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PLOT ENGAGEMENT
What is Plot Engagement and how does it work within Meadowlark? This is the page where players can come discuss with us how to facilitate plots within the setting. However, there will be occasions where a plot doesn't work within Meadowlark's world, and we'll suggest alternative routes. For small worldbuilding or gameplay details, please direct your question to the FAQ. If you're ever not sure if you're at the right page, don't worry—we'll help you get it sorted out. We know we have a load of info!
In addition, you do not need to have a complete plot in mind when you come to us. We aim for plot engagement to be more of a conversation between us and our players. If we propose a plot angle and it's not to your liking, we're more than happy to work with you to come up with something more to your tastes.
WHEN WILL YOU HEAR BACK?
◉ All Plot Engagement answers go out on Sunday, except during events.
◉ The deadline to submit a question and ensure you'll hear back from us on Sunday is 11:59 PM UTC on Saturday.
PLOT ENGAGEMENT INCLUDES
◉ Player plots! If you'd like your character to become a mafia boss, this is your place to start. Typically, this involves anything that could impact the setting or other player characters.
◉ Character career advancement that gives the character additional power or status within the setting.
◉ Metaplot exploration and information! We plan all events to give characters something to explore after the event ends. This is the place to do it!
SUBMISSION TIPS
◉ Specify what your character is looking for when they're investigating. What questions are they asking and what angle are they trying to explore?
◉ If you have a specific goal in mind but don't know how to reach it, please let us know.
◉ If you link a thread to us, please summarize it! That helps us process the plot in question.
◉ Don't worry about not knowing the setting like the back of your hand before you submit the plot—that's up to us! We're here to help you with any adjustments to get you on the right track.
◉ Plot engagement is meant to help with IC play so that characters can continue to interact. If you're not sure how to loop in others, let us know so that we can work with you on it! While this page is meant to be a conversation between players and mods, we know that the fun part of a plot is how it can change character arcs, spice up CR, and more.
NOTES & THINGS THAT YOU CAN HANDWAVE
◉ Characters always start out in entry level positions. Characters can update their skill sets to the 2512 standard through paid apprenticeships or internships.
◈ If a character is advancing within a major corporation (as noted on the Setting or Locations page) or one of its subsidiaries, we will need to approve this advancement.
◈ If a character becomes a supervisor at a local bar or other small business, we do not need to approve this advancement.
◉ Joining the police force within a city requires three months of IC training (six months OOC). There will be instances where this changes, and we'll keep you looped in on that.
◉ We'll approve whether someone has social media fame, but we will not be providing social media follower counts. Once you have a plot for how to use those followers, that's where we step in!
◉ All Morningstar business goes on our Morningstar page. Please feel free to discuss specific plots here (including joining), and go there for signups and anything else.
◉ Characters getting jobs, finding apartments, participating in the fighting rings, getting married, making workplace friends, the creation of minor NPCs, etc. do not need to be run by us. Please let us know if these expand into player plots or other plot bits!
QUICK LINKS
◉ Archived Plot Engagement: Previous Plot Engagement.
◉ FAQ: For small worldbuilding or gameplay details.
◉ Setting: Our setting page! We'll update as needed.
◉ Jobs: A reference for who's working where!
◉ Locations: Both major and minor locations within New Amsterdam, as well as outlines for other megacities.
◉ Mod Contact: For wider game concerns.
◉ The Story So Far: Gamewide plot events up to current (your CTRL+F best friend!).
◉ NPC page: Includes NPC blurbs and inboxes.
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do you hate me yet v2909^8
he was a rook/kestrel if it matters, but he was very, very on the downlow about the latter, and as the former he mostly did doctory related stuff, helped out a lot of low income families/etc if you need to gauge public reaction to his doing this. caveat: he's going to try anyway whether said public opinion is good or bad.
for jai: he's going to be distancing himself from a lot of the displaced (including not going to red wings, generally trying to steer clear of them, not using his power (once he knows what it is) visibly/etc at all) and he's probably going to try to help out with one of the small bands of UNA soldiers roving around. He absolutely can't save or help anyone, after all, but he's going to take a special interest in one group (that i'll build/name/use as casual background npcs) of, say, 5-8 people and try to be An Leader. look, he's done superhero team-ups before, he's got this. if you guys are cool with that then i'm going to see about using them as group security to protect others, doing organized city clean-up, etc. general Law and Order things.
also cool with him working on other people with this, maybe with the goal of appealing to the former UNA soldiers at large somewhere down the line. or staying small, i'm not fussy and i do not require much plot pie.
for joel: absolutely nothing, this man is going to drink beer and gnaw on deer jerky for the foreseeable future.
no subject
We have a couple follow up questions!
1. Can you head over to this thread and belatedly add Gene's Rook information? We'd also like to know what power he had as a Rook (making it so that he had two powers). We know there was some confusion in the sign up process, and we're using this post as a point of reference for ourselves, too.
2. Can you let us know the type of people you envision Jai recruiting, and how he'd be going about it? That will help us a lot in providing you with a response!
Thanks!
no subject
2) probably some sad disillusioned teenagers around his age, i was thinking it would be a group that splintered off from a bigger cohort maybe because they disagreed with their methods with some newfound free will post-aerie. i see this as a long term thing that requires winning their trust and not like. overnight obvs. here is where i touched a bit on what i started doing with it. mostly dumb kids doing informal fight club over rations because it's a learned behaviour but at a stage where it can go any which way bc obvs input first.
no subject
Thanks for bringing this to us, we've got a few follow-up things!
For Gene:
• Could you give us a little more information on what direction Gene is going to be taking with the hospital initiative? Would he just be helping out with the understaffing in New Amsterdam at a single hospital by offering his experience, or would he be actively looking to help out with organization in this regard? Would he be working with the sparse staff?
• Based on what's decided from above, there's definitely an opportunity of including more people in on this to secure the hospitals! There are several different pathways to cover (staffing, supplies, etc.) which might be easier to tackle with more PCs. We know that the doctors in game got a head start in Nicky's post, but let us know where that stands. There's a few angles you could play here.
• Since the Kestrels weren't very public, Gene would definitely be seen more as a Rook. His reputation, even as low key, might not terribly work in his favor. Depending on who he's dealing with, there may be some suspicion there, but they'll know that Gene is experienced. This is definitely an opportunity to improve his reputation.
For Jai:
• If he's going to take his own angle where he's hiding his blue power and affiliation with the Displaced and their other philanthropic projects, how is he going to appeal to this band of hooligans he wants to wrangle? What qualities will he use to not only appeal to them, but also to keep them?
• Groups like this aren't running around leaderless! There'd most likely be a pecking order that's been loosely formed. Jai would most likely need to show that he's a valuable member before he's considered what they'd like to see in a leader. (Though we're open to other alternatives of him seeking leadership here too!)
• On that point! What kind of resources is he offering them to make sure that they stick around? This would be part of how he'd appeal to them as a leader. Can he appeal to them monetarily, or perhaps some access to weapons or personal supplies that they might be interested in? This is where other players may help Jai out in some respect. He'll especially need supplies depending on how he wants this group to function in the greater community.
• What is the expectation that Jai wants to have the group function as? Is it a gang, or does he want to direct it more into community service? You mentioned superhero team-ups: is he going to use this to start some vigilantism? If he's looking to protect people, who exactly would appeal to him to protect in this sense? It would need to appeal to the group at large that he wants to form as well!
As a little note, we're concerned about the longevity of this plot because it doesn't include a wider net of other player characters, and is limited to some NPCs. We want to make sure that you can flesh things out the way you want and also keep things interesting. There are a few opportunities here to work with other characters to get things moving, but feel free to let us know if there's a piece you feel you can connect with other players and characters for!
this is so long and rambly forgive
with the knowledge i have rn, which i'm aware is incomplete, my thought is he'd pick a different hospital — now that he's worked alongside nicky he trusts him to know his shit — and take it over. these cities be huge and having only one hospital functioning is a recipe for a damn disaster. he'd try to pick one on the other side of the town so they can collectively cover as much 'ground' as possible. he'd be focusing on logistics as much as possible, organizing/etc rather than just doing medical things — he'd rather find other skilled people to do that, but he's got the training and wartime experience necessary to lead and delegate and he'd consider that more valuable to a wider range of benefit than just stitching up wounds personally.
if people take issue with that because of his role in the aerie, he would listen to concerns/etc, but ultimately would politely but firmly tell them to wait until the world's out of crisis to discuss the matter. if civilians/npcs/whatever want to watch him to make sure he's not doing shady stuff he'd shrug and allow it - it doesn't bother him to be observed!
he'd absolutely want to involve other pcs (but i don't really want to make a post to that effect since it'd be a rehash of the last little bit blrgh, i can reach out oocly for people) since he knows the reputation of the displaced took a hit - he's from an era where propaganda was important to the war effort, he knows that it would be 'good pr' for displaced to be seen actively helping out, so he'd probably reach out to a variety of displaced for assistance, probably ones without a hugely negative reputation in more 'visible' roles (dealing with the public, triage, distributing necessary supplies/etc). if he includes anyone more negatively-impacted by their aerie role, he'd probably put them in a more 'behind the scenes' type role — he doesn't want any civilians freaking out because they're being helped out by an aerie-displaced with a real bad rep. he'd also try to tap any PRESERVE resources/contacts he has available as well. as native doctors/nurses start feeling up to the task of taking command of their areas he'd be perfectly happy to relinquish control to them without a fuss, he's not interested in actually taking any power for himself. once the city is more or less functioning 'as normal' he'd be fine going back to his day job, lmao.
for jai:
he'd appeal to them by helping them. he's been a street kid, he knows the best way to win over angry feral teens is basically by doing something decent for them and then giving them space to make up their own minds. if i had to whip up a 'meet cute' scenario for how he came across this band, i'd say he probably helped them out in an unfairly stacked street brawl when there was no evident or obvious benefit to him (he roots for the underdogs, okay) and then peaced out for a day or two, and when he found them again would have maybe brought some fish or something to share because he's got a fucking soft spot for troubled kids (anyone even remotely younger than him is 'kid' which is why i figured this group was like, the 17-18 year old bracket). he knows first hand that people would have an expectation of 'repayment' of some sort and would be wary/cautious of random gifts, so he'd just keep being chill about it and decent, maybe sit around a (metaphoric? literal?) campfire or two trading stories. building familiarity and camaraderie and maybe the occasional challenge of their more UNA-based mentalities, though he'd do it in a kind of mild mannered way. i feel like this would happen over a period of days/weeks rather than immediately.
the thing is: though he's not actively presenting himself as a displaced, if someone actually asked him directly he wouldn't lie about it, either, so that could be something that comes up and i'd be cool with whatever wrench that might potentially throw in the plans.
as for leadership: it would depend on the leader the gang already had at that point. if they seemed like they actually cared about the people they were with and were trying their best to do good things, he'd mostly just try and support that. if they were shitty or were trying to encourage the gang to incite violence/etc then he'd probably try to do a stereotypical Combat Challenge to take them down.
he'd mostly want the group to help out - clear out vines, rubble, help other people, maybe distribute supplies/etc if he can find a cache somewhere (if he did, he'd break in alone and redistribute things, that can maybe be where he gets the means to offer them more support/etc, i'm fine with there being consequences for that down the line too as infrastructure gets back up and running). as for who he'd want to protect: 'vulnerable' populations, mostly. his focus would probably be on kids (are they separated from their parents? can we get them back to them? do they have enough food/shelter) because he's That Guy but depending on group consensus he'd be willing to cast a wider net. he's not really hardline on things like this because he just wants to Help and recognizes that he's only one person and that he can't help everyone.
as much as he's being distant from the other displaced, i'm totally cool with involving other people with this as well! especially those that are newer to the displaced/the world, since he doesn't have an immediately negative opinion of them the way he views some of the older displaced. so if there's anyone from the Newbie Batch that you guys think might work out well for this on an ooc level or characters you think would jive on an IC one i'm all for finding a way to make it work.
no subject
For Gene:
That sounds fine! Gene can utilize his organized efforts between the hospital, the Displaced and PRESERVE contacts that are available to him. While Gene wouldn't be privy to private hospital or patient records, he'd come out of this with a good understanding of how these medical professionals and administrators organize themselves. He'd also probably get in a little cozy with them as he stepped away! Make those connections, Gene.
We'd suggest working with Tona if you both want to make this a little larger for the future in terms of Displaced-to-hospital networks. Feel free to make a larger OOC post to organize if needed!
For Jai:
A few things!
1. Any community service that Jai is looking to do is also being done by the Displaced via Red Wings and through other ventures started throughout the city, Morningstar, PRESERVE, and the cultists. We're not certain of the cause of the resentment for the older members of the Displaced, but Jai will be running up against their multiple outlets to assist the New Amsterdam community at every turn as he looks for avenues to help. They are rather accomplished in the city and have garnered a great deal of respect, making it one of the most well-supported cities in Meadowlark's world.
In New Amsterdam, the disenfranchised affected by inequality would be the homeless, low-income workers, and the poor that are exploited by the silent class system. With the world getting on its feet, there aren't many children that are in need of help anymore. Parents have returned post-Aerie and they'll be desperately searching for their kids. Children are a very cherished portion of the population, and given the hoops that need to be jumped through for parents to even consider conception, there aren't many of them.
As a note, food and other essential supplies are no longer an issue post-aftermath, and Jai would be redistributing something that may be hurting workers in those warehouses, rather than sticking it directly to the man. In case you'd like Jai to have a rude awakening in terms of the consequences you'd mentioned, we're up to facilitate this!
2. Just as a point of clarification for our worldbuilding, the UNA might recruit teenagers before they're 18, but every former UNA soldier in the game right now is over the age of 18. Most of the UNA soldiers are both extremely conditioned and extremely traumatized, acting out almost in a hivemind sort of way because their grasp on reality isn't solid. They're less likely to be acting out teenagers and more likely to be a mish-mash of discharged soldiers ranging from 18 to as old as 40 all trying to figure out how to handle reality after a series of traumatizing events, with the Aerie being the final catalyst in their mental breaks. As such, we're not sure that this group suits your needs at this time.
However, they are in desperate need of help, so it's up to you if this would intrigue Jai enough to work with them. They're unlikely to be seeking out a conventional leader, but their energies can be directed. As soldiers without armor or weapons, they'd be seeking access to those things, as well as money, a place to live (as many of them have abandoned their homes in what's a facet of their tragic break from reality), and someone to give them some direction.
Since they're soldiers, they'll be more inclined toward violence because of their trauma and previous conditioning. If he decides to make them a pet project, it's going to take some time; he may get into some scuffles in the meantime.
3. That said, since this isn't carved in stone yet, would you be interested in having him wrangle a gang of angry teenage Kestrels instead of a group of UNA youths? Aside from the obvious name joke, these kids would be highly volatile and very angry at the current establishment. The perk would be that there would be more opportunity for plot impact at this point, as well as some integration that would make it easier for the mod team to find potential plots for this route that would include other Displaced.
Of course, the above would still stand: Jai would need to find some resources like weapons, money, etc. if he wanted to become the leader, but the overall approach would still have him with the beginnings of trust budding in their ranks. This group would also be more inclined toward violence, fueled by anger over inequality and similarities between the real world and the Aerie. The redistribution of wealth from the upper class would be met with more excitement in this group, as they'd all be eager to help in that regard, but most likely on a larger scale! As in, they wouldn't be looking to redistribute food or essential supplies, but taking directly from the rich. If you'd like a little more information, they're mentioned in the Event 11 Wrap Up. Let us know if you'd be interested in this!
Noodle this and give us a holler on what direction you'd like to go. Thanks!