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[Renata]

This is a primer for The Last Court, a text-based RPG by Failbetter Games that takes place between the events of Dragon Age II and Inquisition. If you're still not clear about what The Last Court is/does, check out the FAQ. 
 
If you're ready to play, let's get started! 

 

Contents:

Introduction

Gameplay

Stats

Introduction 

Pronunciation Guide
Marquis (mar-kee) 
Serault (sair-oh) 
Orlais (or-lay) 
Viands (vee-awnds) 
 
The Marquis
In the game, you'll be playing as the Marquis of Serault, a town at the edge of Orlais that borders on the Tirashan Forest. The Marquis acts as the mayor of the town, making decisions that benefit the people of Serault.

• First, you'll be prompted to choose your Marquis' name. You can enter both a first and last name, or just one if you prefer. 
• Next, choose your character. You have the option of playing as the scholar (male) or the huntress (female). Each specializes in a different skill, so pick accordingly. You cannot change the gender of either character. 

 
Shaping Serault
Once you've decided who you are, you must choose your town's strengths and weaknesses. 

• Pick Serault's strength. Depending on whether you're playing as the huntress or scholar, one option will be closed to you. However, if any two of these traits fall to zero at the same time, your game will be over. 

• Pick Serault's weakness. If any of these traits rise above 75, a detrimental card will be added to your deck. However, this can also present some interesting (and risky) opportunities. 

 
The First Case
Now that you're ready to take your place as the Marquis of Serault, you can solve your first case to gain clues and other items you will need to play and complete the game. You do have the option of skipping this case, but if you're a beginner, this is unwise. 
 

 
Gameplay 

To play The Last Court, you must draw from a series of cards each market day.
 
Actions and Market Days
You can see the amount of actions and market days you have at the top of the stats bar on the left side of the game. If you want to increase the number of actions you have or move forward a market day, you can do so by purchasing Dawn. To learn more about Dawn, visit The Last Court FAQ.

• Market days happen once every 24 hours (real time) and will present you with new cards to draw and cases to solve. You have a total of seven market days to complete the game. 
• You can use up to 20 actions in one sitting, and one action is used each time you draw a card from the deck. Your actions replenish at the rate of one every 20 minutes. 

 
Drawing From the Deck 

To draw, click on the deck of cards. It will present you with three cards to choose from. 

• Clicking on a card you have drawn will trigger an event. You can choose how you respond to these events, but be careful how you react. Your response will affect your stats in the sidebar. 

 

 

Drawing From Your Pinned Cards

At the bottom of the screen, you'll see your pinned cards. These cards will always be there unless you complete all the options for that card, at which point said card will disappear. 

• When solving a case, that case's card appears in your pinned cards. It will remain there until you solve the case, and you can click on it at any time. New cases will appear in the main deck for you to draw each market day.
• You also have the option to restart the game in your pinned cards. Click on 'Prepare for the Divine' to select this option. Any progress you've made will be reset. 

 

Preparing for the Divine 

As the Marquis of Serault, your main objective in the game is to prepare a feast for a special visit from the Divine Justinia. If you succeed, the Divine will restore the town to its former glory and you win the game. Do not be deceived: This is more challenging than it seems. 

• Select the item you want to focus on collecting first. This could be trophies, viands (both obtained by hunting), or secrets (obtained by solving cases). You will need three of them... for now. 

• Once you have collected three of your selected item, you'll be prompted to get more. For a good outcome in the game, you will need a combined total of at least 15 trophies, viands, and secrets. You will need to gain these by the time the last market day ends. Good luck! 

 

Stats 

Your game stats are located in the sidebar on the left side of the game. There are three separate tabs you can access by clicking the red diamond-shaped icons at the top of the sidebar. 

 

Character Stats

Your personal stats are located in the first tab in the sidebar. This tells you how well you're doing, and how Serault is faring. The numbers for each stat will move up or down according to the decisions you make in the game. 

• Health: How far can you push yourself? Your health starts at 100 but can drop to 0 unless you replenish it. 
• Rulership: Judgement, generalship, and charisma. The higher your rulership quality, the more your subjects will respect your commands. 
• Scholarship: Learning, magical theory, and your skills as a physician. This quality is most useful in matters of diplomacy. 
• Derring-Do: Skill at arms, athleticism, and endurance. This quality is most useful for hunting and fighting. 
• Woods-Wise: Tracking, herb-lore, and beast-lore. Gain woods-wise by going hunting and exploring outside the Chateau.
• Cunning: Subterfuge, detecting deceit, and sleight of hand. A valuable skill in the Great Game. The higher your cunning, the easier it is to get away with certain things. 
• Dignity: Honor, pride, and order. Similar to rulership, your subjects are more likely to respect your commands if your dignity is high. 
• Freedom: Liberty and tolerance, although not quite equality. A freedom quality of 0 means Serault is very sternly governed, while 100 is very liberally governed. 
• Prosperity: How wealthy is your realm? Raise prosperity through Serault's famed glass works and collecting from your subjects. 
• Peril: Pirates and rebels... but also opportunities for glory. This number depends on how you deal with brigands, or if you make a deal with them. 
• Twilight: The uncanny, the nocturnal, the ill-omened, the magical. Like the peril quality, raising your twilight can be dangerous but also opens up some interesting opportunities. 
• Rumors of Revolution: How bold have they become? The threat of revolution looms large in Serault, and it's up to you to quell it by keeping your people happy. 

 

Story Stats 

The second tab tracks your major accomplishments and events in the game, as well as how you dealt with certain people or cases. 

• You can also track your progress during hunting and solving cases in this tab. Once you have finished hunting or solving a case, the progress bar will disappear from the tab. 

 

Resource Stats

Also known as your inventory. The third tab shows items you have collected in the game, as well as people you have appointed to be part of your party. 

• Use this tab to track the items necessary in preparing for the Divine's arrival. Here, you can see the number of secrets, trophies, and viands you currently have (remember, you need a combined total of 15 of these items to achieve a good ending). 
• You can also see the amount of clues you have accumulated. Make sure you always have enough clues, as you'll need them to do certain actions (e.g. you need at least 10 clues to go hunting). 
• Any character you add to your party is also visible here. You can add characters to your party by gaining favors from them. Once they've been added, one of your stats from the first tab will increase depending on the character. Choose wisely! 

 

 

 

And those are the basics! Now that you're all set, log in to the Dragon Age Keep to start playing The Last Court.