raider, and it leads to a family feud, especially if the raider also dares to take the ashes of the mother.
If the seducer is caught cheating by the raider, the raider steals their most expensive possession in a fit of jealousy. If they are mean-spirited, they fight them as soon as they learn about the affair.
Useful mod: Mean Interactions
Main Sim Classes (Similar to MCC)
(useful mods: Social Caste Traits, Greet Expectations + extra traits)
They can only be directed to talk to Clergy, Noble and Gentry sims. If they want to meet a Merchant and below, a Noble/Gentry lord must be on the lot to „introduce” them. [Ignore if they already met each other on a community lot randomly]
In addition to paying rent, everyone must also provide ¼ of their harvested goods every harvest holiday (the goods go from Peasants to the Noble/Gentry sims above them, some of them finally landing on the Royal table).
Crown Prince (Princess if you prefer matriarchy) inherits the main lot.
Second born becomes a knight defending country borders. They live on the barracks lot bordering with the seafarers. To earn permission to marry, they must max out Body skill and successfully win a fight against a raider. Then they are allowed to purchase another lot and marry a Noble sim.
Third born children can be given names which are supposed to do well in „Church” (e.g. Brunon, Hugo, Adalberon, Guido, Gisela, Hildegard, or names of saints). The third born child is sent to a monastery with a medicinal herb garden. A monastery is built if one doesn’t exist yet. They become a scientist, to fight plagues among the „faithful”.
Will they brew too many potions and lose the sight of the light [AKA befriend a warlock and become one themselves]?
If you want to allow Clergy to marry, they must get a „dispensation” by maxing out Cooking, Logic and Cleaning, and maxing out Science career. This represents keeping the sanctuary and holy relics clean, feeding and healing the patients, and burying the dead properly.
If they do marry, their children take on the lower rank of their Merchant or Gentry parent.
The heir inherits and marries a Gentry, Noble or Royal sim.
Second born must either find a patron if they are artistic, or max out the Body skill. They start off without land so they live with their siblings, or they move out to the barracks lot.
The knight route: To get a permission to marry, they must survive a war (if ROS triggers one, or based on your calendar). They always go to war, even after getting married. They hold one of those careers: Athletic, Military, or Law Enforcement, and they should aim to get promoted to at least level 6 and unlock the career reward. They must obtain a sword.
Useful mod: metalsmithing or blacksmith station
The artist route: They must marry a wealthy Merchant sim. This won’t earn them a good reputation among Nobles, but it grants them a sizable dowry.
Third born aspires to become a parish priest, first joining the monastery. If the head monk passes away due to illness, they take over the monastery. Otherwise, they can become a priest in the local church.
If you allow the Clergy to get married, they need to get a good reputation, have no enemies, and make friends with the heads of all households in their parish. They will then live off of the tithes paid directly to them by faithful followers. They hold high influence in town and they can keep their own serfs around their church holdings.
Merchant & Yeoman/Artisan
Firstborn inherits the business and trade.
Second born must max out their talent badge or skill they are doing an apprenticeship for. Once their selected trade is mastered, they are allowed to start their own household and marry.
Firstborn inherits the lot. They continue paying rent and goods to their lord (+ tithes to the clergy).
Second born only inherits the main house if firstborn passes away before having any children. Otherwise, they are looking for a peasant heiress to marry, or they are moved out onto an empty lot with a tent. They must harvest wild plants and fish for food, rags to riches style. If you'd like an extra challenge, instead of collecting simoleons, you could gather Sun&Moon materials (clay, wood, stone etc.). Once they earn enough to build a simple house, they can start digging for seeds (if you use planting overhaul) and gardening.
Third born either becomes an Outcast or joins the ranks of low military or Church if they are currently recruiting. If they live as an Outcast, they can freely marry, but if they enter service, their chances of marrying are slim unless given land by their lord (due to exceptional war contributions or similar).
