kaisoumods | Zodiac Apartments (Reply)

The Building

Zodiac Living, or the Zodiac Apartments as literally everyone actually calls it, was built a few years ago by Zodiac with the intended purpose of making an entire complex devoted to Airbnb-style, aka temporary stay, units. However due to a combination of city laws being passed prohibiting the practice and general backlash, the plan was very much a failure. Zodiac then shifted gears and tried to offer long term leases instead, but between the reputation and the steep rental prices for not-so-desirable place - they didn't have a lot of luck in that regard either.

Fortunately for you guys, that meant when characters from other worlds began appearing in the city, Zodiac had a place ready and waiting for you all to live! Hooray?

The building is a multi-story apartment complex. The architecture has an overall modern (read: corporate) feel to it. And true to that aesthetic, it tends to have an energy that is best described as "looks nice but is actually cheaply made". There is one elevator in the building, which has regular maintenance issues. Half the doors use a electronic keycard system, which seems great until there's a blackout or the extreme temperatures of Kaisou makes the tech malfunction, rendering residents unable to get in or out of the building. There's an underground garage for any cars residents acquire, but the spots are uneven and the parking rules are confusing at best.

There's a few amenities offered! The building features an exercise gym for residents, though several of the machines are broken and the TVs never have a channel on that you want to watch. There's a an indoor pool, but it's hard to say how often they clean it is so swim at your own risk. For the apartment units that don't have laundry machines, there is a laundry room in the basement that takes only card for payment and are prone to regular malfunction. There is a coin-operated machines laundromat down the block should you need it.

One nice feature is a rooftop garden that was added by Ghaleon, a former resident of the building. There is also a warp pad outside of the building that was added as a world change. This warp pad will bring you outside the nearest 7-Eleven.

The first floor is dedicated to retail spaces. Most of them stand empty, which means they are available if any characters become interested in running a store. The only NPC-run store here is a corner bodega that sells basic groceries, deli food, and other odds and ends. And yes, there is a bodega cat at the bodega.

The Apartment Units

Due to the building originally being designed for temporary stay units of varying price points, the apartment units within the Zodiac Apartments have no one set cohesive style or size. There are crappy studio apartments across the hall from three-bedroom luxury apartments. Some look like completely generic apartments, some are tastefully made to suit a certain aesthetic, while some look like they are suspiciously (and tastelessly) styled to be a themed hotel room. Some of the apartments are fully furnished, while others are not. Some have in-house laundry, others don't. Some have windows that open, some don't!

In other words, players are free to design what their apartment unit looks like as they wish. There is no set layout for where each character lives, so feel free to get creative with it. Maybe they live in the pent house, or maybe they live in a basement apartment next to the garage. They can also be assigned to have roommates by Zodiac, if you wish for them to be living with other characters. Live your dreams (or nightmares). If a character lives in a nicer apartment, they may get pressured to do more work or pay extra rent sometimes, but for the most part the building is relatively rent free for OU occupants.

If there is one consistent theme, is that anything that is installed by Zodiac might look nice, but is actually leaning on the cheap side. The apartment walls are rather thin, and many of the appliances are clearly the cheapest ones on the market. Characters are allowed to renovate and improve their lodgings, if they wish. Or they are also allowed to move to another location.

The Neighborhood
You know those areas in town where no one really lives or has much of a desire to, but developers are really determined to pour money into it and make that area the next big thing but it never works? Yeah, unsurprisingly, that's the type of neighborhood that the Zodiac Apartment is in. Situated near the center of the city, the building stands in a pocket of town that just never quite took off like other parts of town. Maybe it's because it's just far enough away from public transit to be a hinderance, or because there wasn't any personality to draw people in. It wasn't a low-income neighborhood that was gentrified or anything like that - it just never took off in the first place. The area is full of parking lots and empty buildings that were built by corporations with intent of revitalizing the area - but it never taking off. It's hard to even recall the name of the neighborhood. You can look up what the name is, only to find that it's had several different names over the years proposed by developers - each one of them never sticking.

There are some businesses in the area, most of them are large chains like Starbucks and McDonalds - places that can afford having a location that doesn't do extremely well. Other than the bodega, there's a large chain grocery store about a half mile from the Zodiac Building. There's not much in the way of greenery, rather there's a lot of concrete with a few scraggily trees thanks to being restricted from all the concrete. It's not a rough neighborhood, but it's not a very safe neighborhood either. It's not the worst place in the city to live, but it's not an area anyone will be in a rush to move to anytime soon.

Who lives here? Do I have to live here?
This is optional housing for OU characters when they arrive! These characters will get their keys to their new home once they visit the Zodiac Office in Undertown for the first time. If an OU character decides they rather live elsewhere in the city, they are completely free to do so! No need to get mod permission, just grab your stuff and run.

AU characters do have the option of moving into the Zodiac building if they want. They will either have to pay rent or agree to do jobs for Zodiac. Again, there is no need to obtain mod permission for this, just handwave the whole interaction with Zodiac.

code bases by tricklet

Zodiac Apartments

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