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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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no subject
Could you clarify some of Jon's overall goals in gaining these NPCs/resources? We can see some passive circumstances happening to Jon in your requests, but not his overall ambitions. We'd definitely like to help you out with this and give some direction, so let us know!
Thanks!
no subject
There are his goals and my goals. On my end, I'm looking for plot hooks that he can pursue and/or just something more going on in his life -- toys for me to play with as a writer. He's now been helpful to at least a small number of people in a couple of events, so it seemed to me like one or more of them might eventually seek him out, or have taken notice of him outside of events, and that he could potentially have helped the same person twice. Sometimes I also just bring something up because I think it would be funny and could lead to something more concrete later on (hence the endless beverage model jokes -- but if something like that ever happened, I would assume it would probably come from a supplier to Red Wings, and would mostly just result in very minor social media fame and some pocket money).
His goals would be:
- In an overall sense, he's interested in his presence in this world being a net positive. Whether or not that turns out to be the case remains to be seen. This means that he will always try to help people in disaster situations, will go on any expedition that seems like a good idea at the time, etc. (I would imagine, from the info that has already been given to us, that his reputation would suffer from being a Rook in the Aerie, but maybe not as badly as some other people's.) He isn't seeking fame, but it's possible he'd have a small, growing reputation for public bravery.
- He would be concerned about the worshippers, the shrines, the gods, etc. He is extremely uncomfortable being worshipped (recall "ha ha awkward I'm not a god" after his resurrection in canon, and a lot of "what does it all mean" navel-gazing after that). But he also comes out of a situation at home where he needs to turn people's hero-worship of him and of his "father" into them giving him authority and respecting it -- so how he handles it could legitimately go either way, depending on what seems better for the people of this world. He can be convinced that the alternative is much worse, and the fact that he kind of *is* a god, at least a little, isn't lost on him. That's a potentially interesting internal conflict, because his humility makes it hard for him to revel in it: "it should be used responsibly." (EDIT: he is especially concerned about someone legitimately abusing or violently suppressing the worshippers.)
I thought it was possible that one of the people he helped might be someone who is 1. a Displaced worshipper with 2. some connections of their own that could go other places later on. (If it's even plausible to find something like that in combination.) It makes more sense to me right now for him to be more involved in the more mythic end of the game than in things like organized crime. Right now he is also in a lot of contact with both Quentin and Yennefer. Anyway, regardless, he'd be interested in and motivated to get more involved in this, but I have been fantastically ham-fisted at achieving it.
- Trustworthy outside help with the North America stuff that isn't going to turn the members of the expedition in to the UN, esp in terms of outfitting the expedition. (This seems pretty unlikely to me, but I threw it out there as a possibility. They are so close to the expedition itself that it's both a little too convenient, and not enough time to really establish any trust.)
- He is relatively hard up for cash. Not starving, but making the typical Red Wings worker wage, maintaining an expensive shoebox apartment, and probably doing things like helping his neighbors out with finances/resources when things get bad. He would be motivated to take occasional extra work that wasn't especially shady, aside from opportunities that come up on the logs every month.
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I don't know if this is helpful or if I missed the mark again! LMK if there's still anything else you need me to add. One thing about his motivations is that many of them were tied to Daenerys up to this point. With her departure, he isn't really tied to her goals anymore and has leeway to pursue his own.
no subject
Thanks for the clarification on what plot threads you're interested in pulling on! We're gonna break it down a little more to address some of the stuff you brought up.
1. If you're interested in the modeling gig just for kicks and a laugh, that's fine. Models do tend to work on commission, so you were right to assume this wouldn't pay very well, and would mainly be for social media campaigns. He could do some push-ads on his CoolTalk!
2. In regards to the shrines and cult related avenue, instead of having an NPC to pull him into this, we think it might be better to start by reaching out to the other PCs who are doing some work in this area to get Jon started on the path. This would be Quentin, Yennefer, and Thor off the top of our heads. Once he's learned some more and is poking his head into this area, we can flesh out what specific aspect of the cult/religion stuff you'd like to get Jon into, and then comes the NPC element!
3. For general job stuff, the upcoming February calendar is going to have a few opportunities that might be of interest to you. If Jon gets settled into a steady job, that's always a good way to assume some recurring NPCs in his life that can come into play for various plot things.
4. For the North America angle, we're not too sure how to make this work yet. It might be good to know what kind of resources Jon would be looking to find with NPC help, then we can flesh out the idea from there. Please keep in mind that most people in Meadowlark's world will not be amenable to helping with such a trip, and given the recent uptick in UN suspicion, it may even compromise the Displaced's efforts there.
We hope this helps focus some of your ideas of where to take Jon's character! But if we've missed the mark, please also let us know.