[UA] Re: UA digest, Vol 1 #501 - 11 msgs

[Stuart Anderson]

Matthew Rowan Norwood wrote:

> >     I like both of these ideas, but I
> also like the moral
> > quandary in the other example. Most players, if
> offered superpowers in
> > return for being evil, would decline. We've all
> watched enough ABC After
> > School Specials to know something in that deal will
> bite you in the ass.
> > However--what would a PC do if the offer was
> superpowers in return for
> > being *perceived* as evil? Puts a spin on it. You want
> to do some good,
> > you could use some superpowers, you just have to
> ostensibly embody the
> > Great Satan. If the character isn't Islamic, has a
> faulty of Islam, or
> > understands but doesn't respect Islam, The deal might
> look pretty good.
> > It would still have the ass-bite, though. In my
> experience, the ass-bite
> > is a fundamental and unavoidable fact of life, so it
> shows up in my games.
> > It would start with a supercharged Islamic hit squad.
> In order to beat
> > them, the PC needs more superpowers, so he needs to be
> more Greatly
> > Satanic,
> > so he needs to find new ways to embody evil. Soon,
> he's going to run out
> > of ways that he's indifferent to, and yet, he'll still
> need the juice.
>
> Well, it sounds like you have some definite ideas in
> mind, so don't let me stop you. I just don't see why
> this is any different from embodying the Rebel -- the
> man who stands against society on the strength of his
> own abilities and nothing else (also possible with the
> Savage or the Masterless Man).

    The difference, for me, is that the Villain is pitted
against something. The Rebel exists, going his own way
without preconceptions or concern about how it affects
anyone He's defined as the Rebel when is stance brings him
out of conformity. The Bastard is going his own way, like
the Rebel, but his way happens to lie directly in opposition
to conformity. These types are looked at in a negative light
by whichever society finds them to not be conforming. The
Villain is different from the non-conformist, because there
is a set of precepts already in place which he must
deliberately thwart. He may pursue the path thinking he's
following his own will, but in exploring the role, he finds
he has as little will as the conformist sheep. His strength
doesn't come from within, it comes from acting directly in
opposition to expectations. It's about the thrill you feel
wheen you rip one of those mattress tags off, because you're
not supposed to. It would be Rebellion or Tricksterism if
there were an underlying purpose to the action. But there
isn't.
    It's kind of an embodiment of Oppositional/Defiant
Disorder. It is ultimately self-defeating. The paradox is
that by defining your will as opposed to the community will
in power around you, you have just given up your will. I do
think this stance is Archetypical. It's certainly built in
as a keystone in your dualistic interpretations of the
universe. However, I'm not pushing for it as a Archetype, so
much as a plot device that works like an archetype. I don't
really see lasting power coming from embodying this
archetype. It's one of those sad corners of the human
condition that normal people try to grow out of and Ascended
representatives are happy to be bumped from. It's weak, and
not desireable for player characters. So it doesn't really
fit well in the rules. I'm just holding out for it as a plot
device (probably just to be as perverse as an Avatar of the
Villain) But I do agree with you that you could do the story
as well with some other spin.
    You could cast the Villain as sort of a Rebel Without a
Clue, vying for pole position in the IC with a genuine
Rebel. You could have the story going along as I had laid it
out, and layer over it a story of the Godwalker of the Rebel
(Hunter Thompson?) manipulating the whole deal (in the guise
of covering a story?) That's the crazy thing about UA. It
just runs like a well-tuned machine, whatever weird, twisted
thing you try to do to it.

_________________________________________________
--Stu
The Secret Lab
"He belonged to that particular race of men who
were their adversaries' greatest champions." Eco

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