Ummm... what?! (A slight legacy-related problem)

[strangetomato]

I'm really blowing this legacy thing, guys. Like, really, really effin' it all up. Well, for one, I'm still playing, and it's supposed to be done on Friday, but I think I can get it all together by them. It's really near the end. But... well, I'm doing something a little unconventional, and making my own judgement call on how to work it. I think it all still works out fairly by the rules, but I've had a last-minute "oops" and I'm wondering what to do.




Okay, I'll cut right to the chase. Some of my potential heirs are plantsims. I assume it's "legal" because the ideal plantsim is Maxis stock, just like the PT. The way I made it fair from a character development point of view, is to have the plantbabies born much later than the other candidate for heir (who was a teen before they were sprouted). I decided to allow the plantsims to continue to linger on as adults until the "normal" sim became one. I figured it was only fair that they could continue to live and develop their stories too, since they have such a short lifespan from toddler to adult (though, obviously, they have a clear advantage in the skill point department, so I'm not intentionally skilling them much).

So that seems fair, right? If not, well I've blown it already, but we'll just have to deal with it.

The REAL issue here is this:




Freakin' Ira Inada. (Cool name, though.) He's the sort of modified Face One, Michael Stipe look-alike cowboy who gets summoned out of the magic wishing well to be your sweet little baby boy's true love. Oh, and his BABY DADDY too. Cy was a TODDLER only days earlier, and I had no idea he was gay (he wasn't set, so the well decided for me... or maybe it was ACR).  I completely forgot that I added the Preg For All Genders hack for the purposes of alien and half-alien breeding, and, well, I really didn't expect Cy to TRY FOR BABY his very first time.

They weren't even in love yet. o_O

But his secondary aspiration is family, and he seems to have had a 62% chance of wanting to try for baby. Did I check that? No. Did I remember that I set the risky woohoo at it's max level? No. (Not that it mattered. I NEVER get the risky woohoo babies. It's always the sneaky "try for baby" ones.) I wasn't even thinking about him getting mpreg, because I haven't been playing with that hack in place much... at least not with many same sex couples, so it didn't come up.

This is what I get for trying to be clever and using plantsims, but I really wanted the pointy ears and Nyssa didn't get knocked up by any of the townies I generated that had them. I even had that gothic fairy downtownie guy, but she didn't meet him. So plantsims seemed like such a good idea at the time.

So... what would you do here? I love the twist, and the sim breeder inside me refuses to just abort the pregnancy. It might be a bit much to try to work into the story, but I'm sure I could (the story is WAY convoluted as it is, so it should fit right in). Do you think this is okay, as long as the baby stays behind? I think I could make it make sense.

Or... I could let him have the baby, but keep it completely out of the story and "official" legacy entry.

Advice? I'm all ears.

P.S. Ira Inada is one of those extra downtownie templates, so you could spawn one of your very own, if you like him. Watch out, though. He has those sneaky "creep out of the well and impregnate your innocent plantsim" ways. And he rocks a cowboy hat like nobody's business.

Yessir... ACR sure does make things interesting.



 

Comments

[sadieg79.livejournal.com]

Well, you technically blew it when you installed ACR, since you're not meant to have any mods, so I don't see how a male preggers by a townie would be a problem at this point.

And yes, plantsims are perfectly legal - in fact, if you're playing for points you'd score for black sheep on that one. Hell, alien heirs are allowed if the "mother" is the previous heir. Although since you're using mods, you wouldn't be able to keep score anyway - and besides, isn't the legacy challenge just another way to keep the game entertaining for us?

I wouldn't worry about it. Except maybe trying to decide who to use for the next gen heir, since you seem to have quite a few choices now... ;)

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

There are so many legacies that have ACR, so I don't think having it in the game isn't considered cheating anymore. Anyway, it wouldn't matter anyway since I know damn well that music_simbol has ACR (and inteen?) and she did a generation for this round robin legacy too. In that case, if having ACR is actually cheating, these people blew it a long time ago. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

No, ACR is okay in the rules for the Round Robin legacy. We're not playing for points, but the rules are strict about breeding and things like mods that offer an unfair advantage in any way, aside from ACR. I still have annoyance hacks and things like that too, but I overlooked the preg for all hack. Since I was working with a straight female heir, it shouldn't have been an issue. Then this happened.

I still have only three options for heir. There are more children than that (and now grandchildren)... but only three legitimate heirs.

isn't the legacy challenge just another way to keep the game entertaining for us?

I would say yes, but I'm sort of required to follow the round robin rules (if I was playing just for myself, I'd be a lot looser). I was doing so well too. I was pushing it, in places, but everything was mostly by the book up until now.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

This really, really does make things interesting. I have NO idea what *I* would do.

So, Cy is the Plantsim baby of Nyssa? *squee*

Honestly, I don't think it would be far to whoever's next in line if the heir is already pregnant, but it would make a cool story twist. But I think Cy shouldn't be in the running for heir. Is that an option? *checks*

Oh, then keep his baby for your SEKRIT purposes and not let it make it into the Official Chapter.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's right. Cy's her son.

I was thinking more like he'd have the baby, and then move on as heir without it (leaving him/her behind with Mom and the rest of the crew). I wouldn't send him on pregnant, since thet would be hard to work out anyway. This would just be like a past thing, just like a teenage romance, except slightly more complicated.

OR... I could just pretend it didn't happen. Have him move on, just like the other three potential heirs. He might not get picked, either way, but letting him have the baby gives him a more detailed backstory. I don't know if that really matters, though. The next person can choose to ignore it, or explain it away, or they might even want to work it into their own story as history.

It's hard to know what to do, because I really didn't see prenancy as something I would have to contend with here.

So you're thinking secret babby? I could do that, and it would be less drama heaped on drama. This story is all over the place as it is. :P It's been a fun ride, but what a mess.

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

and, well, I really didn't expect Cy to TRY FOR BABY his very first time.

He made a pact with all his toddler friends to get pregnant, so that they can have ~unconditional love~

I think either way seems fine. I don't really what to say, haha. ~braindead~

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

They're plantsims. They just sprout babies and spores of happiness out all day for a laugh. He just thought it was all about babies, I guess.

Do plantsim babies that are created the traditional way come out as plantsims or normal sims? It will be interesting if the baby is "normal." It will also make it easier to explain why Cy wouldn't have the baby when he moves on. It fits my story logic, but I won't go into details just yet...

I thought about how funny an all plantsim legacy would be. It would take five minutes to do, every heir would have the same personality, all the skill points, and after a couple of generations everyone would probably be clones of the ideal plantsim, unless there were some really strong dominent facial features that lingered on. I think it would be funny.

[moofable.livejournal.com]

Keep the baby. It allows you/the person after you to explore prejudices. After all, with being a supper natural sim, being gay, and being a pregnant dude (let alone recent adult and first time), other sims are sure to look at him a little funny.

Whoever plays next should have the option of deciding if the baby goes with him or not (so long as, of course, the baby is not considered a legal heir).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's what I'd like to do, I think, but I'm going to let him have the baby before he leaves (there'll be just enough time). I don't want to give away the reasons why, but there'll be a good story explanation (in fantasy terms) for the baby to be left behind.

Yes, I agree. The baby could even be a character for the next player, if they want to do that, but he/she wouldn't be an heir candidate, because that's not fair.

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

I don't like aborting simbabies. Which is funny, because I'm prochoice in real life. *the irony*

Twist is great. Keep the babby! And keep it in the storyline. It will be...interesting. :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way. Actually, I'm pretty sure I would never be able to abort a baby in real life either (depending on the situation, of course), but I still consider myself prochoice for the most part. I do think that everyone should be able to decide for themselves.

Sim babies, though... how could I deny myself the fun genetic surprise?

Yeah... I like the idea of doing that, and I think I can leave enough of an "out" for the next player if they don't want to touch that backstory at all. It's nice to know that other's think it's okay too, so I don't leave everyone in a big WTF moment at the end of my entry. :P

[(Anonymous)]

ACR is fun, isn't it? My family sims are always autonomously trying for baby too; sometimes I don't even realize what's happening until I hear the lullaby, and then they have to have a shotgun wedding right then. If I had pregnancy for all, I'd probably have babies coming out my ears.

ACR can set sexual preference, but only if you explicitly tell it to (one fun thing to to do is to have it randomly roll the whole neighborhood; college gets really interesting when the dormies all have set sexual preferences). Did he maybe inherit his mother's preference, since he was spawned?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I only put the Preg for All in recently, for someone in my prosperity hood, and I really did completely forget about it, since it hasn't been relevant at all yet (thankfully, college kids can't get preggers).

Oh, really? I didn't know that. I was wondering if it randomly assigned it. There's a setting for that somewhere, though, right? You can decide the percentage of different sexualities, I think.

My dormies are always half gay anyway, I swear. I think it's built in by Maxis.

The idea about inheriting the mother's preference is interesting. They are alike in most other ways (but not zodiac or hobby, or a number of other small details).

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

ps: lol the cowboy has Elvis hair under his hat.

Also!

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

How does he not get hat hair? How does his hair maintain such perfect volume?! I NEED HIS SECRETS.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, he has MANY charms.

[laridian.livejournal.com]

Being the rules creator ;) I'd say you'd never should've let him get pregnant in the first place; after all, potential heirs shouldn't get to do anything while waiting for the other potential heirs to grow up. ;)

Having said that, I'd recommend leaving it up to the next player whether or not to take the kid along, as they may already have some ideas about what to do in their generation.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Is there no consideration for the fact that the plantsims only have three days before they become adults? I figured they could do a couple of things, like have their first kiss, at least, and build hobbies, etc.

Obviously, the pregnancy was an accident, so it's a bit late to prevent it not. :P Yeah, I let my guard down, but I really didn't see it coming.

If you want, I can make it so it never happened. You make the rules, as you said.

But I agree that asking the next player would be the best thing. It's obviously an anomaly, but they might think it's interesting. And I discovered that planning ahead for your generation can only get you so far. You really have to wait to catch the potential curve ball thrown at you, but it's part of the fun, isn't it? ;)

Anyway, thanks for going easy on me. I was sort of expecting to be in more trouble.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

*snicker* "My baby got pregnant!"

Don't fret. This doesn't reflect badly on you. You're not a bad "mom".

I'm with laridian. Go with it and let the voters decide if they want to take on a partially started next generation. (I personally like the idea of getting a slightly used generation).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

They grow up so fast. *snicker*

Mom should have given him "the talk" or something. I wasn't even thinking about pregnancy, especially with him being a male and all (I totally forgot about that hack, and it really shouldn't have been a factor in the legacy).

Yeah, me too. You'd be given something to work with, and they could always just drop it too. It's there if they want to play with it, and it doesn't even matter unless he gets chosen as heir.

I PMed seidoo_ryuu, so I'll see what direction she'd like me to take. If she doesn't like it, I can just hide it away for the outtakes (with BONUS BABY FOOTAGE!).

[hviw.livejournal.com]

Sorry if this is a dumb question or if it's been answered here (I don't think it has but I've been known to miss things like that). How do you get that window to pop up? Do you have to have ACR or some other mod installed or do you just type in a cheat code?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Those are both ACR windows. One is generated from the pregnancy menu (pregnancy scanner, I believe), and the other is what you get when you display the ACR tokens for that sim.

[zepheera.livejournal.com]

Man, now I really wish I'd seen the original post early enough to sign up for this! This round robin looks like a blast.

I hope you get the go ahead to keep the "unplanned blessing" in the story, that'd be such fun to play with.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It will probably run again, or maybe you could find some other people who wanted to do it at legacy_writers. I've heard mention of other people looking to start this up, but I can't remember who it was for the life of me. Anyone know?

I'm thinking we will keep him there, as an optional backstory. I'm going to leave it as open as I can.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

LMAO at the "He has those sneaky "creep out of the well and impregnate your innocent plantsim" part. That just cracked me up so much. :D