Help me choose an Ambition

Fallen London
1

I’ve been holding off choosing an Ambition for my alt Taranlei until I’ve acquired POSI, a ship, and a clearer idea of what kind of character she is… and I’m still rather undecided!

Heart’s Desire is out because it’s my main’s Ambition (unfortunately it doesn’t quite fit his character but oh well, it was chosen long ago), but the remaining three all seem possible for my alt. Perhaps FL folks can weigh in on which ambition you think suits Taranlei’s character most? (No spoilers please, as I’ve not experienced any except Heart’s Desire and a bit of Nemesis.)

Taranlei, &quotthe Jaunty Mystic.&quot

Profession: Trickster currently, likely to become a Glassman or a Crooked-Cross one day.
Martial Tradition: the Presbyterate Adventuress’ Correspondence Course, with a dash of London’s School of Hard Knocks.
Poetic School: a staunch Bazaarine.
Philosophy: Nah. She follows her own way. Besides, it’s fun to debate cryptotheology with the Church.
Makes Toasts to: the Topsy King. Some things are worth preserving against pragmatism.
Chiropteromantic Zodiac: the Rat. (Madame Shoshana’s description: &quotThe Rat belongs to the metamorphic group of signs. You are dependable and hard-working. You would be talented at macramé, if you were to take it up. But I would advise against doing so.&quot)

Quirks: more Forceful, Daring, Steadfast, and Magnanimous. Less Subtle, Heartless, and Melancholy.

Faction-wise, she identifies most with the Docks (down-to-earth, hard-working, boisterous folk), the Church (she is a mystic after all, albeit theologically suspect), and Rattus Faber.
Warmer to: Urchins, Hell, the Gracious Widow, Tomb-Colonists. Neutral: Great Game, Criminals, Rubbery Men, Bohemians. Cooler to: Constables, Society, the Duchess. Amicable to cats, but trusts them only as far as she can swing a cat.
The faction she identifies with least is Revolutionaries. She may be ambivalent towards the Masters and the Bazaar, but she will oppose whatever revolution is planned.

Destiny: Gloom, for now. Destiny will surely take her through the Castle of Forests into a silvered future.

Any thoughts are welcome, thanks! =)
edited by Vega on 8/27/2018

2

How about the Bag a Legend! since you are close to Docks, and even Urchins, it could prove quite interesting.

3

I would suggest Bag a Legend, you’re close to the Docks, you’re Daring and Forceful, you seem Dangerous Focused, much like Bag a Legend!

4

If you want to stay close to the Docks, keep in mind that if you want a Brass Embassy Sanctum, Heart’s Desire is a must, since you need the Location of a Prince of Hell, and the only other way to get it is selling the way to the Nadir to the Great Game, which makes you Closest To them instead. (This has annoyed the hell out of me, by the way, since I want a Sanctum and am closest to Hell, but have to become not closest to Hell to get a Sanctum…)

Of course the same issue persists with a Spire-Emporium at the Bazaar and the Vial of Master’s Blood if you want it from selling the Nadir since it changes your Closest To, but you can get that in other ways. If you do sell the Location for the Blood, it would be making you Closest To the Revolutionaries, so that might be out for you anyway. However, you cannot even get to knowing the location of the Nadir without gaining renown with them and advancing the Liberation of Night, so that might be an issue in itself. Might be you’re looking at the Royal Bethlehem.

From what I hear, Light Fingers is definitely a great one, but if you’re Daring, Steadfast and Forceful, aswell as inclined to travel and all that, I’d consider Nemesis, since it leads to quite an interesting bit of travel. It also won’t put your Bazaarine at odds with the Bazaar as much as Bag A Legend or Light Fingers would, and takes you to places aligned with, for example, Hell, which you’re warmer to.
edited by EscapistEscapade on 8/27/2018

5

[quote=EscapistEscapade]If you want to stay close to the Docks, keep in mind that if you want a Brass Embassy Sanctum, Heart’s Desire is a must, since you need the Location of a Prince of Hell, and the only other way to get it is selling the way to the Nadir to the Great Game, which makes you Closest To them instead. (This has annoyed the hell out of me, by the way, since I want a Sanctum and am closest to Hell, but have to become not closest to Hell to get a Sanctum…)
[/quote]

You can actually get all 3 5-card Lodgings for way cheaper during Neathmas, a little Notability and a few other things.
Plus you can get the Master’s blood from another source (A card, 7 notability and a few Tears of the Bazaar), and the Location of a Prince of Hell you can get for 3200 Scraps.

6

Also, Closest To changes very easily nowadays: you do not lose renown, you only lose favors - if you happen to have them.

7

That one can be difficult, since &quota few other things&quot includes your Soul, for the Sanctum, in that case. Though it’s really the Nadir being locked due to the need to advance the Liberation of Night just to meet the Firebrand even if one disagrees with him that is worth pointing out, since they said they oppose it and the Revolutionaries. Just makes a things a bit harder to accomplish and potentially Heart’s Desire more relevant after all.

8

[quote=EscapistEscapade]

That one can be difficult, since &quota few other things&quot includes your Soul, for the Sanctum, in that case. Though it’s really the Nadir being locked due to the need to advance the Liberation of Night just to meet the Firebrand even if one disagrees with him that is worth pointing out, since they said they oppose it and the Revolutionaries. Just makes a things a bit harder to accomplish and potentially Heart’s Desire more relevant after all.[/quote]

The thing is you can regain your soul, and you cannot change your Ambition without Fate. While getting your soul back has a small chance of happening with a Bundle of Oddities (forgot the number) it can happen.

Note i looked up the costs
Spire-Emporium: 3Notability + 9 putting the pieces together: the taste of Lacre.

A sanctum at the Brass Embassy:
Your very Own infernal contract (free stuff for selling your soul! (Bonus if you’re PosI))
8 PtPt: the taste of Lacre + 3Notability

A suite at the Royal Bethlehem:
7PtPt: the taste of Lacre + 3Notability

Do note this is Neathmas only content!

9

I don’t want to give spoilers, but I want to say a word about the about the general tone of the other ambitions. I don’t call out any of the plot twists, but I do describe how they affect the tone of each story. So I’ll spoiler tag it - if you don’t want any hints at all, no matter how vague, skip it.

Nemesis promises to be a grim, gritty tale of revenge, full of violence both physical and moral. Of course there are some minor plot twists, which make it even darker, but it is as advertised.

Bag a Legend! (yes, the exclamation point is mandatory) promises to be a thrilling tale of adventure! There are some plot twists, which make it rather darker, but it is more or less as advertised.

Light Fingers promises to be a swashbuckling tale of clever heists and daring escapes. That’s technically true - but the plot twists make it MUCH darker than advertised.

So, if you want your heart broken on purpose, take Nemesis. If you want your heart broken when it’s not your fault, take Light Fingers. If you don’t want your heart broken, take Bag a Legend!

10

I’ve heard a few times that Light Fingers is one of the better ambitions and since I am playing through it I’d be inclined to agree. Your quirks, specifically steadfast and maganimous, are actually pretty relevant (although no replacement for subtle). Other than that I can only echo that daring, forceful, steadfast, and your docks connections are very ‘Bag A Legend’ esque.

11

I loved Nemesis, and I don’t usually like grim dark things. That said, one of the other two sounds like it might be a better match for your character’s personality.

12

Thanks, everyone! Lots of interesting suggestions and reasoning. Bag a Legend is a clear favourite (I’m also favouring it), but Nemesis is attractive too, as would give an interesting twist to my character’s journey in FL. Taranlei just got her Destiny at FotZ – I was initially skeptical about Gloom, but it’s growing on me, and Nemesis might be a good complement to that and give some interesting contrasts to the character I’ve built. Very cool how the Ambitions are rich enough to bring out a character’s potential in all kinds of different ways.
edited by Vega on 8/29/2018