A Haunted Asylum (Feb 1)

[MarianT]

Some people can resist temptation. I'm not one of them. Once I had the thought of combining a haunted house with the Asylum Challenge, even though I have several other projects going, I had to do it. I'll provide a link to the Asylum Challenge (https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/966349/the-sims-4-asylum-challenge-updated-sept-2019/p1), but here is what I'm limited to:

500 simoleons once the house is set up
5 beds
6 seats, one nappable
1 bathroom (one toilet, one shower, one sink and mirror), but I've put in dividers so that Sims have some privacy.
1 cheap stove
5 skill building objects -- easel, guitar, yoga mat, knitting basket, seance table. I've also given each of my Sims a journal to write in so they can share their experiences with the forum.

I can add other skill objects and a smoke alarm and thermostat as money becomes available.

The house has to have 2 negative lot traits, but I figure that the Haunted House trait counts as one. The other is Cursed. The other two traits are Homey and Home Studio.

The challenge runs until my designated Sim completes 4 aspirations. At that time, she'll be scored as follow:
  +50 pts per aspiration (all Sims)
   +1 pt per skill pt (all Sims)
   +1 pt per 1000 satisfaction points (all Sims)
  -20 pts per dead Sim
  -20 pts per fire
  -10 pts per utility shut-off
A couple of additions to the rules:
  As housemates get a 2nd point in a skill, they get a makeover.
  As housemates get 2000 satisfaction points, they get the Steel Bladder reward. The first to reach 2000 gets assigned a bed.
  The first to get 2000 satisfaction points after the reward gets assigned the next bed, and so on. When all beds are assigned, they'll be able to buy additional beds.

My designated Sim is Annette O'Neil, who is good, jealous, and, of course, erratic.

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This shows the whole household. Annette is the one with the plumbob over her head. From left to right are Will Franklin, Britta McNamara, Annette, Jessie Stockton, Hayden Oldham, Jose Myers, Antony Boudreaux, and Selina Dietrich.

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Here's the living-room and kitchen for the house. The seance table doubles as a dining table.

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And here is their first other-worldly visitor, doing an excellent job of scaring the Welcome Wagon.

Annette's Journal 1

[MarianT]

THE HAUNTED ASYLUM

Annette's Journal 1

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It's not enough that I'm the only one in the household who makes salad for the whole household.

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It's not enough that I'm always on call for clean-up (especially after we've been slimed) and repair.

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It's not enough that I'm learning to be a medium.

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Attempting to communicate with sprites (I know, they would rather be called spectors, but spectors sound much nastier. We're all scared enough as it is.)

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Learning how to knit so that I'll have gifts handcrafted with love to give to the sprites.

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It's not enough that I'm the person who has to get rid of any creepy stuff that shows up on our lot.

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Including this doll.

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No, I also have to report to the Watcher through this journal. She gave a journal to everyone, she says, but I'm the only one she can make write in it. Still, if one of my crazy housemates decides to use theirs, she'll be happy to let them handle the reporting. Like that's going to happen.

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There are perks. I get my own bed in my own room, and I was the first to get a make-over.

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Everyone in the household will get a make-over as soon as they get to the second level of a skill. I'm hoping this guy -- Antony Boudreaux -- will pick up a point soon.

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As part of my report, I'm keeping score, so here it is:
Fires: -60
Skill points: 102
Satisfaction points: 10
Total for the first week: 52.
It could be worse. No one has died yet.

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Given that we all have to come and gather around the stove whenever someone starts a fire, it's amazing that we're all still alive. We've had 3 of them so far. There might have been more, except that for a few days we didn't have a stove because we couldn't afford to replace the one that burned.

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There are a few more perks. One is that I get to levitate while doing a seance.

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Another is that I get to develop a relationship with our ghost, Claude duPlantier Guidry. He's very romantic and encouraging.

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And I can summon Bonehilda to help with the work around the house.

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Unfortunately, she creates work, too, because she does like to drink water even if she doesn't have the digestive system to handle it.

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There's one small downside -- Temperance. Not the virtue, but a very angry ghost. Luckily, Claude (pronounced "clode," not "clod") had told me she doesn't like a certain weird idol, and more luckily still, one of the sprites had given me one after I gave it a beanie. (I'm still waiting for the day when one of them shows up wearing one of my beanies.) Claude also told me to summon Bonehilda, and I think that was how we finally got rid of her.

So anyway, that's everything that happened during our first week. I'll tell you more about the other residents later, and I'll also report my progress on my first aspiration, to become a Friend of the World, although I don't see how I can work on an aspiration along with everything else I have to do. If I weren't such a good person, I would probably swear a lot or something.

[oshizu]

Yay, I'm Beyond excited to follow this new story of yours, MarianT!
What a great idea to combine the new stuff pack content with an Asylum challenge.

Good luck to Annette, her Watcher, and the other asylum denizens.
I'm looking forward to the mayhem (and, of course, learning more about the new pack)!

[MarianT]

I'm going to send this to the graveyard tomorrow. I don't think there's any more mayhem in a haunted asylum than in a regular one, although they do run around screaming occasionally. Actually, the fires were more worrisome -- everyone would come and crowd around the stove. I did learn a few things about the paranormal pack, though. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I do have one tip -- the spectres are just as happy (or not) with photos as with more expensive things like paintings and knitted objects.

[oshizu]

Thanks for the tip about choosing gifts for the spectres.