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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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As per this log with Gaby, Peggy will now be using her position in City Hall to subtly orchestrate/facilitate travel to New Tokyo for the PCs in the wake of the latest kaiju attack.
The general plan, as outlined with Gaby, would be to suggest the idea of New Amsterdam sending out a disaster response team to New Tokyo as a show of commiseration and good faith, as a city that survived a similar attack not too long ago. (If relevant, she would also lean into it being a good PR move, too, rather than closing up borders and letting every man fend for himself.) This would be said to a supervisor (or several) who trusts and appreciates her input and they, in turn, would pass it up the chain. Whether or not people hear that the idea came from Peggy is up to you (if only to further solidify her good standing in local gov't) but for her part, she will also suggest City Hall do a relief goods drive for the victims of New Tokyo and she'd offer to spearhead that project. (She would have done this almost immediately after the news broke.) The idea is that PCs can volunteer there, as well as through Morningstar's other contact organisations as mentioned by Gaby, to be shortlisted as people willing to be part of the team heading to New Tokyo. Gotta have that clean backstory, etc.
Peggy will also look into ensuring the PCs who volunteer have the proper documents and strong applications in order to gain travel clearance, since her work as a city clerk touches on passport agent duties. She will reach out to coordinate with El to be absolutely certain their IDs and backstories will all hold up under what is sure to be close, strict scrutiny. The overall goal is not for her to go on the team — she will only if absolutely necessary but prefers to mind the wheel at home — but to ensure 1) the PCs have a way in, 2) the PCs have a way out aka a guarantee NA gov't will bring them home, and 3) that none of this points to Morningstar and that it's all as legal as possible. She will be extremely discreet and careful and while this doesn't have to happen immediately, since disaster relief does span months realistically, it will be something she's meticulous about pulling off.
Please let me know if you need any clarification and if this works! Thank you!
no subject
This sounds fantastic. Thanks for putting this together!
A few quick notes!
1. You can feel free to name the NPC that she spoke to - please let us know who they are! She won't get credit for her work, but neither will that NPC. Someone will claim it higher up the chain. When that happens, Peggy will find a close ally in the NPC she reached out to in the first place.
2. The rest of this sounds great. Since our upcoming plot involves dreams, you can assuage any concerns that players won't be able to be involved in relief efforts. They'll still be involved and connected to the event plot!
3. Would you be willing to post this plot on the OOC community to get the word out? A lot of this planning happened on the fly in a series of NPC threads, so we don't expect anyone else to be tracking those!
Thanks again for putting this together! Let us know if you need anything further cleared up that we missed.
no subject
1. This is awesome, thank you. I'll think up a name for them and see what else can happen moving forward. 👀
2/3. I'll absolutely pass on the word in the OOC comm and the game server to be sure everyone knows about it! Is it safe to say that a team being sent to New Tokyo and the relief goods drive were both approved, then? In which case, Peggy will also let Markus know so he can start actively reaching out to PCs about getting involved via the volunteer efforts in NA first (which I think could be largely handwaved or background for logs as people work the donation centre with Peggy, etc?).
edit: Oh! And would those other orgs/Morningstar contacts mentioned by Gaby be similar humanitarian efforts? Can you tell me more about those?
Also, I'm assuming this travel plot would take place after our dream event and that the overall planning with El and her work in City Hall goes smoothly? I'll still post about it prior to be sure everyone is caught up, but just wanted to get the timeline straight!
Thank you again!
no subject
2/3. They're absolutely approved!
As for the edits:
The main group is called PRESERVE - a group that is largely centered around trying to help the environment and preparing for various natural disasters around the world. There are members of PRESERVE who are Morningstar, but they are a completely separate (and only pacifistic) organization. They tend to go in for relief efforts when major earthquakes happen and are officially sanctioned by the UN, albeit not directly associated with them. There are a lot of smaller groups with similar names, but they don't have the reach or ability to help out on the same scale (and many peter out before long or are absorbed into PRESERVE). The PCs would want to sign up with PRESERVE since El and Peggy's work would be more effective if it's aligned with them. They have a "brand" that's seen as more socially acceptable.
We are assuming it would take place alongside it - realistically, they would likely be in transit on a train to New Tokyo when the event starts. Our primary goal is to help some of the PCs get out of New Amsterdam and see the world! Either way, the turn around on relief efforts would be very quick due to the nature of it (the scale and the hope that they can save some lives who may be lost in the wreckage) and because Governor Gill-Jade dragged her feet during the monster relief efforts. That's part of why Peggy's efforts would get so much traction: someone would know that Gill-Jade would want to spearhead efforts to help another city that experienced a similar tragedy.
no subject
Would the OOC post serve as a sign-up post as well? Is there anything you would like me and/or Jen to include in it? Or would we simply gather names and pass them on to you for the details of the trip moving forward?
I am so excited to see the world expand and to see how this all pans out!
no subject
Yes, that's absolutely fine! Another suggestion is that you draw attention to it on the event post so that it's advertised there, since many players won't track the general OOC community and we know the entire playerbase hasn't joined the game discord.
Do you think you have enough information regarding New Tokyo from the thread with Gaby to describe it? IE that it's man-made, out on the ocean, and walled? It's fairly destroyed at the moment, but like with New Amsterdam, we're very open to player additions to the setting (though we'd like to keep our locations centralized around New Amsterdam for the time being). Any and all food and board would be handled by PRESERVE, but no one should expect much by way of quality. Everyone will have to sleep outside in tents, and there won't be many opportunities for washing up.
no subject
So as a rough outline, the OOC post will describe the situation, the conversation(s) that led to the push for travel out to New Tokyo (working with the idea that PCs did express wanting to head out), and that people would have been told by Markus and/or Peggy to sign up with PRESERVE to get their names on the list for approval (aka sign up in the comments of the post). A description of what they're doing in New Tokyo will be included as well as a description of the city (pulled from the Gaby log) — most importantly, the addendum that you can participate in both this and the dream event without a problem!
Will there be a mod-posted log for this simultaneous to the dream event or under a header within that event log? Will characters interested in connecting with New Tokyo's Morningstar branch be able to do so? And what are the travel dates / how long will they be away from New Amsterdam?
no subject
Right now, we'll say that the characters can be on the train in the event log (which means they won't be providing relief yet - we'll firmly set that in contrast to what we said before after working out the logistics), but there won't be a separate log for it. Beyond that, a lot will depend on the event itself, so we don't want to set anything in stone at this time! We promise that this will make more sense when you see the event post! That means that it may take some time for follow up, but we feel things will be more malleable that way.
no subject
Thank you so much for all of this, mods. The post will mostly be about getting names and gauging interest then and we'll work with you/leave it up to you to see where it goes from there! It'll be up in the OOC comm asap so it catches the event planning post, too.
As always, you're the coolest mod team ever. 🙌🏼
edit: the OOC planning post is here and will be linked in the event post as well!
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These characters include:
Thanks!
no subject