This world can only hurt you if you let it…
Attributes:The Stoic is the lone fixed point in a sea of emotion, the one who keeps a calm head when those around him panic or act irrationally. The essence of the Stoic is self-control, or at least the appearance thereof. Pure force of will is enough to triumph over fear, pain, rage, or any other stimulus.
The Stoic faces trials both mental and physical without showing signs of distress, and is similarly unswayed by the conventionally ‘positive’ emotions- love, empathy, etc. To those around him, he is a source of both inspiration and discomfort. A Stoic standing firm against physical or psychic torture is a model of human strength in the face of adversity. On the other hand, the Stoic is not truly attached to anything in the way humans normally are, and this fact may inspire horror or revulsion from the ‘normal’ people he interacts with. The impassivity that enables the Stoic to shrug off negative conditions makes him seem somehow hollow.
Taboos:The Stoic is forbidden to ever show strong emotion or attachment, or admit that discomfort has mastered him. Using the fear or rage passions violates this taboo, as can the use of the noble passion (depending on the action taken; GM’s discretion). Failing a stress check and having the related panic, paralysis, or frenzy reaction is definitely a violation of taboo, as is engaging in therapy.
The Stoic is not prohibited from admitting discomfort, only from admitting that one is not in full control of it. Asking for aspirin for a headache is OK. Complaining about the pain of the headache is not. Stoics are not totally indifferent to circumstance; sitting on a cushy sofa is preferable to sitting on a bed of nails, even though the latter would not be distressing per se. As with all avatars, walking the path is a purely external act; an avatar of the Stoic under torture can be screaming bloody murder in his head (and probably is) without violating taboo.
Symbols: The column or pillar, mountains, soldiers. Freestanding rocks in the sea.
Masks: Sir Galahad (Arthurian), Siddhartha Gautama (Buddhist), Mr. Spock (Pop Culture)
Suspected Avatars in History: Siddhartha Gautama. Any number of the Greeks who named the concept. (And you thought philosophers’ debates were normally vicious…). Marcus Aurelius might well have been.
Channels:
1%-50%: Any skill that relies on the emotions or desires of the subject (Intimidate, Seduction, Sob Story, etc.) suffers an automatic negative shift equal to half your Avatar: Stoic skill, rounded down. When a magickal spell or effect would overcome your will (Plutomantic blasts), emotions, or desires (the Pornomancer’s “Number 9”), you can make an Avatar: Stoic roll to resist it, at the following negative shifts:
Minor effect (minor formula spell, minor artifact): caster’s skill, -30% for an artifact
Significant effect (significant formula spell, significant artifact): caster’s skill + 25%, -50% for an artifact
Major effect (major spell, major artifact): Yeah, right.
51%-70%: Any time you would make a stress check in any meter except Self, you may instead make an Avatar: Stoic check. If the result is under your Mind stat and over your skill, take a hardened notch in the meter. If the reverse is true, take a failed notch in the meter, but do not exhibit one of the three failure reactions. If the roll is under both your skill and your Mind stat, you can overcome the challenge without adding a notch to either meter. If the roll is over both, treat it as a normal failure.
71%-90%: At this level, the Stoic’s will is truly the master of his actions. Once per day, when in pursuit of a short-term goal, the Stoic can name a series of concrete steps that will lead to that goal. With a successful Avatar: Stoic check, the Stoic’s will cannot be dissuaded while carrying out this plan. There are several effects that aid the avatar while in this state:
* He does not hesitate to carry out any stage of the plan, no matter what it involves. A Stoic under the influence of this ability could reach into a vat of acid, perform the most physically sickening act they could think of, or shoot their best friend and closest confidante, as long as it’s an essential step in the plan.
* He does not need to make any Stress checks. This ability holds while the Plan is being carried out, and has a limited penumbra effect afterwards. An avatar of the Stoic who dismembers someone as part of the plan would not have to make a Violence check if the goal is not achieved in the presence of the body. An avatar who loses their arm during the course of the plan will probably have to make a Violence check once the plan is achieved. This is especially applicable to Self checks: betrayals and the like can be conducted under the influence of this ability without having to make a check at the time, but this ability provides no protection from Self checks triggered by remembrance or introspection.
* He cannot be affected by magicks that sway the will or emotions. A spell that confuses the target and makes them wander around aimlessly would still work. A spell that fills the target with unthinking rage, or makes them desire to own a particular object over all else, would not. Of course, such magicks might take effect after the Stoic’s goal has been achieved… (GM’s discretion).
91%+: The Stoic can endure punishment far beyond normal limits. If an attack would lower a Stoic’s wound points below one, and the Stoic is aware of the oncoming attack, he can make an Avatar: Stoic check to simply be reduced to one wound point. Successful use of this ability inspires a rank-10 Violence check, and adds a -10% (cumulative) shift to all Body and Quickness-based skills for a week. This ability cannot be used on attacks that deal more than Avatar:Stoic damage in a single blow.
I like it.
This is cool but it reminds me a lot of The Cyborg archetype put forward by J. Sorenson, similar theme and feel. Perhaps they’re competing for the place of the Superior Man?
Never seen the Cyborg. Do you have a link?
I like it but the part about “not using passions”.
It would be more complex but I would say “not use passions in a passionate way” 🙂
That is, The Stoic can use his anger; in a focused and clear cut attack to the enemy without any show of more emotion that the cold desire to remove them from this world, or in an inspired, yet laconic answer (Leonidas saying something like “You want earth & water? Have all you can get”). He can use his fear action but is not going to flee like a rabbit; a calm controled retreat, or an concious decisive action to slow the pursuers.
Jesús Couto F.
I considered this, but the description of these passions in the book seems to imply an obvious outpouring of the relevant emotion along with the fear/rage action. Unfortunately, I don’t have the book on me at the moment, so I’m working from memory.
I do like the idea of giving the Stoic to a ‘different’ kind of fear/rage passion, either as a channel effect or simply a reimagining of the passions as you describe.
Does it seem that allowing the Stoic access to the passions in this manner would unbalance the avatar? Should this be a channel ability, or something else? Just wondering what people’s opinions are.
Person 404
Thing is, the “Stoic” avatar honestly sounds like the description of a “Sociopath” character who has blown too many Hardened notches of their madness meter.
Not entirely, because someone with too many hardened notches wouldn’t really need to use many of the channels. Past that, hardened notches count for the inner life of the character, not just how he reacts. The Stoic can “be screaming bloody murder in his head” all he wants without violating taboo. Being stoic applies only to the external reaction.
Krogmeister is right, but I think that’s a good thing.
Every Archetype has a negative and poistive aspect right (Like the Mother and the Devouring Mother)? Well you have the Stoic who refuses to be swayed by emotion in pursuit of his goals; and you have the Sociopath, who renounces all emotion as hazardous to his goals.
That dichotomy gives the Archetype real depth. Good job Person!