Work with your Profound Student
| A player-created Guide is available for this content: University Laboratory (Guide) |
| Spoiler warning! This page contains details about Fallen London Actions. |
Unlocked with 
, 
Card drawn in 
Occurs with Standard Frequency
Can not be discarded except by effects clearing your hand.
Options:
Shepherd your student through some research
- Spoiler Unlocked with
, 
, 1-2
Challenge information
Broad,
210 || 144 - very chancy (41%) || 179 - chancy (51%) || 214 - modest (61%) || 249 - very modest (71%) || 284 - low-risk (81%) || 319 - straightforward (91%) || 350 - straightforward (100%)Each point of
reduces the base difficulty by 1 point.
Success
Aha!
Watchful is increasing…
You've gained (4 + 
Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Rare Success
He is getting better at this
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained (4 + Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
You've gained 1 x Laboratory Services from a Profound Student (up to 5)
Failure
Hmmm...
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained ( Equipment Level ) x Laboratory Research
Collaborate with your student
- Spoiler Unlocked with, , 3-4
Challenge information
Broad,
215 || 147 - very chancy (41%) || 183 - chancy (51%) || 219 - modest (61%) || 255 - very modest (71%) || 291 - low-risk (81%) || 327 - straightforward (91%) || 359 - straightforward (100%)Each point of
reduces the base difficulty by 1 point.
Success
Aha!
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 7 + ( 5/3 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research , rounded down
Rare Success
He is getting better at this
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 7 + ( 5/3 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research , rounded down
- You've gained 1 x Laboratory Services from a Profound Student (up to 5)
Failure
Hmmm...
- You've gained (4 + Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Work with your expert student
- Spoiler Unlocked with, , 5
Challenge information
Broad,
220 || 151 - very chancy (41%) || 187 - chancy (51%) || 224 - modest (61%) || 261 - very modest (71%) || 297 - low-risk (81%) || 334 - straightforward (91%) || 367 - straightforward (100%)Each point of
reduces the base difficulty by 1 point.
Success
Aha!
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 8 + (2 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Rare Success
Deep but problematic
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 10 + (2 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Disgruntlement among the Students is increasing… (+1 CP)
Failure
Hmmm...
- You've gained 6 + (1.75 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Follow up a hunch with your student
- Spoiler Unlocked with
, , exactly 5, 
Challenge information
Broad,
220 || 151 - very chancy (41%) || 187 - chancy (51%) || 224 - modest (61%) || 261 - very modest (71%) || 297 - low-risk (81%) || 334 - straightforward (91%) || 367 - straightforward (100%)Each point of
reduces the base difficulty by 1 point.
Success
Aha!
You've lost 1 x Unavoidable Epiphany- You've gained 18 + (3 × ) x Laboratory Research
Rare Success
Digging too deep
- You've lost 1 x Unavoidable Epiphany
You've gained 1 x Unwise Idea
Nightmares is increasing… (+1 CP)- Disgruntlement among the Students is increasing… (+1 CP)
- You've gained 18 + (3 × ) x Laboratory Research
Failure
Hmmm...
- You've gained 8 + (2 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Encourage your student to work with the Percipient Cricketer
- Spoiler Unlocked with
5, 
Challenge information
Broad,
250 || 171 - very chancy (41%) || 213 - chancy (51%) || 255 - modest (61%) || 296 - very modest (71%) || 338 - low-risk (81%) || 380 - straightforward (91%) || 417 - straightforward (100%)Narrow,
3 (50% base) || 0 - high-risk (20%) || 1 - high-risk (30%) || 2 - tough (40%) || 3 - very chancy (50%) || 4 - chancy (60%) || 5 - modest (70%) || 6 - very modest (80%) || 7 - low-risk (90%) || 8 and above - straightforward (100%)Each point of
reduces the base difficulty by 1 point.
Success
No reward narrative information available for Fate-locked actions.
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 12 + (2 × Equipment Level)? x Laboratory Research
You've gained 1 x Unexpected Result
Rare Success
No reward narrative information available for Fate-locked actions.
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 1 x Unwise Idea
- Nightmares is increasing… (+? CP)
- You've gained ? x Laboratory Research
Failure
No reward narrative information available for Fate-locked actions.
- Watchful is increasing…
- You've gained 6 + (1.75 × Equipment Level) x Laboratory Research
Research Descriptions
These are the remarks made by the student about the current research project for the Watchful actions above.
Research Success
The Profound Student's research success descriptions vary by 
Experiment, but they are shared across several actions on his card. Expand the table below to see the known variations.
| Experimental Object | Research Description |
|---|---|
| 10, 210 - 230, 260 | He thinks a long time before writing out his conclusions. They spell out meticulous reasoning. There are thirty pages of the stuff. |
| 40 | The Profound Student proves adept at fabricating metal parts, operating the machine tools with virtuosic precision. Though his tendency to stare at metal stock for what seems like hours infuriates. "I am envisioning its final geometry," […] |
| 110 - 130 | […] There are thirty pages on the history of conflict and fifty pages on the problematic nature of violence in society. Then there are two and a half pages on the particular problem you are currently working on. Fortunately, the insights are usable. |
| 140 - 160 | […] alterations to the Principle's bonds of obligation will produce a less warlike personality – in theory. "Freed from the chains that bind, surely the Principle will take up peaceful pursuits," he says[…] The Principle gives him a dubious look. |
| 240 | What he produces is less a map than an extended essay on the question of what mapping even means in a place like Parabola. Perhaps it will do for an introduction? |
| 250 | He contemplates the fronts and backs of the scrip, the weight and the writing. […] "The question is, who printed this? Who designed it? Who owns the Ministry of the Upper River?" In his laboratory notes, he presents a dozen theories as to the answer. |
| 310 - 320 | Most of his design ideas involve simplifying the design rather than adding to it. He returns to core questions about the purpose of what you are building, and strips away anything that does not evidently contribute to that goal. […] |
| 330 | The Profound Student is impatient when a device has too many parts and pieces. This one has no moving parts at all: it just fits itself against an egg surface and stays that way, doing... whatever it does. […] "More. It makes things More." |
| 350 - 360 | The Profound Student is good at improving the mechanics of the design, but bad at diagnosing faults in the underlying theory. There is quite a lot of calculation involved. |
| 410 | How did the Focused Albatross become focused? The Profound Student has a theory, involving a rapid extraction into Parabola by way of a curved mirror. There are many diagrams and calculations […]. The Albatross itself rests on its perch, disregarded. |
| 420 | […] has received dozens of answers, some of them contradictory, some simultaneous. […] […] claims to have been birthed in the recurring nightmares of a distinguished barrister. […] the second head agrees […] but that he was far from notable in his profession. […] |
| 430 - 470 | He is very exercised by the question of origins and purposes. Why did this animal form in this particular way? What was its childhood? […] He has even attempted to interview the animal, though with minimal success. |
| 480 | […] the Profound Student begins to compose a map of the egg appearances across London, and attempts to account for local variations and probable epicentres. It's difficult work, however, as nothing seems to have been left where it was originally laid. |
| 485 | […] "The same creature lays all these eggs, every year. Every year, more variations, more attempts – more failures. […] these are not iterations. Every type […] is utterly different to the one before." […] "[…] it must be desperately sad, and desperately lonely." |
| 490 | He lines the Aged Egg next to a rock of similar size and stares at them until his eyes cross. He would very much like to believe that the Egg is merely a very large and unusual naturally occurring rock formation. The alternatives disturb him. |
| 495 | […] He prefers to turn his mind to the philosophical question: what does it mean to be a city? Is it merely the transformation into streets and buildings and unusually vital substance, or are other aspects […] also implied? […] Its music, its cuisine? […] |
| 510 | The Profound Student has created a speculative timeline, showing the body shapes of a range of animals ancient and modern, the better to contextualise the ribcage that faces you currently. |
| 520 - 530 | "Size," says the Profound Student, "is an illusion." Then he does something with lenses that recreates the ribcage, at twice its current size, inside Parabola. […] not quite what you were trying to achieve, but you can build on this step, all the same. |
| 540 | The Profound Student has created a speculative timeline, showing the body shapes of a range of animals ancient and modern, the better to contextualise the ribcage that faces you currently. |
| 610 | The Profound Student finds a single bone by itself upsetting, and would very much prefer to be able to study it in concert with the other accompanying bones and body parts. |
| 810 - 820 | The Profound Student has attempted to account for the geological activities that could have given rise to this rock. His speculative history of the Neath requires the existence of an ice volcano[…]The margins of his notes reference Storm […] |
| 810 - 820 | The Profound Student has attempted to account for the geological activities that could have given rise to this sample. His speculative history of the Neath requires the existence of an ice volcano[…]The margins of his notes reference Storm […] |
| 910 - 950 | He writes more about the probable uses and consequences of this invention than he does about the possible invention itself. But he does produce what might be considered a bare minimum of useful input. |
| 970 | He's been sitting before the egg, staring at it for a long time. Is he trying to... communicate with it? |
| 980 | The Profound Student spends some time spinning out a theory about how infernal metals behave differently from other metallic materials, and how this substance might not have originated in Irem – or might result from devilish intervention there. |
| 990 | The Profound student dusts off a very intricate monograph on the quality of Neathy light and its effects on chemical reactions, which is very helpful in your examination of the samples. |
| 1010, 1030, 1040 | […] clarifying questions about the nature of infinity, number of possible infinities, and the distinction between numbers that are merely imaginary and the Parabolan numbers that are incapable of having any meaning at all. […] |
| 1020 | The equations required for this project elude him, but he is good at taking the initial measurements. Indeed, it produces a meditative state he appears to find quite comforting. |
| 1050 | He studies the brickwork intently. […] At last, he says, "It expresses a mood of withdrawal. Whoever laid this brick was tired of the world and wanted to retreat from it. They felt overwhelmed. Too many obligations, too little time." […] |
| 1210 | […] Things that grow slowly are dear to his heart. His notes show a tendency to anthropomorphise, but also an excellent comprehension of botanical principles. If only he'd stop writing of the plant's anguished desire to photosynthesise. |
| 1320 | The Profound Student locks himself in a room with a stack of artefacts. Five days later he emerges […]
"The accepted chronology is entirely in error […] the pottery takes its date from the […] allusion to a verse that has been conclusively proven a forgery. […]" […] |
| 1340 | The Profound Student unearths every text that references ushabtiu and reads each one in intense detail. "You know, the social context for these things is fascinating," he says. |
| 1350 | The Profound Student measures the cuirass several times, and weighs it against the weight of various other materials. "This has been scaled down," he says. "The Betrayer of Measures. It used to be something much larger." |
Research Failure
He can stare at the [Research Object] for hours at a time. Maybe this is leading him to some useful conclusion. Maybe he's able to sleep with his eyes open.
The Research Object varies by Experiment:
| Experiment | Research Object |
|---|---|
| 10 | leftmost Correspondence symbol |
| 20 | chemical composition chart |
| 30 | worn printing on the reverse |
| 40 | engine check valve |
| 110, 120, 130 | carved handle |
| 140 - 160 | Parabolan debts |
| 210 | mirror frames |
| 220 | street plans |
| 230 - 250 | contour drawings |
| 310 - 330, 350 360 | technical designs |
| 410 - 470, 485 - 495 | feeding plans |
| 510 - 520, 540 | charts of bone densities |
| 810 - 830 | charts of rock types |
| 910 - 950, 970 - 990 | notes on chemical composition |
| 1010 - 1050 | mathematical notes |
| 1210 | botanical notes |
| 1320 | site drawings |
| 1340 | animate statuary |
| 1350 | notes on historic arms and armour |
