The Pornographer

Making money out of sex.

Attributes: If the Naked Goddess embodies desire, then the Pornographer embodies the desire to make money out of it. Every pimp, brothel madam, harem master and adult bookshop owner throughout history has been channelling a fragment of the archetype, but since the ascension of the Naked Goddess its emphasis has become increasingly fixed upon the movers and shakers of the porn industry – the photographers, magazine publishers and film directors. In other words, anyone who’s turning sex into big business. The Pornographer likes to claim that he frees people from their inhibitions by enabling them to discover and express their sexuality. This might not sound like such a bad thing, but the reality of what the Pornographer does is invariably sordid, exploitative and degradingly amoral. However, by following the path of the archetype the Pornographer does indeed break down barriers, inviting people to act upon urges and inclinations that social conditioning usually suppresses – either for good or bad.

Taboos: Any sort of creative or commercial endeavour that doesn’t involve sex weakens the Pornographer’s link to the archetype.

Symbols: Beautiful naked or semi-naked women have always been the most potent symbol of the Pornographer. In the modern age, other powerful links to the archetype include magazines, videos, internet web sites and the Playboy Bunny.

Suspected Avatars in History: Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt are doubtless in the running for godwalker status.

Channels

1%-50%: The Pornographer knows his audience. Whenever he meets a person whose Soul stat does not exceed his own, he can tell more or less exactly what turns that person on. With men this is automatic; the Pornographer must make a significant Avatar: The Pornographer skill check to use his insight on a woman or anyone with a higher Soul stat than his own.

51%-70%: Having ascertained what turns on a man’s sex machine, the Pornographer can persuade him to act upon his urges, without any regard for social mores and means. Proper gratification of these urges may not always be possible (or legal), but the Pornographer usually has a wide range of books, magazines and videos to offer as substitutes. As with the first channel, this power doesn’t work on women or people with a higher Soul stat than the Pornographer unless he makes a significant Avatar: The Pornographer skill check.

71%-90%: The Pornographer has an astounding knack for offending public notions of taste and decency and getting away with it. Every time he is involved in something grossly indecent, he can make a major Avatar: The Pornographer skill check and completely evade censure or punishment if he’s successful. For a short time, the public consciousness grudgingly accepts that black is white, leaving the Pornographer none the worse for having violated its moral code. With a matched or critical success, the Pornographer can quite literally get away with murder. Moreover, the Pornographer can use this power to blur other peoples’ notions of taste and decency to the point that they’ll go along with just about any depraved suggestion that he makes. It takes a successful major Avatar: The Pornographer skill check, and penalties should be applied according to the other person’s moral outlook and the foulness of whatever the Pornographer has in mind. For example, asking a right wing Christian conservative to commit fellatio on live TV would justify a –50% shift to the roll. Incidentally, this power always works better if the act in question is recorded, preferably on film or video, and then marketed.

91%+: The Pornographer gains a minor charge for every day that he spends on a project, such as directing a film or working on a photoshoot. He can use these charges normally if he’s an adept, otherwise they dissipate within 24 hours and trigger minor unnatural phenomena which are typically reminiscent in some way of his work. Countless other things might happen if a Pornographer this far along the path of the archetype ever got a chance to work with an adept, another avatar or a godwalker, and they wouldn’t just be minor phenomena.

Copyright Simon Foston, posted on the UA official site, July 20 2002