Unknown Armies Avatar: The Bodyguard

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THE BODYGUARD

Attributes
In centuries past the egregore of the protector was a knight in shining armour, shielding a waifish maiden from the forces of evil. Now it’s a man in a dark suit, diving into the path of a bullet. Imagery changes, but the substance stays the same; the Bodyguard sacrifices himself to shield those he's charged to protect. 

Where the Bodyguard differs from other defensive archetypes is their limited focus. They don’t guard a community, ideal or institution, but rather a Client. This is typically a single person, but it often extends to a small in-group like your Cabal and Relationships. There's no strict upper limit, but the more Clients you have, the easier it is to taboo; you can't be in two places at once. It's traditional for Clients to pay their Bodyguards, though they don’t necessarily have to.

Taboos: If your Client is attacked, you must be present to roll your avatar score to protect them. It’s fine if you fail the roll, but you’ll taboo if you were absent when they needed you.

This also means no metagaming around wound thresholds. You always jump in front of the bullet, even if your Client could take the damage and getting hit means you die. 

Symbols: Sombre suits, wired earpieces, dark sunglasses. Black SUVs with tinted windows. Unmarked helicopters. Bulletproof glass. Ballistic shields.

Suspected Avatars in History: Alexander the Great’s Somatophylakes, the Varangian Guard, Napoleon's Grognards, the Swiss Guard, Walter H. Thompson, Tim McCarthy, Nasser al-Bahri.

Channels

Mr. President! (1%–50%): The Bodyguard can roll their avatar score to become the target of an attack made against their Client. They have to be feasibly nearby for this to function. It’s alright if they’re across a room, but not if they're on the other side of a parking lot. This functions on both mundane and magickal attacks, so long as you are aware of what is happening. It's enough to hear a gunshot report or see a wizard chanting, but you can't be totally unaware of the attack. 

The Best Defence (51%–70%): So long it’s for the sole purpose of protecting your Client, people ignore the fact that you’re visibly carrying weapons or wearing body armour. They aren't ignorant of you packing heat, they're just unbothered by it. Even if a combat starts, witnesses and law enforcement will look favourably upon you (so long as your actions were purely defensive).

Knowing Is Half The Battle (71%–90%): The Bodyguard can sub their avatar score for Notice when detecting threats against their Client. This channel bypasses magickal stealth and detects incorporeal threats (e.g. demons, curses, sig blasts on a timer), so long as the avatar roll beats any casting roll. You can only roll this channel once per threat.

Get To The Choppa! (91%+): The Bodyguard can spend a combat action to roll their avatar score, teleporting their Client to the nearest safe location on a success. This only works if the Bodyguard can physically touch the client - traditionally it involves pushing them away from a given source of danger. Notably, this channel doesn't extend to the Bodyguard themselves. They have to stay put in whatever fucked up situation they were stuck in. Good luck!