Q&A: Royalty & Legacy

POWERSHIFTS

Simcalibur

I haven't managed to pull the Sword from the Stone yet, but I did manage to find it in debug. Unfortunately, you don't "own" Simcalibur if you get it this way, so I couldn't test either of it's unique (when compared to the other swords) interactions:

I do know what one of them does, which is immediately jump your Sim to level 10 of the Noble Career, making your Sim Kingdom Leader, and bumping the current Monarch (if there is one) down to level 9.

Simcalibur (aka the Sword in the Stone) has a riddle to solve and specific conditions needed to be pulled:

My guess from the riddle is that you need all of these...

1. To either not have any Secrets, to not have any active Scandals or be in good standing within your Dynasty (not be Outcast). I'm not sure which, if any, of these are correct.
2. High (possibly maxed) Swordsmanship Skill.
3. Noble Favor aligned with the Commoners. To gain Favor either way, you have to already be in the Noble Career (it's a career specific stat) and have done enough Commoner Favored things to outweigh any Royal Favored things you have done, as you start out Neutral.

Whether it's reusable in the save... 

I didn't have that information yet. Luckily, crinrict​ did, expanded on that here. 


Anansi's Well 

TW - Arachnophobia - Moving spiders VFX in game.

Anansi's Well sits to one side of the Dambele Palace and is themed around a spider in it's web with the surrounding paving shapes, well design and spider VFX, all of which seems appropriate for a trickster and weaver of deceit. it's a pretty cool looking well for décor use.

Interactions

Examine Well -
Ask for Anansi's Advice ($1) - Gives a gameplay tip, or maybe a trick?
Anansi's Trials - A 4-stage quest. You get 4 days to complete each stage.

Anansi's Trials (Walkthrough)

Failing any stage -  Grants a Long lasting (8 hrs) +2 Embarrassed Moodlet. You have to retry the stage, but don't have to start over from the first trial. Gives access to failed stage again.

Stage 1 -  Weave a Story - Tell (any) Story/Group Story interaction successfully to a Sim. Grants a Long lasting (8 hrs) +2 Confident Moodlet. Gives access to Stage 2, removes access to Stage 1.

Stage 2 - Offer a Secret - You have to know (or find out) an undisclosed Secret. Once you know one, click on another Sim and select Friendly > Gossip > Share secret about... to pass this knowledge along to another Sim. What they do with it? Not your problem. Grants a Long lasting (8 hrs) +2 Fine Moodlet. Gives access to Stage 3, removes access to Stage 2.

Stage 3 -  Spin the Web - Do any of the interactions under Mischief > Deception successfully. Grants a Long lasting (8 hrs) +2 Focused Moodlet. Gives access to Stage 4, removes access to Stage 3.

Stage 4 - PH Name - Write any book, quality probably matters. Mine was an Excellent Motivational Book (Confident Genre). Completes the Trials.


Anansi's Trials Reward

Completing the Trials -  Earns you the Threadshifter Reward Trait,  which allows change your Favor Alignment between Royal Favor and Commoner Favor at will (with a cooldown). Definitely worth doing if your Sim is in the Noble Career. My testing Sim also received a promotion on completion of the Trials. He was a Secret Agent at the time, so it's likely a single level promotion or chunk of Career Progress XP, for any career, not just the Noble one.

PREMADE UPDATES

Family Trees

Several premade families have connections that exist in lore/speculation but not officially in their family trees... Until now. The update we just had included several, but here are the ones related to the premades in this pack (as long as you have the other packs the Sims came in):


Laurent (via Thebes)

The original Cordelia (Cordelia I, aka Queen Thebe) has a family that branches into to 3 families by blood, and another 2 by marriage for a total of 5 families in the game connected to her descendant, Cordelia V, in some way:

[MWS] Laurent Family in Tartosa - Hector Laurent is the Great-great-grandson of Queen Thebe, but with her 3rd pirate boyfriend, Rodrigo de Pablo. They had a son together (Rodrigo Thebe), who later had a mystery child. That mystery child became a parent to Arnessa Thebe.

[R&L] Capp Family and Monty Family - Julliette and Tybalt are also the Great-great-grandchildren of Queen Thebe, via her Husband Etion's line, who she had a daughter called Andromache with. This is the only partner she officially married. Capps are related by blood, and the Monty's by Julliettes marriage to Romeo.

[R&L] Current Thebe Family - Current Cordelia (V), also a Great-great-grandchild of Queen Thebe, is descended via Cordelia I and her 4th pirate boyfriend, John Wilson Beard Beard. Yes, two beards (maybe he was particularly hirsute, we'll never know).

[R&L] Abrantes Family -  Cordelia V's in-laws. Mother and Teen sister of her Husband, Thiago.

Thebe Family Tree from Queen Thebe's POV:

Dreamer (via Darongs)

The Darong connection to the Dreamers is shown, as well as Adekoya's Secret Child when looking at the tree from his POV.

[GF] Dirk Dreamer - Jawara's (Darong Head) Grandfather Ade Darong was the brother of Dirk's Great-grandmother Lina Darong.

Alto

[GF] Holly Alto - Her and Enzo Alto are first cousins. Holly's father, Nick Alto, was the brother of Bert Alto, Enzo's dad.

Dynasties

The Goths and the Landgraabs have their own Dynasties. These are the only families outside of pack premades that will have Dynasties in new saves. You can use the info below if you want to add Dynasties to these families in older saves, or tweak them to make them your own.

Goth Dynasty: 
Skills - Charisma & Writing.
Ideals - Passionate & Mysterious.
Allie(s) - None.
Rival(s) - None.
Perks - Grade Boost 1/3, Tutor, Respected Head 1/3, Matchmaker 1/3 & Creative Affinity.

Landgraab Dynasty:
Skills - Mischief & Charisma.
Ideals - Devious & Connoisseur.
Allie(s) - Abrantes.
Rival(s) - Alto.
Perks - Nepotism 2/3, Market Manipulator, Arrange Promotion, Discrete 2/3, Gracious Host 1/3, Easier Alliances 1/3, Friends in High Places & Social Affinity.