diff --git a/maubot/command_spec.py b/maubot/command_spec.py
index f5136ce..55c3279 100644
--- a/maubot/command_spec.py
+++ b/maubot/command_spec.py
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class ParsedCommand:
         self.name = command.name
         self.is_passive = True
         self.match_against = command.match_against
-        self.matches = re.compile(command.matches)
+        self.matches = re.compile(command.matches, re.UNICODE)
         self.match_event = command.match_event
 
     def _init_active(self, command: Command) -> None:
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class ParsedCommand:
                     sw_builder.append(word)
                 regex_builder.append(re.escape(word))
         self.starts_with = "!" + " ".join(sw_builder)
-        self.matches = re.compile("^!" + " ".join(regex_builder) + "$")
+        self.matches = re.compile("^!" + " ".join(regex_builder) + "$", re.UNICODE)
         self.match_against = "body"
 
     def match(self, evt: MessageEvent) -> bool:
diff --git a/maubot/plugin_base.py b/maubot/plugin_base.py
index 81ac7f0..119f764 100644
--- a/maubot/plugin_base.py
+++ b/maubot/plugin_base.py
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ from typing import Type, Optional, TYPE_CHECKING
 from logging import Logger
 from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 
+from sqlalchemy.engine.base import Engine
+import sqlalchemy as sql
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from .client import MaubotMatrixClient
     from .command_spec import CommandSpec
@@ -36,6 +39,9 @@ class Plugin(ABC):
         self.log = log
         self.config = config
 
+    def request_db_engine(self) -> Engine:
+        return sql.create_engine(f"sqlite:///{self.id}.db")
+
     def set_command_spec(self, spec: 'CommandSpec') -> None:
         self.client.set_command_spec(self.id, spec)