Contacts

Overview

• Found In: V20, page 112 (Contacts is also described on M20 page 309, but we do not use the M20 rules)
• Available To: All characters
• In Character Generation: Purchased as a standard Background
• After Character Generation: Raised through methods below (IC actions reflected through downtime spends and RP + XP purchase)
• Purchasable When Becoming: No
• Limitations: Contacts can be taken multiple times but each instance of Contacts may not exceed 5 dots.

Using Contacts

V20 and M20 contradict their Contacts mechanics. We have a house ruled system.

For each dot of Contacts, you get a pool of minor contacts and 25 XP with which to specifically make a major contact. It costs 25 XP to make a major contact.

• Minor Contacts: Minor contacts refers to an abstract pool of NPCs without names or faces that you generically know, from whom you can get information and the occasional minor favor. For each dot of contacts, you can designate a certain field/group to have contacts in, like 'lawyers' or 'drug dealers' or 'doctors'. You can invest multiple dots in the same group or spread them out. This works just like in V20. When reaching out to minor contacts, roll Contacts vs 7 to get into contact with these individuals.
  • Example: Jimmy has Contacts 4. He puts 3 in "motorcycle gangs" and 1 in "skip tracers". One day, he needs to pull on his motorcycle gang contacts for information, so he rolls 3 dice vs 7, and if he gets a success, he gets into contact with the right guy with the right info.

• Major Contacts: Major contacts refers to an individual NPC with a name, a sheet, and a small writeup. For each dot of contacts, you get 25 XP with which to make a Major Contact (in addition to the minor contacts aspect described above).

Contacts are normal mortal human beings who are NOT supernaturally aware in any way. They will perform tasks for you if they are compensated in some fashion (which may be reflected by a Downtime spend, a scene in which you run a favor, being paid to do something, et cetera). Storyteller fiat may stand in the way of your requests if you are expecting the contact to do something that is not reasonable in-character. Contacts will not actively act against you, but they will not put their careers, resources or health at risk for you ICly.

An NPC that represents a contact can be a contact for multiple characters. Any player who has that contact may pay to raise their stats.

In Character Generation

For your Minor Contacts, decide the fields that your passing acquaintances are in, like 'doctors' or 'tech' or an organization. Make a note on yourself called 'contacts' with the notes code ("+note/write contacts=<content>). The note should designate how many dots of contacts you are allocating to which fields. For example, "Jim has 2 dots of contacts in Lawyers and 3 dots of contacts in Doctors.".

Then, it's time to make the Major Contacts. Remember, for each dot of contacts, you get 25 XP, and making a new one costs 25 XP. So, if you only have 1 dot of Contacts, you get a starting level NPC as described below and no extra XP. If you have multiple dots, you can either create separate NPCs, or make fewer and spend XP on raising stats.