The Crowds of Spite (Guide)
|
Early-Game Content |
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:
- The Tenterhooks sets Approaching your Destination to 7
- Smashtile Alley sets Approaching your Destination to 6
- Blythenhale sets Approaching your Destination to 5
- Strung-Up Street sets Approaching your Destination to 3
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%
|
|||
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 beggar and the shop, based on your base Shadowy.
| Base Shadowy | 1–70 | 71–91 | 92–101 | 102–109 | 110–116 | 117–123 | 124–130 | 131–138 | 139–148 | 149–169 | 170–230 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickpocket's Trophy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
- Skill table: The amount of trophies given by most targets, based on your base Shadowy.
| Base Shadowy | 1–69 | 70–89 | 90–99 | 100–107 | 108–113 | 114–120 | 121–126 | 127–132 | 133–140 | 141–150 | 151–170 | 171–230 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pickpocket's Trophy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Card | Pickpocket Challenge | Bonus Trophies[1]
|
Pass by | Pickpocket Failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unless otherwise mentioned, all actions give AYD +1.
| ||||
| A drunk | 3
|
+0 [2] | Unseen -2
| |
| A mould-spangled curiosity shop | 5
|
+1 [2] | Unseen +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 -5
| |
| 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
| |
- ↑ These trophies are added to the trophies from the skill tables
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Uses the inferior skill table
- ↑ Also gives
Nightmares
- ↑ Instead provides
Rat on a String +11
Venge-Rat Corpse +1
AYD
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 AYD +2
- ↑
- Unseen +1
Touching Love Story +1
Favour +0/1
Favour +0/1- AYD is unchanged
- ↑ 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 
| Option | Reward | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Dispose of seventy trophies |
|
14
|
| Dispose of sixty trophies |  First City Coin +1
|
12
|
Rare:  Fourth-City Echo + 1
|
12.5
| |
| Dispose of fifty Trophies via the Acquisitive Relicquarian |
|
10
|
| Dispose of forty Trophies |
|
8
|
| Dispose of thirty Trophies |
|
6
|
| Dispose of twenty Trophies |
|
3.3 - 5.8
|
| Dispose of ten Trophies |
|
0.82 - 2.86
|
| Dispose of five Trophies |
|
1
|
| Dispose of one Trophy | 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.
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.
