[UA] New archetypes (rather long)

Sat May 18 12:58:24 PDT 2002

Not bad, I like the Jester a lot. Shadow king needs fleshing out (though I
am a bit prejudiced: I've spent ages fiddeling around with a similar
concept, and am a bit miffed that you've scooped me...).

Idea for jester: Expand his domain to wider parody. A lot of papers hire
writers to make do comedy articles, often political. In the UK for example,
Amando Ianucci has done some great, but very poor taste, work ("Terror's
March Backwards" being one of the best examples). Drawing again from UK
experience, Impressionists are making a comeback, and some do have real
meainings.

Shadow king is a good idea, but try upping the mysticalness of it to fit a
UA universe.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ewald Große-Wilde" <wilde at uni-muenster.de>
To: "Unknown Armies Liste" <ua at lists.uchicago.edu>
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 8:24 PM
Subject: [UA] New archetypes (rather long)

> Hello out there !
>
>
> Just wrote down 2 new archetypes. I'm not too happy about them, especially
> the channels, but as a 0.3 version...
>
> Perhaps anyone has any suggstions ?
>
>  From my current campaign:
>
> The Jester
>
> Attributes: The Jester represents one kind of safety valve in every
> society: sometimes it is necessary to *not* blow a fuse about an seemingly
> unjust decision, made by an absolute ruler, but to release the strain
> through laughter. Here the Jester steps into the light: since ancient
times
> people realized the value of some kind of bizarre mirror, mimicking the
> ruler, mocking him and -sometimes- questioning his decisions, so that the
> people could take some tension out of their relation to their öeader. And
> sometimes Jesters make everyone see the errors in the kings ways, even the
> king himself...
> In modern times the need to question authority remains, but the kings
> changed: instead of a king, modern jesters normally mock modern society.
>
> Symbols: Make-Up, Mirrors, The Jesters cap, often accompanied by some kind
> of mock scepter. In modern times the scepter is normally replaced by the
> microphone.
>
> Taboo: The Jester may never gain substantial power himself: money(a bit) &
> fame are ok, political clout isn't. He may never be a ruler himself.
> The Jester may not avoid a performance for personal reasons (even if it
> means loosing the favor of his king :)
> He may not use information without a comment in his performance (even
> though information itself can be a comment) or confront "wrongdoing"
> directly  satire is everything
> (For example: Saying that a politician is incompetent would not be ok,
> stating that we can be glad to have him, because he provides an excellent
> entertainment would be.)
>
> Suspected Avatars: The clown Grok, the marx brothers... Jerry Seinfeld ?
>
>
> Channels:
> A Jesters channels work through his performances.
> 1% - 50%: Avatar may flip-flop rolls during a performance. His avatar
skill
> rating gives the amount of people who are able to see his point, even in
> the case of a unsuccesful performance roll.
> 51% - 70%: Figures of authority have to take a Self-5 check to attack the
> Jester physically. People who just failed a sanity check in an apropriat
> area (depending on the theme of the performance) may re-role.
> 71% - 90%: At this level the Jester may use his performance to probe the
> authority. Even a level-headed politician will start to twitch or sweat
> when some crime his party commited is mentioned  even if only mentioned
> briefly. The Jester will know fpr certain if this happens.
> 91% +: The Jesters performance can sway the hearts of his auditorium:
> anyone who doesn't make a Self-8 check will be convinced of the the
jesters
> ideas. Riots may break out, votes may fail.
>
>
> Just an idea:
>
> The Shadow King
>
> Attributes: The Ruler from the Dark, the Embodiment of Sinister Thoughts,
> the Whispering Snake  all of these are always on our minds. May it be in
> the guise of the Illuminati, or simply as Bill Gates. The Shadow King is
> the ruler in the dark, he who really makes policy. And while everyone may
> know he is there, no one must know what he really said.
>
> Symbols: Mirror shades, smoke, big desks and computers.
>
> Taboo: While the shadow king will wield substrantial power, he may nevr be
> directly linked to any of his doings. Everyone may suspect his
> intereference, but proof is out of the question. Naturally this only
> includes outsiders, henchmen and people under his sway.
>
> Suspected Avatars: J. Edgar Hoover, Illuminati, Rockefeller..
>
>
> Notice: Should be limited to NSCs ?
>
> Channels:
> (don't work in full daylight)
>
> 1% - 50%: A succesful roll gives the avatar general information about a
> persons/institutions weakest point.
> 51% - 70%: The avatar may hide in shadows, only emerging when he wants to.
> This doesn't mean he can travel though shadows to otherwise unreachable
> places though. Hiding does take about 5 seconds.
> 71% - 90%: Avatar can persuade anyone to act against his own interest. To
> resist you have to roll below your soul rating but above the avatars soul
> rating. Later on stress-checks (rate depending on the situation) will
follow.
> 91%: Anyone attacking the avatar has to make a check against unnatural,
> rank-8 as the shadows warp around the avatar, making him a threatening
sight.
>
>
> Thank you, Ewald
>
> PGP - Key found
>
here:http://keyserver.pgp.com/pks/lookup?op=get&exact=off&search=ewald+gro%D
Fe-wilde
>
> ICQ-No.:110814283
>
>
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