A (mostly) GMC Archtype to replace “The Loyal Laborer” from “Break Today”
The Content Employee
Attribues: In the past, Laborers had no choice but to acquiesce in their roles, and Lords hoped for their workers to be hard-working and capable. The paragon of workers was the Loyal Laborer, who made a virtue out of necessity and enjoyed his work.
But now, the idea of enjoying an average, menial job is laughed at. Why should you be loyal when that loyalty only helps your employer? The most an employer can ask is for their workers to do their jobs, take their mediocre wages, and go home.
At its best, the Archtype helps workers live a decent life. At its worst, it keeps workers fat and happy as their bosses run the world in their own interests.
Two Notes: The Content Employee is designed as a replacement for the “Loyal Laborer” Avatar in Break Today. The otherthrow and replacement of the Loyal Laborer probably isn’t dramatic enough to build a Campaign around. Its the kind of thing that you could show as a side effect of some big, world busting action. It will show (hopefull) the PCs just how dramatic their action was without having them feel like something really huge happened all by itself. Or, you could use it as part of the “Twilight of the Idols” idea I’m cooking up. (basically, a world where several prominent Archtypes have been replaced, causing the world to change subtly.)
This is designed mostly as a GMC Avatar. Its powers tend to discourage action, which is unlikely to be what you want for a PC. Its more likely a PC will find themselves having to shake down or otherwise bother a Content Employee and run into all sorts of trouble courtesy her second Avatar channel.
Taboos: The Content Employee holds an undramatic or boring job, and does not aspire to anything better. An character who demonstrates a need for more funds makes a poor Content Employee. Its also hard to channel the archtype while possesing some respected professional skill like “Medical Doctor”. It is possible (albeit very rare) to have a Magick skill and still be a Content Employee.
SymbolsMasks: The characters from “Office Space”. There’s a guy on the Mak Attax list who swears a Mask of President Eisenhower or George W. Bush will work.
Channels:
1-50%: Its hard to be content when you don’t have enough to eat. The Content Employee’s paycheck always stretches far enough to cover a humble but livable lifesystyle. If his paycheck isn’t already big enough, then synchronicity increases it. (ie, the stores he shops at just happen to have a lot of sales on the items he likes.)
Its up to the GM to define a “reasonable lifestyle.” Basically, this is a handy way to play a blue collar character concept while still having enough money to function well.
55-70%: The promise of work is that if you tow the line and function as part of a society, you’ll be OK. With the Content Employee in the statosphere, its actually true. As long as the Content Employee doesn’t go out looking for trouble, trouble doesn’t come looking for him: his wife doesn’t get cancer, his kid doesn’t join a gang, TNI goons don’t mistake him for the head of a Satanic Cult, et cetera. Work related accidents are a thing of the past.
This channel is basically an excuse to mess with PCs who have to go after some ordinairy person for some reason.
71-90%: At this level, The Content Employee may literally push trouble out of her life: If someone attacks, attempts mind control on, or otherwise threatens the Avatar, he may use this channel to send them away. The target might literally be blown out of the room by a mighty wind, or they might simply disappear and find themselves somewhere completly different.
This channel doesn’t work at all if you went looking for the trouble in question.
91+%: For many countries, The Content Employee is the model citizen. Once per year or so, he may pick some minor aspect of his personality and force it on the rest of his community: If Frank the Content Employee thinks gay marriage is an abonimation, then that’s the view of the community. If Frank votes Republican, the Republicans sweep the local elections. Et cetera.
Obviously, this power is subject to GM veto.
I really like the fact that the Content Employee “represents”/creates the community’s feelings.
I think the 3rd channel is a bit too magical and people disappearing in front of you might cause some madness. Can I suggest instead that as teh 3rd channel the Content Employee can adjust the feelings of the people with whom he or she works. Creating a comfortable environment of “like-minded” people in his or her office.
I think that the old Loyal Laborer is still a notable force in the world, just not as much in America… its power base is closer to the 12-hours/day, 7-days/week work schedules found in Indian and East Asian factories.
I had an idea a while back of “white collar” versions of many of the established archetypes. Where the Masterless Man became the Consultant, the Judge became the Supervisor, etc. and so on. This pairing seems to fit nicely into that scheme.