Phosphor [&]

On at least four different occasions I've seen new Fallen London players fall into the trap of v e r y s l o w l y grinding out Whispered Hints to trade for Expedition Supplies in order to complete the infamous Archaeology grind for Making Your Name. Very often, they go insane in the process - in the game or outside of it. It sucks!!!

So I figured I'd make this its own post. Here are the methods I used, which still kind of suck but not as much ime

First: If you have "Descend to the Underclay Quarter" available in Spite (requires A Name Whispered in Darkness 3), then:

• Descend and choose to help any of the three Clay folks (the only difference is flavor text)
• Choose "Work with the Unfinished Men"
• Do either the "Invent fabricated histories" or "Stage an introduction" options until you hit 50 or more Convincing Falsehoods
• Back out to the main Underclay storylet ("Consider other avenues") and choose to send an Unfinished Man to Spite for three Strong-Backed Labour
• Trade each Strong-Backed Labour at the Base-Camp for three Expedition Supplies each. That's nine whole supplies for the cycle!

Note that both "Invent fabricated histories" or "Stage an introduction" have relatively high Shadowy checks for an earlygame player, but they don't cause menaces on failure and will train your Shadowy a good amount even if you fail. Be aware that the other options either inflict menace on failure, eat resources, or are nigh-impossible for a new player due to requiring Mithridacy, an advanced stat.

Second:

• If you have Docks Renown 5, you can trade 3 Docks favours and a small amount of Rostygold for seven Expedition supplies at your Base-Camp.
  • Since getting more Docks favours is mostly done through the Opportunity Deck, this is more of a passive grind you do on the side. You can leave Underclay and re-enter for no action cost as long as you're currently helping one of the Clay people, so you can periodically duck out to draw cards.
  • If you're not super attached to your connected pet/don't have one yet, consider picking up the Tactiturn Mynah for another source of Docks favours.
    • If you don't have a connected pet yet, you'll want to hang out in Ladybones Road, Spite, Veilgarden, or Watchmaker's Hill, and keep pulling cards until you draw:
      • "Valuable Secrets" on Ladybones Road
      • "A tavern dust-up" at Watchmaker's Hill
      • "A scuffle on the street" in Veilgarden
      • "The Tomb-colonist and the Footpad" in Spite
    • This gives you A Clandestine Rendezvous at Watchmaker's Hill. That will give you the option to go to Watchmaker's Hill and get a pet from any faction of your choice. (Note that doing so costs one favour with your faction of choice.)
    • Possessing the pet will add a card to your deck that gives you an opportunity to get more favours with the associated faction. You can only have one such pet at a time.
    • If you have a connected pet already, there should be an option on their card to remove them, which will let you go back to Watchmaker's Hill to get a different one.
• If you don't have Docks Renown 5, you can easily get it at the Sideshows at Mrs. Plenty's Carnival. (This also has the benefit of getting you a bunch of favours.)

GOOD LUCK, YOU CAN DO IT! If any older players know a better method, feel free to chime in, but make sure it's accessible to earlygame folks without PoSI, high stats, or other resources.