What's Your Favorite Sort of Role?

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

The Monkeys hasn't made a topic in a while, and I've been curious.

Personally, I like bottom-rung-of-society physical laborer grunts. Furthermore, I severely dislike being in charge, and so my choice goes to Follower Military/Fighting/Hunting Roles. I stick to mercenaries of the grimiest sort, 'rinther thugs, rugged hunters, and what not. I do join up with the occasional noble or merchant house, don't get me wrong... I'm just saying I relish my time as a dirt-poor and picked-on recruit.

What about you all?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I enjoy military leaders.

I have been fighting to stay out of the limelight recently, so I can try to do the follower and typical guy thing for a while. But I absolutely love the military leader gig.

[Rindan]

Military leader has my vote.  I just don't have the time for it these days, but I always enjoyed leading a group of rough and gruff characters.  I always liked playing the vulgar, mean, and slightly dirty military leader who lead his band of equally vulgar, mean, and very dirty followers.  Hell, I just like the whole dynamics of a good group.  I personally love it when groups develop their own sort of 'party'.  I remember for one period I was with a group that had all the makings of a cliché band of warrior adventures.  We had the assassin/spy/intellectual, the hardened ranger, the defeated warrior, the noble warrior, the well meaning idiot, the might warrior dwarf, and a small horde of generic recruits/n00bs good for dying on occasion to keep things fresh.  It was all good fun in my opinion.

I personally like playing the hard leader.  There are a lot of military PCs that just sort of let themselves be steamrolled by insubordinates.  I liked taking charge and beating people back into place.  I like having trusted followers to beat the newbies back into place and do their fair share of hazing.  If I had the time, I would pick of the role again without a second thought... it is just a matter of time.  Such roles take horrific hunks of time, and I just don't have it these days.

[Anonymous]

Independent hunter with a crafting subguild.  It absolutely does not get any better.  Desert elf, human or mul, though with the latter socializing gets tricky.

I do relish and, IMHO, thrive in leader roles, but only non-military leader roles.

All of the times I've been a military leader have ended in ugly fashion, normally with my PC exerting his position over an uppity recruit, and everyone under him goes apeshit and rebels.

I think it's because my PCs tend to have zero tolerance for bullshit.

[Forest Junkie]

I'm all about the loners.

Hence, that mantis head rolls around quite often. =P

[Gorobei]

I too enjoy the leadership roles.  I think the most exciting parts of Arm is when you're trying to organise something quickly and things just keep going wrong.  Once you succeed at working all the kinks out at the last minute, it's generally unforgettable.

[sacac]

I love the lone thieves role.. except when some P.O.S. thief asks me to join them.. then I usually steal some 'sid and get killed by militia.

[mansa]

I love being a lacky.

Or...a lacky who's second in command.  That's what I like.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

mansa wrote:

Or...a lacky who's second in command. That's what I like

Definetly. Second in command is a sweet gig. You get at least half of the authority and almost none of the work... Quite nice, I must say, quite nice.

[tortall]

Well, my problem is when I take over something, I want to go the whole way. Like once when I worked for Kadius, there was no merchent. But I was the highest ranking PC, so I had all these nobles bugging me about their orders with the last merchent, and new orders they wanted to make. I would have had SO much fun working as a merchent as well as being incharge of the guard.... MAN. ~sigh~

So I guess the cloest for me would be military leader.


-Tortall, who got her wisdom teeth pulled today.

[spawnloser]

mansa wrote:

Or...a lacky who's second in command. That's what I like

Definetly. Second in command is a sweet gig. You get at least half of the authority and almost none of the work... Quite nice, I must say, quite nice.

Heheh...you'd like to think that, sometimes, but then, sometimes the second in command gets delegated all the responsibility and none of the benefits of being numero uno.

[Anonymous]

Second in command means: You have to do everything the first in command doesn't want to do without the benefit of your words being received with the same unquestioning obedience the first in command's words would.

[spawnloser]

Hear, hear!  To lower ranked people that are still leaders.  May you do all the work I don't want to and still get none of the credit.  May you be one of the first people for the rank and file to complain to and have no power to change a thing.  May you come to me, looking for a resolution, but only be told to fix it yourself.  Isn't it great to be 2nd in command?

[JollyGreenGiant]

I like most roles that allow me to interact frequently with people.  Leadership political roles are my favorite by far, though.

[Callisto]

I like to be second in command in military clans, because it let's me have a hand in running minor RPTs and means I can take care of small to medium problems just to take some stress off main leadership PCs (and players). It let's me give a little back to the game, without being in a position where my taking a day or two off playing is going to have a critical impact.

I like my loners too... I pass on making impressive emotes and just feel the situation better, not to mention focus more on the think command then I have time for with social characters.

[Rindan]

All this talk of seconds reminds me how much I like that role too.  The wonderful thing about being a second is that unlike a leader, your word is not exactly law.  You are always balancing between over stepping your bounds and being an effective follower.

At one point in the Byn we had a group under a very strong and rising leader (rhymes with Muhaal).  I remember the time so fondly because in addition to a strong leader, there was a set of strong followers and a constant supply of new people who provided a source of conflict.  Basically, you had a click of strong 'seconds' who sort of kept order and did a lot of micromanaging.  This click drove out and beat into line more then a few people who tried to step out of their place.  It was always exciting when a trouble marker would join because these seconds were usually the first ones to try and correct any problems before the leader would have to.  

Sure, the leader would do his best, but leaders have other duties and can not always be there.  The seconds are always there and always watching.  They would generally pounce on the first bastard to step out of line.  Additionally, if a trouble marker did enough to earn the wrath of the leader and some punishment, the seconds would always see to doubling the punishment.  So, someone might get double duties for doing something bad, but in addition to that the seconds would make their life a living hell.  They would make sure everyone knew what the trouble makers offense was and provided proper social persecution.  In addition, they would take any free opportunities to inflict extra punishment... punishments often involving boxing and the latrine... yeah, use your imagination.

Of course, the constant balance would need to be maintained.  The leader is supposed to be the fair guy, so when the seconds get too much out of hand the leader needs to drag them back in.  It leads to a great group dynamic and great internal conflict.  To this day I wonder how much the leader in question knew was going on with his subordinates.  Whatever the case, it was a great time.  Nothing beats pairing up a kick ass leader with a few great seconds.  My favorite times within clans have always been defined not by the external conflicts the clan suffered from, but the internal ones.

[EvilRoeSlade]

I really can't say why, but military leaders have always been the most fulfulling and long-lived roles that I've gotten into.

Back in the day, I was the dwarven Lieutenant of House Morlaine.  From what I remember, I was a pretty damn crappy leader, who never really engaged his followers in anything.  Oh well.  I still had fun, and its the character I remember most fondly as the first one who lived on instead of dying a n00b death to either NPCs or PCs who killed me for failing to understand the game.

Wow, I was in a clan that no longer exists.  Does that make me an oldbie?

[The Memory Remains]

I've played followers of all sorts, but some of my favorites have been those who, to some degree or another, are quite flawed in their following. Maybe it's because characters that do seem to do everything perfectly really bother me.

--This derails from the topic a bit. Blame Rindan for bringing it to mind.--

My first serious character was this way (he got worse as he lived on), and my first really memorable experience in Arm was being caught shirking duties in a particular tavern - something he'd been doing more and more frequently. My character was dragged out by his Lieutenant (RuPaul or something? I can't remember) and given the double-whammy of lecture and lashing in front of several of his peers. From the amount and detail of the emotes to the words of the lecture itself, it was incredibly enjoyable, very mundane event as well as one that's stuck with me fondly for the rest of my Arm career.

Though my character suffered, the way it was played out was supreme - I really admire this. Most clans or clan leaders I've been with since, it seems, either can't or won't pull off such well-roleplayed punishments like that one. Being the player of a number of disobedient types, I've seen and experienced the oh-so-simple "kick them or kill them" solution dozens of times over, and none were anything even remotely as impressive as that  lashing I played out.

Not only did I get to play out and be a part of something relatively unique, but as a benefit to the Lieutenant, it actually did "whip" my character back into shape - he never broke schedule a single time after.

[Bestatte]

Unfortunately I haven't been able to try a political leadership role yet. I had a merchant house PC, but it was more of an iso-type clan, because there were no guards to employ, no aides to employ, no nuttin. No one to lead, so no need to be a leader. We didn't even have an estate or barracks so when I finally did get to have a clanned employee, there was nothing really to keep him busy other than doing what he'd do if he just did odd jobs for me as an independent.

I'd love to try a political leadership role. Often my characters are placed in a secondary situation, which isn't all bad. But like others have already said, you get a lot of responsibility, and no authority. It can be frustrating as hell sometimes.

Try telling your recruits that it's time for them to do rescue drills and have them snort at you because they know you can't do shit about it if they refuse, and the sergeant is "on vacation" for 2 RL weeks.

Or try listening to a treasonous conversation and not being able to order a soldier to arrest the traitor, or arrest them yourself, and the person/people who -do- have the authority aren't logged in, and then trying to find an IC way to explain to your boss why you let that person go. Somehow, "I couldn't find a soldier to arrest them!" doesn't settle too well in the stomach when there's an NPC soldier standing right there where the conversation took place.

Maybe some day I'll have an app approved for a political leadership role. For now though I'm just really glad I'm in the role I have, with the kind of clan support from IMMs and "boss" PCs that could make anyone envious.
They teach me more and more about the game, and about political leadership, so hopefully next time around, I'll be more than ready to settle into a leadership role myself.

[naatok]

I've played many different role types since I've been addicted to this game.

Instead of trying to find a role-type to fit my PCs into these days, what I do is develop a basic concept including race, guild and some background, then flesh the character out by seeing how I can fit the concept into certain role-types.

I choose the type which suits my interest and which seems to fit best for the concept of the character I'm making.

When I spend the time it takes to do this with my PCs, a whole huge range of role types becomes clear and I then just need to decide which I'd like to pursue.

Of course, IC situations sometimes completely change the direction I had intended for my PC to go in.  That can be alot of fun too, and adds that nice touch of fate.  

[spawnloser]

Actually, I should mention that aligned leadership political/military roles are fun.  That's what I'm doing right now and I have to say that my character is the longest lived I have ever had.  They are fulfilling, but trying at the same time...fun at some times and boring at others.  You just have to be patient with these types of roles, but you'll get a whole lot of fun out of it the times that everything's hopping.

[Bogre]

I like being the subordinate thug/guard/thief/criminal/hunter.

Lone hunters are nice, same as lone thieves too. I definitely like being a more 'evil' or harsh character, I don't play 'good-doers' all that often.

[Comrade Canadia]

I'm all about the military leaders.  They emphasize my strengths, and allow for my weaknesses.  Warriors just seem to work with me.

-Dave

[Tamarin]

You fogot the sneaky, cunning, backstabbing role...the one that no one sees while he sits in the shadows behind the bar and twilrs his dagger like a maniac..

[Angela Christine]

I like roles with lots of activities.  I want there to always be things to do, places to go, people to see.  And not just one thing, a selection of things.  Being told that I *must* spar, or sit, or craft, etc. saps any enthusiasm I had to log in.  I like to have the choice to craft, or spar, or sit in a tavern, or go collect herbs, gather stones, sift spice, hunt, or explore.  

So I'm usually stuck with an independant.  Sometimes the Byn or other clans will have the sort of leaders that take people out on inpromtu missions at least once per OOC day, but most of the time it seems like clans either lock you into a restrictive sechedual of activities, or worse restrict you to a single activity like tavern-sitting or practicing something.  I like tavern-sitting, but being told I *have* to do it makes it into a chore rather than a pleasure.

AC