[UA] A brief idea

[Matt Norwood]

> Shamanism/demonology with homeless people taking the
> place of spirits. Discuss.

I thought Shadowrun did a pretty good job with this stuff, and I 
remember a few Werewolf supplements that also treated it well. In both 
cases, spirits materialized in mundane urban forms: homeless people, 
cabbies, policemen, whatever. I remember Werewolf had The American Dream 
as a totem: a drunk guy with a stained t-shirt who hung out on the steps 
of the Capitol building.

I do like the idea of "spirits" as just people who have fallen through 
the cracks or otherwise attained a kind of special status that allows 
them to be summoned. I'd like to see some avatars treated this way: 
certain rituals should allow you to summon avatars of a given type, e.g. 
the Executioner or the Healer. Few games put in place a dynamic whereby 
PCs can be summoned; Wraith provides for this, I guess, by the mechanic 
of Fetters, and The Whispering Vault revolves around this premise. Are 
there others? I'd love to see some UA rituals along these lines written 
up: I'd like to see avatars lose more of their self-determination and 
sense of identity as they are pulled more and more into the role -- and 
duties -- of their chosen archetype.

Matt Norwood



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