01-31-2017, 01:51 PM | #31 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
Quote:
I feel that the feeling that Contacts are too expensive stems much more from people simply treating them as skill-replacements, and discounting their value for doing favours. Consider this example: a low-level CIA analyst, one who can't reliably do things across the world, but is limited to acting more or less in Washington DC. Let's make them Skill 15 in Intelligence Analysis, frequency of appearance 9, and Somewhat Reliable (keeps the math simple). That has a base cost of 2 points. Besides rolling Intelligence Analysis on behalf of the player, I'd also allow this person to do the following favours:
Now admittedly, several of these will fail at least one of the "Easy, Cheap, Safe" list for the Contact, so would be more difficult to get. But they'd still be possible. I think that's well-worth 2 points, even if the campaign only visits Washington every 5 sessions or something. I don't feel that someone should be able to get the same level of favors anywhere in the world for the same two points, just because they've defined their Contact as a higher-level CIA analyst. |
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01-31-2017, 01:58 PM | #32 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
All of those favors are still useful regardless of where the character is located relative to Washington. Especially access to Classified information, which is probably mostly why you want an Agency contact in the first place.
GMs should probably be pretty lenient about making what unmodified Contacts can affect relevant to the game, just like contacts in most adventure fiction. If your man at Langley really would need to have the ear of the chair of the Intelligence committee to get thing done you need, well might as well assume he does, at least this once. Maybe he runs into the Senator at a function, or his niece is an aide or whatever. Last edited by sir_pudding; 02-01-2017 at 08:10 AM. |
01-31-2017, 02:10 PM | #33 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
The CIA contact is an example of the sort of things contacts are priced for. He might have decent skills, but you didn't really pay for his skills. You paid for his security clearance and access to information.
These sorts of contacts are just fine. Its the other sorts of contacts that cause trouble: having a contact who you primarily use for skills, like the village blacksmith. And this is compounded by making you choose a "Skill" that the contact has. I wonder if some of this can be relieved by focusing on the organization and access that the contact has. You're not paying for Information analysis, you're paying for the CIA.
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
01-31-2017, 02:27 PM | #34 |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
Presumably that blacksmith has a shop, tools, suppliers, ect. So it is still more than just having the skill yourself.
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01-31-2017, 02:34 PM | #35 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
It is, but are you going to claim that having a working shop is worth as many points as having inside information to the CIA in most campaigns?
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
01-31-2017, 02:39 PM | #36 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
Quote:
In fact it is probably a Supplier perk in nearly any game. I guess the exception would be Hatori Hanzo, but in that case getting a sword was a huge part of the film, so he probably isn't a Contact for Beatrice but rather an NPC she needed to seek out and interact with. Last edited by sir_pudding; 01-31-2017 at 02:54 PM. |
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01-31-2017, 02:53 PM | #37 |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
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01-31-2017, 03:31 PM | #38 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
Quote:
I said most games for that very reason
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
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01-31-2017, 11:26 PM | #39 |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
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02-01-2017, 08:08 AM | #40 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week (#30): Contact Group, Contacts
Most games where both are an option. Or their equivalents.
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
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advantage, advantage of the week, contact group, contacts, week, [basic] |
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