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.
.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[larkers]

Hi Axael,

Engineering positions are very competitive in the world of Meadowlark and nepotism is rampant, so you are correct that Rodney would have to start in a fairly low-level position. He would be able to secure one of these with the background Morningstar will have set him up with. And yes! Since Meadowlark's world is a bit different than the one he comes from, he can also begin looking into taking some online courses or expanding his knowledge in current systems to keep his skills competitive.

We suggest you read about the various corporations on the locations page to see which one suits Rodney best!

[larkers]

Hi Ellie! Thanks for bringing this to us!

The Elections

1. It's less that there is anyone they favor - Gill-Jade choosing not to run again has still thrown things into disarray - and more that they believe that Jovavich is a foregone conclusion. Public opinion hasn't made up their minds yet, but they seem to believe that Jovavich is a foregone conclusion, too. Polling backs Lynch, but that isn't with the same sentiments as anyone believing he can win.

2. No one knows for sure why Gill-Jade isn't running, but Neema will say that Gill-Jade seems to be a bit dead inside when it comes to her job and has been missing from her office. This isn't publicly known, and she may ensure that she and Peggy are sitting somewhere out of the public eye when she says it. There are rumors over why Gill-Jade is stepping down - mainly, that the big three corporations - but Neema believes that Gill-Jade was pushed to a point of extreme exhaustion because of the recent crises, and couldn't do it anymore.

Much like with what we said in question one, Neema believes Jovavich is a foregone conclusion, the same way that Gill-Jade once was.

3. They believe that Jovavich is the one who will win, and since she'll have the backing of the big three corporations in New Amsterdam, they believe they might as well back her, too. They don't want to support anyone who goes against the grain.

Lynch will be mentioned as being too soft, but appealing to the public eye - whereas Durcell won't be mentioned at all. There are other candidates, as we mentioned, but no one who's important enough to mention.

4. Joseph Lynch is the head of Ibis, an arm of Giles Bell that has been with the company for a couple centuries. It started off as a company to pioneer the development of replacement organs for people, and they've been behind the development of the medi-units. Obviously, Lynch wasn't a part of these developments, but Ibis is fairly well known for maintaining and advancing this technology, and it speaks well of Lynch is the current head of the subsidiary.

Lynch is personally a well-off black man in his 60s. He's been married since he was 20 to Marris Alonso, a woman who was born under less ideal circumstances. He's been reaching out to communities that are financially disadvantaged all his life, and he's also donated money to projects like PRESERVE in order to help them out. He helps other charity groups get off the ground, but as we noted before, a good deal of these groups don't go very far.

5. The last Monday in October 2512.

Peggy's Career

1. Let's say she's worked there since April 2511. But as we've discussed before, there wouldn't be a tidy rewriting of the fabric of the world, so most people would believe her to be a rather dedicated if not standout employee during this time.

2. Yes, she's on the right track with her career advancement, and would be invited to these parties! We do recommend that she try to hold down this particular version of her job for a few more (IC) months, as she may seem too impatient about her advancement!

[larkers]

Hi Leigh!

The issue here is that Pulsar won't be pleased to see Fitz's involvement since any advancements he makes are meant to be their property under contract. It may be more suitable for Fitz to not be present or involved in the presentation of these schematics, as they'll otherwise be legally allowed to claim this project as theirs without paying Sniper for them.

If you want to proceed as described, Fitz would run into issues with non-compete clauses in his contract with Pulsar, and it wouldn't bolster him to have had Sniper bring these schematics. On the contrary, there is a very real chance he would endanger his position at Pulsar, and we assume that is not the goal here!

If Fitz isn't present, you can feel free to assume Sniper makes bank and can share that money with Fitz afterward!

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

These directions sound great, and she'll be able to make a foundation with the machinery people, as well as the individuals in the tents. We recommend that Rey continue to stay away from mentioning Morningstar at this time, but she can speak to the tents people to figure out what they do for a living and perhaps see if she can work with them and help them out, earning these favors in turn.

Anyone who had an issue with her boss - competitors or former employees - will be reluctant to deal with her, though they will understand why getting fired was relatively unfair. They may not offer her much help in her recruitment efforts, but they will offer her a job and other insight into businesses.

[forcevisions]

1. Should I provide y'all with specific potential examples of favors that Rey can do for them to embellish some of this or is it ok for it to be handwaved?

2. Would there be any reason to believe accepting one of these job offers would open more doors than her current position as a mechanical technician for Giles Bell?

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

1. Handwaving is fine, but feel free to touch base with us in the future.

2. They'll be similar jobs to her first one, so that is up to Rey ultimately!

[wangxian]

Alright! Thank you so much! I'll hop on over to the job page then to fill that out.

Also, in addition to this, Pax and I have been chatting about possible duets (pending approvals, of course). Would it be alright to just sort of throw that in there as well? They canonically play together and LWJ's out there willin' to help always. Haha.

[larkers]

Yes, that's fine!

[blyat]

Thanks for this! Makes sense.

So am I correct in assuming that even if power is shut down to the building, the cameras would still operate?

[larkers]

Yes, they would!

[stabilis]

Sounds good!

I actually did some looking based on the OOC info and I'm guessing it's a Meadowlark bird (gaSP). Let me know if that's on point, but I'll see if I can wrangle that as an IC conclusion somehow or find other connections to it. So far I don't think anybody's ICly mentioned that it might've been an animal.

[larkers]

Nailed it!

Let us know when it's figured out ICly! There are a few clues pointing to it, but not directly. We will say that his searches won't come up with much, but we get the feeling that once the ball is rolling, you'll have more questions.

[stabilis]

Cool, I'll try to get people gossiping about dream birds!

And just to make sure - when you say he won't find anything, do you specifically mean anything obviously important? i.e. can he easily google the same flimsy bird connection I did, then toss it out there so we can do some IC detective work to pull other clues out of the woodwork? Since they don't know the game is called Meadowlark, I understand they'd have to do more stumbling to attach meaning to it like I have, but it might help characters draw some parallels to stuff they hadn't initially considered important and get some good conspiracy theories going.

Thanks so much for the quick replies and info!

[stabilis]

also I was too excited about plot and barreled ahead but thank you very much for the gif and fanfare music :'))))

[larkers]

🐣🐣🐣🐤🐥

Hi again!

We were specifically referring to the name itself - Project Meadowlark - as that would not come up with any hits! Sorry for the lack of clarity.

As it is, there are a number of bird-related hints lying around - so one way they can work it out is throw together big motifs from the dreams with that description until they get it right! If they don't get it yet, we're certain that there will be more hints down the line. 🕊🕊🕊

[stabilis]

Got it, thank you!!

Also sorry for further confusion and clarification - do you mean that's one option, or that they outright won't be able to find the Meadowlark bird via searches for 'yellow + dark V' unless they first realize birds are significant? My big concern is that I just don't think anybody does think they're significant ICly, esp not related to this search, so this will remain a big dead end IC for now.

Mostly asking if they can vague search > maybe birds > introduce birds to the convo > get people talking about other random connections, realizing maybe birds are a Thing and watching out for more clues in the future

or does it have to be vague search gets nothing > someone suggests birds are important > search plus birds > results

[larkers]

It doesn't have to be the order we suggested it in! Do you think Johnny would drop the "project" part off his search to see if it might get him closer to it? From our cursory look at things (AKA fiddling with Google), it's the project that would skew the results away from the meadowlark (and the basis of our original answer).

If you think he would, he can always go, "Well, the only thing that matches that is a bird?"

Hopefully this clears it up! As we said before, there are a few bird-related hints lying around, but they're very spread out.

[stabilis]

Hey, thanks again!

Yes, that helps a bunch and clears it up! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going rogue if I went that way, haha. I'll check back in if further questions come up after it gets rolling IC.

EDIT: no questions, just wanted to let you know they've landed on birds and meadowlarks/project meadowlark specifically in this thread!

[saviorexe]

Thanks for the info, as always! Just a few quick follow-up questions.

1. Just to clarify, when you say "He may want to discuss with the other characters about what questions they think they can get answered by a NAPD database.", do you mean to the game as a whole, or the characters involved in V's initial pick-up? (Strange, Dick, Prompto.)

2. When V shares info with Riko, will it be threaded out or will I simply bring the information to plot engagement?

3. I had forgotten, until after I posted my comment, that Riko did mention compensation for V's troubles in aiding her. Would this be substantial enough to act as supplemental income in the interim of V's job hunting?

[larkers]

Hi Jen!

1. This is ultimately up to V! It might be best to start with those few until they've figured out what they want everyone to know. He can also ask without telling anyone why he's asking. Either way, it's up to your discretion, as we don't like to limit anything that someone wants to do, even if it's not tidy (or against Gaby's wishes).

2. Bring it here for now! If it's big, we might end up having a three-way thread with V, Riko and Dick Grayson - once Dick integrates himself with her as a friend.

3. We forgot, too! 🤣😅 Yes, that should be enough!

[retravel]

THANKS FOR THE DEETS MODS this is v helpful.

Quickie follow-ups: So, for the PCs hoping to work on the UNA cache, would it be suitable for me to bring a smorgasbord reply here incorporating various ideas from the network post as a sort of "this is what Fitz would propose with [ list of PCs wanting to try each method for x items + method deets ]" to the rest of team Morningstar for researching the inventory further and possibly getting their hands on the weapons for physical tests? THIS WOULD PROBS NOT BE UNTIL NEXT MONTH so that everyone gets the chance to impact/revise/etc, but I wanted to check it was a viable option for progressing the plot bc a lot of people seem keen!

KIND OF RANDOM, BUT ALSO: Has the Morningstar gear from the raids (whatever percentage of the scrambler masks that Fitz isn't currently working on, the sticky-finger gloves, Morningstar guns etc) been moved elsewhere, too? Is this something team MS can check in and out if they mention it in a plot engagement about whatever they're up to?

[wangxian]

Wonderful!! Thank you so much! I'll keep an eye on the requests page in the interim for the duet part and update the jobs page as needed with that.

[stabilis]

Hey mods!

Just a very silly follow-up question - is info on meadowlarks basically what you'd get in real life, or are there any notable differences? Are they still around, extinct, etc?

Thank you!

[evasives]

hi mods! i thought it might be easier to post recent follow ups in the same thread rather than start a new one!

two quick updates! cassian will be making the discovery about his spine the day after the harvest festival when he slices open his finger on a broken mason jar and makes a run to a walk in clinic to get it patched up. the aftermath'll be threaded out here, and although i'd like to see how the thread goes before figuring out which exact direction he'll go in, he will decide to start digging.

and! over yonder is a list i've started developing for cassian's in game network. it isn't anything Deep so far, just connections he's made with a handful of people he's going to work on deepening, but i thought i'd share the link.

[preceded]

Back again now that I've got more stuff! You answered all of my questions last time, and there weren't any other particular nudges I was looking for! I thought I'd alright popped back in here to say, and to thank you, but oops. Much appreciated as always!

On to the new stuff:

Per his conversation with Gaby, Dick will be making an introduction to Riko under the guise of wanting to be mentored as a detective and see if this is the right path for him to take in his career, from someone who's been doing it for awhile with a solid case record behind her! He would not have approached her before as anything beyond a smile nod as he passes, the same polite courtesy you extend to coworkers you don't know.

He definitely wouldn't approach her too soon after the V Liberation, because that would definitely look a little weird. He'd coordinate with Gaby for a time that she thought Riko would be most agreeable to such a situation. So I'm here to see how you'd like to get that rolling, what that would entail, and leave some deets!

Dick, since he's been one in practice since he was little, would show enough skill in the process of this mentoring to not make her feel like she'd be wasting her time with him. The over all impression should be that he had a knack for it, and a lot of potential that could be nurtured and would benefit from that career track to hone it! He doesn't want to tip her off that his background is anything but what his interface says it is, after all.

As well, since he'll actually be doing more things at the precinct than just paperwork now, I'd love to get some more information about it! A general layout, the sort of things housed in it (beyond the holding cells, which I know of), etc! And also, questions that have no real consequence but that I should have asked earlier- what exactly does the uniform entail?

Thanks!