[UA] archetype rarity?

[Joshua Symonds]

There probably are more 70+ liars, but not significantly more.
Compulsive liars - REALLY compulsive liars - would have major problems
relating to other people, whereas a 70+ post-Einsteinian physicist or
flower arranger would have comparatively minor problems. It doesn't seem
all that feasible for someone to obsessively pursue lying, anyway - if
obsessions are a choice, to a certain extent, then practically anything
would be better.

But we're stretching this analogy pretty far, now...

An archetype like the Mother would have more avatars than the Mystic
Hermaphrodite, but getting obsessed with it enough to carry it all the
way to high levels is something else entirely. Since I've always
considered that most ordinary people don't have obsessions, lots of the
avatars that form would be stuck at low levels. They just don't really
care enough to pursue their mystic connection further, or don't
recognize its existence. They happen to embody it at times, and that's
that. People who actually realize the significance of what they do and
attempt to pursue it further would be a step of magnitude more rare, and
thus, all other things being equal, the numbers would work out to be
roughly the same.

There are some other factors that need consideration, though. Some
Archetypes lend themselves more to obsession than others, in my opinion.
The Merchant, for example. The concept of the business man making deals
and shaking hands is far more idealized in society than, say, an urban
wanderer channeling the Savage. More Merchant archetypes of low levels
would appear, leading to a few more Merchants of high level. If we
consider that percentages of archetypes who reach really high levels are
broadly more or less the same, then it would stand to reason that more
Merchants would be around, similarly with other more popular archetypes.

Of course, that percentage probably isn't quite the same, either. (Man,
I like knocking my own arguments over.) Some archetypes - in my opinion,
again - would obsess people more than others. Many Mothers are created,
but only a few Mothers would really try to get good at it. Conversely,
only a few Mystic Hermaphrodites are created, but if they've started
channeling the archetype, chances are they're obsessed about whatever
put them on the path. It's the difference in societal adversity, I
think. To be really dedicated to being a transvestite hooker shaman or
something of that order requires a step more oomph than being a
dedicated mother. That step I would qualify as obsession. Whatever the
transvestite hooker shaman did to start on the path of the Mystic
Hermaphrodite, it's more likely they'll continue to channel it and get
better, since they have to really care about what they're doing to keep
doing it. The dedicated mother may - but she may not, as well.

So, the conclusion: at low levels, there will be many, many more avatars
that follow common archetypes. At high levels, the numbers should be
roughly the same, taking rarity of obsession and the chance that someone
will get obsessed with that archetype into account.

Of course, I'm assuming that only obsession can get you high levels of
an archetype, which is untrue. Though it certainly makes things easier.


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