![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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.
.
no subject
Thank you for taking this on. This is incredible! Gaby in particular will be grateful. Although she would have wanted to be able to do this herself, she's not exactly equipped to do work beyond relief efforts and helping people. In that way, they can both feel free to assume that being nudged into this role was partly of her own making. She didn't want New Amsterdam to go dark. El will be far more nonchalant about it, but grateful since his role as an IT guy means he can't be the "face" of anything.
One of the prevailing notes throughout this will be that there was still a framework in place in New Amsterdam that could be picked up. The reason why they didn't do it was because most of the trusted connections there were swept out of the city in a rather noisy manner, and it would potentially compromise Morningstar activities elsewhere. One of the key things about Morningstar isn't just their agents or contacts - both of which were compromised - but anyone who might be a part of their "network." In producing this plan, El would pass over a file with potential/past contacts with people around New Amsterdam who have helped out before, even if they had no idea that it was a Morningstar mission. This file would be encrypted to Fitz and Peggy. Some of these people are restaurant owners, some are members of the gangs and mob families, and some are in corporations (though there are understandably fewer here). There are no contacts in the government - given the sensitivity of their activities, they would have needed a fully committed member there in order to keep them safe (and it would be hard to hide why they were getting information). Some of this information involves pieces of blackmail and bribes to get someone to do something - and some of these bribes are still in place, so new Morningstar agents can slip in, reference it, and take over if needed.
Our primary OOC aim is to give the PCs opportunities to setup a network around the city. They can call upon these old contacts, or even choose to dismiss them and set up a new one. We're not putting any hard limits on these except that they can't be in the government (Peggy would now fill that role) and we believe there are enough PCs in roles at the corporations to fulfill those ties. Otherwise, the sky's the limit - and we feel this would be a fun place for people to make up NPCs. Sometimes these connections could just get them into a building to get into another building - it doesn't need to be directly tied to Morningstar efforts.
The key thing is that trust will need to be built. We won't be tracking that ourselves, and we'd prefer for this to be more of a plotting opportunity for characters who have joined Morningstar. They don't need to go through you two, either - that would expect way too much work! If you want to copy and paste this swath of information, please feel free!
Now, to specific points!
RELIEF: Gaby will be able to assist with these efforts, and this all sounds great. Gaby will know about some contacts herself, but the supplementary file will help fill in the rest of the gaps. She knows a lot of the good paths through the city, and in helping someone get out. One thing that will be abundantly clear is that no one knows where Morningstar brings people after they leave the city. If someone needs to go - and they try to de-escalate things before they get to that point - it's left unknown. Even Gaby doesn't have a clue, and she's helped multiple people get out throughout the years.
Much of the work with relief involves making sure that people who are squatting get food. There are several "hot spots" around the city that need help. Morningstar going dark means that Gaby is taking on some of this herself. She's asked Caroline to use her vampire speed to help out, but that's obviously not possible while everyone is in New Tokyo. She's taken it back up while everyone is on their unintended vacation.
There is the other part of relief efforts, however: helping people move out of the city. Some people piss off the wrong gang, corporation, mob family, or even just their neighbor with connections. These people need protection as they leave their homes and temporarily settle down in a safehouse. Peggy's connections in the government will be able to smooth over these transitions to help people get out. However, they still need to move through the city safely in the meantime, so trained individuals will be needed.
Training for those who help people get out typically involves firearm training, as well as hand to hand. They can do some limited "lock picking" - IE breaking circuit boards to get inside, or tapping in and letting IT do the rest of the work. While Gaby in particular is reluctant to actually pull her gun, she'll do it if needed - but never shoot at someone. She knows there are others who took this job who were far more willing.
INFORMATION: Aside from the large file they'll have up front, they'll have to follow up on this constantly. We know that Fitz and Peggy already have people in positions to do this! We don't know if these PCs will be helping Morningstar, but we know you have a head start.
They will be able to reach out to the contacts who are underground near New Amsterdam. Their location is tentative, and Peggy and Fitz won't be able to interact with them face to face. This is for their safety - as well as Peggy and Fitz's, as it could compromise the Displaced's safety, as well. Most of these contacts are lab techs for Pulsar and Giles Bell who weren't called on as often for assistance, but they can fill in the gaps for any scientific know-how that the PCs won't be able to fill. Reaching out to them will be difficult - and it'll only be possible through El. Basically, it'll be a game of telephone. They stuck around because they want to help - and some of them want to know what the Displaced even are, so there's some intellectual curiosity at play. Some of these agents will have liaised with some of the contacts from the file that El will provide - though we'll leave it up to you as to whether or not this is useful or could cause problems! These agents are here to help the PCs! So, this can be called upon whenever!
There are also Morningstar contractors in neighboring cities who will come in and do construction work. Once they get back from New Tokyo, they'll get the contact information for a set of contractors from New Budapest and New Prague (there were two separate contractor groups at work) in case they need further work done.
Most of the cooler sentiments toward the PCs was because they were blamed for the major upheaval in New Amsterdam - and recent information pointing elsewhere has definitely changed things. While each chapter of Morningstar in each megacity largely works independently, they can reach out and help one another with minor crises. In Peggy and Fitz's cases, they'll need to go through El for those occasions. They'll be encouraged to set up a network that covers all of these occasions in New Amsterdam proper.
As a note - there is a chapter of Morningstar in every city! That's why they could go dark on New Amsterdam. It wasn't an easily made decision, but they wanted to cut things off.
Otherwise, liaising with New Tokyo and getting the word out that they're (tenuously) starting things up again will help. Some chapters will take a "wait and see" approach - New Tokyo will have to be among them in part because they need to take care of their own city, and they're pretty far from New Amsterdam (for 2511, anyway).
RESISTANCE: All of this sounds fantastic! Again, we would never ask you to set up missions, but we're very interested in having players bring missions to us. These can begin with the networking ventures, or people can go big and break into Gill-Jade's office right away. Obviously, actions have consequences, but we're just as interested to see this at work. We recommend these being player organized and according to their own player plots. We love expanding on the world according to PC actions, and are eager to keep at it!
SAFEHOUSE: They would need to find a location that works and can be subtly picked up and bought, since Morningstar does buy these properties through a series of dummy companies (though it's less that Fitz and Peggy would know this, and more that it's safe to assume that's what's happening). OOCly, we don't mind at all - feel free to pitch it! We're not married to the coffee shop being that safehouse, and we want you to feel free to do what you need. There isn't a lot of existing infrastructure like what you've suggested because most of Morningstar's communication is done through heavily encrypted networks. However, Fitz and Peggy will know most of their immediate agents.
If you need any further assistance from us, please let us know! If we need to expand on anything so you don't have to write it up yourselves, we're also definitely happy to do that.
no subject
We're working on an ooc post to spread this information now, but we'll let you know if anything arises from that and reply with the new Morningstar safehouse/headquarters proposal soon.