[color=#cc0099]Delicious friends, the Exceptional Story for September is here!
One of London’s most notorious barristers is relying on unusual help. Uncover the secret to his victories, then face him in open court!
Trial and Error is the first story in the Season of Sceptres, and was written by Graham Robertson. This season, experience three stories that involve the use and abuse of power in an array of London professions. You can begin each from the Season of Sceptres card.
At the end of the season, players who have completed all three will go a step farther, unlocking bonus content involving the exiled Injurious Princess, and her plan to reclaim the throne of Vesture.
Editing and QA: Olivia Wood, Chris Gardner and Caolain Porter.
Art by Tobias Cook.
EXCEPTIONAL FRIENDSHIP
In addition to a new, substantial, stand-alone story every month, Exceptional Friends enjoy:
- Access to the House of Chimes: an exclusive private member’s club on the Stolen River, packed with content[/li][li]An expanded opportunity deck: of ten cards instead of six![/li][li]A second candle: Twice the actions! 40 at once!
Finishing all three stories in the Season of Sceptres will make you eligible for an additional opportunity, to follow.
If you want to keep an Exceptional Story beyond the month it’s for, you must complete the related storylet in the current Season’s card throughout London. This will save it for you to return to another time.[/color]
edited by Absintheuse on 8/31/2017
edited by Absintheuse on 8/31/2017
Oh man! Making an act retroactively a crime? My law student senses are tingling…:)
I hope one of the stories this season involves the Judgments…
A true statement, but I think this was a typo.
This one felt a little short, but it was definitely a good one! Going out on your own steam investigating, getting caught up in unjust court proceedings, a slight glimpse into the world of London’s law.
This bit always confuses me. Which bit do I have to do to save the exceptional story for later? I’m nowhere near ready to do this one yet.
It says I must complete the related story on the season’s card throughout London. Where is that? I don’t see a "Season of Sceptres" card. Is it literally a card? One I have to draw? I have "An Exceptional Story: Trial and Error" and "A visitor to London." Is it one of those? No "Season of Sceptres" anywhere. Help please!
Seeing as it is possible to lose these things by not doing the right thing I really wish you guys could try and make it a bit clearer.
Underwhelming. Disappointing. Railroaded. A good Exceptional Story makes use of Storynexus’s capacity for branching narratives. Consider Hojotoho: the three tasks may be done in any order, the details of each task are not entirely fixed (preparations are done in the order of the players’ choice), and there are two possible endings. Not to mention the less significant choices which still affect the narrative and allow for roleplaying, e.g. the moral lessons given to each pair of urchins.
The only meaningful choice in Trial and Error is picking an advantage in the trial. The rest of the story is a linear track through a sequence of set-pieces. What’s more, the recurring quality which regularly announced the next step in the story (e.g. "There’s something in the warehouse. You should go in to investigate.) only emphasized the fact that I was being dragged through a story and not really interacting with the story.
I also encountered a more mechanical problem when investigating the courier. There were only two visible investigation choices. I played the first, and it gave me a result and shuffled my Airs of London. The same two options were presented. I played the second, and it gave a result and shuffled Airs. Once more, the same two options. I played the first one again and immediately clicked “onwards” because I’d already played that option, and while the game responded to the “onwards” command I had just enough time to notice that the result text was different than what I got the first time. So Airs of London affected the available outcomes, but not the available options, and this caused me to miss some of the content.
Anyone taken the option to talk to the barrister’s employers yet? I’d be interested in reading your journal!
Thanks, Dov! Appreciate the help.
Torn between using the furnace for my own ends or relying on my own brilliance. Would anyone be willing to share the effects of either and whether they impact any future changes? Or at least, what this "steep price" may be?
edited by Scienceandponies on 8/31/2017
Yeah I’m curious as to the uses of the machine too. Not sure what to go with yet.
Using the machine didn’t properly affect me, but I think it might work the same as a trip to hell.
edited by Silverias on 8/31/2017
I don’t exactly recall what that entailed, but I assume nothing good for wounds and nightmares. Did it at least make for an entertaining court scene? Did it impact the ultimate fate of the machine/barrister? I’m mostly wondering if using it yourself compromises you ability to expose the barrister’s dealings, or if there’s ultimately a means to keep the machine around for further use. I might be amenable to a deal where I keep his secret in return for the occasional smithing of a few beneficial laws from time to time. Failing that, I wish to ruin him utterly.
Just a few notes about typos…
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At the point at which you choose who you ally with for the trial, “brilliance” is spelt with one l - briliance.
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The option at the beginning of the trial reads: Make your intitial statement
I have one concern. At the end of the story you receive a letter based on which method you used to defeat the Barrister.
When you beat the Barrister by yourself he sends you a letter HOWEVER, even if you beat him using your own wits, the epilogue still implies that the furnace would be broken.
Why would it be broken? I never touched it again. Or were my case notes that compelling?
[quote=Blaine Davidson]I have one concern. At the end of the story you receive a letter based on which method you used to defeat the Barrister.
When you beat the Barrister by yourself he sends you a letter HOWEVER, even if you beat him using your own wits, the epilogue still implies that the furnace would be broken.
Why would it be broken? I never touched it again. Or were my case notes that compelling?[/quote]
The Courier was explicitly saying that the furnace won’t last long.
I mean, it was already almost broken, despite all efforts to keep it functioning.
It felt a little too progressive of Fallen London society to have female lawyers and Judges. Its hard to understand where the rights of woman stand in London. They can not vote but can become a lawyer?
