I recently picked Fallen London back up after years (so long I can’t even remember what my old account name or email was, had to make a new one-- no big loss, though, as I hadn’t gotten terribly far), and this time have manage to convince my IRL boyfriend-really-more-like-a-fiance-but-not-official-yet-because-grad-school-and-money-and-such to join me in the 'Neath. I did the Persuasive Surface Ties option with the One True Love left on the Surface, and we figured it would be amusing to fluff his character as said One True Love who finally decided that if I wouldn’t go back up there, he’d just come stay here.
But in order to even make myself Seen With him, I need a Touching Love Story, and the wiki (which is a mite difficult to navigate with all these chopped-off descriptions-- understandable, of course, given the relatively recent policy update regarding quoting, though I do think the wiki might function better if it quoted minimally and just gave basic, light-on-spoilers paraphrases) hasn’t been much help in determining what’s the most efficient way to acquire a Touching Love Story at my current level.
So, I figured I would inquire with you fine people! My stats are in the 30-35 range, except for Dangerous which currently (with equipment) maxes at 20 (I neglected it but am working on raising it now). What’s my best option for acquiring a Touching Love Story? I have 90ish Prisoner’s Honey, 80ish Romantic Notions, fewer than 10 Visions of the Surface, and the prospect of grinding to convert enough stuff to have 50 Visions of the Surface seems… very daunting. I know a Touching Love Story can be the result of a rare success on a few cards, but I’m not good enough at number-crunching to figure out how much of a gamble that is in relation to how long it would take to grind the things to convert. And from what I’ve managed at the Pickpocket’s Promenade, 30 pickpocket’s trophies seems nigh-impossible to achieve (I get slightly over 10 on a good run, over 15 on a very good one).
So what would your advice be? edited by Twyll on 5/24/2014
If you haven’t done it already it looks like the Case of the Absconding Devil in Ladybones Road might be your best choice, from the Wiki you can get a Touching Love Story with two of the possible endings - just be romantic about it.
Unfortunately I already finished that one; I got a Touching Love Story but spent it on… something I can’t even remember. I hadn’t realized then how hard Touching Love Stories are to come by :/ I meant to mention that in my original post but completely forgot!
The next suggestion is to get to 50 of whichever 50p item is easiest for you to get, do the side conversions until you get to Visions of the Surface and then convert up to Touching Love Stories.
Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that! I didn’t quite understand how the side conversions worked (have now looked it up on the wiki, understand much better now) and am kind of kicking myself for not realizing XD Thank you very much for that advice! That will make things a LOT easier.
Edit: AHA! Got it from a Rare Success on a "well I’ll go ahead and try this just once" whim. It seems the Dice Gods (and F. F. Gebrandt) were looking upon me with favor today! But I’m sure knowing about side conversions will be very useful in future, when the Dice Gods return to their usual attitude of apparently intense distaste for me. edited by Twyll on 5/24/2014
Welcome back! There have been a few recent changes that you may want to know about-
Going to New Newgate will build up your criminal record, making Ablution Solution less effective and the conditions of your imprisonment more strict. Likewise the Tomb-Colonies are now likely to cut either your Hedonist or Austere quirks upon exit and take 4 actions to sail back.
On the upside, you may have noticed that the basic candle now holds 20 actions instead of 10 (and Exceptional Friends hold 40!) and several stories have been rewritten, such as the “Dabbling in the Great Game” which now holds many low-level storylets, such as sketching a tattoo and waylaying a Tomb Colonist. Also at higher-end affairs (Person of Some Importance) the process for increasing your Notability has been greatly simplified.
[quote=Mordaine Barimen]Welcome back! There have been a few recent changes that you may want to know about-
Going to New Newgate will build up your criminal record, making Ablution Solution less effective and the conditions of your imprisonment more strict. Likewise the Tomb-Colonies are now likely to cut either your Hedonist or Austere quirks upon exit and take 4 actions to sail back.
On the upside, you may have noticed that the basic candle now holds 20 actions instead of 10 (and Exceptional Friends hold 40!) and several stories have been rewritten, such as the "Dabbling in the Great Game" which now holds many low-level storylets, such as sketching a tattoo and waylaying a Tomb Colonist. Also at higher-end affairs (Person of Some Importance) the process for increasing your Notability has been greatly simplified.
Hope this helps.[/quote]
Thank you! Honestly I’d pretty much forgotten everything about the game except that I found the setting intriguing and wished there were more in-game ways to roleplay XD Also, it turns out I’d been gradually getting very sick during that time period and that was messing with my memory… So everything is new and exciting to me anyways! :D
I do recall that I’d never actually died or been arrested, although the State of Some Confusion was quite familiar to me (I apparently had and still have a tendency to jump right into the sorts of things that give one Nightmares). I remember acquiring a Counterfeit Head of John the Baptist. Why I remember that particular detail, though, I have no idea. (I’ve since picked one up in my current game-- it seems Counterfeit Heads of John the Baptist just tend to fall into my lap like that. …What an image.) And I remember all the little rhymes about the Starveling Cat (the Starveling Cat!), probably because rhymes are easier to remember… And now that you mention it, I remember having a shorter candle; the 20-action candle is indeed nice to have!
Otherwise, though, I’m just relearning things as if I’d never known them at all-- which is really a very satisfying way to play, I think.
The game has had many changes over the years and there is a lot to discover. In some ways I envy you starting with fresh eyes. May you and your lover have fun exploring London together and good luck preparing for your in game nuptials … if you take your relationship that far:)
Well done on getting your Touching Love Story. I must say that quite frequently posting in the forums about something seems to placate the Dice Gods and you get the desired result.
Side conversions can be very useful and are an easy thing to forget about. I must admit to having to use the wiki to check which item is closest to the one I need…
I shall have to remember that… Since I generally punish my dice for bad luck by sticking them in time-out in the fish tank, and obviously that won’t work with Fallen London, appeasement seems to be the way to go.