[UA] Two more new archetypes - very, very long

[Kevin Mowery]

	This was something I was working on to submit to Pyramid, but the bug for
it has left me and instead I'm working on something else entirely (a new
school of magick).  So, since I put so much work into this, I figured I'd
share it with you folks just the same.  This is unfinished, a rough draft,
so feel free to cut it up, make comments, and so forth.

A DEADLY PAIR

In the world of Unknown Armies, the people that ascend to become archetypes
influence this world and the world that is to come.  Some of these people
are not in any way nice, and neither are the archetypes they embody.  Here
are two archetypes that embody some of the worst humanity has to offer.

THE KILLER ON THE ROAD

Attributes: The Killer On the Road is the embodiment of meaningless, random
violence and death.  This is the archetype of the thrill-killer and the
serial murderer.  Sudden and pointless murder are the forte of the Killer
On the Road.

The Killer On the Road is not driven by a psychological need to hurt or
murder other people.  Obsessive love, sex crimes, and murderous stalking
are the domain of other archetypes.  The Killer On the Road kills because
he can.

Taboos: All avatars of the Killer On the Road must commit at least one
random, opportunistic murder every seven days, beginning from the time of
the last required murder.  This murder cannot further any purpose for the
character and it does not count toward any abilities the character may have
that are fueled by murder.

Symbols: The darkened road, the knife, and the skull and crossbones are the
symbols of the Killer On the Road.  More modern symbols include the hockey
mask and the chainsaw.

Suspected Avatars in History: The Killer On the Road is a fairly recent
archetype, believed to date back to the beginnings of the 17th Century and
the murderous Sawney Beane clan.  Sawney Beane was a Scotsman who, with his
wife and his huge incestuous family, lived in a cave and killed and ate
travellers who crossed his path.  The murderous Native American known as
Quejo who killed in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries was also an
avatar, as was Charlie Starkweather.  

Channels:

1% - 50%: For every 10% or fraction of 10% in his Avatar: Killer On the
Road skill, the character gains one free hardened mark in Violence.

51% - 70%: The character gains an M.O. for murder.  The player must choose
a favored type of weapon (a type of knife, caliber of pistol, or the
equivalent) or a favored locale (along Route 66, in public restrooms).  In
any combat situation involving the character's M.O., the character can
flip-flop the roll on any combat skill if the missed roll was under his
Avatar: Killer On the Road skill.

[Example: Maxwell really likes using his hammer to kill people, so he makes
it his M.O.  In a fight, he rolls a 63 to hit.  This is over his Smashing
Heads skill of 55%, but below his Avatar: Killer On the Road skill of 70%. 
He flip-flops the roll to 36 and the hammer connects with a dull smacking
sound.  Had he been using a pistol, this would have been outside his M.O.
of the hammer and he could not have flipped the roll.]

71% - 90%: The blood is the life!  When the character kills someone using
his M.O., all Wound Points suffered by the victim at the hands of the
avatar can be used to heal the avatar's wounds at a one-for-one rate.  Any
Wound Points beyond those necessary to heal the avatar's wounds cannot be
saved for later.   
[Example: Maxwell has been wounded in a gunfight in a bar.  Holding his
bleeding gut with one hand, he stumbles into the restroom.  Luckily for
him, he finds someone hiding from the fight in one of the stalls.  Pulling
his hammer out of his pocket with his free hand, Maxwell finishes of the
hapless customer.  The bar patron had 50 Wound Points and Maxwell was
wounded for 40 Wound Points.  The extra 10 points are lost.]

91%+: The avatar can literally drop off the face of the earth between
killings.  After a successful murder using the M.O., the avatar can, with a
successful skill roll, vanish for one week.  During this time, the avatar
for all practical purposes ceases to exist.  The avatar does not age or
grow hungry or thirsty.  Once the avatar reappears, however, he will be due
for another murder within the day or face the consequences of breaking the
taboo.

THE SIREN

Attributes: In myth, the siren lured men to their death with her song.  The
Siren is the person you can't help but love even though you know they are
bad for you, the person that knows you'd give up everything for them and
takes advantage of it.  

She is the femme fatale of film noir, the archetypal manipulative lover,
and the source of the urban legend of AIDS Mary.  Despite being stereotyped
as female, men or women can follow the path of the Siren.

Taboos: Forget Lord Byron; it is the avatar of the Siren who is truly "mad,
bad, and dangerous to know."  Love, pain, and death are all the same for
the Siren, and anyone who loves an avatar of the Siren - or anyone loved by
an avatar - is in danger.  Avatars of the Siren must injure or destroy
their lovers in some way.  This can be physical, emotional, social,
professional, or financial.

All channelled powers of the Siren work only against people whose sexual
orientation allows them to be attracted to the avatar.  Any attempts to use
them against someone else do not break taboo, but automatically fail.  

Symbols: The mirror, the hairbrush or comb, the mermaid, and the rocky
shore are the Siren's symbols.  Other symbols include gold or diamond
jewelry, expensive gifts, and photographic negatives of compromising acts.

Suspected Avatars in History: The first Siren may have been Helen of Troy,
the woman so beautiful that two kingdoms went to war over her.  There have
been few truly famous (or infamous) avatars of the Siren that can be
confirmed as such.  Unless they are very careful, the Siren's penchant for
destroying other people's lives tends to make their own lives very short. 
Most occultists have someone in their past they suspect of being an avatar
of the Siren.

Channels:

1% - 50%: With a successful roll against her Avatar: Siren skill, the
character can learn the proper persona to project to gain the trust of a
specific person.  This gives a +10% to all skills involving seduction or
persuasion, although the target will not violate his or her principles.

51% - 70%: If Seduction was not already the character's obsession skill, it
counts as one, and can always be flip-flopped.  In addition, the character
can flip-flop any social skill roll that is under her Avatar: Siren skill. 

[Example: Suzanne has an Avatar: Siren skill of 65% and a Lie skill of only
45%.  She's pulled over by a police officer for speeding.  She tries to lie
her way out of the ticket, and rolls a 53%.  Ordinarily this would be a
failure, but because it's under 65%, she can flip-flop the roll to 35% and
success.  If the roll had been 73%, it would have been over her Avatar
skill and she could not have flip-flopped it.]

71% - 90%: With a successful roll against Avatar: Siren, the character can
implant a suggestion into the mind of her target.  The victim will do what
they can to follow this suggestion, but will only violate their own moral
code or harm themselves if the character rolls doubles.  The avatar can do
this only once per target per day.  This power can be used to fulfill the
requirements of the taboo.  

[Example: Ariadne has an Avatar: Siren skill of 80%.  She sees a man
getting into a new sportscar and decides she wants it.  She asks him if she
can have it, and rolls a 32.  It would violate his own principles to just
give away his car, so he doesn't but he offers her a ride.  Had she rolled
a 33, he would have handed over the keys and hailed a taxi.]

91%+: The avatar can turn someone into a love slave.  The avatar must roll
under her Avatar: Siren skill and over her target's Mind score.  The avatar
can have only one love slave at a time.  A love slave will do almost
anything the avatar orders, although there are two exceptions: the love
slave will never stop loving the avatar and will never allow harm to come
to the avatar through either action or inaction.  The love slave is the
only person that can love the avatar without having to be hurt, ruined, or
killed, but it never seems to work out that way.

[Example: Ronald has an Avatar: Siren skill of 93%.  He's being
investigated for slaying a former lover by a female detective with a Mind
score of 67.  He decides to make her his love slave, and rolls the dice. 
He gets a 70%, which is over her Mind score and under his Avatar: Siren
skill.  She will now happily stop investigating him if he asks her to do
so.  Another detective finds out about the affair and threatens to go to
Internal Affairs.  Rather than risk having her relationship with Ronald
exposed and the investigation against him re-opened, she kills the other
detective.]      

Kevin "Professor Bobo" Mowery _____________________ profbobo at io.com
"The entire dismemberment of Vash Gar reveals an ignorance of anatomy so 
deep that I begin to question whether the author does, indeed, have a
body."
                       --ratmm's Norb on the "Seven Stars MSTing"
     **See the "Seven Stars MSTing" at http://www.io.com/~profbobo **