An archetype not yet ascended, based on the idea(l)s of the Open Source movement…
The Freeworker
This archetype was created for my current campaign, and is based on my reading about and being somewhat involved with the Open Source movement etc. In my campaign it is an archetype about to ascend for the first time, so there are no actual avatars yet. That’s the main reason why I call it ‘Freeworker’ even though that might not be an existing term in English yet (in my native German I’m using the direct translation of ‘Freiwerker’ which is just as non-existent) – I take it that something you can define with a single well-known word can’t really be new.
The archetype is presented however as though it was in place already.
Attributes
Since the dawn of humanity society has been based on the ideas of exchange – investment and return. But the Freeworker is an archetype which puts this idea to question. In modern times, areas of exchange have been opened where people may offer knowledge and skills without asking for anything in return. Thse people follow the path of the Freeworker.
In contrast to the Merchant the Freeworker is not interested in profit; he does not follow the ideals of altruism either, nor does he feel a special compassion or sympathy for others. He does not even care much about whether his services or product are ever used by anyone else; he permits such use, but doesn’t promote it. The Freeworker acts first and foremost for himself, in order to improve himself snd widen his knowledge and his skills. Only as a second step does he offer the fruit of his labours to others.
Freeworkers create Open Source projects, freely available and modifiable art, run and maintain free internet forums giving advice and information about anything, etc. Often they will create networks of people combining their skills to work on a single project, all without giving a second thought about profit.
Information is among the primary interests of the Freeworker, as it is a commodity you can share without diminishing it. Freeworkers are teachers sometimes, but more often they are specialists solving problems of their own or others just because they can.
Newbies and low-rank avatars frequently employ a philosophy of almost karmic responsibility – they offer their abilities to others because they have themselves been helped in a similar fashion. They see exchange as a cascade rather than a circuit.
On the darker side the Freeworker disdains copyright. The ideal society is one in which everyone offers his skills and abilities to society as a whole freely; the differing talents of individuals guarantee the stability of such a society. In the end, this society can abolish ritualized modes of exchange such as the use of money.
For this reason the Freeworker is anathema to many, especially the avatars of the Merchant, as the Freeworker philosophy runs counter to the Merchant’s idea of exchange. It is possible that the decision, which of the two avatars will eventually have the upper hand when the world is next made over, will have strong impact on this as yet unborn world.
Taboo
The Freeworker may never ask for remuneration or compensation of any kind for his works. He is allowed to take a freely offered payment, and many avatars of the Freeworker can actually live quite well on such payments, but they cannot demand payment.
Freeworkers always volunteer their abilities, they cannot be forced to do things. If they are forced, for instance by being contracted to do things other than their own way, they cannot use their channels for that they are working on.
Furthermore the Freeworker may never abandon a project once started, unless it is finished successfully or can be transferred to another avatar of the Freeworker or its continuance can be assured otherwise (for instance by using the second channel). The Freeworker may employ the help of others, but he may never let a project die.
Finally, a freeworker may never act to stop any project by anyone. Any act of creation is sacred. A Freeworker is allowed to change the direction of projects any way he sees fit, but he may never consciously act to make any project fail.
Symbols
Freeworkers value the freedom of their projects above anything else, which they express by ensuring that freedom with licenses defining freedom. Such documents have become symbols for the movement. Other symbols may be drawn from free association, such as the penguin Tux used for the Linux movement. Further typical symbols are wings, broken chains and anything associated with freedom.
Suspected historical avatars
As the archetype is not considered active yet, there are no historical avatars, but if there were any Linus Thorvalds would be the first to come to mind, along with other pioneers of the Open Source movement. The internet is full of people offering art, advice and anything else (role-playing material… ;)) on the net for free.
Channels
1% – 50%: With a successful roll the avatar may inspire others to support his project. He cannot inspire specific individuals, but he can make his project attract helpers. Freeworking is addictive, which results in many such helpers becoming avatars of their own. As long as such helpers are directly working on the project, they may
flip-flop associated rolls as a boon. But they can only do so as long as the avatar himself supports the project. Should he transfer it or let it die (which would mean breaking a taboo, too), the insipration and resulting boons are lost.
A person can withstand this influence by making a successful Soul roll with a result higher than the result of the avatar skill roll. With such a roll a person can become immune to further influences by the same avatar. Often such people become parasites, using the Freework without restraint for their own purposes.
51% – 70%: On this level the Freeworker can start any project with a successful roll and have it run on all by itself under the guidance of other people. The project no longer requires direct control by the avatar but will
spread and grow. This is no guarantee for success, however – a Freeworker could, for instance, found a political party this way which would grow quickly and soon take part in elections, but that does not mean it will win those elections.
71%-90%: On this level an avatar can take over any project by joining it and making a successful roll. He can transform any project into a Freework project this way. A Freeworker as janitor for Microsoft could make Windows an Open Source project within a year or so.
91%+: On this level the Freeworker can make any project of his a success; not even reality can stop him. He can found new schools of magic, can teach people how to fly, can abolish national borders… The only requirement is that the project has to follow the rules for Freework, so it has to be based on a voluntary effort on the part of the Freeworker, must satisfy his own interests and needs, and must be offered to the public openly and without payment. He cannot, for instance, create anything for a closed group of people this way.
I really like this idea for an Archetype.
Open Source is very cool, and the image of the Freeworker is a powerful one.
However, the fourth channel is far too powerful, since it’s so open-ended.
Well, it’s not as if it has been playtested yet, so any suggestions for changes are welcome.
Robin
Here’s what I’d recommend:
Move the second channel to the third.
Move the third channel to the fourth.
Add a new second channel that allows the Freeworker to be assured that his own basic needs will be met – he will never starve, go homeless, or otherwise be pulled away from his projects by simple logistical concerns.
the fourth would be more of a godwalker channel. Other than that, it sounds interesting…
One angle for the origin… it might not be a wholly new archytype. Any time you mention “work,” “free,” and “German” in the same sentence, an elephant appears in the middle of the room. It’s a couple of generations on, but “Work will make you free” still carries a sinister association.
All the better for UA. This can be part of the concept’s allure and relevance. The core concept is uncompensated labor. It’s not intimate enough to reflect with The Slave, though even American slavery era qualifies. But modern society has outgrown the concept of organized masses of unpaid laborer.
Maybe North Korea has a little of it left, but the archytype has barely a toehold in the world. The last time it really appeared was in the nazi labor camps, humanity pressed into social utility without pay.
The Freeworker would be a paradigm shift in the field of uncompensated labor, throwing off the coercion and individual benefit along with it. Replacing them with generosity-of-spirit and public good.
Lots of good stuff to work with here…
well, the stuff about generosity-of-spirit and public good doesn’t fit, it’s also true that many German compound-nouns don’t translate easily…
“world-pain” anyone? How about “pleasure in (passive) seeing the suffering/humiliation of others”
There’s only one reason I even mentioned German, and that’s because being German I have first written this text in German and the English I posted here is a translation. Freiwerker is just as non-existent in my native language as is freeworker in English, and I just wanted to highlight the idea that it is supposed to be a new archetype and needs a new name, if one that can be easily remembered. Really, the ‘Arbeit macht frei’-Nazi angle hasn’t come to my mind at all, and it does not fit IMO.
I hope for a world in which the word ‘German’ can be used in a given context without always triggering Nazi associations.
Robin
Robin, I think the angle of opressive servitude that Menzoa mentions does apply, but not directly.
The Freeworker is a replacement of The Slave. It ousts The Slave from the Invisible Clergy, making the world a better place.
(Similar, say, to the Heisenberg Messenger replacing the Messenger in the core books.)
Specifically, the Freeworker replaces the concept of the Slave Laborer…
But… the concept of interpersonal servitude has a modern resonance that is harder to dismiss and is found in the world more often. A workforce of slaves, however, does not and is conceptually distinct enough to be a different (and much weaker) archetype.
Hehe. Sorry to bump this so late in the game, but–A friend of mine is all hot to start gardening/farming on public land in order to feed the hungry in our community. Another friend is hot to convert us all to Catholocism (he will be helping w/ the garden too). Anyway, the Catholic friend is always on about Catholic workhouses and what not. Just wondered if you all thought that the archetype could apply for that sort of “non-tech” work? I.e. Is it still viable if we remove the open source movement part of it.
It may be viable for the one who wants to do the gardening, as he is doing a job for the community. I never wanted to restrict the archetype to the Open Source angle, I just found that the best example for explanation.
But trying to convert anyone to a religion does not qualify IMO – after all it’s not as if you ever chose to pay someone to convert you, so you don’t actually benefit from getting that for free.
If what you do for free is anything other people would expect you to get paid for in exchange, then you may channel this archetype.
Right. I didn’t mean that the friend who wants to make us Catholic was involved, other than that he is always talking about Catholic workhouses, where apparently people give up their houses and jobs and what not, and just go work to feed the poor, etc.
Of course, when we start talking about it removed from the context of the open source stuff (i.e. gardens, workhouses), it makes me think that surely this avatar *has* ascended in some form. Except that now that I’ve said it, I can’t think of any examples.
The example of the gardener lacks something, though. I admit that this is primarily conjectural, but I doubt that most gardeners do it to try to improve their own skills, or, to a lesser extent, because gardening is intrinsically interesting to them. In fact, this might form the basis of a somewhat darker side of the archetype: freeworkers benefit the community, but only as a secondary effect of helping themselves.