With most of the other PoSI goods, you can accumulate them all and equip as necessary. With ships, there’s a somewhat-clear progression, and some special priorities at play.
But for Clubs… two options, and picking one excludes the other (unless you quit the club, of course). The only difference between them, other than a single point of Persuasive or Shadowy, is that one has +4 Respectable, and the other has +2 Dreaded and +2 Bizarre.
Now, for gathering Notability, this hardly matters - one is as good as another. Which suggests that the choice is mainly one of taste. But there ARE other ‘checks’, I know this. I’ve heard of a high Respectable-check in one of the Ambitions, and I’ve noticed the option of making a Dreaded-check during burglaries.
So, I’m asking those who have seen more of the game, and better know which kind of checks are likely to appear… which is better? The Parthanaeum’s +4 Respectable, or the Young Stags Club’s +2/+2 to Bizarre and Dreaded?
(Oh, and I’ve got Ambition: Nemesis, if that matters.)
In general bizarre and dreaded are harder to come by than respectable. There aren’t a huge number of checks out there for either, and you can usually manage without. The big impact of choosing a club is the opportunity card you get from it.
The Parthenaeum has a suspicion reduction and a source for 150 whispered secrets. The Stags offers an action that gives wine, which ends up being more profitable on average, and an expensive way of getting connected society and bohemian.
Rather odd that the devs never got around to setting up a more feminine clique for an option. I’m not saying that women shouldn’t join the Parthenaeum or the Young Stags Club, but those two are clearly based on real-world gentlemen clubs and undergraduate senior secret societies such as the Skull and Bones (respectively). Boys will be boys…
That said, you would be wise to consider the Parthenaeum if you are trying to do the Light Fingers Ambition, as that requires a high Respectable score at one point.
But, if you are trying the Bag a Legend ambition then you will want to have a high Dreaded score (10?). That is, unless you are on good terms with the revolutionaries in which case you don’t need a high dreaded score.
For pure profit and usefulness I would say the Parthenaeum trumps the Young Stag because its club card is all around better. Strictly speaking you really don’t need a high score in either dreaded, respectable or bizarre to progress in any of the challenges - just having a large combined cumulative of the points is what’s important in the long run.
…oh, I hate it when that happens. Two clearly well-informed and authoritative answers, and they’re saying different things. >_> So, if the ‘club card’ is the main difference, which IS better? Does the Stags ‘end up being more profitable on average’, or does the Parthenaeum trump it by being all around better? :-S
Incidentally, I totally agree with Owen that it’s strange there isn’t a less testosterone-loaded option for clubs. Though, I don’t know what it could BE, without breaking with the turn-of-the-century London aesthetics. 's not like women were allowed to wield much real influence in those days…
Maybe a knitting-club with a dark secret, sewing arcane symbols into their tea-cozies? :P Or a baking-and-cooking circle that also serves as a training-ground for a cadre of professional poisoners. edited by BlakeTheDrake on 5/17/2015
Depends on what you value in terms of resources. The stags card has a luck check option: 90% chance of 1.8E worth of wine / 10% chance of +1 to both suspicion and scandal. You can ignore the other option on the card: it gives numerically worthwhile amounts of connected, but not in really desirable groups.
The other card is free from luck checks: 150 whispered secrets, or -2 suspicion.
Just decide what you value more.
As for a more feminine-friendly club, I’d be all for it, but it doesn’t need to be cooking or handicrafts. How about a cat, bat, or rat show club, an urban exploration group / historical appreciation society, a charity to oppose the evils of prisoner’s honey, a velocipede equivalent to a roller-derby, a spelunking group, or a debate club? Lots of options out there without falling back onto more boring tropes. Although it would be goos to have those options too, of course.
I have found the Parthanaeum most congenial, despite being a lady. As - unlike those on the Surface - the ladies of the Neath are able not only to undertake university degrees but pursue academia to high levels, play cricket (I myself was a rather useful right arm pace bowler for the Benthic Ladies’ First XI in my younger days), captain sailing vessels, and join the Velocipede Squad, I venture that we can hold our own in conversation with gentlemen. I cannot see something as stuffy as a gentlemen-only club lasting long in the Neath, to be sure. Positively antediluvian.
Down with the Gracious Widow, join our ~Elegant~ Old Cat Ladies Club with the Duchess at the helm! Must be old enough to be ineligible for Urchin-Gangs.
Anyway the Connection option on the Young Stag’s card is terrible.
Young Stag: 50 CP of Society/Bohemian, -500 Rostygold, need to draw cards
Young Stag with cards: 4 actions, 50 CP Society + 50 CP Bohemian, -50 Rostygold
Shuttered Palace Grind: 4 actions, 66 CP Society + 44 CP Bohemian + 20 CP Duchess, no need to draw cards
To earn Rostygold efficiently, you also need the Basalt Gymnasium and the Gang of Hoodlums, then draw their cards to earn 150 Rostygold. You are drawing a lot of cards. Maybe Rat-Catchers can fare better but most don’t.
Meanwhile, the Parthanaeum suspicion cure have its own niche as it is not affected by Criminal Record. 2 CP isn’t much, but it is free. edited by Estelle Knoht on 5/17/2015
Hmm… now THAT is an interesting analysis. -2 Suspicion isn’t much right NOW, but once I get a few more levels of Shadowy, I won’t be able to access the ‘Confounding the Constables’ option in The Spite anymore. (Needless to say, 'tis only with some very chatty help that I can do so still.)
It’s decided, then - The Parthanaeum it is. Frankly, I was inclined towards them from a purely role-playing perspective in the first place. The Young Stags seem a touch… frivolous, wouldn’t you say? dismissive sniff
Incidentally, I love the idea of a Cat Fanciers Club. I know several people who would eagerly join one of those, including a few gentlemen. From turn-of-the-century London to today’s internet, there are many who enjoy the company of cats, yes? And when they can talk and provide you with secrets, so much the better…
the +4 respectable is probably more useful for earning echos from some connected-related pet cards, and the screaming map storylet. i joined the stag’s club just because i had the resources for it, and they sounded like fun back in the university.
Different pets have different requirements, and the best pet, in terms of financial gain, is the grubby kitten, and she requires dreaded, not respectable.
The respectable is handy for the screaming map, but I’d say that the stags is more useful there - one half requires respectable, the other requires either dreaded or bizarre. Getting the respectable high enough to pass that test isn’t too hard: God’s editors, a decent suit, maybe a pet, or the consonant violin, and you’re there. It’s harder to scrape up a decent bizarre or dreaded score. edited by RandomWalker on 5/18/2015
The screaming map is why I am a member of the Young Stags. As for the connected pets - I like my bizarre Preening Macaw and being a Young Stag helps there as well.
Hmm… right, those pets. I’ve got a Dread Mole, or whatever it’s called, from the Great Game. But I’m not terribly sold on it. Which of the pets are Respectable, anyway?
The Grubby Kitten gives an extra 20p worth of items but some of the other rewards are useful - depending on where you are in the game and what you need. Fortunately it is relatively easy to change pets as you just need to wait for your pet card to turn up and have the necessary connection to choose a new one.
For character reasons, I’m part of the Young Stags. I don’t find either opportunity card to be so big in its impact to trump considerations of character for club selections.
That said, it would probably be a good idea to match the BDR quality to your pet check (I have the Kitten, so Dreaded is valuable to me). Also, if you plan to make long-term use of the Portly Sommelier exchanges, an efficient source of wine is valuable.
[quote=Estelle Knoht]Meanwhile, the Parthanaeum suspicion cure have its own niche as it is not affected by Criminal Record. 2 CP isn’t much, but it is free.[/quote]Yes, for those ‘wretched recidivists’, that is a very good point. But for the rest of us, Nikolas & Sons Instant Ablution Absolution provides roughly 3 CP reduction per Action when the cost of purchase has been accounted for. Which is better than ‘free’, as long as you’d be willing to suffer the Suspicion up to 4 before applying the bottle.
I went with the Young Stags, as I haven’t found any other good source of wines, and Respectable is easy enough to get to 10 without the Parthenaeum, while Bizarre and Dreaded are not. And I haven’t seen any options that require more than 10 for any of the BDR qualities.
But those underpants that the Young Stags are sporting as their symbol? Not very appealing.
…I’ll be perfectly honest and say that Gillsing’s last comment applies to me too. However, USEFUL the Young Stags may be, well, they’d have to be SIGNIFICANTLY more handy for me to choose a bunch of immature, prank-pulling, underwear-stealing frat-boys over a club of proper, tasteful gentlemen. (Though, of course, it would still be nice if there were a few points between those two extremes… :p)
On the other hand, I’m… decidedly unimpressed with the list of ‘Respectable’ pets. 3 out of 4 retrieves Compromising Documents, which never seem to be in short supply - or is it just me? I seem to get a stack of those in every other Bundle - and while Society’s endless supply of fine vintages CERTAINLY can come in handy, I just… eeeergh. A Racing-Slug. Of all the ridiculous trappings of the wealthy and idle, it just had to be that.
No, no… I will stick with my Mole. There’s always a demand for Correspondence-Plates, and I’m sure I’ll manage to get my Dreaded up to a reasonable level even without the aid of those motley fools at the Young Stags Club. I suppose the final accounting is that, even though I ask these questions… there’s a limit to how much I’m willing to compromise my CHARACTER for the sake of direct benefit. edited by BlakeTheDrake on 5/23/2015