Fallen London Wiki:Lock and Unlock conditions

Many times when looking at a storylet, an action or a card, it will have certain requirements that you must meet to play them (some of them might even be hidden from you).
While Fallen London treats these preconditions the same way, the wiki separates them into Lock and Unlock parameters for better readability. The rules of this distinction are found below.

In-game, each requirement has two versions depending on your character's current state (whether you meet them or not). It might be obvious but this has no impact on how the locks and unlocks are recorded. A page will relay the same meaning regardless how you perceive it while playing.

To spot the difference between Lock and Unlock, you should have access to the tooltip of the requirement, by simply hovering over it. For hidden qualities, monitoring the network traffic is necessary. And in some very rare cases (autofire storylets like A sudden light!, you simply have to make an educated guess.

Unlock

(For simplicity, you could say that anything not fitting as a Lock is automatically an Unlock.)

• Simple unlock (a range also counts, like 10-22)
  • You have (number) in all / You needed (number)
  • You have (single level) / You need (single level)
  • Unlocked by the presence of (world quality)
• Anything with "exactly" (except exactly 0, which is a lock)
  • The word "exactly" can be safely added to the template for formatting (so can anything else, should there be a need).
  • Example: {{Unlock|Fueling the Excavation|exactly 7}}
• A list (is:) even if it's just one point (except when it refers to its 0th level, which is a lock)
  • Example: {{Unlock|A Person of Some Importance -|is: A Shattering Force, A Legendary Charisma, An Invisible Eminence, An Extraordinary Mind, A Paramount Presence}} from Seek Advice from the Grizzled Veteran

Lock

• Anything with "at most", where the actual lock is +1 compared to the in-game message (so don't add "at most")
  • For example: "... You needed 324 at most" will become Locked with 325 on the wiki.
• Unlocked by not having / Can't do this because you have (thing)
• exactly 0
• Single point list which explicitly refers to the 0th level of a quality

Wikitext help

For both Storylets and Actions (and Cards) this information is stored in the template parameters |Locked with = and |Unlocked with = (these are only called once, and only when used) filled with {{Lock}} and {{Unlock}} respectively. Use as many of these as necessary and separate them using commas (,).

For Items an "x" is used after the number (signifying it as a physical amount) while Qualities simply use their level number (a requirement can only need full levels). They can both be stuffed into the Template's second parameter, it will put them in the right order. Additional text like "exactly" can also be freely used.

Per house rules, when of only 1 level/amount is required, the Quality level number is omitted (as any level will suffice), but the "1 x" Item amount is still added.

World Unlock

World qualities can use {{World Unlock}}, which also displays their current status, but this lacks a distinct lock counterpart. When this template is used specifically, place them in the |Unlocked with = section.

They can also simply use {{Lock}} and {{Unlock}} and work like any other quality if the "show status" function is undesired.