Professions (Guide)

This guide is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.

What needs work: Recent updates cause Silverers to lose an extensive advantage when creating a Base-Camp; Ambition options for creating the Base-Camp need to be checked and sections of #Silverer rewritten accordingly

Early MYN Content and Onwards

Every week Time, the Healer brings An Earnest of Payment and rewards according to the Profession. Each Profession's weekly reward is listed at Profession Payments.

Professions, in Fallen London as elsewhere, are specialised occupations that pay a wage. You can take up a profession from very early in the game, and more advanced ones become available as you progress.

For early-game players, professions are mainly useful as a way to raise Attributes and earn a decent income in items. Later on, professions come with more varied benefits, such as unique items and gameplay advantages. With a Tier 3 Profession, you can engage in profitable Professional Activities (Guide).

If you're looking to adopt your first profession, read on to learn about training professions and how to get the most benefit from them in the early game. Skip to the sections on Entangled Professions and Less-Entangled Professions if you're ready to start on a more advanced career path.

Choosing a Profession (Analysis)

Your true passion? Or just a way to earn a crust? In deciding between professions, there are two aspects you may want to consider: gameplay advantages and roleplaying. Depending on how you play, one may be more important to you than the other.

Every profession gives different advantages in terms of gameplay. They focus on different skills, which are enhanced by the profession's unique item, and they unlock options in certain activities. If you spend most of your time doing a particular thing, like zailing or navigating Parabola or doing lab experiments, it may help to choose a profession that's mechanically suited to that activity.

In terms of roleplaying, certain professions may make better sense than others for your character, depending on their ideals, loyalties, and goals. The entangled professions in particular imply strong viewpoints about the world of the Neath and how your character believes they fit into it. Each profession associates more with certain factions than others, and is intimately involved in a particular aspect of the Neath. If roleplaying is important to you, these factors might outweigh the mechanical advantages associated with a particular profession.

You are always limited to one profession at a time, but you can choose to resign your profession at any time by sending a message to your contacts in Your Social Engagements, allowing you to take up a new profession.

For new players, your first profession will likely be one of the Training Professions listed in the following section. These professions offer minimal story text and roleplaying. Instead these professions are a way for new players to gain a significant CP boost to level up one of their main attributes, and help introduce professions to new players. It is suggested to pick one of these professions and keep it until the relevant stat reaches 70 before resigning and choosing another profession.

If you have finished raising your stats through training professions, it is time to begin an Entangled Profession. Entangled professions are connected to Factions and can be obtained for favours from the appropriate faction card. Each Entangled Profession can be upgraded twice after becoming A Person of Some Importance. All entangled professions provide you with a unique equipment item (which is lost if you resign from your profession, or replaced with a better item if you advance to the next Tier). For Tier 1 professions these items provide +6 to two of the main attributes providing a significant early game boost.

Most Tier 1 professions are roughly equal, however, it is worth considering that some items, such as the Watcher's Revolting Disguise (Hat), occupy item slots that are easily filled by other means. An Enforcer's Burly Assistant and a Campaigner's Feckless Supporters use the companion slot, which is usually empty for early game players. This can make these items significantly more useful. Additionally the Enforcer's weekly reward includes a Use of Villains, a difficult to obtain item that has significant uses after obtaining the status of A Person of Some Importance. Each savings 17 actions per villainy when attaining specific advanced items, such as the Swift Zee-Clipper.

Tier 2 entangled professions are obtained from the An Unsigned Message card in London after obtaining A Person of Some Importance status and reaching Notability 2. Tier 2 professions are largely an intermediary between Tier 1 and Tier 3. Most players will not spend a large amount of time at Tier 2 before obtaining a Tier 3 profession. When obtaining a Tier 2 profession it is best to decide based on the Tier 3 profession you want to obtain.

Tier 3 professions are the strongest professions obtainable and provide the most unique roleplay options. Each tier three profession provides unique story options, Professional Activities, and a special equipment piece that provides a boost to an Advanced Skill associated with the profession. Tier 3 professions are obtained from the An Unsigned Message card in London with 5 Notability and a specific quality that is different for each profession. While most of Tier 3 professions require easily obtained qualities the Correspondent profession requires the player reach A Scholar of the Correspondence 10. This can be a lengthy grind that delays players from achieving this profession. The Midnighter profession requires the A Fine Piece in the Game quality obtained by completing The Cheesemonger storyline. Players who do not want to progress this storyline in order to allow for further favour grinding will not be able to obtain the Midnighter profession.

The Advanced Skill provided by the professions unique item is also used for storylets in that classes Professional Activities. Some of these stats are mainly useful after gaining access to the Upper River through the Great Hellbound Railway story, which requires a Tier 2 A Person of Some Importance specialization. In particular Artisan of the Red Science from the Correspondent profession has almost no uses before accessing the Upper River and the stat can not be increased until accessing the Upper River, which generally prevents effective use of a Correspondent's professional activities prior to this point. While it is not superior to other Tier 3 professions these factors lead to Correspondent being primarily useful for late game players, and somewhat unadvisable for earlier play.

The following is a brief overview of the Tier 3 entangled professions, and their associated gameplay and story aspects, to help you narrow down your choices.

A Silverer deals with Parabola and dreams, and “changes the course of events with truth and lies.” They are associated with the Neathbow colour Cosmogone.

• Skills: Glasswork is an important skill for a Silverer. Their Professional Activities also use Persuasive and Dangerous, and their Set of Cosmogone Spectacles additionally confer a point of Bizarre.
• Factions: As frequent visitors to Parabola, they engage with the Cats and Fingerkings. In London, they tend to interact with Bohemians, and they can also perform Professional Activities for Tomb Colonists, The Great Game, Hell, and The Honey-Addled Detective.
• Activities: Silverers pay half price whenever traveling through mirrors. Players who spend a large amount of time in Parabola, or who often move between Parabola, London, and the Upper River, may want to take advantage of this. Their Glasswork skill aids them in using Dream-shaping as their Weapon of a Khaganian Front.

A Licentiate is an assassin who “serves the tyranny of necessity. They deliver death with expedience and without passion, according to a certain list of aliases.” Their associated Neathbow colour is Gant.

• Skills: Kataleptic Toxicology greatly aids the Licentiate's work. Their Professional Activities also use Dangerous and Shadowy, and their List of Aliases, Writ in Gant additionally confers a point of Bizarre.
• Factions: Due to the nature of the work, they engage with both Criminals and The Great Game. They can also perform Professional Activities for Constables, Hell, Zailors, and The Gracious Widow.
• Activities: Their work produces a ready supply of bones for use in The Bone Market. Being skilled in Kataleptic Toxicology gives them an edge on chemical experiments in the Lab, and in using Poison as their Weapon of a Khaganian Front.

A Correspondent delves into the Red Science and the Correspondence, and “writes with a pen of fire and a hand of adamant”. They are associated with the Neathbow colour Violant.

• Skills: Artisan of the Red Science is essential to a Correspondent. Their Professional Activities also use Watchful and Persuasive, and their Pot of Violant Ink additionally confers a point of Bizarre.
• Factions: They've moved among both Bohemians and Society since their early Journalist days. They can also perform Professional Activities for Hell, Benthic, and Zailors.
• Activities: Correspondents have ready access to a University Laboratory, where their Red Science skill also gives them an advantage in certain experiments. They find it (relatively) easier to max A Scholar of the Correspondence, which is an option to attain London's Nerves, and can help other players raise it.

A Monster-Hunter pursues prey at Zee and in dreams, and “winnows the lesser terrors from the true”. They are associated with the Neathbow colour Peligin.

• Skills: Monstrous Anatomy enables the hunter to know their prey. Their Professional Activities also use Watchful and Dangerous, and their Notched Bone Harpoon additionally confers a point of Dreaded.
• Factions: Their pursuit of monsters earns them favour with Constables and Zailors. They can also perform Professional Activities for Society, The Great Game, Benthic, Hell, and The Honey-Addled Detective.
• Activities: Monster-Hunters are in their element Hunting the Beasts of the Zee and those of the Parabola, where their Notched Bone Harpoon and knowledge of Monstrous Anatomy confer significant advantages. The latter also confers an advantage on Lab experiments with a Monstrous Focus. A hunter might feel particularly at home at Sophia's, and be inclined to try and Bag A Legend.

A Crooked-Cross is both missionary and apostate, and “tests the boundaries between right and wrong“. Their associated Neathbow colour is Apocyan.

• Skills: Mithridacy aids the Crooked-Cross in persuasion and deception. Their Professional Activities also use Persuasive and Shadowy, and their Crooked Cross additionally confers a point of Dreaded.
• Factions: They engage with both The Church and Hell without loyalty to either. They can also perform Professional Activities for Zailors, Tomb Colonists, and the Clay Men.
• Activities: Mithridacy gives Crooked-Crosses advantages when writing monographs in Moulin or rewriting history in Moulin or The Waswood. It also aids the use of Misinformation as the Weapon of a Khaganian Front, and in obfuscating the truth in Railway Board meetings.

A Midnighter is a skilled player of The Great Game, “has made the unknown known, and toppled an invisible throne.” They are associated with the Neathbow colour Irrigo.

• Skills: A Player of Chess is invaluable to the Midnighter's work. Their Professional Activities also use Watchful and Shadowy, and their Shrine to Saint Joshua additionally confers a point of Dreaded.
• Factions: They interact with all players of The Great Game. They can also perform Professional Activities for Hell, Bohemians, Zailors, and The Gracious Widow.
• Activities: Midnighters, as adept Players of Chess, are at home on The Chessboard and playing shatar in The Khanate. Their profession gives them a useful option during Khaganian Intrigues, advantages in the Cabinet Noir, and a means of manipulating the Railway Board.

Additionally, there are a number of activities that multiple professions have advantages in. These include:

• Bone Market: Monster-Hunter, Licentiate, Crooked-Cross, and Correspondent, for various types of skeletons.
• Brawling with Dockers: Monster-Hunter, Correspondent, and Licentiate, to fight using advanced skills.
• Epistolary Matters: Correspondent, Crooked-Cross, and Midnighter, to train your contacts' skills.
• The Khanate: Silverer, Crooked-Cross, Licentiate, and Midnighter, depending on your choice of weapon.
• Railway Board meetings: Crooked-Cross, and Midnighter, for persuading board members.
• University Laboratory: Correspondent, Licentiate, and Monster-Hunter, depending on experimental focus.

Of course, these lists are not exhaustive of the factors you might consider in choosing a profession, nor are they all equally relevant to early-, mid-, and late-game players.

Nor is it necessary to choose permanently: as described in the following section, it can be relatively easy to switch even between Tier 3 professions. For example, you can take a profession to get a particular grind done more quickly or to meet stat requirements for Renown/Scholar of the Correspondence/Poet-Laureate/Defender of the Public Safety, take Correspondent or Silverer for a massive one-time cost reduction, et cetera.

However, it is because of these two massive one-time cost reductions that freshly minted POSI's should focus on becoming either a Correspondent or Silverer first and foremost, even if only to take advantage of that discount and nothing more.

Training Professions

These are professions especially suited for early-game players. There are no requirements for entry; simply Adopt a Training Profession at Your Social Engagements.

Each profession is associated with one of the four main Attributes: Watchful, Shadowy, Dangerous, or Persuasive. Once a week, Time, the Healer brings An Earnest of Payment, providing a 250 CP boost to the Attribute associated with your current Profession, until it reaches 70 . You also receive 5 worth of items.

Profession	Reward
Enquirer	+250 CP Watchful 500 x Whispered Hint
Minor Poet	+250 CP Persuasive 500 x Jade Fragment
Pickpocket	+250 CP Shadowy 500 x Moon-Pearl
Tough	+250 CP Dangerous 500 x Piece of Rostygold

To get the most out of the training professions, pick whichever one you want to start, and when its associated Attribute reaches level 70 (the cap for the 250 CP reward), Resign from your Profession and choose one of the others.

Once you've learned all you can from the training professions, it's time to move on to bigger and better things: one of the Entangled or Less Entangled Professions.

Entangled Professions

These are the professions most bound up in the goings-on of the Neath. Entangled professions provide you with a unique equipment item (which is lost if you resign from your profession, or replaced with a better item if you advance to the next tier). The Tools of the Trade equipment slot is exclusively for T3 profession items.

These professions also receive A Professional Reward weekly. Tier 1's rewards are worth about 35, Tier 2's are worth about 49, and Tier 3's are worth 60; additionally, each payment includes a couple of Favours.

There are 6 tracks to choose from. Each track has three tiers, with increasingly stringent requirements for advancement. You don't resign from your current profession to advance; when you have the requirements for the next tier, wait for the card An Unsigned Message or force-draw it with Await an Unsigned Letter.

Note: All Tier 3 professions also have access to "Professional Activities" storylets at Your Activities area (next to Lodgings). They are a group of profession-specific sets of challenges around stats supported by your job's Tool of the Trade. After completing a short storyline to increase your Extensive Professional Experience, you can choose A Professional Specialisation and unlock more profitable activities. For more information, refer to the Professional Activities (Guide).

• Tier 1 professions can be joined from the Faction Card connected to that profession (listed below). Each costs some Favours from that Faction, and may require another related quality.
• Tier 2 professions can be selected from the card An Unsigned Message, which begins appearing once you are A Person of Some Importance and have begun to accrue Notability. Advancement requires currently being employed in the respective T1 profession, and 2 x Notability (which is not consumed). See the PoSI guide for more about Notability.
• Tier 3 professions are also selected from An Unsigned Message, and require the respective T2 profession and 5 x Notability (again, not consumed). This time there is also a unique quality requirement and a 300 difficulty Attribute challenge. Specific requirements for each tier 3 profession are listed in their section. Unless you're lucky, you'll have to draw An Unsigned Message multiple times before achieving T3.

You can spend a Favourable Circumstance to force-draw the Faction Card you need for T1, or An Unsigned Message for T2 or T3. Before doing so, make sure you have all the requirements (the 5 Favours for the Faction Card, or the Notability for An Unsigned Message)—and that you don't already have the card in your hand—or you'll waste your Favourable Circumstance.

Campaigner, Mystic, Silverer

The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion. —Thomas Babington Macaulay (1824)

Campaigner

Acquired from:

• The Church — costs 5 x Favours; requires Adrift on a Sea of Misery
• Revolutionaries — costs 5 x Favours; requires Plotting against the Masters

Professional reward: The Campaigner's reward

• 1 x Favour in High Places
• 1 x Favours: Revolutionaries
• 1 x Favours: The Church
• 10 x Phosphorescent Scarab
• 10 x Flask of Abominable Salts
• 200 x Jade Fragment
• 100 x Surface-Silk Scrap
• 2 x Bottle of Strangling Willow Absinthe
• 4 x Bottle of Broken Giant 1844

Unique item: Feckless Supporters (Companion)

• Dangerous +6
• Persuasive +6

Mystic

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 2, Campaigner

Professional reward: The Mystic's reward

• 1 x Cellar of Wine
• 2 x Antique Mystery
• 1 x Uncanny Incunabulum
• 1 x Favours: Bohemians
• 1 x Favours: Society

Unique item: Circle of Acolytes (Companion)

• Persuasive +9
• Dangerous +9
• Respectable +1

Silverer

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Mystic Embroiled 6; Persuasive 300 challenge

Professional reward: A Silverer's Penny

• 4 x Uncanny Incunabulum
• 3 x Mourning Candle
• 5 x Memory of Light
• 2 x Favours: Bohemians

Unique item: Set of Cosmogone Spectacles (Tools of the Trade)

• Persuasive +6
• Dangerous +6
• Bizarre +1
• Glasswork +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Silverer, with rewards In souls, In wine, and In silks.

• Oneirotect: “A manufacturer of dream-spaces,” with rewards In intelligence.
• Ontological Cartographer: “One who charts the boundary between Is and Is-Not,” with rewards In mysteries.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to Glasswork from their Set of Cosmogone Spectacles. This skill is mainly used in various Parabolan and Parabola-related activities — entering Parabolan Base-Camp and healing your wounds there, finding and entering other Parabolan locations, navigating while hunting monsters or searching mirrors, fighting in Parabolan War, up/downconverting various Parabolan Cartography items, influencing the dreamers in Viric Jungle, grinding various resources in The Dome of Scales. Also, many other activities/places have occasional Glasswork checks of various importance, such as harder Heists, Licensed by Mr Hearts, Helicon House, cooking and Master visits in Station VIII, Church of the Wild in Burrow-Infra-Mump, Moulin Expeditions and Monographs, Khaganian Intrigues.
• Can establish the Parabolan Base-Camp for 200 x Memory of Light + 25 worth of other items as opposed to 1001 or 50 x Memory of Light for other players (a one-time saving equivalent to 490.5 or 15). The Silverer's option also uses a Direful Reflection rather than the Uncanny Incunabulum required of other players.
• Each subsequent visit into Parabola costs the Silverer only 50 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey, as opposed to 100 for other players (a saving of 1 ). Additionally, Silverers can travel directly between several locations without needing to stop by their Base-Camp first, saving in clicks though not actions.
• Can spend 3 x Moves in the Great Game for 2 x Advance! while Traversing the Wastes of Want in Parabolan War.
• Can Offer yourself as escort and guide, gaining 2 Fitting in at Helicon House as opposed to 1 for regular option.
• Less affected by The Mirror's Hunger when using shortcuts in The Wellspring of Moulin or The Pillared Sea — gains only 1 as opposed to 2 for other players. Depending on an option chosen on That Which was Taken card, a saving of 10 CP Nightmares, 10 CP Wounds, 100 x Memory of Light or (presumably) 1–70 lost CP Watchful.
• Can lose 7 CP Wounds for free In the Court of the Fathomking. This is the same amount lost from spending 10 x Romantic Notion (a saving of 1 ).
• Ontological Cartographers can bypass some challenges during a later portion of The Evolution storyline, Oneirotects do not get anything at all.

Enforcer, Murderer, Licentiate

Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine,/ Making the green one red. —William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act II, scene 2

Enforcer

Acquired from:

• Criminals — costs 5 x Favours
• Revolutionaries — costs 5 x Favours; requires Plotting against the Masters

Professional reward: The Enforcer's reward

• 1 x Favours: Criminals
• 1 x Favours: Revolutionaries
• 1 x Use of Villains
• 5 x An Identity Uncovered!
• 1250 x Piece of Rostygold
• 5 x Bottle of Strangling Willow Absinthe
• 5 x Amanita Sherry

Unique item: Burly Assistant (Companion)

• Dangerous +6
• Shadowy +6

Murderer

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 2, Enforcer

Professional reward: The Murderer's reward

• 2 x Magnificent Diamond
• 2500 x Piece of Rostygold
• 1 x Favours: Criminals
• 1 x Favours: The Great Game

Unique item: Discreet Firearm (Weapon)

• Dangerous +9
• Shadowy +9
• Dreaded +1

Licentiate

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Murderer, A Bringer of Death; Dangerous 300 challenge

Professional reward: The Licentiate's Bounty

• 4 x Bazaar Permit
• 3 x An Identity Uncovered!
• 5 x Journal of Infamy
• 1 x Favours: Criminals
• 1 x Favours: The Great Game

Unique item: A List of Aliases, Writ in Gant (Tools of the Trade)

• Dangerous +6
• Shadowy +6
• Bizarre +1
• Kataleptic Toxicology +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Licentiate with rewards In intelligence, In jewels, and In statements and testimonies.

• Fractionist: “Expert in partial murders and esoteric applications of toxicology,” with rewards In souls.
• Siopian: “Gifted in making sure your murders draw no attention and the assassinations go unnoticed by society,” with rewards In maps.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to Kataleptic Toxicology from their A List of Aliases, Writ in Gant. This skill is mainly used in dealing with various toxic and alchemical substances: Lab work such as generating Laboratory Research for various experiments or directly helping to Disambiguate an Eolith, some options in The Bone Market, cooking in Station VIII and processing of its factory’s products. Also, many other activities/places have occasional Kataleptic Toxicology checks of various importance, such as various London, Zailing the Unterzee and Upper River cards, Brawling, Ealing Spa, Moulin Expeditions, Khaganian Intrigues, Parabolan Base-Camp, Viric Jungle, The Dome of Scales, Parabolan War, navigating while hunting monsters or searching mirrors in Parabola.
• Can supply their own skeletons and skulls when making a skeleton in The Bone Market, at no action/resource cost. Simply combining these options and selling to specific buyers opens up a quick and easy 3.75/3.81 EPA grind. Also, using only the first option serves as a substitute for a Headless Skeleton, allowing for likewise quick and easy converting of Echoes (buying and attaching Bright Brass Skull) or Hinterland Scrip (buying and attaching Sabre-toothed Skull) into specific resources available in the Bone Market.
• Can recognise their quarry and kill them while meeting a passenger steamer at Zee, gaining 250 x Piece of Rostygold and 5 CP Troubled Waters in addition to Zailing... on success.
• Can use Dangerous instead of A Player of Chess during the mid-game when playing Chess at The Chessboard, getting 3 x Positional Advantages on success.
• Can Pass through a distracting mirror while hunting monsters or searching mirrors in Parabola with the correct Airs of Parabola, abandoning the hunt/search and returning to London while also gaining 25 x Hinterland Scrip.
• Can be sent Name Written in Gant, providing easy levelling in Shadowy and Dangerous as well as 500 x Piece of Rostygold and 2 x Moves in the Great Game per each Name, while senders lose 500 x Piece of Rostygold, 6 CP Suspicion and 6 CP Scandal, and gain 1 x Memento of Silence.
• Can get 1 x Devilbone Die and 2 x Hard-Earned Lesson (uncapped) while Dreaming in Viric during a Feast of the Exceptional Rose, if Cheery Man is chosen as a partner.

Journalist, Author, Correspondent

Words alike make the destiny of empires and of individuals. Ambition, love, hate, interest, vanity, have words for their engines, and need none more powerful. Language is a fifth element — the one by which all the others are swayed. —Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1834)

Journalist

Acquired from: Bohemians — costs 5 x Favours, requires Raking the Muck of the Neath 7

Professional reward: The Journalist's reward

• 10 x Dubious Testimony
• 3 x Sworn Statement
• 1 x Blackmail Material
• 1 x Night on the Town
• 500 x Nevercold Brass Sliver
• 1 x Favours: Bohemians
• 1 x Favours: Revolutionaries

Unique item: Little Red Notebook (Weapon)

• Persuasive +6
• Watchful +6

Author

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message (requires Notability 2, Journalist) or Advance from Journalist to Author (requires 1 x Exceptional Short Story, 5 x Favours: Bohemians, Journalist)

Professional reward: The Author's reward

• 1 x Blackmail Material
• 1 x Night on the Town
• 4 x Stolen Kiss
• 1 x Cellar of Wine
• 500 x Whispered Hint
• 250 x Cryptic Clue
• 1 x Favours: Bohemians
• 1 x Favours: Revolutionaries

Unique item: Appreciation Society (Companion)

• Persuasive +9
• Watchful +9
• Respectable +1

Correspondent

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Author, A Scholar of the Correspondence 10; Watchful 300 challenge

Professional reward: The Correspondent's Accomplishments

• 4 x Antique Mystery
• 3 x Sworn Statement
• 5 x Dubious Testimony
• 1 x Favours: Bohemians
• 1 x Favours: Society

Unique item: A Pot of Violant Ink (Tools of the Trade)

• Persuasive +6
• Watchful +6
• Bizarre +1
• Artisan of the Red Science +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Correspondent, with rewards In souls, In wine, and In favours and rumour.'

• Crimson Engineer: “Specialising most in the Red Science,” with rewards In maps.
• Epistolant: “Favouring the scholarly paradigm of the Correspondent,” with rewards In dusty tomes.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to Artisan of the Red Science from their A Pot of Violant Ink. This skill is mainly used in Lab for Red Science experiments, generating Laboratory Research and Parabolan Research for them or directly helping to start/finish them, and is necessary for duplicating various skulls through the application of Device for the Duplication of Bones in The Bone Market. Also, certain other activities/places have occasional Artisan of the Red Science checks of various importance, such as a card in London, a card in The Salt Steppes, Brawling, Balmoral, Moulin Monographs, The Hurlers, dismantling of the Corresponding Sounder.
• Can increase A Scholar of the Correspondence through Shadowy Dealings at the University at a reduced cost, saving up to 887 Correspondence Plaques from level ASotC level 10 to level 21, a one-time savings (over many actions) of up to 443.5 . In addition, the minimum Watchful required to use this method is reduced by 50 levels, and the average Wounds gained at each step is halved.
• Can establish a Laboratory for free, without paying 1 x Justificande Coin, 1 x Primaeval Hint and 1 x Cellar of Wine as other players have to — a one-time saving equivalent to 75 plus the actions required to obtain the Coin.
• Furthermore, can expand their Laboratory from 2 to 3 workbenches for free, without paying 1 x Judgements' Egg — an additional one-time saving of 62.5 .
• Correspondents can Read the Books that Others Cannot, an action that gives research dependent on their equipment and A Scholar of the Correspondence, and a second option that can train your SotC.
• Can Write something to sear the eyes of fools and lift up the great powers at the Statue at Station VIII to exchange 4 x Correspondence Plaque and 3 x Aeolian Scream for 1 x Storm-Threnody.
• Can send letters (spending 5 x F.F. Gebrandt's Flame-Resilient Paper, 2 x Volume of Collated Research and 2 x Extraordinary Implication per each) to increase the recipient's A Scholar of the Correspondence, Dangerous, Watchful and Wounds.
• Can be invited to an Orphanage by another player, getting 5 CP Making Waves, 15 x Correspondence Plaque and 1 x Favours: Urchins while sender loses 15 CP Engaged in a Scheme: an Orphanage and gains 200 CP Making Waves.
• Can Write a monograph on it...in it during Christmas, using up an Unusual Pail of So-Called Snow and gaining 3 CP Nightmares for 2–14 CP A Scholar of the Correspondence (up to level 15), 60 CP Watchful, 1–20 CP Making Waves, 10 CP Connected: Benthic and 10 CP Connected: Summerset.

Rat-Catcher, Stalker, Monster-Hunter

He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. — Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (1886)

Rat-Catcher

Acquired from: The Docks — costs 3 x Favours, requires Dangerous 20

Professional reward: The Rat-Catcher's reward

• 1 x Strong-Backed Labour
• 1 x Puzzling Map
• 1000 x Piece of Rostygold
• 1250 x Rat on a String
• 1 x Favours: Constables
• 1 x Favours: The Docks

Unique item: Ratting Piece (Weapon)

• Dangerous +6
• Watchful +6

Stalker

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 2, Rat-Catcher

Professional reward: The Stalker's Reward

• 2 x Puzzling Map
• 2500 x Piece of Rostygold
• 1 x Favours: Constables
• 1 x Favours: The Docks

Unique item: Perspicacious Lurcher (Companion)

• Dangerous +9
• Watchful +9
• Respectable +1

Monster-Hunter

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Stalker, A Procurer of Savage Beasts; Dangerous 300 challenge

Professional reward: The Monster-Hunter's Labours

• 4 x Puzzling Map
• 3 x Volume of Collated Research
• 5 x Tale of Terror!!
• 1 x Favours: Constables
• 1 x Favours: The Docks

Unique item: A Notched Bone Harpoon (Tools of the Trade)

• Watchful +6
• Dangerous +6
• Dreaded +1
• Monstrous Anatomy +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Monster-Hunter, with rewards In souls, In favours and rumour, and In mysteries.

• Hierarch of the Hunt: “Killer of killers and devotee of the Predator's Sacrament,” with rewards In intelligence.
• Teratomancer: “A butcher-haruspex and expert in dread anatomy,” with rewards In dusty tomes.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to Monstrous Anatomy from their A Notched Bone Harpoon. This skill is mainly used when dealing with monsters/animals or their body parts — hunting them in Parabola, generating Laboratory Research for related experiments or directly helping to Determine the true nature of this bone, and (more than any other skill) in The Bone Market. Also, certain other activities/places have occasional Monstrous Anatomy checks of various importance, such as a card while Zailing the Unterzee, harder Heists, Brawling, Diving in the Magistracy, cooking in Station VIII, Anglican Diocese in Burrow-Infra-Mump.
• Can spear a runaway potbelly stove at Hurlers, capturing it in 5 actions instead of 3 successes, but without the risk of failures and Wounds (which adds up to higher total than 5 considering that the basic options are impossible to 100% currently), and with an additional profit — every spearing gives 2 x Correspondence Plaque on average.
• While hunting the Plated Seal and other zee-monsters, can progress faster and engage it in single combat in the end — the latter, however, only gives flavour and no mechanical advantages compared to the ordinary option.
• Can Go on a rat-catching expedition while Zailing the Unterzee, without the risk of failure, Troubled Waters gain and 50/100 more Rats on String compared to the other options.
• Has options on various other cards while Zailing the Unterzee, which don't have stat/skill checks but also don't give Zailing...: they can ram a lifeberg (besides 1 x Extraordinary Implication, it gives 1 CP Northern Wind if already present and avoids raising Nightmares) or a giant angler crab (besides 5 x Deep-zee Catch, it removes all Rumbling Stomachs, but also raises Troubled Waters by 1 CP), and if they meet A Chelonite Hunting Ketch they can exchange 10 x Tale of Terror!! for 250 x Moon-Pearl, 250 x Shard of Glim, 5 x Fin Bones, Collected and a Troubled Waters drop.
• Can staff their Parabolan Base-Camp with colleagues at the first stage of building it up, not spending 1 x Strong-Backed Labour — a one-time saving of 2.5 .
• Gets an additional opportunity to wound their Parabolan quarry during the hunt, further simplifying it: depending on Monstrous Anatomy level and specific quarry, even one wound can completely eliminate the risk of failure.
• Can get 1 x Knob of Scintillack and 2 x Hard-Earned Lesson (uncapped) while Dreaming in Viric during a Feast of the Exceptional Rose, if Sinning Jenny is chosen as a partner.
• Teratomancers can bypass some challenges during a later portion of The Evolution storyline, Hierarchs do not get anything at all.

Trickster, Conjurer, Crooked-Cross

What should it be, that thus their faith can bind?/ The power of Thought, the magic of the Mind! —Lord Byron, The Corsair (1813)

Trickster

Acquired from:

• Devils — costs 5 x Favours
• Urchins — costs 5 x Favours; requires Route: The Flit

Professional reward: The Trickster's reward

• 10 x Brilliant Soul
• 1 x Storm-Threnody
• 1 x Dazed Raven Advisor
• 1 x Lucky Weasel
• 599 x Jade Fragment
• 1 x Stolen Kiss
• 1 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap
• 5 x Maniac's Prayer
• 1 x Bottle of Broken Giant 1844
• 1 x Favours: Hell
• 1 x Favours: Urchins

Unique item: Loathsome Imp (Companion)

• Shadowy +6
• Persuasive +6

Conjurer

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 2, Trickster

Professional reward: The Conjurer's reward

• 10 x Aeolian Scream
• 2 x Blackmail Material
• 1 x Favours: Hell
• 1 x Favours: Society

Unique item: Horrid Imp (Companion)

• Shadowy +9
• Persuasive +9
• Bizarre +2

Crooked-Cross

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Conjurer, Connected: Benthic 5, Renown: The Church 5, Renown: Hell 5; Persuasive 300 challenge

Professional reward: The Wage of a Crooked-Cross

• 4 x Blackmail Material
• 3 x Muscaria Brandy
• 13 x Infernal Contract
• 2 x Favours: Hell

Unique item: A Crooked Cross (Tools of the Trade)

• Persuasive +6
• Shadowy +6
• Dreaded +1
• Mithridacy +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Crooked-Cross, with rewards In souls, In maps, and In suspect relics.

• Beatificator: “Progenitor of new saints and specialist in subverting truths from within,” with rewards In silks.
• Schismatic: “Cleaver of minds from their certainties and expert at discerning the many shades of truth,” with rewards In hard labour.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to Mithridacy from their A Crooked Cross. This skill is mainly used in various truth-bending and deceiving activities: making skeletons in The Bone Market, dealing with the Railway Board of Directors, writing Monographs in Moulin, creating Corrective Historical Narrative and Revisionist Historical Narrative in The Waswood or Moulin. Also, many other activities/places have occasional Mithridacy checks of various importance, such as various London, Zailing the Unterzee and Upper River cards, critically examining a disquieting missive, publishing newspapers, dealing with Student Complaints, Jericho Locks, Evenlode Courts, Balmoral, Diocesan Church of Hell in Burrow-Infra-Mump, Moulin Expeditions, Khaganian Intrigues, Viric Jungle, The Dome of Scales, Parabolan War.
• Can Rely on professional contacts to join The Clay Tailor Club.
• Can confuse the Railway board, making it easier to convince those who are vulnerable to obfuscation.
• Can obtain Rumours of the Upper River from A Familiar Bohemian Sculptress in The Bone Market - however, the Persuasive check is currently impossible to 100%.
• Can obtain Esteem of the Guild more cheaply from Debate with the Nostalgic Landlady in Jericho: The Arborist's Hands. However, it takes twice as much actions compared to other options. This makes Charter a barge to the Persephone partially self-funding, providing easy access to Skull in Coral.
• Get unique conversational options with Parish Council in Burrow-Infra-Mump.
• Can exchange 1 x False Hagiotoponym for 1 x Mortification of a Great Power and Apostate's Psalm in Burrow-Infra-Mump.
• As they have less need for An Epistemologically Flexible Approach to Historiography, Crooked-Crosses can instead get a different weekly reward in The Wellspring of Moulin: 1 x Revisionist Historical Narrative, 1 x Verse of Counter-Creed, 1 x Antique Mystery and an amount of Memory of a Much Lesser Self equal to their Mithridacy/2.
• Can use Persuasive instead of A Player of Chess during the mid-game when playing Chess at The Chessboard, getting 3 x Positional Advantages on success. However, unlike other options, the Persuasive challenge requires FATE-locked equpiment and a Persuasive Treasure to be 100%-able, and the failure changes Colour at the Chessboard to Red if it wasn't already.
• Can send letters (spending 1 x Verse of Counter-Creed per each) to increase the recipient's Mithridacy, Persuasive, Watchful and Nightmares.
• Can spend 10 CP Corresponding... for 1 x Silent Soul and an amount of Soul equal to (5/2) × their (Base Watchful + Base Persuasive).
• Can be invited to a Salon by another player, getting 20 CP Making Waves, 10 x Intriguing Snippet and 10 x Romantic Notion while sender loses 15 CP Engaged in a Scheme: a Salon and gains 2 CP Scandal and 200 CP Making Waves.

Watcher, Agent, Midnighter

Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead. —Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1735)

Watcher

Acquired from:

• The Constables — costs 5 x Favours
• The Great Game — costs 5 x Favours; requires A Fine Piece in the Game

Professional reward: The Watcher's reward

• 1 x Blackmail Material
• 1 x Antique Mystery
• 100 x Moon-Pearl
• 8 x Dubious Testimony
• 3 x Sworn Statement
• 1 x Favours: Constables
• 1 x Favours: The Great Game

Unique item: Revolting Disguise (Hat)

• Shadowy +6
• Watchful +6

Agent

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 2, Watcher

Professional reward: The Agent's Reward

• 10 x Presbyterate Passphrase
• 10 x An Identity Uncovered!
• 1 x Favours: Constables
• 1 x Favours: The Great Game

Unique item: Memento of a Struggle (Weapon)

• Watchful +9
• Shadowy +9
• Dreaded +1

Midnighter

Acquired from: An Unsigned Message — requires Notability 5, Agent, A Fine Piece in the Game; Shadowy 300 challenge

Professional reward: The Midnighter's Currency

• 4 x Favour in High Places
• 3 x Thirsty Bombazine Scrap
• 50 x Stolen Correspondence
• 2 x Favours: The Great Game

Unique item: Shrine to Saint Joshua (Tools of the Trade)

• Dreaded +1
• Shadowy +6
• Watchful +6
• A Player of Chess +1

Professional Activity: The Business of a Midnighter, with rewards In souls, In maps, and In jewels.

• Iniquitor: “Powerful and elusive, accumulating pieces to play the next level of the Great Game,” with rewards In intelligence.
• Letheologist: “Zealous and independent, immersed in the deeper rites of St. Joshua,” with rewards In wine.

Advantages:

• Gets a +1 bonus to A Player of Chess from their Shrine to Saint Joshua. This skill is mainly used in various Great Game and Great Game-related activities like spying on, manipulating and deceiving people: playing on The Chessboard, working in Cabinet Noir and other activities in Balmoral, dealing with the Railway Board of Directors, Khaganian Intrigues. Also, certain other activities/places have occasional A Player of Chess checks of various importance, such as various London, Zailing the Unterzee and Upper River cards, Counter-Church in the Wild in Burrow-Infra-Mump, The Dome of Scales, Parabolan War.
• Can blackmail the Railway board, making it easier to convince those who are vulnerable to corruption.
• Can gain more Disappearing... and Deciphering... per action in the Cabinet Noir in Balmoral.
• Can lose 7 CP Wounds for free In the Court of the Fathomking. This is the same amount lost from spending 10 x Romantic Notion (a saving of 1 ).
• While meeting A Khaganian Patrol Vessel in The Salt Steppes, can Record their position, gaining an amount of Moves in the Great Game scaling with their Renown: The Great Game with no risk at the cost of halved Zailing... gain.
• At midnight in Khan's Heart can take a special option to progress the current intrigue, losing 1 CP Nightmares and gaining 10 CP Infiltrating... with no risk.
• Can find The Chessboard more easily and can gain 1 x Vienna Opening once during early game, at the cost of progressing without gaining Positional Advantages.
• Can send letters (spending 1 x Vital Intelligence and gaining 1 x Memento of Silence per each) to increase the recipient's Shadowy, Watchful and Suspicion.
• Can be invited to an Orphanage by another player, getting 5 CP Making Waves, 15 x Scrap of Incendiary Gossip and 1 x Favours: The Great Game while sender loses 15 CP Engaged in a Scheme: an Orphanage and gains 200 CP Making Waves.
• Can get 1 x Perfumed Gunpowder and 2 x Hastily Scrawled Warning Note (uncapped) while Dreaming in Viric during a Feast of the Exceptional Rose, if Gracious Widow is chosen as a partner.

Less Entangled Professions

These professions come with no unique item, and receive A Professional Reward in cash. Such employment may suit those who wish to remain less involved in the more unsavoury business of the Neath, or simply those who have particular skills to offer and little interest in climbing the career ladder. Adopt these professions from An Unsigned Message.

Note: Adopting any of these professions requires a certain level of Notability, but this is not consumed.

Tutor

On long afternoons, while you inculcate Latin and arithmetic into the surly little tyke and he kicks your shins under the table, you focus on the end of the week, and your reward.

Unlocked with: Become a Tutor to a Wretched Child — requires Notability 2, Watchful 120

The Tutor's Reward: 6000 x Penny

Undermanager

Filkin & Filkin, Overcomptrollers, require an undermanager to assort operations and engage extrifications. You will be required to juggle figures and elaborate administrations.

Unlocked with: Become an Undermanager — requires Notability 2, Persuasive 120

The Undermanager's Reward: 6000 x Penny

Doctor

Even here, where death is an aberration, people are troubled by less final maladies. More troubled, perhaps, since no-one wants to endure eternity with a hernia.

Unlocked with: Become a doctor — requires Notability 3, Watchful 150

The Doctor's Payment: 7000 x Penny

Advantages:

• As a member of Sophia's, you can Offer your services as a doctor, for a payment of 1 x Knob of Scintillack.
• At Christmas, get a Primaeval Hint and a point of TToL on Day 11: Mr Sacks, mutely.

Notary

They are the only notaries allowed to operate within the City of London. The romance of their name perfectly balances the excitement of their daily work.

Unlocked with: Apply for membership in the Mysterie of Writers of the Court Letter — requires Notability 3, Persuasive 150

The Notary's Task: 7000 x Penny

Advantages:

• With a post office at Ealing Gardens, Offer your services for some reduction of Suspicion and a few Scrip.
• At Christmas, get a Primaeval Hint and a point of TToL on Day 11: Mr Sacks, mutely.

Quick-Switch Guide

It is possible for players to switch level-3 professions quickly. You will need 5 Notability, a Favourable Circumstance, 6 Actions, and either a good card draw or be close to Time, the Healer to do this. Obtaining a Mood can also help increase chances for successfully obtaining the highest-tier promotion. [See above for the more esoteric requirements]

1. Pick the profession you want to take, and determine which Faction starts the Profession. (i.e. to be Correspondent, you must first become a Journalist, so you need Bohemians)

2. Wait to draw the Faction Card for the level 1 profession and hold it in your hand. Acquire five favours with that Faction.

3. Wait to draw the An Unsigned Message card and hold it as well. You can proceed without the card, up to step 6.

4. Go to Your Social Engagements. Select Send a Message to a Contact. Choose to Resign from your Profession.

5. Use the Faction Card to pick the Level 1 profession (ex: Journalist)

6. Use the An Unsigned Message card. If you don't have the card, Go to Your Social Engagements. Select Send a Message to a Contact to Await an Unsigned Letter. This will immediately draw the An Unsigned Message. If you do this, you will need to wait to complete the next step until Time, the Healer arrives.

7. If you have expended your Favourable Circumstance, wait for Time, the Healer or choose Insist on Favourable Circumstances, which will consume substantial Notability in exchange for receiving them.

8 **If you can acquire the correct Mood, do it now.** Likewise if you lack Second Chances for the stat used for acquiring the new profession, go get some. Once you request the Unsigned Message, if you Perhaps Not out you will lose both the card and your Favourable Circumstance. (This step is technically optional, but a very difficult test awaits you and you will probably fail at least once without it. With an appropriate Mood, a Second Chance, and main stat of 200 +55 or so in other gear, you can reduce the chance of failure to only 15% or so.)

9. Use the Send a Message to a Contact to Await an Unsigned Letter which will use your Favourable Circumstances. This will immediately re-draw the An Unsigned Message again.

10. Use the An Unsigned Message card to advance to Level 3 (ex. Correspondent)