Kaisou Mod Account (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kaisoumods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kaisouooc2022-12-27 08:56 pm
kaisoumods) wrote in kaisouooc2022-12-27 08:56 pm
January Plotting & CR Post
January Plotting & CR Post
Hello everyone! It's time for the announcement and plotting post for January!
OOC Housekeeping
- The Zodiac Network Post will go up January 1st, with a midmonth post going up January 15th. The game wide event log will go up January 4th.
- If you haven't already, please remember to check in for activity! Activity is due by the end of the month.
- Just a reminder for anyone who hasn't joined yet, but we have a game discord for current players! It's completely optional to join, but come in and say hi!
World Changes
- None this month!
Side quests
New Side Quests have been added for the month of January! Go ahead and sign up! If you haven't turned in quests for December gacha points, you can still do so until the end of the month! However, signing up for any December quests is now closed.
Starting this month, we'll be introducing Titles as an element to side quests! On specific quests, depending on how the quest goes and the level of effort the character puts into the quest, they may earn a title (like "Bruce the Wrathful") that they will become known by in certain NPC rings (Undertown, Spirit Realm occupants, certain factions). These titles may also come with a perk (like a discount on certain stores). While you can earn multiple titles, you can only have one perk active at a time.
Kaisou is now one years old!
As of this month, Kaisou has now hit it's one year anniversary! I want to take a moment to thank everyone who joined and contributed to this game, as at the end of the day a game is nothing without its players. When I started this game, I just wanted to make a fun space for people to play at a relaxed place, and you guys have really helped make that dream into a reality. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
That said this month marks the kick-off of the year two plot! While year one meta plot focused on the "who done it" mystery of what caused the abnormalities, this year will be focusing on dealing with a Spirit Realm that's had it's barrier weaken enough that it's causing a real effect on Kaisou at large.
Due to it being a new year, the regain and app page have been changed to new ones. Also the FAQ has had some minor updates, and we've added a Plot Recap post that gives a synopsis of all the major events in the past year.
New Application Options
A new page for applications has been added! In addition to the new page, there's been a couple changes put into place.
- We understand that characters that have been in the game long enough to acquire a lot of regain points have a huge advantage over newer characters. So to help even things a little, we've increased the amount of points/powers new characters get when they app. Paranormal AUs will start with 6 points to put into their backstory powers, Normal AUs will get 2 free 3-point regains, and OUs will be allowed to retain 1-3 abilities depending on the power level.
- As announced on the December AU workshop, Black Order and POKEGO members are now available to app for any player that's been in the game at least 3 months! More details about them can be read on the app page.
Town Events
We're deep into winter and it's a water month, so the month of January will be an extremely cold and snowy one! Be sure to bundle up! And just like last January to celebrate the cold, the Winter Carnival will be going on in Blue Fish Lake Park! Get out into the cold and enjoy yourselves!
In addition, starting in January the full moon will affect anyone with monster changes for canine, feline or bear. So during the dates of January 5-7th, people who fall under this category will begin having trouble controlling their more monstrous sides. If you don't know anyone of that persuasion, don't worry! There will be NPCs who are struggling with the same issue, so it's chaos for all!
Gate Event: The Zodiac Race
In honor of the Lunar New Year, this month's gate will be based on Chinese mythology! App users will be asked to help out in the annual Zodiac Race (the real zodiac not the corporation), in which they will be expected to escort their assigned Zodiac animal through a dangerous journey through some snowy, monster-filled mountains in order to complete the time honored race. The Zodiac animals that'll be assigned to the characters will be based on their birth year. If they were born outside of Earth's calendar, then you can either choose an animal that'd suit them or RNG it.
To help you get an idea of what having each animal is like, here is the list:
- Rat: Will ride upon you during the race. Clever and on high alert, the rat will warn you of any ambushes and potential shortcuts.
- Ox: Can be ridden or pull a sled. An animal with high endurance, it'll need to rest less than other animals.
- Tiger: It's a tiger. It'll help fighting any demons and may even pull a sled. For your own safety, keep it well fed.
- Rabbit: Can be carried, ride in a sled or hop along. You seem to be luckier in small ways throughout the trip.
- Dragon: An eastern dragon about the size of a tiger. Cannot breathe fire and can only fly short distances. It'll help with fighting any demons and may pull the sled, will not allow you to ride it and tends to be prideful. Please keep it fed.
- Snake: Unfortunately due to the cold weather, the snake is useless and will try to hibernate the whole time. Using your own body to warm the snake will bring luck though and you don't have to feed him.
- Horse: Can be ridden or pull a sled. Faster than the ox, but needs to rest more often.
- Ram: Has a very easy-going temperament. Can pull the sled and has horns it'll headbutt into demons. Also fluffy.
- Monkey: A monkey that'll ride on you or in a sled, and can use tools to help out. Unfortunately, it gets easily bored and is prone to pulling pranks.
- Rooster: It's a chicken. However if you hold onto its feet, it can fly you short distances. Will always wake you up early.
- Dog: A good boy. Can do all the things dogs can do, including helping with demon fights and pulling the sled.
- Boar: While more stubborn, the boar can also pull the sled and do many things that dogs can do. Will charge at demons.
Due to the danger level of this plot, any character who is 15 years or younger will require an older chaperone to be with them. Characters in general are allowed to team up to make their journey and animal wrangling easier!
As a reward for participating in the race, characters will either receive a generous amount of money ($8,000) or be offered a peach of immortality. If the peach is consumed, it will make the character unable to die - however it will come at a hefty cost of being permanently tied to the Spirit Realm. This means OU characters would be unable to return home and all characters will be unable to leave the city boundaries of Kaisou unless they're going into the Spirit Realm (because they need to stay near the Spirit Vein). These consequences would remain even if the character is dropped, so please consider carefully! If you choose to have a character consume the peach, please comment to the thread below!
Alternatively for you sneaky/morally dubious characters, you can choose an Option C in which you take a peach but give it over to the folks at the Zodiac Offices for their own enigmatic reasons. Characters who do this will be paid a much larger sum of money ($40,000), and may cause consequences down the line. If you choose this option, comment to the thread below!
Plotting Comment
Feel free to use this form below to set up any plotting for the month!
no subject
Those are all A-OK changes. Sucks to be them, better learn a lesson from messing around with magical god fruits, wow.
I've talked it over with Pan and we're going to go for Digging that Hole Deeper Option C. Varian will absolutely justify working for Zodiac as at least having one of their own on the inside while also trying to understand the peach better in case he can fix any of the immersive fuck up he's just done (which obviously, he cannot, but he doesn't know when to quit). Totally fine for the long-term consequences for working with the sketchy guys (again) and any negative CR that comes from the Black Order NPCs and characters.
no subject
Alright! In that case, Zodiac will ask for his help in two different tasks.
1) Synthesizing a drink from the remainders of the peach's fruit and juice. Basically making an immortal-making cocktail that's easier to consume.
2) Trying to figure out a faster way to grow the peach seeds within the pit as these types of peach trees take about 9000 years to grow and bare fruit.
Varian can kid himself into thinking they don't have shady plans with this stuff, but honestly I don't know what to tell you Varian the red flags can be seen from space here.
no subject
no subject
January:
Not much will happen on the Zodiac end other than their demand to work for them or to pay for stuff. After Varian makes that agreement, there'll be a delay as his paperwork processes. In the meantime, Varian and Fern can stay in another apartment in the building (AWAY from everyone else for safety reasons) and you guys have time to react to the whole "apartment blown up/tied to the spirit realm oops".
February:
Work at Zodiac begins! Varian will be brought into the back offices of Zodiac HQ to where they have research labs. For the most part the place looks like...a typical office setting that also has plenty of supernatural things. For instance on the floor map there will be an HR department and also a Seers Department. Varian's badge however only allows him access to his specific research lab, and he's pretty heavily monitored because he's Varian. The research lab is pretty similar to ones you'd find in a corporate setting, but again with some supernatural stuff there (spell scrolls, various items from the Spirit Realm, a cauldron, etc). Because he has school, he'll be working there part time after school a few days a week, and will be working alongside Zodiac employees on the research projects.
As for the Zodiac employees...for the most part, they act very much like the kind of people you'd typically find in an office despite all of them being connected to the supernatural in one way or another. As in, they certainly understand that Zodiac is a soulless corporation that does some real bullshit sometime (they complain about their work PLENTY and sometimes you can hear employees groaning over another stupid memo the higher ups sent out) - but man they need the money and not many other places offer health insurance that covers paranormal-related incidents. For a lot of these folks, it's a rock and a hard place situation: their connection to the supernatural is strong enough that it makes it hard for them to live normal lives, but it's not so strong that they'd be able to make a name for themselves in paranormal circles.
As for Varian, their attitudes towards him is....well, imagine if Logan Paul came to work at your job as a temp. While many understand the app users are in tough situations and Zodiac could be better at communicating - a lot of you guys are assholes from their viewpoint, and Varian from his antics has almost become the face of that since every time he pulls something that translate into overtime for them while they clean it up. As such when Varian first arrives, most of the staff will try to avoid interacting directly with Varian as much as possible. There'll be some that are willing to engage in short and civil conversations- and well, there will be some that will say some pretty passive aggressive remarks before they are cut off by their peers. He might even overhear a few of them say that bringing Varian in of all people is a bad idea when they think he can't hear it. Some will at least be nicer about it and insist on Varian learning proper lab safety before he gets them all killed.
It's possible Varian might be able to show he's not The Worst and relations might warm up over time, allowing Varian to converse with them more directly or even get invited to stuff like the monthly office potluck -- but otherwise the frosty behavior will continue his whole temp stint.
No matter, regardless of the staff's opinion of Varian, if he pays attention to their office gossip, he might be able to pick up some things. For instance, a lot of the staff is real wary what the higher-ups want with these peaches. They speculate they plan to sell the stuff to the 1% and honestly none of them are enthused at the idea of an immortal billionaire. And there's also a troubling rumor going around. You see, Zodiac's also been affected by the monster stuff- some of the staff will come in with wolf ears or complaining that their spouse is becoming a monster. But more troubling? Several of the staff who have seen the CEO & board swear that all of those guys are taking on some rather... demonic features lately, such as horns, devil tails, a fixation on making deals, etc. Or as one exasperated employee puts it: "Our bosses are demons, Brenda".
March:
Varian's time at Zodiac wraps up! If he's attempting to sabotage the work, the most he'll be able to do is sabotage the tree growing process to make sure those seeds either won't grow or won't be within this lifetime. So at least those peaches won't be produced on masse- whew!
As for the drink, this is the part that Zodiac was watching more closely and have plenty of experts working with him- so he won't have any real chance to sabotage this project. There'll be able to synthesize enough peach juice for a few people -- and it's pretty fricking clear the juice is going to be taken to the board members to share.
This will open up as a potential quest to TRY to prevent these demons from gaining immortality, but that will up to other characters in March or April. Still, Varian can give the red alert!
And if they don't succeed- well congrats to Moxxie, Varian, and Fern. You managed to give an entire company board of demons the power of immortality. Good job guys.
Please let me know if this all works for you! Obviously I ask you to wait for the proper months for the next plot updates to happen. This is mostly so we can keep the relaxed pace of the game and keep things from getting too overwhelmed.
no subject
He can *play nice* to get into his coworkers good graces (this isn't his first treason rodeo after all). He'll deffo sabotage the growing process and I'm more than happy for him to sound the alarm! Let as many players get involved as they want.
Thanks for all the hard work,I'm sorry he's Like This.