life and death ROS

I don't know why I decided to do this, lol! Somehow I got it in my head to write up a health roll. Some of the other Simmers I follow have health rolls too, but I wanted mine to be more random, so that it would affect not only elders, but Sims of all ages. I've tried to make the list balanced between both positive and negative scenarios.

Sims will roll on their birthdays at specific ages, and then I'll have to work that scenario into their story at some point before their next roll is due. The standard ages are: birth, 20, 30, 40, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, and then every even-numbered birthday after 80. The idea is that over a lifetime of play, the Sim/character will have built up a health history that may be a good or a bad one - one that may lead to their death, or one that will have no impact until they ultimately die of "old age".

The rolls are pretty independent of character traits, though some will have exemptions. For example, a lucky character cannot die in a plane crash. Mostly, some traits will incur either more or less frequent rolls during their lifetime.

Trait specific frequencies: 
- Clumsy, Couch Potato, Daredevil, and Unlucky Sims will have to roll every 5 years, from birth through age 80, then every 2 years after that.
- Adventurous, Light-Sleeper, Loser, Party-Animal, Over-Emotional, and Slob will roll every 10 years, from birth through age 40, every five years from 40-80, and every 2 years after that.
- Athletic, Disciplined, Eco-Friendly, Green-Thumb, Heavy-Sleeper, Lucky, Neat, and Vegetarian Sims will roll at birth, age 20, 40, 60, and 80, then every five years after that.

If a Sim rolls something they are not eligible for, either by being too young or being the wrong gender, the effect is neutral for that roll year.

The list looks like this: 




recreation accident (injured - 6 months therapy) [4]
recreation accident (die) *** traits exempt: lucky
recreation accident (serious injury - change a trait to "couch potato")
adventure, gain fitness [4]
get cancer (survive) [2]
get cancer (die)
accident free, get $1000 insurance rebate [4] *** traits exempt: unlucky
car accident (survive - 6 months therapy) [4]
car accident (serious injury - change a trait to "couch potato")
car accident (die)
airplane crash (die) *** traits exempt: lucky
work-related accident (survive - 6 months therapy, paid) [4]
work-related accident (die - family pay-out)
gain ten pounds [4]
lose ten pounds [4]
gain twenty pounds [3]
lose twenty pounds [3]
heart attack, after 40 (survive) [8]
heart attack, after 50 (die) [2]
bad back (change a trait to "couch potato" - cannot die of recreation) [4]
bad knees (limited exercise for life - cannot die of recreation) [4]
eyesight goes bad (wear glasses for life) [10]
goes bald (male) [10]
senility, after age 60 (change a trait to "absent-minded") [10]
stroke, after 50 (survive) [5]
stroke, after 60 (die)
flu/pneumonia (survive) [5]
flu/pneumonia (die)
suicide [3]
homicide *** traits exempt: lucky
fire (die)
drowning (die)
develop a drug problem (roll again) [5]
drug overdose (die)
overcome a drug problem (change a trait to "disciplined" -- must have had a drug problem) [5]
birth trauma (female), under 50, stillbirth
birth trauma (female), under 50, mother dies
become vegetarian (change a trait to "vegetarian" and skip next health roll) [5]
take up jogging (skip next health roll) [5]
make new friends (skip next health roll) [5]
take an interest in health (change a trait to "eco-friendly or green thumb" and skip next health roll) [5]
take up yoga/martial arts (skip next health roll) [5]
take up meditation (change a trait to "skip next health roll) [5]
read self-help books (skip next health roll) [5]
get a pet (skip next health roll) [5]
mend family relationships (skip next health roll) [5]
go back to school or take an enrichment class [5]
gain self-confidence [5]
find "religion" [5]
take up a new hobby [5]
depression (roll again) [5]
mid-life crisis, 40 or older. Change a trait! [10]

And of course, these weights can be adjusted if you feel one item is happening too frequently or infrequently. Or otherwise, you could adjust the rolling frequency too.

In terms of my own play, I think this list would replace the other ROS roll I used to use. I may decide to add a separate "neighborhood events" roll, but it won't involve any specific Sims living or dying. 

*** ETA, some examples of how this will go down ***

Harold Garth
age: 47
health: (b) car accident, (20) n/a, (40) bad back, (50)?
*** if we wanted to imagine so, we could say that Harold's bad back is tied to a car accident he had earlier in life? Note that though he rolled the "car accident" at birth, it doesn't mean he was in a car accident as a baby. It could have happened any time between birth and age 20, likely when he was a reckless teenager. ;)

Harold got a less frequent rolling schedule because of his "vegetarian" trait, but because of his 40-year roll, he will now have "couch potato" too, so he'll default back to the standard schedule, and his next roll will be at 50 rather than 60.

Maggie Garth
age: 44
health: (b) new hobby, (20) n/a, (40) take up jogging, (60) skip, (80)?
*** because of her disciplined trait, and a lucky skip she earned when she was 40, Maggie is looking at a healthy life ahead of her. She'll begin to be eligible for the regular "old age" elder death at 70.

Claudia Garth
age: 22
health: (b) n/a, (20) depression/bad eyesight, (40)?
*** because of her neat and vegetarian traits, Claudia has fewer rolls than others, but she caught a rather nasty one when she was 20. I'll have until her 40th birthday to work in that depression roll. Poor girl, lol!

That is also a bit of a spoiler in terms of the story, so I probably won't normally post what they've rolled until it's been fulfilled in the story.

Harold "Harry" Garth Jr.
age: 19
health: (b) n/a, (20)?
*** Like his mom and sister, Harry is on the 20-year roll schedule too from his "eco-friendly" trait.

Also, the "n/a" means that they were ineligible for whatever they rolled for that age, and so it's like a skip. Even though there are some beneficial rolls, so far my Sims have been better off getting to skip a roll than to chance getting something nasty.

And because this family are all pretty lucky in their traits, I'll share one of my unlucky Sims who has to roll more often. Because of her "unlucky" trait, Katie has to roll every 5 years! Which is scary because I like her, lol! But she's gotten off easy so far.

Katherine "Katie" Walsh
age: 23
health: (b) n/a, (15) childhood accident, (20) self-help books, (25) skip, (30)?
*** Because she wasn't born in game, I imagined she got her "unlucky" trait as a teenager. Because otherwise poor girl would have had to roll every 5 years since birth! Eeek! :o