Who pays an Ally's Cost of Living?

[mlangsdorf]

If the PC makes his living at some kind of trade, I'd expect the Ally to have an equivalent type of trade that he makes his living from.

If the PC makes his living from income earned in play, and the Ally came along to help earn that income, I'd expect the Ally to get an equal share of that income and pay his CoL out of that.

If the Ally clearly has some kind of subservient relationship to the PC, then the Ally might not get a full share, but the PC probably has to pay the Ally's CoL.

ie: We have 4 PCs (Al, Barry, Chris, and David). They make their income through "adventuring" - to whit, tomb-raiding. Barry is accompanied by his faithful servant Larry; Chris is often seen with his good friend Miles; David brings along his apprentice Nancy. When the tomb-raiders recover $10000 from King Jeremiah's tomb, they'll split it 5 ways and Al, Barry, Chris, David, and Miles will each get $2000. Barry has to pay Larry out of his share, and Larry will pay his CoL out of his pay; David doesn't have to pay Nancy directly but he does have to pay her CoL. Al, Chris, and Miles just have to pay their own CoL.

I think it's important to remember that from the Ally's perspective, he's as real as anyone else and is entitled an appropriate share of the loot, depending on his position, responsibilities, and contributions. An equal point Ally isn't going to say "well, I'm just an NPC, I don't deserve a cut of the loot." And similarly, an Ally who started out as a cheap servant paid on a salary basis may decide after a while that he wants to buy into the partnership, if he feels that his contributions merit that level of reward.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

I think it's important to remember that from the Ally's perspective, he's as real as anyone else and is entitled an appropriate share of the loot, depending on his position, responsibilities, and contributions. An equal point Ally isn't going to say "well, I'm just an NPC, I don't deserve a cut of the loot." And similarly, an Ally who started out as a cheap servant paid on a salary basis may decide after a while that he wants to buy into the partnership, if he feels that his contributions merit that level of reward.

Then again, there's the Minion enhancement which changes the expectations.

[Grouchy Chris]

See the word of Kromm here and here. Basically, if your Ally doesn't have the opportunity to earn their own living, you're their living. Not paying their upkeep would count as "betraying or unnecessarily endangering" them, and give them cause to stop being your ally.

But for Allies who do have time to earn their own living, see here: "Allies are defined as serving out of duty alone."

[thom]

Thanks everyone! That's what I needed to know; I'm on the right track, since the Ally is with the PC 100% of his time, and has no separate income (or life! <sg>)

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by thom

Thanks everyone! That's what I needed to know; I'm on the right track, since the Ally is with the PC 100% of his time, and has no separate income (or life! <sg>)

If it's a constantly-available minion with no time/life of its own, why isn't it Dead Broke?

[Kromm]

Yeah, it all boils down to "Can the Ally earn a living?" Using standard frequencies of appearance, I'd say "definitely" at 6 or less, "he'll need a job with flex time" at 9 or less, "a part-time job if he doesn't sleep" at 12 or less, and "no way, no how" at 15 or less (or constantly!). Thus, the more visible the Ally, the more likely the PC is to have to pay his way. If the GM prefers, he could make an appearance roll each time the Ally has to pay a life expense, and charge the PC if the roll succeeds . . . or simply bill the PC for 9.3%, 37.5%, 74.1%, 95.4%, or 100% of the Ally's living expenses. These alternative approaches assume that the less-than-constant Ally can at least bum a few coins, win the rare card game, or do odd jobs.

[Anthony]

Alternately, you can just say "you pay the ally's cost of living for the time when he's around helping you instead of making a living".

[Kromm]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Alternately, you can just say "you pay the ally's cost of living for the time when he's around helping you instead of making a living".

Since CoL is monthly, it's probably less paperwork to use a flat percentage or a single roll than to track workdays missed and charge in proportion. Especially if, like me, you handwave workdays as boring and don't really keep track of them. ;) I've run enough campaigns with enough Allies to know that I'd end up having the headache of totting up minutes, hours, and days (because "session" and "adventure" are not units of time, but units of plot) to get 48.73% of a work month or something.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Alternately, you can just say "you pay the ally's cost of living for the time when he's around helping you instead of making a living".

Sounds like a very clean, in-game logical solution. Totally unlike the reverse situation, which had to be resolved through a metagamey (albeit acceptable) solution.