The Harem Challenge (or, Teenage Maid?!)
The Harem Challenge (or, Teenage Maid?!)
As a frequent reader of manga, I’ve long been a sucker for the reverse-harem stories: a kind-hearted, but strong-willed young woman suddenly finds herself in a home surrounded by gorgeous men, all representing different male stereotypes. Popular titles like Fruits Basket, Full House Kiss, and Ouran Host High School combine humor, charming characters, and more than a dash of romantic escapism. I was playing an older challenge of mine, Let’s get (K)Dramatic!, and realized that it was high time to do something a bit more fun and self-indulgent. The below was the result, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
Scenario:
After losing her mother in a freak rocket ship accident, your heroine* finds herself homeless and penniless, living in a tent in an overgrown lot. Through the trees, she can sometimes glimpse the various male occupants of the large, opulent mansion next door. Despite her rough circumstances, she’s determined to keep her promise to her mother to finish school and succeed in her dream of becoming a doctor. A particularly stormy night, though, throws a wrench in her plans–her battered tent gets swept up by the wind and destroys the neighbor’s priceless three-story window!
The home’s owner offers her a solution: since she has no money, she can repay them with her body–as a maid! Intimidated by the prospects of living in a house full of strangers, your heroine nevertheless agrees and moves in to take care of the odd neighbor and his equally odd–yet unusually attractive!–housemates. Between the cooking, cleaning, laundering, gardening, and repairing, how will your heroine ever find the time for homework?
Things only become more complicated when your heroine realizes that weird flutter in her chest isn’t from stress, but rather the stirrings of a first love…
*The gender of the hero is of your choosing–as is the Harem’s: all women or all men or a fluid mix–whatever the flavor, it’ll still be delicious.
CAS Details:
Create two households, one for your reverse-harem and the second for your heroine. You can begin the story with the mother still alive or pick-up right after her dramatic departure.
Heroine (and mother):- Age should be teenager or young adult, depending upon whether you can have young adult to teen romances in-game
- Give the heroine the Cheerful and Good traits. If making a young-adult, the third can be randomized, but not character-breaking
- If making a mother*, she should also have the Cheerful and Good traits, along with Family-Oriented
*If making a mother and having her die in-challenge, a fun side note is to keep her tombstone on the heroine’s overgrown lot, so that the heroine can occasionally visit and talk to her mother for encouragement.
Harem:
Make at least five occupants of either the same age as the heroine or older, using the below trait mixes to create specific character tropes. Be sure to choose an Aspiration that helps drive the type. If playing with Cats & Dogs, include a household animal!
- The Guardian: Of few words and long stares, he nevertheless carries a heart of gold, displaying his affection with small acts of kindness. Loner, Good, Family-Oriented
- The Child: Hyper and cute, he spends his time finding ways to make you smile, while struggling to be seen as an adult. Childish, Outgoing, Cheerful
- The Fighter: Quick to get riled up, he doesn’t know how to handle the soft-and-squishy feelings that translate to love. Hot-Headed, Active, Good
- The Manipulator: Sly and brilliant, he’s not at all above pulling a trick to get what he wants. Genius, Jealous, Loner
- The Bully: Outwardly the perfect gentlemen, the calm veneer hides a petty personality that loves nothing more than to bully the object of his affection. Perfectionist, Mean, Jealous
- The Serialist: Constantly moving from date to date, his over-the-top flirting is a cover for his trust issues when it comes to love. Romantic, Non-committal, Jealous
- The Noble: Driven to a higher standard, he’s committed to his long-term goals, with little time for love. Unflirty, Ambitious, Snob
- The Dreamer: Lost in a world of dreams and ideas, his moodiness has prevented him from finding love. Gloomy, Creative, Art or Music Lover
- The Prince: Charming and considerate to all, his true feelings are hard to discern in light of his equal treatment. Good, Outgoing, Dog or Cat Lover (Neat if playing without Cats & Dogs)
- The Jock: A sports junkie, he’s devoted to all things competitive and sweat-inducing, making his immature antics a challenge to any love interest. Active, Bro, Outgoing
Lot Reqs.:- Move the two households into neighboring lots, preferably one smaller than the other, in the neighborhood of your choosing.
- Your heroine’s lot should be wooded and overgrown, with a tent, firepit, and outdoor lighting the only furnishings.
- The Harem lot should consist of tasteful landscaping, with the majority of the space occupied by a large mansion. Each household member should have his own suite, with a small living area, bedroom, and bathroom. There must be stand-alone rooms for a formal dining room, kitchen, laundry (if pack is owned), library, and the maid’s quarters.
- Optional rooms include a Home Theater, indoor Gym, a Spa area, a Game Room basement, a Greenhouse, and a dusty Attic.
- The maid’s quarters should consist of a small bedroom and bath, with simple but quality furniture.
- The household member bedrooms should reflect their personalities, with the doors locked to only allow entry to the room owner and the heroine (the Prince’s room can also allow in the pet). The maid’s quarters can only be entered by the heroine and any pets.
- There must be a flower garden on the property, with optional fruit trees.
Rules:
The rules are meant to create a daily challenge, with long term goals toward a final end. As long as you're serving the spirit of the rule, bend and curve as much as you like! Outside of the cheats mentioned specifically, avoid any mods or cheats that circumvent the challenge-- such as No-Jealousy mods or traits.
General:- Suggested to play on Long lifespan, so that the story can continue post Challenge.
- The heroine’s maid duties consist of cleaning, cooking, gardening, and repairing. All of these tasks must be completed by the maid–no hiring of one-time maids or repairmen!
- Each day the heroine must make at least one of the family meals, collect laundry from one of the rooms (if applicable), and complete any needed gardening, cleaning, or repairing tasks.
- The heroine must maintain a grade of B in school; if playing as a young adult, she must complete at least one skill point each day. She cannot get a job or join a profession.
- The heroine is the only controllable character; the rest of the household members should be fully autonomous, with a few exceptions outlined in the Romance section.
- Household members’ needs can be tended to by selecting their need buttons, but no targeted actions.
- No limit on household funds.
- For each day spent as a maid, with the goals completed, the heroine earns $250 simoleons. She has the option of one day off a week to spend as a free day, or to complete the daily tasks and earn a bonus of $500.
- Any purchases made specifically for the heroine, such as at a food stand or the flea market, are deducted from her savings.
- Once the heroine has saved $20,000 simoleons, she can move out. Bonuses are awarded depending upon her Harem romance.
- Any income made from collectibles or handy-crafting, such as painting or writing, are subject to a household penalty: 50% can be added to the heroine’s funds, with the other half toward repaying the broken window debt.
- For Harem household members that are young adult or older, they must have a job or profession.
Romance:- Use the LTR_Romance_Main romance cheat to make all of the Harem members 25% in (one-sided) love with the heroine. Friendship levels vary upon character type:o The Manipulator, Bully, and Serialist start with a 0% friendship bar.
o The Fighter, Noble, Dreamer, and Jock start with a 25% friendship bar.
o The Prince, Child, and Guardian start with a 50% friendship bar.
- Use the LTR_Friendship_Main friendship cheat to make the heroine start with a 25% friendship bar toward all of the Harem members.
- If a Harem member has a Romantic whim, it must be fulfilled. This may have positive or negative impacts on the heroine’s relationship, depending upon the levels.
- If the heroine has a targeted Friendly whim (for a specific Sim), it can be fulfilled. Romantic whims are ignored.
- The heroine cannot initiate Friendly interactions unless a whim exists. If a Harem member initiates a friendly encounter, the heroine may have one directed friendly response chosen from the Whim options.
- The heroine must visit each Harem member’s room every day. If the Harem member is in his suite, and she has a generic Friendly whim available, she can initiate conversation from that whim.
- Once the heroine has saved $20,000 simoleons, the challenge is over. o The Harem winner is whichever character the heroine has the highest love and friendship meters with.
o The heroine must now move out, to begin her dream of becoming a doctor, with her love in tow.
o Bonus pay-outs are awarded based upon which Harem member was won over.
Pay-Outs- The Prince, Child, and Guardian earn a $25,000 simoleon bonus
- The Fighter, Dreamer, and Jock earn a $30,000 simoleon bonus
- The Noble and Manipulator earn a $40,000 simoleon bonus
- The Bully earns a $45,000 simoleon bonus
- The Serialist earns a $50,000 simoleon bonus, but only if engaged; the heroine must have been the one to propose
Please feel free to augment and change the rules to make the game harder! Lowering the amount of income made as a maid, or adding additional caveats to determine how the Harem winner is chosen, are all ways to further build on the challenge. Starting with all friendship and love levels at 0% also makes for a harder game–as well as interesting hijinks as my Harem household quickly devolved into a group of jealous, fighting misanthropes, with the heroine annoyed by all of them.