The Medieval Charter Challenge, ***"New!" Luxury Version 3.0***

[vllygrl]

The New & Improved, Re-jigged, Streamlined and generally Buffed and Polished
Medieval Charter Challenge 3.0!

What it says! Here it is at last -- the rewrite of The Medieval Charter Challenge by Vllygrl.
Version 3.0 is a clarified, cleaner, and more streamlined pdf document for your enjoyment. Previous versions may still be played as is, but all previous documents have been removed and I strongly encourage you to have a look at 3.0! My goal was to enhance gameplay and weed out the clunky bits and I have used the debate, conversations and questions posed by other players of the MCC as my guide in this revision. I believe you will find it easier to understand and follow, and much more self-explanatory.

I would be delighted to answer any questions or discuss any aspect of the challlenge, and see any pictures or read any stories of anyone trying the challenge! :)

As M3g7e has so lucidly pointed out with her awe-inspiring Warwickshire Challenge (hats off :jest:
to you, M3g7e!), this is really more of a style of play than a challenge; and the same is true of The Medieval Charter Challenge.

I throw my Medieval Charter Challenge into the ring because it incorporates aspects of the BACC, Prosperity and Victorian Population Challenges particularly which I really like and wanted to use in combination. Also, simply because I feel that the Medieval period is under-represented for challenges, so the more the merrier! :Pint:


Here is my humble offering to those interested in a medieval challenge:

The Medieval Charter Challenge

Your goal is to take a small and struggling Settlement and build it up into a thriving Medieval Charter City. In the process, you will use the High Middle Ages qualities of Self-Sufficiency and Common Enterprise to:
• Build a flourishing medieval Society structure from the Peasantry up
• Establish Guilds and a thriving market economy
• Develop Science, Medicine, Culture and The Arts in your City
Through accomplishing these three goals you will earn a Charter for your city and crown a Monarch. A Charter City is allowed certain rights and privileges, granted by the King. Once you have built up your neighbourhood to the level of City (see document attachments below), you will be granted the following charter:

Medieval City Charter

 Lower taxes on citizens and lower duties on Merchants’ imports
 A City Council, Lord Mayor and Law Courts
 Peasants living within the city and self-supporting for a year and a day become freemen and may enter the Yeomanry
 The City is free from all obligations to feudal lords, and is now directly subject to the king
 You may now add your new Crowned Monarch and Castle!

For the entire challenge, see attached documents.

For a long time I have wanted to make a challenge which would incorporate the best features of some of the most amazing challenges I have played and enjoyed, was also achievable, yet interesting and fun enough to maintain my interest over time in spite of my frequently interrupted and disjointed gameplay.
Although no historian, history is interesting for me and I prefer reading historical novels and a having a historical game slant when I play Sims. However, although I have researched quite a bit and most aspects of the challenge are based on my findings, I make no claims of stringent historical accuracy in this challenge. I play it for fun and in a medieval time period, but you can adapt it to your own preference.

I have also included my medieval version of a Random Occurrence Scenario for adding drama to your game! :heyhey:

My thanks and credits to the Creators of the following time-honoured and truly wonderful Sims Challenges, all of which influenced the creation of
The Medieval Charter Challenge:
• Royal Kingdom Challenge
• Victorian Population Challenge
• Nickel & Dimed Challenge
• Prosperity Challenge
• Build a City Challenge
• Warwickshire: Renaissance Challenge
If you haven’t played any or all of the above challenges, I highly recommend them, each and every one!

Cheers, Vllygrl :D

[lauratje86]

Word is telling me that the challenge document is written in a later version of Word than the one I have. When I ask it to download something that can convert it so that I can read it, it crashes Firefox :-(

Can you tell me what version of Word it was written in so that I can try to find a programme to convert the file myself please? I really want to read it! :-)

[vllygrl]

So sorry, lauratje86! I have had a few troubles with it myself! It was written in Office 2010 and then converted to Office 2007.

However, I also have a mediafire link which might work better for you if I am allowed to post it here?

Otherwise I will have to wait until I get home tonight to repost it from my home computer which has Office 2010.

***Edited to add: I have now added Word 2010 versions of the attachments for anyone having trouble opening the first ones!

[lauratje86]

I actually have Word 2003, so I can't open the 2010 ones either :-( I'll try again to download something that will convert them for me - I know what type of files they are now so hopefully I'll be able to find something! :-)

[vllygrl]

Hi lauratje86 -- I have attached a pdf version to the downloads in the first post -- hopefully that might work for you! Please let me know if it does!

Thanks for your persistence :D -- I hope you will enjoy reading my challenge! :)

[Lil'B]

May I just ask, How do we determine how many people will be in the 6 starter families - Do we roll on it or do we start with just a male and female...? Thanks

[vllygrl]

Hi Lil'B!
Yes, the first roll is to determine how many sims in each of your 6 families.
Then you roll for

*age
*gender
*aspiration
*zodiac

for each sim.

Glad you are trying the challenge -- let us know how it goes!
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[lauratje86]

This sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for posting the pdf file - my laptop can read those! :-D

I think I'll give this one a try - though I will probably change a few things to reflect my personal preferences when playing the game. I intend to play with a more modern setting, as I'm not a fan of Medieval sims stuff; I get too OCD about finding the perfect custom content and never get round to actually playing!

Shall read through the rules a few more times and decide what I'm going to change, will be sure to let you know how I'm getting on! It'll be a while before I start playing, mind, as I'm currently switching to (almost) only Maxis match cc, so I've been on quite the downloading spree lately and still have lots more to go! :-) But I'm looking forward to getting started on this one! :-D

[vllygrl]

Oh good! (rubs hands together in glee!) :bunny: I'm glad it sounds like fun, lauratj86 AND I am SO glad your laptop liked the pdf! :giggler:

That is the wonderful thing about the sims -- we can each switch up the game to reflect our personal preferences -- long may that aspect survive! I would be delighted to hear how the challenge translates into a more modern setting -- the concept of building a city from the ground up, so to speak, should still work. I know what you mean about cc -- it's addictive!

I will look forward to hearing about your take on the challenge once you do get around to playing -- let us know how it goes!

Cheers, Vllygrl :beer:

[Lil'B]

Thanks:) I've printed off all the sheets and they are sitting in a folder waiting for when I decide to finally start it!

[vllygrl]

Great, Lil'B! Looking forward to hearing how it goes for you andyour lil' simmies! ;)

[vllygrl]

Forgot to mention, I did not change the ROS document, it is the same so no need to re-download it. :)

[vllygrl]

Here is a long overdue update on how things are going as I play out the challenge -- would love to hear how it is going with others who are trying the challenge!

My Settlement is called Crosswise. :lol:
My families as rolled:
Gardner - Peasant
-2 Elders, Gerta & Griselda, 2 Adults, Gena & Gilly, 1 child, George & 1 Toddler, Giles.
Griselda went off to pursue a vocation in the church (edited to add: she is running a small charity hospice (a soup kitchen and new clothing changeover for vagrant Townies!) while waiting until either the convent or orphanage is needed), and Gilly up and married the Squire's 2nd son -- definately a huge social leg-up for her, so to speak, but Bentley didn't care that she was only a peasant, he wanted to marry, and there really weren't many choices. So Gerta, Gena and George struggled at first to get their market garden established, but with some long hours, hard work and a little bit of good luck, they are very close to being able to afford to buy that little green grocer's Gena has her eye on, and be able to move up to Yeoman.

Morrelle - Peasant
Marcus (a teen) and Manny (a child), have managed to keep body and soul together by foraging for mushrooms and wild stawberries in a little patch of woods near their hut. They are not moving along quickly, but they are not starving either.

Buckle - Gentry
-2 Elders, Squire Barclay Buckle, and Lady Berta Buckle, rolled up with no less than 3 sons and 2 daughters. Barton is the heir, and has been looking about him for a bride, but there are very few marriageable young ladies around the tiny settlement of Crosswise. Barton will likely have to send afar for a bride shortly, but in the meantime, he also has his hands full taking on the shire as his father retires, and then also finding a husband for his sister Blissot. Beatrice is still a child, but he knows it won't be long before he'll be trying to get her settled as well. Youngest brother Baldric has expressed an interest in the church, while middle brother Bentley had no patience waiting for his brother to find him a bride and very efficiently found his own bride, a peasant, which provoked a great deal of tedious fuss, but Bentley was able to ignore that in his happiness to wed and establish his own home.

Sprat - Peasant
Selina, an Elder, has the raising of her 3 grandsons Sel (Teen), Jack (Child) and Sam (Todddler). She immediately taught them to fish, and the family has been very successful in their catches, well on their way to one day perhaps opening that fishmonger's that Selina dreams of.

Lemon - Peasant
The orchardist Lemon brothers, Landers and Leon, were the best of friends until Landers went to marry his betrothed, Nessie Nightengale, and discovered that Leon had whisked her out from under his very nose. Landers was in a rage at losing pretty Nessie (and her tidy little dowry) but Nessie's father Ned only shrugged and said "What can you do? They were in love!" and then offered his second daughter, the much plainer and less dowried Nadya. Landers married her on the spot in a major snit, particularly once he discovered that Leon had been mining with Ned and had raised enough money to buy the little house and tavern down the road and set himself up in fine style as a taverner (Yeoman).

Nightengale - Peasant (yes, I know, this makes 5 peasant families - oops!)
Elders Neri and Norbert were lucky enough to find a likely vein in the hills ages ago when they first wed, and now their son Ned continues to mine it successfully enough to keep the family fed and housed, though perhaps not moving up any time soon. Ned's wife Nellye is the midwife, and is likely to supervise the births of her own grandchildren quite soon. Her youngest is Nyla, a Toddler.

So far, everyone has been able to pay their taxes, tithes and rents, although a couple of families had to do some frantic digging the night before Quarter Day in order to make up the shortfall! The Treasury stands at $20,100 so far, so definately enough to build a village square, which will be my next step, as well as bringing the other families along and finding a bride for the Squire's son and heir Barton, and a husband for his daughter Blissot. A few things popped up -- what to do about gifts from networking aquaintances and the wishing well from the garden club -- I decided that both should be non-taxable benefits from hard work and work associations.

More updates later, forward to hearing updates from some of you!

Cheers, Vllygrl ;)

[aelflaed]

My playstyle is similar to this but not exact. I've just graduated my first young women from Dame Barbara's House for Genteel Girls.

Ellen has achieved her own objective of moderate education, and her family's aim of husband-hunting. The other (CAS YA) has studied well, and hopes to find herself a mate once she hits the real hood. She has acquired starting badges in several areas and will be able to turn her hand to a range of crafting businesses.

I also graduated my first Seminary student - he declined to take final vows, and has set himself up as an artist. He has very little furniture, but the future looks bright - he sold his first painting, and his tonsure has grown out.

[vllygrl]

Great progress in your 'hood, aelflaed! Good for Ellen hitting two birds with one stone, and your other young lady will be most eligible as a bride with a clutch of badges to bring in income to a future husband as well! I meant no disrespect to your seminarian, but I'm afraid I did laugh out loud to hear his tonsure has grown out! rofl! He must be vastly relieved, and it surely presents a better image for a would be artist! Good luck with the paintings! :)

[aelflaed]

Adam didn't mind being a novice in the abbot's house, but once he got to the Seminary, the world got wider...and he discovered girls. (No, not at the Seminary, but at community lots.)

[pmw76]

Hi, I decided to give this challenge a try :) One question so far ... when creating your founding families what dice are we using to determine how many sims are in the starting family? A six sided dice?

Tricia :)

[vllygrl]

Hi again, Tricia! I am so excited :D you are trying my challenge! Yes, I use a 6-sided die for rolling the founding families. Let me know how it goes!
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[pmw76]

So far I've created two of my peasant families, but haven't started playing yet. Still lots to download. What is the visitor controller hack? Is it http://www.modthesims.info/d/289271 or http://www.modthesims.info/d/288291 or another one completely?

So far what I enjoy about this challenge is that you're not just starting with six different couples. Each starting family will be different. :)

[M3g7e]

So far I've created two of my peasant families, but haven't started playing yet. Still lots to download. What is the visitor controller hack? Is it http://www.modthesims.info/d/289271 or http://www.modthesims.info/d/288291 or another one completely?

So far what I enjoy about this challenge is that you're not just starting with six different couples. Each starting family will be different. :)

The visitor controller was created by TwoJeff's over at Simbology. You can get it here: http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=17.0

I just went and looked it up, since there was some confusion in my post over on Warwickshire. :lol:

[vllygrl]

Thanks, M3g7e for answering Tricia so quick -- I'm afraid I've been very sick and falling behind a little in my simming! Blah .. . . :( :turtle:
Yes, Tricia, that is one of the things I got a little tired of in the VPC -- always starting with couples. That is one of the things I really liked about the Prosperity Challenge, and why I incorporated it into mine -- the variety in families is great and keeps things hopping! :bunny: It also expands the whole storyline in a most satisfying way!
I hope your downloading is going well -- there is such a wealth of wonderful, wonderful medieval cc out there it is really a fun part of playing this period!
Cheers, Vllygrl

[M3g7e]

Hope you feel better soon Vllygrl! :)

[vllygrl]

Thanks very much, M3g7e ! :) I have had a really rough go with viral bronchitis and the worst asthma flare-up I've ever had -- due to our late spring there was a sudden upsurge in pollen combined with snow mold -- makes for a nasty duo!
The good news is that for short periods when I'm able I have been progressing with my game, I just tire quickly.
I'm almost at the Hamlet level, I just have to make a Yeoman and a Merchant family and move them in and then bring them into the rotation, then I've made it! :D
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[aelflaed]

Good for you!

I'm trying to decide which of the current teens will marry each other. I had to add another peasant family so there would be some choice - otherwise every girl of every class would have had to marry a peasant Cornhill boy! I've also decided townies count as peasants, so marrying a townie won't increase the family's rank. Maybe families should pay a fee to release such 'foreign' peasants from their previous lord.

[vllygrl]

Hi aelflaed! :D
Yes, usually peasants would have to buy their freedom, so that makes sense. I, too am finding that with the random rolls for starting families, I don't have a very even gender ratio, so I am having to add families as I go. :rolleyes:

One thing I find works well with the Warwickshire Challenge is to add a Convent full of marriageable female novices of various ranks because I don't tend to let my playables marry Townies (in my game I consider them vagrants, a sort of gypsy clan, so they have little or no status ;) ). I plan to do the same in Crosswise right away, with the additional bonus of a Monastery full of marriageable male novices.

Cheers, Vllygrl

[aelflaed]

I would prefer novice monks and nuns not to be a marriage pool for the hood. I am allowing townie marriages for peasants particularly in this beginning stage. They have even less rank than normal peasants, so heirs can't marry townies at all. Also I am calling YA townies merchants, since they are obviously getting an education, and my merchant daughter is marrying one, as there is no male of a suitable rank otherwise.

I have had to artificially age the YA and award him a degree. He didn't age up or graduate when engaged to my girl, and there's no option to marry a YA - not sure if there's a better way to arrange all that. I suppose I could have moved him into the Guildhall dorm and played him through his degree, but how boring!

[Peni Griffin]

To marry a dormie: Have a playable in the main hood invite him to move in. He then becomes a playable and can be married.

[aelflaed]

I did move him in, but used Inge's teleporter so he wouldn't mess up the family finances. Obviously that also prevented him aging properly? Oh well. Thanks for the tip.

[Saturnfly]

Just started this challenge today, it's rather fun and interesting. ^^ Has certainly livened up my game-play style which was extremely boring and uneventful.

But thanks to the dice, I now have too many boys and like a bajillion toddlers. Dx

[Peni Griffin]

I did move him in, but used Inge's teleporter so he wouldn't mess up the family finances. Obviously that also prevented him aging properly?

Since you don't get the $20,000 handout unless you've gone through the family bin, he wouldn't have messed up your finances much in any case, and you could have fixed it with family funds. Apparently the teleporter's code wasn't written with the idea of teleporting dormies in mind and didn't have an appropriate subroutine for that.

This is one reason I don't use mods much, and keep to the simplest ones. It's easy to forget which functions are modded and which are base, and to ask a mod to do something it wasn't designed to do.

[Saturnfly]

Just thought I'd share some pictures of one of my Peasant families, the Bainard's!

Beatrix is a keen cook, and often has trouble keeping up with everyone's needs, but does so rather well considering all the yelling that goes on in the house. :giggler:
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/3904/beatrixb.jpg

Rowan is laid back, he loves to garden and and play kicky-bag thing with his children.
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6071/rowant.jpg

Joseph (Beatrix's Father) is sort of the family maid, always cleaning up after everyone and doing dishes etc. His favourite things to do are hunt for treasure, take long hot baths and sleep.
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/716/josephh.jpg

The children, Thea and Henry are well behaved and are quite helpful in the daily chores.
Henry likes helping his Father in the garden, while Thea hunts for bugs and treasure with her Grandpa.
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/1778/theaandhenry.jpg

Since I only started yesterday, not much has happened, there's been very little money made and I'm slowly adjusting to playing large families in tiny houses. xD
Bt so far, I'm loving this challenge. ^^

[vllygrl]

Wow! Hi everyone! Wow, I take a chance to go away for an overnighter and come back to some awesome discussion -- fantastic! :giggler:

Aeflaed I like your take on novices and townies -- some flexibility is important to fit everyone's play style, I think, whatever works! Since I tend to not play with university and YA's, I can't say much about that situation with your YA -- hope it is now sorted!

Peni Griffin -- Welcome! And thank you for your input -- great to hear some different advice and suggestions for tricky situations.

Welcome also to Saturnfly -- so glad you are trying the challenge and are enjoying it so far! LOVE your pictures! The Bainards are a heartwarming family! I also ended up with a surplus of males and toddlers after my random rolls, but I like using some problem-solving to sort it out -- far more interesting than starting out every family with the same-old, same-old standard newlywed couple, eh? :rofl:

Great to hear from everyone, Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[Saturnfly]

Definitely agree! way more interesting than your typical suburban family. I've grown to love elders as well, they're kind of peaceful and mine ALWAYS wake up in the middle of the night >.< so I send them off for a hike, or to do some gardening etc. P:

I've been looking around but haven't really found anything that straight-forward, but does anyone know if there's a way to get rid of all townies? (excluding service characters and such)

It's so annoying when someone turns up in plain clothes, striding across some poor medieval family's lawn, kind of makes for a 'The Village' moment rofl. I've just been manually deleting them as they come onto the property, but it's going to be a pain on community lots!

[aelflaed]

You can get rid of townies, but as soon as you go to community lots, they begin re-generating. You can only have a completely townie-free game if you remove them all and never visit a comm lot again. I find it better to grab each one and give them better clothes.

When I am playing a family, and see a badly-dressed townie going by, I make them selectable (with Inge's teleporter cat), then use Pescado's clothing pile to give them new outfits without cost to my playables. It's a slow process, and can't be done on comm lots (because you can't save the changes). Gradually, however, there are fewer and fewer modern townies in my game.

NPCs (paper delivery etc) are dealt with by using default replacements with medieval clothing - Sunni has made several excellent sets.

Saturnfly, I like the Bainards! Good name, too.

[vllygrl]

I too, wish there were a more straightforward method of getting rid of the townies. I have tried and tried to follow various tutorials to use an empty hood template to do it, but have quailed :faceslap: every time because they are extremely difficult to figure out and follow in a systematic manner.

Although the writers try, they take too much for granted and so things get left out in their explanations and therefore, I always get stalled partway through the process at a point where the step by step instructions become a little sketchy. :wtf: Then I stop because I am afraid to go on and risk wrecking my game.

Therefore I have decided to learn to live with Townies :rolleyes: , and have realized that there are some benefits: they do help my playables' businesses become more profitable, and they are marriageable if I am desperate to find a mate for one of my sims, though I am going to resist that since they are basically "non-citizens". It is possible that at some point in my story they may become bit players as well, who knows?

In the meantime, in my game they are considered to be vagrants since they are homeless, and I am going to officially dub them Gypsies -- a band that lives on the fringes of my settlement/hamlet/village/town/city. Like aelflaed, I do change their clothing to make them fit in better, and they all must wear peasant clothing. I have created a Charity Hospice lot in my hood, and the Almoner sees to them as they come by or she summons them, giving them a meal and a change of clothing. Gradually, they are all getting done, but it does take time. Worth it! :lol:
Anyway, glad you are enjoying the challenge, looking forward to hearing more about the Bainards and your other families!!! :luff:
Cheers, Vllygrl

[Saturnfly]

I downloaded that cat teleporter thingamebob, tested it on Forrest who is a lot regular in my Medieval town *shakes fist*, then he started coming 'home' from work and giving my Peasants all his hard earned money. Dx
So he pretty much got zapped and I think I need to do some more experiments with this tool. xD

I haven't been able to find Pescado's clothing pile, do either of you have a link for that?

I've also had my first death, on the second day of playing my third Peasant family due to 'experimenting' with the bee hive lmao.

[aelflaed]

Using Inge's teleporter cat - make the townie selectable, do what you need to with them, then use the cat again to make them unselectable. Otherwise they become boarders on your lot until you exit it. ;)

Pescado's clothing tool will be found on More Awesome Than You (MATY)...

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7.0.html

You need to look in the Armory (should be that link above), choose your highest expansion from the Official Stuff list, and look for the right hack by title - clothingtool.zip.

Vllygrl, I do use empty templates, but townies still generate once you start visiting comm lots - just means you don't have the same townies in every hood, and they generate gradually rather than all at once when you start the hood. Apparently EA thinks every hood really needs 30 townies, no matter what.

[vllygrl]

Hmmm . . . why we would need so many townies is beyond me, but anyway, I'm resigned to not using the empty templates and just dealing with my "Gypsies". But no worries, I had another brillilant idea for dealing with townies!

This was sparked by Morganna's description of how she has food production under the control of the nobles on the Integrated Economy and Tax System thread over at the Keep!

I am using them as serfs to grow food for their lords. Once they sell the crop, they send all of the money to their particular lord using Christianlov's Wallet Controller. Bingo! Extra income for the lords, and a way to use townies in one fell swoop! Just experimenting with one lot for now to see how it works.

Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[M3g7e]

NoTownieRegen is THE answer to controlling townie spawn in any hood. Available at MATY. Finally, with my last revision of Warwick I have a nh that is completely townie free! **stops to perform happy dance** With the other unfortunate spawn--garden clubbers, hobby clubbers and the like you can use the neighbor makeover clothes rack available here (http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=284411) at MTS by Christianlov which allows you to perform complete makeovers, including facial structure and clothing on any sim in the nh, even townies and npcs. (Yay!) If you can't get rid of them, they might as well get with the program!! :rofl:

[vllygrl]

Yes, I do use notownieregen and christianlov's clothing rack, thank heaven for small mercies, eh?! ;)

But yes, I am resigned to working those %$#@*&# townies into my game in a way I can live with, so I am beginning to like my idea of the Gypsy band, since vagrants were an actual problem in certain periods in the middle ages, so it fits; and also, using them as indentured labouring serfs will really boost my economy and the tax "rakings".

Barton Buckle indentured the first Gypsy in my hood, and from the first crop of eggplants on his Gypsy serf lot, his serf made over $33,000 -- I couldn't believe it! Even after paying taxes he was still miles ahead, and the tax money was the biggest one-time boost to the Treasury so far! So potentially this could really help me progress to the next level by increasing tax revenues. :Pint:
Cheers, Vllygrl :)

[aelflaed]

So you are using townies as employees on food-growing lots? I do that a bit too, although not with any exact policy - more because the labour was needed, and there was only one peasant available to provide it.

[vllygrl]

Yes, thought I'd try it. Morganna uses a community lot and Simwardrobe's employee gardening hack, but I tried it on a residential lot to see how it would work. I used a 1 x 2 lot, built a small hovel at the back with the barebones basics, then lined up 3 double rows of 22 garden plots for a total of 66 plots.

Then I moved in Michael Smith (he already has a gold gardening badge!) to my gentry family's house, moved him out to the sim bin, then moved him onto the new little farm lot. I made him farm like mad and because it was an experiment, I kept his needs maxed through the whole eggplant season.

Once he'd picked the crop, all mouth-watering, I had him pack all the eggplant into crates using Simwardrobe's produce packing station, then sold the crates. Last of all, I used Christianlov's Wallet Controller and had Michael send his master the cash. Ultimately, even without getting the garden club discount for seeds, the crop produced over $33,000 -- I was amazed!!!

So I think I will continue using this method of serf farming to add a source of income to my higher ranking families who would naturally own farmland. Once I've got enough surplus peasants, I will use playables, but in the meantime, it's a great use for townies! :lol:
Vllygrl

[aelflaed]

Of course, you've made him playable in the process...

I think I'll keep employing them as townies.

[pmw76]

Hi, I have all my families created now, and I think I'm pretty much ready to start playing :) A few questions though.

The first family I am starting with has two parents and three children. Because they are a peasant family they already have the max number of children allowed. Does this mean the parents don't have to try for baby?

How much money does the Royal Steward start with in household funds? I couldn't set it to $0 so for now I set it to $5.

I'm not sure I understand the charts for Science and Medicine & Society, Culture and the Arts. In order to advance to Hamlet do I need to have a sim in the athletic career, the natural scientist career, and the slacker, artist and culinary career tracks plus 1 healer and 1 painter or do all these careers become unlocked when I advance to hamlet? Can you also provide definitions of what you mean by healer, barber-surgeon, etc?

In regards to taxes and tithes, is this 40% and 10% of their total household income each quarter day and are the percentages applied after or before rent is taken out?

And finally, one more question, what lots are people using for homes and community lots? Any maxis lots or any lots downloaded from this site or another? :) I hate building, but I don't mind renovating so I am trying to find acceptable lots for this challenge. :)

Ok, those are all of my questions for now :)

Happy Simming :)

-Tricia

[aelflaed]

I generally build all my own lots - if I download any, I am mostly doing so to see how someone else did the building, or to get a particular piece of CC. If I try to use a lot built by someone else, it never quite works the way I want, so I have to change it extensively anyway.

[pmw76]

Another question. LOL. Does the 10% tithe go to the royal steward or the church?

[aelflaed]

Traditionally, taxes go to the Crown and tithes go to the Church.

[vllygrl]

Hi Tricia,
Glad you have all of your families sorted! I will try to answer your questions:

1) Yes, it means they do not have to try for baby. Also, and of the founding families that you get in the intial random rolls may have a number of children over the limit, so you may decide to keep those children just for these rolls, or alternatively, you could start your foundling home early.

2) The Royal Steward does not need any household funds because you will not be playing him in rotation. He is just a placeholder sim in the castle simply for the purpose of collecting the funds. If you play that household, then it messes up the amount of money in the Royal Treasury and makes it more complicated to figure out how much money you've got to spend on community lots. $5 is fine and nothing to worry about.

3) You got it right with the charts -- those careers simply become unlocked and available for sims in the various stations. You do need a healer and a painter though to advance to Hamlet. Those are artisan type occupations in which the sim should be able to make a little money, maybe not enough to live on so you might want that sim to be part of a family and not living on their own; not maxis type careers, that is why they are different. The Healer can be used and paid similarly to the Midwife -- summoned to a sick sim's home to give backrubs, massages and make comfort soup. The Apothecary can run a business like a pharmacy and sell healing potions, comfort soup and such; the Physician can either have the medical career, or can have a "clinic" in his or her home where sims can visit and pay high fees to be examined and "cured"'. The Barber-Surgeon can do surgery (with the sim blender or the maxis job reward surgery thingy) and makeovers.

4)Yes again you got it, Tricia! For Peasants, the taxes (40%) & tithes (10%) are on their INCOME alone for that quarter -- not total lot value; rent is taken out last; and tithes go to the Treasury until you open up a monastery/cloister, at which time you can start sending the tithes to those institutions directly or administer what the Crown thinks they should get directly from the Treasury by the Steward.

5) I do exactly what aelflaed described when it comes to lots, however, there are a lot of nice lots out there! There are some nice ones by Stephsim on MTS, some really nice ones on The Medieval Smithy and also on Sirona Sims, just for starters. Edited to add: Bethgael over at Plumbbob Keep said she may upload some lots to fit the challenge soon!
http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/index.php

Let me know how it goes!
Cheers, Vllygrl

[vllygrl]

Breaking news! Here is a beautifully crafted Peasant Lot created by Bethgael especially for the Medieval Charter Challenge over at the Plumbbob Keep:

http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=710

Thanks Bethgael, really looking forward to your next lots in the series!!! :gjob:
Cheers, Vllygrl :king:

[vllygrl]

Yay! I have reached the second level in the challenge -- my Settlement has now qualified as Hamlet!

I am looking forward to working on the second level and have almost enough money in the Royal Treasury to pay for a church -- this will be a huge event for everyone, and will call for a special celebration!

In honour of reaching Hamlet status, the Squire gave the Hamlet a "proper" name to replace the old settlement name of Criss Cross, which was really just a sly joke which the elders had cooked up back in the day when it was just a muddy crossroads in a sheep pasture. Known as Spiceburne from this day forward, the Hamlet is growing in population and economic and cultural status as well!

Also:

I have attached to this post a new document (PDF) which I have created which is a Moving Up! Checklist to make it easier for challenge players to track progress in the challenge:

Happy Playing, Vllygrl

[aelflaed]

The checklist is a good idea - thank you!

[vllygrl]

You're welcome, aeflaed, and glad you can use it! Here is another set of information about the Artisan/Entreprener Careers for those who have been wondering:

Artisan or Entrepreneurial Occupations
In the Medieval Charter Challenge

Artisan or Entrepreneurial Type Occupations are those in which the sim should be able to make a little money -- maybe not enough to live on, so you might want that sim to be part of a family and not living on their own. They should not be employed in maxis type careers, which is why they are in a different category.

Midwife -- must be summoned to attend every birth and is paid with whatever the birthing parents grow or harvest or fish; use Give Gift to pay her. The Midwife stays for 3-4 hours and does anything she can to make the baby, mother and other family members comfortable –cuddle, feed, bathe, cook, clean, etc.

Healer -- can be used and paid similarly to the Midwife -- summoned to a sick Sim's home to give backrubs, massages and make comfort soup.

Gypsy Matchmaker -- can make his/her living performing on community lots for tips, or be used and paid similarly to the Midwife -- summoned to a Sim's home to be a matchmaker (make introductions) or tell fortunes.

Apothecary -- can run a pharmacy-type Home Business (Yeoman) or Community Lot Business (Merchant) and sell healing potions, comfort soup and such.

Physician – this is the one exception to the no Maxis careers rule – a physician can either have the medical career, or can have a "clinic" in his or her home (Yeoman) or Community Business Lot (Merchant) where Sims can visit and pay high fees to be examined and "cured".

Barber-Surgeon -- can do makeovers, and surgery (with the sim blender or the maxis job reward surgery thingy).

Painter -- sell paintings from home or at a market, and could even be commissioned by rich merchants, gentry and nobility to do portraits for a tidy sum!

Piper, Juggler, Street Performer, Busker – these artisans can make their living performing on community lots for tips, or by performing on the stage.

Bard – a Poet/Writer who can make his/her living by performing for gentry and nobility in their homes; from using Mog’s “Become an author ... without a computer” mod; or by performing on the stage.

Minstrel – a member of a musical band who can make his/her living by performing for gentry and nobility in their homes or by performing on the stage.

Hope this is helpful!
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[vllygrl]

For anyone who may be interested, here is the link to Bethgael's next lot in the series built specifically for the Medieval Charter Challenge :

http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=790

It is a Knight/Squire lot, very pretty garden! Thanks, Bethgael!

Cheers, Vllygrl :)

[vllygrl]

Halloo, Medieval Simmers! :jest:

Just a quick update to let you know that Bethgael over at Plumbbob Keep has added a Hedge Tavern lot to her Medieval Charter Challenge lots series, and also an index with great pictures of the next lots in the series, coming soon:

Hedge Tavern: http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=878

Index: http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=702

Have a look, they are really well done!

Cheers, Vllygrl :)

[vllygrl]

Just a quick update -- the Checklist has been edited to add the Colleges needed for the last level of the challenge -- somehow I left them off the list! You can just add them to the last requirements section, or re-download the pdf. It has been updated in the first post and in post # 50.

You might also find of interest the following new lot at the Plumbbob Keep:

The Fairground (and other lots) by epo:

http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=914&p=9812#p9812

The Farmer's Cottage by child_of_air --

http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=918

. . . and her other fantastic lots at The Medieval Smithy.

Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[Ileeya]

I'm really looking forward to trying this challenge! I was going to do the Warwickshire Challenge, and was reading through all the rules for that, when I stumbled across this one. This looks like it can serve as a precursor to WC - so I can build up my kingdom and then play it out with the WC rules, since by then it will be a thriving city. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions (as I can think of them - it's early and I'm half asleep at the moment). But one I can think of right now is the harvestable strawberries and mushrooms. In the thread, the creator says it doesn't work correctly with Seasons. Anyone having an issue with this?

I rolled the weirdest families. And I used the number generator found in the attached file instead of dice.

Peasant Family 1:
Teen - M - Romance - Aries

Peasant Family 2:
Elder - M - Popularity - Aries
Adult - M - Popularity - Capricorn
Teen - M - Popularity - Scorpio

Peasant Family 3:
Elder - M - Popularity - Scorpio
Elder - M - Popularity - Capricorn
Elder - F - Knowledge - Virgo
Toddler - M - Capricorn

Peasant Family 4:
Elder - F - Romance - Gemini
Teen - M - Knowledge - Aries
Teen - M - Knowledge - Taurus
Teen - F - Pleasure - Pisces

Gentry Family:
Adult - M - Family - Sagittarius
Adult - M - Fortune - Scorpio
Child - F - Pisces
Toddler - M- Sagittarius

And I already scrapped the family that rolled up as 3 children and a toddler. I'm trying to decide if I want to be adventurous and try to play them (I suppose I could always roll up another random family if one of these doesn't make it), or scrap them all and start over. Only 2 potential marriageable females out of the whole lot. And they're young yet.

For the third family, the elders will likely all die off before the child reaches teen. I'm not really that afraid of having a child living alone, but I'm going to need some sort of bill payer so the bills won't get past due, and he won't be able to pay taxes at all. Hmm. Or would soldiers come and take him the monastery? What would happen to the property? Since it belongs to the Gentry Family, would it just sit and wait for another family to move in?

The more I think about it, the more I want to try and see if I can survive with such a weird assortment of families. And to think I was going to add the Realistic Sickness Mod right away. Maybe I should wait on that, lol. They're going to have it hard enough as it is. :rofl:

[M3g7e]

Ileeya, I think you've got just the right idea here--the WC requires a well established hood from the start (or at least it would really help). Good luck with the MCC--it's really well thought out and looks like a lot of fun to play! :)

[Ileeya]

Thanks, M3g7e. I love the idea of both challenges, and I'm looking forward to getting started. I was very attracted to WC because of the harsh environment of the challenge - not because I'm a morbid person and want to kill a bunch of sims, but because life for my sims is always ridiculously easy - they always get what they want and they're always happy...yawn. Last year I was trying to find a mod that would introduce some darker edge to gameplay, but never found anything, and then went on to start up a Royal Kingdom Challenge. After a couple of generations, I lost my steam, because even the peasants were rich and mostly happy. And I'm too much of a coward to be mean to them, now, lol. So if I start the challenge and things are rough for my sims in the very beginning, then I'll be able to play it easier. I'm thinking about incorporating some of your die rolling for childbirth live/die, because I wouldn't be able to put it in later. I'm wondering if I'll be able to make a roll and stick to it when a sim's life is on the line. Between these two challenges, I'll have an entirely new way to play the game. :o)

[vllygrl]

Hi Ileeya and Welcome! (And thanks for the nice comments, M3g7e!) :giggler:
Your families as rolled sound like an interesting challenge -- I can see you've already got some great storylines cooking! Being used to always starting with CAS couples, I was not at all used to the Prosperity Challenge style of rolling for your families and the first time I tried it I was rather alarmed at what I ended up with -- however, it blew a fresh wind through my dusty, fusty style of playing and I quickly learned to love it!
M3g7e is absolutely right, the two challenges can dovetail quite nicely! :luff: And I agree with a comment she's mentioned before, that the Warwickshire Challenge (and in my opinion the MCC as well) is really more of a playing style than a challenge.
I hope you enjoy the challenge, Ileeya, and please do ask if you have more questions!
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[Ileeya]

Thanks! :)

I've decided to stick with the families I rolled - at the very least, it will be different and interesting. At the worst, a family may die out (in which case I'll roll up another to take their place).

I really like how both you and M3g7e have reminded us how these challenges are more of a playing style than a hard and set challenge - this allows me the flexibility to adapt it to my style of play. I like aelflaed's idea to integrate a few townies into the households for my peasants. My starting families have no marriageable females amongst them, and I'm always curious to see how my pretty new townies are going to look. Whenever I create a new neighborhood, I exit the game, find the neighborhood file - the character file within that - and delete everything in it. NEVER do this after you've made a sims for the neighborhood - because they'll be deleted, too. So I'll have no fug maxis townies in my new hood. Then I just create a new batch of townies using the boolprop cheat so they spawn with my default faces.

I'll be creating my new families tonight and setting up my 'hood. Exciting! :jest:

[vllygrl]

Sounds terrific, Ileeya! I am most intrigued by your approach to townies, and you might be interested in Bethgael's method explained here: http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=485&start=40
Also, there is a lot of great information and discussion on the MCC thread over at the Keep here: http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=485

I am in the process of creating a new neighbourhood right now as well, and I would love to generate some new townies -- have you never had a problem deleting the contents of the characters file prior to creating any new CAS sims? I would love to try that! :p It seems much easier than trying to install the empty neighbourhood templates, which I can never figure out because the tutorials take too much for granted and skip steps.

Play style is a big reason why I am such a fan of Random Occurence Scenarios! I have one for the MCC (an attachment in the first post of this thread) and aelflaed's is an awesome one as well (in the Warwickshire Challenge thread http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=422049&c=1&ht=&page=7&pp=25#startcomment, post # 173).
Cheers, Vllygrl :bunny:

[Ileeya]

Thank you, vllygrl. I've been doing the create-a-neighborhood-deleting-character-files thing for years and never noticed a problem. That's not to say there couldn't be one, though, so always make backups before trying anything. This thread explains it a bit: http://www.sunsims.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269 - though I can't remember where I originally came across this information. I do remember reading that it was an alternative to the potentially dangerous 'deleteallcharacters' cheat - which I had used twice - the first time it didn't work - the second time did but caused massive massive lag with my pc. Everything in that neighborhood was soooo slooooww. And stayed that way. And I was ever so sick of calling maxis townies to my lot and destroying them. I haven't had to have a Melissa Fancey or Goopy in my 'hood for years. This particular thread has you zipping up your character file somewhere and storing it before deleting the contents. Like anything with Sims, use with caution. I had mentioned this to a gal one time, and she ran off to try it, forgetting she had sims already living in that hood and she didn't have a backup. :faceslap:

Thank you so much for all the links! I recently registered over at the Keep (I'm Astral Faery there, and most everywhere else I go in the Sims community), and have yet to make it all the way around the site. There's a lot to see! I really like Bethgael's townie ideas - makes for some interesting twists for the game instead of just having random people out of nowhere wandering around. Zombies for lepers! That's classic (and going to have to happen in my hood, lol).

[vllygrl]

Awesome, Ileeya! Thanks for the great information -- I am going to try it in this new hood, been searching for a solution this simple for a long time. Glad to know you registered over at the keep -- I'll keep an eye out for Astral Faery over there, it's a great place! Lots of good info and friendly, helpful types who really love medieval. :)

Looking forward to your tales and comments about the challenge, let us know how it goes with that wild assortment of families! ;)
Cheers, Vllygrl :giggler:

[Ileeya]

I hope it works well for you, vllygrl - but for the love of Pete - make backups first. I would hate to encourage anyone to try something that didn't work for them. Like I said, I've done it many times and it's worked for me, and I've never seen any problems, but it seems to be difficult to find any information on that method.

The families have been created, and now I'm trying to build their lots. I have questions...lots of them.

I'm only about halfway done building the gentry family's home. In the study, you say '1 chest'. What do you mean by chest - like an armoire? A chest for keeping things in, yes? If so, where would I find one to download? For now I have put a dresser in it for lack of anything else suitable.

For the dining hall...1 buffet. A buffet table? Or could I use a coffee table or counters? Or is it a buffet table for entertaining dinner guests?

Are we allowed to use the money cheat for building the Gentry house? The family only has 7k left and I haven't even started on the upstairs, yet. They still need beds, toiletries, a nursery, etc. Or are they supposed to work their way up to the amounts you have in the furnishings chart? Currently, the lot is only valued at 18k - and there are no windows, wall, or flooring.

I do like, however, being told how many of each type of furnishing to put in each room, because building is so not my thing. Building my rooms around the furnishings is helping me come up with a more interesting looking house than what I would have normally built, which would have been a box, lol.

[vllygrl]

Thanks! I am making backups as we speak! And you're right -- it is difficult to find information on anything other than the empty/cleaned up templates, and as I say, the tutorials for those are not very clear in a step-by-step fashion. As to your questions, here goes:

*chest -- like a treasure chest or hope chest type of thing -- as an example: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=374497


* buffet -- such as a china cabinet or hutch for displaying pottery, pewter, etc., depends on what fits the particular house/family

*money -- build the house first according to the charts ( low cost $; medium cost $$; or expensive $$$) and THEN use familyfunds to give the family their starting money amount.

I hope these answers help! I like your building method of building around the furnishings -- probably makes for a much more interesting house. Specifying the furnishings is something I got from playing the Victorian Population Challenge, and it keeps the families more equal at their starting point. :)

[Ileeya]

Thanks for your prompt answers. That's a relief! I was going crazy trying to stretch their starting money (which was only about 30k for the 4 of them) and still get everything they were supposed to have. I was tearing down walls, moving things into a tighter floor plan, buying cheaper furniture, LOL!

Thanks for the clarifications on the furniture - now I know what to look for. :)

I have my starter families ready for their homes. I admit I was lazy and copied this from where I originally posted over at Sugah's Place, but I've already been sitting at this computer waaay too long and I didn't want to set the post up all over again. ;) And I really need to get up and go clean that kitchen...blah.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Gentry.jpg
This is my Gentry Family - The Quartermaine Family. From left to right we have adult brothers Benedict and Charles, the children are both Benedict's - little girl Isabella, and baby Nathaniel. Their mother died in childbirth. I don't really have a backstory on them yet.


http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Bradshawe.jpg
The Bradshawe Family. Teen Julian will be on his own, as his dad is merely a placeholder. So the story I've made up for Julian is that his former village was wiped out by the plague. After the death of his mother, his father Julius, decided they needed a fresh start and heard of the lush landscapes and ponds full of fish of the settlement of Shorehaven. But Julius was weakened and barely survived the trip, only to die shortly after moving into their new house - leaving Julian on his own. His profession will be fishing.


http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Goldwell.jpg
The Goldwell Family. Elder Richard, his son Nicholas, and grandson Luke. Like father, like son, like son? Nicholas always looked up to his father Richard, just as his own son looks up to him. All three aspire to be popular and offer their wares of foraged mushrooms and strawberries to the community.


http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Gardyner.jpg
The Gardyner Family. Sadly, the father holding the toddler is only a placeholder - because the game doesn't allow you to make elders and kids and connect them through family ties without going through an adult. Stupid, I know. Three elders and a baby. From left to right the elders - Hugh, Ellen, and Reynard. The baby's name is Gabriel. Ellen and Reynard are married, and Gabriel is their grandson. They lost their son (I already forgot his name since he'll be killed as soon as the family moves in), and I believe I made Hugh a brother of Ellen. They, too, fled their former life to get a fresh start. Will Shorehaven have more to offer them? They will be gardeners and poultry farmers.


http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Wylde.jpg
The Wylde Family. Again - another placeholder - the lady in the (mauve?) dress. So ignore her. The teens from left to right - Walter, Rose, and Piers, and their grandmother Bridgette. Perhaps the teens' mother was persecuted for witchcraft because she gave birth to triplets and the family fled to Shorehaven to escape the public eye. Whatever the case may be, they'll never tell. This family will have an orchard and beehives to make their living. And incidentally, how beautiful is teen Rose? Even in this family shot she stands boldly in the middle, slightly apart from her brothers. As one of the very few eligible females of the entire neighborhood, I admit I already have a soft spot for her and thought the name Rose Wylde was just the coolest ever. I know we're not supposed to pick favorites, but...

Wish them all luck!

[vllygrl]

Thanks so much for posting pictures, Ileeya! It is always so great when people post pictures so we can peek into your game a bit! ;) I really like the sounds of your back stories so far . . . looking forward to hearing where it goes next! Good luck indeed to all your new families! :lol:

[Ileeya]

Thanks, vllygrl. It is ok that I post pictures here, right? We share a lot at my other forum and I wasn't quite sure if that was accepted here or if I should put them somewhere else. By now I have 2 of my peasants moved into their new home, and 2 yet to place. All 4 peasant houses are located right around the Quatermaine house.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/Benedictwants.jpg
I figured out a bit of a story for the Quartermaine family. This shot was actually taken at the Goldwell house - both Benedict Quartermaine and Jon Steward (he's the steward of the castle) are chatting over a hot bowl of kasha. Benedict (a family sim) wants a woman in his life since he lost his last wife to (childbirth, plague, whathaveyou). I have played each family for one day so far to establish their lives a little and make sure their house was set up ok. Benedict's brother Charles works in Intelligence, and Benedict stays home and keeps up the house and takes care of the children - all the while rolling up wants to get married, kiss, and flirt. Poor guy is lonely. I like him.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/ehdeath.jpg
At the Bradshawe house, Julian casually walks away while his father is being claimed by death. Jeez kid, have a little sympathy, eh?

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/gossipy1.jpg
Immediately upon moving onto their new lot, I caught the Goldwells doing this. It always cracks me up when they gossip in front of who they're talking about. :rofl:

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/gossipy.jpg
And then 5 minutes later! :P

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/disagreeableteens.jpg
The only two teens in the neighborhood so far hate each other. Within just a couple of sim hours, Julian Bradshawe and Luke Goldwell were having it out.

http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr179/JondakIrnaxxian/fishing-1.jpg
Fishing at sunset at the Bradshawe pond. I just installed Gunmod's Radiance Lighting system: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=290746 Oh my gosh! I can't believe I've been playing sims for years and haven't tried this before now. I just can't get over how beautiful everything looks, all the shadows and highlights, and the textures are more crisp. My sims can now enjoy a sunrise and sunset. Well, they probably don't really care - but I sure am loving it! I highly recommend it! Looks great for this time period with the candle lighting inside the house, too.

[vllygrl]

Your families look awesome, Ileeya, thanks for posting! I'm sure it's ok to post pictures, everyone seems to do it. I have had to restart my neighbourhood and doing the challenge from scratch as my game was giving me problems, so I am in the process of building and setting up families again. That's ok, but I hope the game doesn't start acting weird again! :(

[kstaron]

I love the idea of this. I just rolled my families and played the first two seasons. My theme is less medieval and more space western. (Using mostly maxis stuff.) The families were dropped off onto a new planet with the basic supplies. In the 4 peasant and 1 gentry family I had 19 people.

Family 1: Healwright - After Faile, a midwife, couldn't save the duke newborn son she was shipped off with her ailing mother Gertie to settle a new planet with a few trees and beehives


Family 2: Fisher - Abel and Belle brought their kids, teens Caleb and Darla, and toddler Ella to raise pigs and fish. hoping they could better their children's lives.

Family 3: Layer - Widow Harriette moved her 4 sons, teen Issac, Child Jayne, and twin toddlers Kyle, and Kinkade hoping that chicken ranching and growing some tomatoes would be easier off-planet.

family 4 - Fields - Widow Maryn uprooted her mother, Lenore, along with her three kids, Teens Noland, and Odella, and toddler Paulo to farm on the new planet. she brought two milking cows along too.

Family 5 - Whenceforth (Gentry) - Minstrel Quinten wasn't sure who he pissed off, but suddenly he was in charge of getting a bunch of dirt farmers and a baby killer to settle a new planet. His daughter, Mami, was recently widowed, so he took her and her three kids with him. But she dies of internal parasites on the trip to /blackthorne. Now he has a child Rowan, and the toddler twins, Shane and Sheila to raise. Worse, there is no one to play for, or any way to be paid.

In the first two seasons one family has already moved to yeoman, and I have a fairground, town park, church and graveyard. I've included ROS's and have had three deaths, one birth, and a war was just announced!

One Question: Settlements are only supposed to barter, but if my yeoman is set up as a home business, can let them choose anything to sell. we're really short on cribs, beds, and such.

[vllygrl]

Welcome, Kstaron! I am glad you like the challenge and it sounds like you have made some great progress already! I love the sounds of your space western theme and your families and their backstories. It's also great to hear that you are using ROS's -- it sure adds that random touch, doesn't it? :rofl:
To answer your question, really only merchants could sell that type of merchandise. Yeoman are supposed to sell from their home business only basically what they could make, craft or grow, such as baked goods, pottery, flowers, beef/cattle, sewing, toys, etc. However, since tinkering and toymaking are allowed, if you have a yeoman who specializes in one of those areas, it's not a far stretch to think he could be a woodcarver and craft wooden furniture.
Looking forward to hearing more about your settlers! I have completed my uninstall and reinstall, :faceslap: just now preparing to prune and reorganize my downloads, then I think I will be able to start my new 'hood and restart the challenge.
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[Ileeya]

Thank you for your comments, vllygrl.

Kstaron - I also really like your space western setting - and your backstories are great. You sound like you're making awesome progress, and any tips you can share would be welcome.

My families are all struggling. Badly. I've been through 3 seasons, and most of them barely have enough to cover rent and taxes - I mean 50% of all their earned income goes to taxes and rent on top of that. It keeps them very poor, and I like that part, but I'm having trouble making a profit off the farm animals. They don't breed very often and aren't worth that much, so the chicken and pig farmers are barely hanging in there. The orchardists were only able to buy 3 fruit trees and 2 hives with their initial $5,000 set up amount, which didn't give them much the first couple of seasons. Since the death of the grandmother, they were able to buy more trees and hives (with the insurance money), so it's going to be a long while before anyone advances in my neighborhood. I'm not sure how to change that without breaking a rule, but it's getting kind of boring because I'm so eager for all of my sims to earn a trade like pottery or sewing, toymaking, etc. I do have a marketplace now, though.

Originally, I wanted to follow the childbirth tables for the Warwickshire Challenge, as my idea was to merge the two and I thought it would be easier to stick to the hard rules right away. But then I rolled my first mother death - and the child failed his roll, also - and I even had a midwife. I proceeded to kill off the mother and I actually looked away from the screen because I felt guilty! Sheesh. I'm such a softie. I decided, instead, that I would follow the rolling rules, but instead of death, if the mother failed the roll then she would fall into an incurable depression and need to be institutionalized. Or I could roll for her each season or something, adding modifiers for each season - like she fails in fall, so she gets a -1 for winter, and if she fails in winter, she'll get a -2 for spring, etc., making it more likely she would never be cured. And if the baby also failed the roll, then maybe I'll just say the mother went crazy, stole the baby, and ran away, then maybe roll each season to see if she's discovered. Either way, I just wasn't able to kill off innocent sims, lol.

[M3g7e]

You could always plead for her. :) I hate to kill sims too--and I generally try to weasel out of doing it, but I must say on the times that I stuck by it, I was thankful I did--the story got better as a result.

[pmw76]

Hi, I'm back after a long vacation away. I went out and bought the Sims medieval. It kept me busy for a couple days, but I wound up missing this challenge so I'm back. :)

One thing I started doing is after a family is created I roll to see how many days they are into their phase. I only do this for teens, adults and elders. This way I have more variety and they're all different ages so it's a little more staggered. Oh, yes and I use simpe to do it. :)

I've included some pictures. :)

Oh, thanks to ROS one of my peasant families got a large inheritance which means they are ready to move on up the social scale.

[vllygrl]

Welcome back, pmw76! Interesting to hear you tried out Sims Medieval -- it sounds like you had a similar experience to me with Sims 3! I haven't tried TSM yet myself although I have been tempted.
Your rolls for ages within stages sounds like a great idea -- I've never used SimPE so I'd have to figure that out first if I was going to try it. :lol: ROFL -- yay :giggler: for ROS inheritances!
I have just finished uninstalling/reinstalling :wtf: and I am in the process of setting up a new hood and new families, but I am forcing myself to sort and reorganize my downloads, as that folder was getting madly out of control! The problem is, there is so much fantastic medieval cc for Sims 2 that I can't keep my hands off the stuff!
Thanks for the great pictures -- sure gave me my laugh for the day to see the expressions on the face of the girl and then the big fight! :rofl:
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[SusannaG]

This one is really tempting me right now.

How did the reinstall and restart go, Vllygrl?

Also, about "moving up" the settlement: to go from, say, Hamlet to Village, is it a total of three home businesses, or three new ones?

[vllygrl]

Hi Susanna!
Sorry about the slow reply -- I was away for the weekend. I am glad to hear you are interested in the MCC! My reinstall went well, thanks! And now I am slowly rebuilding my hood and families. Yes, it is a TOTAL of 3 home businesses -- so for going from Hamlet to Village add one more to the two you needed to go from Settlement to Hamlet.
Let us know if you decide to start the challenge! :beer:

[SusannaG]

I am seriously tempted to try this one.

I'm also doing a BACC right now, and contemplating the size of my downloads folder! (Hi, my name is Susanna, and I have a CC addiction problem...)

ETA: Well, I've decided to take a stab at it!

Having a devil of a time with finding children's clothes in general, and athletic wear in particular.

[Raisin]

Hi, I'm just starting my new neighborhood with Medieval Charter Challenge. A quick question: How is the squire supposed to make his living? At the beginning of the challenge he can't get a job from Military or Law enforcement. How is he going to pay the taxes and rents? After setup he'll receive the 20 000 simoleons, but how about after he has spent it all? :blink:

[vllygrl]

Hi Raisin, and Welcome! Good Question! Sorry, I am rewriting to fix these little glitches, but here's what I use -- ArotaAlehthrra's Knighthood Career works great for this:
http://cep.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=411102
It starts out lowly enough that the squire has to work his way up to knight, which is perfect, and it is a fun career to play. :beer:
Let us know how your families look and post some pics if you get a chance!
Cheers, Vllygrl :jest:

[scottiedoag]

This is my first post so I hope I get it right!
I Just started playing this challenge and I'm really enjoying it but I do have some questions.
To move up to Hamlet I need the community lots for the square and the park. Is there any guideline on how much these lots should be worth? Do they have to contain specific things and can they be updated by the treasury at a later point in the challenge? One other question on marriage. The heir to my squire although only a toddler right now can't marry anyone not at least gentry? If this is the case do i have to hope that one of the CAS families manages to move up before he dies of old age or is there something else I can do? Sorry if the questions are dumb or already answered. I'm looking forward to carrying on with this challenge. Thanks Vllygrl for creating it.
Scottiedoag

[vllygrl]

Hi Scottiedoag and Welcome! :bunny: I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying the challenge! I am almost finished the Big Rewrite, which will clarify a lot of grey areas, but in the meantime, I will try to answer your questions:
1) Currently, no, there are no guidelines, though that will be rectified in the Big Rewrite. Meanwhile, use what Treasury Funds you have collected so far. For instance, you can build a quite passable 1 x 1 Village Square and Communal Well lot for approx. $2000. They can certainly be updated later as your community becomes more prosperous and wants to show its wealth! :)
2) You are correct: your squire's heir must marry at or above his own station, therefore either Gentry or Noble, and yes, it is unlikely that one of your peasant families will rise to that level by that time. Possible solutions are to add a Convent full of marriageable female novices of various ranks and a Monastery full of marriageable male novices because I don't tend to let my playables marry Townies (in my game I consider them vagrants, a sort of gypsy clan, so they have little or no status), however, if you generally use townies in your play, then by all means continue doing so! Also, by that ime, you may have reached the point in the challenge at which it is time to add more families anyway, which might solve the issue. Your other option is just to create a CAS sim when the time comes and consider that bride to have been sent by the current monarch or make up some other such backstory to fit.
Hope this helps, Scottiedoag, and there is lots of great info on the MCC thread over at the Plumbbob Keep as well that you might find worth checking out!
Happy Simming, and let us know how it progresses!
Cheers,
Vllygrl :beer:

[scottiedoag]

Thanks Vllygrl
That helps loads! My treasury if overflowing thanks to the fact that my beekeeping family dug up three treasure chest one after the other and my fishing family are just as mad with digging for treasure. I dug out some family history and I'm using names from that. My family came originally from France to fight the English in the 1500s (as my name suggests I'm Scottish) and it's fun to use their names and imagine their lives. You mentioned Plumbobkeep and I went to register but i can't access the site. I was there downloading to start the challenge and had bookmarked the page to go back and register as it looks like a great site. Anyone know if there is a problem with the site or if its my own stupidity!? Thanks again.
Scottiedoag

[vllygrl]

Hi Scottiedoag,
Good -- I'm glad I could help! Yes, the digging for treasure gets crazy, but it sure adds to the Treasury Funds in a hurry! It will be restricted to mining families in the Big Rewrite which should settle things down. That is so cool :cool: that you thought of using your own family history and names in the challenge! Wow! Great idea! As far as I know, there is no current problem with the Plumbbob Keep site, I was on it this morning. Keep trying, it's worth it to get access to such an awesome site -- you will be blown away!
Cheers :) Vllygrl

[scottiedoag]

Thanks! I've been to Plumbobkeep before and the parts i could look at as a gust were amazing. I just tried again and i can't see the board or register or contact an admin. Oh well I'll keep trying. Better go do some digging before the rewrite! lol
Scottiedoag

[scottiedoag]

I was looking for images of medieval village greens and found this link. http://www.medievalarchives.com/tag/bakery/
I thought it was interesting and maybe something th
at could be put into someones game. I'm wondering if there is a way to do this properly within the constraints of sims?
Scottiedoag

[vllygrl]

Thanks, Scottiedoag, it would be interesting to explore! :report: I will hafta research that . . . many things turn out to be possible in this game, so you never know! ;)

[vllygrl]

Hello all and Happy Friday! :Pint:
Just in time for your weekend delectation, behold, the infamous rewrite is complete! Please go to the first post where you will find a shiny new document to download for

The Medieval Charter Challenge 3.0 -- the "New!" Luxury Model

Thanks for looking :bunny: ,
Cheers, Vllygrl :)

[vllygrl]

Apologies to those 4 people who already downloaded the 3.0 version, the document has had a slight change on page 4 and has now been re-uploaded with the following correction:

What read as: "Add 2 CAS families each time your community advances to the next level, using the same random dice rolling method you used for your initial 7 families."

NOW reads: "As you reach each of the following levels, add 2 CAS households: Hamlet -- 1 Yeoman, 1 Merchant; Village -- 1 Gentry, 1 Merchant; Town -- 2 Nobility; City -- 1 Royalty Household, using the same random dice rolling method you used for your initial 7 families."

Just for clarification! :P

Edited to add:
However, deepest apologies to everyone -- I will be make a few more slight revisions (embarrasing ). I am pulling the new 3.0 doc and will re-upload the new revised document asap and then let you know. I am so sorry!
Thank you for your patience!

ETA: Done!

[Digit198801]

I recently got started in this challenge and just have my bachelors and bachelorettes left to set up. I made some of them children, teens and toddlers just so the main settler children would have people to befriend and marry as they get older. I posted this at the Keep and thought I'd repost it here. I'll update again when I have everyone set up to introduce the families. :D
*************************************************
The aging King of a dying kingdom had sent forth his best man to look for new land to build a new kingdom upon. The Royal Steward had sent word back that he had found such a land and had built a castle in the hopes that a King would soon be born. The King had no heirs but loved his remaining people dearly for they had stuck by his side even as the Kingdom fell to ruin. He sent a decree that they should go to a new land called Silverward and build their lives anew. The old King died shortly after meeting with his remaining people.

The settlers started on their journey with dreams of a blessed new land awaiting them. They had each been in audience with a king and were told that the new king would be born amongst them. The Squires family were certain that this king would be borne from their line, while the peasants dreamt of rising from their hard existence to the lives of royalty.

http://i.imgur.com/PF0UU.jpg
Using one of StephSim's castles, isn’t it lovely?
I'm not really going for historical accuracy, I'm mainly going for a "anything but modern" type of thing.

[vllygrl]

:jest: Aawww . . . thanks for updating on my MTS thread, too, digit! Awesome, and I look forward to reading moar! :rofl:

[Rachel Potter]

Hi I'm new to the forums :) These challenges made me reinstall Sims 2, and I missed it- Sims 3 keeps crashing and I've given up with it. One question though. Do you have the rules in a Word 2007 format? The other links to the rules don't work for me. Thanks :p

[vllygrl]

Welcome to the MCC, Rachel! I am sorry you have had trouble downloading -- when you unrar the MCC 3.0 Final.rar file, it is a Word 97 - 2003 file, so it should work for you if you can open Word 2007 documents, unfortunately I can't convert it to Word 2007 (I tried!)

Here is a pdf version which may work better for you:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8podofrhbnq7ufy


Please let me know if you are still having trouble, and we can try a different tack!

I have been away all week, but got back last night or I would have tried sooner, I hope you haven't given up! :)

[pmw76]

Hi, I have another question for you. In my challenge the weekly market is owned by the first merchant family I created but I just noticed in the Quick & Dirty section
it shows:

6. When the total reaches $8000, build or add into your neighbourhood:
 Church & Cemetery
 Weekly Market
7. Congratulations!
You have completed Level 1: Settlement and are on to Level 2: Hamlet.
8. Build or add a Merchant Townhouse and a Merchant business of your choice. Create 1 Yeoman family and 1 Merchant family in CAS.

Also, I have decided to use St. Esme's Chapel http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=118 as my Church & Cemetery lot :)

And I've included a couple pictures ;)

-Tricia

P.S. Still unable to log onto Plumb Bob Keep :(

[Artimis]

I am tempted but I am allowed to use one of my own as I am having issues installing cc into my game and do I need to put up for download. i have allot of medieval themed cc in my hood so this challenge is perfect for me :)

[vllygrl]

Hi, I have another question for you. In my challenge the weekly market is owned by the first merchant family I created but I just noticed in the Quick & Dirty section
it shows:

6. When the total reaches $8000, build or add into your neighbourhood:
„h Church & Cemetery
„h Weekly Market
7. Congratulations!
You have completed Level 1: Settlement and are on to Level 2: Hamlet.
8. Build or add a Merchant Townhouse and a Merchant business of your choice. Create 1 Yeoman family and 1 Merchant family in CAS.

Also, I have decided to use St. Esme's Chapel http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=118 as my Church & Cemetery lot :)

And I've included a couple pictures ;)

-Tricia

P.S. Still unable to log onto Plumb Bob Keep :(

:) Hi Tricia!
Unless you want to do so, I wouldn't bother changing your first merchant family owning the Weekly Grocery business until you are ready -- perhaps they will sell it eventually and buy a new, more ambitious business! Go ahead and add your new CAS yeoman and merchant families in any case. And St. Esme's Chapel is lovely -- also nice to have church and cemetary combined for convenience! I wonder what's up with the PBK? I have had no problems logging in so far. Maybe it was just heavy traffic?

Hi Artimis! Haven't seen you around the PBK lately so it is great to hear from you, and that's awesome if you decide to try the challenge! :)

[pmw76]

Hi,

thanks for replying. I wasn't having any luck with my account on PBK. They deactivated it when I changed my e-mail address. I tried sending them an e-mail to let them know I was having problems, and wasn't able to log on. I still haven't heard back from them, and I was anxious to read your post on PBK so I wound up creating a second account. I will post later.


-Tricia

[Zexxa]

Wow, I am playing this play style/challenge and it's amazing. I didn't realize how hard it is for the peasants! I'm playing with my own, slightly modified ruleset(my peasants and yeoman also pay the Gentry 20% of their earnings). I thought my miner peasant was going to move up fast...until I paid all his rent(80% antiquities tax and all). Poor peasants. :P

[vllygrl]

Welcome, Zexxa! Oops! How did I miss your post?! Sorry! :(

Glad you are enjoying the challenge :giggler: , and great to hear you have been able to adapt it within your own playstyle and rules -- I love to hear that, because it tells me that the challenge is flexible, which makes it more appealing to more players! I like how you have developed the line of financial rights and responsibilities from peasants and yeomen through to gentry and nobles, so true to medieval times! Let us know how it is going once in awhile with an update, it is always fun and fascinating to hear how other player's games develop!
Happy Simming! :)

[LadyAnna]

Thank you for the great challenge,villygirl!!! I am trying use your challenge rules and rules from the Warwick Challenge and Random Legacy!!! There is my blog http://kingdomlegacychallenge.blogspot.ru/

[vllygrl]

You're welcome, and thank you, LadyAnna! I did see your posts on the Warwickshire thread, but I have just been so busy lately I hadn't had time to comment!
I think it is great that you have found ways to link together the three different challenges into your own game and playstyle. I am finding more and more mention of players doing this with a variety of challenges. Makes it even more fun and interesting to play the sims, eh? :bunny: