Spending Secrets and Counting the Days (Guide)

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Ladybonessmall.png Early MYN Content
Clock.png
Counting the Days Summary
Fixed-Length Activity
Setup Progress End
0 A 21 A 1 A
Progress

Details

Raise Counting the Days to 14 and A Pocketful of Loose Change to 0/4/7, depending on the target reward. Must be done multiple times to obtain more complex rewards.
Items Inputs/Outputs
Outputs
Raw EPA 1.50


Starting out with Spending Secrets

There are two ways to meet the Numismatrix:

This will set Spending Secrets to 1. Progressing to Spending Secrets 3 unlocks the Choosing a Side card, where you choose one of all the factions in London to be aligned with. Spending Secrets increases to 4.

The quickest way to get Counting the Days (CtD) to level 14

This is best done if you are closest to the Bohemians or The Great Game, you've opened up Wolfstack Docks, The Shuttered Palace, The Forgotten Quarter and The University, you're still in possession of your soul, and you have at least one point of Master Thief.

Characters that don't meet some of those requirements will need to use opportunity cards to account for the CtD that they're missing.


Any CtD level

All characters can use their faction-specific cards to get 5 CtD and 2 Loose Change. Since this gives more Loose Change than other actions this may be preferable to characters with low Loose Change. These factions are:

In addition you may get 2 CP of Loose Change (but no CtD) from a smaller bazaar on The Awful Temptation of Money card.

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A smaller bazaar

You may also get 5 CP of CtD (but no Loose Change) from Watch from a distance on A day at the races card.

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Watch from a distance

CtD under level 6 (5 x 5 CP)

If you're Closest To: Bohemians, Criminals, Hell, Revolutionaries, Rubbery Men, The Docks, The Great Game, Tomb Colonists, or Urchins you can dice for secrets and coins at the docks. Each action will give you 5 CtD and 1 Loose Change.

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Dicing for secrets and coins

Urchins can also listen to the Fisher-Kings in the Flit.

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Listen to them


If you don't meet those requirements, there are several opportunity cards that are open to you:
If you've met the Regretful Soldier you can wait for A Visit and take him to the theatre:

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Take him to the theatre

If your Nightmares are level 3 or above you can read a calming book or take some honey with a friend from A Moment's Peace.

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Read a calming book
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Take some honey with a friend
  •  Spoiler 
    Honey.png
    Unlocked with 50 x Drop of Prisoner's Honey, Spending Secrets 4
    Locked with Counting the Days 6

     

    When Sent

    In Veilgarden The honey-den is crowded tonight. The fading-couches are filling quickly. Is that fellow over there a journalist? Never mind. You need this, and quickly. Let us hope your friend comes soon.

    Your friend will receive: Envelopesmall.png [Friend] wants you to share a honey-dream with them. This will help with Nightmares, but oh, the Scandal!

    Once Accepted

    You will receive:

    A sea of black feathers. The weeping rose. The dreams are beautiful, but end all too soon.


    Your friend will receive:

    Envelopesmall.png A sea of black feathers. The weeping rose. The dreams are beautiful, but end all too soon.

    ^

If you have level 2 Scandal you can ensure a moral afternoon is appreciated from An Afternoon of Good Deeds?.

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Quite a moral afternoon. Let's make sure it's appreciated.

If you have level 2 Suspicion and 10 Infernal Contracts you can unleash Baseborn & Fowlingpiece from The Law's Long Arm.

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Unleash Baseborn & Fowlingpiece

All others may look at those coins from An unusual wager card.

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Look at those coins

CtD level 6 to 9 (6 x 5 CP)

If you're Closest To: Bohemians, The Church, The Constables, The Duchess, The Great Game, The Masters, The University, or Society you can speak to an Aristocratic Academic inside The Forgotten Quarter. Each action will give you 5 CtD and 1 Loose Change.

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Speak to an Aristocratic Academic

If you don't meet those requirements, there are several opportunity cards that are open to you:
If you've met the Repentant Forger you can wait for A Visit and mind his old habits.

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Old habits

If your Nightmares are level 3 or above you can indulge in mysticism and mesmerism from A Moment's Peace.

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Mysticism and mesmerism

If you have level 2 Suspicion you can lay a false trail from The Law's Long Arm.

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Lay a false trail

If you have level 2 Wounds and are Closest To: Bohemians, The Church, The Constables, The Duchess, The Masters, The University, or Society you can join an exclusive dinner party on the A Restorative card.

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An exclusive dinner party

All others may look at those coins from An unusual wager card.

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Look at those coins

CtD level 10 to 11 (5 x 5 CP)

Unless you've lost your soul, you can talk about something else at The Shuttered Palace. Each action will give you 5 CtD and 1 Loose Change.

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Talk about something else

If you don't meet those requirements, there are several opportunity cards that are open to you:
If you've met the Sardonic Music-Hall Singer you can wait for A Visit and go with her to a gambling-house.

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Go with her to a gambling-house

If you have level 1 Nightmares and level 10 CtD you ask someone else what they saw from the City Vices: Orthographic Infection card. This action always gives 5 CtD and either 1 or 2 Loose Change.

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Ask someone else what they saw

If your Nightmares are level 3 or above (you may wear Nightmares raising equipment) you can do some physical exercise and exertion from A Moment's Peace. This action gives 5 CtD and no Loose Change.

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Physical exercise and exertion

If you have level 2 Scandal, hiding from those who would hound you on An Afternoon of Good Deeds? gives 5 CtD and no Loose Change.

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Hide from those who would hound you

If you have level 2 Wounds, the Itinerant Physician from the A Restorative card will give you 5 CtD and no loose change in exchange for 75 Shard of Glim.

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The Itinerant Physician

CtD level 12 to 13 (5 x 5 CP)

Master thieves can visit the University and talk about robbery. You may still do this storylet if you're Unwelcome at the University -. Each action will give you 5 CtD and 1 Loose Change.

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Talk about robbery

If you don't meet those requirements, there are several opportunity cards that are open to you:
If you've met the Wry Functionary you can wait for A Visit and pop in while you're passing.

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Pop in while you're passing

If you have level 2 Scandal you can blame someone else for your sins from An Afternoon of Good Deeds?. This action gives 5 CtD no Loose Change.

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Blame someone else for your sins

If you have level 2 Suspicion and are Closest To: Bohemians, Criminals, Hell, Revolutionaries, Rubbery Men, The Docks, The Great Game, Tomb Colonists, or Urchins you can make sure nobody is telling tales from The Law's Long Arm.

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Make sure nobody is telling tales

If you have 2 Wounds and are Closest To: Criminals, Hell, Revolutionaries, Rubbery Men, Tomb Colonists, or Urchins you can be unwise from A Restorative card. This action gives 5 CtD no Loose Change.

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Can you be so unwise?

Conclusion

If you didn't use opportunity cards in any of the above steps, you'd need to spend 21 actions to get to level 14 CtD. This will also give you 21 CP of Loose Change, bringing you to level 6 (if you started at level 0).

Buying a Mark of Credit Page from the Numismatrix costs only 7 CP of Loose Change, but is only available at level 7. This means that unless you already have some points of Loose Change, or are willing to chance a Mark, or simply need the CtD for something else, you'll need to use opportunity cards.

Rewards

Reaching Counting the Days 14 unlocks the Secrets and Spending card, which allows you to choose one of the following, all resetting CtD:

Action Requirements Cost Reward Note
A sack of coins - 333 x Fistful of Surface Currency
Fencing certain coins 3 x Favours: Criminals 20 x First City Coin
Buy a Mark of Credit Page Loose Change 7 7 CP Loose Change 1 x Mark of Credit Page used to get the advanced rewards
Chancing a Mark Loose Change 4 all Loose Change 70% chance of a 1 x Mark of Credit Page -10 CP Loose Change and 40 x Proscribed Material on failure
Find a decent home [1] 1 x Mark of Credit Page Approximately E 13.20 in value, plus the Benthic/Summerset connections
Find a hard-working home [1] 1 x Mark of Credit Page Approximately E 28 in value
Find an unusual home [1][2] 1 x Mark of Credit Page Approximately E 41 in value
Obtain an Iron Republic Safe-Conduct[3] 1 x Brass Ring, Renown: Hell 10 3 x Mark of Credit Page Required for travelling to the Iron Republic
Spend a Mark of Credit on something for yourself 5 x Mark of Credit Page Consonant Violin One of two Respectable weapons freely available year-round [4]; only obtainable once

Strategy

Every player will at some point want to engage in Counting the Days at least as far as acquiring a Safe-Conduct, which requires three passes through the carousel (the fourth pass can be avoided by acquiring the Safe-Conduct via the Local Gossip, forgoing the additional reward of Antique Mysteries and Aeolian Screams). With no opportunity cards used, three cycles would total +63 CP A Pocketful of Loose Change accumulated and -21 CP A Pocketful of Loose Change spent - but the first pass would end slightly too low, at PoLC 6 rather than 7, so the actual net is +49. A fourth pass to purchase an Iron Republic Safe-Conduct results in an additional +21 CP A Pocketful of Loose Change. Using opportunity cards to advance PoLC increases this surplus even further. Therefore it appears that PoLC is low-value, opportunities to advance CtD without PoLC are to be preferred, and in particular The Awful Temptation of Money is a junk card which should never be used after the player has reached level 7 of PoLC.

The most profitable use of Marks of Credit is to find an unusual home. In the long run, this averages slightly less than 1 EPA - 22 actions to acquire a Mark, 22 actions to return to Secrets and Spending and redeem it for rewards. This is not competitive with available grinds. It can be improved somewhat by relying on opportunity cards - the Menace-reducing opportunity cards often have options that advance CtD and reduce Menaces, which increases the effective EPA. However, even if PoLC is considered free (likely, as described above), this is unlikely to surpass 1.5 EPA and so is not economically efficient for PoSI. The only reason to do it is an aversion to having a large quantity of useless currency.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Only available if you're Closest To - any of the factions the Favours this option provides belong to.
  2. ↑ Also available when closest to Rubbery Men.
  3. ↑ Can also be acquired in your Lodgings. This option doesn't reset Counting the Days, but also doesn't provide the economical rewards.
  4. ↑ The Weighty Postlapsarian Romance, available by trading a Bright Brass Skull to The Unsanctioned Relicker, being the other. 5 Marks of Credit may or may not be easier to obtain than a E 60 skull.
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