[UA] Pyrrhic Victor - Archetype Write-Up (suggestions?)

[R. Menzi]

> Interesting sub-archetype of the Fool 
> (Plutarch called Pyrrhus "The Fool of Hope"). 

     For this case of UA, I'm going to say that that
view of Pyrrhus is outdated, since the "when you win,
you lose" bit is less comedy and more tragedy and
truth.  And don't start going on about the Fool as a
tragic character, please.  It's a theme that has
strong ties to the US psyche, from my mother's
experience of watching the networks sign off with a
mushroom cloud to the late 70's/early-mid 80's kids'
escapist revels while ICBMs were casually aimed at
almost every major city on the globe... and still are.

     The theme of the initial agressor in such a war
would win, in that he would destroy his target, but he
would also bring destruction down upon himself.  The
reason this has nothing to do with the fool is that
the decision would be made with full knowledge of just
how high the price tag would go.

     Neither is this the Martyr, who is targeted and
dies for the cause.  There is an element of
self-sacrifice, but it is qualitatively different, far
more aggressive and warlike, founded as much in hate
rather than devotion.  It is not a sacrafice that
furthers their own side's interests, murderously calls
down death upon it's own side.  It's such a fucked up
mix that it really does deserve some kind of
designation.

     Personally, the part I was most into was the fact
that the current individual holding the PV's seat on
the IC was from the days before the bomb, and must
actually working against his natural influence to
avoid losing the position to some punk politician with
his finger on the button. 


> Also evokes shades of the Martyr and the Pilgrim.

     That's an interesting mirror.  The Martyr: "When
you lose, you win!"  The PV: "When you win, you lose."
 Perhaps one of them passed though a certain house and
then found their way back into the IC from the other
side of the coin.



> All in all, though, this kind of obsession is 
> more the realm of the adept than the avatar: 
> magical practice in UA more often than not turns 
> into a Pyrrhic victory over the forces of the 
> universe.

     What?  I think you've made a mistake there
somewhere.  The adept never wins against the forces of
the universe, which survive the adept, everyone he
knows and everything he will ever do, unless he gets
onto the IC, in which case he gets to have some say in
how the forces of the universe work.

     If anything, the adept is far more a Martyr to
his obsession than a Pyrrhic Victor, because at the
end of the game, the only "winners" can be counted on
333 fingers, and there's a whole lot more adepts than
that.



> Er... do you mean Pyrrhus?

     No, his kid, Pyrrhoid.  You know, the one who
shows up in the epilogue and has to inherit a kingdom
in ruins....  Showoff ;p



> Sounds like the PV is treading on Peacemaker 
> territory here.

     The PV certainly is... right now anyway, because
if he pushes an all out war, he loses his seat to the
some button-pusher or worse, some order-giving
politician, that and everyone on Earth dies and the IC
has to wait around for them to re-evolve on its rather
un-friendly surface.  Also, knowledge that the
conflict if self-destructive is what sets the PV apart
from the Fool.

     As it reads, my ideas seem a little too
beneficial for the channels of the Pyrhhic Victor.
People might want to actually be one.  No, the PV is
about losing when you win, not winning when you lose.
How about if the channels were all targeted on the
avatar, so that he would always suffer from the damage
he causes, not the other way around.  He would always
come out just a little bit better than the other guy,
because he is an avatar of the P. Victor, after all.

     Low level channel might work to redirect the
aftermath from one part of his life to another, while
the high-level ones include stuff like always coming
out at least marginally better than the other guy.

That would make the PVs far more fucked in the head,
because the taboo prevents them from backing down from
their campaign because the possible losses are too
high.  Between that and the fact that the stronger
channels make them finish on top of the other guy
makes them quite the avoided OU pariahs... of course,
it might just be due to the fact that they redirect
some of the carnage they call down upon themselves
towards their social lives.



Regards,
- R. Menzi

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