Awwww, yeah!
The Player
Attributes: The Player loves the ladies. Or at least the pleasure they can bring him. He’s that guy with a million locker room stories. The guy with a harem of women he can call on from his standard issue Little Black Book. The Player can be good looking hunk, or the jerk in the bar who hits on girl after girl until he finds one willing to go home with him. He can be a charmer who keeps his women smiling, or a jackass who treats them like disposable objects, even as they come back for more. The Player is always a heterosexual male. Gay men and women (straight or gay) can certainly engage in player-like behavior, but the Invisible Clergyman known as The Player simply won’t accept them. He’s a bit closed-minded that way.
Taboos: The Player is a user. He must never consider the feelings or opinions of the women he consorts with. They are toys to be played with, objects to be used. He is also lustful and promiscuous. He must always make the attempt to sleep with a woman he spends any amount of time with, provided she meets a reasonable standard of attractiveness, and can never willingly avoid meeting women. Taking a “rest break” of more than three days is taboo, as is being in a monogamous relationship.
The Player can designate categories of women as “off-limits.” Usually this is family members, but can additionally mean co-workers, or the wives and girlfriends of his friends. (This is by no means universal. Many Players relentlessly hit on their friends’ girlfriends, and sleep with their secretaries without guilt.)
Strangely enough, a Player can be married. He just won’t be a good husband. (Besides, a wedding ring is sometimes the only way certain women will put out.)
Symbols: A little black book with addresses, often with stars next to names to denote “quality.” A wallet with a condom shaped indention worn into the side. Well groomed hair. Cologne. In the 70’s it was tight jeans and gold medallions, or leisure suits.
Channel:
1%-50%: At this level, you begin building your “harem.” If a successfully seduced woman’s Soul stat is lower than the character’s Avatar: The Player skill, she will feel no jealousy or anger at his continual infidelity. The woman will rationalize it in whatever way necessary. She may refuse to believe it, or pride herself in being in a “modern, open relationship.” She may think “those other girls are just one-nighters, I am special,” or simply not think about it too hard. She will be unable to refuse future sexual advances without good reason. She may get into another relationship, or get married to someone else, or move away, but will not decide to simply “stop seeing him.”
Additionally, if the woman’s Mind score is lower than the character’s Avatar: The Player skill, she will be unable to resist doing minor favors for the Player. She will not break taboo or do anything against her moral or ethical code (i.e. anything requiring a Self check), but a high level player will have no problems getting someone to clean his apartment, cook him meals, pick up his dry-cleaning, give him a few bucks, etc.
51%-70%: At this level, the Player become immune to any legal or biological repercussions of his promiscuous lifestyle. Any paternity suits or demands for child support disappear, as do any existing social diseases. After reaching this channel, these problems will no longer plague the character. Directly human problems, such as angry violent husbands, are not affected by this channel.
71%-90%: Upon reaching this channel, the Player no longer receives negative modifiers to any skills used to seduce a woman. If the player has the skill of “Get chick into bed: 70%” it will remain 70% even in the face of such arguments as “I’m married.” “I’m a lesbian.” or “I’m a nun.”
Women who would normally never consider sleeping with the character, who are successfully seduced using this channel may have to make Self checks afterward, at the GM’s discretion.
91%: After sleeping with a woman, a Player with this channel can begin to “perfect” the women he sleeps with, if he so chooses. Every time they have a sexual liaison (from the second one on, the woman is safe in the first one), he can lower her Mind stat by one, and increase any Body skill relating to physical appearance by two. If the woman has no such skill, she will start a new one, named by the Player. (i.e. “hot chick” or “buxom bimbo”)
If the woman’s Mind is lowered below the level of any of her Mind skills, the higher levels of skill (above her Mind score) will be inaccessible, until the Mind score is bought up again.
The appearance based Body skill can be increased to the level of the woman’s Body stat, at which point she can no longer be affected by this channel. (This means that plain women can be more deeply affected by this ability than already attractive ones.)
The women affected by this ability will not notice any changes to their mental faculties unless it is pointed out. If she discovers she is a victim of this power, she may have to make Helplessness and Self checks, unless she likes the idea. (Sadly, some women would be glad to trade brains for beauty.)
An annoying, but extremely plausible archetype.
I would suspect that the Flying Woman and the Player have the same kind of animosity as the Masterless Man and Dark Stalker.
It would seem that way, as their respective characteristics conflict with one another.
I wonder what a fight the Godwalkers of the flying woman and the player would be like (it might turn out to be an epic example of a player getting played).
They conflict, but I notice they have an odd similarity. A sort of “I won’t be tied down” mentality. Of course, the player is a much nastier version of that.
That last channel is just plain hideous! Kudos.
I wonder how many Flying Woman avatars might be the past victims of a Player?
*takes a small bow*
The Clergy do not care who channels which archetype.
I cannot see why gay or straight characters cannot channel the archetype. Even if the archetype insists on heterosexual behaviour.
C.
So men can become a Flying Woman, and a woman can become a Masterless Man? A genius can become a Fool?
The clergy can and does discriminate.
I have nothing against gays. I just imagine the original ascended Player being, well, kind of a dick.
Let me clarify that. I think a gay man could channel the Player. Just not AS a gay man. He would have to be pretty closeted.
This would make sense. I am sure there are a lot of Players out there
who are really trying to prove their heterosexuality to the world. (and to themselves.)
The staunch heterosexuality of the current Player allows for a really cool conflict if the closeted godwalker of the Player tries to oust him!