“Man, he’s cool!”

The “Fat” Man

Some people just have the mojo. Y’know, the guys who have “it”, whatever it is.
The “Fat” Man is their patron saint, and who walks on his paths is shrouded in
aura of glamour and cool. They’re the epitome of fatness, the masculine power.
Where they go, “fat” things follow.

Mankind has always admired some kind of image of The Man. In stone age, it was
The Man with the biggest club. Nowadays, it’s The “Fat” Man, the man with the
style, arrogance and cool.

As said above, this archetype is really old, but has renewed periodically,
as new views to The Man arise in collective subconsciousness. Latest ascension
happened in 1920’s, as the Godwalker of that period kicked the image of
fortune-seeking, adventuring, independent tough guy(who had ascended during the Gold rush)
out from the Invisible Clergy.

Taboo: The “Fat” Man must always remain cool. Whatever they’re doing, it must be done
in “cool” fashion. Even if it’s getting chopped to bits with a an axe, he must keep his
face. Nothing, absolutely nothing, must shake his image. Whether it’s Uncle Sam, Cthulhu
or Jesus himself, it must be like an everyday affair to The Man.

Symbols: Limousines, fat cigars, top-notch whiskey, beautiful women and other “fat”
things are the modern symbols of The Man. But much more important, than the shape
of symbols, is that the audience thinks them to be cool and “fat”.

Suspected Avatars In near-history: John Travolta, Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando
have probably channeled this archetype at some point of their lives. Also Tom Jones
and Sean Connery are good guesses for possible avatars. The guys in Batistini’s commercial
also fit the role.

Channels:
1%-50%: Where he goes, coolness follows. Sleazy cars, helluva babes and other symbols
of the avatar are always present in some way. Also, the events tend to turn out “cool”
in avatars presence. This channel is always active.

51%-70%: When the avatar enters or leaves any event, place or building, player can roll
avatar check. On a success, his entry/exit is so dramatic that everyone turns their attention
towards the Man. On matched success, things take out surreal quality, as huge limousiness are
seen on the background, just the right music for the moment at hand starts to play
(Like Tom Jones’s “Sex Bomb” or Frank Sinatra’s “Mack the Knife”) and so on.

71%-90%: At this point, the ultimate fatness begins to directly affect the physical
reality; Avatars clothes are never spoiled or torn, he never trips over accidentally
and never spills his drink or food. He can also employ the dreaded “Do you feel lucky, punk?”
gaze on anyone who tries to offend him. Player makes the avatar skill check. If it succeeds,
the offender gets visibly nervous and tries to back away from the situation. On a matched success,
the offender breaks in to a sincere apology or shits his pants and flees the scene, whichever
is more appropriate.

91%-98%: At this point, Reality bows to the master of coolness on two legs and hands him
the reins. By making avatar check, he can clean the table in game of poker played
against the movers and shakers of the city, then seduce their daughters from under
their noses and speed away in huge, white limousine while puffing one of their
expensive cigars imported from Cuba, for example. Memories of the participants are
altered so that the exact events are bit blurry. All they remember is, that someone
truly cool walzed in and “did the job”, but the exact names and details escape them.
Most are totally pissed off by this and spend considerable time and effort to track
down this mysterious stranger, to visit their revenge upon his hide. Some, however
tricked they feel, give silent admiration to this intruder, for it takes something
to be The Man who can trick the lords of the Underground. The identity of the avatar
can be discovered later, usually by coincidence or magick. Many of those who overuse
this channel tend to meet unhappy ends, sooner or later, but at least they go down
with same cool face they always keep.

The fourth channel won’t save these guys forever. It does work like dream when the mystical gun-slingers come to collect, but it won’t necessary save the avatars ass. He will go down in hail of fire, but with such a style, that it will be remembered for years to come.