Opportunity Items (Guide)
Early MYN Content and Onwards |
For cards associated with the different lodgings, see Lodgings Cards (Guide)
There are items in the game which add cards to your opportunity deck simply by being in your possession. Many of these are useful, while others are to be avoided if possible. Knowing about them early can help you open up more lucrative opportunities or avoid unfortunate consequences.
Companions[edit]
Bazaar Companions[edit]
Several of the companions you can buy from the Bazaar add cards to your deck, either alone or in conjunction with other items.
Starter Animals[edit]
Animal | Price | Card | Success | Failure |
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Sulky Bat | 0.40 | A Parliament of Bats | 3 x Certifiable Scrap Bat with Attitude(rare) |
1-25 x Cryptic Clue |
-1 x Vision of the Surface 1 x Favours: The Great Game |
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-100 x Sulky Bat 1 x Bat with Attitude 1 CP Wounds |
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Reprehensible Lizard | 0.40 | Lizardly matters | -25 x Lump of Lamplighter Beeswax 4 x Memory of Light 1 x Confident Smile -1 CP Nightmares |
+1 CP Nightmares |
Dazed Raven Advisor | 12.80 | A kindness of ravens | -25 x Piece of Rostygold 4 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip 1 x Sudden Insight -1 CP Suspicion |
Nothing happens |
The oracle of the weasel-fights | + 100 x Piece of Rostygold Someone Is Coming or +5 CP Dangerous Someone Is Coming |
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Fairly Tame Sorrow-Spider | 12.80 | Spiders and flies | -25 x Shard of Glim 4 x Whisper-Satin Scrap 1 x Sudden Insight -1 CP Wounds |
-25 x Shard of Glim 20 x Silk Scrap +1 CP Scandal |
Deshrieked Mandrake | 12.80 | Play with your pet Mandrake | -25 x Silk Scrap 20 x Maniac's Prayer 1 x Confident Smile -1 CP Nightmares |
-25 x Silk Scrap +1 CP Nightmares |
These companions can all be acquired shortly after escaping New Newgate Prison and represent a dramatic increase in value for the starting player's opportunity deck. All add cards with Standard frequency which involve a luck check of (usually) 60%, leading to an expected value of ~1.05 echoes (not counting second chances or menace reduction) in each case.
A Parliament of Bats helps kickstart the Certifiable Scrap grind with a luck check that grants 3 scrap on a success, a Bat with Attitude that can be sold for 12.5 echoes on a rare success, and it also gives an additional opportunity to accumulate Favours: The Great Game. Since both are hard to grind in the early stages of the game, this is a valuable pick.
The other three animals follow a simple pattern: A chance to trade 0.25 echoes of a basic resource for 2 echoes of goods plus a second chance and menace reduction. Like the Sulky Bat, the Reprehensible Lizard can be bought with the spare change you get for selling your manacles, and Beeswax can be obtained early by helping the Chandler from The Department of Menace Eradication. Even better, both the Bat and the Lizard can be applied towards the cost of permanent access to Mahogany Hall later on when their cards are starting to become less valuable relative to other cards in your deck. The others are a bit more expensive and a bit harder to usefully dispose of, but the value of their actions will easily repay the net loss of 6.4 echoes should you end up selling them back to the Bazaar, and the additional second chances and net menace reduction are a boon in the early game.
Working-Class Companions[edit]
This is a much more mixed bag than the starter animals. Almost all of them are skill checks, which means they will train your stats and can be sure things once your stats are high enough, but the payouts are generally lower. In addition, the companions are more expensive; by the time you have the resources to acquire them, your opportunity deck is probably looking a bit better, so the overall benefit of adding these cards is lessened. On top of that, the cards themselves are seen less often, being Infrequent of Very Infrequent as opposed to Standard. In most cases, you'd probably be better off saving your echoes or buying other equipment that offers a better echo->stat bonus ratio.
On the other hand, most of these companions offer additional opportunities to gain valuable Favours, albeit at a 1 echo surcharge. The Urchin and the Orphan both provide an opportunity to gain Favours: Urchins, which can be valuable if you have access to the Flit and need to grind Certifiable Scrap. The Orphan also provides an inexpensive source of additional Laudanum, which can be a good Nightmares cure for pre-PoSI characters. Similarly, the Accomplice and the Henchman provide an additional source of Favours: Criminals, though one should be cautious about combining them, given their conflict card (discussed below). The Accomplice also provides a means of cashing in Favours: The Church, which could be useful if you do not have consistent access to the Shuttered Palace for the more lucrative option for calling in those favours.
The other wrinkle is that several of these companions (namely, the Urchin, the Orphan, and the Accomplice) are required to start up an Orphanage, so if you plan on going that route instead of opening A Salon, you may as well grab one of each early and enjoy the cards until then. Similarly, the Malevolent Monkey can be converted into a Pentecost Ape during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose, so if you have that acquisition as a long-term goal you could acquire the monkey and keep some honey around in the meantime.
Companion Conflicts[edit]
A few companions will get into conflict if you have them in your employ at the same time, adding special cards to your deck. These cards are usually lackluster or even damaging, but some options might be worth your while, depending on your situation.
Companions | Card | Best Case Scenario |
---|---|---|
Grubby Urchin Malevolent Monkey |
The Urchin and the Monkey (Lodgings Only) | Unite them against a common enemy to trade 2 x Compromising Document for 1 x Favours: Urchins |
Ruthless Henchman Alluring Accomplice |
The Henchman and the Accomplice | Make use of this new development to trade 1 x Favours: Criminals for 7 x Ostentatious Diamond |
Midnight Matriarch Scuttering Squad |
Like rats and cats | Side with the cat for a massive drop in Sympathetic about Ratly Concerns and doubled Suspicion |
A note about rats...[edit]
Having the Working Rat and the Ratskin Suit at the same time adds Sartorial squeamishness to your deck, which gives you an opportunity to unlock the Sympathetic about Ratly Concerns quality. For more information on why you might want this quality, see Seeking the Meaning of the Plaster Face (Guide).
Faction Companions[edit]
Details about faction cards can be found at Raising Favours (Guide)#Connected Pet Cards
Upper River Companions[edit]
Equipping Your Very Own Miniature Hellworm or Your Very Own Miniature Hellworm, Saddled and Bridled will grant the following card in the Upper River deck: Your Very Own Hellworm giving the ability to gain 2 x Aeolian Scream, to milk it for various items, and ride it for Not to be Trifled With. More information at Hellworm (Guide).
Theological Husbandry Companions[edit]
Other Cards[edit]
Item | Card | Rewards |
---|---|---|
100 x Proscribed Material | A libraryette for Mr Pages | An expensive way to reduce Suspicion and Scandal, or to gain Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar |
No Bundle of Fourth City Rags | A street-cart is selling Fourth City Rags | -10 x Whispered Hint, 1 x Bundle of Fourth City Rags, +12 CP Nightmares, +5 CP Touched by Fingerwork |
1 x Eyeless Skull | Forgotten Wisdoms | -50 CP Watchful |
Forgotten Glamours | -50 CP Persuasive | |
Forgotten Strengths | -50 CP Dangerous | |
Forgotten Sleights | -50 CP Shadowy |
The eyeless skull cards and the fourth city rags card are generally seen as menace cards. The librayette card can be an okay way to deal with suspicion at higher levels when the cost of the Proscribed Material doesn't hurt as much. Avoiding Eyeless Skulls, having the Bundle of Fourth City Rags and avoiding having more than 99 Proscribed material will prevent you from drawing either of these cards. The Librayette card may also be avoided by increasing your Connected: The Masters of the Bazaar to 11.
PoSI Items[edit]
Becoming a Person of Some Importance opens up the expanded inventory to a variety of items not previously available. The excellent PoSI Item Crafting guide has a rundown of how to obtain these items (and their components) as well as their stats. This section is going to focus on the opportunity cards that these high level items unlock, which, with a few exceptions, have Standard frequency.
PoSI item cards generally provide a good source of a particular material and an additional means of gaining favours, so they are generally worth your time. Even the ones that have more questionable cards often provide valuable stat bonuses.
Affiliations[edit]
Item | Card | Rewards |
---|---|---|
A Salon | The Tower of Eyes: Behind Closed Doors at a Handsome Townhouse | Favours and items for Making Waves |
An Orphanage | Bazaar items and echoes for Making Waves | |
Gang of Hoodlums | The Life of Crime | 150 x Piece of Rostygold OR +1 Favours: Criminals +2 CP Suspicion |
Membership of God's Editors | A Day with God's Editors | 37 x Proscribed Material OR -2 CP Scandal -2 CP Nightmares +3 CP Austere OR -1 x Tale of Terror!! 1 x Favours: The Church |
The Salon and the Orphanage are mutually exclusive upgrades to the Handsome Townhouse lodging and add additional actions to the associated card. Both serve as a means to bank potential Making Waves long term for the purposes of hitting high Notability levels. The Salon uses favours and the Orphanage essentially uses echoes. It's not completely obvious which option is better, as favours are extremely useful, but the community seems to favour the salon. Additionally, the salon has different stats, which may be more useful, especially if you already have God's Editors and a Newspaper, which together has the same stats as the orphanage.
The Gang of Hoodlums and Membership of God's Editors both provide additional means of gaining favours, which is reason enough to get them. It should be noted that the Hoodlums also give suspicion in the process, limiting the usefulness of this. Additionally, the Gang of Hoodlums unlocks one of the most efficient means of obtaining Casing... before Parabola/dealing with the Big Rat. The Membership of God's Editors is tied for the best non-mood BDR with several affiliations and a decent way to reduce both Suspicion and Scandal.
Affiliations Which Require Being Equipped for the Opportunity Card[edit]
All of these affiliations require them to be equipped for their respective opportunity cards to appear. The HALLOWMAS cards are not particularly profitable at less than 2 for your action, though the favour for 0.5 worth of items is usually not a bad trade. Lowell's, by the time you can get it, is worse than other grinds.
Transport[edit]
Item | Card | Rewards |
---|---|---|
Velocipede | Riding your Velocipede | 80 x Cryptic Clue OR -5 x Maniac's Prayer 1 x Favours: Constables |
Respectable Landau | Once upon a time in a carriage | 4 x Appalling Secret 150 x Whispered Hint OR 1 x Confident Smile +3 CP Hedonist +1 CP Heartless -1 CP Magnanimous -3 CP Austere |
Clay Sedan Chair | A day out in your Clay Sedan Chair | 180 x Foxfire Candle Stub +3 CP Heartless -3 CP Magnanimous OR 1 x Favours: Society +3 CP Austere +1 CP Magnanimous -3 CP Hedonist -1 CP Heartless |
The Velocipede is included for the sake of completeness, as you are required to make one as part of becoming a PoSI and can't get rid of this card before Watchful Gains 18. Luckily, it provides a healthy number of Cryptic Clues and a way to gain Favours: Constables, especially once you have reliable access to Maniac's Prayers from the Rat Market.
The other Transportation options are a mixed bag. The Respectable Landau provides 1.9 echoes worth of goods, but by the time you can gather the supplies necessary for the landau, this will probably not be that good. The Clay Sedan Chair provides a nice bounty of candles for the Heartless and a source of Society favours for the Austere. As candles are very expensive to buy from the Bazaar, and favours are always nice, this is generally a good card. The Sedan Chair also has an option with a luck check if Jack of Smiles is about, but this is less useful unless you need an Antique Constable's Badge and refuse to just buy one.
Once you reach Watchful Gains 18 you may lend out your transports temporarily, removing their opportunity cards from your deck.
Home Comforts[edit]
Item | Card | Rewards |
---|---|---|
Formidable Basalt Gymnasium | Your Edifice of Black Stone | 150 x Piece of Rostygold OR +10 CP Dangerous +1 CP Wounds |
Voluminous Library | A library of your own | Luck check: 50% Success: 10 x Proscribed Material 20 x Stolen Correspondence 1 x Appalling Secret Failure: 75 x Cryptic Clue OR Luck check:it could go either way Nightmares up or down (Rare success) 5 x Memory of Light |
These items have some use in the mid-game, before they're out-shone by Renown items. The economic options on the opportunity cards are generally considered bad at this stage of the game. The gymnasium card is generally only useful for training Dangerous, and the library card is best avoided. Once you've reached the cap for training dangerous, consider lending out the gymnasium to remove the card. The Library is necessary for improving your own lab, which will allow you to rid yourself of the opportunity card by moving it into your lab.
Spouses[edit]
First off, it should be noted that all of these cards are Very Infrequent, so they won't have a huge impact on the value of your opportunity deck. They also provide fewer stat bonuses than player spouses (and none of the BDR of a Boneless Consort). That said, both are quite profitable cards. The Artist's Model provides 2.5 echoes plus Confident Smiles and Making Waves, or a means to get Favours: Bohemians. The easy option from the Master Jewel Thief provides 2.32 echoes and a Nightmares cure, but the most profitable option from the Master Jewel Thief is likely the Favours: Criminals.
Clubs[edit]
The Parthenaeum provides a handy Suspicion cure and doesn't require any gambling, but the Young Stags' Club provides a good source of wines that can be profitably fed to the Portly Sommelier. The second option on The Young Stags' card is even better, giving you three Favours for five echoes of Rostygold, a significant profit even if you simply cash those favours in at the Shuttered Palace. On top of that, The Young Stags provide Bizarre and Dreaded which are generally more difficult to stack than The Parthenaeum's Respectable. Sophia's and the Clay Tailor Club could be more interesting once you gain access to the railway content and have end game stats.
That more or less covers everything when it comes to equippable items that add cards to your deck. Hopefully this helps in optimizing your deck for whatever stage of the game you are at.
Renown Items[edit]
Item | Card | Rewards |
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Your Very Own Bandages! | A Tomb-Colonist Tour |
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Chelatic Mitten | Canal Workers on the Upper River |
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The DF | Upper River Artistry ( Ealing Gardens only) |
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These cards are only drawn on the upper river and are generally considered bad. The Canal worker card has some use when travelling back to London, and the Artistry card can be useful when gathering trophies.
Ambition Rewards[edit]
Collapsed because these necessarily contain spoilers regarding ambitions.
Ambition | Item | Card | Rewards |
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Ambition: Heart's Desire! | The Thief-Oath of Tristram Bagley[1] | An Encounter with Tristram Bagley |
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Ambition: Light Fingers! | A Loyal Nightmare of Poor Edward | A dream about Poor Edward |
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Ambition: Nemesis | Your Daughter, Returned[1] | A Neathy Education |
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Your Brother, Returned[1] | Duty Calls | ||
Your Lover, Returned[1] | Visiting the Person who Was your Lover | ||
Your Spouse, Returned[1] | Visiting the Person who Was your Spouse | ||