Introduction

What is this game?
Sunless Sea is a game made by Failbetter Games, creator of the browser-based game Fallen London. It's the story of a captain who zails the Unterzee, a massive, still lake that the now-underground city of London sits by. It's one part merchant ship simulator, one part choose-your-own-adventure game, and just a touch of rogue-like and real-time naval combat, all wrapped up in really nice storytelling and a vibrant setting. In it, we will explore the Unterzee, visit fantastic places, make a pile of money, and only possibly be devoured by a terrifying Zee-beast. We might also go crazy and eat one another instead!

While the game play itself isn't more than average, the setting of Sunless Sea is amazing, and I hope we can all enjoy a trip through it. Together.


How will this LP work?
This LP will be in screenshot format, with a narration written in the style of the captain's journal – This should permit a interesting investigation of the setting. However, since the game is very open-ended, there is going to be ample audience participation! It can be divided into two categories -

First – Direction. I know the game well, and seeing me make my normal rounds would get boring fast, so I'll regularly be looking to the thread for advice about where to go and what to do, especially when we have important, irreversible choices to make in port. We will have to make important choices about who to help and what goals to pursue, many of which are mutually exclusive. I'll be trusting you in these cases to guide our captain to victory (The poor shlub). I'll do my best to keep us alive between these choices, but no promises – plus, dying leads to the inheritance mechanic!
Second – Zailors. You can't zail the zee without zailors. I'll be taking applications for Zailors, in a manner similar to signing up for dwarfing in Dwarf Fortress. Individual zailors are rarely brought up, but having names for them will add narrative consistency to the ship, and besides, maybe you can be the lucky one to get eaten by Blemmigans. Saying a few words about why you are crazy enough to go to zee with a captain who plans to sail beyond the Tomb-Colonies would be pleasant as well.

I will also be doing my best to keep things informative as we go – Comments from me will be kept in italics, with major mechanics drops in quotes.


Spoiler policy
This is a very story-driven game. Please do not talk about things that haven't come up in-game that are usually considered 'secret' in the setting. If the Special Constables wouldn't let a newspaper print it, don't talk about it.

Journal entries -

Entry zero – The making of a captain

The Journal of captain Petra Blackwood
Entry one - A new Correspondent's course
Entry two - Venderbight
Entry three - Finding Pigmote
Entry four - Rats and boxes
Entry five - The Mourn and mutton
Entry six - The Inner-Sea Loop, part one
Entry seven - The Inner-Sea Loop, part two.
Entry eight - Northern exploration
Entry nine - A long way home
Entry ten - Up in flames
Entry eleven - A most particular smell
Entry twelve - Checkerboard dreams
Entry thirteen - Faffing about in Fallen London
Entry fourteen - A bloody voyage
Entry fifteen - Masks
Entry sixteen - Irem always waits
Entry seventeen - Monkey business
Entry eighteen - A risky thing
Entry nineteen - Serious firepower
Entry twenty - Inexcusable company
Entry twenty one - Quickly home again
Entry twenty two - Zafari
Entry twenty three - The deep South
Entry twenty four - Scintillating
Entry twenty five - Deja-vu
Entry twenty six - Dissolution
Entry twenty seven - Additional monkeys
Entry twenty eight - That which came before
Entry twenty nine - Brilliantly glowing
Entry thirty - A light, still glowing
Entry thirty one - Great and terrible truths
Entry thirty two - Twisty little passages, all the same
Entry thirty three - HE SUN THE SUN THE SUN TH
Entry thirty four - Imeplled
Entry thirty five - The Highest Wilderness
Entry thirty six - Final preparations
Entry thirty seven - Filial piety
Entry thirty eight - A backwards approach
Entry thirty nine - Officer's day in
Entry forty - The Stigma of the West
Entry forty one - Loyalties
Entry forty two - The Scars of the North
Entry forty three - The Mark of the East
Entry forty four - The Light of the Sun
Entry forty five - The Touch of the South
Entry forty six - The Name-Which-Burns
A loose letter - The Last Horizon