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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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We'll touch on the stuff with the cops on our next plot engagement week, but with regards to the Morningstar arrangement, we'd like to continue clearing it up.
Morningstar doesn't actually have a lot of control over the Displaced. The Displaced put Gaby in charge of the safehouse and managing it, and as far as she's concerned, barring Lance from doing reckless things is her job. In terms of the IDs and the stipends, that's Morningstar giving over resources to the Displaced without asking for anything in return. We see it as more of a reciprocal relationship. When more resources are requested beyond these things, Morningstar does ask that someone joins up with the organization.
As for Lance and the rest of the organization, a lot of his reputation does hinge upon Gaby's influence. He did get special meetings with members of the organization. They are meant to keep their identities a secret lest they get found out by the UN as a rebel element. Because Gaby gave him access to those members, there was an understanding that he wouldn't take that access for granted. His recent statements have been perceived as doing exactly that, and thus broke Gaby's trust in him. She sincerely hoped that by meeting with them, he'd have a better idea of them as an organization, and see how little their actions are causing harm to the world as a whole.
More than anything, it's the Displaced themselves managing intakes. They manage the bar, get people to the safehouse, and ensure that they explain most of what's happening. As an organization, Morningstar is only present in the Displaced's lives through the network (by providing and monitoring it), the safehouses (by providing them and monitoring the garage one via Gaby's physical presence), and through the IDs and stipends to help them get started. Gaby's problem with Lance is purely personal when it comes to the network, though she feels she's done him favors with little reciprocation in return.
Keep in mind that the only members of Morningstar actively engaged in the Displaced's lives are Gaby and El. Members of the Displaced are a part of Morningstar, but they are considered to be separate, but allied groups. If Lance turned a bunch of angry newcomers against Morningstar by telling them that they're people in power, it would create problems for everyone involved.
We hope that this clears that up. We're concerned that some of this might've fallen through the cracks, so we'll be making this clearer on future arrival logs.
Finally, for the ID scramblers, those are proprietary Morningstar technology. It's not just for shady business, but to keep agents protected and safe on missions. They wouldn't be worn out in public because that would be like loudly declaring they're Morningstar to the authorities.
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I think part of the thing here is that although OOC we know about Morningstar's motives and history and all that, IC it's something where it really depends on the character how it comes across to them, if that makes sense? Like OOC I know Morningstar is just helping out, but IC a character who has reason to be suspicious of an organization going through all this trouble purely out of the goodness of their hearts might not be as inclined to believe it, especially if they feel like they're expected to be appropriately thankful for something they never asked for in the first place. For those characters it feels like there are strings attached, even if they're purely social (and even if they don't actually exist.)
And that's basically what got Lance off on the wrong foot with Gaby; their initial conversation on his post felt like an attack for just asking questions, which is one of those huge red flags in almost any situation that there's something that's being hidden (some frustration at answering the same question over and over is something he'd consider normal, but not quite that kind of hostility.)
But after they talked more and he spoke with other Morningstar agents he was pretty much back to neutral on Gaby (and more positive on the rest of Morningstar as a whole) until the safehouse thing before the Aerie; as far as he was concerned, if the Displaced are running things, then it felt like a major overstep for her to do that (especially instead of just talking to him.) And then with how their conversation (or at least the first part of it, since once they got to talking about the messages that was fine) went, he was pretty much back to being incredibly suspicious of her.
But as far as the network conversation goes, like he told Clarke he was very specifically not mentioning Morningstar (or anyone else) as the people to be upset with, because it wasn't about that; of course new arrivals could probably put the pieces together, but they could do that without him ever having said anything. So as far as he's concerned, what this all translates to is 'you can't talk about this at all' because it would always reflect back, and then Gaby's message basically reaffirmed that to him (and that it seemed like she was willing to get back at him personally by threatening the Displaced as a whole very much didn't help.)
Also, for some extra context, Lance got murdered by his own organization at home for investigating corruption, and then that basically happened again in the Aerie, so he's even more on edge about this sort of things than usual, so like. Perfect storm and all that.
So basically, tl;dr Lance is very suspicious and doesn't like Gaby personally due to their interactions, but also wasn't actually doing anything to try to cause problems; he doesn't want anything to happen to other Morningstar agents or to her, even though he doesn't like her. But that's all IC stuff; OOC the only confusion I had was on the details of the safehouse (like who was actually running things/making final decisions.) Hopefully that all makes sense too and kind of explains what I'd been working with IC and OOC!
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While it looks like there's both an IC and an OOC element, we thought we'd make Morningstar's stance clear to you as a player for transparency's sake. We don't want you to feel as if you're running up against a wall with a particular game mechanic while evaluating how it can be changed, and then it no longer becomes fun IC. We'd also like to help you pivot the plot a bit so you can fulfill some of Lance's other investigative inclinations (particularly into corruption) without becoming frustrated by what can and can't be changed with the safehouse and Morningstar. Let us know if that'd be something you're interested in! Based on what you explained of Lance's IC motivations, we have a few ideas with the UN, as well as Lance's former identity as a Shrike, but didn't know if it would be something you'd be interested in pursuing.
1. Yes! That's the short of it. It's very obviously Morningstar technology (since they're the ones who have it), and would still be a Morningstar resource.
2. This would depend on if someone is working in the police department! There's no one currently there on appointment, but that could change depending on interest. If someone wanted to start working there, after an initial training period, they'd have some access to dispatch. More, obviously, as the position grew.
Keep in mind it's not just the NAPD that the new arrivals are avoiding, but the UN now has deployed a Special Investigative Task Force that's compiled of former Shrikes mentioned in the Event 11 Wrap Up. These special forces will be deployed in September (February OOC) and will be trailing the Displaced for ammunition in the UN's anti-Displaced campaigns, among possible other corporate interests. Keep an eye on the February calendar for this!
This is where we believe there may be a plot opportunity for Lance! It may grow depending on where Lance's interests lie, but we didn't want these points to completely feel like coming up against a wall. There's some room to expand here.
Let us know what you'd like to do moving forward. Thanks!
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I am so into any ideas you have! As long as there's some sort of ethical/moral component to a plot it's pretty easy to come up with an IC reason to get him involved, so I'd definitely love to hear whatever y'all are thinking. c: He's so fixated on the safehouse thing both for the IC motives of worrying about new arrivals and because he really needs something to direct his energy and attention toward, and yeah OOC I've not totally been sure what else is available to work with, so I am here for any ideas!!!
1. Got it!
2. Oooh, interesting, okay; I know of a character I think was planning to get involved, so that might work in a bit once they've gotten established (if they do go that route.) And noted, about the task force! I wasn't sure how much characters were aware of IC on that (like I know it was announced that one would be formed, but I wasn't sure how much beyond that was public knowledge or just OOC info) so wasn't sure whether to include any IC planning for this, but yeeeees excellent I will watch for the February calendar for sure. c:
But yeah basically if y'all have plot ideas I'd love to plan stuff!
EDIT to add that with the calendar going up I realized something that might have to do with the idea y'all already have, but I figured I'd throw it in here anyway just in case it wasn't. Surely not all Shrikes would've known each other, but Lance might be able to recognize some who end up on the task force (npcs or pcs) provided they weren't in uniform all the time in the Aerie; is that something to potentially work with?
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Yes, that's definitely the beginning of it! We were wondering to what extent Lance would be looking into the NAPD and the space around the safehouse. Depending on where his interests lie, and where his research takes him, it's possible that he'd start noticing that he (and perhaps others) are being followed. Of course, depending on what Lance does, we'd need to form the plot from there, but we thought that this could offer another route that might pique Lance's interest.
We wanted to run this by you and see if you had any other insights or ideas on where you'd like this to go!
Thanks!
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So, since he's kind of hit a dead end with figuring out ways to make the blank implants be unnoticeable, shifting to trying to just evade police seems like the next step. Since he doesn't have a particularly good idea of how to start, it'd probably be two main approaches to begin with.
One would be looking into anything publicly available, so like how the police is structured, what sort of general equipment they have, how they're sent on different calls, etc etc; anything that might give him an idea of how to work around them. This might lead to looking into whatever details are available on the task force as well?
Two would be talking to any Displaced who might be interested in getting involved with NAPD to kind of keep their eyes open for anything useful, but also check with Displaced who might have other connections; the Riverside mob's thing is the black market, right? Presumably they know how to avoid police attention, and who knows if they might have some illegal tech to help out in that. Lance probably could handle this part of investigating himself, but he'd likely drag Nate and Sam into it since they're part of Riverside
and let's be real Lance doesn't look like he belongs anywhere doing anything shady.On a related note, he's also just particularly hypervigilant since returning from the Aerie
hurray for traumaand so might have a chance to notice being followed just from that, although he might not be able to figure out who's doing it (or potentially might even think he's just imagining it, at least at first.)As far as where it might go, hmmm, the first idea coming to mind would be to see about basically forming a volunteer group of Displaced who try to identify as many of the former shrike task force members as possible, whether through investigation or through trying to catch them stalking Displaced (or both!), and therefore be able to at least know what they're dealing with. Once they know that, they can let all the other Displaced know what's going on, but then what might be actually done about the situation after that would probably depend on individual people.
Any of that sound like stuff that could be worked with?
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A few things to remember as you continue to hash out ideas for the safehouse! For the first round of questions:
• As far as equipment goes, it's very different from our world, the cops don't have guns during their normal duties (or the ability to kill citizens), but they are available to them in times of crisis. For example, if there's a monster attack or a gang war, they'll need to equip themselves properly, but there are certain levels of permissions to go through. They have stun guns or batons on a regular basis, both of which are meant to pacify a situation peacefully rather than violently. They're less inclined to act to resolve a situation with their weapons, but rather other parts of their training, which would include negotiation.
Police are able to scan all neural implants, as well as having all access to available surveillance and data logs (who and where a person entered a door, for example). This information would be available per dispatch for anyone who takes a call, which makes the police force incredibly thorough when they need to address particular situations.
Structure is similar to our world: there's a commissioner, detectives, etc. However, the NAPD is understaffed, which is also widely known! They're also under pressure from the UN, and there's some friction there. It'd take some time or well-placed opportunity, but there's a wedge that could be made here if Lance plays his cards right.
• On that note, even if there are Displaced in the NAPD, it doesn't mean that they won't eventually disappear due to game mechanics. It would need to be something more long-lasting. Since it's still an IC consequence, whatever solution will need to not hinge on the presence of a Displaced in the NAPD. Will and Dick Grayson are joining the NAPD, and could be a resource, but it would be more about building relationships within the department.
• The NAPD and the Task Force are separate entities! The NAPD is New Amsterdam-specific (under the Governor and the current police commissioner), and the Task Force is overseen by the UN, which means they'll have different resources. That said, everything in Arrival #030 would be the information that's publicly known about them.
• The Riverside mob's authority avoidance is not based on technology. Instead, they rely on training in knowing the city as well as the dark spaces in surveillance (which is subject to change based on what pops up where). That said, they have inside people who work at the NAPD that wouldn't currently be available to either Lance, Nate, or Sam. While this plot is still in development and may change that course, it would still come in either Nate or Sam's favor with the mob. On that note, not much of that would be helpful in this situation. The training is based on people who are familiar with the city, rather than newcomers who are compliance drugged. There are other avenues that may be taken here, but there isn't a way to train the new people coming in.
As for the Task Force questions:
A network post could probably start that off that volunteer group! However, even if Lance may recognize a few of them, keep in mind that many Shrikes kept their identity a secret. He may also find benefit in recruiting former Cardinals and Rooks, who may have more information on some of the Shrikes being recruited. After seeing who's interested, and what direction is taken, we can start working out the rest. Identification of former Shrikes from the Aerie could be in the second step after they initially work out the first.
If there are any questions on moving forward with this, let us know! Hopefully this gives Lance a little direction in a few areas.
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So, because I'm a fancy scientist and all that, I'm gonna get obnoxious here with the tech questions. I feel like I should also mention for the record that despite being extremely bright and that he could probably pick up on basics, Lance is definitely not an engineer; therefore this is more asking for generalized plot angles to go at, which would probably have to actually happen through characters that have more of a real idea of what they're doing.
That said, how do the implants themselves work? The brain-connected side I get (assuming it works in the 'traditional' way), since that's all electrical signals and such, but in order to communicate with other devices, other people, etc it presumably goes through a network. The networks we have nowadays are all based in electromagnetic waves (like radio), but is that the case here, and if not what's the situation?
For the data logs, easier question and not super relevant at the moment but may be useful later: where is that data stored? Is it in like, a chip in the door, or is there a sensor that then transmits to a log somewhere else (like a building's security server or something.) Relatedly, are there still normal computer-like servers for information a person wouldn't want to be storing on an implant?
Also, less technically, are there ever failures in the implants, like one just being unreadable for reasons other than a situation like the Displaced are in, such as just a simple tech failure or even an injury? If so, how do the police handle those sorts of issues, if that's information that'd be in a news story or otherwise available?
Re: Police; awesome thank you! Definitely interested in that politicking strife angle there, though I'm not sure just yet how to actually icly get into (or really find out about) that, but maybe one of the Displaced joining up will provide an opportunity. Speaking of, noted about Displaced disappearing; it makes sense that any solution based on someone working there and being able to provide info would only work while they're in game, though is there any reason why something like that couldn't work as a temporary solution at the time but then have to be abandoned if they left?
Re: The mob stuff; got it! Could definitely be interesting stuff for more experienced Displaced regarding activities down the line, so I'll just kind of put a pin in that as we see how Nate's plot develops.
Re: Task force; this is definitely what I think he's gonna be best suited to dealing with. Noted about not knowing that many Shrikes (he probably wouldn't have even without the secrecy thing, since he probably avoided a lot of them anyway, especially when he started to play double agent) and this potentially being something useful that Cardinals, Rooks, etc might be able to help with. Starting off with a post about trying to pay attention to notice the people following them seems like an easy place to start, but I have a quick clarity question about this that I'm gonna pop onto the intro log questions thread real quick so it isn't lost in all the rest of this.
I THINK that's everything I meant to cover but I'll edit in stuff if I remember anything else.
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For the first half of your question (before the Re: Police), we wanted to know if you wanted to reframe this into a plot or something actionable to Lance? We weren't sure if you were curious about the answers or if you had something specific you were looking for in these types of questions, and wanted to clarify direction since we assumed the bulk of the questions had to do with helping newcomers bypass police attention. We're not sure these answers will help illuminate a new direction for that plot, and we're working on alternative solutions for more enjoyable playability (moving arrivals around town again, for example, while helping with a new incarnation of the Welcome Committee). We're concerned that incoming players will have to devour and understand a wealth of new information if all of this is executed into a plot, and want to try some different methods of engagement before we add even more information. Don't worry – this isn't something we'd expect you to think about, but we wanted to be transparent about where we were coming from.
We definitely don't want to stall you, so if it's just curiosity, or a matter of Lance realizing and accepting the state of the world, that's great! We just wanted to be sure we were on the same page. We're not fancy scientists, but we'll indulge you with the sci-fi explanations we have.
We'll get back to the rest of this on Sunday!
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So although ICly Lance has mostly switched to pursuing the former solution for now since it's something he's better with and seems more accessible, OOC I was asking about the latter a bit more mostly because although other players might have characters with the IC knowledge to work on solutions, but they may not OOCly know what to ask about or where to start. Therefore I was kind of just looking into some potential angles from a more strictly OOC perspective, to be able to bring up potential solutions that could then actually happen IC (if anyone was interested) by other players with characters that would know what they're doing (which is certainly not Lance, who got a B in college statistics and is still mad about it a decade later.)
I definitely get not wanting to overload people, so no worries, this is all just much more a behind-the-scenes sort of technical curiosity with the goal being coming up with other ways to go with plotting, both on this subject and in general.
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Thanks for clearing that up! We're going to add a bullet point or two under the Neural Implants part of the Setting, and cover the rest with regards to the Police angle on our next Plot Engagement drop.
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If there's someone who'd like to utilize this for a plot, they're free to head our way! In this case, we'd like to give the information directly to them and work around potential plots suitable for them. As a note, we've also updated the setting with neural implant malfunctions that you had under the Neural Implant header! If your plot and their plot coincides, we'll happily link you guys up. If they'd like to piggyback off of this thread, that's also fine, and they can comment here. We don't want you to feel pressured to feel like you have all the answers for other players in this situation.
We do want to add that you can hit us up on the FAQ if you're ever not sure about how something works world-wise! We're happy to expand on what we can—if we've forgotten something, it's usually a mistake that we're happy to rectify.
As far as the police go, Lance should be able to find out about the friction between the NAPD and UN in his research to figure out police resources. There are both news articles and forum discussions about it! Though he would also be able to find out easily from anyone who's joined up.
The reason why we want a long-term solution is because it takes the onus of the plot off of a smaller group of players, and instead uses IC development to make concrete relationships that the entire playerbase can use moving forward. What we'd suggest is that you utilize the good will in the New Amsterdam community to build long-term relationships with the NAPD. The Displaced have done a lot of good for the community, and continue to work to build on that even now. In addition, Lance in particular can use his Quarry experience to begin making those overtures with the NAPD, developing those ties that other players would be able to pick up on. This action would involve revealing some things about the Displaced (IE their lack of registered implants), but that's where he could pull on his IC ties to make sure he's trusting the right set of officers.
We've tried a temporary solution in the past (based upon characters slowly building ties within the force), but it ultimately ended with these plots on the backburner until now. Now that the Displaced have made roots in the New Amsterdam community, we think other angles are far more viable and will create a lasting impact on the game as a whole.
These are ideas that we've noodled up, but you're free to rework and ask us about specifics if it doesn't fit, or if you want to use something differently. We're here to help generate some ideas since this could largely be a change for both the playerbase as well as us mods!
And sounds good on the Task Force! Feel free to let us know if there are any other questions that come up.