Bargain With Grim – Expanded Resurrection for Sims & Pets

Hello, fellow simmers! I'm back with my second ever mod! This time, it's more of a mod package haha.

Ever wished your Sims had a little more room to negotiate with Death?

The only way to plead with Grim in the vanilla game is to challenge him to a chess game after a human sim dies of something other than old age. However, what if granny dies? Doesn't she deserve a second chance? And what if the bereaved sim doesn't have a high logic skill but really, really loves grandma? I really missed the sims 2-style interaction for a Sim to beg Grim for the life of a beloved person. In addition, there is currently no option in the vanilla game to plead for a pet at all, nor could I find a mod that fills that gap.

This is where Bargain With Grim comes in.

Bargain With Grim expands the ways Sims can try to save a dying household member or pet when the Grim Reaper arrives.

All interactions are available for Teen+!

There are separate versions for human Sims and pets, and each comes in a simple Chess Only version as well as a more extensive Chess + Plead version. This mod also comes with custom notifications for both successful and unsuccessful pleading attempts as well as when a sim tries to plead after the particular maximum lifetime resurrection limit has been reached.

Choose Your Version
You may install:

• one Human version
• one Pet version

at the same time.

Do not install both Human versions together, and do not install both Pet versions together. The Chess + Plead versions already include the Chess functionality.

Human – Old Age – Chess Only

Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Humans_OldAge_ChessOnly

This is the simple, vanilla-style version.

When a human Sim dies (including of old age), another eligible Sim can challenge Grim to a game of chess for their life. Again, vanilla Sims 3 already has this functionality and my mod unlocks this for old age deaths as well.

If the living Sim wins, the deceased Sim is resurrected. If they lose, Grim takes the Sim as usual.

A successful resurrection from old age also resets the resurrected Sim's age to the beginning of the elder life stage so they do not simply die again immediately.

As with the vanilla version, make sure to select this option while Grim is still reaping the soul, and make sure the sim isn't otherwise occupied.

This version is intended for players who like the existing Sims 3 chess-for-life mechanic and simply want it available for old-age deaths as well.

This version preserves the vanilla notifications as well.

Human – Old Age – Chess + Plead

Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Humans_OldAge_ChessAndPlead

This version includes the Chess interaction above and adds a second option:

Plead with Grim Reaper

Instead of relying entirely on chess, a Sim can try to persuade Grim to return the deceased.

Plead success is not a flat random chance. The mod considers things such as:

• how close the relationship is between the pleader and the deceased
• relationship type (friend, best friend, old friend, enemy, etc...)
• the pleader's personality traits
• shared traits between the pleader and Grim
• Charisma skill

IMPORTANT! The default version handles the Unlucky trait and Enemy relationships in a special way.

Unlucky Trait

In vanilla EA behavior, Unlucky Sims can essentially not die of anything other than old age because Grim keeps resurrecting them since he delights in their misery. Unlucky Sims are his personal entertainment. This mod follows this logic: If unlucky Sims are his personal entertainment, the idea is that when an unlucky Sim pleads for someone else, he will be especially fond of them, like your favorite character in a series, the beloved little dummy who keeps making you laugh. Thus, their plead chance will be much higher than that of ordinary Sims.

Enemy Relationships
For a similar reason, Enemy Relationships are handled somewhat differently by this mod. If a Sim is an Enemy or even an Old Enemy of a deceased Sim and yet attempts to plead for them, this will intrigue Grim: "Huh? You're begging for the life of your arch nemesis?? Hmm... Now, that's something I would like to see play out. Very well." This effect is even stronger for Old Enemies.

A very close relationship can therefore make Grim easier to sway -- but in true Sims fashion, sufficiently dramatic hatred can be interesting to him too.

All of this is tunable!! If you do not want unlucky sims or enemy relationships to receive extra treatment, you can simply edit the xml file in the package. The same goes for how great plead success percentages should be, how much individual sim traits affect success chances, if shared traits with Grim should have an effect, etc. etc. The tuning file explains all this in detail, so everyone can easily adjust the settings to their liking without getting confused.

Only one normal bargain may be chosen for a death. Choosing Plead prevents also trying Chess afterward, while accepting the Chess challenge prevents subsequently pleading.

The mod also includes a lifetime resurrection limit. By default, the same Sim may only be successfully saved by Grim once during their lifetime. However, this is tunable. Failed Pleads and lost Chess games do not count toward that limit.

Pets – All Deaths – Chess Only

Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Pets_AllDeaths_ChessOnly

This brings the Grim chess bargain to pets that isn't available in vanilla gameplay.

When a dog, small dog, cat, or horse dies, an eligible human Sim may challenge Grim to chess for the pet's life.

This works with all supported pet death types, including but not limited to old age.

If the pet died of old age and is successfully resurrected, its age is reset to the beginning of the elder life stage.

This version is for players who want a straightforward, vanilla-style opportunity to save their pets without adding a new Plead system, resurrection count limits, etc.

Requires The Sims 3: Pets.

Pets – All Deaths – Chess + Plead

Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Pets_AllDeaths_ChessAndPlead

This is the full pet version.

It includes the Chess interaction and adds Plead with Grim Reaper while Grim is collecting the deceased pet.

The success chance takes the relationship between the human Sim and the pet into account, along with traits and Charisma, similar to the human version.

Pet-specific traits also matter:

Animal Lover helps when pleading for a dog, cat or horse but gives a smaller bonus than the species specific traits.

Cat Person gives a stronger bonus when pleading for a cat.

Dog Person gives a stronger bonus when pleading for a dog or small dog.

Equestrian gives a stronger bonus when pleading for a horse.

The Animal Expert Lifetime Reward also provides a bonus, albeit only a small one.

As with the Human version, relationship strength matters considerably. Friends and best friends have increasingly high possible chances, while Enemy relationships have their own special logic: Grim may be fascinated enough by someone desperately pleading for an animal they supposedly hate to grant the request (cf. description of the human version; tunable) .

The Unlucky trait also receives special treatment, inspired by Grim's unusual relationship with Unlucky Sims in the vanilla game (cf. description of the human version; tunable).

By default, an individual pet can only be successfully resurrected by Grim once in its lifetime. This limit is shared between Chess and Plead and is tunable.

If a pet has already reached the limit, Grim refuses another Chess resurrection and a notification will appear. Plead can still be selected, but Grim will always refuse the request.

Failed Pleads and lost Chess games do not consume a resurrection.

Requires The Sims 3: Pets.

Notifications

The Chess + Plead versions include custom Grim Reaper dialogue for:

• successful Pleads
• failed Pleads
• requests refused because the lifetime resurrection limit has been reached
• special successful Enemy Pleads

Grim may be merciful, sarcastic, annoyed, emotionally compromised, or simply far too interested in the drama. :D

Tuning

The Chess + Plead versions include extensive tuning.

The defaults made sense to me, but players who like adjusting their mods can change almost every important numerical part of the Plead system.

This includes:

• base Plead chance
• relationship-score contribution
• relationship-state bonuses
• maximum success chance for each relationship type
• personality-trait bonuses and penalties
• shared-trait bonus with Grim
• Charisma bonus
• Enemy hatred bonus
• Unlucky trait behavior
• pet-specific Animal Lover / Cat Person / Dog Person / Equestrian bonuses
• Animal Expert bonus
• lifetime resurrection limit

The tuning files deliberately include ordinary human traits even when their default modifier is 0. This means, for example, that if you want Genius Sims to be better at pleading, you can simply change its existing value rather than adding a new tuning entry yourself.

Installation

These are standard .package script mods.

Place your chosen package file(s) in:

Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Packages

You may use one Human package and one Pet package together.

For example, this is fine:

Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Humans_OldAge_ChessAndPlead.package
+
Nuba3_BargainWithGrim_Pets_AllDeaths_ChessAndPlead.package

Do not install, e.g.:

Humans_OldAge_ChessOnly
+
Humans_OldAge_ChessAndPlead

together.

Likewise, do not install both Pet versions together.

After installing, deleting or updating a script mod, deleting scriptCache.package before starting the game is recommended.

Compatibility

These mods may interfere with any another script mod that substantially changes the Grim Reaper, death situations, resurrection, or the same bargaining interactions.

The Pet versions require The Sims 3: Pets.

Tested with Patch 1.69

Notes

The pleading animation used for this mod was recycled from what happens when Sims die: When a Sim dies, there is a random 50% chance that they will either plead with the Grim Reaper (fall on their knees and beg them to spare them) or simply accept their fate and shake his hand. The pleading animation used here is exactly this one. So what can and does happen is that the ghost will fall on their knees and plead and then later the pleading living Sim will do the exact same animation a second time. It's not the most beautiful version imaginable but it does its job and I don't think it's a big issue in terms of story telling.

For this reason, there are also one or two frames at the end of the pleading animation when the pleading Sim gets up again where they appear to be floating a little, and a ghostly echo appears when they plead. Again, this is because this interaction was originally only meant for ghosts. In terms of story telling, my headcanon is that their voice changes because they are so close to a being from the other world, namely the Grim Reaper, and that maybe the ghost they are pleading for is joining them in their plea.

Also, be careful when you want to plead for a Sim's (or pet's) life! The interaction occurs after the grave has been instantiated and while Grim is actively interacting with the deceased Sim or pet. Depending on the animation that then plays out, the time frame within which the Plead interaction can be selected is not very long. In addition, Sims with a very close relationship to the deceased tend to carry out a lot of autonomous and uncancallable mourning animations, so if you intend to plead for someone's life, make sure to cancel their interactions early and keep them occupied (e.g. by walking back and forth) so the Plead Interaction will actually register and put them in the waiting state.

Happy simming! If there are any comments about or issues with this mod, please make sure to let me know.