SIMS 3 CHALLENGE!
SAVE THE CHILDREN

PREFACE: I hope you enjoy this! The campaign is primarily story-driven with a few random rolls thrown in to keep things interesting! The following prologue and story describes how I have my challenge set up (with the wife as a private investigator) but yours can be different.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE POST YOUR RESULTS! I am very anxious to hear progress reports on your families as well as final scores (# of children you rescued and raised before challenge end).

PROLOGUE: It’s a dark, bitterly-cold, December night on the streets of Bridgeport. You frown as a quick check of your watch reveals 1:10 AM, already behind schedule. You peer through binoculars at the doorstep of an old building with that factory/sweat shop appeal standing large and gloomy among occasional street lights and drifting flakes of snow. You’ve been staking the eyesore of a building out for the past three nights in a row waiting for the perfect opportunity yet to present itself.

An hour later, a final second floor light flickers out. Both amazed and annoyed, you shove the binoculars into a satchel and rise from an achingly prone position behind a local dumpster. You curse something about damn night owls under your breath while dusting snow from the knees of your jeans. With skill and precision, you make your way unseen to the rear of the structure.

The wind kicks up behind you and fresh snow begins to fall. Thanks to keen peripheral vision, you spot the quick glare of a flashlight and exhale sharply as its tiny welder come into view. Little Emma Stone, dressed fully in a mishmash of dingy colors that comprise a tattered, moth-eaten snowsuit, greets you with a relieved smile. She motions you inside with the wave of a mitten-covered hand. A close inspection reveals a scared little girl, thin, malnourished, and clothes she proudly pilfered from the local dumpsters much like the one you used for cover. Rather than follow her inside, you usher her out into the night and point the way toward a van you’ve stashed in the distance. She’ll be safe there for the moment among warm blankets and the peanut butter sandwiches you packed for her and the other children. You’re less likely to be detected moving alone.

You summon all of your investigatory (and otherwise sneaky) skill as you cross the threshold….it will be like you were never there. When they wake up in the morning, you’ll have busted their little operation wide open. Get in, get the kids, and get the hell out…easier said than done. You slowly close the door behind you, silent as the grave, and make your way through the dank, dimly-lit hallway with only the howling wind to greet you…

STORY: You are a private investigator hot on the trail of a local cartel suspected of selling children to the highest bidder often involving a life of child labor and neglect. There are strong suspicions that unsold female teens are forced into a life of repeated pregnancy and child birth at the hands of their captors who then sell the infants to anyone who can afford it. If that’s not bad enough, the cartel has greased the palms of the local police who will not only turn a blind eye to cartel kidnappings and blatant child neglect, but return runaways to the cartel!

This is where you come in. You’ve done well in the life of a private investigator and you and your husband/wife recently purchased and remodeled an old school building for charitable donation. The two of you agree to risk it all to save these poor unfortunate souls and raise them as your own. The old school is well out of town away from prying eyes and no one will even know you are there. Here’s the thing though, tonight’s rescue is the first of many. Your investigation revealed many children have already been sold to anything from neglectful parents, sweat shops, and worse! A rare few made it to actual good, loving homes in town. It will be up to you to save the children who desperately need you now!

HELPFUL MODS:
--NRaas Portrait Panel (found here - http://nraas.wikispaces.com/PortraitPanel This is a necessity as this challenge will more than likely involve greater than 8 sims in your house.
--NRaas Woohooer (found here - http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Woohooer This mod is a must if you plan on having some of your rescued teens be pregnant.
--NRaas Career Academics (found here - http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Careers This is pretty much a necessity to effectively home school your kids (a big part of this challenge). You'll need to download both the base mod and the academic addon.

GOALS: Your overall goal is to continuously monitor the town for neglected cartel children and rescue them. Then take it a big step further and rehabilitate them, see to their emotional and educational needs yourself, and keep them safe from being returned to the cartel.

WINNING THE CHALLENGE: The challenge is complete when the original married couple retires as elders. To formally win the challenge, the school/family has to avoid being exposed by the police and you must have rescued and educated/raised at least 10 children to young adulthood. Rescuing 15 or more is considered mastering the challenge.

SETUP: You may start is most any town (I would go for a town that has a seedy underbelly (like Bridgeport, Starlight Shores, or maybe even Monte Vista (away from the town square). The length of this challenge is totally up to you.

Step One: The Couple: I started my couple out ahead of time and let them build their skill, go to college, and do well in their fields as some skills are essential for the challenge. Essential skills include logic (must be level 5 to tutor), nurturing, charisma helps if you get caught, and skills that advance you in the careers that give you the identity bonus (described below under CHILD RESCUE SYSTEM (Step 4).

Step Two: The School: You can make your residential school building look like a beautiful Victorian home with the below necessities or a local high school with home amenities added. Either way, you must have the following:

[Dorms] – There must be separate dorms for boys and girls (you can further divide it to teen girl’s dorm and child boy’s dorm if you have the room). Each child must have access to their own bed, dresser, nightstand with light, and one age-appropriate personal item that can be kept in their inventory or near their bed if desired. Dorms must also contain restrooms. No more than 2 children may be assigned to a restroom (the door can be locked to everyone but adults and assigned kids) unless you are building large scale bathrooms with multiple stalls and showers. In that case, you can increase the number of assigned kids. There must be room for new children before they can be invited into the home. If you don’t have the appropriate furnishings/ bathroom space, you don’t have room for another child.

[Daycare] -- A room for infants and toddler that contains the appropriate cribs, highchairs, playpens, swings, etc. if you have them. Whoever manages this room should read to the little ones and encourage skill building if possible.

[Classrooms] – I leave this up to your taste. I personally created four. One primarily classroom for teen and one for children, then another “activity” room where they would learn skills. I further broke it down to a schedule where certain classes were on certain days. For example, little Emma Storm (from the prologue) attended her morning class with her new mommy (my female adult sim) and afterward, she went to the skill room for home-ec day where all the children made vanilla muffins for snack time. Meanwhile, the teens spent their morning listening to their new dad lecture on the book they were all reading followed by a trip to our garden where they practiced tending and harvesting. Keep in mind you must have available space in classrooms before rescuing a child (i.e. an available desk, etc.).

[Library] – There must be one designated library with computers as well as tables for the kids to read and download their homework from the homeschool mod.

[Recreation Room] – Your kids need at least a modest recreation room with a couple TVs, video games, chess table, etc. etc.

[Gymnasium] - At least a small gym with access to outdoor or indoor soccer field, footballs, baseballs, maybe a swimming pool. You can make this an occasional class for your kids. Don’t forget to include a girls and boys locker room.

[Office] -- Each teacher should have an office (even if it’s just a broom closet) to prepare their lesson plans and, in general, have a few moments of quiet to regain sanity. I recommend making an office suite (something like a principal’s office).

[Lunchroom] – This is highly recommended. You could even have a lunch lady 

Step Three: The Initial Group: (From the Prologue) – You should start the challenge with 4 children you created that were rescued in the prologue above. They cannot be related to you and can range in age from toddler to teen. I started out with one toddler and 3 young children. I figured one adult could handle the care/schooling while the other continued to rescue children for a while. Traits are up to you but each must have developed at least one bad trait (i.e. rebellious, neurotic, coward, inappropriate, etc.). This can be replaced with a positive trait (in CAS) if the child graduates with an A or B (upon becoming a young adult).

Step Four: Game Settings: All seasons should be active (if you have them) and lifespans should be set to long with the following specifications which may be tweaked to increase challenge with the exception of the Adult age:
Infant 2 Days Teen 21 Days Elder 30 Days
Toddler 5 Days Young Adult 28 Days
Child 21 Days Adult 70 Days
The purpose of the 70-day adult lifespan (the beginning point for your original married sims) is to allow them 28 days to obtain at least 10 children. The remaining time is needed to educate and raise them to young adulthood. Feel free to rescue as many children as you like and post your final results!

Step Five: Money: After you’ve created your dream home/school, set family funds to $1,000 (using the familyfunds cheat). All options of making money (except cheating) are pretty much open to you. Garden, fish, scavenge, sculpt, invent, or work a regular job). Keep in mind that if one of your sims is working a regular job (i.e. one is a doctor to get the identity benefits discussed below), you will still need them to hold at least one homeschool class every day to assist the non-working sim. If you are using NRaas mods, consider getting the homemaker one as a possible alternative. Way of making some extra money.

CHILD RESCUE SYSTEM: Before you even consider going through this process, make sure you have the furniture and amenities required to invite a new child to your home (see SETUP above).

Step One – Getting to Know You: Potentially every child in town may need rescued. Your job is to find out. After you’ve located a child, you can either: (a) befriend a child or teen enough to learn the location of their home; or (b) follow them to their home (the only option for toddlers). Once you have that, stake the place out a bit and wait for parents if they aren’t there now. Here is where you need to put some time in. Get to know the parent(s). If any parent in the house any of the following traits, the child was purchased from the cartel and needs your help! Otherwise, leave them be. They are in a happy home.

Negative Traits: Dislikes Children, Evil, Grumpy, Hot Headed, Inappropriate, Insane, Mean Spirited, Neurotic, Slob, or Unstable. If you disagree you can switch them out for other negative traits. Your final list should not contain more than

Faster Alternatives: A high charisma is a big help since you can become friends and best friends VERY quickly. Also, consider purchasing the Observant trait for 5,000 lifetime award points.

Step Two – A Way In: Once you’ve located a child to rescue, develop a plan on how to remove the child WITHOUT getting caught by the parents. Children may only be rescued at night (to avoid detection by the police). Your options are:

(1) Befriend the child (not possible for toddlers) to gain their trust. A child who knows you as a “friend” will tell you about their harsh life and be willing to open the door to you when their captors aren’t home or are sleeping. If you use this method, go ahead and skip to Step Three.

Note: The game will allow you to enter a house without being a friend to the child but that does not count as a legal “way in” for this challenge. Again, all rescues must take place at night.

(2) You do not have to befriend a child to rescue them (and toddlers cannot open doors for you). Since you have to be friends with the parents anyway (to learn their traits), use that to gain home access and rescue all children while they sleep. Visit late one evening (with a good bit of energy to back you up) and wait. When parents are going to bed, let yourself out the front and into the back door (to give the impression you’ve left the lot). See Step 3 for what to do next!

Note: You cannot be known as the last person to have seen the child. If so, you draw a direct line for the police to follow to your doorstep. For this reason, you cannot ask to stay over only for them to find not only you, but their children missing in the morning, nor can you nab someone’s child when they leave their home knowing you were there (i.e. you are welcomed into the home and 5 minutes later the only adult in the house leaves the lot and you alone with the child.)

Step Three – The Rescue: There are only two plausible ways to actually take possession of a child legally in the challenge:
(1) You’re in their home, at night, and all adults are sleeping (the child may be as well). Now those sneaky skills come into play. You must make your way through the house without any adult discovering you. If a captor just happens to wake up and go to the bathroom across the hall, you cannot be in their range of vision or the attempt fails and you must come up with a lame excuse and wait at least three nights before a retry. Once you reach a child’s room, wake them up and use the following cheat: Testingcheatsenbled true, then Shift+Click the child and choose “Add to Household”. You’re not out of the woods, you must still get out with the children and into a vehicle unnoticed. If someone wakes up (or a neighbor spots you as you leave), stop the game, enter edit town, and merge the child or children from your household back into their original one. If you make it, mission successful! Go to Step 4!

(2) The only other alternative is a night street rescue. These are much easier but more risky. You must be at least “friends” with the child or teen. At this age they know their life is horrible and if you are trustworthy, they will abandon their home in the hope of a better life. To perform a street rescue you can either stake out the house and wait for the child/teen to leave after nightfall (6 p.m.) or you can get lucky and run into them alone in the town. If you opt for this route, you will have to put some serious thought into it. No one can witness you leaving an area with the child to avoid the police following a trail to you.

Example: If you happen to stumble across a child or teen you’ve been waiting for and it is 6 p.m. or later. Attempt to follow them without being noticed. Take a side road to make it look like you went in different directions but keep up with them as best you can. Once you are in a secure area (no other sims are around for a couple blocks), go ahead and add them to your family. Both of you need to get in your car and leave immediately. If you get caught, the child must be returned (edit town) to their original household. You do not need to wait three nights to try again.

Step Four – Who Are You Again? Once you have the child in your family, several things must occur to incorporate them into the home/school within the initial 24 hour period or they must be returned:

(1) Appearance: Any new children (not including the first group) must visit a stylist and have their appearance altered to make them more difficult to identify. You must stay within the parameters of what can be done at a real-life stylist (makeup and hair). If you don’t have ambitions, do it yourself in Create a Sim (CAS).

(2) Identity Bonus: If you or your spouse is employed in any of the following at Level 10, you can obtain documents that validate you as the biological parent of the child. This will come into play if a child gets caught by the police: Medical, Law Enforcement (the only good cop in town), Criminal, Political, Private Investigator, or Business. The belief is these fields either have access to the paperwork themselves (i.e. birth certificates and public records) or have influence over the people that do. In this case, enter CAS and change the child’s name if you like.

(3) Welcome Home: The child must be assigned to his or her own bed (with furnishings mentioned under SETUP) and given their personal item as a gift. For example, when little Emma Stone (now Chloe’ Hurst thanks to my Level 10 doctor) came to my home, I gave her a teddy bear that matched her personality. You could choose anything that the child can carry with them or keep in their dorm. Gifts should be equitable in value among the children (no playing favorites here). The child should also be given a new set of clothing (have them plan their outfit at their very own dresser).

You will also need to assign their bathroom according to the setup rules and assign them a classroom (or classroom schedule in my case). I also threw in a special family dinner in honor of our newest member.

OFF THE LOT:
So I know what you’re thinking….keep the kids penned in until their 18? Where is the fun in that?

(1) Whenever children/teens get a wish to go somewhere, it must be fulfilled. In instances where it cannot be fulfilled for whatever reason, it must be suitably replaced with an alternative lot to go to. They must remain off the lot for a minimum of two hours during these times. Keep your eye on them! If they run into a police officer or do anything to cause unwanted attention, you must initiate the rules under HANDLING THE HEAT below.

(2) Children/Teens may NOT have the stir crazy moodlet. If they have not gotten any wishes to leave the lot and become stir crazy, they must be sent to a community lot (i.e. festival, library, etc.) at the first available opportunity (but no more than 8 hours may pass).

ABOUT SCHOOLING:

(1) Public School: Rescued children cannot attend public school. Make sure you do not allow them to get on the bus in the morning. If a child actually gets on the bus and goes to public school, you will have to deal with the police on the matter (see HANDLING THE HEAT below).

(2) About Grades: Since children are not attending public school, you will either have to use the homeschool mod referenced above and/or tutor them yourself. I do both for a greater challenge.

(3) How Tutoring Works: To tutor children to improve grades, look under the friendly interactions (not the one that comes up when you first click on the sim). The tutor must be at least Logic 5 (higher is better). As your children become adults and potentially teachers in your school, I would have them substitute teach from level 5-9 in logic and then give them a permanent slot at Level 10 (which not only allows them to raise grades but teach skills).

(4) Tutoring for Employed Sims: If you have one of your adults in law enforcement or another field to give you the identity boost mentioned above, they must still contribute to raising and educating the kids. Since you are on your own schedule, this could mean holding a couple classes on days off as well as one evening class per day worked. It’s up to you.

(5) My Method: I personally use the home schooling mod then require my kids to attend four hours of classes with their parents for role-play and skill improvement purposes. I don’t want to bore anyone (or lengthen the rules beyond what they already are) with my “lesson plan” here, but if you’d like to see it, request it in a response and I’ll reply.

(6) Graduation: Once a child becomes a young adult they are considered graduated. At this point, you can either move them out of the house or keep them and use them as a member of your faculty. Why not have one become a stylist to add that “keeping the family’s little secret” appeal when kids are rescued. Don’t forget to switch out a negative trait for a positive one if they have an A or B when they graduate.

HANDLING THE HEAT:
This is where the real challenge comes into play. There are a multitude of opportunities for a rescued child to be caught and potentially identified or the challenge could be lost completely. When the scenario calls you to make a roll, it will say “Roll” followed by the number range in parenthesis. You may use a dice application or online random number generator like random.org.

IDENTITY BONUS: If you’ve unlocked the identity bonus outlined above, you will be given a “three strike” bonus before you have to roll for anything. This applies to the ENTIRE family (not per child). So for example, if 3 different children get themselves noticed, you are out of bonus points and the fourth child (rather previously involved or not) will have to be rolled on.

(1) Police on YOUR Lot!: If a police officer comes knocking for a friendly visit, don’t let him in! if they are known to be police officers and/or are wearing a uniform, they are considered ON DUTY even for just a social call and if they spot any of your rescued children, you must roll (1 – 5). A 2 or above gives you the chance to get your kids inside unnoticed and ask the kind officer to get the hell out (but only if done quickly). If you decide to invite said officer inside for tea and cookies…we’re done here…just go right to the full investigation and add 20 points to your roll for being a dummy.

(2) Suspicious Activity: If your child is off the home lot and engages in suspicious activity (i.e. going to school on the public school bus, out after curfew, bad public behavior that calls attention (like peeing yourself on the sidewalk, fighting, or setting pranks that go off while the culprit is still on the lot), police or social services will be called.
Roll (1 – 10)
5 – 10 You’re let off with a friendly warning
3 – 4 The city imposes a flat fine of $100 per incident
2 The city charges a $500 fine
1 The officer on duty believes he recognizes the child and conducts a full investigation
(see: “Target of an Investigation” below)

(3) Other Lots Containing Police: If a rescued child/teen wanders onto a lot with a police officer present a roll is required to determine if they are noticed. Any additional police that show up on the lot while your sim is present must be rolled on separately. Since two cops are harder to dodge than one, take a -1 to any escape rolls if you are trying to dodge more than one officer of the law.
Roll (1 – 5)

5 The cop does not even notice you, free to move about as long as you like.
4 The cop notices you but doesn’t ID you, must be off the lot in an hour or roll again
-1 to next roll if you don’t vacate before time runs out
3 You look familiar kid. Where have I seen you before? - Exit the lot IMMEDIATELY or roll again
-1 to next roll if you don’t vacate immediately
2 You’re spotted but you make a break for it. Roll again to see if you evade the cops!
Toddlers – Why did you leave your kid on the lot to begin with? No roles just caught.
Child – Roll (1 – 5). A roll of 3 or better and you’ve dodged the cops
Teen – Roll (1 – 5), A roll of 3 or better is a dodge, +1 if the teen drove a car there (quick getaway).
1 You’re caught with no chance of escape.

EXAMPLE: Holly, one of your rescued teens, pulls her new car up to the curb of the local bookstore. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a policewoman In-uniform (you’ve taught her well). The policewoman sees Holly immediately (after Holly rolled a 2) but Holly hits the gas and takes a few quick turns hoping to escape. In the process, she nicks a signpost slowing her down a bit (due to a second roll to escape that is also a 2). Since she’s driving her car, she gets the +1 bonus for a roll of 3. Phew…almost busted.

(4) Target of An Investigation: Not good. To spite best efforts, the police believe they have fingered you for being the one rescuing kids from the cartel. You must endure a full investigation and hope to avoid discovery!

Step One: The Warrant – The police will show up at your door with a formal search warrant exactly TWO HOURS after you are targeted for an investigation. What does this mean? You have a very brief amount of time to get EVERY rescued child off the lot (here is where an evacuation plan comes in handy). One of your adults must be there to answer questions (along with the child that was caught). This is easier said than done (especially if babies/toddlers are involved). Biological children serve as a great cover for the school and should be present if possible. Rescued children must be evacuated to a safe house (either one that you own or a trusted friend who happens to be home). I recommend building a small, inexpensive, second home for this.

If you don’t manage to get all rescued children to the safe house then the challenge is lost at this point but may potentially be saved or reactivated if there is time (see the CHALLENGE SAVE/RESET below).

If you DO manage to evacuate all rescued children to the safe house then good work! Move on to Step 2.

Step Two: The Investigation – The cops have seared your home and found nothing to connect you to the cartel children (other than the one captured). You have a big roll to make with modifiers described below. Here goes:

Roll (1 – 100): Think of this as a percentage. The higher the percentage the more evidence the police have collected against you.
75 – 100 The police obtain reasonable suspicion of your guilt (proceed to challenge save/reset)
50 –75 The police have confirmed that the child they discovered does, indeed, belong to the cartel. They suspect the child came to you for safe harbor and that’s as far as it goes. You are fined $1,000 for harboring a runaway and put on surveillance. The child is immediately removed from your care and placed in a bad home (cannot be re-rescued or you will be immediately suspected).
25 - 50 The police fail to collect sufficient evidence to connect you to the cartel children or positively identify the accused child of being involved. If you unlocked the identity bonus then no further action Is necessary and the investigation is closed. If not, social services will get involved and put the child into the system (i.e. you can move the child to a good home and they are off limits).
0 – 25 You handled the investigation masterfully. Not only did the police not find any evidence against you, you’ve been rewarded $5,000 by the city for the false accusation! You get to keep the child regardless of identifying paperwork.

Penalties and Bonuses that MUST be incorporated into this roll:
+20 If you’ve ever been under a full investigation before.
+5 For every fine you’ve had to pay for suspicious behavior.
+5 For every child present at the investigation with a grade of C or below in school.
Other rescued kids DO NOT count; you’re hiding them after all.
-5 For each of your own biological children present at the investigation
(It’s easier to blend into a crowd of your own kids than to stand alone)
-5 For every child at the investigation with a B or above in school.
Same as above, other rescued children don’t count
-10 If you have identifying paperwork
-1 For every point of logic and charisma the parent has (over Level 3)
(Only one parent will be present, the other should be with the hidden children)
If the parent has a 9 in Logic and 4 in Charisma, I would add a total of 7 points to my roll)

SCENARIO: Little Emma (now Chloe’) begged her new mommy to let her stay over at her friend Amber’s house for the night. What she didn’t know was that Amber’s dad was a police officer who spotted Chloe’ as soon as she stepped foot on the lot and apprehended her. A full investigation is launched and her new mommy (who happens to have the highest combined logic and charisma of the parents) is there to protect her. A roll is conducted with a score of 44. The family has never been under investigation before (thank goodness) and only paid one fine for that time Jimmy accidentally rode the school bus. Also, their two biological children are present, both of which have a B+ in school. Chloe’s mommy has falsified paperwork to document Chloe’ as a biological child. Here’s how the roll turns out: Base Roll: (44) +5 for the single fine (49) -30 for two bio kids with Bs and Chloe’s identification = 19 – Chloe’ is saved ad the family is $5,000 richer! Without the modifiers, the family would have lost Chloe’ (albeit to a good home).

CHALLENGE SAVE/RESET:
A challenge save comes into play when you fail a full investigation AND if there is sufficient time for you to meet the 10 child requirement to win the challenge. This means that your parent sims must be no less than 21 days from retirement (for teens) 42 days from retirement (for children), etc.

1. RECOVERING SOME OF THE CHILDREN: This option is only available to those who obtained Level 10 in the appropriate profession which allowed them to get their kids identities falsified AND has at least one biological child that they are willing to risk (the needs of the many and all that).

a. You inform the police that the children in the family are yours biologically and demand formal scientific testing to prove otherwise. This brave act sends the police into a tailspin with their investigation as asking for the state funding to do so would bring their activities under scrutiny if any of the children are indeed the couple’s biologically. Not wanting to take the risk, they cut you a deal in an attempt to call your bluff (what parent would risk their own child). Problem is, you aren’t bluffing!

b. The inevitable conclusion is that each child will be thoroughly investigated. The police will use resources available to them (public records, blood types, dates of birth cross-referenced with known locations) to try and dispute each child as being yours biologically. Yep…you guessed it…its roll time.

c. FOR EACH CHILD: Roll (1 – 10). Add 2 points if the child in question is the couple’s biologically:
9 – 10 The child is strongly suspected to be yours and is returned to you. This child is legally recognized as your biological child from this point forward and is rewarded with the benefits of being such (i.e. no rolls necessary when engaging the police, they are never being taken away unless you fail ANOTHER investigation and choose to risk them.
7 – 8 There is no way to determine for sure that this isn’t your biological child but there are reasons for suspicion. They return to the status of “rescued” which means the usual rolls are in place for future encounters with the police.
5 – 6 The police could go either way here so, in favor of caution, return the child to you; however, they are flagged from hence forth as “suspicious” until they age to young adult. If they are caught for any reason, you lose them to the cartel without the ability to rescue.
1 – 4 There is sufficient evidence to prove this child is NOT yours. You lose them to a home with parents who are known to possess bad traits and you may not attempt to re-rescue them.

2. STARTING FROM SCRATCH: You do not qualify for the above and must begin with no rescued children.

PLEASE POST YOUR UPDATES AND RESULTS AS WELL AS ANY FEEDBACK ON MY CHALLENGE! I HOPE YOU LOVE IT!

this is really good i might try it

Thanks, I hope so. Please let me know how you like it. I'm working on a new school for my personal game and I'll post some screenshots when I can.

The link to the mod you need to home school is broken. I followed it and made it to the right site but it said it was a bad wiki name for the mod.

Edit: Now that I have read this whole thing, I love it. I don't know why someone hasn't thought of this before. It's an amazing use of the PI career. I can see developing the kids into a network spread out around town, now that you can own more than one home, Teachers, Doctors, Politicians, even a police officer and a criminal, all infiltrating the very places where these children could be saved or turned over to the cartel.

This is awesome really. You put a lot of thought into it. We have had a lot of challenges here that put women and children into situations such as your cartel. It's time we have one that saves them. In fact I could see starting this off with one of those other challenges, then switching families to your rescue team and playing this challenge to rescue them all.

Thank you. They should all be correct now.

Awesome! I am trying to figure out how to work this one in with all the rest of them I am doing right now. I think I can work it into the rotation though. I have a Random Legacy, Nothing's free Legacy, Mother Russia, and Sanctuary Challenge all going at the moment. Rotating through them keeps me from getting to bored. Adding this might prove to be more than I can handle but I can't imagine not doing it.

Okay as I was setting everything up, I thought of two questions. First, the adult staying home with the children... Could they run a daycare as a way to help find the kids? Second, if and when you have a child of your own, could they not actually go to school? They are well behaved the other children have "social disorders" and need to be home schooled. You could then use your children to find those that are potentially at risk. You can only use your own children once they become teens to help locate the teens being used.

Those both sound like really good ideas. The home day care is fine and a good plan for identifying at-risk kids as well as bio kids in school. I also planned to send my bio kids to public school in hope they might get invited to other children's homes and then report back if anything looks suspicious. Once they become adults, they'll join in to help their aging parents

BTW, I set up my dorms with 2 kids to a room (I have a boys and girls dorm). The rooms have two beds, a dresser, trash can, and a little book case. I originally said each child gets a dresser but two could probably share if space i an issue.

My parents were actually house parents at a local children's home along with both sets of my grandparents when I was little. Mom went on to work in CPS for years. I loosely based the school/home on the admin building at that home. It was made up of several homes and several sets of house parents. It was the first home of Harding University, before they moved to Searcy. So, I may have had a bit of an advantage on the design.

My house actually looks a bit like an old school building. I have Six Bedrooms right now. 1 for my couple, 2 for the boys that are each set up to hold 4 boys using bunk beds. Then two for the girls, set up the same way. Then of course is the nursery. This thing is huge. It has an outdoor pool behind it and a large gym/rec room behind that. The main building is 2 floors plus a basement where the library is. I put the boys on one side of the house and the girls on the other, There are two sets of spiral steps that go up to each wing and I used the bookcase door to hide them just in case.... Though I may have to double check. It might not hide the lower level rooms for the children, just the upper level stair cases for the teen rooms. I also want to add a green house. I still have plenty of room for that. I also put in a huge shrub fence around the entire property and gave it the same security gate as the stars homes. No getting in here without knowing the code or talking to someone. No getting out either.

I am not going to be able to afford this house without a really big cheat. I have the money mod for the story progression that lets you take out loans from the business building. I put them in Monte Vista and had them take out a loan for college. Since they are new characters that are young adults with no work experience or skills interest was set at 25 percent which is extortion. Which is how they find out about the child ring to begin with. To pay off the debut the loan sharks ask them to find some new teenage girls for them...

But, before I can get into all of that I have to get them both through school. Business degrees of course. He is going to go to work in business just long enough to pay off the debt and make some contacts then I will switch him to the Private Investigator. Business said it was good for the education field and with her running her own daycare... We shall see how it goes.

I haven't decided how I am going to afford the school yet. Perhaps one of his contacts will donate it to them for the cause... Just not sure on that yet. I have time though. Im only through the first week of University.

the more I read over this the more questions I have... Okay the full investigation roll. You said add 1 point for each logic and charisma level the parent facing the heat has. But, wouldn't you want to subtract that? You mention it in your example but then you don't use it. It seems to me the more logic and charisma you have the better your chance of getting away with it instead of the worse. If you add points it makes it harder not easier...

This seems a bit too complicated with the rolling and all.

Sorry I just got myself mixed up. The logic and charisma should be subtracted. I put in the rolling for those who like to do that to make things more interesting. If you'd rather not roll, feel free to edit that out or change it for another alternative.

Thanks for clearing that up. I for one like the rolling. It makes it more random. I mean what's to stop you from just never having a run in with the police even when you do without the roll?

I had to change my story. University is glitchy with me when I use monta vista. I had forgotten that. So I moved the house to the one that came with Supernatural. Instead of just a normal child smuggling ring... I am putting Werewolves and Vampires back into the bad guy column. In their war with each other, at some point both groups realize that if they turn everyone in the town they will be noticed. So the human cartel came up with a way to take advantage of both. They kidnap teenage girls and force them to have babies. Those babies are shuffled off to bad homes both occult and human to be raised until they become teenagers. Then the girls are put back into the baby farm and the boys are shipped off to become either a vampire or a werewolf.

A group designed to stop Vampires and Werewolves everywhere purchased the school and moved in two of their best and brightest. They might not fit in with the majority of the populace but they appear to like supernatural stuff well enough that they are pretty much overlooked... Until the cartel come calling needed someone who wont ask to many questions to run a daycare. They will pay handsomely for the extra coverage now that rumor is spreading that the hunters have sent a teen to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the teens in town.

I think that works.

[QUOTE=ladykelien]Thanks for clearing that up. I for one like the rolling. It makes it more random. I mean what's to stop you from just never having a run in with the police even when you do without the roll? /QUOTE]

I agree. The rolling keeps me honest. I try not to make it too extensive though (I've played some challenges where I was constantly tabbing in and out of game to see what I had to roll and what those rolls meant). I've had a lot of fun with this challenge playing it myself. I'm goig to upload screenshots of my school later tonight in case anyone is interested.

Also, your idea for the supernatural cartel is a really good one. I encourage anyone to change the rules I put down to something that's more convenient/fun for them. I've done the same with other challenges myself.

As promised...here are a couple screenshots of my rescued kids attending skill building classes with their new parents.

That's awesome! I haven't had the chance to rescue anyone yet. Every kid I have found, the parent I have managed to meet all have good traits. I am thinking about expanding the traits, since I am using the world map from Supernatural to include any human child living with a supernatural.

Woah. Harsh measures LOL

Remember, you get to start out with four kids. If you already have the couple, just go into Edit Town and create a new household with one adult. Merge the two households and kick the extra adult out.

I ran into a similar issue with finding kids so I expanded mine. If anyone was living in a really poor home (i.e. out in the swamp or something) or have a ton of kids in a home that's not big enough, etc. Whatever works!

I forgot about the four kids. I suppose I could make them now, make it easy on myself to find them and bring them in out of the cold because the adult that had them decided to become a squatter in my "Just in case the police show up" House.

LOL I love how you said "just in case the police show up". How is the challenge going?

Well... You kind of made two other challenges that play perfectly into this challenge so I am working on the prequel to doomsday right now. So far, my couple had a daughter whose a newborn, then on day 48 around 3 am Ty, my YA male came down with the sniffles so I of course interpreted that as the virus and rolled to see if he survived. His physical skills were at an 8 so he survived easily, but then when I did that days roll for his wife... She wasn't so lucky. So now he has a newborn with no momma. How the baby didn't even come close to getting it I have no clue. But, shes free and clear thanks to a really lucky roll.

This is going to turn into a legacy challenge and you didn't intend for it to. LOL Unfortunately, if something happens to my heir before this part is over or during the doomsday challenge then my save the children challenge is going to be a wash, but I'm having fun with it so far.

Sorry I've been really sick for the past few days so I'm delayed in responding. Sounds like you're having some tough (but interesting) times. Keep it up and please keep me posted.

I can't get Mods, its an issue with my game. Can I send them to public school if my doctor sim has the paperwork? And this seems a bit too complicated, can you post a simplified version?

You don't have to use mods. You can just delete the school. You take a hit on being able to choose their traits but if it bothers you to much you can always hit control-shift-c at the same time, type into the box that shows up, testingcheatsenabled true (your not suppose to have to use the true but its the only way its ever worked for me) then hold down shift as you click on the child. It will give you the option to edit in CAS or modify traits. You can then trade out the traits you don't want and you never have to use a mod.

I was going to say the same.

Also, as far as making this simpler, I admit I am detail oriented with my challenges and that works well for some and not for others. I personally avoid challenges that are too simple just because I like to feel the immersion in what I'm doing. Still, I give everyone the freedom to edit my rules as they see fit. If something is too complicated, come up with an alternative that you think would be more fun for YOU. That's what this is all about