PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

[larkers]

> PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

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!

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.

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).
◉ 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

◉ 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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> NAVIGATION

Comments

[verflair]

Hello mods! A few questions for you regarding the handling of money.

Since X’rhun “altruism is my middle name” Tia has the great fortune of reaping the benefits of Ardyn’s inexplicable promotion to Big Fancy Government Man, he’d like to use that position to be of help to the Displaced, and possibly Morningstar down the line. Ardyn has given him leave to do whatever he wants with his money (within reason), and his main aim is to start squirreling away funds to funnel towards the Displaced’s safehouse endeavors and perhaps set up some sort of emergency savings account, something they can dip into Just In Case.

X’rhun needs a crash course in how the more discreet side of the bank system works in this world. In his world, it’s fairly simple to keep things “off the books” or otherwise discreet, but in a world where everything is so heavily reliant on technology, he’s not sure where to start. Gaby would probably be the person he asks first. Apart from her recent network post, he’s never addressed her directly before, but he recognizes her as a solid resource for the way this world works. What can he to do make sure it’s not apparent that this money is going to some rather strange places?

On that same token, what actually needs to happen for him to be able to have Ardyn’s accounts? It’s his paycheck, not X’rhun’s. They’re already roommates but that’s probably not enough of a basis for shared access to a bank account.

[ofmyth]

Hi mods! I am here to follow up with questions about Thor's gym.

Thor is looking to buy or rent some space to set up a bit of equipment for working out with; mostly boxing or wrestling stuff along with some weights. He's looking for a place that's not too fancy, but isn't exactly in the slums.

He's not really looking to make money off this endeavour, more just to get enough each month to pay rent, and feed any street kids that are around. (I'll be honest, feeding poor kids is like 50% of the reason Thor would want to do this).

What options do I have? Is it reasonable that he'd have earned enough to get a place with having worked and saved since he got here? And where/what kind of place could he get?

[isherarmor]

Hello mods! Just some updates wrt to Sansa's cooltalk and her clothing endeavors.

- She made some leather pauldrons/raven wings for Jon, a leather shirt and some various shirts for Nill, as well as a Weirwood ensemble for herself during Halloween for the contests. She's given a dress to Dany, made a jacket for Prompto and has been working to build interest in her designs, wearing them when she can. (I was planning to call for models this month and do a cooltalk ad campaign, but that's going to be in July, it looks like ...due to life.) She's trying to gain high profile clients, hence her display of skill during Prompto's (and Cain's) party. And has been showing off her braiding skills on synthetic wigs when she can. Let me know if shes able to garner any commissions/clients and if this would gain her a job opportunity/promotion or even ...trouble!

- She is still paying off that sword but has been very careful about letting people see it, outside of dreamscape adventures.

- She's also been doing repairs to cast off/threadbare items and taking donations to turn into the needy of the city.

[evasives]

all of this sounds great and has been so helpful! thanks so much mods!! i'll definitely be in touch c:

[blyat]

Hi mods! Coming to you with a couple of ideas/questions that could maybe stir something more up.

1. I read about the detail on the public transportation system within the newcomer's guide that I believe Kira wrote and was just wondering if there was a reason rides booked via hovercar or hoverbike are so expensive? Is it just the technology itself? I'm also curious if these ride-hailing services are owned by a private company, and if so, whether there's any integration of public sector cooperation. For example an entity like Uber having an app where you can book a ride via private car, or check the train schedule, or rent a bike all in one place. Since the city would most likely have control over right-a-way and regulation of transit, I imagine they'd have to have agreements with a big private transportation company. I'm also curious if the city itself has any fleets of vehicles. Sorry if this is kind of technical and I'm bringing in too much detail, I just love transit, weeps.

ALSO would train stations work as multimodal hubs, where you can hop on light-rail, get picked up by a hover car, or rent a bike in one central location? I guess I can't imagine it not being at least somewhat consolidated under a private company and government partnership like our current day and age.

2. I saw the conversation you had with Shikki about modeling and related social media stuff here and wanted to build on the model aspect a bit. Cain has a very decent following on Cooltalk now, thanks primarily to Hideki and also Prompto's photography skillz, and I could see him enjoying the prospect of possible model gigs every now and then if he got enough attention. I'm not necessarily looking for him to become a celebrity, but would he be able to do these gigs at all? Even just taking pictures of fancy outfits for a clothing advertisement, or promotional shoots, whatever.

3. Leading into a tangentially related area: would Cain be able to use his social media status to get political? He pays a lot of attention to what's happening on the Mars colony, so he'll be interested in the governor campaign. And he might want to help Simone Durcell get more attention or recognition if that's who the colonists are saying they want due to worker rights. Could he possibly do this through Cooltalk or some other platform?

4. I know we're still threading the birthday log, but since Kira will be out of town for about a week and I'm still on semi-hiatus (but still fairly active because I can't help it I love this game haha), I'm just curious what Cain and Prompto would find (if anything) at the Maeda residence! We don't necessarily have to thread this whole thing out either. Let me know if you want us to decide which rooms they go into, because that's doable as well and might be less tedious/faster for everyone!

This got way longer than intended, forgive me. And thanks so much for all your work!

[larkers]

Hi Julia!

As a quick follow up to question number one, because we don't know what you're referring to! We covered a bit about Ubers/taxis here for Alison early on, but we don't have any record of taxis otherwise being more expensive. Is it possible that Kira was referring to hoverbikes and hovercars themselves being expensive? If not, please feel free to have her follow up with us. We weren't involved with the writing of the newbie guide, as that was an entirely player-written project.

Thanks

[blyat]

Oh whoops, my bad! I found it on the guide, which states: "Hover cars and bikes are the order of the day for personal vehicles so you’ll see a lot of those. They’re very expensive, though, and while you can order a ride on the expensive DRIVME app to get places, the amount they charge might change your mind before ordering the ride."

I'll go ahead and reach out to Kira to talk about this, thanks for the heads up! Also I think you answered the majority of my question with your comment to Alison, sorry I missed it! I think I was just getting more technical, which probably isn't necessary.

[larkers]

It's okay! The question was early on in the game's existence, and we're still trying to transfer this all over to where it can be easily found. More about the trains system is on our Setting page for the more technical things regarding that, and please feel free to ask for any additional information if you need to!

[retravel]

Hi Mods!

Laura and Ellie here, as per: Building off our last engagement, where we talked about Peggy and Fitz pushing for a more front-footed location to act as a headquarters as well as an NPC safehouse, pending the NPC squad’s approval, we’d like to lay out our rough idea! This location would be one that Morningstar was already aware of meeting the requirements or that Peggy helped find using her neat-o government gig. IC plan would be to get approval from Gaby, El, and other misc. NPC agents, then reach out to the PC agents to talk ideas and any preferences they’d have for then the Morningstar contractors to work through, too.

Basically, because it sounds fun and gives different rooms/facilities to play around with (that Morningstar PCs and NPCs can shape, rather than having set functions), we wanted to suggest a theatre space in an emptier part of town, where there used to be a more old school entertainment district. Not a full auditorium, but rather a black box-y small to medium-sized theatre, with a layout something like this. We’ve spied other plot engagements about museums, etc. and that inspired us to go down this route and try and add something unique to the setting.

Would this be possible? If so, we’d love to take a loose outline (with some inspo/ideas) to the OOC comm for everyone to weigh in on and build it from there, rather than getting too detailed here.

On a related note, since you all were the ones to throw this NPC safehouse into the mix, we wanted to defer to you on whether Morningstar would allow all the Displaced access here or if it would be restricted to committed PC agents. In the event of the latter, is the location need-to-know only?

[forcevisions]

rey would like to open a line of conversation with gaby about actively recruiting new morningstar agents from the npc new amsterdam populace moving forward. her logic is that these people will be more invested, and that support for morningstar seems to be increasing post-dreams. her basic goal is to continue to increase pro-morningstar sentiments by spreading their influence.

is there room for doing this kind of recruitment drive? obviously quietly/subtly and she would be open to how that should look bc rey is no spy, but the idea of let's take advantage and pull more people on board now. eta: her primary focus would be recruiting people who are disadvantaged by the current government in various ways because they are most likely to jump on the cause.

[adsero]

Hello mods!

So per the calendar update, Tifa and I moving all our discussion about the hoverbike shop over here! I can't really speak to Rey's motivations, but Abel has been looking for both a job and a way to contribute to Morningstar and assisting the Displaced. He might argue that while "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" is a decent way to hide something, just hoping something this important isn't found out could be dangerous and having a line of defense could be beneficial.

Both Abel and Rey have experience being mechanics, and Rey has worked in a shop before so she would understand what would go into opening it as a business. There's also been some player interest in using some of the space as a communal area for Displaced who want to work on other projects or use it as a garage for shared vehicles in the future, I think that could be a great setting for characters to meet up and work on things together.

I think at this point we just need to know what steps they'd need to take next, how much funding they'd realistically need to drum up to start, licenses, et cetera. Thanks! :D

[monomachy]

hi, mods! i've posted to the jobs page about diana having a job with the lilly&moki art gallery as a gallery attendant (the most entry-level job i could find). would you be able to tell me a little about the art scene in new amsterdam, and who might be in attendance of private showings/events, which she would always volunteer to staff?

diana worked at the louvre in her canon, and was often invited to charity galas, etc. at museums and galleries. she'd be looking to get the same kind of social position eventually here in NA, and would try to start networking towards becoming an independent art dealer so she could rub shoulders with the social elite of NA. all of this would ultimately go towards her own goals of finding out who might have had a hand in the displaced's... displacement.

[mercurio]

hi!

1a. i just wanted to clear something up to avoid confusion from my behalf. as per gaby's comment on the v rescue log here, she mentions But we need to discuss it. So, here's the message for all of you – save you, V. You aren't set up yet. Prompto can pass it along through the network later. obviously, to pass on the message to v, but i was wondering if she meant it in the sense of "put it up on the network for all of the displaced to see." i'm not against it, but i just want to make sure that that's what she meant!

1b. were it the case that gaby means for prompto to share it with everyone on the network: i just want to make sure to include the right information! the log isn't finished as of yet and i'm not sure how much longer it'll take, and whilst trying to keep up with the timing and the pace of events... here are some points i consider could be included:

—the text gaby received in its entirety
—the circumstances by which they found v
—how v was dropped off at the haunted house (with care and reverence) in contrast to their usual drop offs

is there anything else that prompto should share? either in more specificity or otherwise...? like gaby's frustration or how she hasn't been compromised, or the like... i'm not too sure on whether that's something she would like being shared or not. also the consequent conversation everyone's having about what it all means for them (perhaps a tl;dr of it).

if prompto isn't meant to share this with the displaced squad then feel free to ignore lol

2. now for something different! what with prompto's presence in cooltalk rising thanks to his friendship with hideki and prompto's general... obsessing and micro-managing of the app (#photographerlife), i was thinking of trying to veer his job options towards those optics some more. he now has a legit camera from the future thanks to hideki, too. i was wondering how likely it is for him to move towards being a photographer at gigs, music events/concerts, and the like? i wasn't thinking of him being hired for the biggest or most popular of events, but smaller gigs—at least at first. he already attends plenty of these all by himself and takes pictures while in the crowd just because he wants to and can do so.

just looking to see if it would be a possibility and viable to keep him afloat financially.

[larkers]

Hi Kira! To cover the first question - we meant for Prompto to give it to V once his ID is set up! As for sharing it with the game as a whole, we do want that to happen eventually! However, we'd prefer to see how the current thread goes before any decisions are made on that front about what information is released to everyone else.

Sorry about the confusion!

[mercurio]

awesome! confusion cleared, thanks!

[larkers]

Hi Veronica! Thanks for following up.

This all sounds good! You can assume Loki's first book sells well within a couple months of its release, but it would mostly sell within niche online circles. Any more notoriety would require a more dramatic marketing campaign.

[larkers]

Hi Gee!

Thank you for bringing this to us! There wouldn't be any immediate consequences, as the bartender would be more inclined to believe the glowing was a practical effect done by technology, and too scared by the power demonstration to go after Laura or Kovacs.

[larkers]

Hi Ramey! Thanks for bringing this to us.

1. Most "off the books" accounts are handled through laundering fronts. He can either learn about this through Ardyn - who would be aware of this thanks to his new position - or he can learn about it from Loki, Jason or any other number of characters who are partaking in shady business. Anyone who's working in the fighting rings would likely be aware of how the rings do payouts through laundering fronts, making it seem as if the fighters are couriers, temp workers or temporary contractors.

For X'rhun's particular case, he doesn't need to go through any complicated routes. If he wants to offer money to Morningstar directly, El can hook him up with the proper accounts to transfer money. If he wants to support the Displaced, he can go through Markus and Stephen's bar to help support its startup. They need funds to get started, and he can help support them in this endeavor.

2. There is no need to have a specific reason to have a joint account! All they need to do is apply for it, and they'll be allowed.

[larkers]

Hi Anne! Thanks for following up.

Actually, we have a suggestion for you! We believe that Thor can create a gym that exists at the heart of the fighting rings, making it so that he can maintain a clientele from his time in the rings. A location like this would allow him to utilize it to interact with more impoverished parts of the city, and the real estate would be far cheaper. This would either be at the edges of the city or the underground portion of the city.

Let us know if this works for you, and you can assume that he's worked with Loki to start moving in his direction. The rest of your plan sounds great, and like a fun direction for Thor to explore in game.

[larkers]

Hi Aeri!

Thanks for letting us know! We'll keep this in mind when you approach us about her future endeavors.

As for commissions, once Sansa begins to advertise more widely, it's very possible she will get some commissions! To start, she will mostly be getting well-off cosplayers and independent performers. Feel free to make up whatever you want along these lines, including if you want to use these customers as plot opportunities. As she builds her portfolio, it is possible she will receive more professional interest.

[larkers]

Hi Julia! Thanks again for clearing up everything with question number one - and never worry about length!

Moving past the first one:

2. Would Cain be putting himself out there for modeling or applying for these positions, or would he ask people to come to him? As far as we know, he's both a fighter in the fighting rings and doing construction work, which might make it reluctant for these companies to use him as their face.

3. This direction would be far easier for Cain! However, Simone would be reluctant to hook up with someone over social media while showing support for the brewing rebellion on Mars, so he would need to find a direction to meet her. Thankfully, Alex - a friend of Cain's, we believe! - has that in thanks to her time working as a singer in a number of Petrov clubs. We recommend moving Cain in that direction.

4. As Hideki walks them inside, he would remark that they usually have a lot more staff, but his mother "threw a tantrum" and fired everyone recently. That means she hasn't hired new staff, and he's forced to do take out every night. He misses having a personal chef! He wouldn't have any clues as why the staff is gone if they ask, just that his mother has been more stressed and irritable than normal.

Their apartment would actually take up three floors. The main entertainment would be on the main floor: there is a wall set up for watching movies, as well as very, very nice couches that … may somehow be made out of leather. The dog will be here, too, trotting around and looking cute. There is a nicely stocked bar on this floor, and this is where Hideki would plop down and put on music very loud by syncing up his neural implant with the apartment's speakers. This music will be able to be heard on every level.

The second level is where the Maedas keep their pretentious art and other cultural artefacts. The temperature in this area is carefully regulated. This is where Aoi keeps her shrine that she had sliced out of a wall, but there is nothing about it that makes it seem as if it's especially treasured, as well as a number of other paintings that she bought throughout the years. She has other art - and some of it was purchased and installed recently, bought off the art walks that were set up following the Halloween festival. None of this art is from the Displaced, however, so it doesn't seem as if she has a particular proclivity toward them. She also has a library on this floor dedicated to a lot of books, but they're held behind a glass door and someone needs to have the neural implant access to open them.

The third floor is where the bedrooms are. There are four of them, with the master bedroom having a locked door. They won't be able to get in unless they break the lock, which would be difficult to do without sending a security signal to Hideki's parents. There is a way to do this by shutting down the power on the apartment building, but it would, again, cause some issues because the senior Maedas would be informed.

ETA we left out that's critical: What won't be obvious is that there are security cameras all over. Usually apartments don't have these to the extent that the Maeda family does, but they monitor movement in all parts of the apartment. The second floor with the gallery is especially monitored, as it has the family's prized possessions. These cameras won't be visible to the naked eye, as Maeda doesn't want people to know she's watching them when she's not in the room.

We know that this isn't a lot of information, but they would be able to have a map of the apartment. Let us know if they'll be going through more extreme means to get into the locked bedroom, or if they'll be happy to report on this to Jason!

[larkers]

Hi Laura!

We're sorry - we believe that some wires got crossed here. When you asked for the first safehouse location for Morningstar to help native citizens, we thought you meant a safehouse not unlike the first one where the characters were held before the monster attack. A theater of this size with the scope you're suggesting makes it sound more like a Morningstar HQ, which the anonymous overhead people would be reluctant to support at this time. They want to ensure that refugees can have a place to huddle down before Gaby works with them to get them out of the city.

For now, we recommend putting this on the backburner as a long-term goal for the city's chapter, but they need to have their systems set up and have new safehouses found and prepared.

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

We recommend that you touch base with Jen, Ellie and Laura about this, but we believe the focus right now on New Amsterdam and Morningstar is focused on rebuilding the structure and support system. We know that Jen is having Markus put out feelers to see who might be interested in helping, so Rey may be able to work in tandem with him. Overall, the focus is on creating a system that can support recruitment, rather than recruiting in general. This is what Gaby would recommend at this time, since the PCs still need to train as agents before they look into bringing on other people.

[larkers]

Hi Serey! Thanks for following up on this.

If you do want to pursue operating an actual business this is possible, but it would be a long term project and involve some challenges. Besides funding for licensing and making the storefront customer-ready as well as the normal business expenses of tools, materials, advertising, etc, there would be the greater concern of additional security for the safehouse, since this would make the safehouse more trafficked and obvious. We would need to know more about how they intend to keep this location safe.

But as of right now, it sounds as if your interests lean more recreational, and we do believe this would be more feasible for Rey and Abel to pursue at this stage. Morningstar would be reluctant to fund another Displaced business before the bar is opened by Stephen and Markus, which they feel should be the Displaced's priority. They (the Displaced) chose to open the bar instead of the garage, making the garage the safehouse. Once the bar is up and running, they can focus on the garage and pitch for a business there.

We feel like this location for recreational purposes would be a great resource for the Displaced as a whole, both for IC and OOC reasons (IC so they have a workspace, OOC so you can create CR opportunities).

[forcevisions]

I've actually already been in touch with Ellie and Laura about this, and can link you to the threads of Rey discussing this with Peggy and Fitz if you want. I'm not really sure why widening network by recruiting isn't a good focus at this time. Can you explain further?