Sims 2 Challenge: House of Plumbobs

phdsimmer
May 19, 2024
7 min read

Updated: Jan 29

Welcome to the House of Plumbobs Challenge where you will start a new neighbourhood with a certain number of starting families all vying to be the most successful family in a brand new neighbourhood! Your aim is to get each of your starting families to 10 generations and see which family will comes out on top and has the most influence over the development and design of the town.

*Note: you don't have to reach 10 generations of all the family branches, you just need 9 heirs descending down from one of the Sims in each of your starting families through the family tree. This is quite a task so feel free to change this to any number of generations you wish.

This challenge has been adapted from Ryoko’s civilisation challenge. I give them full credit for this idea, I’ve adapted it to suit my own playstyle, added new elements to the challenge and re-named it.

I am playing this off screen and occassionally livestreaming this on my YouTube Channel (Newland Springs is the name of my neighbourhood), stop by and say hi! Feedback is very much welcome and I’ll adjust the rules as required while I playthrough if needed. If you are playing this challenge, let me know I would like to know how you are getting on.

*Note: It’s a game, so change the rules as you see fit to have fun with it for your playstyle. For example. you can choose your Sims aspirations based on their personality instead of their zodiac sign if that’s your playstyle, you can expand upon the treasury/taxation system if you like to play with more complicated tax systems and you can introduce businesses / hospitals / schools / prisons if you like to play with businesses and more integrated hoods. I will be using much of my general gameplay rules which I use for my Pleasantview, but this is not necessary you can use whatever gameplay rules you like.

Setting Up Neighbourhood & Families

Start with a blank map which will be your new custom neighbourhood, you can download a map or create your own one if you wish.
Roll or decide between 3 and 8 for the number of starting families you will start with. Note: the higher the number the harder/longer this challenge will be.
Then roll between 1 and 53 to see what type of sims make up each family (see rollers section down below). You can then make these Sims or download some Sims to use if you like.
Decide which Sim in each household will be considered Gen 1, they must be an Adult and not an Elder or any other life-stage.
Each Sim must have their zodiac sign and primary aspiration chosen by rolling between 1 and 12 and then picking one of the options listed for that number (see rollers section down below).
Roll between 6 and 20 for the funds each family can use to purchase a house at the start of the game (i.e. 6= £6000) then purchase a property and move them in. For cheap houses, I recommend you check out Plastic Box on Mod The Sims.
Roll between £500 and £5000 for the family starting funds after purchasing a home and moving in. This is your starting fund and you must set your family funds to this amount at the start of the game.
If you are using ACR, set each Sims sexuality. Then let ACR randomise future Sims that grow up in the neighbourhood after this.

Mayor & Taxes

Each household pays 10% of the household net worth (including money in bank accounts if you use them) at the start of the round as tax to the town treasury which is controlled by the current Mayor. Bank accounts belonging to teens or younger are not subject to tax. If you like to play with more complex tax systems go ahead and add anything you like to these rules.
The town treasury starts with £50k to start you off. At the end of each round the teasurary is granted £20k, plus all of the tax money generated in that round.
The Mayor at the start of each round can spend money from the treasury how they want - they can be selfish and use the money to build up their own home/businesses/send their kids to Uni/pay their bills/buy a car or they can spend the money to benefit the whole community by unlocking sub-hoods, building community lots, building new houses/apartment buildings, provide welfare benefits to poorer sims etc.
When starting out in Round 1, roll for the Mayor - they should be an adult or elder from one of your starting families and randomly chosen. The first Mayor decides on the first community lot to be built and there is no charge for this, but the value should be below £50k. Choose a community lot that fits the Mayor's aspiration, hobby, interests e.g. a Romance Sim might choose a bar or restaurant, a Family Sim might choose a park with swings/slides, a Knowledge Sim might choose a library, a Sim with a hobby in fitness might choose a Gym.
At the end of each round a new Mayor is chosen. The Mayor is chosen from the family with the most points. Any Adult or Elder Sim within that family can be chosen to be the Mayor, you can roll for it if you wish.

Heirs

Each new child that ages up to teen should have their primary aspiration chosen by their zodiac sign. Sexuality is randomised by ACR if you use this mod.
Each household from your starting families must select an heir for the next generation. If a household has multiple children, roll for the heir. The heir will be allowed to move back in after University (if they go) and inherit the family home and continue the official family line with the aim of reaching 10 generations (or how ever many you choose).
You should also continue the non-heirs family lines but you can end the line if your town is getting too big.
A non-heir sibling can fight their sibling to be heir (1x only), if they win the fight they are the new heir.
If non-heir children have little money after University to buy a house roll their starting funds when they finish Uni (or when they age to an adult if not going to Uni) as described at previously.
Non-heir household points can also be calculated and contribute to their family’s total points, as long as they retain the family surname.
Household names are based on the majority of the last names in the household, of if it's equal it is randomly chosen.
When marrying Sims from two of your starting families you can choose or roll for the surname that will be taken, or pick the family with the most points. Sims in a household earn points for the family the household is named after. This means a Sim that starts off earning points for one family can marry into a different family and start earning points for them.
Children who do not live with both parents, earn points for family of the household they live in even if their last name is different. When they age up and move out on their own, they earn points for the family that match their last name.
Sims and their descendants cannot be put in the family bin and not played. However, you can end the line of non-heir families when you wish but must play the last sim of the line until their death and end the line by not allowing them to have or adopt children.
If Sims or family branches are deliberately killed off you will forfeit points for that family.
Adoption is allowed, but adoptee's must take the households last name. They can be heirs.

Townies

You can add new townies whenever you like, but if you make them in create-a-family you should also randomise their zodiac sign and associated personality as well as their sexuality.
Townies can only marry into your families, they can't start households of their own.
Townies must take the last name of the family they’re marrying into.

Misc

The choice of change card pop ups is determined by a coin flip, heads = option 1, tails = option 2.

Aspiration Roller Roll a random number, then flip a coin to decide the primary aspiration, heads = option 1, tails = option 2.

Aries – Romance/Knowledge
Sagittarius – Knowledge/Fortune
Capricorn – Seeker/Popularity
Aquarius – Popularity/Family
Pisces – Family/Fortune
Cancer – Fortune/Romance
Scorpio – Romance/Seeker
Libra – Knowledge/Family
Leo – Seeker/Fortune
Gemini – Popularity/Romance
Virgo – Family/Knowledge
Taurus – Fortune/Popularity

Household Makeup Roller

*Note: This is the original list from Ryoko’s civilisation challenge and I give them full credit (I removed some that don’t fit this challenge). All unspecified sexualities can be randomised and set via ACR if you use that mod or using any method that works for you.

Single Man
Single Woman
Siblings, Male and Female
Siblings, Male and Male
Siblings, Female and Female
Siblings, Male and Male and Female
Siblings, Male and Male and Male
Siblings, Female and Female and Male
Siblings, Female and Female and Female
Siblings, Male and Male and Male and Female
Siblings, Male and Male and Female and Male
Siblings, Male and Female and Male and Female
Siblings, Male and Female and Female and Female
Siblings, Male and Male and Male and Male
Siblings, Female and Female and Female
Single Man and Toddler
Single Man and Child
Single Man and Teen
Single Man and Toddler and Child
Single Man and Toddler and Teen
Single Man and Teen and Child
Single Man and Child and Child
Single Man and Teen and Teen
Single Woman and Toddler
Single Woman and Child
Single Woman and Teen
Single woman and Toddler and Child
Single Woman and Toddler and Teen
Single woman and Child and Child
Single Woman and Child and Teen
Single Woman and Teen and Teen
Married Couple
Married Couple with one Toddler
Married Couple with one Child
Married Couple with one Teen
Married Couple with two Toddlers
Married Couple with Two Children
Married Couple with Two Teens
Gay/Lesbian Couple
Gay/Lesbian couple and Toddler
Gay/Lesbian Couple and Child
Gay/Lesbian Couple and Teen
Elder and Adult (can be parent and child, or just roomies)
Elder and Two Adults and Toddler
Elder Couple and an Adult
Elder Couple and Two Adults
Elder Couple and Two Adults and Toddler
Elder Couple and Two Adults and Child
Elder Couple and Two Adults and Teen
Elder and Two Adults
Elder and Two Adults and Toddler (the adults can be siblings or married)
Elder and Two Adults and Child
Elder and Two Adults and Teen

Points