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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 7th Apr 2018 at 5:14 PM Last edited by vllygrl : 18th Aug 2018 at 5:08 AM.
Default The Crown of Laurels Challenge
The Kingdom of Blank
Royal Decree
We, Queen Blank of Blank, do Decree:
To rebuild this ravaged Kingdom and ensure its continuation, the Crown Princess’s hand in marriage and the Title of Prince Consort shall be conferred to whichever Baron of Blankshire (1), Blankshire(2), Blankshire(3), or Blankshire(4) first meets all the criteria as outlined herein, thereby achieving a Royal Marriage and enobling his heirs to Royal status. This prize is granted to he who fulfills all of the following requirements:

1.Building
- Those Villages which were destroyed in each Shire shall be reconstructed.
Improvements over the original villages must and shall be an integral part of reconstruction plans, in the areas of fresh water, sanitation, street layout, solid construction and middens.
- Community lots shall be built immediately in each Shire as follows:
- A Village Well with clean water
- A Church or Chapel
- A Graveyard
- 1 Small “Hedge” Tavern,
- 1 Weekly Market Lot (Community Lot Grocery Business),
- 1 Village Green (Town Square)
- Farms and pastures as required
- Housing shall be built for villagers, each according to their station.
- Roads and bridges leading from each Shire to the Castle Town shall be built.

2.Social Each Baron shall:
- Be responsible for the overall health and wellbeing of his villagers, by ensuring conditions are such that every villager has the best possible chance of meeting his or her Lifetime Want and any elders will die in Platinum.
- Retain a midwife and encourage a healthy birth rate by giving a Birth Gift to each family on the birth of every new child.
- Actively recruit new villagers, and must, through birth rate and recruitment, reach a shire population of 60 souls.
- Make and maintain alliances within his Shire as follows: 5 Friends, 3 Best Friends, and 1 Best Friend Forever.
- Increase to maximum his Level of Influence within his Shire and with the Barons of the other three Shires.

3.Economy
- Each shire shall develop and expand their Regional Specialities as follows (these are examples only, feel free to change as desired:
- Blankshire(1) - Silver mining, Blacksmithing, Goats, Cheese making (4)
- Blankshire(2) - Lumber, Acorn-fed Swine, Game Hunting, Foraging (4)
- Blankshire(3) - Salt Works, Fishing, Basketry, Poultry (4)
- Blankshire(4) - Vegetables, Honey/Wax Candles, Sheep, Woolens/Weaving (4)
- Shires shall develop trade by bringing their Regional Specialities to sell at the weekly markets to be held in the Weekly Market Lot every Saturday. (This essential business is to allow the Shires to sell their Regional Specialties. This lot should be owned by the Merchant; he first buys the specialty products from the Shire peasants, hires them as employees at his business to tend their own stall, pays them (low) wages and he keeps the remainder of the income on which he is of course, taxed at tax time).
- Each Baron shall collect taxes and tithes from his villagers once per season, in the amount of 20% of all assets per household; after which:
- Each Baron shall submit taxes to the Crown once per season in the amount of 20% of all of the Manor assets.
- Each Baron shall reach a Shire Value of $600,000 (combined value of all assets of all households, including the Manor).

4.Titles and Honours
Due to the unprecedented loss of the titled lords who fought in the War, it is necessary to reconstruct the aristocracy completely. The Queen therefore in this Decree hereby raises the following worthy Yeomen who have proven evidence in their pedigree to some degree of noble blood, to the rank of nobility and the Title of Baron, and burdens them with the responsibilities and privileges thereto:

1. Baron ______ ______ of Blankshire (1)
2. Baron ______ ______ of Blankshire (2)
3. Baron ______ ______ of Blankshire (3)
4. Baron ______ ______ of Blankshire (4)

Each Baron is granted a Manor House in their Shire, and will also have the opportunities to show their mettle and merit and, if deserving of the honours, shall be granted more advanced titles in the Aristocratic hierarchy as follows:
- Viscount/Viscountess
- Earl/Countess
- Marquis/Marchioness
- Duke/Duchess
Yeomen and Merchants will also have the opportunities to show their mettle and merit and, if deserving of the honours, shall be granted titles in the Gentry hierarchy as follows:
- Knight
- Baronet
Thus and only thus shall the Kingdom of Blank become one people and one realm again, strong and secure against any future wars, and forever forward pledging loyalty unto this Crown. This Decree is effective immediately; defiance of this order is considered treason and is punishable by death.
~So sayeth the Queen & So it shall be~


The Crown of Laurels Challenge
This Challenge is a Variation of the Medieval Charter Challenge.
When in doubt, check the guidelines of the MCC. It may be played in any time period,
as a patriarchy, matriarchy or in an egalitarian style, and with any mods or hacks desired
except for those which would make it easier to accumulate Simoleans or give any Shire an unfair advantage.


Rules of Engagement
1. The Player’s aim is to pit the personalities and skills of the Sims in each Shire against those in the other Shires to see which Shire will win the competition. Since this is somewhat like playing Solitaire, The Player will make a random roll to determine a random occurrence scenario which will affect the individual Shire at the beginning of each round from aelflaed’s Hood-Wide ROS found here: http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...25#startcomment (scroll to post #173), so that each Shire is subjected to the vagaries of Fortune, good or bad, and must overcome a variety of obstacles along the way.

2. A number between 2-4 Shires may be set up to compete for the Crown, although more than 2 will increase the level of challenge substantially. Choose a new neighbourhood terrain which has 2-4 separate areas for creating each Shire, plus an area for the Castle and Castle Town. The area of a Shire is made up of a Manor House, a Village with cottages, and outlying farms, fields and pastures.

3. Each shire starts with these households: 1 Noble Household (Baron - unmarried), 1 Gentry Household (Knight), 1 Merchant Household, 1 Yeoman Household, 2-5 Peasant Households (check the guidelines of the MCC for information on amounts allowed for each station for setting up lots and starting bank accounts). The Player may use random dice rolls to determine the make-up of each Household. The number of Sims per household is up to the Player, but it is an advantage to fill households with as many Sims as possible; if random rolls are used and a second adult male is rolled in a household, he must leave the household and start a new household at the same station as his original household. Each Family starts with their original home lot, and second born sons are permitted to own a home lot; however, third and later born sons must either live with family or join the monastery and may not start their own home lot. Sims should marry within their own class whenever possible, and may marry outside of their home Shire. Keep in mind that as the challenge progresses, new households will be added in each Round.

4. Once The Player has completed the Set-up process, each Shire will be played one at a time, and each household will be played in Rotation; when all Rotations in a Shire are completed, that makes one Round. (It is suggested that Rotations last for 1 Season, but Rotation length is up to The Player — Rotations must be kept consistent, however, so that no one Shire has an advantage).

For example, if the Player chooses to have 2 Shires:
- Round 1, Shire #1
 Roll dice to determine which random occurrence scenario will be enacted in Shire #1 for this Round.
- Rotation 1: The Baron’s Household (Noble)
- Rotation 2: The Knight’s Household (Gentry)
- Rotation 3: The Merchant’s Household
- Rotation 4: The Yeoman’s Household
- Rotation 5: Peasant #1’s Household
- Rotation 6: Peasant #2’s Household
- Rotations 5+: other Peasant Households
- Rotation 6+: Add 1 new CAS Peasant, Yeomanry, Merchant or Gentry (Knight or Baronet) Household and play for one season
- Build a new Community Lot according to the list (Fairgrounds - Park)
 Residents of the Shire pay their taxes to the Baron; he pays his taxes to the Crown.

- Round 2, Shire #2
 Roll dice to determine which random occurrence scenario will be enacted in Shire #2 for this Round.
- Rotation 1: The Baron’s Household (Noble)
- Rotation 2: The Knight’s Household (Gentry)
- Rotation 3: The Merchant’s Household
- Rotation 4: The Yeoman’s Household
- Rotation 5: Peasant #1’s Household
- Rotation 6: Peasant #2’s Household
- Rotations 5+: other Peasant Households
- Rotation 6+: Add 1 new CAS Peasant, Yeomanry, Merchant or Gentry (Knight or Baronet) Household
 Build a new Community Lot according to the list (Fairgrounds - Park)
 Residents of the Shire pay their taxes to the Baron; he pays his taxes to the Crown.

- Round 3, Shire #1
 Roll dice to determine which random occurrence scenario will be enacted in Shire #1 for this Round.
- Rotation 1: The Baron’s Household (Noble)
- Rotation 2: The Knight’s Household (Gentry)
- Rotation 3: The Merchant’s Household
- Rotation 4: The Yeoman’s Household
- Rotation 5: Peasant #1’s Household
- Rotation 6: Peasant #2’s Household
- Rotations 5+: other Peasant Households
- Rotation 6+: Add 1 new CAS Peasant, Yeomanry, Merchant or Gentry (Knight or Baronet) Household
 Build a new Community Lot according to the list (Additional (nicer) Tavern)
 Residents of the Shire pay their taxes to the Baron; he pays his taxes to the Crown.

- Round 4, Shire #2
 Roll dice to determine which random occurrence scenario will be enacted in Shire #2 for this Round.
- Rotation 1: The Baron’s Household (Noble)
- Rotation 2: The Knight’s Household (Gentry)
- Rotation 3: The Merchant’s Household
- Rotation 4: The Yeoman’s Household
- Rotation 5: Peasant #1’s Household
- Rotation 6: Peasant #2’s Household
- Rotations 5+: other Peasant Households
- Rotation 6+: Add 1 new CAS Peasant, Yeomanry, Merchant or Gentry (Knight or Baronet) Household
 Build a new Community Lot according to the list (Additional (nicer) Tavern)
 Residents of the Shire pay their taxes to the Baron; he pays his taxes to the Crown.
Rinse & Repeat as needed.

5. Recruitment and Birth Rate are important - each Shire must add 1 new CAS Household per Round and has the choice of adding a new Peasant, Yeomanry, Merchant or Gentry (Knight or Baronet) Household, which is then included in the Rotations for that Shire. Reaching a Shire population of 60 Sims is a requirement, so having many children who grow up, marry, and have their own children, and also second sons who can start their own Households are essential!

6. Each Shire starts out with Residential Lots as needed, which should be built as much as possible according to MCC Lot Building and Furnishings Guidelines.
1) Additionally, each Shire starts out with
2) 1 Small and lowly “Hedge” Tavern (owned by a Yeoman)
3) 1 Church/Chapel,
4) 1 Graveyard,
5) 1 Weekly Market Lot (This essential business is to allow the Shires to sell their Regional Specialties. This lot should be owned by the Merchant; he first buys the specialty products from the Shire peasants, hires them as employees at his business to tend their own stall, pays them (low) wages and he keeps the remainder of the income on which he is of course, taxed at tax time).
6) 1 Village Green (Town Square)

7. Community Lot Building Order - build one per Round per Shire, in this order:
- Round 1 - Fairgrounds (Park)
- Round 2 - Additional (nicer) Tavern (must be Merchant owned Community Lot)
- Round 3 - Business of your choice (must be Merchant owned Community Lot)
- Round 4 - Sporting Field
- Round 5 - Business of your choice (must be Merchant owned Community Lot)

8. After playing through 3 Rounds, each Shire is required to build one of the following Community Lots: Almshouse - a residence for the poor, elderly and insane; Foundling Home - orphanage; or Cloister/Monastery - residence for nuns & monks respectively (see MCC guidelines for more information about the set-up of each of these types of lots). If the Player has only 2 Shires, then choose to build one or two per Shire as desired. Each of these lots may be populated with an Abbess/Abbot or Prioress/Prior and 7 other Sims consisting of orphans, elders, the sick or infirm, nuns and monks, either “extras” from other Households in any of the Shires or CAS Sims, and then must be played in Rotation. The Almshouse survives on donations from the shire; the Foundling Home survives on income from selling goods from the Lemonade Stand, Little Baker Oven (medieval recolor http://modthesims.info/d/234070), paintings and small scale gardening or whatever else the orphans can do to raise simoleans; the Cloister and Monastery get their income from either a vineyard and winery, or weaving.

9. A Castle complex may be built with as many lots as desired and may also include a Castle village with shops, etc. The Player may decide to plan out the basic Castle/Village layout near the beginning of the challenge, and then fully develop that area later in the challenge. The Castle should be populated by a Monarch, a Crown Princess or Crown Prince, and a Royal Steward and may include other Sims as the Player wishes.

10. The first Baron to achieve all the criteria of the challenge according to the decree and the guidelines is married to the Crown Princess, given the new title of Prince Consort, and moves into the castle. The Knight in his Shire gets promoted to the rank of Baron. Once the challenge is complete, either continue to play your Shires and Castle as they are, or add complexity to your game by adding new Shires, building each from scratch.
~

Note: I strongly suggest you download the challenge from the download link at the bottom of the post because it is laid out more clearly and easier to read - it is all here in this post but harder to read because it's not formatted.

Disclaimer: Not for one minute do I imagine I have complete authenticity or 100% historical accuracy in this challenge! If you see any glaring omissions or dreadfully inaccurate information, please, let me know and feel free to adjust as you see fit. However, this is the Sims. I expect to play a game, just for fun, and in the process I may stretch reality, history or facts at any moment without warning. Thank you for joining me in the suspension of disbelief. Copyright Vllygrl; This is my own original work, please do not copy or upload the whole or part of this document and claim it as your own writing. Thank you.
Attached files:
File Type: zip  Vllygrl's Crown of Laurels Challenge.zip (32.0 KB, 91 downloads) - View custom content

Find all of my Challenges in MTS Sims 2 Challenges "Ye Olde" Section:
Vllygrl's By George! Regency Play Style/Challenge; Regency/Victorian ROS;
The Medieval Charter Challenge & ROS for MCC;
The Crown of Laurels Challenge; & Besieged! New Medieval Challenge & Medieval ROS.
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Field Researcher
#2 Old 7th Apr 2018 at 11:31 PM
Hi Vllygrl! It's VT - remember me? I was the crazy Simmer from the old official TS2 site who was always creating new settings for historical challenges. And guess what? I'm actually really inspired to do something like that with your recent creations!

I've been kicking around the idea of doing the MCC for a long time, but never followed through as it seemed like the key aspect was my least favourite task - building. This version, though, has a goal beyond building cities - so I'll give it a go! I'm going to set it up as an alternate universe of my nearly-11-years-old tribal hood Kulo Seeri, with the society being a mashup of their own unique culture and a matriarchal adaptation of the social structure in your Regency playstyle guide. Want to hear my backstory?

Tough. I'm going to post it anyway.

For generations, the Nuidya tribe of Kulo Seeri has been ruled by the mi-Avira clan - an unbroken bloodline of eldest twin daughters stretching back to the tribe's legendary founder, Sena Yuleng. However, following an attempted revolt that left the village in ruins, young Marus zan-Avira suddenly finds himself the last of his clan... and he can't be headwoman. In fact, none of the three core clans has a female heir left. So - since male leaders are thought to bring down all sorts of ancestral wrath - it is decided that the four remaining daughters of the non-core clans will be raised in status and compete to rebuild the Nuidya territory, with the winner of the contest being awarded Marus' hand in marriage and the title of headwoman. Until then, Marus' aunt Mahali is acting as headwoman regent. (This detail inspired me to bring bits of the Regency challenge into it.)

Makes sense? (Knowing me, probably not.) Wait! There's another catch: the Prophecy of Viru, which goes a little something like this: Should the mi-Avira bloodline ever be broken, the tribe will fall into ruin, and time and custom shall be forever altered. So, broken bloodline? Check. Ruined tribe? Check. Altered timeline and customs? Yup... the survivors of this cataclysmic war suddenly find themselves in a vaguely British-Regency-esque version of their homeland, with no memory of the simple hunter-gatherer lifestyle of their past. So here we are, at the start of the challenge.

Thanks for posting all your challenge and playstyle ideas!

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Home of my Kulo Seeri Test of Time and a lot of worldbuilder rambling. You have been warned.
Instructor
Original Poster
#3 Old 8th Apr 2018 at 4:55 AM
Hi VT, of course I remember - we had some great chats, eh?!

Once again, your awesome talent for world-building and seeing the potential in any challenge have blossomed and you have come up with an incredible take on my new Regency Plays Style - I'm tickled pink that you have invested your formidable imagination into it! I love, love, love it! :lovestruc Your ideas will launch Kulo Seeri into a fascinating new dimension - can't wait to read more! I expect you'll keep your Traits and Elements system as part of it?

You're welcome, I guess that's where my imagination often takes me - challenge and play style ideas for the sims!
P.S. I'm glad your keyboard and external hard drive suffered no damage from their dunking - yikes!

Find all of my Challenges in MTS Sims 2 Challenges "Ye Olde" Section:
Vllygrl's By George! Regency Play Style/Challenge; Regency/Victorian ROS;
The Medieval Charter Challenge & ROS for MCC;
The Crown of Laurels Challenge; & Besieged! New Medieval Challenge & Medieval ROS.
Test Subject
#4 Old 12th Apr 2018 at 3:43 AM
Hey Vllygrl. I really like what I've read of this challenge. It's kind of like your MCC, but not really! I've been playing around with the idea of a MCC/WRC mega-hood for a long time, where the main 'hood is the Royal court, and then there are 4 sub 'hoods, each with unique culture, imports/exports, genetic characteristics, names etc. This challenge works really well for what I have envisioned. I have downloaded the zip file, and look forward to reading through the challenge. I probably won't start playing it for a while, but I like planning. Thanks for your effort and, as always, awesome work!
Instructor
Original Poster
#5 Old 12th Apr 2018 at 4:30 AM
Thanks very much, Niam_h! You're so welcome and I'm so glad you like it! If it fits in with your vision of gameplay, that is awesome and I'm honoured to think I may play a small part in that! The whole idea of this variation on the MCC is one I've been mulling over for a long time as well, just wanting more the feel of a larger connection between smaller villages/groups of sims who may be vying for power or survival, or ...? It opens up some interesting possibilities and storytelling! Let us know how your planning goes and what you create!
Cheers, Vllygrl

Find all of my Challenges in MTS Sims 2 Challenges "Ye Olde" Section:
Vllygrl's By George! Regency Play Style/Challenge; Regency/Victorian ROS;
The Medieval Charter Challenge & ROS for MCC;
The Crown of Laurels Challenge; & Besieged! New Medieval Challenge & Medieval ROS.
Instructor
Original Poster
#6 Old 15th May 2018 at 11:52 PM
Hello all,
Just to answer some questions about The Weekly Market Lot -- it is the essential business needed by each Shire to allow the Shires to sell their Regional Specialties and a way they can compete. This is a community lot owned by the Merchant; he first buys the specialty products from the Shire peasants, hires them as employees at his business to tend their own stall, pays them (low) wages and he keeps the remainder of the income on which he is of course, taxed at tax time.

There are many ways in which the player can set this up, depending on how they prefer to run the business and on if they like to use mods or not, but here is one option which might work well for any player using mods:

Here is a tip for running your Weekly Market Lot: use Monique's Automatic Payment Mod http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=203984 and have the Merchant owning the lot set the weekly amount which each peasant has to pay to "rent" their own stall, and then also set the amount which the Merchant pays each peasant for their goods; once the player has determined pricing and set up the mod, it is done automatically every week. Have the Merchant hire someone to run the till or run it himself while he keeps an eagle eye on business!

Find all of my Challenges in MTS Sims 2 Challenges "Ye Olde" Section:
Vllygrl's By George! Regency Play Style/Challenge; Regency/Victorian ROS;
The Medieval Charter Challenge & ROS for MCC;
The Crown of Laurels Challenge; & Besieged! New Medieval Challenge & Medieval ROS.
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