Since the players of FL tend to be smart folks (at least the ones on the forums); I wonder if we consciously or unconsciously attempt to maximize Watchful in-game.

...odd that he wanted to go down the Journalist path...

As the Memento Mori proudly demonstrates, Mixing modern technology with wierd occult magic is perfectly possible. Embracing one doesn't have to mean abandoning the other.

Everyone keeps siezing on that word, no that's not what i meant.
I mean that a spear isn't terrifying. Far less so than a really big gun.

I think the british empire's history demonstrates this quite effectively: http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/75401000/jpg/_75401592_zulupics.jpg

Pyrodinium wrote:

The tradition of using parts of your prey to hunt monsters is an at least ~13800 year old practice.

EXACTLY!
Whereas, at the time of our setting, the tradition of using giant cannons to hunt your prey is only a couple centuries old, if even that. And vastly more effective.

You may be able to jump on a tyrant moth and stab it to death, but taking down something like a Lifeberg or Mt Nomad can only feasibly be done by smashing it into pieces with explosives and large-calibre projectiles. The latter isn't even going to come anywhere near within "jump-on-it-and-stab" range, because it wrecks ships from afar with some kind of bizarre psychic powers.

I'd say the most appropriate monster hunter tool would be something akin to fallout 4's broadsider





Or perhaps even an enhanced version of such.
As the Memento Mori proudly demonstrates, Mixing modern technology with wierd occult magic is perfectly possible. Embracing one doesn't have to mean abandoning the other.

edited by Nanako on 1/22/2016

Passionario wrote:

Nanako wrote:

As the Memento Mori proudly demonstrates, Mixing modern technology with wierd occult magic is perfectly possible. Embracing one doesn't have to mean abandoning the other.

If you're a Monster-Hunter, there might be a big gun coming up later in your career, but you won't be the one firing it. So hold on tight to that harpoon, you're going to need it.
edited by Passionario on 1/22/2016

Ah yes i remember that.
But given the fact that they deal such an enormousa amount of damage instantly, and always inevitably die, i figured those particular monster hunters were strapping dynamite to themselves and suicide bombing, not attempting to stab a monster to death

You know the highest-tier Journalist profession is also somewhat fantastical, right? The Correspondent. Lore-wise, the higher-end professions are institutionalized by the Bazaar for its own ends.

If you break the current poll down by which stat people are improving with their professional item:

Dangerous: 10
Shadowy: 10
watchful: 23
Persuasive: 19

This tilt makes sense if you look at the fact that there are very high-level Watchful and Persuasive challenges in the game (particularly Watchful) and that Persuasive is rather hard to get into a very high range.

EXACTLY!
Whereas, at the time of our setting, the tradition of using giant cannons to hunt your prey is only a couple centuries old, if even that. And vastly more effective.

You may be able to jump on a tyrant moth and stab it to death, but taking down something like a Lifeberg or Mt Nomad can only feasibly be done by smashing it into pieces with explosives and large-calibre projectiles. The latter isn't even going to come anywhere near within "jump-on-it-and-stab" range, because it wrecks ships from afar with some kind of bizarre psychic powers.

I'd say the most appropriate monster hunter tool would be something akin to fallout 4's broadsider

As far as i can see, the correspondence is basically code.
To study and write it, is to be a programmer

Now that I think of it: what are the respective professions of Cheery Man, Gracious Widow and the Topsy King?

~snip~

Passionario wrote:

Now that I think of it: what are the respective professions of Cheery Man, Gracious Widow and the Topsy King?

Legitimate Businessman, Legitimate Businesswoman and Violinist, respectively

To be honest the Mystic stage didn't feel like a good fit. You're either scamming people or you believe you have mystical visions. Not much room for roleplaying outside those boxes.

It's a picture of a snake eating an apple. And it is not at all a pair of spectacles, of any colour.
Once again, art put me off. This one seems like a bug though. is it so hard to put in a pair of spectacles?

The correspondence is a weird, magic science. not language, or if it is language, it's an unstoppable magical language that casts spells without warning even by writing and often casts them... explosively.

Grenem wrote:

The correspondence is a weird, magic science. not language, or if it is language, it's an unstoppable magical language that casts spells without warning even by writing and often casts them... explosively.

Hey, magic spells are language. They're just, you know, magic language.

[spoiler]Or, I daresay a more accurate description would be... well, if a god says something, it comes true, yeah? So we can say something in the gods' language and do the same thing. Except it's so powerful that if we get it wrong, things explode... and even if we get it right, it's a language devised so much higher on the chain than our mortal realm that things might explode anyway.[/spoiler]

Correspondence-study and its relevant profession take on the trappings of science and academia in Fallen London, rather than those of science or religion, just 'cause, well, that's Fallen London's culture.

Anyhow, I figured that Crooked-Crosses were straight up employed by Hell as, indeed, agitprop - agents out to undermine Christian morality for the benefit of the devils.

(Oh, and in answer to the original question - Sir Fred's a Correspondent, Hubris is a Crooked-Cross, Juniper's a Stalker and Esther's a Campaigner.)
edited by Sir Frederick Tanah-Chook on 1/22/2016

Fallen London is sticky with the supernatural. Unlike in our society, its charismatic leaders don't have to come up with a religious reason to convince people that devils and sentient fungus exist. Chant a revolutionary song, and their followers will pick up their hammers and build an irrigo cannon with no contradiction between the supernatural and the pragmatic.

I guess I'm kinda frustrated that none of the professions seem all that conducive to building oneself her own criminal empire.

I just picked up the Enforcer path, but I'm honestly not very keen on any of the professions for my character. Aliénor's a criminal, more specifically, a thief (her ambition is Light Fingers), so I want a profession that emphasizes Shadowy. Enforcer is the closest fit because of her criminal ties, but the other tiers in the progression don't really fit her: she wants to steal a person's shinies and valuables, not kill people. (Rupho's write up on the Licentiate is great, but it just doesn't fit my thief girl.) Trickster almost works because of her ties to the urchins, but being a Crooked Cross doesn't fit her personality at all, and she has absolutely no interest in getting any more deeply involved in the Great Game, so the Watcher path doesn't fit, either. And picking a profession path just for pure stat optimization isn't very appealing to me.

I guess I'm kinda frustrated that none of the professions seem all that conducive to building oneself her own criminal empire.
edited by DT on 1/28/2016

Juno wrote:

I was disappointed when I realised, however, after months of having this profession, that there appeared to be no means to practice that profession. No snippets, no additional storylines, nothing at all to acknowledge your profession.

That's true for most professions though... I haven't yet had the chance to actually use my Revolting Disguise anywhere in-game. There are very few storylets with profession-specific snippets of lore implemented at this time (I think Midnighters and Correspondents are mentioned most often).

Looking at the poll results, I am struck by how few people seem to be taking the Enforcer - Murderer - Licentiate path. Probably not very surprising if this mirrors most people's healthy aversion against killing people (even in a fictional setting).

Since an agent is the closest to a thief, is there something closer to a cop than a watcher then?

I can completely see that! I mean, fresh food seems to be rare, to the point that stale bread heals wounds. Who knows what fresh bread would go for.

You assume a BFG is the best end-result because that's likely how you have your previous experience on other topics and game sources. So a gun must be better than a harpoon, even if it's magic or has a better cultural importance to the group of those who hunt "monsters."

Such conjecture misses the whole history and culture of why these people become monster hunters in the first place.

(I won't bother that detail as others did fine previously.) It also misses you're in a 19th century where the whole concept of industrial mechanical process is infantile at best, and the weapons you think of only were created due to twentieth-century assembly line advancement. So everything from the bazooka on up was due to said assembly line, even if not crafted via assembly lines. Such things were made due to components due to 20th century mass production paling to the 19th century US Union Civil War standards that was mainly why the Confederacy lost said insurrection.

All this written, I saw another place (where I will not detail) where name calling and very disrespectful replies were done. This is never acceptable. if one is dissatisfied with somebody's question, perspective or opinion, it may be discussed, but it should always be done in a respectful and civilized replying manner.

You know the highest-tier Journalist profession is also somewhat fantastical, right? The Correspondent. Lore-wise, the higher-end professions are institutionalized by the Bazaar for its own ends.

"The Crooked-Cross is a tempter. He invites the ignorant to knowledge, and opposes any monopoly on morality. He tests the boundaries between right and wrong. He has parted a priest and his faith, convincing the priest to deface the sign of his God."

lady ciel wrote:

My alts have taken different paths and my youngest one is a Ratcatcher,

if you have alts, i'd say login and vote once with each of them, so we can get better data :3

Gameplay-wise I believe it isn't supposed to be "respectable", I think it's supposed to be "dreadful".

The tradition of using parts of your prey to hunt monsters is an at least ~13800 year old practice.

Grenem wrote:

The correspondence is a weird, magic science. not language, or if it is language, it's an unstoppable magical language that casts spells without warning even by writing and often casts them... explosively.

Hey, magic spells are language. They're just, you know, magic language.

[spoiler]Or, I daresay a more accurate description would be... well, if a god says something, it comes true, yeah? So we can say something in the gods' language and do the same thing. Except it's so powerful that if we get it wrong, things explode... and even if we get it right, it's a language devised so much higher on the chain than our mortal realm that things might explode anyway.[/spoiler]

Correspondence-study and its relevant profession take on the trappings of science and academia in Fallen London, rather than those of science or religion, just 'cause, well, that's Fallen London's culture.