Picture Perfect in Blue Robes

[Brokkr]

Many roles will try to tempt you into their seductive clutches with pictures.  Not this one!

None of these roles have high expectations, if we do... we'll warn prior. If anything, I think the roles that have the high exceptions (in my opinion) are the Templar roles, because of the power they wield.

This role is a Templar role.  There are high expectations.  From staff, and from other players.  There is a high amount of trust placed in the individual chosen to accurately reflect the world, drive plots that involve other players, and not roflstomp other players just because you have the coded power to do so.

My view on the point of sponsored roles is to allow the player take on the responsibilities of playing an role that has some aspect that is difficult to get right and is really bad if they get it wrong. Maybe that's because they have political power to shake things up (like templars and nobles) or perhaps they have strict roleplay requirements (like mul slaves).

Well yes, Templars do have a bit of political power as well.  Having a solid grasp of Allanaki politics is a requirement, so that the player filling the role knows how to influence, facilitate and help (or hinder) the plots of others, while working their own in the political sphere at the same time.

As to the 'Just app in another <insert role here>' it almost invariably ends up with the longer lived PC who has:
1 - All the contacts
2 - All the Templars in their pocket

This is your opportunity to be a templar that isn't in the longer lived PC's pocket.  You get to decide which pocket you are in!  Or even upsize to a coin purse!

Given the clarification made by staff, I would re-iterate: yes, put them on a performance plan, and if they fail with the plan, force store. But only put them on that plan if they're detrimental (to the setting) -- if it's a role that needs filled for technical reasons (Byn Sergeant, templar) just add another. It stands to reason that there would be lazy, do-nothing templars in the world, after all (even if that is not 'helpful' to the characters in-game).

IC'ly, there are absolutely lazy, do-nothing templars.  OOC'ly, there are expectations on players of templars, and IC "reasons" don't justify not meeting the OOC expectations.

Oh, also, templars now advance by creating and advancing their own plots (or taking a major role in other folk's plots), in conjunction with staff.  This is both in terms of their IC rank and their coded abilities.  So if you like hanging around and socializing and driving stuff with other players and in general just being awesome, and wish you could get codedly better at stuff by doing that...this may be the role for you.

Stuff.

Some stuff you might want to read if you want to excel and be awesome as a Templar.

I think we've been seeing more stagnant sponsored roles in recent years as a result of there not being any staff-fueled 'stuff' going on -- it takes a fair bit of time and work staffside to get something going, but it takes at LEAST something like five times as much (with the accompanying slowed pace) to do it player-side, and consequently you have nobles, templars, and other leaders just languishing about while gears very, very, very slowly grind to try and accomplish something.

You had to bring up the other 'stuff', didn't you?  Templars need to work with staff to come up with plots, and drive those plots along and involve other folks, in order to advance.  While there are time constraints on how quickly one can advance, simply sitting in the role gets them nowhere, now.  That said, don't expect constant Ratsucker plots.  Those may come along every now and again, but the focus is really on what the players are doing, not the Dues ex Machina of staff created plots.

I feel in the case of nobles and Templars, though, this is less important.  It is actually more interesting as one of these power roles to delegate authority.  Without a doubt,  as a facilitator, your best look is to dish it out and see what happens.

Sometimes you get a templar with the skill, time and personality/background to do this, and sometimes you don't.  It is about the concept, player's playstyle and other legitimate factors, not a case of good apples and bad apples.

I applied, once, for a sponsored role, officially. It was a Northern Templar.

I stand corrected.  Northern Templars are all bad apples, and one should avoid them at all costs.  His Shadow.

But, I remember quite clearly that the expectations for the role weren't defined at all. My job was to "be a Templar".

Technically correct.  And yes, there are a lot of unspoken expectations from both staff and players on what this role is.  Familiarity with Allanaki politics is listed as a requirement, and should cover some of this.  If you get the role, and have the same issues, let us know in the request tool.  We'll talk (in a good way).

But the point is, the one time I did have a Sponsored Role, it was only with the guidelines "be a Templar".

Obviously someone wanted you to read their mind or something.  Allanaki Templars aren't expected to, because that's not the kind of stuff they do.

Related; It used to be that if you wanted to app a Templar or Noble, there were docs you could request access to, because "most Oashi look like this" and "Borsail have an inbred temperament of that", and were things you just might not know. These days, you don't get those.

Frankly, when deciding on the templar to go with, this isn't what going to get looked at.  It is what you are going to do to drive stuff, does it sound like a personality that is interesting, do you have a history of being awesome, do you have some unique ideas that fit the gameworld you are bringing to the table, does your concept reinforce the gameworld....and that sort of thing.

Once something is decided on those kinds of factors, we can give the Chosen One access to the templar board so they know more in detail what they are getting into, and if they need something on their Family, I can try to dig something up, and they can make the cosmetic alternations to fit.

Getting killed by a templar because that templar is buddies with a rival isn't fun.

Sucks.  But it happens, and we trust that the templar is acting on a full set of IC circumstances that you might not be aware of, along with their own plans, politics, etc. 

Oh, and we require them to send in a PK report, detailing their motivations.

Templars (and to a lesser degree, other sponsored roles) used to have pretty high turnover. Why? Because they died a lot going on staff sponsored missions and doing crazy memorable shit.

If folks come up with crazy memorable shit to do and die doing it....awesome!  But please don't rely on staff for all the crazy memorable shit.  I am not Olgaris, I have limits to the shit I can create.

I remember the days! I remember when northern and southern templars (+a lot of other PCs) clashed due to Halaster coincidence and EVERYONE DIED. Except that one guy who looted all the bodies.

Shit is hard, but death Halaster I can do.

As for Templars.. they have to sit on that fine balance of having a lot of RP power where they can just easily kill someone and not.  It is also why they are typically the most critical of roles.

Hey.....that exactly describes Halaster me too!

This is a major reason we like to see creativity and awesomeness in Templars, all the while being able to stay within the setting norms.

I never see templars any more, for example. Would it be a bad thing if as many as 6 templars were allowed at a given time to help make templars more accessible overall?

You could fix that.  Right now.  By applying.  For this role.

Well, okay, not the 6 thing.  The number influences the dynamic between templars and other templars, nobles, GMH, etc. and we are happy with the dynamic 3 creates.  When they are around.  Like you will be, right?

The only roles that can't be attained IG are nobles and templars.

Attain your templar by applying now!

If I were running things, and I had a sponsored role not fulfilling things, shaking up the game, and basically not taking any risks but just clinging to their power, I'd deal with it IC. There has to be several leftover applications for people who wanted that role, with their own ideas, and potential.

I'd pick one of those people, throw them in the mix, and give them the direction that needed to challenge the other player's char. IC'ly, this could be explained as senior nobles telling the junior noble, (or higher ranked templars explaining to a lower ranked templar), 'We have a position open, and you and this other person were considered for it'. Let the ICly fight it out.

Or we could just make them have to accomplish stuff to get any kind of promotion or skill gain, right?

- Tatlum is spoken only by templars, and the law forbids others to know it (or learn it from templars, or templars to teach it to others).

Tatlum is a skill that Templars get.  RW Tatlum is also a skill Templars get.  No one else gets them.  Unless you count those northern barbarians, that you would kill if you had half the chance anyways.

Give new leaders a chance, even if you got totally boned by past nobles/templars/crew leaders/tribal leaders/etc

New leaders, this is your chance!  Oh, wait, I mean....Give this new leader a chance!

- Examples of that character within the IC documentation: Dear diary, my family is rich, templars are corrupt, and spice is illegal in Allanak. These things I will never question, as they are truths that permeate my entire culture! Another day in the life. Love, Joe Kadius.

Muhahahaha.  Yes, yes they are.

I think what she means is that you shouldn't go into your Templar role with the agenda to take down Tektolnes and turn Allanak into a fair democracy.  Zenith's argument seems to be that you can certainly despise other Templars and actively seek their destruction, but trying to overthrow Tektolnes isn't really what the role is for.

Stuff like killing Tek should go in your role application.  So that I can say no.

Despising other Templars and actively seeking their destruction is okay though, within the constraints of the setting and OOC expecations.

So one day, bored, he decided to contact a Lady Templar and describe in detail how much he'd like to do vile things to her. For realz I thought this would be then end of my PC, but no, she'd heard of the infamous criminal, and actually expressed being flattered, then offered him unnofficial employment.

Good templars are cool like that.

Of course it had to end one day, and I have no objections to the staff animated Templar doing what they did. It was a wild ride, the likes of which I rarely experience. I don't think they expected my PC to pay another elf to end their life, but I really wasn't sure how my PC would adapt to life after being tortured on the cuddler, that, and his feelings of uselessness to the Lady Templar he'd sworn his loyalty to... plus he was a tortured soul who was painful to play.

Sometimes a templar can be acting completely realistically...but if that were the end of it the world wouldn't be reacting realistically.  That is where Halaster this happens, usually.

In a way, it is staff support for the templar (and/or other player).

I don't think my elves or breeds have ever been intimate with a noble... I know one of my elves was just fascinated with a Templar though.

I hope it was an unhealthy fascination.  And I hope you all have an unhealthy fascination with playing a templar!

Now for the notes that legal makes us put in:

As a templar, you will be responsible for upholding the laws of the Glorious Highlord's city of Allanak, and occasionally bending them to suit your own needs.  You may be interested in war, or in catching criminals and throwing them in the Arena, or maybe you are disinterested in everything except making those sids and your own comfort.

Interested applicants should have leadership experience and have no recent negative account notes. Steady play times are expected.  Please also read and review the stipulations in help Sponsored Roles. Then, submit a Role Application request to the Arm of the Dragon clan.  Your application should include:

• The character's name and House
• A rough background and description (you can edit these if you are accepted to bring them in line with documentation you may not have been aware of in advance)
• An outline of your goals for the character
• A summary of your experience as a player in leadership roles and in Allanaki society, especially any experience you feel would help you in this role
• A background where you have relatively recently been fully trained as a Templar (you will be a Blue Robe, but have to do some stuff in game to join one of the three Ministries)

I'd really like to see characters that "make the role pop", "engage people", "scare people", "make people love you", "make people hate you" and "employ people and drive plots".  The best templars have "excellence, attitude, and depth of character". ^{Thanks LauraMars for these.}

Any questions? Feel free to ask in the request tool. Looking forward to seeing your applications!

The deadline is end of day January 5th, 2017!

[Brokkr]

January 5th, that is only two days away.

Make it a new year resolution to apply!

[Brokkr]

January 5th, that is only -1 days away.

We had lots of great templar applications this round, thank you so much!  The application process is now closed.

It will take a few days to get feedback from other staff and make a decision (did I mention there were lots of great applications?) so please be patient.

[Brokkr]

There were a ton of applications.

That wasn't the hard part.

The hard part was that there were a lot of great applications!  Which made it a really hard choice, because of all the good choices.
Those choices have been made.  If you applied for this role, you should have gotten your Yay or Nay.