An ancient archetype now often channelled by barkeepers, bouncers and proprietors of secret clubs

The Good Host

From the dawn of time, the law of hospitality has been widely regarded as sacred. It was this law that allowed different tribes on a common ground. Friends and foreigners alike meet under the aegis of the Good Host, enjoying the safety of a common group. The Good Host turns strangers into companions, using the bonds of friendship and hospitality. Within the premises of the Good Host, people act on the same level, differences dissolve, and individuals form bonds with other individuals.

The Good Host is akin to the Peacekeeper but acts solely on a group level. He creates peace by making people into peers; yet his powers also possess a darker side, for the Good Host is also responsible for ostracising (hostility and host have the same latin root hostis), expelling people from a common group.

The Good Host can be found in all places where different people and groups meet and mingle, from bars to inns and social clubs. He makes in and out groups, deciding who is worthy of hospitality and who has revoked all ties of friendship and belonging.
The Good Host is channelled by many bartend
ers and innkeepers, as well as the leaders of social clubs and societies. He binds them together and thus protects them from outsiders.

Rumours say that the ubiquity of choosy and disdainful maitre de’s and bouncers in the 80s may have been a result of a Godwalker War between Good Hosts.
Despite the name, there are as many Good Hostesses as Good Hosts, as historically the power of hospitality has been regarded as female.

The Host’s Premises: Any Good Host must claim his premises, a place of hospitality where his channels work. Often, the premises are owned by the Host, but with a little arrangement, a Good Host may claim premises which are not owned by him when he can act as the host: Arranging the table, putting the chairs down, bringing people to their seats are all meaningful acts which designate a Good Host.
Off his premises, a Good Host is unable to use his powers. Then again, given a little time and effort, most places can be made hospitable and thus suitable for good hosting.
Taboo: A Good Host holds hospitality as sacred. He may never turn away an invited guest or a stranger in need and must try to protect him or her from all danger. A Good Host or Hostess can turn away an unwelcome (or hostile) guest without danger.
Symbols: The Good Host is traditionally represented by the hearth and the hearth’s fire or by a pub sign. In the east, the chashitsu or tea house and the tea ceremony are seen as a symbol of the Good host. Opening one’s arms for a warm welcome is seen as a typical Good Host gesture. The stork and the dog belong to the animals attributed to the Good Host.
Masks: Aryaman (Indogerman), Hestia (Greek), Vesta (Rome), Frigg (Norse)
Suspected Avatars in History: The biblical legend of the Prodigal Son is seen as one of the first stories about a Good Host avatar. Many clerics who offer church immunity are believed to channel the Good Host. Sen no Rikyu, the tea ceremony master of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, may be a historical avatar. In the beginning 17th century, the Marquisa Cathérine de Rambouillet may have channelled the God Hostess when she created her famous literary salon. In modern times, Frank Case, the owner of the Algonquin hotel famous for its ‘Vicious Circle’ was surely an avatar of the Good Host.

Channels:
1%-50%:The Good Host creates a feeling of friendship and hospitality within his premises, often called “The Cheers Effect”. People act more open and friendly when they are in a place of a Good Host and cherish a feeling of safety when they’re there. All guests will get a +10% shifts towards all attempts at discussion, relaxing and being at ease. Any attempt to stir trouble or unrest in such a place results in an Isolation check with a rank equal to the tens score of the Avatar skill of the Good Host..
51%-70%: The Good Host protects his guests. Any single attempt to harm or remove a guest can be overcome by a successful roll against the Good Host’s avatar skill. In order to use this channel, the Good Host must be in the vicinity of the troublemaker and his victim. A success means that the attack has been thwarted. Unfortunately, this channel does not offer any protection for the Good Host himself.
Example: A group of TNI thugs try to extricate someone from a Good Host’s premises. Provided that the host can interfere, the victim is able to escape any grip or bond when the Good Host rolls a success on his Avatar skill. Likewise, any bullet shot at one of the guests can be averted by the Good Host on a successful roll.
71%-90%: The Good Host can ostracise people from the premises and a present group. Any victim of this channel is strongly motivated to leave (Rank 10 Isolation check) and is seen by the present group as an untrustworthy outsider – as long as the Good Host wants. If a member of the present group attempts to deal with the outsider, he or she must roll a successful check against Self (rank equal to the tens score of the Avatar: Good Host skill) in order to do so
91%+: At this stage, the premises of the Good Host become a Safe Haven. The premises and all of its guests will be ignored by hostile forces. Plans for demolishing the premises will simply vanish. An angry mob will just run past the premises, unable to find it. If the guests call attention to themselves (for example by attacking), the effect of this channel is cancelled.