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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
So Callisto may or may not notice the tailing, depending on how discreetly it's done! On the one hand, she has experience being both predator and prey and is very practiced at being aware of her surroundings; on the other hand, the world she's most used to is literal millennia behind this one (she wouldn't think to try to avoid things like recording devices and electronic surveillance, for example), and she also... doesn't... care a ton about her own personal safety, so even though she's capable of being careful and and keeping an eye out for danger, it's not something she always does. Generally caution and subtlety are things she'll do in short bursts if they're necessary to accomplish an immediate, short-term goal, but aren't anything she'll stick with in the long run.
Additionally, I did recently mention in a thread that she's noticed people following her, but even though she's ICly assuming it's related to the soldier murders, I OOCly meant it to be more of a callback to the Special Investigation Task Force prompt in that log.
Things her surveilleurs might notice:
- She's on the move a lot, spending much more time outside than in; she even sleeps outside, and not always in the same place.
- She sometimes hunts/fishes food (complete with straight-up building small outdoor campfires to cook over), and sometimes gets it from stores/Red Wings/the newbie safehouse.
- Red Wings, the safehouse, and most recently, the underground fighting rings are frequent haunts (though the arm she broke during her fight with the soldiers is still healing, and so she's not jumping into the rings herself yet).
- Literally the only things she's purchased besides food are a sleeping bag, a titanium bat (which she absolutely used as a weapon against the soldiers during their fight), and a few extra clothing items; she uses the duffle that the sleeping bag came in as a general hold-all and she carries it with her everywhere.
- She crafted a rudimentary fishing spear at one point (likely ruining the blade of an eating knife in the process, lmao oops), which she later discarded in favor of a better option, because...
- ... Hook gave her a sword that he'd scavenged while the city was still largely deserted. She'll fight tooth and nail to keep it (and the bat, to a lesser extent), but OOCly I'm 100% fine with it (and/or the bat) being confiscated.
no subject
This is great and gives us a lot to work with. Overall, our goal is to use the Investigation Force to build a case against the Displaced. A lot of this is incremental: she's breaking laws, she's doing whatever she wants, and she has an illegal weapon (the sword) that they can use against her. It's a matter of Callisto helping them create a story. We'll be working with other players to add to this case as the months go on.
As for an immediate response, they will be reaching out to the NAPD and reporting her activities. While homelessness is an epidemic in Meadowlark's world, the way she's surviving despite that homelessness will catch their eye. The UN Task Force will call in the local police to provide sanctions for her fishing (we're assuming she didn't apply for a license) and hunting (this has now been made illegal within city limits as of our February calendar). We're assuming that Callisto doesn't give a damn and doesn't pay attention to such things and intends to continue on whichever way she prefers, but feel free to correct us if that's not the case!
The NAPD will provide tickets for the following:
All of these will come with a hefty amount of credits owed. We also assume Callisto won't be interested in paying them, but please let us know.
As a note: the NAPD are not likely to approach her with force or violence. As a force, they're trained to utilize pacifying techniques to help defuse a situation. If she attacks, they'll defend themselves—but officers don't carry weapons on calls like these. Either way, Callisto's response will be catalogued by their cameras and filed away for later.
One thing we'll say is that if the NAPD keeps having to be called out against her, it'll be met with diminishing returns on their end. They aren't fans of the Investigation Task Force, especially since the Displaced have, by and large, done right by their hometown. They know that the UN has a vendetta, and the NAPD has already been used as local flunkies in the past for their nonsense. As a result, we'd love to have a defined relationship between Callisto and the officers usually called onto the scene to "deal" with her. Of course, a lot of this depends upon what she does in that first meeting, but we're very interested to see where things go from there.
no subject
You are indeed right that she wouldn't bother to apply for any permits or licenses, even if told multiple times that she needs to. As for the fines, she wouldn't go out of her way to pay them, but she does think that digital currency is completely ridiculous and pretty much a big scam, so if credits were automatically deducted out of her bank account she would neither care nor really notice. Barter system/money that is actually valuable or bust, people. (FWIW I'm assuming she'll end up being decently popular in the fighting pits and make good money that way; she'll be completely fearless and go for broke pretty much all the time, which I figure a certain type of crowd would find entertaining to watch. If that all sounds valid, she'll for sure earn a good deal more than she spends.)
She'll pitch a huge fit when the sword is taken away, and probably immediately go back to making crude homemade spears, but other than that, her NAPD "friends" will probably see a wide range of behaviors from her! Sometimes she'll be punchy and violent; sometimes she'll be unfriendly and verbally aggressive, but won't physically attack them; sometimes she'll be not quite cooperative, but still calmer and willing to engage them in conversation and ask them questions about the world, the tech, etc., the way she sometimes does with other Displaced; and sometimes she'll be Too Tired To Deal and they'll just get listless, depressed apathy from her. She's very volatile, and a big old emotional mess.
Also if she ever gets an inkling that they don't like the Investigation Task Force, her reaction would just be "Well, give me my sword back and let me wipe them out for you, then" lmao.
no subject
We're going to go ahead and say that Callisto will probably see credits deducted from her account before long for sure. There may be nights where her "friends" come and take her spears, ensuring that she's without a weapon from time to time because she keeps making them.
They'll also wonder how she keeps being able to pay her fines, but isn't getting a place to live. They will ask about this in time, and offer to help her find a place that's still renovating after our monster event. Real estate is a lot lower, and if she insists on keeping a literally open floor plan, she'll probably get a pretty nice deal on an apartment because it'll save the building owner a lot of money. They'll suggest that by getting a place, she'd be bothered less by them because they wouldn't be able to see her hunting and fishing every day, and she'd also be able to have a fridge. You know, sustaining herself long term.
Any suggestion that they give her back her sword will be met with an eyeroll. It's unlikely that they even still have her sword to give it back. But it'll be some time before she's able to recognize the friction between the Investigation guys and the NAPD.
Other than this, if you have any ideas that come to mind for this little arrangement, come and let us know! We're establishing a routine here, but we're open for some curveballs if any ideas occur to you.
no subject
no subject
New Amsterdam definitely has some extremes—there aren't very many moderate months, so as they're slowly heading toward winter, she'll find that her NAPD buddies are worried about her sleeping outside. You can assume these friends did try to point out what benefits she could get from a situation, as well as try to educate her on renter rights (which are now being strongly enforced because of the Lieutenant Governor).
Otherwise, this is great. Feel free to touch back if any plots come up where Callisto might pull on these acquaintances for information, or even just use them to hide out (since they'll slowly grow fond of her, even if she's baffling to them). And, of course, if you have any ideas for her to make use of these ties, hit us back! We're happy to work with you on this.
no subject