I have a nice little skadoodle of Fate! Enough for one premium story! I’ve played most of them over the (genuinely startlingly) long time I’ve been playing this game, but there are some that for various reasons I’ve never checked out! Which do you think I should play?
edited by Gul al-Ahlaam on 5/30/2020
Steeped in Honey is known to be really good with some tough choices, and I can confirm that from my own experience. For me personally, Lamentation Lock is quite high on the list, because it explores an area familiar from Sunless Sea, though I’m not sure how many people shared that view. The Factory of Favours is not one I would play again. I don’t seem to have done the others, or have no memory of them, sorry.
I do not recommend the Season of Silver (Honey, Lock, Factory) - while premises sound interesting, overall it’s clumsy and disconnected, more pretentious than substantial.
The Factory of Favors is one of the worst exceptional stories. It is almost universally panned.
Lamentation Lock I think it’s just as weak, although it has its fans.
The Committee is not very interesting. It is enjoyable enough but there is not much to it.
The Brass Grail is good, although I found it somewhat disappointing. If you like devil lore it’s a good pick though.
Say It With Flowers is a pretty darn good ES. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Steeped in Honey is one of my absolute favorites. I would easily recommend that one.
Thank you so much for being so helpful, everyone! I really appreciate it! <3 <3 <3
I will keep the poll open for another day or so before I choose, I think.
Oh! And also, if it helps you decide what to suggest, I’ll be playing the story with the Uncanny Hierophant, who, to simplify their character considerably is an especially adorable Neutral Evil occultist/mad scientist type. Like… the embodiment of (◎ω◎*)
Of all those, my favorites are Say It With Flowers and Steeped in Honey.
The Committee always seemed to me an interesting story for beginner players, because of the activities you do and the involved lore. If you are a more advanced player you may not find it as interesting, but I still enjoyed it.
None of those are among Failbetter’s best imo, though I did like The Committee.
One of the possible rewards from The Brass Grail might be particularly suited for your character (a companion well-versed in the ways of both Hell and the Church).
edited by phryne on 5/30/2020
In case this matters to you, I believe this story can give you an Affiliation that provides +2 Dangerous when equipped.
Thank you so much everyone! <3 After looking through the threads for both the Brass Grail and Steeped in Honey, I think the Grail is going to play more to the strengths of the character, and it’s got Virginia which is a big plus as well! Thanks again! ^_^
Alright, just played the Brass Grail so I figured I’d collect my thoughts in this thread!
The amount of political scheming in this is insane, let me try and lay it all out:
- Either the Bish gives up his soul, marries Virginia, or embarrasses the church, so Hell wins either way.[/li][li]The labors are all carefully researched to appeal to his guilt, so it weakens him psychologically.[/li][li]It also breaks down his relationship with the church, isolating him from support.[/li][li]Then, if he’s found guilty, he submits to abstraction.[/li][li]And if his envoy is someone corruptible, there’s a seat on the court for them to ensure he is.[/li][li]And if his envoy is ignorant enough, the labors ensure they also get info on the Capering Relicker, free of charge.[/li][li]However, the devils talk openly about this plan and basically invite you to eavesdrop on them, so it’s not the real plan, even if it would be good for them if it worked.[/li][li]The real plan is to weaken him with guilt, yes, but then spring Michael on him as a surprise. Michael goes all "Oh no, I’ve fallen and been corrupted, please save me," the Devils make up something where he’s either obligated to take in Michael or feels like taking him in is the defiant thing to do, depending on whether he’s got his spirit back or not, and then Michael serves as Hell’s agent in the church, ideally manipulating the Bishop directly.[/li][li]Michael wants to be with Reginald again, or at least cares about him a lot, and while he seems to have fallen out of pure curiosity and ambition, he wants to think of it as a mirror of Reginald’s own failures, and for Reginald to understand how similar they are.[/li][li]ALSO the Devils are trying to draw direct parallels via the specific nature and changing descriptions of the labors between the Church and the old Devil Princes, as servants of the Judgements who don’t care about their followers, who spurn them and must in turn be spurned, to try and help the Bishop understand Hell’s perspective on the Church.[/li][li]In the same vein, they’re drawing connections between the Bishop and either the Princes who followed the Chandler Saint or to Virginia, I think either would work, and the deciding factor is that last line where the second labor is re-interpreted to be about mercy rather than scorn, but I don’t remember enough details to tell, which is also meant to make him sympathetic, and help with the plan to have Michael manipulate him.[/li][li]HOWEVER the Dowager has had quite enough of this rabble using her body for stupid, petty, ugly peasant’s politics, and wants to manipulate events to her own interest, ideally via the acquittal of the Bishop, seemingly because she objects on principle to the nature and goals of the court.[/li][li]If her anger is turned toward Virginia, however, it mellows to forgiveness. Having signed a specific bribery contract with Virginia seems to allow the Dowager, in her capacity as a Devil Prince, to both communicate with and understand the legal history of Virginia, who she claims simply didn’t know better. She seems to like that Virginia has kept the spirit of the aristocracy alive in this new age of Hell.[/li][li]If you help the Dowager take control of Virginia’s scheme, which happens behind the scenes once you connect them, Michael (who makes one last desperate attempt at executing the scheme if the Bishop is acquitted, for his own sake) shows up at your house all bloody, claiming to no longer serve "them" (presumably the court) since they has no need of him (presumably as a spy in the church), but still wanting to indulge and seek knowledge and power and such.[/li][li]HOWEVER HOWEVER it also says the Dowager was the one who made this happen, and according to other peoples’ journal entries, if you do all that stuff but DON’T connect the Dowager and Virginia, she gets mad at you, and Michael goes on to become a secret double-agent for the Dowager herself.[/li][li]SO we can assume that the same thing is happening here, since the only circumstances that have changed are the Dowager’s awareness of Virginia, and the only consequences are that Virginia no longer has you shot and Michael now secretly works with you, under the Bishop’s nose, it seems like Virginia has been roped into the scheme as well, and your reward for making that happen is to also be in on it.
The Devils wanted an agent in the Church, but now the Dowager has an agent in London, and two allies in Virginia and myself. And the Bishop got out of it thinking everything went his way, and is back to wrestling. Not a bad scheme, all things considered.