alright, alright. in that case, here's a couple of ideas for events that could add to the plot. we can do multiple or reserve some for later, and i might edit this to add some to the list if i come up with more:

some single character-based drama

- one of the characters ran away from home for one reason or another when they were a teen and never saw their family again. recently, their sibling has come to the town in order to visit a friend or consider moving there... or did they come to look for them? the other characters either work to protect them or urge them to give the sibling a chance depending on the context of the estrangement. and/or one of the characters meets the sibling independent of knowing the context and drama ensues.

- one of the characters is, for the lack of a better term, a delinquent and is causing trouble wherever they go and bringing a couple of the other roommates with them, and some of them are pissed about this and saying they're gonna bring down their friends grades AND cost them money at this rate and they're not going to pay for police fines. at some point, they go on a pretty unwise venture with the goody-two-shoes coming in order to complain in their ear, the delinquent and their friends ignoring them, and some people coming along just to watch the shitshow.

- one of the characters has an interesting part-time or full-time job -- as a band member, investigator, something with a little lore to it. some of the nosy ones decide to tag along, much to the worker's behest, and the worker keeps on trying to convince them to hop off it while the nosy characters poke around their stuff.

some silly ones

- the resident cook has gotten ill, and now everyone not only has to take care of them, but also figure out how to cook in the first place. and they're awful at it. and they argue a lot while doing it. oh no!

- their college or town is holding a huge event, a festival of sorts, and some of the characters volunteered to be on the committee. everyone gets roped into setting up for the festival, whether voluntarily or against their will.

- two of the characters have a relationship full of romantic tension, and the rest of the characters make countless plans to get them together. perhaps there's one or two who protest this and say it's awkward or that they don't want to be at home and see people making out two feet to their left when they turn their head, so they instead fight to make sure those plans do not come to fruition.

some things that don't really work as events but can work as fun context for character-building

- one of the characters is rich and went into this apartment because it's full of their friends and partially in order to experience a "building of character" that their parents always said was important. the other characters think this is stupid and some of them want to use this character's money to get them all a better place while the rich character refuses to use any of it.

- the characters are arguing on how to decorate their apartment, since it's somewhat new.

- the characters are arguing who's the best driver, since all of them are pretty broke and so they can only afford a car if they pool money together, but now the question is whose name it goes under.

- all of them probably go to the same college, one that's nearby, but one of them isn't in college at all and is just kind of left to their own devices when everyone else's classes line up. some of them are slightly uneasy about this.

- the characters are slowly learning about each other's bad habits and are slowly learning to get annoyed about them, while some of them are encouraging some of the bad habits becuase they think it's funny.

(this is unrelated, but i realize that in a more character-driven roleplay, there'll sometimes be characters stuck in one-on-one conversations where a third is kinda gonna be left out. i might invite a fourth person if a suitable one comes along in order to avoid this.)

Here are some vague tropey ideas

One of the characters could be adopted and one of their birth parents reach out.

A character could lose a close family member such as a pet or a grandparent who lives with their parents.

Two roommates having a crush on the same person O.o

Someone has an allergy and another roommate brings in a pet that their roommate is allergic to because they found it abandoned.

Roommates getting a crush on each other which is awkward for them and everyone else.

Someone gets accepted as a writer for the college newspaper and they want to start a gossip/advice column.

(Alrighty :))

Sir Froggington said:

Here are some vague tropey ideas

One of the characters could be adopted and one of their birth parents reach out.

A character could lose a close family member such as a pet or a grandparent who lives with their parents.

Two roommates having a crush on the same person O.o

Someone has an allergy and another roommate brings in a pet that their roommate is allergic to because they found it abandoned.

Roommates getting a crush on each other which is awkward for them and everyone else.

Someone gets accepted as a writer for the college newspaper and they want to start a gossip/advice column.

(Alrighty :))

i like the idea of bringing in a pet!! everyone dealing with that can bring in some drama :) the idea of a close family member dying also makes me think of the idea of one of the characters moving into this room because whoever they were previously living with died so now they have nowhere to go, which might be interesting character context if either of you are interested :)

serein said:

These are such amazing ideas! I like 1,5,6,8 and 11 from TIAPN's ideas and 3,4,5 of Sir Froggington's and think they would be a lot of fun and add some drama. For the gossip column it could be something kinda like Gossip Girl in the sense that they spread their roommates information.

I quickly came up with a few other vague ideas

They all save up for a vacation but something goes wrong. (One or two of them get lost, their flight home gets canceled, their things get stolen, trip cut short by a family emergency)

Two of the characters have a very rocky past and don't get along but decide to try and get over their issues for the sake of living together (They could be ex's, ex friends, someone who wronged them, ect)

One of the characters is a hardcore know-it-all and believes they have the answer to every problem, offering unsolicited advice and questionable expertise which causes arguments between the characters.

i also like how the last two sound for character context, here!