Divination as Contacts

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

the MH Crusader has the option to buy a Contact Group (local spirits). I've generally always assumed that this is what that advantage was for and was meant to model. Put that up there with the patron of Divine Favor, and a few other social advantages and you've got most of mysticism.

Especially true when you consider that one of the things you can get from a Contact is 'small favors,' rather than just information. 'Small' being from the contact's perspective, not the character's, and when dealing with spirits, faeries, or similar beings, what does and doesn't count as 'small' doesn't need to scale linearly with power.

[oneofmanynameless]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Especially true when you consider that one of the things you can get from a Contact is 'small favors,' rather than just information. 'Small' being from the contact's perspective, not the character's, and when dealing with spirits, faeries, or similar beings, what does and doesn't count as 'small' doesn't need to scale linearly with power.

Yeah. An invisible and insubstantial entity that can walk straight into a building and then back out without any chance of being seen doesn't consider it a big ask if you ask them to tell you how many people are in the building. For an entity with powers on par with the Weather Worker supers template, creating a gentle rain to water your garden with no broader climate problems just isn't a big deal.

[KarlKost]

I think that Contacts and Contact Group, for the specific case of Spirits (or other kinds of magic creatures) can also have the "Summonable" and even "Minion" enhancements that typically are for allies (in Supers), and even be Always Present, in the case of a Spirit Guide that is constantly annoying you with their endless advices. Special Abilities if those can give unusual information, like Spying behind walls or giving riddles about the future, but yeah, Contacts is EXACTLY how I see spirits being used as sources of intel.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

Yeah. An invisible and insubstantial entity that can walk straight into a building and then back out without any chance of being seen doesn't consider it a big ask if you ask them to tell you how many people are in the building. For an entity with powers on par with the Weather Worker supers template, creating a gentle rain to water your garden with no broader climate problems just isn't a big deal.

I dont think that the cost of a Favor is based on how trivial of a task it is, but rather on how valuable that said favor is. For example, a double agent spy working for the Defense Department may have access to sensible intelligence reports trivially; that doesnt mean he would be willing to sell those for $100 only. The Egyptian God of Knowledge Thoth may know the lost magical tomes of Atlantis by memory, and reciting those could be trivial for him, but that doesnt mean he would be willing to trade those for the latest edition of a gossip magazine (that he wants very very much).

While for a spirit figuring out "how many people are behind that door" may be a trivial task, that doesnt mean that they wouldnt be able to properly asses how valuable that information is. Spirits are intelligent beings after all.

It may be that spirits have different parameters for "value", but that's (probably) not related to how easily a favor is to accomplish and more about the general usefulness of it.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

While for a spirit figuring out "how many people are behind that door" may be a trivial task, that doesnt mean that they wouldnt be able to properly asses how valuable that information is. Spirits are intelligent beings after all.

It may be that spirits have different parameters for "value", but that's (probably) not related to how easily a favor is to accomplish and more about the general usefulness of it.

I believe that it would vary a lot from spirit to spirit, or Doylistly that it depends on how the GM chooses to play each spirit.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

I dont think that the cost of a Favor is based on how trivial of a task it is, but rather on how valuable that said favor is. For example, a double agent spy working for the Defense Department may have access to sensible intelligence reports trivially; that doesnt mean he would be willing to sell those for $100 only. .

Telling you what in the intelligence reports doesn't fit into the task category. It's doing what contacts do, providing information. But contacts will also do minor favours and what counts as "minor" is based on inconvenience and risk for the contact.