The Usurper

*The Thief of Power*

**Attributes:** The Usurper is the traitor in the ranks, the friend who
stabs you in the back. Every leader has looked for the hungry stare of
the Usurper in their eyes of their subjects. The Usurper is the thief of
 power. He infiltrates and subverts the hierarchy from within before
toppling the leader and stealing his authority.

The Usurper is a fairly easy Archetype to follow. The powers granted by
following the Usurper map out a path of action, and each step on the
road leads straight towards the power the Usurper craves above all else.
 Understandably, those known to be following this Archetype are hated
and feared. Many Cabalists actively screen their followers for symbols
of the Usurper, and try to squash nascent Avatars before they reach the
second channel. Usurpers must hide their true calling, become the loyal,
 unambitious follower - until the time when the knives come out and the
Usurper takes the throne…

**Taboo:** Taking the power he desires is everything to the Usurper. All his
 actions must lead towards his ultimate victory. He may never rest,
never stop plotting and planning. He breaks taboo if he allows personal
weakness or other any other needs or desires to come between him and his
 goal.

**Symbols:** The cuckoo, the hidden knife, the smiling mask, fallen chairs,
snakes in the grass, and wolves (especially in sheep's clothing) are
associated with the Usurper.

**Suspected Avatars in History:** The first recorded instance of the Usurper
 is believed to be Jacob, who stole the blessing destined for his
brother Esau by disguising himself. Mordred Usurped King Arthur's throne
 in legend (some tales include Mordred marrying Queen Guinevere - this
is a suitable mystic Betrayal.), and King John "Lackhand" Usurper his
brother Richard the Lionheart. Occult Shakespearean scholars point to
Claudius (in Hamlet) as a representation of an Avatar of the Usurper.
More modern observers have tracked the careers of numerous politicians
and industrialists, looking for the tracks of the Archetype.

**Channels**

**1%-50%:** Initially, the Usurper seeks out concentrations of power,
organisations and hierarchies. He can scent his prey, taste the golden
apple. With a successful Avatar roll, the Usurper can detect authority
in any situation. He could walk into an office and identify the boss,
see who the toughest kid in the schoolyard is with a glance - or pick
out the richest person in a crowd. He can focus on specific types of
authority and power (e.g. if a Usurper tries to find someone in
authority in the Occult Underground, he can try to detect a Cabal leader
 in a bar. He couldn’t detect a Peon, though, because the Peon is not on
 top of the chain of command.) To progress to the next level, the
Usurper must attach himself to a Master, a leader or authority figure.

**51%-70%:** At this level, the Usurper becomes indispensable to his chosen
Master. With a successful Avatar roll, he may reroll any failure lower
than his Avatar skill that would cause his leader to mistrust or doubt
the loyalty or competence of the Usurper. The Avatar also gains standing
 within the ranks of his Master's followers, receiving a +10% shift to
all Charm rolls.

To reach the next channel, the Usurper must ritually Betray his Master.
He must symbolically take the Master's power in some manner. This can be
 anything from killing the Master (a bit crude, not to mention illegal)
to signing the Master's name, stealing his car, sleeping with his wife,
sitting in his chair - any act that symbolises the Usurper taking his
Master's place.

**71%-90%:** This is the final step on the road for most Avatars. Once the
ritual Betrayal is complete, the Usurper begins to take his Master's
power. Over a period of time, depending on the magnitude of the Betrayal
 (normally within a few days to three months), the Usurper takes his
Master's place, and the Master is cast down and destroyed. During this
time, the Usurper may use his Avatar skill in place of any rolls that
shift power from his Master to him. The universe will conspire with the
Usurper to arrange events in his favour. Boards of directors will vote
the Master out and the Usurper in, Mafia bosses will be shot and the
Usurper acknowledged as the new boss, crowds will shout "the king is
dead, long live the king."

This is as far as most avatars of the Usurper get. If they are satisfied
 with their new place, they may let their Avatar skill degrade. There
are two other possibilities. Firstly, the Usurper may voluntarily drop
his skill to 30%, and choose a new, higher authority figure as a Master,
 thus beginning the cycle again. The Usurper gains one to three new
skills at a beginning score equal to the number of points in Avatar:
Usurper sacrificed to bring it down to 30%. (E.g. Fred the Usurper has
just Usurped the position of CEO of GenCorp. He has an Avatar score of
75%. He decides to enter politics, selecting a popular Senator as his
master. Fred drops is Usurper skill down to 30%, and gains Politics at
45%. He may now walk the path of the Usurper again.)

Alternatively, if the Master was an Avatar of any of the "royal"
Archetypes (the King, the High Priest, etc), the Usurper can swap his
Avatar: Usurper skill for the other Avatar skill. His new Avatar skill
starts at the lower of the two.

**91%+:** To reach this level of the Usurper, the Betrayal committed at the
start of the third channel must have been especially potent, and the
Usurper must go from 71% skill to 91%+ before the Master is overthrown.
Instead of simply taking the Master's temporal or politic power or
resources, the Usurper may magickally Usurp everything about the Master.
 The victim of this power is erased from existence, and the Usurper
takes his place. The history of reality is edited. The Master vanishes
from reality, and the Usurper's past history now includes the best
events in both lives. This may cause paradoxes and other problems, but
what doesn't?

If the Usurper passes an Avatar skill check, he Usurper gains a new Soul
 skill, named after the victim (e.g. Skill: Alex Able). This skill
begins at the number rolled on his Avatar check. (If he fails this roll,
 the victim simply dies.) He may roll this skill to temporarily replace
any of his own statistics, traits or abilities with one possessed by his
 victim. The stolen skill lasts for ten minutes, or ten actions in
combat. After this, the Usurper must roll again to use the ability. He
can have multiple abilities active at once, but his skill is reduced by
20% for every active ability. He may use Magick, but this requires first
 taking the victim's Obsession (unless they coincide), and then taking
the victim's Magick skill. The Usurper may also copy the victim's
appearance.

The Usurper may use this ability, then reduce his skill back down to 30% as outlined above.

(**Example:** Fred, being an example character and therefore able to do
silly things like this, reaches 91% as the Usurper of Senator Bob. He
mystically betrays Bob by stealing his place in the finals of a major
golf tournament. Bob has an Obsession with golf, so this is a fairly big
 Betrayal. Soon afterwards, the party turns against Bob, and question if
 he should be allowed run again. Bob is toppled. Just as Bob's
supporters desert him, Fred confronts Bob and uses the fourth channel on
 him. Fred rolls a 45 on his Avatar skill. Bob vanishes into
non-existence, and Fred gains the skill Bob at 45%. He can roll his Bob
skill to activate Bob's Golf obsession skill, or Bob's Avoid Hard
Question skill, or to take Bob's appearance. Furthermore, seeing as Fred
 has taken Bob's place in the Universe, Fred now grew up in Bob's
idyllic home town, not the Chicago slum Fred came from.)

**Copyright Gareth Hanranhan, posted on official UA site on July 22, 2002**