On Wealth, Scrip, and Being a Rail Baron

[quote=Tyrconnell]I just bought 6,000 echoes of laudanum only to find that it is no longer something that can be sold in Ealing.

This is not fun. This is frustrating and annoying. Failbetter, please![/quote]

Damn… I was hoping that Failbetter would overlook this.

That said, I had thought of doing that - but I didn’t because when I saw that the Faction items were nerfed hard, those options to sell laudanum and tinctures are going to go sooner or later.

That and my characters need to keep their Echoes for now.
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020

All are gone now.

You know, I knew this before you even posted that. I did not post that, because I don’t want to post something that Failbetter staff might notice.

If you know of some means to get scrip fast, don’t post it here.

In fact, this advice goes for any exploit that you know. Don’t tell anyone else.
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020

Me too. Having to edit wiki pages again because of nerfs is tedious.
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020

All are gone now.

You know, I knew this before you even posted that. I did not post that, because I don’t want to post something that Failbetter staff might notice.

If you know of some means to get scrip fast, don’t post it here.

In fact, this advice goes for any exploit that you know. Don’t tell anyone else.
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020[/quote]
They know about them. And you’re not going to hide anything from them effectively.

Oh, you would be surprised how much that can be hidden, if you have the technical chops to look into whatever code that the player can get in the player’s browser.

In fact, I will tell you of an exploit that has since been closed because of the user interface rework two years ago.

I knew how to sell off Lodgings prior to the rework.
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020
edited by Rostygold on 7/7/2020

What would you all say is the best way to grind rumours of the upper river for someone who isn’t a crooked-cross? I don’t see any obvious, convenient choice on offer. Is hanging about in Ealing to draw cards the best we can do?

You could take the train back and forth repeatedly, I guess. It’s one Rumour per 2 actions, which isn’t fantastic. But it also doubles your hand in each direction.

But have you considered just becoming a Crooked-Cross? The counter-church pays better than its opposite, after all.

You can try repeatedly going to and from Ealing Station and London for Rumours of the Upper River. At the same time, if you can meet the BDR Requirement, you can sell Viric Lizards to the Tentacled Entrepreneur in the Bone Market.

[quote=PSGarak]But have you considered just becoming a Crooked-Cross? The counter-church pays better than its opposite, after all.[/quote]I rather like being a glassman, all things considered. Or &quotsilverer&quot, as I’ve since been dubbed… not quite as catchy.

[quote=The Curious Watcher]You can try repeatedly going to and from Ealing Station and London for Rumours of the Upper River. At the same time, if you can meet the BDR Requirement, you can sell Viric Lizards to the Tentacled Entrepreneur in the Bone Market.[/quote]These I’m aware of, but as discussed above the train option is far from ideal, and the lizard trade seems an even more dismal prospect given all the steps involved. The crooked-crosses really get a leg up here.

If you happen to have a Gazebo! from the election, that and the Honey-Mazed Bear unlock a card in Ealing Gardens that generates Rumours, among things.

Graduating a Visionary student gives you a rumour. But I’ve just been grinding rumours by attaching holy thighs to mammoth ribcages - 20 rumours per skeleton.

I have neither but I love that they implemented a card with such… unusual requirements. :D
Do you happen to have a profile link to its text?

The card itself, treating the Bear’s honey addiction, and putting on a show! (The Bear plays Emperor Claudius of the Roman Empire, with a human actor as the Fingerking-possessed advisor.)

Interestingly, converting wealth the other direction seems designed to be easy. You can buy Tinned Ham for hinterland scrip (125) and sell it a the regular bazaar for 63.5 echoes, which is a profit of 1 echo if you assume that hinterland scrip is worth 0.5 echoes. The flavor text even says that it “commands a premium when sold in london”, so that seems deliberate.

So any wealth you convert to the new economy is pretty trivial to convert back at no action cost (Besides going to Ealing). It’s just one direction that is tough.

[quote=The Lonely Hunter]Jet Black Stingers add 2 Menace to your skeletons on success and the Monstrous Anatomy check is easier than most. Sabertooth Skulls give one point of Antiquity and Menace on a success but only the Antiquity on failure, whereas Horned Skulls are a little harder to get and offer less raw value to your skeletons but always give you at least 1 Menace and 1 Respectable. I haven’t gotten to Ealing Gardens yet, so I haven’t personally tried out any new bones.

Edit: There are Thorned Ribcages as well, and they give 1 Menace, 1 Amalgamy and a Tail slot. These are much easier to get if you have an Iron Toothed Terror Bird, but there are a couple of Rare Successes that give them out as well.
edited by The Lonely Hunter on 7/5/2020[/quote]

Hey thanks for the tips, I do indeed use Thorned Ribcages regularly but while it’s a bit of an action sink I’ve become fond of donning my seven-headed skeletons with Aurochs skulls just because it’s making use of stuff I’ve earned. This of course requires lots of bone fragments so-any tips for tacking on lots of Antiquity for skeletons I can sell to fund my other skeletons?

As a side node, BOY am I glad I ground out lots of railway steel in the buildup to the railway event’s full release, there’s so much else to ground now.

““The flavor text even says that it “commands a premium when sold in london”, so that seems deliberate.””

I took that line as a reference to FL contributor Meg Jayanth’s acclaimed game 80 Days. :)

Ah. I’m not familiar with that game so I didn’t get the reference.

How do you manage to do that? Mammoth ribcage has an Antiquity of 2, which means Scupltress won’t take a second look at the skeleton.

How do you manage to do that? Mammoth ribcage has an Antiquity of 2, which means Scupltress won’t take a second look at the skeleton.[/quote]
They may have a Scrimshander Carving Knife. You can remove antiquity with it.

Since I haven’t taking much care about the bone market until now, could someone tell me some useful recipies for skeletons?
I’ve already taken a look around in the wiki, but it feels kinda confusing.