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**