I wish I could be. They have quite a world of their own, it seems.
There’s sympathetic of Ratly Concerns, which is something. Not connected, which is a shame, I wonder what they would reward me for selling the Nadir to them?
Does ‘Sympathetic about Ratly Concerns’ actually do anything? I keep drawing the Rat Melancholy opportunity card, but gaining SaRC (and that card in general) feels entirely useless.
I’d love to see a high enough sympathetic be the requirement for starting “connected:rats”
There probably isn’t a faction for them because all the rats are caught up in infighting (so getting friendly with one batch of rats doesn’t do anything with the other rats).
And unlike the Great Game, rats don’t have nations backing them up, and doesn’t easily switch loyalties as spies do, or have connections beyond their very own group / clan. There is one universally hated bridge between different ratty bandit groups, but you either kill it or ally with it and get hated by all the rats.
Alternatively, assume they are part of Criminals, while outcast like the Albino Rat just don’t have the influence to count.
Adding Spacemarine9 as an acquaintance is probably the closest you’re gonna get
edited by Deanscig on 6/21/2015
Mother of the Bazaar…
Well, urchins fight each other too, and they’re not too well-connected outside either. But rats get around more - everywhere, really. If they were a faction, doing rat-killing work at the Hill would probably displease them, as would any connection with cats. Who, by the way, should be a faction too, probably. If you think that’s too much, well, Rubbery Men aren’t, and they are a lot less common or informed. Making Rats and Cats interesting factions would take more than just a bunch of cards, Failbetter would need to make them interesting, but I can see potential here.
By the way, has anyone read that Fritz Leiber novel about Fafhrd and Gray Mouser, where they fight a deadly rat uprising in the city? It’s pretty dark stuff, actually, those rats were merciless and organized… Wanted to subjugate humans. Anyway, at one point Mouse drinks a potion to shrink down to rat size and explores their tunnels. Wouldn’t that be fun here?
Your connection with the Duchess effectively represent your connection with cats - this is reflected in nearly all actions related to cats. Which is to say you can’t really gain much influence with cats beyond buttering up the one central figure they have. They deal with you on a one-by-one basis, and no amount of recommendation from the Duchess and other cats can really help you if you displease one. They are cats, not Constables nor Bohemian. Not even peer pressure will work.
Okay, so we’d need a “conflict” card with the dutchess, on the line of the above 30 one with the widdow and the docks or the over 50 one with the criminals and the constables… one where you can’t gain more then you loose in other words.
If Cats are a faction, Bats should be one too.
Also Blemmigans, since they’re getting featured in more content lately.
Oh and the Clay Men/Polythreme/King.
And the Hat- and Glovemakers. They seem like cool people.
And the Bazaar. I’d want to be Connected: The Bazaar.
In summary: not everything can be a faction.
Connected: Clay Men sounds pretty cool actually. Or even just a “Sympathetic to Clay Concerns”.
Touched by Fingerwork seems to be, for some reason, the former, among other things. Mired in Clay is sort of like the latter, although there’s not a lot of chance to change it.
[quote=dragonridingsorceress]
If Cats are a faction, Bats should be one too.
Also Blemmigans, since they’re getting featured in more content lately.
Oh and the Clay Men/Polythreme/King.
And the Hat- and Glovemakers. They seem like cool people.
And the Bazaar. I’d want to be Connected: The Bazaar.
In summary: not everything can be a faction.[/quote]
That’s a poor argument. Rats are rational, can speak and have a society of their own, moreover, occupy a distinct and not unimportant niche in London’s life. Bats are animals just like horses, Clay Men are only one kind of cheap labourers… although it would be good to have a Connected: The Poor or Proletariat or some such to offset Society. In summary, it’s not a slippery slope.
Are you sure about that? I believe you missed the good sorceress’s joke regarding cats and bats and existing Connected qualities. The slippery slope begins with very reasonable steps…
Not to mention that there are already several tangential “connection” factions that are lacking the full accouterments of the primary factions (connected items, pets, conflict cards, Calling in Favours, etc.). It doesn’t make sense to keep piling on connections and diluting any utility in the “Connected:” title. Consider that in the new Port Carnelian content they could have represented your pull with the different factions with Connected qualities, but chose not to.
You clearly haven’t done the Mahogany Hall or Polythreme content.
To get into Mahogany Hall, you need to interact with Cats and Bats.
I’m not sure how much I can say about Polythreme without spoiling too much.