Anyone want to start working on making a romance/mystery/etc guide?

[annarachelsumner]

Like most of Failbetter's games, this game is pretty complicated and has many paths. Also like most of their games, failing or missing out on what you want to do is pretty easy. While exploring and finding things on your own is awesome, anyone (including myself) who wants to volunteer information in this thread on how to achieve certain things for those future panicked google-searchees like myself would be more than appreciated.

[The Mauve Hand]

I sure hope someone makes something with at least a little more direction than what we have. That said, I love the replayability of it. The characters are so deep and faceted, I fell in love with several.

[JSNLV]

Sure; let's compile our notes!

Here are things I feel like I have a handle on. This is a bit of a spoiler, and these results were obtained using the original launch version of the game with a Tailor's background and mostly sensible, no-nonsense clothing (generally either the undertaker's jacket or the tailor's apron, sometimes with and sometimes without the census badge). It's possible things won't work out exactly the same for characters of differing backgrounds and attire.

Helping with Rachel's Story

To start with this, I had to meet Rachel and David, learning that Rachel is an author. Then I had to hear about Mr. Pages's need for additional love stories, and I had the option to volunteer to provide a new source for such material, which gave me the option to bring Griz over to Rachel's house for an introduction. During their conversation, I was volunteered as Rachel's assistant, so she needed me to come up with plots for her stories.

To complete this process, I first had to create a story about how Rachel's heroine, the 'Spoilt Beauty', recovered from the loss of her surface-bound fiancé. I selected Harjit (the Constable) as her counterpart, made him covet wealth, and propose marriage. Initially, I had her too heartbroken due to her lost love and made her flee back to her faith, but Rachel rejected this. It seemed like trying to convey a retreat to the beliefs of her youth would be too personal and too demanding, so she asked me to come up with something else. I tried another version of the story in which she and the constable end up happy together, but she didn't like that, either, because this is just the first part of the story, so she needs something with more problems. I'm pretty sure the one she accepted was one in which the Constable was seeking wealth, proposed marriage, and had no regrets, while the Beauty longed for love, accepted, but lived with regret.

Finally, Rachel needs an ending for the story. She seemed to want a happy ending, and a bunch of these outcomes ended with misery and death, so it seemed like the most appropriate response was the one in which her original suitor proposes an affair, she accepts, and they're both happy. I'm pretty sure that's the one she accepted, and it was a decent payday.

Finding a legal way out of the trial

If you don't want to worry about the investigation, Griz can help you create a loophole that will prevent the trial from even occurring. Fair warning: there may be other consequences...

To start this process, you will need to know how to get to the drowned Parliament building. Harjit can show you the way, but I had to pay him four pennies since it's such a long trip from his usual beat. You'll need to be on sufficiently good terms with Griz that she confides her need to get to the Parliament building. Once Griz has requested passage and you know the way, you can bring her there.

A new problem: you now need someone who can sing. The game isn't subtle about this: you need Theophilus, as he leads his choir with gusto. He hadn't been very friendly with me at that point, so I went to see if he needed anything, and he asked me to save the soul of another clergyman. I accepted, headed to the devils' townhouse, and while the man was clearly grandstanding, I encouraged the devils to humor him and take it seriously. This was apparently sufficient to complete Theophilus's request, so I returned to him at the next opportunity and asked him to join us at Parliament. He consented.

With that intermediate step complete, it should now be possible to take both Griz and Theo to Parliament. They force you to stay outside while they undertake the project, and it is ultimately successful. With that completed, on the day of the trial, the judge will conclude that no crime has been committed. This may seem like a sneaky way to spare Archie, but there's a downside still to come. You may regret what happens next: don't say I didn't warn you.

[annarachelsumner]

I've been playing as the Tailor, with fairly generic outfits, I don't believe I have discovered how to do anything of note so far (last day of confessions), (fairly surface level relationship, undeveloped quests), but if anyone has any questions, I may try to answer them. Thanks JSNLV, that is really helpful for future playthroughs.

[Kassu]

In my first playthrough as a very honest tailor I also went on saving Archie with Griz and strange legalities. I didn't really find out much about the other mysteries but I romanced Harjit.

Harjit

He will not be amenable to romantic/sexual relations before you help with his quest to look for his lost lover. I didn't really note how your trigger the quest, initially I was just friendly and helpful and also aimed to become a friend. But it appeared to me also on a second play when I just tried to kiss him after some flirting. (I've also answered him that maybe the lost lover can still be found.)

To move onward, you need to reminisce about London, when you saw Lucian. Afterwards you just tell Harjit and he will decide Lucian isn't coming back.
After that I promised to keep remembering Lucian with him and asked about forgetting/disappearing from Mr. Pages, reporting the findings. Later on I feared I killed the relationship by admitting I didn't want to compete with memory but I was still able to seduce him and meet him in the end to agree to pursuit a relationship.

On second play I went on to be a flirty scholar (not finished yet) and noticed a couple of things relating to romance:
Archie is ridiculously easy to seduce but he will take it very seriously immediately. I would not have gone there if I had known.
Griz also seems to be pretty amenable to advances and doesn't seem to mind there has been relations to others, so I guess she's okay with a casual thing too.

Also to note, if one wishes to meet Rachel and David and do quests for them, one should meet them pretty fast in the synagogue. I didn't really catch many clues about the whole murder mystery on the first time around when I tried to visit them in the evening when David died, and I wasn't let in. Establishing familiarity with them before Archie's arrest seems much more productive.

[JSNLV]

Thanks for contributing, Kassu! I didn't really have any relationships blossom on my first playthrough because I was still trying to make sense of the story-building interface, and pursuing stories with Rachel seemed like a straightforward way to plumb the depths of the system. While I can confirm that a little bit of idle flirting during the census review with Ivy and then meeting up with her in the masquerade isn't sufficient to start a relationship, it did let me start a criminal enterprise with her and Ferret due to my "jack of all trades" approach.

I'm looking forward to playing more tonight, so I hope to have more details about pursuing the murder investigation afterwards.

[annarachelsumner]

Finished my first playthrough, I discovered most locations and characters Ivy's shop, Rachel and David's, Parliament, thrall street?, parish, devil's house, Bazaar, and the below streets, missing Ferret's possibly missing others due to either misremembering or there being more. I achieved the end where Archie is hanged because of lack of evidence probably the bad end unless there is worse one, and did not have a relationship at the end. I was friends with Archie, Ivy (likely because of my background as a tailor), and Rachel , allies with Horatio and Griz , and unfriendly/enemies with Mr Pages and Harjit . Pretty barebones.
Based on the flirt options I received, these are the romance options:
Archie
Griz
Ivy
Rachel
Harjit
Mr Pages
Moss (Yule)
Forgot his name, but rubbery man
These are ones I am less certain about, but could lead to a romance, short term thing or interesting banter, if anyone can confirm.
Theo
Phoebe
Horatia
David
Virgina
Milton

If there is anyone else, that would be cool to know.
Also Archie and Moss both seem pretty easy to get in a romance with, especially Archie. I had to turn him down several times, insinuate I wanted friendship a lot before he cooled off.

Also, here are some matchmaking parings I thought you might be able to make happen, if anyone has:
Griz/Mr. Pages?
Griz/Rachel
Archie/Pheobe

[Kassu]

I tried romancing Moss but was somewhat unsuccessful. He responds to flirting to a point, and I managed to have "an encounter" with him but eventually he turned down my romantic advances because he still loves his king. In the end I could meet him as one of the friendly encounters of festival, not choose to find him, and he decided to leave. If I chose to say I was serious about him, he didn't return to his king but didn't stay with me either.

I wonder what kind of endings are possible with him, romance or otherwise. I begun his questline by offering help, noticing the crown and agreeing to wear it, the tracking down the intended with Harjit. I encouraged Moss to independent thought and in the end he went on to forge his own path. We did look for May again though, and I wonder if we're supposed to matchmake them, Moss kinda pissed him off when encouraged to choose himself.

The murder mystery investigation seems very complex, there are so many choices and characters involved. But it did help immensely to interview David himself, that should probably be the starting point. I didn't really pursue it properly this time either.

I think some kind of romance or sexual relations are possible with almost any character. I was flirty and wandered around a bit, and had the "relationship was simmering" or "thing are heating up" with most of the characters, including Ferret who I saw one time only. But it doesn't really work to spread your focus too much, it still takes several meetings to advance a relationship and it might take time from other quests.

Matchmaking possibilities:
Harjit was interested in Archie, maybe it can happen if you help find the closure with Lucian

[luke.alford]

Just to check. I've seen people talking about 'forming theories early' does this mean just playing with the storyscripting possibilities, or should I be taking them to Harjit to hand them in. I ask because the wording very heavily implies that Harjit will jump to the trial as soon as I take him a theory, but I just seem to be going round in circles with interviewing for theories.

[whimsandwills]

If you take a theory to Harjit and it's not quite right, he'll have some commentary on it. I know I took one that was the wrong method poison mail , and he told me about how the jury would only believe it if they were very gullible.

As for the correct method, unless there are other solutions which I think it's probably possible to implicate an accomplice it's arsenic candles . The easiest way I've found to get it for the storyboard is to ask Ferret when you've got a question of method. You might also have to ask Archie about his opinion on method; this was an Archie romance run so I was talking to him as much as I could.

For the correct suspect, it should be fairly easy to get hinted by the game once you know the method. The game will straight up tell you who had access. However, for motive you'll still need to ask around anyway. My fastest method to get the right pieces is to pay Ivy for suspects with a question of identity , use that to get a question of Lovers by the loved David motive in , and then interviewing Archie and/or David. If you get on too well with David, he'll spill his guts a bit too much and you'll miss out on unlocking a specific option that I used in my first one of getting the murderer hung. Actually interviewing those two are both kind of superfluous for actually getting all the pieces you need, I think, but are rather useful in piecing together why as a player.

Bigger Spoilers to Follow (Murderer & Accomplice):
So in my full theory that I've turned into Harjit twice now, I have David as the right side who. First time with the planning to go to the surface action to match Phoebe's asking him to stay. I am pretty firmly convinced that some combination of confiding affair on Phoebe's side with Milton as the accomplice ought to be possible. If you confront Phoebe (and I think she mentions it in trial?), she will mention knowing that David wouldn't stay dead. Somebody had to tell her. I suspect there's also two flavors of that: one where you accuse him of inscribing the candles to burn longer & being an active participant and one where you accuse him of something worse: charity. Moving the body, that is.

Anyway. You can get all the pieces to accuse the real murderer in about two/three days in game if you know what you're doing. I don't know if it's necessary to butter up Ivy beforehand, but I make sure to do that census in a friendly manner while in confessions. Just in case.

[luke.alford]

I found a pretty fast way to that method asking Ferret about his customers and I like the theory. It's got me wondering about the second body (snuffer?) but I can't find any ways to question anyone about it despite it being clearly suspicious.

[whimsandwills]

You can get it down to two steps once you know the solution asking Ferret about poison & asking David about lovers will get you everything. No Ivy required which is great because I'm working on Harjit reunion right now and I'd feel terrible if I didn't have the trial don't pat.

As for the body, I think it's a grown thing. like the counterfeit heads in the browser game. Anyway, I did sort of get to question Milton about it by accusing him of being an accomplice but that was when I was laser focused on Rachel instead of Phoebe lmao. He basically admitted to being the one who moved the body but I wasn't close enough with him for him to say more. (Leaving this up but realized you probably meant the other body Rachel apparently buried now. Friend showed me that line from Phoebe. My best guess is that finding out about that has got to be connected to how you can ask Harjit where David is getting buried when he arrests Archie. )

Which if anyone has any g_______d clue on how to progress on Harjit I would welcome it. I've gotten as far as talking to Pages and agreeing to help Harjit remember but d______n if I can figure out what's next.

[Triskaideka]

For those attempting to date Moss, I found that admiring his shape when he first shows up and then declaring to be more than happy that he'd come upstairs after said meeting caused him to be the one to propose/inquire if I might be seeking intimate connections!

Truth be told happened on my first playthrough and I turned him down 'cause I did not feel ready, lol.

[Chillaxing]

I've found 12 out of 17 achievements so far, including the two hidden ones. Hopefully there will be a guide to all of them someday, but for now, I'm willing to help where I can.

[whimsandwills]

In my continuing adventures to do anything about Harjit's missing boyfriend, I have learned you can ask Milton about memory but I still have no clues on where to go from there. Banging my head against the wall.

[lily]

As for Harjit's missing boyfriend, you can also speak to Pages about memory and have special dialogue with May if you are investigating memory when you meet that individual; however, neither of these seem to lead anywhere new for me yet.