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

[Matthew Rowan Norwood]

> And don't start going on about the Fool as a
> tragic character, please.  

Hm. Okay, I won't go on about it. But the Fool _is_ a tragic figure.

By choosing the reference to Pyrrhus in the name of the archetype, I
thought it implied someone who doesn't step back from their situation
enough to realize that the price of victory is too high: i.e., a Fool.
If the person _does_ realize and does it anyway, he's more of a
Terrorist or Martyr. 

>      Neither is this the Martyr, who is targeted and
> dies for the cause.

A Martyr doesn't have to be "targeted". And the Pyrrhic Victor as
written also has to have some "cause". The main difference seems to be
that the PV doesn't necessarily _die_... but then, neither does the
martyr, if you read the description. Also, some of their channels are
fairly similar.

If the PV is aware of his sacrifice and still does it out of some kind
of lust for revenge/desire for the enemy to LOSE even if it means
EVERYONE losing, then maybe some kind of more general Revenge or Spite
archetype is called for.

I think that the scene in Titus Andronicus with the Goths showing up
disguised as Death, Rape and Murder was a nice idea for some old
archetypes: if you can have War, thne maybe you could have archetpyes of
crimes/sins like Rape, Sloth, Greed, etc.

(NB: I'm definitely on the Jungian/minimalist end of the
archetype-attitude spectrum for this list: I tend to poo-poo anything
that overlaps with existing archetypes too much for my taste. I have
doubts about my approach being able to produce 333 distinct archetypes,
though... which has made me start thinking about how different aspects
of various archetypes might emerge as distinct archetypes.)

More than this, I've never liked the "go back to zero" rule for changing
archetypes. What about a Pilgrim whose master is killed and becomes a
Masterless Man? What about a Demagogue who slips into more of a
Trickster mode? What about a Necessary Servant who accepts the
assignment of an assassination and becomes an Executioner? I'd like a
more gentle transition for these people: maybe being able to transfer
some of their points in some ritualized switch? Of course, here we're
getting into AD&D Players' Handbook Appendix D territory: multi-class
and dual-class characters, etc. Possible munchkin hazard.

-Matt Norwood

_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua