Professions (Guide)

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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)[edit]

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 favors 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 favor 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.

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.

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 Pelegin.

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

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.

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

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.

Training Professions[edit]

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. You also receive E 5 worth of items.

Profession Reward
Enquirer
Minor Poet
Pickpocket
Tough

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. Repeat until you've gotten each of your main Attributes to 70.

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[edit]

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 E 35, Tier 2's are worth about E 49, and Tier 3's are worth E 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).

Entangled Professions
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Campaigner Mystic Silverer
Enforcer Murderer Licentiate
Journalist Author Correspondent
Rat-Catcher Stalker Monster-Hunter
Trickster Conjurer Crooked-Cross
Watcher Agent Midnighter
  • 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[edit]

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

Campaigner[edit]

Acquired from:

Unique item: Feckless Supporters (Companion)

Mystic[edit]

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

Unique item: Circle of Acolytes (Companion)

Silverer[edit]

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

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

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

Advantages:

Enforcer, Murderer, Licentiate[edit]

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

Enforcer[edit]

Acquired from:

Unique item: Burly Assistant (Companion)

Murderer[edit]

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

Unique item: Discreet Firearm (Weapon)

Licentiate[edit]

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

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

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:

Journalist, Author, Correspondent[edit]

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[edit]

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

Unique item: Little Red Notebook (Weapon)

Author[edit]

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)

Unique item: Appreciation Society (Companion)

Correspondent[edit]

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

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

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

Advantages:

Rat-Catcher, Stalker, Monster-Hunter[edit]

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[edit]

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

Unique item: Ratting Piece (Weapon)

Stalker[edit]

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

Unique item: Perspicacious Lurcher (Companion)

Monster-Hunter[edit]

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

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

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

Advantages:

Trickster, Conjurer, Crooked-Cross[edit]

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[edit]

Acquired from:

Unique item: Loathsome Imp (Companion)

Conjurer[edit]

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

Unique item: Horrid Imp (Companion)

Crooked-Cross[edit]

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

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

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:

Watcher, Agent, Midnighter[edit]

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

Watcher[edit]

Acquired from:

Unique item: Revolting Disguise (Hat)

Agent[edit]

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

Unique item: Memento of a Struggle (Weapon)

Midnighter[edit]

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

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

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:

Less Entangled Professions[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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:

Notary[edit]

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:

Quick-Switch Guide[edit]

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)