The Edith Finch Legacy Challenge

[Zetro]

The Objective
Inspired by the compelling narrative of The Story of Edith Finch, this Sims legacy challenge invites players to create their own family saga, filled with unique destinies, mysterious occurrences, and a rich history. Occult Sims are allowed, enriching the family's story with supernatural elements.

Rules
Starting Conditions:

1 or 2 (a sim or Male and female sim)

Must start with Young Adult Sim(s)

Buy a large-Huge Lot then buy the unlocked base game Grand Piano and leave it into your household inventory this is to lower you household starting funds.

Once the two sims move in try for a baby to begin your challenge or once your single sim has found love, get them to move in and try for a baby then you may begin the challenge.

(note: you cannot get a job or start skilling up until you have started the challenge e.g. tried for a baby, successfully.)

Skills and Careers:

Each Sim must master one specific skill and/or complete a career path, embodying their unique contribution to the family's legacy until their predestined demise, which is related to their skill or career.

Alternative Income:

If a Sim is fired, they must seek alternative forms of income outside traditional employment. This includes running a business (like a restaurant, retail shop, vet clinic) or becoming a landlord.

However, adults who have not secured a job by their transition into adulthood cannot seek new employment but may continue with skill-based income or existing jobs acquired before adulthood.

Employment and Age Restrictions:

Teens/Young Adults can start working and honing a skill. They must complete their career and/or skill before meeting their scripted end. Adults cannot seek new jobs but may continue existing ones. If unemployed by adulthood, they can't acquire new employment.

Elders cannot earn money.

Occult Sims:

Occult Sims bring their unique traits, life states, and challenges to the family narrative, enhancing the legacy with magical, mysterious, or otherworldly elements. However ability/potion resurrection is only allowed for Children or if you forgot to document a sim which will lead to total challenge failure.



Housing and Bedroom Rules: (Pets do not count this rule so let your furry friend sleep wherever they like )

· Bedrooms are single-use per Sim; once a Sim has used a bedroom, after death, it's locked and cannot be altered. Not even for fires. If that bedroom burns down, let it burn, there is no entry once the sim that used to occupy it dies.

· Sims may only change bedrooms once, including temporary sleeping arrangements. Be cautious with temporary beds, as they count towards this rule. However if your moving beds around in the bedroom it doesn't count so feel free to redecorate as long as they keep that bed option. (So 2 bed arrangements, their first bed, their last bed. No more.)

· If a shared room becomes partially vacant due to a Sim's death, that section of the room is sealed off. You may use a fence, furniture or even a wall if you'd like.



Scheduled Births Rule:

In keeping with the narrative depth and complexity of the challenge, all participating households are required to welcome a new birth at the conclusion of every Sim year. In The Sims, a full year equates to 56 days. This rule ensures that the family legacy continuously evolves and grows, presenting new challenges and storytelling opportunities for players.

A Season will last 14 days per season if your on normal life span, if your running on long life span adjust to 28 days per season and short, 7 days per seasons, respectively. You must have aging turned on but you may choose the length, adjusting the season length alongside it.

Timing: Ensure that your Sims are prepared for a new addition to the family at least once every 56 Sim days. This simulates an annual growth in the family, aligning with the challenge's theme of legacy building across generations.

Planning for Multiples: Given the potential for twins, triplets, or more—especially when mods that increase the chances of multiples are used—players should strategically plan pregnancies to manage their household size effectively. Remember, if the birth of multiples pushes your household over the limit, the death die rule comes into play to rebalance your family size for each new baby (see *Implementation when the Household Exceeds Five Sims*).

Consequence for Missing the Birth Deadline: If a year passes without a new birth, players must assess their family dynamics and ensure that the next cycle does not end without a new addition, else roll the death die.

Documenting New Additions: Each new birth is a significant event in the family's legacy. Ensure that these moments are captured and documented, adding to the rich tapestry of your Sims' story.

Rule for Randomizing Sim Deaths:

To add an element of unpredictability and fairness in deciding which Sim in the household faces their demise when the time comes, especially under conditions requiring a decision (like when the household exceeds the allowed number of Sims or when a specific event triggers the need for a Sim's departure), use one of the following methods:

· 1d8 (Eight-Sided Die): Use this method when your household has up to eight members. Assign each Sim a number, and roll the die to determine which Sim will face their scripted demise. If your household has fewer than eight Sims, only use the numbers that correspond to your Sims. For more than eight Sims, you may need to adjust the method or roll additional dice size.(Google's Dice Roller)

· Random Name Picker: List the names of all eligible Sims in an online random name picker tool. This method is particularly useful for larger households or when you prefer a digital approach. Use the tool to randomly select the Sim who will meet their end. (Better for modded household size games)(Randomiser)

· Twitch Chat Voting (if playing on a stream, Hello Twitch Chat ;D): Engage your audience by letting them decide which Sim should face their fate next. This can be done by listing the eligible Sims and conducting a poll for viewers to vote. This method adds an interactive and communal aspect to the decision-making process, allowing viewers to participate directly in the unfolding legacy.



Implementing the Rule into The Edith Finch Legacy Challenge:

This rule is applied under specific conditions that necessitate the departure of a Sim from the household, such as when the family size exceeds the limit or when a certain event in the challenge mandates a reduction in the number of Sims. It introduces a method to make these difficult decisions both fair and unpredictable, adding depth to the gameplay and narrative.



Managing Household Size:

The Death Die Rule

In the Edith Finch Legacy Challenge, maintaining the household size is crucial. The challenge imposes a strict limit on the household size to five Sims(or chosen size if modding). If at any point your household exceeds this limit, due to births or any other additions, it's time to determine which Sim must depart to adhere to this rule.



Implementation when the Household Exceeds Five Sims:

Anytime your household grows beyond the limit of five Sims(or chosen size if modding), you must use the death die to decide which Sim will meet their untimely demise. This rule ensures the challenge remains manageable and adds an element of unpredictability to your legacy story.

If Using a d8 (Eight-Sided Die)or greater:

1. Assign each Sim in the household a number.

2. If you have more than eight Sims due to modding, you can use a random name picker, twitch chat or a bigger dice like a D12 (12-sided die)/d#(household size-sided die).

3. Roll the die to select the Sim. If the household has six Sims, for example, assign numbers 1-6 to each Sim, and if the die lands on a number without a corresponding Sim, roll again.



Exceptions:

Younger Sims (babies to children/Baby pets-animals) are exempt unless challenge conditions trigger a need for their inclusion in the roll if desired.

Pets (and animals) count to the roll. If they land on your special furry friends then you better hold your tears as it is time to let them go to the chopping block.

Mod Considerations for Adjusted Family Size:

If you're incorporating mods that extend the maximum allowable Sims in a household beyond the base game's limit of 8, you have the flexibility to redefine your family size limit for the challenge. Here’s how to approach it:

Selecting Your New Family Size Limit: With the mod in place, choose a new family size limit that falls within the range of 5 to 13 Sims. This adjustment allows you to tailor the challenge's difficulty and complexity to your preferences, while still adhering to the spirit of managing a finite household size. (I recommend keeping your household modded max size to 16 or double the regular size. This ensures that crashing is held at a minimum in this already unstable state.)

Handling Multiples: In the event that the birth of multiples (twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc.) brings your household size above the established limit (whether it's the base limit of 5 or an adjusted limit due to mods), you must take steps to bring your household back within the permissible size. Here's how to manage such situations:

Roll the Death Die for Multiples: If the arrival of multiples increases your household size beyond your set limit, you will need to roll the death die additional times to determine which Sims will meet their untimely demise. Each roll corresponds to the number of Sims you need to reduce to bring your household back within the set limit.

Consideration for Pregnancy Mods: For players using mods that allow for pregnancies resulting in more than twins (e.g., quadruplets or quintuplets), the rule applies similarly. Should such a birth event cause your household size to exceed the limit, prepare to roll the death die for each excess member your household gains.

Limitation on Adult Sim Reduction: If the required number of death die rolls exceeds the number of adult Sims in the household (potentially risking leaving the household without sufficient adult care), stop the rolls to ensure that at least two adult Sims remain. This is to maintain a viable family structure capable of caring for the newborns and other children. But as soon as one of the newborns reach the teen lifestage then off to their grave for whoever was supposed to die via the roll for whoever was saved temporarily by this rule.

Implementing the New Limit: Once you've chosen your new family size limit, this number replaces the original cap of 5 Sims for triggering the death die mechanism. This means that if your household exceeds this new limit, it's time to determine which Sim will meet their fate, ensuring you maintain the balance and challenge of managing a growing family legacy.

Legacy Documentation:

Document each family member's life with paintings or photographs at significant life stages (teen, young adult, adult) and display these near their bedroom or alongside their urns.

You can also use online legacy trackers or a spreadsheet to remember who's who, the game has a maximum of 6 generations so keep this in mind. (Google Sheets is a free option)

Completion
Winning Conditions:

A: Reach a total of 1000 family members, focusing on the human and occult lineage.

Or

B: Complete all jobs, skills, and collections within the game.

Rewards:

Brownie point that's you have 1000 Sim Legacy

That you completed a challenge within a challenge. (See Recommendations and Ideas below)

Losing Conditions:

The challenge is lost if all family members die, the world runs out of non-related Sims, lot runs out of room(for bedrooms), or a family member's life goes undocumented before their death.

Or if one of the Rules above are broken.

Condition to the Rule:

Revived Sims must be properly documented before they can be reintegrated into the challenge. However, their revival is temporary, as they must ultimately face their fate again, aligning with the theme of cyclical legacies and inescapable destiny. (safety net if "...a family member's life goes undocumented before their death..")

You may change one of the rules before the challenge. However once the rules or changed rules have been decided they are final.

Tips and Tricks:

· Plan Your Family Growth: Before expanding your family, have a strategy in place for how you'll manage the household size, especially with the five-Sim limit. Consider the timing of births and the age of your Sims to avoid triggering the death die roll unnecessarily.

· Diversify Skills and Careers Early: Start diversifying your Sims' skills and careers as early as possible. This not only helps in completing the challenge's goal of mastering all jobs and skills but also prepares your Sims for alternative income sources if they lose their job.

· Utilize Space Wisely: Given the single-use bedroom rule, plan your house layout strategically. Think modular or multipurpose rooms that can be easily adapted as your family evolves, without violating the rule.

· Invest in Skill-Building Early: For younger Sims, invest in skill-building activities that don't count as their main skill early on. This gives you a head start on developing versatile Sims who can contribute to the household in various ways.

· Master the Art of Documentation: Set up a dedicated space in your home for legacy documentation, such as a gallery wall or room. Regularly update this area with new photos, paintings, and achievements to keep track of your Sims' contributions and stories.

· Prepare for the Death Die: Always have a plan for each Sim, should they be chosen by the death die. This means knowing what their legacy will be, ensuring they've achieved something notable, and documenting their life before the roll.

· Engage With the Community: If you're streaming or sharing your challenge online, engage with your audience for decisions, using polls for who to add to the family or how to develop your Sims' stories. Viewer interaction can offer fresh perspectives and make the challenge more enjoyable.

· Optimize Occult Sims' Abilities: If including occult Sims, leverage their unique abilities to your advantage. For example, a Vampire’s longevity can be strategic for maintaining skills and wealth over generations, while a Spellcaster can create potions to benefit the household in various ways.

Recommendations and Ideas:

Don't feel like you have to use the Finch last name, be as creative as you like

Use a large Lot, either one of these would work:

40x50

50x50

50x64

64x64

Other.. (if your using Sims 3 or 2 with modded lot sizes)

· Make a mausoleum with basements or use a business lot to organise your urns.

· Use a Sim with high painting or photography skill for the portraits to avoid issues like poor art or gnomes invading the picture.

· Make 8 Sim households to repopulate your worlds so that biodiversity doesn’t dry up.

· Complete other legacy challenges within this challenge like the Not So berry or the Alphabet Legacy

Good Lucky And Happy Collecting.. I mean Simming....


Let me know how you get on with my challenge and I hope you enjoy! A lot of thought and testing went into it so please give it ago, if you are up for it. And be sure to upload you Legacy’s or leave links to them I would love to see where your legacy goes, and I am sure everyone else would love to see them too.

(update: added and fixed a few rule details.)