Questions about Contacts

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Yes, exactly. I never wanted to suggest that the Contacts advantage should be repriced; I was mostly interested in whether I properly understood how the advantage should be used in a campaign, character design, etc.

As this discussion has gone on, I am more convinced that the pricing on Contacts really isn't too high. I think the perception that they might be too high is because we think of Contacts as "not quite Allies," but they aren't. They're a different kind of social advantage.

This approaches (slantwise) where I was going. If people are playing Allies as though they can do everything a Contact can, and then some, then of course Contacts will look like a bad deal. That should be a clue in itself that they are not the same.

[Peter V. Dell'Orto]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

What has emerged is that you simply use the one skill as a way to abstract the knowledge, experience, connections, etc. of the contact.

I think that's reasonable, although not canon. I'd suggest you use a lower skill for their related abilities - just because you bought The Mayor has your Politics-18 contact doesn't mean he's skill 18 for anything you need from him.

Originally Posted by Mgellis

Anything else?

Offhand, no. But again, I'd suggest handling these kinds of non-information requests with normal NPC reaction rules. That will work nicely with fictional contacts, too - they're always saying "Okay, but you owe me one" or the hero shows up with an appropriate bribe ("I got you that brandy you wanted" or "I'll take you out to dinner at the finest restaurant, honey, just get me on the governor's invite list!"), etc. That's just a reaction roll modified by a bribe. If you ask for too much, the penalty will be higher. I'd use their reliability and frequency as a guide for their usefulness, too.

If the contact starts to develop into a full-fledged NPC who provides a myriad of skills, uses his or her advantages to your advantage, etc., I'd force an upgrade to Ally status. It happens even in fiction - sometimes the contact develops into a larger character.

Hope that helps.

[warmachine]

If people liked my Authorities house rule, I do have other house rules. I can't copy and paste extracts on my iPhone but I will briefly describe another option. The Direct Line option (x1/4) means the Contact knows you're useful but won't do anything unless it's in his interests. However, you do get to bypass the army of secretaries or guards that block others. This can give direct access to a powerful person but you still have to convince him.