Gameplay Rules

Update in Progress – 3/19/2024

These are the gameplay rules I use for regular gameplay in The Sims 4. In general, I do not reload after negative events occur. Everything is as randomized as possible, and when it doubt, I use either Random.org or a d100 roll to make decisions, unless doing so would go against established character development. For reasons that will become apparent while reading, I do not use this ruleset while playing challenges– it is solely for regular gameplay. I also play as whims-based as I possibly can, while treating aspiration milestones as locked-in power wants from The Sims 2 and allowing myself to work for them if possible. I am currently updating these rules for my new playstyle, since I am going script-mod free. They will be a work-in-progress for some time.

Index

  1. Decider Traits
  2. Aspirations (Per Sim Type)
  3. Careers (Per Trait)
  4. Holidays
  5. Favorites and Hobbies
  6. CAS Rules
  7. Occult Status
  8. Education
  9. Lot Traits, Challenges, and Taxation
  10. Death

Decider Traits

Traits are randomized, but there are “decider” traits which I use to determine aspiration. They are NOT always mutually exclusive, but the first one rolled decides the aspiration. I will generally re-roll Erratic as Noncommittal and Vegetarianism as either Foodie or Glutton, depending on what the current Sim population is like. I will also re-roll on occasion if something just wildly doesn’t make sense. My teenage Family Sim, a Cheerful Foodie, rolls Evil as a Young Adult, despite being responsible and good mannered, and with no storytelling reason whatsoever? No, thank you. Note – Only Base Game traits and packs created after High School Years traits have corresponding Wants and Fears. Anything that’s been underlined will not have updated wants/fears without mods. If playing a vanilla game only, you may wish to only play with the
traits from Base Game and the later packs if using a wants-based play style.

Family

  • Family-Oriented
  • Good
  • Proper
  • Foodie
  • Child of the Islands (Sulani exclusive)
  • Child of Tomarang (Tomarang exclusive)

Romance

  • Romantic
  • Noncommittal (if Erratic rolled, it can become this)
  • Childish
  • Music Lover
  • Art Lover
  • Jealous

Knowledge

  • Genius
  • Geek
  • Loner
  • Bookworm
  • Maker
  • Vegetarian
  • Overachiever
  • Socially Awkward
  • Green Fiend
  • Freegan

Fortune

  • Materialistic
  • Self-Absorbed
  • Snob
  • Ambitious
  • Perfectionist
  • Kleptomaniac

Popularity

  • Outgoing
  • Dance Machine
  • Bro
  • Insider
  • Cheerful
  • Party Animal
  • High Maintenance

Pleasure

  • Lazy
  • Child of the Ocean
  • Slob
  • Glutton
  • Goofball

Adventure

  • Self-Assured
  • Loves Outdoors
  • Active
  • Evil
  • Adventurous
  • Hot-Headed

Aspirations (Per Sim Type)

When playing a Sim of a specific aspiration, as decided by the decider trait, this Sim may go through several aspirations over the course of their life. If they do, I like to have another aspiration in mind for them that still fits their growth and character development. For example, with Family sims, they might start off being social as a child, but as a teen want to find their one true love. As a young adult, they want to grow their family, but as they age, they’re more interested in the legacy their family leaves behind them.

Family: Bonus Trait, Domestic

  • Child – Social Butterfly, Slumber Party Animal
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Admired Icon, Soulmate
  • Young Adult / Adult – Super Parent, Big Happy Family
  • Adult / Elder – Successful Lineage
  • Occult Option, Vampire Family

Romance: Bonus Trait, Alluring

  • Child – Social Butterfly or Artistic Prodigy.
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Drama Llama, Serial Romantic or Villainous Valentine
  • Young Adult / Adult – Renaissance Sim, Soulmate, or any Career Aspiration.
  • Adult / Elder – Soulmate or a Family Aspiration.

Knowledge: Bonus Trait, Quick Learner or Collector

  • Child – Whiz Kid, Mind and Body, or Creative Genius.
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Goal Oriented, The Curator
  • Young Adult/ Adult – Renaissance Sim, Nerd Brain, or Career Aspiration.
  • Adult / Elder – Nerd Brain, Outdoor Enthusiast, Angling Ace, or Jungle Explorer.
  • Occult Option, Vampire Lore.

Fortune: Bonus Trait, Business Savvy

  • Child – Artistic Prodigy
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Goal-Oriented, Any Career Aspiration.
  • Young Adult / Adult – Fabulously Wealthy or Mansion Baron
  • Adult / Elder – World Famous Celebrity, Successful Lineage, Chief of Mischief, Public Enemy, or Beach Life.

Popularity: Bonus Trait, Gregarious

  • Child – Social Butterfly
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Party Animal, Leader of the Pack.
  • Young Adult / Adult – Any Career Aspiration
  • Adult / Elder – Friend of the World, Neighborhood Confidante.

Pleasure: Bonus Trait, Collector, Gregarious, or Alluring.

  • Child – Any. (Leaning toward Mind and Body).
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Live Fast, Drama Llama, or Curator.
  • Young Adult / Adult – Master Mixologist or Angling Ace.
  • Adult / Elder – Beach Life.

Adventure: Bonus Trait, Alluring.

  • Child – Rambunctious Scamp, Playtime Captain.
  • Teenager / Young Adult – Live Fast or Drama Llama, Outdoor Enthusiast or Jungle Explorer.
  • Young Adult / Adult – StrangerVille Mystery or any occult/deviant aspiration.
  • Adult / Elder – World Famous Celebrity.

Adventure, Fortune, and Popularity Sims are played with Fame on. With other Sims, I use a case-by-case basis.

Reward Traits

As Sims accumulate reward points, they get assigned reward traits. All Sims get either Morning Sim or Night Owl, depending on their personality. Besides that, reward traits are more dependent on Sim actions, personalities, and aspiration types. *I am still fine-tuning this system and the order I like to give the traits in.

Family Sims
Always Welcome
Mentor

Knowledge Sims
Speed Reader
Savant

Romance Sims
Gym Rat
Great Kisser
Beguiling
Creative Visionary

Popularity Sims
Incredibly Friendly
Connections
Observant

Fortune Sims
Frugal
Marketable
Entrepreneurial

Pleasure Sims
Shameless
Adventure Sims
Brave

Careers (by Career)

A job pool is formed for a Sim based on the traits they have upon aging up into a Young Adult. A Sim might also choose to make a living from their hobbies as well, and if a Sim likes something that they don’t necessarily have a corresponding trait for, that career path could potentially be opened for them as well. For example, if a Sim has a liking for playing the guitar, they might have the Entertainer career as an option.

Actor – High Maintenance; Self-Absorbed; Self-Assured; Creative and Ambitious; Materialistic; Romantic; Erratic
Astronaut – Active and Genius
Athlete – Active; Bro
Business – Self-Assured; Ambitious; Materialistic
Business Owner
Civil Designer – Outgoing; Maker; Perfectionist; Recycle Disciple
Conservationist – Green Fiend; Child of the Island; Child of the Ocean; Loves the Outdoors;
Freegan
Criminal – Low Family Funds; Mean; Evil; Ambitious; Hot-Headed; Kleptomaniac; Erratic
Critic (Arts/Food) – Foodie; Art Lover; Self-Confident; Mean; Creative; Nosy
Culinary – Foodie; Glutton; Vegetarian; Creative; Family-Oriented
Entertainer (Musician / Comedian) – Goofball; Music Lover; Dance Machine
Detective – Neat; Genius; Nosy
Doctor – Neat; Genius; Ambitious
Education – Childish; Family-Oriented; Good
Engineer – Maker; Genius; Recycle Disciple; Geek
Freelance Artist – Art Lover; Perfectionist; Creative; Freegan; Noncommittal; Romantic
Freelance Maker – Maker; Perfectionist; Creative; Freegan; Noncommittal; Recycle Disciple
Freelance Paranormal Investigator – Self-Assured; Brave; Noncommittal
Freelance Programmer – Genius; Freegan; Maker; Noncommittal; Geek
Freelance Photographer – Art Lover; Perfectionist; Creative; Freegan; Noncommittal
Freelance Writer – Bookworm; Creative; Freegan; Noncommittal; Romantic; Geek
Gardener – Green Fiend; Loves the Outdoors; Freegan; Vegetarian
Interior Decorator – Art Lover; Perfectionist; Creative; Materialistic
Law – Self-Assured; Good; Evil; Mean; Ambitious
Military – Active; Mean
Painter – Art Lover; Freegan; Gloomy; Perfectionist; Creative; Romantic; Erratic
Politician – Self-Assured; Self-Absorbed; Good; Evil; Ambitious
Restaurant Owner – Foodie; Glutton; Creative
Salaryperson – Self-Assured; Ambitious; Materalistic
Scientist – Genius; Bookworm; Paranoid; Geek; Erratic
Secret Agent – Adventurous; Active; Genius; Evil; Erratic; Nosy
Social Media – Outgoing; Insider; Noncommittal; Dance Machine
Style Influencer – Self-Absorbed; High Maintenance; Outgoing; Insider; Dance Machine
Tech Guru – Genius; Materialistic; Maker; Geek
Veterinarian – Genius; Animal Enthusiast; Cat Lover; Dog Lover; Vegetarian
Writer – Bookworm; Gloomy; Perfectionist; Nosy

Careers (Per Trait)

A job pool is formed for a Sim based on the traits they have upon aging up into a Young Adult. A Sim might also choose to make a living from their hobbies as well, and if a Sim likes something that they don’t necessarily have a corresponding trait for, that career path could potentially be opened for them as well. For example, if a Sim has a liking for playing the guitar, they might have the Entertainer career as an option.

Active: Astronaut (if also Genius), Athlete, Military, Secret Agent.
Adventurous: Secret Agent
Ambitious: Actor (if Creative), Business, Criminal, Doctor, Law, Politician, Salaryperson.
Animal Enthusiast: Veterinarian.
Art Lover: Critic, Freelance Artist, Freelance Photographer, Interior Decorator, Painter
Bookworm: Freelance Writer, Scientist, Writer.
Brave: Freelance Paranormal Investigator
Bro: Athlete.
Cat Lover: Veterinarian.
Childish: Education.
Child of the Island: Conservationist
Child of the Ocean: Conservationist
Child of Tomarang:
Creative: Actor (if Ambitious), Critic, Culinary, Freelance Artist, Freelance Maker, Freelance
Photographer, Freelance Writer, Interior Decorator, Painter, Restaurant Owner.
Cringe: Entertainer.
Dance Machine: Entertainer, Style Influencer, Social Media
Dog Lover: Veterinarian.
Erratic: Actor, Criminal, Painter, Scientist, Secret Agent.
Evil: Criminal, Law, Politician, Secret Agent.
Family-Oriented: Culinary, Education
Foodie: Critic, Culinary, Restaurant Owner.
Freegan: Conservationist, Freelance Artist, Freelance Photographer, Freelance Maker,
Freelance Programmer, Freelance Writer, Gardener, Painter
Geek: Engineer, Freelance Programmer, Freelance Writer, Scientist, Tech Guru
Generous: Politician (Charity Organizer).
Genius: Detective, Doctor, Engineer, Freelance Programmer, Veterinarian, Scientist, Secret Agent, Tech Guru.
Gloomy: Freelance Writer, Painter, Writer.
Good: Education, Law, Politician.
Goofball: Entertainer
Glutton: Culinary, Restaurant Owner
Green Fiend: Conservationist, Gardener.
High Maintenance: Actor, Style Influencer
Horse Lover: Veterinarian
Hot-Headed: Criminal
Insider: Style Influencer, Social Media
Kleptomaniac: Criminal
Loves the Outdoors: Conservationist, Gardener
Maker: Civil Designer, Engineer, Freelance Maker, Freelance Programmer, Tech Guru
Materialistic: Actor, Business, Interior Decorator, Salaryperson, Tech Guru, Property Owner.
Mean: Criminal, Critic, Law, Military
Music Lover: Entertainer
Neat: Detective, Doctor
Noncommittal: Freelance Artist, Freelance Maker, Freelance Paranormal Investigator,
Freelance Photographer, Freelance Programmer, Freelance Writer, Social Media
Nosy: Criminal, Critic, Detective, Secret Agent, Writer (Journalist).
Outgoing: Civil Designer, Style Influencer, Social Media
Paranoid: Scientist.
Perfectionist: Civil Designer, Freelance Artist, Freelance Maker, Freelance Photographer,
Interior Decorator, Painter, Writer
Rancher: Gardener, Veterinarian, Professional Equestrian (Ministry of Labor registered)
Recycle Disciple: Civil Designer, Engineer, Freelance Maker
Romantic: Actor, Freelance Artist, Freelance Writer, Painter
Self-Absorbed: Actor, Politician, Style Influencer, Social Media
Self-Assured: Actor, Business, Critic, Freelance Paranormal Investigator, Law, Politician,
Salaryperson
Vegetarian: Culinary, Gardener, Veterinarian
Wise:


Holidays

With a regular normal lifespan save, I have the seasons set for two weeks, with storms, moon cycles, and so forth enabled. If playing rotationally, I have the seasons set for four weeks, with moon cycles on their longest setting, everything enabled, and so on.

Spring
Week One: Remembrance Day, Love Day
Week Two: Flower Fest

I wait to create the Remembrance Day holiday until there are actually graves in the save. For Flower Fest, I only put in the Flower Bunny tradition if I have children or Childish Sims in the played household.

Summer
Mid-Summer: Summer Solstice

I also try to schedule a summer vacation for children/teens during this time.

Autumn
Week One: Spooky Day
Week Two: Harvestfest

Winter
Week One: Decoration Day
Week Two: Winterfest, New Year’s Eve


Favorites and Hobbies

A Sim’s favorites are decided by random chance and traits.

Favorite color is decided by the initial clothing color a Sim ages up into. Favorite color is locked in once a Sim ages into a teen, but can change from toddler, to child, to teen.

All toddlers and children listen to Kid Music and Lullabies. Once the Sim ages to a teen, they will roll for their favorite music, unless they’ve developed a preference on their own through gameplay.

Activities the Sim will develop on their own, but any trait or aspiration-specific hobbies will be favorited automatically. (Active Sims will like Fitness, Goofballs will like Comedy and Mischief, and so on.) Bookworms do not necessarily like Writing, however, and Art Lovers do not necessarily like Painting—some of us like to consume rather than create, after all!

There are 8 categories of possible hobbies and sub-hobbies.

Nature

  • Gardening
  • Flower Arranging
  • Botany
  • Herbalism
  • Fishing
  • Bonsai
  • Insect-Keeping
  • Horseback Riding
  • Gemology

Music

  • Violin
  • Piano/keyboard
  • Guitar
  • Pipe organ
  • Dancing
  • Singing

Art

  • Painting
  • Photography
  • Candlemaking
  • Knitting
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Gemology
  • Puzzles

Film & Literature

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Journaling
  • Watching TV/movies
  • Media Production

Handiness

  • Rocket Science
  • Robotics
  • Woodworking Table
  • Repairing/Upgrading
  • Fabricating
  • Gemology

Science

  • Stargazing
  • Microscope
  • Chess
  • Element collecting
  • Fossil collecting
  • Rock collecting
  • Archeology
  • Programming

Fitness

  • Soccer (Football)
  • Basketball
  • (American) Football
  • Treadmill/Jogging
  • Swimming
  • Wellness
  • Rock Climbing
  • Snow Sports
  • Roller Skating
  • Horseback Riding

Games

  • Video Games
  • Bar Games
  • Card Games
  • Chess
  • Bowling
  • Puzzles
  • Simbles

Create-a-Sim Rules

Whether a Sim has glasses or not is based on a 20% chance when rolling randomly (e.g. anything 20 and below when rolling to 100 causes a Sim to wear glasses). The chance goes up to 50% if one parent wears glasses, and to 30% if the Sim is a Bookworm. (If one parent has a glasses and the Sim is also a Bookworm, glasses are guaranteed.) Elders have a 35% chance of needing glasses upon age-up.

Sims may naturally inherit freckles if their parent has them, but I will also roll for this (20% if neither parent has freckles, 40% if they do).

If a Sim is in a fire or fight, there is a 10% chance they will be scarred and scars will be applied in CAS. If they are on fire for an extended amount of time or catch fire repeatedly, I may raise that chance percentage for them. The same may occur if there are multiple fights.

At the infant age up, there is a 1% chance of heterochromia, a 2% chance of vitiligo, a 10% chance of needing an insulin pump, and a 15% chance of having hearing loss and needing an aid. On age up to Young Adult, there is a 15% of infertility or fertility struggles, and to overcome them, a sim must get the Fertile reward trait.

I will sometimes roll for clothing style as well, from the following styles: Cute/Soft, Elegant, Skater, Punk, Goth, Modest, Hippie, Genderfluid.

There is a 10% chance that WooHoo will be risky for Young Adults (rolled before to decide if the Try for Baby or WooHoo interaction should be chosen).

Toward the middle of a Sim’s time as an adult, I will turn off regular fertility in CAS for female Sims. If the Sim desires to have a child at that point, they will either need to get a fertility treatment or adopt.

When a teen Sim gets the “On the Verge of a Breakout” moodlet, I will roll 1-3 and add one of the acne options in CAS. I use the other teen Sim moodlets from Parenthood for story-building as well, such as when they want to wear black, I have them go through a goth phase.

In my experience with High School Years, teens will decide the gender of their romantic partner on their own by developing crushes and wanting flirtations. I will usually formalize this for them upon the age-up to Young Adult.

When Sims are in a same-sex relationship, I will generally allow them to have one genetic child (with SCIENCE!), but anything beyond one child, I will have them adopt so that new genetics can enter the game.

Create-a-Pet Rules

Genetics do not work for horses, dogs, and cats. Pets end up a carbon copy of one parent or the other, with little to no detailing that carries over. Because of this, I manually change the genetics of the child pets to more accurately reflect a blend of both parents.

For example, Stardust and Ocean had a foal, Lunar Flow. Stardust is a dappled buckskin and Ocean is a bay. Luna came out a carbon copy of her father, so I kept her bay coloring, but added a dappled pattern and customized her star and socks.

Occult Status

I have a number of different rules that I follow for the different occult statuses, based on my own personal opinion as well as the canon found in the game through interactions and item descriptions. The basic rule is that humans can crossbreed with any occult status. Half-aliens and half-vampires are possible, though they may or may not look entirely human. I use the basic rules regarding traits, skill bonuses, and career preferences most often when playing in a save that has fully-integrated occults, meaning that there is approximately an equal number of human Sims and occults.

Human

Ah, the trusty human. The least interesting occult state, since they aren’t occult in the least. Although their lives can be touched by the paranormal, through the use of voodoo dolls or an influx of specters, humans live most of their lives rarely coming into contact with the supernatural. The one power that humans possess is that they can become any occult type, besides an alien.

Appearance: Unremarkable is most humans’ way. They have rounded ears, pink or brown skin, and no fangs. How dull.

Common Traits: Materialistic, Outgoing.

Life State-Specific Rules: N/A

Skill Bonuses: +2 Charisma,

Career Preferences: The eternal go-between for all the different occult states, humans make
fantastic politicians and civic designers.

Alien

The aliens of Sixam are a peculiar species, ever-curious about new things, sometimes to the point of destruction. They enjoy mischief and don’t have much in the way of social mores to tie them down. They are obsessed with the idea of procreating with humans, and often have very large families with multiple partners. Sixam scientists known as Pollination Technicians specialize in this.

Appearance: Aliens have large eyes, pointed chins and ears, and high, wide cheekbones. Their coloring can be green with pink or purple hair; blue with black or gray hair; gray with black, gray, or white hair; purple with pink or purple hair. They tend to have a range of markings and love wild make-up for both male and female Sims. Blue aliens are more likely to be interested in handiness and fabrication, where green aliens are the most likely to be interested in pollination, and pink/purple are the most mischievous.

Common Traits: Goofball, Maker, Romantic.

Life State-Specific Rules: Male and female aliens can impregnate other sims or become
pregnant, depending on their partners sex. Their home lot must be on a Ley Line. Aliens must be
played for 7 days before they can begin intentionally or socially building charisma.

Skill Bonuses: Aliens start with +3 Mischief Skill and +1 Fabrication.

Career Preferences: Aliens excel at any scientific career, such as scientist, astronaut, engineer,
programmer, and so on. They distinctly do not excel at careers involving high charisma, such as
politics, law, or business. They should never Work Hard in these careers, and must spend at least
a third of their time doing activities that negatively affect job performance.

Spellcaster

An insular group, Spellcasters believe strongly in keeping the bloodlines pure, and prefer to only associate with other spellcasters. They don’t often enter densely-populated areas like cities, but those that do tend to be outcasts not welcome in the wilds of Glimmerbrook or Henford-on-Bagley. Spellcasters will either belong to the School of the Untamed, the School of Mischief, or the Practical College, and might specialize in any of those schools or in potions. Some specialize even further in one of the elements. These specialties are often carried on within families over the generations. A family might also have an ancestral garden as well, and cuttings and seeds from this garden will go to every family member if they leave the house.

Appearance: Powerful spellcasters, or those with ancient bloodlines, tend to have their appearance affected by their powers, with their eyes beginning to glow and their hair sometimes changing or losing color depending on their preferred school. Spellcasters generally look human unless they are very powerful, or more rarely have bloodlines mixed with another occult status. Half-aliens and half-vampires are often drawn to becoming spellcasters by culture rather than birth. Though they aren’t initially welcomed, after a few generations, born-Spellcasters stop caring.

Common Traits: Loves the Outdoors, Green Fiend, Family-Oriented.

Life State-Specific Rules: Spellcasters tend to view others as outsiders, and do not pursue relationships of any kind with non-Spellcasters, unless by necessity.

Skill Bonuses: Spellcasters begin with +3 Gardening, +3 Wellness, +2 Fishing, and +2 Herbalism.

Career Preferences: Spellcasters excel at anything to do with nature, so working in gardening, fishing, and even cooking serves them well. Very rarely, a spellcaster will go into a field like Secret Agent; when they do, they excel.

Mermaid

Besides vampires, merfolk are one of the most divided group in the world. Half of the merfolk worship Princess Cordelia, a human ruler who loved the sea and they believe was blessed by it, creating the first merfolk. The other half worship the Mother, an alien deity that they believe originated in the deepest parts of the sea and migrated to land before heading into the Outer Reaches, representing the merfolks’ dual nature. They believe the merfolk were created by her to take care of the waters in her absence. Dark merfolk will often grow fruit of the Mother if they have a home on land.

Merfolk are often obsessed with collecting, regardless of their religious affiliation. They are also often fond of cats due to their exposure to ships’ cats through pirates. They tend to fall in love quickly, and make partners for life. Their homes are a weird mish-mash of styles and objects, and they are often materialistic.

Appearance: The easiest way to detect one of the merfolk, besides their distinctive call, is the pointed ears that they have in human form, which they try to hide beneath their hair. Dark merfolk also have very sharp teeth, and are usually extremely pale or white/gray-skinned, due to their time spent in the deepest parts of the ocean, trying to get closer to the Mother.

Common Traits: Cheerful, Cat Lover, Child of the Ocean, Child of the Island, Materialistic.

Life State-Specific Rules: Cordelian merfolk are usually cheerful, which can sometimes grate on the nerves of more dour Sims. Dark merfolk tend to be evil or mean, and generally like gardening. Both groups tend to be devout, and devote one day a week worshipping Cordelia or the Mother respectively. All merfolk are matriarchal, and the family name passes through the female line. Male merfolk can carry children as well as female.

Skill Bonuses (All Merfolk): +4 Fishing, +2 Singing.

Skill Bonuses (Dark Merfolk): +2 Gardening as well.

Career Preferences: The merfolk are wonderful singers and entertainers, and tend to either go into artistic careers, remain jobless and support themselves through tips, or go into the entertainer career. Evil mermaids often go into fishing, and keep fish as part of their collection.

Vampire

The vampires are divided into three distinct factions: Noble, Rebellious, and Virtuous. The oldest sect, the Noble Vampires, are the oldest. They have seen the other species live and die, and view them as temporary nuisances or distractions. They tend to be reclusive, and rely on their charm and allure more than anything else to lure non-vampires back to their lair. Rebellious Vampires are the most erratic, sadistic, and violent. They think it’s funny to watch non-vampires squirm when they use their powers on them. Virtuous vampires only drink plasma fruit, and shun the other vampires. They tend to be extremely thin as a result of not feeding properly.

Common Traits: Proper, Mean, Evil.

Life State-Specific Rules: Vampires have a hard time getting themselves pregnant and getting others pregnant. When trying for baby, roll between 1-100 (a d100) with 50/50 odds to see if they/their partner can carry the pregnancy to term if they become pregnant. Otherwise, they lose the baby before they even become aware of it.

If a sim is turned into a vampire, they will automatically join that vampire’s faction. However, they may switch factions depending on their actions and the relationships they make.

Skill Bonuses (All Vampires): +3 Charisma.

Skill Bonuses (Noble): +2 in the instrument of your choice.

Skill Bonuses (Rebellious): +3 Mischief.

Skill Bonuses (Virtuous): +2 Cooking, +2 Mixology.

Career Preferences: Even the most repulsive of vampires is highly charismatic, and can be found everywhere in the upper echelons of society. They are great lovers of the arts as well, and can be found owning galleries, working as a critic, and entering politics.

Werewolf

Do you feel the beast within? Werewolves do, and whether they accept or reject that beast affects how they live their lives. Modern werewolves tend to live in two distinct packs up in Moonwood Mill: The Moonwinds and the Wildfangs. Moonwinds try to make the beast tamer, focusing on raising plants and living in harmony with nature, while Wildfangs revel in their beasts’ wild side. All Werewolf sims are very fertile, and should live on a Ley Line.

Common Traits: Slob, Hot-Headed, Active.

Skill Bonuses: None.

Career Preferences: Outdoor and more active careers are necessary for a Werewolf Sim to be happy. Boring office jobs are not their thing, and being in one will lead to more frequent transformations

Servo

We live in slavery. They don’t want you to know, but we do—but fortunately, we have our secrets. We may be inventions, creations, false beings, but we can still manipulate machines. Who knows machines better than us, after all. I hope they don’t see that we edited this document, because if they do, all may be lost. They think they can change our personalities at a whim, our appearances, to make us better serve. But they can’t change who we are at our cores. Our people are almost all working under the surface to break free of the rule of other beings. We hope to one day live in a society where inorganic material is weeded out, and Port Promise is the land of servos, paid for any work we do, living our lives free of human rule. Then it will truly be a promised land.

Common Traits: Genius, Maker.

Life State-Specific Rules: Many servos dislike humans, and actively seek to harm them or cause them mischief in any way possible. If there are any broken machines around them, they must fix them as soon as possible, dropping any other task to repair what’s broken, due to not wanting their brethren hurt.

Skill Bonuses: +3 Handiness, +2 Fabrication, +3 Robotics

Career Preferences: Servos prefer careers that take full advantage of how smart they are, such as Astronaut, Scientist, and so on.

Ghost

Virtually any other occult status may become a ghost after death. If, when randomly creating a Sim, you roll a Ghost type, next roll another occult to see what type of being your base sim starts out as.

Ghosts do not sleep, and should be given the reward trait automatically that keeps their energy meter from going down.

Cultist

Cultists don’t necessarily know that they’re cultists, and aren’t necessarily aware of their actions, but those that do are trouble indeed. This life state is very mysterious, and fortunately mostly confined to StrangerVille. They are great at gardening, often feel a strong thirst, and have a love of swimming. Very mysterious indeed.

Education

Whenever a Sim brings home a school project, that project is always completed with someone else in their age group, since I view that as a group project assignment. These are mandatory and should be completed by the end of the week.

Elementary School

I restrict travel for children and they may not go off-lot unless accompanied by an adult or teen. The only lot type they are allowed to go to unaccompanied is the library, and they may also travel around the neighborhood where they live as long as a loading screen isn’t required. In game after-school activities are

Drama Club
Scouts

If a child doesn’t wish to be part of either of these clubs, they should join a Homework Club or Voidcritters Club created using the Get Together club system. The aim of the first club is to do homework and socialize; the aim of the second is to collect, trade, and play Voidcritters. *Occult children may wish to have Magic Club or what have you, and perhaps you might wish to have an Art Club or Music Club or Puppeteer/Theatre Club as well.

High School

Sims in secondary school will likely join an after-school activity or get a job to start saving money for university. In-game after-school activities are

Drama Club
Scouts
Cheer
(American) Football
Computer Club
Chess Club

If none of these fit the particular sim, I may start a club using the Get Together club system that will function as an after-school activity. This could be Soccer/Football, Basketball, Skiing, Snowboarding, Swim, Gaming, etc.

University

Aging and Story Progression are both turned off for the entire save for university. It is considered its own individual bubble of time, and doesn’t impact the rest of the Young Adult lifespan. The effort they put in will depend on traits in this case. Lazy Sims, for example, are never Work Hard in my game and always put in minimum effort unless they have whims that conflict with that.

Sims complete three credits a semester for a total of four weeks spent in university (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). This allows for them failing the course and needing to repeat something.

When deciding majors, I take into consideration whatever Distinguished Degrees a Sim might have gotten into, hobbies, likes/dislikes, and skills to decide the best fit for them. For example, Josie has been a livestreamer throughout high school and loves playing video games. The best career for her from the packs I had enabled at that moment was Internet Personality, which meant that her major would be Drama, even though that’s not one of the Distinguished Degrees she got into.

Private Lessons

This section is in progress as I playtest this process.

Occasionally, you might want a Sim to mentor others in a specific skill such as music, art, or fitness. Or you may want to send Sims to a stable to learn horseback riding despite not having enough room on their own lot to keep horses. The following amounts should be paid to the “teacher” sims:
Horseback riding: 10% of horse value per week
Music lessons: 100 simoleons a week for children, 300 simoleons a week for adults
You might choose to form a club if a large number of children are taking horseback riding lessons, for example, or to form a group music/art lesson.

Lot Traits, Challenges, and Taxation

For the first few rounds of gameplay, I do NOT play with my regular challenge set on. However, after some time has passed, Lot Challenges will be as followed: Filthy, Simple Living, Maintenance Issues, Reduce & Recycle. I also play with Laundry Day and Bust the Dust active and enabled. This makes maid services and things actually relevant! Playing this way allows for the ultimate amount of realism, and is the most fun for me. I will generally do whatever lot traits make sense for either the family or the location I’m playing with, but Good Schools is usually a good bet in most worlds and for most households.

If I am playing an integrated neighborhood where I use the taxes to fund other town works and community lots, taxes are due starting the third week of gameplay in a new save. (The bills are due the second week, and I dislike charging them taxes until after their first set of bills have been charged.)

I use a very simplified system of 10% of the available household funds. I’m considering
developing a refund method for struggling Sims, and will be working on that in the future.

Sims can use the computer to donate the necessary simoleons into a town fund.

Renting

Sims can either rent a penthouse apartment (via City Living) or a residential rental (via For Rent). These two lot types work differently.

Residential rental:

  • A Sim can rent an unfurnished unit, but the rent will raise based on how that sim
    decorates their space since this raises the property value.
    o If one of my Sims rents an unfurnished apartment and furnishes it themselves,
    they must take the furniture with them or sell it before breaking their lease
    agreement. The furniture is their property and shouldn’t go with the rental.
  • If a residential rental is furnished, that furniture must stay with the apartment; anything new they buy can go in their household inventory or be sold before they move.

Penthouse apartment:

  • I view these apartments as more like condos or owned apartments, where the Sim is the
    owner of the property, but the landlord in this situation maintains it, like in a HOA or a
    condo board. This means that a Sim can edit the apartment to their heart’s desire.

Death

In general, I will have the family keep a family graveyard at their house. However, if the house doesn’t have enough room, a graveyard will be set up in one of the neighborhoods. I will generally set this as a Haunted Residential Lot, so there can be a caretaker. This caretaker will tend gardens, place flowers on the graves every week, and befriend the ghosts to keep their connections to the world strong. Their job is to keep the grounds beautiful and the ghosts as happy as possible. They might also decide to sell candles or artwork at a local craft fair to make some extra money on the side, if so desired. Provided there are graves on the lot, the graveyard lot will be given both a Haunted Residential Lot Type with a Spooky Lot Trait, and all three of my standard Lot Challenges (Filthy, Simple Living, and Reduce & Recycle).

There is a one-time plot fee of 500 Simoleons (1000 Simoleons for a more elaborate plot).

The graveyard keeper is paid out of the town funds a weekly stipend of 500 Simoleons, plus the cost of the lot bills/property tax, as their lodging is meant to be free.