This custom NPC mod introduces five new NPCs and their dog into the East Scarp neighborhood of Pelican Town.

Meet:


Image Description: Sondra holding her pointer finger up, with a plus sign, a division sign, and a US dollar sign floating above her head. The quote beside her says: "One of the more enjoyable aspects of teaching someone maths is watching their eyes ever so slowly glaze over and then you bring up the tax fraud and they snap to attention."

A widow trying to be the best aunt she can be to three (+ a bonus one) wild niblings while keeping the memory of her husband alive,
Aunt Sondra Brazier Bear is only 5'4" and turning 50 again this year (and next year), used to teach accounting back in Zuzu City, and loves music, flowers, and the finer things in life.



Image Description: Sig with his eyes closed and half-smirking. The quote beside him says: "Winter's a good time to change things up. Maybe get another tattoo. Something tasteful or something tacky, that's the hard question."

A recently discharged soldier who saw a fair bit of everything in Gotoro and is just getting back into the civilian life, Sig (never Sigurd) Bear is grumpy and a bit down on his luck, but with the help of his family starts to see the good in things again even despite starting his life over. He's 28, 6'5", and can absolutely carry that for you, whatever.



Image Description: Gunnar with a hesitant smile and a sweat drop on his face. The quote beside him says: "So with enough red mushrooms and some muscle remedy, you'll see the hat man. I don't remember what happened after that, though. Also, I do *not* recommend it."

A college graduate who is trying to take the first steps in achieving his dreams, even if those steps disappoint his grandmother, Gunnar Bear is a fresh-faced 25 year old who's accepted being the short one (5'8") and instead focusing on things like running a questionable shop full of dubious goods and sometimes exploding things on accident.



Image Description: Gudrun with a raised eyebrow, an eyeroll, and a smirk. The quote beside her says: "In a perfect world, I'd live on a barge in the river or on the sea... but unfortunately, here in reality, I have homework and the impending doom of higher education."

A high school student with a burning passion for the environment and fish of all kinds while being full of apprehension about growing up, Gudrun Bear has a pool of knowledge filled with facts about pollution, aquatic life, and why her older brothers are SUCH DORKS. At only 14, she's 5'5" and still growing, and will need a little emotional growth along the way.



Image Description: Teren with a smile and a blush, wearing a shirt with letters that are partially cut off that read "M C R" as in the band My Chemical Romance. The quote beside him reads: "I want to be a cool guy who can say puns all the time, but I always end up laughing too easily. It's probably the quickest way to my heart, a sense of humor."

A fellow recently discharged soldier who served alongside Sig and is now re-discovering what he's most passionate about in life, Teren X. Barnes (formerly Sergeant, of the Ferngill Republic Army) is 30 and 5'10", and willing to talk anyone's ear off about his favorite emo albums all while plying them with fresh baked goods and homecooked meals.




An independent dog who failed her service dog training but won't let that hold her back, Sassy Barnes is equipped with paws that cause mischief and a precious face that few can say no to. 



What do you get with BearFam?

• 5 fully friendable NPCs
• Over 500 lines per character plus gift reacts
• Over 10 events per character
• 4 new explorable maps + fun event locations
• Over 50 new items including recipes, fish, weapons, clothes, and rings
• Many integrations with East Scarp and it's add-ons, such as cross-overs and reactions!
• Integrated with multiple food + crop mods for more varied gift tastes.
  

COMPATIBILITY:
As of release, this mod is compatible with Stardew Valley Expanded (SVE/SDVE), Downtown Zuzu (DTZ), Ridgeside Village (RSV), Visit Mt. Vapius (VMV) and is currently anticipated to be compatible with Sunberry Village (SBV).

Translations? Go nuts! Beware, if you rely on machine translation software, you MIGHT break things so it is ill-advised. Please only upload the translation file as BearFam is fully i18n compatible.

Currently not compatible with: Pierre to Piper, Caroline to Charles, DSV's No More War config settings. (The first two are in the pipeline, the latter would require significant story overhaul that I'm not sure is feasible at this time.) If there's a mod you think I should add compatibility for, please let me know in the comments or over on the East Scarp discord (link below!) and I will see what I can do for a future update. :3


WARNINGS/TRIGGERS:
This mod contains: references to war and war-time combat, loss of a spouse, alcohol and cigarette usage, breaking of an engagement, use of profanity, and fantasy violence. Please remember to protect yourself and your mental health first by engaging in content that you're comfortable with and by all means skip this mod if those above topics cause you any discomfort.


CONFIGURATION:
PLEASE - see articles for a deep dive into the various configurable options available and make the mod yours to enjoy.


REQUIREMENTS:

• East Scarp
• SpaceCore
• MEEP
• Lumisteria's Indoor Tilesheets
• Lumisteria's Outdoor Tilesheets
• GMCM
• and of course, Content Patcher + SMAPI.
  

ALTERNATE PORTRAITS:

• WU-BEAR FAMILY PORTRAIT by xiaowugogo (Thank you again for the stunning rendition in your style!)
• Future Portraits to be linked also! 
  

RETEXTURES

• Simple Foliage Fersken Peach Tree by Midnight Voyager (Thank you so much for making a Simple Foliage variant!)
• Future Retextures to be linked also!
  

YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

• Weather in the cellar is intentional, the cellar is exposed to the outside.
• Gunnar and Gudrun arrive as long as you've played 26 or more days in the game. Canonically they arrive in the Summer.
• Teren will arrive roughly ten days after Gunnar and Gudrun arrive.
• All routes are complete platonically - no romance is needed to finish any NPC's route.
• Gunnar's shop is open 24 hours and the inventory IS randomized.
• The Rival Hearts routes are not active yet beyond an initial event for each ship + some references. The full routes for all three ships will be launching in a future update.
  

YOUR EASE OF GAMEPLAY MAY BE ENHANCED WITH THE FOLLOWING VERY COOL MODS:

• Lookup Anything
• Event Lookup
• Schedule Viewer
  


F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)

• Can this be installed on an existing save? 
  Yes! You may need to sleep a day to get them up and moving out of their beds but there should be no conflicts! (They may also talk like they've been there since Day 1, I apologize for that.)
• Who is romanceable?
  The three adult men - Sig, Gunnar, and Teren - are romanceable and marriable. Sondra and Gudrun are not. Sassy is a dog.
• Do I have to romance X to finish their story?
  No! You will get a choice in a late/8 heart event to unlock them as romanceable. Feel free to choose platonic instead and continue onwards as friends!
• Can I make a portrait/sprite mod in my style/x style?
  Of course and I'm quite flattered! Everything should be loaded so you can target the files through content patcher! As a gentle reminder, I don't condone AI usage so please do not use AI to make assets for this mod, thank you.
• Is this compatible with X? 
  If it's not called out specifically above, assume that is IS compatible but of course, let me know if there's a conflict so I can adjust! Yes this means SVE/SDVE/Stardew Valley Expanded.
• You can enable DP for portrait replacer mods as long as it's either your own style or a style-match that you have permission to enable DP for.
• You can enable DP on translation files.
  

CREDITS:

• House Exterior + Seasonal Variants, Outdoor Decor Items, Cellar Beams/Fixtures by Yri
• Custom Music and Sounds by TheFrenchDodo
• Very Patient Coding Tutorials and Repairs by DestyNOVA
• Additional Event Repair by DestyNOVA
• Gundhildr & Rune sprite fixes + toddler loading code by DestyNOVA
• Config Schema Explanation and Format by DestyNOVA
• Crossover with Sword & Sorcery Feedback by DestyNOVA
• Gunnar's 1-2 Heart Event (Platonic) Written by DestyNOVA
• Gunnar's 10-2 Heart Event (Platonic) Written by DestyNOVA
• EVEN MORE Event Repair by DestyNOVA
• Additional Item Sprites - fersken peach, fersken mead, Teren's jukebox, Sig's beehouses - by DestyNOVA
• UI recolor compat tabs template by DestyNOVA
• Additional Very Patient Coding Tutorials and Repairs by TenebrousNova
• Map Repairs by TenebrousNova
• Even MORE Event Repair by TenebrousNova
• C# Content by KittyCatCasey
• Scopecreep enabling SpaceCore features by KittyCatCasey
• Exterior Map Patch and Volumes of Valuable Advice by Lemurkat
• Sassy Portrait Advice from FellowClown and AmbreaNoNaMe
• Ginger Beer sprite by TheMaineDaine
• Randomized Dialogue Code + Patches by The7thAxis
• Randomized Dialogue within Randomized Dialogue Code by The7thAxis
• Fixing Borked Dynamic Tokens by The7thAxis
• Mod-page assessment by The7thAxis, EnderTedi, DestyNOVA, TenebrousNova
• Encouragement to be as unhinged as humanly possible with randomization by The7thAxis
• Fixing More Borked Dynamic Tokens by EnderTedi
  

All credit goes to the East Scarp Discord community for a lifetime's worth of encouragement, humor, advice, and empathy. Thank you to every member of the East Scarp Discord community for being part of the magic. Special shoutout to Bagi, Casey, Daine, Tedi, and many other users who I've hung out with in DMs and/or VC, brought together by modding but united by friendship.

Special thanks to Desty and Nova and Dodo for being my friends even while I was sick and in mourning and never leaving me behind despite it all. This came together especially thanks to the three of you. Desty, thank you for answering a million and a half questions despite them being colossally dumb most of the time and for encouraging me when I probably would've given up. Nova, thank you for being my co-conspirator through it all and letting me pick your brain for maps, events, and everything else. Dodo, thank you for letting me mine for salt and hide behind you when things were scary, and for letting me lean on you when I was struggling numerous times; the world is brighter because of you.

Find me on Discord in the East Scarp server! @mad.dog.of.shimano - pings welcome, ask before DMing please.

Some poetry and songs were also quoted! See full list here:


DO NOT USE ANY OF MY CONTENT FOR AI GENERATION.
I'll say it quietly again.
Do not use any content within this mod - art AND/or text - for AI generation.
I do not give any user permission to make AI derivatives of my content and I do not give any any user permission to share AI derived content of my mod. (AI Portrait Modders, this means you.)