Beginner's Guide

This is a guide for complete beginners to Fallen London. It won't tell you everything about the game; rather, it is intended to remove the fear of jumping into a new game by setting you on the right foot and informing you of the basics.

Important Note
Do not worry about being a completionist! Anything that's possible to be missed is never essential, and some things are even better off ignored.

Storylet and Opportunity Card Colors
Colors on storylets and cards are often used to convey their significance. White borders are your everyday story snippets, and other colors are a little more special.


 * White borders imply ordinary cards or storylets. These are the most common and occasionally have a level requirement. They often test your main stats and usually give rewards (either connections, items, or a mix).


 * Red cards are autofire cards. These are played as you click them with no chance to back out. This is common for Dreams, but also for other cards. There aren't any red storylets.


 * Tan storylets represent ventures. These are bigger storylets that require you to build up a progress quality (e.g. Fascinating..., Seeking... and Investigating...) in order to complete them. Events mentioned in ventures often reappear in other stories as well, so they're definitely worth a try!


 * Bronze borders stand for larger stories. These are some of the most important decisions you take.


 * Blue storylets are "Ambitions". These are epic stories which last throughout the entire game. There are four, and the first step for each ambition lies in a starting area (Ladybones Road, Spite, Veilgarden, Watchmaker's Hill). You may only choose one, and it costs 50 Nex to swap ambitions, so consider all four before making your choice.


 * Note: There are a few cases where other story types are blue, but they're generally infrequent.


 * Gold borders indicate major storylines and important decisions. A lot of these are first opened in the middle game when you become a Person of Some Importance. Otherwise, this is a color the developers use to show you should pay extra attention to the content. Some of these are Nex-locked as well. See Gold Cards and Gold Storylets for lists.

Change Points
The amount of CP (change points, basically experience) you earn for your main attributes (Watchful, Shadowy, Dangerous, Persuasive) is based on the difficulty of the challenge you're trying (see Table 1).

Most challenges require stats just to see it in the first place, so you can't do everything with level 1 dangerous. The challenges in the Low-Risk, Very Modest and Modest categories usually give a good balance between leveling and items.

If your main goal is to get change points, there's nothing stopping you from using reduction gear to get harder challenges, and thus more CP on average. A Talkative Rattus Faber pet is notable as the most potent stat-reducing equipment. The CP needed to raise any attribute a single level is typically the same as the level it's reaching. To go from level 1 to 2 requires 2 CP, and going from levels 2 to 3 requires 3 CP. The total CP to move from level 0 to 3 is 6 CP since it's 1 + 2 + 3. This means that even though an action dropping you from levels 3 to 0 looks like more of a hit than dropping from levels 6 to 5, they are in fact the same.

This mechanic applies not only to main attributes, but also to menaces, dreams, connections and many other qualities. Your level in an attribute or quality is used to determine if you qualify for certain storylets or cards, and affects the difficulty of any challenge that's checking against them.


 * Once you reach level 50, every level thereafter is also 50 CP. Attaining level 70 will require 50 CP, and so will level 150. Dropping whole levels from 81 to 80 or 95 to 94 will also be the same amount of CP: 50.
 * Main attributes (Watchful, Shadowy, Dangerous, Persuasive) need 60 CP to reach levels beyond 60. Other than that, the rules are the same.

Some storylets and cards will advance certain qualities by whole levels rather than CP, but this is uncommon. They will be indicated on the wiki if this is the case: (+1 level) rather than (+1 CP).

Living Stories
Occasionally, you will see the phrase "A living story will begin soon." Living stories are special story branches which can't be reached instantly; neither can they be accessed through a specific card or storylet. Instead, you have to wait some time (it ranges from one day to a week, depending on the Story) until you receive a message (check your "Messages" tab) that takes you to a unique storylet. These unique storylets usually provide a substantial increase to your stats, a large reward, or advances you to the next phase in a story you're following.

Progress
Do not be in a hurry to advance. Most storylets have both a minimum stat level before they appear, AND a maximum level at which they are no longer available. The game is designed to take you through the storylines and locations in a logical progression, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Lodgings and Travel
Purchase new and better lodgings. Even if it won't increase your hand size, each lodging has its own opportunity card which rewards Certifiable Scrap. Having more sources of scraps is quite useful.

Play the "neighbor" storylines in the starting areas:
 * Ladybones Road - Advising the Loquacious Vicar
 * Spite - Befriending a Rooftop Urchin
 * Veilgarden - A Friendship with a Bohemian Sculptress
 * Watchmaker's Hill - Collecting Clues for the Clay Coalman

Finishing each of them gives you access to other storylines from your Lodgings.

Take note of where you need to go next in the Lodgings storylet Open a way to other parts of the City, and be ready to unlock areas when you need them! You won't get far in your Fallen career if you never go beyond the four starting areas.

Where to level?
Areas usually focus on a single attribute to advance. If you out-level an area, you'll normally get clues as to where to go next, but as a refresher:

Watchful

Ladybones Road 1-60

The Forgotten Quarter 60-90

The University 90-110

Shadowy

Spite 1-60

The Flit 60-100

Mahogany Hall 100-110

Dangerous

Watchmaker's Hill 1-60

Wolfstack Docks 60-100

The Labyrinth of Tigers 100-120

Persuasive

Veilgarden 1-60

The Shuttered Palace 60-90

The Empress' Court 90-110

More suggestions for levels 100+ are listed on each attribute's page!

Menaces
Sometimes, when failing challenges (and sometimes even succeeding!) you get qualities called menaces. If these qualities get high enough, they do something bad to you. This could be madness, death, exile, etc. Don't worry too much about getting them, however; none of the states are permanent and they're often some of the best places to cure said menace. Those places also have their own stories, so you might actually need to go there at some point...

The menaces gained upon failing challenges are usually dependent on the quality you fail. You are taken to a menace-specific location when it reaches level 8. The level check is equipment dependent, which means that wearing items that increase or decrease menaces would affect your actual menace limit. For instance, holding the cheerful goldfish (-1 Nightmares) would not drive you to a state of some confusion until your nightmares reach level 9.

These are not the only menaces. There are some in addition to these, but those aren't quite as common and have different mechanics and effects.

Watchful gains Nightmares which lead to a state of some confusion or the Mirror-Marches.

→ →  or

Shadowy gains Suspicion which leads to New Newgate Prison - again!

→ →

Dangerous gains Wounds which lead to a boat trip.

→ →

Persuasive gains Scandal which leads to disgraced exile in the Tomb-Colonies.

→ →

Professions
Make sure to change your starting profession when its core attribute reaches level 70; the starting profession won't raise that attribute further (other actions will still advance it normally). Note that the starting professions' level cap is affected by stat modifying items. Items that increase your skills will prevent stat increases from your weekly payment before level 70 and stat decreasing items (like the Talkative Rattus Faber) could allow you to receive your profession's attribute raises even when your real level is close to 100. To avoid any of this make sure to unequip any stat changing equipment before you enter the "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn." storylet.

You may choose a new starting profession earlier if you feel that another attribute needs to be exercised. Switching starting professions is easy and has no penalties. You can abandon your current profession by writing a letter at Lodgings. Once you are without a profession, all starting professions will be available to you from your lodgings.

Money
Try to avoid buying goods from the bazaar. Barring the London Street Sign, Bright Brass Skull, Rookery Password, Diary of the Dead and Pulsating Amber, all goods are commonly given out by various storylets or item crafting. Try to keep a small stockpile on hand in case you run into a delightful storylet that requires some.

In contrast to the above tip, don't be a compulsive hoarder. If you have quite a large stockpile of an item, there's an opportunity to earn some echoes. If the item can be used to make a higher tier item (it'll say "This will always get you X. There may be other effects."), do so. Succeeding the luck check will get you a nice income in extra items, and a rare success can give you extremely valuable items.


 * If that's no longer profitable, you should use the bulk options which say "This will always gain you many X." on lower end items. (No rare successes, but it saves you time and still turns a small profit).

If you have plenty of something and can't convert it higher, either because you lack the right connections, it's the end of the category line, or it's an item like Rostygold or Moon-pearls that can't be traded up at all, simply sell some of your surplus.

Buy gear. Various pieces of equipment allow you to temporarily boost or damage your levels. Higher level storylets earn more money, so you'll earn back your investment over time. If it's an upgrade and it's affordable for you, get it; don't just hold out for the very best. Having a variety of gear lets you manipulate your level. There are several areas where you may have a large gap between the difficulty of your current storylet and the difficulty of the next higher one. By adjusting your level, you can keep gaining a decent amount of experience from your storylet until you have enough of a level to put on your best gear and continue on with the next higher storylet. This allows you to maintain a flow of optimal CP, and it's another way that gear pays for itself. Some items, especially pets, have extra uses in certain storylets or cards, and outside of a few rare cases where the equipment is spent (mostly giving pets to folks), you'll only ever need one. Also, take very close note of the benefits each piece of gear provides; don't just buy something because it's more expensive. (Ex: While 400 Echo Gloam-Foam is the only really expensive item that offers a Shadowy benefit from Maywell's Hattery, it provides a lower Shadowy bonus than the Sneak-Thief's Mask, which is 28 echoes and 80 pence.)

Contacts
Connections are your friends. They can be used for a lot of interesting things, even though you can't sell them directly. (Though for the record, most are worth about 2 pence per CP if you trade in connections for items). Try to earn them whenever possible without hurting your normal grinding, but don't be afraid to use them if a particularly profitable storylet or card calls for them.


 * Don't forget that upper tier professions (available through Connection cards) give much better monetary rewards than starting professions (but they don't advance your attributes). Choosing such a profession requires high connections (level 25) to its relevant faction and sometimes an additional quality.


 * There are conflict cards where you are asked to pick between one of two factions, lowering your connections with one but raising them with the other. Choose to help the one with which you have lower connections; you earn a net profit in connections, so over time, you'll wind up raising both of them higher this way.


 * Read the Raising Connections guide for the best ideas to increase a certain Contacts' level.

Fate
Fate is occasionally rewarded by storylets, but it's not really something you can grind by any means. Even if you get fate for free, spend it like you paid for it. Also, don't spend fate to unlock areas. If you can't unlock it normally, you're likely not at the level where you can access its storylets and cards. Most areas have a secondary way you can access them through a bribe of some sort; if you must access them early, do so with that.

Social Actions

 * Read the Social Actions guide if you're unfamiliar.


 * Visit The Singing Mandrake at the official forum to find players to befriend, scandalize or devour at your leisure.

Take advantage of social actions. From your lodgings, there are a number of storylets that let you earn "second chances" in the form of Confident Smiles, Hastily Scrawled Warning Notes, Hard-Earned Lessons, and Sudden Insights. These will let you re-attempt a challenge for your main stats when you fail.

Thankfully, you can also perform social actions in your lodgings to ask a player for help in reducing menaces. Note that nightmares and suspicion need to be at least level 4 before you can send a request out, and wounds works backwards by having someone send you a request to heal your injuries. All of these requests reduce a menace by 5 CP, and outside of wounds, they increase the other player's menace by 1 CP. So, be respectful, do your math, and don't send out more requests than you need to keep your menaces under control. For instance, if your menace is at level 5, that's 15 CP, so only send out 3 requests at most.

Person of Some Importance
One of the biggest hurdles in the game is attaining the Person of Some Importance status, and acquiring its associated gadgets and affiliations.

You'll need level 100 of each attribute (Watchful, Shadowy, Dangerous, Persuasive) as well as an assortment of different items, so maintain a decent storage; several dozen to several hundred of the upper tier items will likely suffice. If you still require certain components, many options to obtain them shall be available to your character.

Don't worry about the process! The game will offer you ample assistance in teaching you the PoSI fundamentals.