The Crowds of Spite (Guide)

From Fallen London Wiki
Ladybonessmall.png Early MYN Content
Steal.png
Pickpocket's Promenade Summary
Locked Limited-Length Activity
Setup Progress End
1 A 3+/5+/6+/7+ A 1 A
Progress

Details

Gain Pickpocket's Trophy. Starting Appearance Approaching your Destination determined by initial choice, and it ends at 10.
Items Inputs/Outputs
Outputs
Raw EPA 2.66 Raw SPA 3.84

Also known as the Pickpocket's Promenade

The Crowds of Spite is an area unlocked with Shadowy 10 which can be useful for obtaining certain items at an early stage of the game. It mainly revolves around three things: Pickpocket's Trophy, which can be turned in at the end for rewards, Approaching your Destination which track how close to the end you are and which ends the Promenade once it hits 10, and Unseen which tracks how suspicious you are, and will have negative effects if it hits 0.

The Routes[edit]

It will cost an action to select a route, the only difference between them are:

Certain harder and more rewarding opportunity cards appear at Approaching your Destination < 5

The cards you get will be the same and there will be ways to lower Approaching your Destination as you move through the crowd. Your choice isn't very important but if you are here to grind items and plan to stay longer, then Blythenhale or Strung-Up Street will always be the best option.

Mechanics[edit]

A Pickpocket's Promenade is usually played with opportunity cards, however there are also some storylets which can be played at any time.

The Storylets[edit]

Stop and consider How does this work? (A reminder of how this works) No Action Cost
Loiter Luck 50%

Success
AYD -1
Unseen -1

Failure
AYD -1
Unseen -2

The Cards[edit]

When pickpocketing you will usually gain an amount of Trophies based on your base Shadowy, as well as extra trophies depending on your mark. The distribution of these is shown in the below tables.

Window-shopping from A mould-spangled curiosity shop is the ONLY CARD that can reduce Approaching your Destination (by 1, it also raises unseen by 1).

The Watchful Eyes Card will cause you to gain AYD no matter what option you choose, just leave it in your deck unless you really want to end your promenade.

  • Example on how to use the tables below: With base shadowy 100 and pickpocketing the constable, you gain 3 trophies from your target, as well as 4 trophies from your skill for a total of 7 trophies.
  • For a reference sheet, see The Crowds of Spite (Guide)/Cards


Inferior skill table: The amount of trophies given by the drunk and the shop, based on your base Shadowy.
Base Shadowy1–7071–9192–101102–109110–116117–123124–130131–138139–148149–169170–230
Pickpocket's Trophy1234567891011
Skill table: The amount of trophies given by most targets, based on your base Shadowy.
Base Shadowy1–6970–8990–99100–107108–113114–120121–126127–132133–140141–150151–170171–230
Pickpocket's Trophy123456789101112
Card Pickpocket Challenge Bonus Trophies[1] Pass by Pickpocket Failure
Unless otherwise mentioned, all actions give AYD +1.
A drunk 3 +0 [2] Unseen -1
A mould-spangled curiosity shop 5 +1 [2] Unseen +1

AYD -1

Unseen -1
A Street Performer 5 +1 Unseen +1 Unseen -1
An Argument 10 +1 Unseen +1 Unseen -1
Gaoler 10 +1 [3] Unseen -1
The Costermonger 12 +1 Unseen -1
The Rat-Catcher 12 N/A [4]
The Actress 15 +2 Unseen -1
A Shopkeeper 20 +2 Unseen -1
Watchful Eyes 30 N/A N/A Unseen -1
Luck 50% N/A [5]
A Constable! 30 +3 AYD +2
A Special Constable 40 +4
A... pickpocket? 50 +4 Trophy -3
Jack! 60 +9 [5] Wounds +3 CP
100 N/A [6] N/A
The Opera Singer[7] 60 +6 Unseen -1
The Novelist[7] 63 +7 Unseen -1
The Confidence Artist[7] 65 +8 Unseen -1
Notes
  1. These trophies are added to the trophies from the skill tables
  2. 2.0 2.1 Uses the inferior skill table
  3. Also gives Nightmares
  4. Instead provides Does not affect AYD
  5. 5.0 5.1 AYD +2
  6. 7.0 7.1 7.2 only available with AYD < 5

Getting Caught[edit]

If your Unseen should be reduced to 0, and you're not at the end of your journey, this storylet will automatically be played, which will remove some of your trophies, increase your Suspicion and put you at your destination.

Current Suspicion Suspicion gain Trophy loss
0-2 +2 CP -5
3-4 +10 CP -16
5+ +15 CP Lose all

Rewards[edit]

When your Approaching your Destination reaches 10, The End of the Road! will autofire with the Examine your loot option. No action is needed and selecting Examine your loot will redirect you to Dispose of your Pickpocket's Trophies. You can trade Pickpocket's Trophy for items until you run out of them. Everything will reset once you select the Finished! option so don't let your Pickpocket's Trophy go to waste.

Each Trophy usually has a value of 0.2 E

Option Reward Value
Dispose of seventy trophies

Journal of Infamy +12
Proscribed Material +50
Tale of Terror!! +12

E 14
Dispose of sixty trophies First City Coin +1

Fistful of Surface Currency +350
Penny +125

E 12
Rare: Fourth-City Echo + 1 E 12.5
Dispose of fifty Trophies via the Acquisitive Relicquarian

Presbyterate Passphrase +2
Mystery of the Elder Continent +10
Shadowy +25 CP

E 10
Dispose of forty Trophies

Thirsty Bombazine Scrap +3
Whisper-Satin Scrap +1
Shadowy +15 CP

E 8
Dispose of thirty Trophies

Touching Love Story +1
Compromising Document +5
Scrap of Incendiary Gossip +2
Shadowy +10 CP

E 6
Dispose of twenty Trophies

Sapphire +6
Venom-Ruby +6
Flawed Diamond +4
Ostentatious Diamond +(3 to 8)
Shadowy +5 CP

E 3.3 - 5.8
Dispose of ten Trophies

Whispered Hint +20
Jade Fragment +30
Piece of Rostygold +30
Moon-Pearl +(1 to 106)
Shard of Glim +(1 to 100)
Shadowy +2 CP

E 0.82 - 2.86
Dispose of five Trophies

Silk Scrap +100
Shadowy +1 CP

E 1
Dispose of one Trophy

Nodule of Deep Amber +20

E 0.2

Strategy[edit]

As a general principle, it's never profitable to use actions to increase unseen or reduce AYD, unless you risk getting caught if you don't, or you need just a few more trophies and being able to draw a new card is a decent benefit. As long as your (modified) suspicion is lower than 3, the penalty of getting caught is quite minor either way, and a slight risk isn't that bad, actually.

If you have a modified shadowy around 80-90 or better, it's probably always best to take Strung-up Street for more actions to pick pockets, as well as some extra, good cards for doing so. Otherwise, Blythenhale is a very good alternative.

This location's opportunity card hand-size is determined by your lodgings, so 4 or 5-card lodgings give you more chances to draw better cards and avoid playing the inefficient ones, therefore serious grinding of this carousel should wait until you have acquired one of those.

Unless you need something specifically, the most useful reward is arguably the jewels, as they don't have many other reliable sources. It's also worth mentioning that the option to exchange 50 trophies gives a better ratio of shadowy training per trophy than the other options.

As an alternative to the loot from pickpocketing, one could instead focus on grinding Touching Love Stories as well as Constable and Urchin favors from the card Jack!. Since his card can appear at any time along the length of the route, having 4 or 5-card lodgings and taking a short route could allow you to encounter him more frequently, as you merely have to end the route to discard your entire hand of the other cards and then start again with a fresh hand for more chances to draw his card.