[UA] The Paranoid Ascends

Fri Nov 17 10:44:56 PST 2000

> From: "Shultz, Andrew" <Andrew.Shultz at Winwin.com>
> Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 12:41:31 -0500
>
> The PCs in my game last night participated in the ascension
> of a new archetype.  By various signs they knew one was coming
> and were able to guess who it might be... one Clive Stubbins, 
> paranoid conspiracy theorist.  
>
> This is a new archetype (The Paranoid is probably a good name
> for it), so I was trying to think of channels for later.  The 
> Paranoid epitomizes the person who believes that the 
> government, big business, the UN, and most people are all 
> involved in some fantastic conspiracy.  The Paranoid may 
> or may not believe that the conspiracy is focused on him, but 
> certainly believes that They keep Their eye on him because he 
> Knows Too Much.  I think that actually having a huge 
> organization out to get you is a break with the archetype, 
> because it symbolizes paranoia, not justified suspicion.

1. The zeitgeist has altered. When the NG Ascended, everybody
suspected that everybody else had more occult info than they,
which started a magickal arms race. Now, with the Ascension of
the Paranoid, everybody's gonna think that everybody else not
only knows more, but is now actively out to get them. Wear a
helmet.

2. I'd call it The Man Who Knows Too Much. I fon't think that
having a big organization out to get you breaks the archetype--
to violate the archetype, an avatar (remember, this is an
avatar, not adept) would have to either admit he didn't know
something, admit that a piece of the information is actually
UNINVOLVED in the "conmspiracy," or act as if they WEREN'T out
to get him ('cause, as far as the Archetype of the Paranoid is
concerned, they ARE).

3. Channels: 
1-50%: If being observed, can flip-flop your Notice roll to
detect observation.
51-70%: With successful Avatar roll, can add effective +10% to
Notice skill, at the cost of -10% to next Helplessness or
Isolation Stress Check. Cumulative until Stress Check is made.
71-90%: With a successful Avatar roll and a convincing "Plan B",
can evade or blunt a single action of the plot against him, once
per day. At this level, the Avatar always knows when he's under
surveillance.
91%+: Knows when and who is thinking about him, but not what.

> Also, the PCs were the ones who pushed him over the edge. 
> They work for TNI, and upon hearing about their suspicions 
> TNI's avatar expert (such as she is, TNI is pretty clueless
> in my game) decided that it would be most worthwhile to try
> to provoke his ascension somewhere that they could observe.  
> They set about making his life a little weirder - mailing him
> marked up newspapers, observing him with strange glasses while

> wearing dark suits, and repeatedly cutting him phone line.

That's awesome.

> Eventually they were able to raise his paranoia to the next
> level (perhaps because while they behaved like they were out
> to get him, they really weren't) and he ascended.  Several of 
> them were present, one watching the event through aura-goggles

> (mechanomantic device).  I'm thinking that as the people who 
> pushed the Paranoid over the edge, they might suffer some
> metaphysical backlash.  I was considering giving them a 
> mystical compulsion to dress in black suits, for example, but 
> that seems somewhat corny.

Nah, give them some of the MiB abilities and traits. When they
get new clothes or their own clothes back from the cleaners,
it's always the MiB suit. People have trouble remembering them.
People fear them. Whenever they rent a car, it's a black caddy.

Oh, and I'd make it such that the one viewing the Ascension
through the aura-goggles can ONLY see the Statosphere and auras
now. Not the real world. (Somebody will have to make a new pair
of "mundano-goggles" for that PC... and they just happen to look
like black Ray-Bans.)

> Also present was a pyramid-puzzlebox that they had hidden 
> cameras in and given to him (in case he ascended away from
> him, they hoped he would be examining the box at the time and 
> thus get captured on tape).  This will become an artifact, and
> it has strong "eye-in-the-pyramid" symbolism, having
> a camera pointing out each face.  I'm unclear what it would 
> actually do, however.

If you're a Pyramid subscriber, check out one of my Warehouse 23
submissions-- The Brass Pyramid-- for ideas. 

> I want the mystic changes and the artifact to be more 
> disturbing than advantageous, although they shouldn't be 
> terrible handicaps either.

I think the above qualifies.

=====
Chad Underkoffler [chadu at yahoo.com]
http://www.geocities.com/chadu/index.html
"Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three."
  -- Willy Wonka

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