Wratts

Well, no. You would have to engage in some kind of text message convo (the ritual does necessitate some communication). But this could be as simple as: “Hey, wanna go grab a bite in 30?” Other than that, yeah, it’s childishly easy. Except for needing 2 sig charges, but yeah.

But the Plutomancer can’t invite potential corporate business partners to a meal in the most expensive restaurant of the world which nets a bill of over $10.000. You can, however, and the Plutomancer will probably be very grateful.

You can probably find a way to get the Pilgrim to do something for you if you make it look like it’s furthering both your and his goals together.

The Epideromancer’s rules in the book are one thing, but the way a real Epideromancer as a person would look at it implies that the thing with the medical alert bracelet you described is not really off the wall. However, that won’t stop some overzealous medic from trying to save her and pissing over religious exemption, even risking a lawsuit for the sake of saving lives, so having a partner-in-crime to ensure it doesn’t happen when going to do some dirty work in the Underground is perhaps worth noting.

People in the Underground most oftenly have obsessions. Adepts in particular have very strong, bizarre ones. Avatars don’t necessarily, but at one point you’re probably in so deep that you’ve got your obsession on your hands, and worst case scenario, your obsession conflicts with your path’s taboos. It boils down to this: people don’t become happy-go-lucky adepts. If they want the real deal of avatar power, they have to work for it, too, and sometimes that means getting your hands dirty or swimming in the pool with the sharks. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, people in the Occult Underground don’t recommend becoming some oddball adept or pursuing avatar powers without some serious words of caution. The only ones who do that are the rare weirdo adepts trying to get you to accept their own worldview and become just like them, or avatars who want you to take up a different path which will threaten their rival’s position on the ladder to the statosphere. And people without fitting obsession are normally turned off by the weirdness entailing the taboos and daily rituals of avatars and adepts, because, well, they lack the motivation to do such crazy stuff. Being a clued-in mundane duke is a much safer and saner road to take, but your mileage may vary–if the game features weirdness around every corner trying to eat your face and gunfights every day without any repercussions like lawsuits or law enforcement pursuing you, I guess you could just recommend fellow player characters to do some nasty stuff to themselves and others to gain some kewl powerz and, together, form a ring of the equivalent of the Captain Planet Team in the world of Unknown Armies.

Though, that’s just too far away from the personal horror feel of the game as I know it, I guess. That’s just my opinion. I believe there are many others prefer the game to be more lighthearted and humorous than me.

By far, the most important thing you mention for my angle of the discussion is the cause. It’s not just important to lead people, you need it if you want to work magic. Sure, you can just act the part if you go the avatar way, but at one point or the other you have a hard image to uphold and it helps to have a cause, otherwise you won’t get far (the first channel is relatively weak for avatars, the second isn’t but needs more work, the third and so forth are alot more powerful but then the rivalry will start cropping up). But for adepts? You must be absolutely convicted and see the world that way. Wanting to go to hogwarts and learning how to do some tricks won’t cut it. Getting mentored into the ways of an adept will make you go mad, and worse.

I’m just saying, I don’t think it’s very credible that a character in Unknown Armies would actually advise another to become an adept or channel an archetype. Because what you hear and probably come to believe of the underground is that all those people line the graveyards and have gone insane, and they are the tools for mundane folk. The Plutomancer? He’ll kiss your feet for buying him a donut because he’s gone on an accounting binge for days without food. The avatar of the Pilgrim? He has something to do, and if you help him do that, he’ll be grateful. The Epideromancer? Has a simple deal with you, he’ll heal you if you make sure he’s never put into hospital or under a doctor’s knife. All these kooks are surprisingly easy to satisfy with mundane means. You don’t need kewl powerz to convince people to do things, you just need to know what they want and give it to them in the right doses so they do what you want.

Well obviously, a good way to stay out of trouble is to stay off the radar. And by that I mean the radar of the Underground’s more unpleasant fellows who spend alot of resources to dispatch people who actually get into the situation of melting someone’s face and the cops interfering and thusly some heads turning in the way of the unnatural.

I would have said “Flying Woman” as an avatar for her would be funny, a neat little irony to have Flying Woman and a Masterless Man working next to eachother. But the problem with avatars for her is the rivalry, if she wants power just to defend herself and no world-view with it, then it’s a risk-reward kind of thing to go with because she already has a name and going an avatar path beyond the first channel will get heads turned her way–in the Underground, not among normal public. She doesn’t want fame, but wants protection, so taking an extra risk and step in those directions doesn’t sound like a reasonable way to go for her.

Then there’s Narco-Alchemy, which, stylistically, would fit quite well–it’s regarded as a minor school but can do some serious stuff, but the nice perk for a starlet who doesn’t want to be famous is that she could get into Narco-Alchemy via the drug scene (a natural thing for celebrities) and fall from grace of the public eye. The problem with adepts is that you take up a worldview.

And the character, so far, seems to have no conviction whatsoever, more lethargic and defensive than anything. Which is why I’d say, stick to a Masterless Man bodyguard, get contacts in the Underground, get rituals, get guns, get artifacts, get to work in the Underground and make some crazy pals who do the mojo *for* you. If she became a starlet even though she doesn’t like it, I’ll bet she has some good social and mental skills. That’s perfect to stay sane and make people do the dirtiest work *for* you while you stay in control.

Skills like “You Do What I Say!” and “Don’t Hit Me, I’m Innocent” can work wonders. Completely without mojo.

Knife to a gun fight? Nah, not really. Oftenly enough, Adepts get into serious trouble and Avatars have to deal with rivals, so it can just as well turn out that being one of the freakos of the Underground is like bringing mojo to the gun fight, when you could just bring an actual gun. It’s also easier to sell to the cops that you shot someone in the face in self defense rather than having to explain how that specific someone’s face melted.

In Unknown Armies, clued-in mundane characters are oftenly more powerful than the adepts and avatars, last but not least because of that taboo thing.

Ritual magick. All the weirdness, but none of the inflexibility.

Narco-Alchemy. If she’s a starlet, the drug scene is right next door.

Ritual magick. All the weirdness, but none of the inflexibility.

Narco-Alchemy. If she’s a starlet, the drug scene is right next door.

Nine Inch Nails – At The Heart Of It All
When things get eery

Alex Cremers – (Shadowrun) – Cityscape
When you’re feeling something’s wrong with the city you’re in

Kenji Kawaii – (Ghost in the Shell) – Nightstalker
When you’re about to meet your maker

System of a Down – Prison Song
For a game I ran in which the player characters were prisoners and tangled in an action-packed gang fight

And I found a new title song for the current sessions at Global Level and nearing Cosmic Level:
Korn – Hollow Life

Is there ever any wonder
Why we look to the sky
Searching space
Asking why?
All alone
where is God?
Looking down
We don’t know