Men whose source of magick is their own children’s misery, by incompetence or a sinister lust for power.
Brief Note: I don’t know if this has been done before, but I thought I’d submit it anyway. One of my players in unconsciously channeling this archetype.
Attributes: The Imperfect Father is not a bad father, per se, just a flawed one. Some aspect of his personality puts a wedge between him and the rest of his family. As much as he loves his family, he has never been able to make his family completely happy.
The Imperfect Father is a tragic figure. It’s hard for him to express his love, and yet he’d like to show his family how much he cares. Therefore, the Imperfect Father works hard through protection and provision and not by being intimate. He might, for example, do overtime to buy the XBOX 360 his son wants, but rarely something emotionally meaningful like playing catch or giving advice.
Of course, the true tragedy of the Imperfect Father is that the children are required to suffer in order to become an Avatar. Therefore, most Avatars of the Imperfect Father are unconscious. However, those whom consciously take this path are not only exceedingly rare buy just as cruel. All Imperfect fathers, however have a difficult balancing act of keeping their children provided for, yet miserable. Most men whom realize they channel this particular archetype go to great lengths to mend their ways.
Men are the most common channels for this archetype. However, there have been many “Imperfect Mothers” in the past, and they seem to be becoming more and more common.
Taboos: Healthy, honest relationships with your children. Any time your kid feels as though they have a real, long-term connection, you have committed taboo, even if you’d had nothing to do with their revelation. For example, if she talks to a school counselor who convinces her that her father really does care in a meaningful way, it is the same as committing taboo.
However, you can’t be a bad father. After all, you’re supposed to love your kids. Abusing children is considered taboo, starving them, keeping them locked in the basement, beating them senseless, or, worst of all, sexual abuse. As a rule of thumb, anything unarguably evil is taboo. “Tough love” is alright, even if doesn’t make much sense. Locking your daughter in her room with her pink wallpaper and plush teddy bears each night to stop her from sneaking out at night is not taboo, but it does make you a shitty person. The same goes for spanking and other light punishments.
The ultimate taboo, however, is not having a child anymore. If she dies or puts herself permanently out of reach, or taken some kind of mantle of adulthood (like getting married), the Avatar: Imperfect Father skill rapidly decays by 1 point a day until the Imperfect Father regains control.
Symbols: Broken dolls or toys, empty swing-sets, dusty baseball cards, and other unused childhood paraphernalia are powerful symbols of the Imperfect Father. Some Imperfect Fathers are alcoholics, others are engaged solely at work or some sort of cause, like a political party. Children’s pictures showing some sort of sad scene, such as a picture of a family with the dad missing, are powerful symbols.
Masks: Jupiter (Roman), Cronus (Greek).
Suspected Avatars in History: Very few Imperfect Fathers have become famous, though they do produce unusually successful children. Earnest Hemingway’s mother, whom made him dress up as a girl to satiate her desire for a pair of identical twin daughters, was probably channeling the Imperfect Mother (though this is hotly debated), Kurt Vonnegut’s father probably was a weak channel for the Imperfect Father.
Channels:
1-50: Imperfect Fathers are notoriously unimaginative, but they are headstrong when it comes to saving their children from danger. This is where their true ability shines. Their Avatar: Imperfect Father skill can count as a paradigm skill for any situation in which his children are in danger. Also, magickal effects that effect the resolve of the Imperfect Father must make a minimum roll equal to the Avatar: Imperfect Father skill.
51-70: You instinctively what direction your child is, and whether she is in danger or doing something that you’d rather not have her do. If she’s banging a guy somewhere across the city, you know exactly what door to kick down.
71-90: Your connection with the Imperfect Father is so strong, fate conspires to keep you close together. Theres no escape, if she tries to climb out of a window, she falls and breaks her leg. Cars fail to start when she’s driving away. If someone tries to rescue her, they’ll fail to show up. Only overwhelming forces can take a child from the Imperfect Father, so it’s not impossible. However, suicide attempts are not affected by this; she can escape through death without being hobnailed.
As an added “bonus”, with a successful roll you can take damage in place of your child. This is usually represented by jumping in front of the blow, but he can also do it if he’s too far to receive the damage. The attack on the child misses, but the next attack done on Imperfect Father by the child’s attacker will do the cumulative sum of damage that the child would have received.
91+: No one can ever attack your child before killing you. The assassin knows this instinctively, even if you are not there.
Not surprisingly, your child can never feel happiness at this level. She automatically succeeds at all stress checks… they immediately become hardened notches, while she is in your care. Only when you die can she feel free… or if your Avatar: Imperfect Father dips below 91%.