I’ve been trying to meet the Repentant Forger in New Newgate Prison. Twice now I have gotten myself sent there only to see my suspicion slowly ground down to zero, at which point I am forced out.
The ordinary New Newgate options are of no help. "Bribery" always reduces suspicion. "Contact your Lawyer" is a 50-50 luck challenge to lose some suspicion or gain half as much, an average net loss. "Prison Life" reduces suspicion except on a failed Watchful challenge, and my Watchful is well above the threshold of 67 above which success is ensured.
The New Newgate opportunity deck contains a number of cards which cannot be discarded. "Scratched on the Wall" reduces suspicion in all possible outcomes. "The Troubled Undertaker" always reduces suspicion for characters with a Persuasive of 9 or higher. "The Warden" always reduces suspicion for characters with a Dangerous of 67 or higher. "The New Cell" either reduces suspicion or provides the Dirigible Schedule Notes. "The Screaming Prisoner" always reduces suspicion. "The Talkative Gaoler" always reduces suspicion. "University of Crime" reduces suspicion unless you can pay a criminals favor, in which case it increases Shadowy. "A visit from a priest" is the only non-discardable card which can increase suspicion, by confessing to the priest (which reduces Nightmares and Scandal, to boot). Even the cards which can be discarded rarely increase suspicion except on failed low-difficulty challenges.
All in all it’s rather annoying, because I miss out on a substantial number of actions while waiting for the Forger to show his face, and whenever the mandatory suspicion-reducing cards force me out I have to get myself arrested again. The New Newgate Prison experience would be greatly improved by a repeatable option which increased suspicion. There are multiple cards which reduce core qualities and give other benefits ("Bilge duty", "Voice from the oubliette"). How about something which went in the other direction, giving +1 change point to each core quality and increasing suspicion? Stick it in the "Prison Life" option with the name "Cause some trouble", perhaps. New Newgate may be a prison, but getting out is apparently easier than staying inside.
As ciel said, while wearing a pirate hat you can’t be kicked put of prison. Also beware, getting sent to prison too often is dangerous, as it is the only menace area that has permanent negative effects. edited by DrMoriviri on 5/13/2017
Dying also results in permanent effect. Your "A Boatman’s Opponent" cannot be lowered, and if you get it too high, getting out of the boat is painful. At 40, even with max Watchful, you’re probably better off relying on cards to get you out, which is worse that it seems like as you can only have 6 of them at a time (or 10 if you’re an Exceptional Friend).
I feel like the community is over-emphasizing New Newgates prison. Criminal Record doesn’t do much until you raise it to 4, and that still means you can revisit it 9 (1+2+3+3 CPs) times without major consequences. And even then, if you get it at level 4+, there are other ways to reduce Suspicion than to repeatedly use Instant Ablution Absolution (cards, opportunism in Spite, social actions. The latter is rather good.) edited by Fluby on 5/13/2017
[quote=lady ciel ]Wear a Pirate Hat which gives +1 suspicion until you meet the forger. Then take it off when you are ready to leave.
It costs 4 echoes at Maywell’s Hattery but it, and other menace increasing/decreasing items, are worth it as they can be useful sometimes[/quote]
Aye, thanks for the tip. I keep forgetting about the menace equipments. Helps me not get booted out, at least, but there’s still not much to do while waiting for the Forger. Harrumph.
As for permanent effects of prison: I’ve been using Brass Embassy burglaries to get there without increasing my Criminal Record. Getting caught on one of those sends you to NNG without the sentencing storylet.
Just remember that Hell is going to be converted!
If you’re oki with starting from 0 that’s the way to do it! Wish you good luck on finding the Forger; he’s a great acquaintance! Oh, and remember that the Fate story Secrets Framed in Gold can push him to much (it’s an obvious option) and you’ll need to visit the prison and pay Fate to befriend him again.
so since were on the topic of that certain story-let may i be presumptuous enough to ask if it is worth engaging in from a narrative standpoint?.
i know its slightly of topic and i was about to make a thread asking this question but since were on the topic of it it seemed sensible to quietly ask here.
Yes. It is amazingly impactful. If you do it, however, be prepared for what happens. There’s no redoing the story, and reconciling things takes more than just kind words.
[quote=Silverias]Yes. It is amazingly impactful. If you do it, however, be prepared for what happens. There’s no redoing the story, and reconciling things takes more than just kind words.[/quote] okay then the fate looked material ive tried so far has been weak ish narratively (though it makes sense the said material being soul retrieval the soul trade and flute street) so itll be nice to try something with a bit of meat to it.
Only until you get your very own firkin of cider! There’s no such thing for suspicion. Unless we can import our Above the Law from ratsending simulator …
if you’re feeling sneak-thiefy (shut up it’s a word), failing to rob the brass embassy will get you sent straight to prison without increasing your criminal record.
the major downside here, aside from losing your Connected: Hell quality should you “succeed”, is that grinding 13 levels of Casing to unlock the heist is time-consuming, even with a Gang of Hoodlums or PoSI status, and your chances of “success” are still 50-50. still, “failing” means gaining a bounty of souls, brass, and other useful goodies
[quote=Skinnyman]Just remember that Hell is going to be converted!
If you’re oki with starting from 0 that’s the way to do it! Wish you good luck on finding the Forger; he’s a great acquaintance! Oh, and remember that the Fate story Secrets Framed in Gold can push him to much (it’s an obvious option) and you’ll need to visit the prison and pay Fate to befriend him again.[/quote]Thank you kindly for the well-wishes! I ended up meeting the Forger on my fourth New Newgate visit, and hopped the next zeppelin back to London. I wonder what he thought of that, with his willingness to serve a full sentence…
Anyways, I then decided that I might as well finish up the Brass Embassy burglary. So, of course, it took four more attempts to actually pull it off. Harrumph.
[quote=Qube]if you’re feeling sneak-thiefy (shut up it’s a word), failing to rob the brass embassy will get you sent straight to prison without increasing your criminal record.[/quote]It’s "sneaky-thiefy", actually.
[quote=Qube]the major downside here, aside from losing your Connected: Hell quality should you "succeed", is that grinding 13 levels of Casing to unlock the heist is time-consuming, even with a Gang of Hoodlums or PoSI status, and your chances of "success" are still 50-50. still, "failing" means gaining a bounty of souls, brass, and other useful goodies[/quote]One thing which definitely helps is that a failed Brass Embassy burglary reduces Casing somewhat but doesn’t reset it. Makes sense, because they can change the locks and set new watch schedules but can’t reshape the floor-plans on a whim. Not at their London facilities, at least.
Some of the burglaries, like bringing revolution or robbing the carnival strong-box, have a second, higher-stakes option. It’d be interesting to have an option to, say, break into an inner Embassy sanctum, steal documents to hand over to the Constables (for substantial Connections and some Rostygold), and learn some secrets about the Embassy’s variously horrific security measures. Perhaps a choice to attempt a still more difficult challenge to forgo most of the rewards but pick up your soul on the way out if you happen to have previously misplaced it. edited by Anchovies on 5/16/2017