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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
We're thinking that the best angle that Wade would have to get an in with mercenary groups would likely be by using his Aerie background and clout, given that he was a repeat victor in the Quarry there. If he's willing to make use of some assumed contacts from that other life, we would be open to him being able to find someone he interacted with in the Aerie who either is a merc or has some sort of connection to them. They would know that Wade had the abilities and the skill set necessary to become a merc himself, given what he was capable of during the Quarry, so he wouldn't need to really pass any tests in that sense.
If you think this is an angle that he would use, or have any sort of idea about who this NPC could be (who they were in the Aerie vs. who they are in the real world), please let us know! We don't want to make the decisions for you if you have any ideas that come to mind, though we're also willing to help out if you're unsure.
Let us know!
no subject
Whatever works for you!
no subject
Sorry if there was some confusion, but just to clarify: Wade will need to be the one reaching out to his Aerie contact/contacts, they won't know to reach out to him! That means he's going to have to do a little networking to even get the opportunity to meet with someone. We're not sure of the contacts that Wade made in the Aerie which could be useful to you now, so please feel free to expand on this and let us know what direction you'd like to go.
To be clear, this is something you can come up with retrospectively based on the background and position that you established with him within the Aerie! We just need to have some idea of how he would leverage these connections to get the kind of work he's interested in.
no subject
Unfortunately I don't have an idea what NPCs Wade would have met in the Aerie, let alone which of them would have access to the type of information Wade would be looking for. He may have rubbed shoulders with quite a few people, after all-- it would be difficult to pinpoint one specific person and be like "that's who I need to talk to", especially since he probably wouldn't know that said individual had expertise in mercenary work. I doubt it would come up in conversation in the Aerie, considering Wade's line of work pretty much boiled down to "being a celebrity and occasional Quarry participant".
Not to mention I would be uncomfortable with just picking an NPC at random and deciding they spoke with Wade about this sort of thing during his time in the Aerie, as I feel like that would be metagaming and not fun for anyone involved. Any guidance you could give me on how we can make this work would be very much appreciated!
no subject
Just to clarify, we allow our players to make up any NPCs that they'd like, and if they make up someone who might have too much clout, we step in to let them know that that won't be possible (and such a thing has never actually happened). This is because Meadowlark's world has billions of people in it, allowing a lot of wiggle room. For the sake of our bandwidth as mods, we do ask that players help develop these NPCs on their own for their character's plots, as we haven't actually created all of the billions of NPCs. This also helps players develop their plots the way they'd like! We don't even have the names of all of the 104 megacities, haha.
So, in this case, your mercenary NPC would be some random mercenary who was aware of Wade in the Aerie, and you'd go from there. We're giving you leeway to create that mercenary, as well as the backstory they would have had with Wade.
We hope this helps!