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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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no subject
So Shikki and I are looking for Kate and Damian to get into trouble in New Amsterdam while everyone else is off exploring this month. We were thinking Kate could go investigate that guy who stabbed Damian with a poisoned knife a while back, because they suspect he’s doing something shady in the underground. Then she’d get caught, and knife guy could try to use her as leverage against Damian. I’m fine with Kate getting hurt during the course of this (because Hawkeyes are punching bags lbr), or not, whichever is easier for you guys to integrate!
Shikki would also like Damian to lose an arm during this, because she’s mean. Likely that could happen during the course of the rescue, and could hopefully lead into something later where he tries to track down a prosthetic, possibly through Gaby? I think we’re also both hoping this could turn into an ongoing thing for Damian and Kate. Other than that, we’re open to whatever you guys would like to cook up, but if you want us to come up with more details we’re down for that, too!
Thanks!
Jenny and Shikki
no subject
So first off, Kate's investigation! She'd have to dig into the guy a bit to find out more about him. While he was once on Maeda's payroll, the arrangement was temporary, and it seems that he was only bought as a hand for Maeda's schemes. Of course, she would get this information through asking about Maeda and asking his associates. You'll have to consider: would Kate (being a punching bag Hawkeye) go right after him, or would she ask his associates? The former would lead him to wanting to retaliate right away, with him trying to attack her on the spot; the latter would lead to her being able to dig up information in time. Either way, he was reassured by Maeda that no one would come after him and cause him problems, so he would be eventually looking into who's coming to get him. Once he captures Kate, he'd let Maeda know that someone was coming for him, someone trying to make a thing out of him—just a hired hand, someone who was supposed to be protected. Maeda wouldn't give a single crap about him, but would be clued in that Kate and Damian were starting up animosities again. (Jason's so far been subtle about what he's been looking into with Maeda.)
This would spin things into motion. Maeda would alert the guy that she's taking over his "operation," and would order him to be killed. One of her paid hands would carry out the assassination. She'd then have those hands take custody of Kate. She'd probably hear the scuffle, the body hitting the floor, and then she'd be hauled off again.
From here, it's going to be a matter of Maeda deliberately laying clues for Damian (and potentially Jason!) to follow to find out where Kate is being kept. Once he (or they, including Jason) gets there, a fight would undoubtedly break out. Maeda's security team has been buffed up in the interim as a result of the fallout and instability around her household because of the dreamscape (even if she obviously doesn't know that this was caused by the Displaced). She would want to make a big statement that Damian was an arrogant fool to kick up dirt again. Kate will be kept at a warehouse in the underground cave system, held by hired armed guards with illegal weapons. They'll be enough to secure both Jason and Damian (depending on who arrives) with tranquilizers (the method of administration is up to you). Maeda won't want to to kill them. They'll still be conscious and able to both see and hear as the next bit goes down.
It would be through this that Damian would lose his arm: and Maeda would know which is his dominant arm and would take it off. She would be the one to do it herself, forcing his potential partners to watch as she weakens him. She'll have a hand saw that resembles a hot plasma saw to remove it. The wound would be cauterized, but not clean. There would probably still be some small amount of blood loss. The tranquilizers would be in place here, so the amount of anaesthetic that he gets from it is really up to Shikki! Of course, she'd have a mask on the entire time, so that surveillance or neural implant footage would be useless. Her dialogue would be very telling, too. Telling as in "careful" to not reveal any information, making it seem like she's the "average" well-connected thug. There would be more, too, like how Damian needs to be better at "keeping his business to himself."
As far as his arm goes, she'll be keeping it. Don't expect to find it anywhere in her house, as that would be quite the shock for poor Hideki. (That's not to say they can't look for it there using the blueprints that Cain and Prompto got months ago, but it won't be there.)
Afterward, Damian would need to go to the doctor to get a new arm as those are covered for free under health care (and Gaby and Morningstar can't get him one off the Black Market since it's actually more secure to get one legally). No one's going to stop him from doing this, but Maeda will be tracking his movements.
They're free to take out some of the hired hands, as long as there's enough to make sure that this goes down and Maeda heads out afterwards. Otherwise, please feel free to play around as you see fit. If you need to change some details, just let us know. Otherwise we'll wait for you all to come to us for the next step!
no subject
i. what can damian expect re: a recovery timeline for the arm injury and learning to work with his brand spanking new cybernetic arm. i'm assuming the arm has no actual sensation to it? correct me if i'm wrong here!
ii. a. damian wants to augment it. if he's getting a robot arm, he's going to take the most of it. this definitely means black market dealings. if damian reaches out to some connections he made while in the fighting rings, will he be able to find any leads on who he can go to in order to find parts? he wants to stick a sword that wouldn't be detectable in there.
ii. b. will he be able to figure out how to modify it himself as he's been in the game for a while now and is pretty used to the technology, or will he need to go to an npc?
iii. things have gotten out of hand enough that damian feels he needs more info about maeda and the parts of the world he doesn't understand. would it be possible for him to talk to gaby about it?
no subject
i. Thank you for bringing this to us, and we apologize if we quoted a different timeline earlier. Sensation in cybernetics and prosthetics are standard, thanks to the way they interface with the neural implant. As for recovery time, the initial healing period would be about two weeks, during which he'd be fitted for the prosthetic. The arm would take another two weeks to be custom built, and once it's attached, Damian will be able to control the level of sensation, essentially turning it on or off. In total, you can assume anywhere from three weeks to a month.
ii. a. Yes, the fighting rings would be a great place to start! All it would take is watching some fights with a close eye to identify some of the regulars who have augmented cybernetic limbs. While it might take some work to earn their trust enough to get direct answers out of them, if Damian plays his cards right he should be able to get some useful information here.
ii. b. Given that all cybernetics involve neural implant functionality, the tech is very advanced and therefore Damian would likely need an NPC to help him with this. The best path we can think of here is if he can find a Giles Bell scientist who's left the company/gone rogue for some reason, who would have the know-how to modify the arm while also being willing to do it in a less than legal way.
iii. Sure thing! We can either set up a log or if you want to wait for the next arrival log (which is going up on Feb. 15), Damian can hit her up then.