[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

But Duties, Enemies, Pacts or whatever are separate disadvantages explicitly written out on the character sheet with their own point costs which vary from one instance to another. They don't enter into the calculation if we're comparing the benefit given from having a Contact with having a Patron.

I disagree. Point value isn't everything. If I'm deciding whether or not to take a Patron vs. a Contact, the question of "what sort of social disadvantages am I going to have to take if I get this as a Patron?" is absolutely going to enter into my calculations. Just like, for instance, Magery vs. Power Investiture - they cost the same, but the question of what sort of behavior your god will demand, and hence limit your Power Investiture, is absolutely going to be a consideration.

In any case, though, I'm definitely feeling that any Patron who can provide the sort of significant social pull and connections that are inherent to a Contact should be taking the +50% enhancement for Special Abilities. So the comparison is not "one very powerful wizard who can provide social favours and personal power" for the Patron, it's "one very powerful wizard who can help you with their own spells and supernatural abilities, but isn't socially connected enough to allow for significant favours. If you want the wizard who can do both, you'd be paying 90 points, not 60.

Originally Posted by Daigoro

You could just as easily tack on Sense of Duty or Dependent to a Contact if you wanted to write them up that way- your PI character's Contact on the force might sometimes call on him to return the favour, for example.

However, those are optional - a player might choose to have a Sense of Duty to their Contact, but it's not required. Whereas with Patron, it's explicitly spelled out in the advantage that the GM can require you to take various disadvantages if you get a Patron, and I'd definitely say that losing or violating those disadvantages loses you access to the Patron as well, at least until you resolve the situation. Basically, Patron comes with a built-in Pact limitation.

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The problem with having inside information to the CIA is that it comes with a substantial downside. Unless you laid out the points for a security clearance making use of your contact is generally going to be a crime for both of you.

This greatly nerfs Contacts, and I wouldn't do this. A Contact should provide their information. As long as the player behaves reasonably with it (e.g., doesn't go on the national news and says "General X said that the lights in the sky were definitely aliens"), then the character and the Contact aren't going to suffer serious consequences for being used. At worst, I'd say that some results for lower reliability could be interpreted as the Contact being punished for leaking info, rather than betraying you.