[UA] Re: Gardener

[Royal Minister of Stuff]

--- Chad Underkoffler <chadu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 09:28:39 -0600
> > From: Greg Stolze <holycrow at mindspring.com>
> > 
> > Maybe a level of abstraction would help with this
> Archetype. 
> > Its symbols and regalia are all vegetable, in the
> same way 
> > that the True King's trappings are feudal.  
> 
> I was actually interpreting a lot of what people
> have been
> posting about the Gardner as being essentially True
> Kings stuff,
> myself. But then I considered: the Gardner doesn't
> primarily
> lead, he shapes (and I see the TK as someone who
> doesn't
> primarily shape, but leads). So I think that you're
> right, here.

I'm all for adding the level of abstraction, myself. 
I think that's half of what hooked me on UA, anyway. 
I'm probably going to encourage the Gardener archetype
in a new player to my group, but, alas, I'll use my
own tinkering.  I like the idea of using vegtable
trappings for other things (like a guy who's restoring
a 1920s coach car paints it in shades of pumpkin and
adds some iron filligree with vine shapes.)

I'm also going to go with the role of gardner as
advisor/cache of secret wisdom (inspired and
reinforced not a little bit by Timmin's neat little
story.)

> 
> > But as you can have a True King of the American
> Party or a
> > True King of South American Communists, you could
> also 
> > have "The Gardener of 67th Street" or "The
> Gardener of 
> > Children" or "The Gardener of the Ku Klux Klan."

Yeah.  Like that.



> 
> I like that. Hmmm, I'd also expand it to animal life
> (the
> Husbandman). 

I'm already using the Husbandomancer school of magic
(suggested on this list) in my UA games (I had an old
lady in a house full of cats hit Kevin Elmore's
dipsomancer with a nasty circe-esque "Are you Animal
or Human?" mind-scrambler once and I've repeated the
trick a few times.)  I see Husbandomancy and The
Gardener fitting well together.


Without a doubt, though, I'm gonna link my Gardener to
hobbies, particularly constructive ones.

Let's see: 

Channels:

Lowest - Encourage the "growth" of a project or person
by metaphorically working on a hobby of your own
(kinda like intructive voodoo.)  In game terms, you
can grant someone a temporary boost of skill, adding
your Avatar percentage to an existing skill your
target possesses for a limited amount of time (or
adding your Avatar skill to any of your own skills.) 
Your own opinions, of course, indicate what "growth"
means.

Middle - Repair or resurrect "failed" people and
projects. You can add your Avatar skill to hit points
or attempts to get funding, anything that would
prolong or invigorate someone's life or work. 
(Godwalkers may even be able to "mulch" someone back
to life.)
Again, your own opinions determine "failure." 

Tops - Discourage or prune "bad" tendencies in people
or projects.  Prevent a project from reaching a
certain kind of conclusion or a person from taking a
certain action that you deem "bad" or "unwholesome," etc.

=====
-- Rp Bowman, Royal Minister of Stuff
The Electronic Nation of Yokeltania:
http://www.geocities.com/yokeltania/

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