MARCH PLOTTING POST

[monstertruckers]

code

Hello Drifters, and welcome to the March Plotting Post!


March marks a busy month for the game: we’ll be holding our main game event around the 5th or the 7th (depending on schedules!) an ATP/EMP timed for the 8th to go up alongside the EMP comm post, and our second Test Drive Meme on the 15th!

As a reminder, players may tag either the game event OR TDM posts as they wish! If you post a top level in the TDM, please mark in the subject line that you are Currently In-Game. Both for the ease of book keeping, and to help new players figure out who is who! With this said, onto the major stops this month:

With the forest behind them the Convoy makes its way onto the grasslands. Powerlines dot the landscape, decorated with paper scraps. These papers contain messages from home, and can help stabilize Drifters from the effects of last month’s Moon Warp.

While on the move Drifters will encounter the ruins of old homes and stores, with plenty of Husks scattered around these dwellings. While the ruins can provide supplies and shelters, getting too close to the Husks can prompt either monster spawns from the Husks, or behavior changes in Drifters. (Your character may feel restless, on edge, and/or showing a psychological monster trait.) The Convoy has a fix for this in the form of a song played from speakers, but this only works when the Convoy is close at hand.

In addition there will be encounters with a new monster called bull gorgons, which can be harvested for meat but not without a fight! At the end of the month, the terrain will also get more marshy, and will be the perfect spot for a zolom attack. That’s right, the Final Fantasy 7 snake kaiju is going to make an appearance, and they hunt in a pack!

We’re also pleased to announce this is our first event monster month. And this month will be centered around the Harpy and Naga species. A monster transforming storm is going to rage through the grasslands. It temporarily (ie, for one month) imparts traits from one of these monsters if any Drifter stumbles into the storm. This will occur in both the main comms, and the TDM, so feel free to play either way!

As a last house keeping note, we are currently short on mod staff, so feel free to take a look at the Mod Contact page if that is something that sounds interesting!

And that is our route planned for the month! We hope you enjoy this event, and feel free to plan in the comments below!

NAVIGATION

Comments

EVENT FAQ

[monstertruckers]

Questions regarding the events for this month? Ask them here!

And to answer this question immediately: yes you may activate traits from your original monster list for the storm event. Naga and Harpy get the spotlight, but you can still use this prompt to further your original monster changes.

[solitarysoul]

for the notes from home, are these personal to the characters or could there also be just notes or papers that'd exist in their canon?

[bufudine]

Re: the monster transforming storm, while characters can temporarily gain harpy and naga traits, can characters also temporarily lose their current traits as a result of the storm?

Re: EVENT FAQ

[wereperrito]

For the messages from home, would the messages suggest that the people from home know that the Drifters are missing, or are they just general notes?

Additionally, will there be a moon warp this month?

SecUnit | The Murderbot Diaries

[serialmurderbot]

PLOTTING TIME

I'll have solid ideas by the time the event proper happens, but two major things I want to do this month!

1. Run-in with a Husk, including psychological changes! Probably not hive mind just yet, but going to amplify some of SecUnit's current paranoia. It'll spend some time off its game because of this, so it's a good opportunity to return the favor of fighting off monsters, or nudge it back into the Convoy away from the danger. Any efforts to get it to chill for five seconds are also a good vehicle for transitioning into talk about shows and media because it only has one way to calm down lol.

2. Temporary transformation! I'm leaning on naga side of things because that was my second choice, but I am thinking also about drawing on the raksura designs.

I think it would be kind of miserable to get wings in the middle of a high-winds storm, so I'd love to see this happen to someone even if it's not murderbot here.

Fighting with people is also always an option with it of course

[solitarysoul]

I'd like a chance to have Levi help SecUnit out.

also learn its name cause he'll have some amount of feelings about it

[thetatters]

Questions from the resident octopus: Will the storm be a literal storm with rain? And will there be any bodies of water in the grasslands?

Goro Akechi | Persona 5

[undyingcrow]

Akechi is definitely going to run into some paper scraps of case files from the psychotic breakdowns case as well as perhaps one of the Calling Cards from the Phantom Thieves. I could be extra mean and make it Okumura's, too, because it would be very mean. :) Maruki's would also remind him of how much he misses working with Joker, though.

Akechi will definitely be ready and willing to fight some monsters and see no reason why they can't eat monster meat, but I think the scraps from home will further add to his unease. He'll likely want to search for clues and try to make sense of everything.

It doesn't sit right with him that bits of their home worlds are showing up in ruins.

He already suspects there's a cyclical nature to their time here and will be very on edge.

Also, he's going to probably get his BEEG WINGS and feathers in the storm and be confused about the feathers and if they are part of his base monster form or harpy traits.

Open to shenanigans, angst, bonding, and what have you! This lad is busying himself with detective work, but hasn't really lowered his guard much.

[serialmurderbot]

oh yeah it sure didn't introduce itself to him huh! Yeah, we can def do that - SecUnit wouldn't go hunting on its own but maybe it can accompany Levi if he would be? That's likely to have a situation where it'll both Not have a great time and need the helping hand

Or I guess it could find that book mentioned in plurk, that'd not be its favorite thing, lol

Serph | Digital Devil Saga

[bufudine]

(Usual cw that Serph is a demon cannibal yes I will use non-graphic language when referring to it in tags no it's not optional I have an opt-out here.)

Serph will be getting caught the monster transforming storm and will therefore be turning into a naga for the month. The main outcomes from the transformation is that he will not have any legs because it's becoming a tail and that he will have cold-blooded lethargy. As a result:

1) He can't drive his car and will be abandoning it to ride with Jack. This means eventually the homing signal will kick in and his car will be following the Convoy like a lost puppy.

2) Lethargy means that he'll be more prone to sticking near the Convoy this time (and being a very long snake means it'll be easier to literally trip over him) rather than more actively fighting, so if anyone wants to have more quiet hang out time he'll actually be available for it. (Though if you also want him for fighting, that can still happen!)

3) Lethargy also means that he won't be hunting monsters to eat as regularly as he normally would, leaving him occasionally weak with hunger. So if someone wants a buddy in eating monster meat or someone to test monster meat dishes on... P:

He'll also be checking in on people he encountered during the Moon Warp to see how they're doing.

[bufudine]

If Akechi wants a buddy in eating monster meat . . . . . . :')

Re: SecUnit | The Murderbot Diaries

[constantvrunning]

Going to turn V into a fellow naga (because cats as snakes appeals to me), so they could do SecUnit a solid while it's struggling? Was also considering amplifying the 'pack mentality' psychological trait, because mixing and matching is fun.

Re: Serph | Digital Devil Saga

[constantvrunning]

Also turning V here into a naga! So that could be fun. (also-also amplifying the weretiger 'pack mentality' trait, which means V will actively seek out those they've interacted with before anyway. :P)

Maybe V could do some monster-baiting for him?

V (Songs for the Dusk OC)

[constantvrunning]

SMF here! (As usual, the permissions post is the top-pinned post on their journal, so feel free to click through if you haven't checked that out yet!)

And I was initially going to have V suffer whiplash/freak out about having been feral for a bit... but! Naga transformations! Because as everyone knows, cats are snakes. /joke

They'll be getting the venom and natural armor, but no tail, and will be keeping the weretiger traits they've gained so far. They're also trying to avoid the Husks and maybe get some meat for the Convoy why are they craving meat anyway...?

Characters they've gained stronger CR with thus far will have an easier time getting them to talk, as the 'pack mentality' trait starts coming into play.

Not planning on having them get notes from home, but they'll be around and can accidentally catch others' notes if your character loses them in a gust of wind or something.

Re: EVENT FAQ

[constantvrunning]

What sorts of data-containing devices (or just, like, maps and such... a dictionary?) can be found in the houses?

[solitarysoul]

levi hasn't introduced himself either. i often forget so i decided he just doesn't think of it most times ^^;

it tagging along after levi and then levi helping it sounds good to me.

what. its just a book. bound in skin. its fine. normal.
maybe i should do an open prompt with that later in the month XD

[thetatters]

John's whole vibe:

Eldritch entity attempts world domination, fails, gets bound to an asshole detective named Arthur, falls in (platonic?) love with him. Takes the name John Doe out of fondness for humanity. Wakes up in the jamjar having stolen Arthur's body. Tries to act casual.

In any crisis situation, John's first impulse is to run (protect Arthur's body!) and his second impulse is to do violence (he spent a long time in dog-eat-dog Hell). His third impulse is to do something merciful and kind, because fuck everyone who thinks he's not capable of it.

His knowledge of the human world is still foggy, and he's from 1934, so everyone's modern settings are foreign to him. Loves poetry, music, philosophy, and bickering. Performatively grouchy and prideful. His super nonsuspicious voice sounds like this. His laugh is worse.

Goals this month:

John is desperate to keep Arthur's body safe and unchanged. He's also desperate not to let anyone find out that he's 1. not human, 2. piloting a stolen human body, and 3. specifically a former evil god. I'd like to build tension here and give him chances to panic and lie. He might try to pluck his own Harpy feathers and need h/c.

His notes from home will be personal lore that he hurriedly destroys. Let me know if you'd like to get to a page before he does.

This month, he'll start to get temporary transformations when exposed to water. He'll very suspiciously hide from rain and might get stuck in a dangerous situation because he refuses to move out from under cover. Who wants to help him deal with his "fear of water"?

Lastly, when John touches a human corpse, he sees a vision of its death. He now has confirmation that all Husks and their monsters are former humans. Witness him touching a dead monster and it'll be clear something is going on.

Re: Goro Akechi | Persona 5

[constantvrunning]

Also open to our two hanging out more!

V will find the notes likewise sus.

[constantvrunning]

CORPSE LORE CORPSE LORE

Count me (well, V) in on witnessing that, as well as for whatever ensuing Alarm follows.

And V could try and lend a hand re: shelter from rain? They won't have a tail, so they could offer to drive him somewhere if it's not like. Completely inaccessible from the road.

They might also pass on the advice Serph gave them, concerning what good being afraid of the transformation itself does (i.e., not much). They just want to be helpful. :

[bufudine]

Yea, V's one of the people Serph wants to check in on so that works out nicely.

When you say monster-baiting, do you mean luring monsters to Serph for him to kill?

Levi | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina

[solitarysoul]

Levi will be going on expedition to scout/loot buildings and hunt bull gorgons for meat. I'm not sure he'd figure out that the bulls are best for food, so he might need someone to suggest it to him but once he figures it out he'll be down for a hunting party or two over the month. He's found some amount of ammo for his rifle so he can use it and possibly show off that he used to be a sharpshooter during the war.
If one or more people that haven't been fighting want to go off to explore he may butt in and act as a guard for them. Its dangerous out there!

For the papers I'm not 100% sure, but if he can get canon but not personal notes funger2 has some notes and books that might be interesting to show up. (I don't THINK any of those have triggery material in them, but it is Fear & Hunger so be aware of possible content warnings if you go browsing that wiki.)
For more personal notes i'm not sure. maybe he passed some notes in class when he was at the orphanage or between soldiers at the war. I also realized that I could have orders show up...the order for his final suicide mission would really fuck him up.

Also not event related but Levi has a skin bible in his bags. It is what it says on the tin, a bible bound in skin, and I'm thinking of having some prompt where he's sorting belongings and has it out and visible. Because that's just normal, right? What do you mean your religious texts AREN'T made of flesh?

He is definitely getting caught in the storm (motorcycle doesn't offer much protection, after all). I'm thinking of giving him wings and a snake tail, maybe a beak and/or snake fangs too. In both his mostly-human form and the canine form he's got.
He's got to try flying. Maybe have him crash in high winds or something.

May add on some dog-like tendencies from the husks, because otherwise they're just going to make him paranoid and twitchy and possibly trigger PTSD episodes. Not sure if I want to play those, but if I do I'll make sure people know what they're getting into first.
I may give him some amped up version of the Cerberus Loyalty Compulsion where he's likely to obey everybody too. He's going to get that as a normal trait in about a month or so, but when that happens he'll be more limited to who he's following.

eta: feel free to reach out (or friend) me at connectivetrick or discord @ nvrknwsbst

[solitarysoul]

if Akechi wants a security detail when doing detective work Levi is on it!

[solitarysoul]

so what if splash transformation to tentacle monster later in the month prompts levi to figure out who john reminds him of?

[bufudine]

Since I think Drowning Day would be funnier if Serph still thinks John is Just A Guy, how does John feel about more deep night conversations about forgotten/repressed memories?

[solitarysoul]

Levi's up for forming or joining a hunting party once people start going after monsters for food. Or more scavenging.