Non-romantic apprentice, house servant, etc.

Mishgul

Being a butler for multiple people is a good route!

Iocun

@Carmain should be @Lorielan's butler. Just think of all the awesome dialogue we'd get to experience.

Lorielan: "Bring me some wine."
Carmain: "Yes."
[Continues standing there, doing nothing.]
Lorielan, slightly upset: "No."
Carmain, defiantly: "Yes."
Lorielan, wearily, to herself: "No."
Carmain: "Yes."

Tristitia

Having self-sustaining roleplay is part of the draw of such an arrangement. I could have an occasional scene and then talk to others about how I've been so worn out from all the smithing/whittling/housecleaning, etc. It's best to make it easy on the employer, and allow a little bit of face time to go a long way. Expecting constant micromanagement is a surefire way to wear everyone out quickly. 

Tristitia

I would like to share some of the types of offers I have received, so others might be aware of the types of opportunities that exist and are open. I'll throw in my ideas, and yes some of them are very much tropes, but those can be fun when played by the right actor.

-The con artist.
Apprentice/servants: The promising young thug taken under the mastermind's wing. The sassy partner-in-training who tries to get one over on her boss and sometimes succeeds. The errand boy who isn't part of the game but runs messages for those who are.

-The noble lord/lady. 
Servant personalities: The humble cleaning servant who has only the kindest of words about his lord/lady.  The gossipy stable keep who barters her tales with visitors. The reluctant butler whose late master was, in his opinion, a much more refined gentleman than his current one. The caught thief who secretly works off a debt rather than be turned in to her city authorities.

-The combat teacher. (Some of you have already experienced this as a squire to a knight)
Apprentice personalities: The eager, but bumbling student willing to take no end of physical abuse in the arena in order to grow into an expert.  The young combat adept honing a latent skill and learning to respect the art. The ex wife biding her time while she seeks murderous vengeance on a cheating ex husband/wife.

-The travelling performer.
Apprentice/servants: The aspiring actress just waiting to be as famous as she deserves. The troublemaker stagehand who sometimes causes his employer's acting props to malfunction. The wise accountant who often reminds her master of the limitations of his bank balance.


These are just a few of the endless ideas out there for those seeking a role like mine. As for the complementary role, you'd have to ask those who are more used to that side of the coin!

Siduri

Well, the con artist part appeals to me. Feel free to hit me up in game later

Jules

Tristitia said:

I thought about the benefit of joining a city or house, and I'm not at all interested in those dynamics. 

One of the biggest benefits of joining a city and house (in theory for all parties) is entirely mechanical, but I don't think that detracts in any way from its importance.   And that is that being in cities and houses produces org credits whenever you make purchases (which is part of why I cringe when I see how hard orgs sometimes make it for people to join - they're probably denying themselves credits in a lot of cases).  Those credits don't just get plowed into credit sales (which are nice, but I tend to care less about), but also into nice mechanical buffs/features that everyone in the org (including your character) will in theory benefit from.   
  
It is almost the entire reason Jules and my one other character have always been both citied and housed when I make credit purchases (especially bigger ones).  I just can't stand to see the opportunity go to waste (even when I've been slightly annoyed at some of the orgs).  

Tristitia

@Siduri -- I'm flattered that you would take a chance with the idea. I hope that eventually I will actually get to play a role in that. 

I have received more offers than I could possibly entertain. I've chosen a promising avenue for Tristitia right now and so far it's playing out even better than I imagined. 

I don't like the idea of closing the conversation with an announcement that I don't need any more offers, as I believe there is possibly a lot of depth and discussion still to be had on the topic itself. There might be more players who are curious about what could be gotten out of such an arrangement, and what key differences there may be between this and playing a member of a city/house/family/order population. There might also be some people who already know that they would enjoy this and might look to this thread for their own ideas and possibilities.

Edit: To @Jules . I don't think this sort of dynamic precludes joining any city or house, and you make very good points.

Santar

Hmm, I guess I can give a qualified response here, since I've been in a relationship like this IG.

Santar had a servant/apprentice/helper/whatever you want to call it for a couple RL years. The relationship had no romantic or sexual component whatsoever. She had no problems talking about her chosen RP on the forums, so I can voice her name - It was @Qzadzia. 

It started by chance, when I tried to rob her one day. I started trying to steal from her, and failed. She immediately started handing me herbs and told me she respected and valued the things I did(This was at the height of me rogue-terrorizing virtually everybody full-time). I was very high profile, and a pretty big deal. Though, I wasn't a dragon yet at the time(very rare then), and I was usually low on supplies from constantly fighting. It was also difficult for me to be enemied to every single organization in the game. But Qzadzia was a rogue with the ability to completely fix all of my supply problems.

After suitably getting my attention, she made her desire known that she wanted to be subservient to my character and provide all the tedious background things I needed, as well as perform any tasks I needed done on a daily basis. It was never a desire of mine to outright take advantage of her, despite her generosity, though I did allow her to help me. I tried to give back to her as much as possible in the ways I could - Taking her hunting, teaching her the basics of combat, mercilessly slaughtering x 10 anyone who looked at her funny, and later, as I grew in riches/power/dragonness, outright paying her/etc.  Basically, she was my servant, and I was her protector.

Our relationship was honestly a pretty big deal around the Achaea community. Everyone knew she was attached to me, and she even got targetted a lot for that. She always stood strong and supported me no matter what, though, and I think that's the real reason I always kept her around and treated her well. We were fiercely loyal to one another, and that's probably what things have to be like to make a relationship like this really work.

That went on for a very long time and was a very healthy relationship on each side. What I got out of the deal was someone to supply me and do my errands/etc. And she got to be attached to someone heavily renowned in the game. We were very good friends for a long time. She supported me in virtually everything I did. And I did the same for her.  She used to give me life advice and comment on the women Santar was seeing, but never intruded, got jealous, or anything like that. Like I said, it was a strictly non-romantic relationship. The arrangement eventually ended for various reasons, and she moved on.


I've had a few people try to seek out similar arrangements like this over the years, asking to be my full-time helper or whatever else. I've declined all such attempts for personal reasons. It's a lot of pressure, and I prefer to do things mostly on my own.

If you do seek this out, I imagine it won't be much like what I've described above, but I hope it's at least some food for your thought. As for what kept this relationship non-romantic and non-sexual, as to address the subject title - I'm not really sure. She just never tried to actively flirt with me or do anything but be a friend. And on my side, I didn't really see her as a romantic interest. Part of it was probably the social class difference IG. Part of it was probably just not wanting to tamper with a valuable asset and amazing friend.

Trey

+1 for Q.

Jules

Santar said:

Part of it was probably the social class difference IG. 

I'm not tracking on what you mean by "social class difference".