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Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 8:11 PM Last edited by Pideli : 15th Jan 2019 at 7:53 AM.
Default Tips for fantasy/mythological nbh
I'm currently playing a mythological nbh which is kind of like a mix between Greek & Egyptian mythology and Lord of the Rings. I initially planned to only have gods of different levels, elves, orchs and people. But after watching the whole LOTR trilogy over the holidays I feel I want to incorporate more of LOTR. But since the game only offers one type of magical being, I don't have many ideas how to make elves different from wizards, except purely visually. So maybe someone here could give me some fun ideas? What rules should be different between elves and wizards? I already have the distinction between gods and elves - gods have unnatural skincolors and their own set of rules, and elves have to drink the elixir of life to never age past 29 days left to elder, or else they become orchs.

I also have a clear idea how to incorporate Nazgûls into it, they are wizards and vampires, since they can't stand sunlight.
And for the wizards I have one idea, that if they die, they get a second life and a power up, just like Gandalf. But other than that I don't know what would make them that different from elves. :/

Also, does anyone know if it's possible to have duels of some sort? Sword or with magic. I know you can kill someone with a sword (a download), but there isn't much chance in that, is it? It was a long time ago I used one so I don't remember.
Sorry, I'm rambling Sims 2 isn't a very fantasy-friendly game so sometimes I need help with ideas
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 8:47 PM
Honestly, my recommendation for a fantasy/mythology 'hood would be not to try to copy any preexisting franchise/universe/whatever... as you point out, there are too many in-game limitations stopping that from working as smoothly as you'd like, even with mods. Instead, I'd suggest looking at what is available from the game (and a few mods, if you're so inclined) and inventing your own universe from there.

Just as an example, not necessarily what you'd want to copy specifically:

My supernatural subhood, Darkwood Hollow, is populated by witch/warlock Sims that represent the "normal" Sim for that neighborhood. Everyone becomes a witch/warlock upon reaching adolescence, and they follow the good/evil paths as their own nature leads them. That essentially creates your baseline, and makes it clear that the entire place will be magical. Vampirism and Lycanthropy are viewed as curses, and so even though Sims who become vampires or werewolves will also be witches/warlocks, the rest of the community shuns them, and they usually don't find as much use for their magic as they are forced into slums or wilderness areas. Zombies are played as ghoul servants, so they are usually resurrected from the poor of the neighborhood as undead servants for the wealthy, rather than brain-eating fiends (like Romero zombies would be). PlantSims and Bigfoots are essentially nature spirits, living off in their own and interacting occasionally with the regular witch/warlock population, but having a fundamentally different approach to life (this seems like the closest I've got to the elf/mortal dichotomy from Tolkien, just because of how they are separate populations and cultures)

Like I said, I don't imagine you'll want to copy mine exactly (or even all that closely), but it gives a feel for a mythology that works with the options existing in the game, rather than trying to shoehorn in something else, and struggling with the shortcomings that will inevitably result.

Welcome to the Dark Side...
We lied about having cookies.
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#3 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 9:48 PM
Interesting, and good points!
It actually started as my own mythology, only inspired from LOTR and different mythologies, so I did follow that approach first, creating the mythology with ts2's limitations in mind.
But I do love to try to shoehorn all my fantasies into the game and it does work fairly well most of the time
Although I guess sometimes I'll just have to settle for the superficial. Maybe I'll try to come up with own set of goals for the different "species".
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#4 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 10:28 PM
Dueling swords were from simwardrobe.

You might want to make your elves all be plant sims. There is a mod out by midge to give them magical abilities.

There is an abduction mod by hat called 'abducted by fairies.

Just a few disjointed thoughts. I'm still asleep.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#5 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 10:56 PM
Personally, I was worldbuilding before I could walk, so I find coming up with my own rulesets for different cultures and species - often using a ton of downloaded stuff - offers more play options than just sticking with the game's standard supernatural choices. Part of the challenge is balancing creativity with the limitations of the game, and/or your selection of mods. Have a few examples from my hood, Kulo Seeri, which has nearly 12 years of in-game worldbuilding behind it:

First of all, not all Sims who I treat as magical in my game are supernatural types, or even non-human species created with CC. In fact I try to use my own rules rather than TS2's default supernaturals where possible. The thirteen different species known to be present in my Sims' universe are made with CC, with the exception of dryads (who are really plantsims). Most Sims in Kulo Seeri are human with some dragonish blood; a couple are fae or changelings. They tend to live in peace with other species, but they have different attitudes to EAxis supernaturals - zombies, vampires and golems (Servos) are shunned as "unnatural", witches are respected and slightly feared, and werewolves, especially female ones, are revered (as the wolf is a symbol of the head goddess Avira in Kulo Seeri culture). Bigfoot, if present in my game, would also be shunned since cats don't like him. Cats are sacred to my Sims, they always win.

Um... I'm trying to think of other things to say, but drawing a blank. It's nearly 11pm in my neck of the woods and I'm sleepy, so I'll leave it there. (Probably just as well, since I could ramble all day!)

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Home of my Kulo Seeri Test of Time and a lot of worldbuilder rambling. You have been warned.
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#6 Old 6th Jan 2019 at 11:56 PM
joandsarah77: Those were good disjointed thoughts! Thanks! I'll have use of the swords.
Not sure I want to make the elves into plantsims though. I prefer them to need to eat, sleep, etc. I need more things to do with my sims, not less!
Maybe if I incorporate the Ents at some point or something...

nuidyaforever: Haha, thanks for the inspiration!
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#7 Old 7th Jan 2019 at 12:13 AM
There's the magical plantsim mod http://midgethetree.tumblr.com/post...ability-to-cast

What I would like is a mod to make plantsims still need to eat and sleep. Apart from that I think they make very good fae.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Alchemist
#8 Old 7th Jan 2019 at 12:35 AM
I would start by mapping out the differences between the magical types in the books and looking for ways to incorporate them into the game. According to the quick glance I took at wikipedia, elves are supposed to be beautiful and artistic, so maybe elves have maxed creativity skill and free access to the love potion, or they wish for beauty on the genie lamp.

I'm in the process of setting up a magical hood, and one of my plans is to restrict some of the more supernatural interactions to certain classes of Sims. For example, only fairies, certain witches and plantsims can talk to plants, only ___ can interfere with death (plead for loved one and call the grim reaper) etc.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 11th Jan 2019 at 9:07 PM
...and for me, since Sims are all ..well, just SIMS; I change personalities and interests to whatever seems right to be for they type of creature they are.

Stand up, speak out. Just not to me..
Alchemist
#10 Old 11th Jan 2019 at 9:20 PM
Just some ideas I had... I'd probably make them different visually, too, but then also separate the types of magic so one type has only the light spells and one dark or something like that. I renamed all my spells to make them easier for me to read, so I might change them again somehow to reflect that one is Elven magic and one Wizard or something like that. I like the magic plantsims idea, too. I like things to happen effortlessly and autonomously and I don't keep up with rules, so I'd probably look for mods to make some things happen for one and not the other, maybe tied to inventory items, or maybe lifestages. I don't age, so I could maybe make all elves teens and restrict activities that way... or something. I'd also likely use some research I did recently on Norse mythology that said that elves were semi-divine and closely tied to the gods and they had a lot of interaction with humans, where gods didn't always. So, maybe they'd have different relationships set, too. It also said that giants weren't orginally thought of as large, but as "devourers" - maybe all the orcs or giants or something would be grouchy and attack a lot - maybe I could make them behave like I did my zombies where they satisfy hunger, bladder, and hygiene by attacking sims....
Alchemist
#11 Old 11th Jan 2019 at 9:56 PM
Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings) seemed to get inspiration from Norse Mythology for much of his fiction.

for looks, various custom content might be able to help.
actual effects; like another poster told, there may be limits even with mods/hacks.
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#12 Old 12th Jan 2019 at 1:02 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
[In Norse mythology] elves were semi-divine and closely tied to the gods and they had a lot of interaction with humans, where gods didn't always.

That's exactly my elves!! Their parents and one sibling are gods, and before the next generation, they have to move out since humans are not allowed to have any contact with gods, but the elves can. (The next generation will be elves and humans.)
Just a fun sidenote
I guess I have some Norse mythology in there as well then! :D
Alchemist
#13 Old 13th Jan 2019 at 2:46 AM
You know, I was reading this thread on the way home sometime last week and then I completely forgot I wanted to post! Anyway, I don't know much about LOTR and I'm not sure if you are still looking for ideas, Pideli, but the way I would approach this is that elves and wizards would have different mindsets and perspectives about life that would in turn affect how they live and how they use their magic. And then yes, I would use some cc to give some more options for powers.

So it looks like your elves will have close relations/general contact with the gods and will live longer--what would that do to a person's ego and how would it affect their behavior? Seems like that troupe of elves acting superior would apply here and then maybe because of that, they start to eventually shun humans. And maybe because they live longer they take longer to make decisions--especially life-changing ones. They've got plenty of time after all. So perhaps your elves spend more of their lives finding themselves or focusing on other aspects of their lives before getting married and having kids. And you could play that out in game in a few ways, from resetting their uni clocks (if they go) or making it mandatory for all newly adult elves to go on like a religious quest. The proper word is escaping me, but basically they might journey to a religious site or go on a trip where they can do a few rituals to signify growing up. Or it can be a little like a Rumspringa and they can be sent off to live somewhere else for a few days and just go wild doing whatever. (I hope this all makes sense!)

Anyway, you can even take all that one step further and restrict what interactions they do because of their beliefs. For example, maybe because making a decision can be a longer process, maybe choice and free will would be more important and almost sacred to the elves. So they wouldn't use spells and magics that take that away--so no love potion, voodoo doll, Compello Acceptus, Mactoamicus, Extractum Amorus, or cool shades, etc. And maybe they see magic differently; maybe it's not good and evil magic but rather everyday magic and battle magic. Like some spells are the ones they use all the time to better their lives and make things easier for them and the "evil" spells are just some things they can do in case they ever are attacked. And maybe since they have a closer relation to the gods, Appello Cattus Amicus has a different meaning/use--their familiar is a lesser god who helps protect & guide them while wizards can't cast the spell at all.

Wizards, on the other hand, might be more prone to instant gratification--if there is a way to do something with magic, if magic can save time & energy, well, they're going to do it. So maybe it's wizards who created genie lamps and career/aspiration rewards, and are the only ones who use them. (While elves look down on such stuff and so they find a way to destroy them if they find them.) Maybe the most powerful wizards have a voodoo doll and use it to control people at will. But maybe all this power causes a rift in the community and communities are further divided into those who use magic to help others and those who use it to be selfish. And on and on and on.

I hope that gives you an idea of the types of things you can come up with? If you are looking for cc to incorporate more magic, there are extra potions and genie witches out there and Black Spirit's more powerful voodoo. There's Bonehilda mods, one that makes Bonehilda a spectral assistant (custom NPC warning) and one that makes her a servo--either can be a good option if you are looking for more magical servants. And Pandora sims has a spell set that's available on the booty. (I keep meaning to try that one.) Then there are mods to make spells available to all regardless of alignment (If you want to keep the spell level requirements, I recommend either rufio's no alignment required and change on neutral cast or TripleM's no alignment required or change.) Hope that helps.

"May the sunlight find you, thy days be long, thy winters kind, thy roots be strong." -Grand Oak Tree, DAO

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
Bored? Read an unfinished legacy or sim story. | aka Kelyns | she/her
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#14 Old 13th Jan 2019 at 3:39 PM
Those are some really cool ideas, Phantom, thanks!
I already have some of the mods you mentioned. (And it's called a pilgrim journey that you talked about. )
I do have some clear set of rules for the nbh now though. I could share them if anyone's interested. (I'd just have to translate them )
I have a new found excitement for this hood; it's always more fun to play when you have a clear goal and a path ^^
Field Researcher
#15 Old 13th Jan 2019 at 5:58 PM
Glad you found inspiration and excitement! I would love to see your rules, too!

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Home of my Kulo Seeri Test of Time and a lot of worldbuilder rambling. You have been warned.
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#16 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 7:28 AM
Default My fantasy 'hood: Omnia
Alright, here they are! You get a bit more than you asked for, but sharing is fun!

Pictures:





RULES (About 8 sim-album pages):
Alchemist
#17 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 1:15 PM
@Pideli, I didn't know we could put titles in the spoiler buttons. Can you show us how you did that?

Cool rules.
Top Secret Researcher
Original Poster
#18 Old 15th Jan 2019 at 3:42 PM
[SPOILER="your text here"]your content here [/SPOILER)
Obviously the last parenthesis should be another bracket.
And thanks!
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