Difference between revisions of "Contact Rules"
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==Capability (Dice Pool)== | ==Capability (Dice Pool)== | ||
A | A Contact’s dice pool describes how well they can and are willing to perform a particular service for a particular character. Add the following together to form a Contact’s dice pool: | ||
*The | *The Connection of the Contact. | ||
*The | *The Loyalty of the Contact (Including penalties applied to Loyalty due to [[#Favors and Chips|favors owed to the Contact]]. | ||
*2 dice for every | *2 dice for every Aspect that applies to the check. | ||
*The dice pool modifier for the | *The dice pool modifier for the Contact’s Archetype. | ||
*And the dice pool modifier for the | *If cashing in [[#Favors and Chips|favors owed to the player]], a bonus equal to the number of Chips being cashed in. | ||
*And the dice pool modifier for the Contact’s Faction, should it apply. | |||
*If the character has Candle in the Darkness add 2 to dice pools. | |||
===Connection Rating=== | ===Connection Rating=== | ||
As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Connection Rating describes the | As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Connection Rating describes the Capabilities of a Contact. | ||
A | A Contact has a number of Aspects equal to their Connection Rating plus one. This value is global for public contacts on ShadowHaven. When it is upgraded, all players receive this upgrade. | ||
===Loyalty Rating=== | ===Loyalty Rating=== | ||
As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Loyalty describes the relationship between a | As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Loyalty describes the relationship between a Contact and a player character. | ||
To reflect a | To reflect a Contact’s motivation to go above and beyond, Loyalty, together with Connection Rating and Aspects, will determine a contact’s '''Capability''' for any given service. | ||
Loyalty also factors into whether a contact will accept compensation other than | Loyalty also factors into whether a contact will accept compensation other than nuyen. | ||
Loyalty is capped at 6 at all times. | |||
Loyalty may be negatively affected by [[#Favors and Chips|favors owed]]. | |||
===Aspects=== | ===Aspects=== | ||
A number of keywords equal to their Connection Rating plus one, signifying areas of expertise and specializations applicable to the contact’s services. If you want your contact to be | A number of keywords equal to their Connection Rating plus one, signifying areas of expertise and specializations applicable to the contact’s services. If you want your contact to be Awakened or Emerged, you have to put one of their Aspects as something related to the magical or Resonance nature. This can be fairly freeform from '''01 Follower''' to '''Security Aware'''. Some examples: | ||
*A C2 Weaponsmith with the Aspects: Maces, Troll Weaponry and Krime | *A C2 Weaponsmith with the Aspects: Maces, Troll Weaponry and Krime. | ||
*A C2 Investment Banker with Corporate Finance, Executives and EVO | *A C2 Investment Banker with: Corporate Finance, Executives and EVO. | ||
*A C3 Punk Band Frontman with Puyallup, Street, Anarchist and Music | *A C3 Punk Band Frontman with: Puyallup, Street, Anarchist and Music. | ||
*A C2 Street Doc with Awakened Patients, Toxins and Drugs | *A C2 Street Doc with: Awakened Patients, Toxins and Drugs. | ||
*A C3 Hermetic Mage with | *A C3 Hermetic Mage with: Hermetic Magician, Health, Manipulation and Ritual Spellcasting. | ||
===The Flavor of a Contact and | ===The Flavor of a Contact and Their Relationship to the World at Large=== | ||
In this system, the flavor of a | In this system, the flavor of a Contact and their mechanical attributes are intended to go hand-in-hand. When writing a Contact’s motivations, aspirations and vices, consider including hooks for complications as payment. When writing a Contact’s social ties, background and career path, try to develop their Aspects from it. | ||
===Contact Archetype=== | ===Contact Archetype=== | ||
In addition to | In addition to Aspects, each Contact has an Archetype that modifies their dice pool for a certain type of action. | ||
*Service Contacts focus on active skills. | |||
*Gear Acquisition Contacts get a bonus to finding stuff. | |||
*Legwork Contacts get a bonus to their knowledge skills. | |||
*Generalist contacts balance their abilities, but are weaker overall. | |||
*Fixers are special (see below). | |||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
|+Contact Archetype Dice Pool Modifier | |+Contact Archetype Dice Pool Modifier | ||
| Line 100: | Line 113: | ||
<blockquote>For example, Custom(K,A,G,N) for +8 knowledge, +4 Active, 0 Gear, -2 Networking. | <blockquote>For example, Custom(K,A,G,N) for +8 knowledge, +4 Active, 0 Gear, -2 Networking. | ||
You also may have a custom Fixer array denoted as Fixer(K,A,G,N). | You also may have a custom Fixer array denoted as Fixer(K,A,G,N). Fixer(Generalist) works too. | ||
You may swap the order to change the array.</blockquote> | You may swap the order to change the array.</blockquote> | ||
When entering the Archetype on the | When entering the Archetype on the character page, follow the above examples for the format. Any deviation from the above will break the template which generates dice pools. For example, do not put as the archetype "Custom(K,A,G,N) Talismonger". Instead, put "Custom(K,A,G,N)" as the Archetype, and use "Talismonger" for the Profession. | ||
===Contact Faction=== | ===Contact Faction=== | ||
Every Contact can have a Faction. A Contact’s dice pool can be modified by their Faction’s attitude towards you (Cutting Aces, 160). You can treat a Contact’s Faction as an Aspect on top of their normal Aspects (a Contact’s Faction is not an Aspect itself, merely treat the Contact’s Faction as if it were a valid Aspect), but be careful when asking detailed questions about a Contact’s Faction. For example, an Ares Contact may be concerned about you asking about their secret bug project site. You may have to roll a Con test against the contact or other Social Tests. | |||
Contacts will not burn a runner merely for running against their | Contacts will not burn a runner merely for running against their Factions - business is business - but they will be upset if they know they were used in order to complete a run. They will also appreciate getting a heads up, especially if your run could endanger their lives or the lives of their loved ones. | ||
If you and a | If you and a Contact share a Faction, you gain +1 on Contact tests. If you want your whole Faction to know about the request, you may add the Faction’s Connection to Networking and Legwork Tests. This may invoke complications in the run. | ||
==Contact Actions== | ==Contact Actions== | ||
===Knowledge Checks=== | ===Knowledge Checks=== | ||
Ignore the | Ignore the Contact Legwork mechanics in the core book, pages 387-388. | ||
Players may ask their | Players may ask their Contacts questions. A Contact’s Aspects define their areas of expertise. A Contact with the Aspect of "Gang Member" would know about other gangs, what their turfs are and who is who among gang leaders. | ||
Contacts roll their Capability ( | Contacts roll their [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]] against the normal thresholds for Knowledge Tests as outlined in the core book. | ||
Contacts will freely give away information up to | Contacts will freely give away information up to Loyalty hits. However, if the Contact gets hits over their Loyalty, they may ask for nuyen or favors according to the table below with time equal to 1 hour. Consider the risk to the Contact in providing this information, but generally, every hit over the Loyalty is a favor. | ||
Contacts can take up to | Contacts can take up to Connection rating in teamwork dice. If you help your Contact, this does not apply to the dice pool when calculating costs. | ||
===Networking Checks=== | ===Networking Checks=== | ||
Ignore the | Ignore the Contact Legwork mechanics in the core book, page 388. | ||
Contacts roll their dice pool to see if they know a person | Contacts roll their dice pool to see if they know a person who would be in a position to be of use to the players, the test has a threshold of the desired Connection rating of the person being sought after. Their dice pool is based on their [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]], determining Aspects valid to the type of person searched for. If no existing contact exists and therefore no Connection is established, the GM sets the threshold as they deem thematically appropriate, a janitor might be C1 or C2 while the personal assistant of the mayor could be C5 or even higher. | ||
Contacts will freely introduce you to other | Contacts will freely introduce you to other Contacts whose Connection ratings are equal or lower than your Loyalty rating to that contact. Otherwise, it is considered a favor and the Contact will want nuyen or a service for the connection according to the table below. Consider the risk to the Contact in providing this Connection, but generally, every hit over the Loyalty is a favor. | ||
===Gear Acquisition Checks=== | ===Gear Acquisition Checks=== | ||
Contacts roll their Capability ( | Contacts roll their [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]] to see if they can find gear for characters with applicable Aspects applying. | ||
Loyalty 6 | Loyalty 6 Contacts apply a -4 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear. | ||
Loyalty 5 | Loyalty 5 Contacts apply a -3 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear. | ||
Loyalty 4 | Loyalty 4 Contacts apply a -2 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear. | ||
Loyalty 3 | Loyalty 3 Contacts apply a -1 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear. | ||
Loyalty 2 and up include discrete delivery. | Loyalty 2 and up include discrete delivery. | ||
Example: Trash Panda has the contact | Example: Trash Panda has the contact Scrap, a Gear Acquisition contact, at Connection 2, Loyalty 5. She wants to buy an R6 area jammer from her contact for the run. Scrap has the applicable Aspects: Electronics and Black Market Connections. Trash Panda would roll 2 (Connection) + 5 (Loyalty) + 8 (Gear) + 2 (Electronics Aspect) + 2 (Black Market Connections Aspect) for a total of 19 dice. The Area jammer normally has an availability of 18F; however, because of Trash Panda's high Loyalty with the Contact (5), we impose a -3 penalty to the availability of the gear giving us a total of 15 dice in the Opposed Test. | ||
=== | ===Gear Selling/Fencing Services=== | ||
Per the CRB rules, contacts are able to sell equipment at a reduction from the cost of 5% * Loyalty. | |||
Example: Trash Panda wants to buy a new set of armor and doesn't want his armor jacket anymore. He calls up his gear contact (loyalty 4) and asks them to move it. Panda's jacket costs 1000Y and the contact can get 200Y for it. 1000 * 5 * 4 / 100. | |||
Contacts can take up to | ===Active Skill Checks=== | ||
A Contact’s dice pool is equal to their [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]]. A Contact with the Aspect of "Infobroker" would add that Aspect to their dice pool for the purposes of performing a Matrix search. | |||
Contacts can take up to Connection rating in teamwork dice. If you help your Contact, this does not apply to the dice pool when calculating costs. Easy tasks with low favor ratings may be done freely by the Contact up to Loyalty rating. Everything over loyalty rating must be paid for as a favor. | |||
===Lend Gear and Services=== | ===Lend Gear and Services=== | ||
Contacts lend gear based on their | Contacts lend gear based on their Aspects. What gear a Contact has is based on GM fiat. Follow the table to determine the max value of gear a Contact will freely lend out. | ||
{| class="wikitable" | {| class="wikitable" | ||
| Line 258: | Line 275: | ||
|¥8,000,000 | |¥8,000,000 | ||
|} | |} | ||
For gear over that price, a | For gear over that price, a Contact will lend it out at a rate of (7-Loyalty)*5% the remaining worth. Contacts expect their gear to come back in the same condition; make sure to patch up any bullet holes before returning it. | ||
If you get in trouble, higher | If you get in trouble, higher Loyalty Contacts will use this pool of money to try to bail you out. They do expect to get paid back ASAP. | ||
=== | ===Tests of Loyalty=== | ||
This section overrides the RAW | This section overrides the RAW Test of Loyalty. Run Faster, page 177. | ||
Sometimes, your | Sometimes, your Contact is holding the bag or otherwise finds themselves in a slotted up situation where throwing you under the bus would help them. If that is the case, roll 13-C with a threshold of (6-loyalty). If you beat the threshold, the Contact will attempt to use their active skill dice pools and nuyen to help you out, risking themselves and their reputation. If you fail, under the bus you go. | ||
==Paying your Contacts== | ==Paying your Contacts== | ||
===Services and Favor Rating=== | ===Services and Favor Rating=== | ||
Capability ( | [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]] can be rolled to determine a Contact’s willingness and ability to provide a favor, using the Favor Ratings table in the core book, page 389. Use the rating given as a threshold for the test. The roll can be bypassed with GM fiat determining success or failure. The test may, at GM discretion, receive some of the modifiers applicable to Social Tests (the core book, page 140): | ||
*Character has a heavy bargaining chip / highly desirable favor to trade: +2 | *Projected outcome appears advantageous to Contact: +1. | ||
*Projected outcome appears annoying to Contact: -1. | |||
*Projected outcome appears harmful to Contact: -3. | |||
*Projected outcome appears disastrous to Contact: -4. | |||
*Character has a heavy bargaining chip/highly desirable favor to trade: +2. | |||
GMs are free to add additional modifiers as they feel appropriate to the situation. | GMs are free to add additional modifiers as they feel appropriate to the situation. | ||
If a | If a Contact is tricked into acting against their own interest and finds out, GMs may choose to to dock one or more points of Loyalty rating as they feel appropriate and/or have the Contact demand a favor in recompense. | ||
Ultimately, the impact of player choice’s on a | Ultimately, the impact of player choice’s on a Contact is the realm of GM fiat with Thematics’ oversight. It is completely possible to do something ruinous to a contact that dissolves all their Connection and/or Loyalty. | ||
===Service Costs=== | ===Service Costs=== | ||
Favor | Favor ratings are also guidelines for the costs of getting help from a Contact. These numbers are guidelines and GMs are free to adjust them to better fit with the payscale of the run (especially hooding runs, high risk of retaliation runs, etc.). The suggested cost is based on the favor rating (as determined by the GM), and the dice pool of a Contact. (A more skilled Contact will charge more for their expert services.) | ||
| Line 336: | Line 351: | ||
===Magical/Resonance Services=== | ===Magical/Resonance Services=== | ||
The cost of magical and | The cost of magical and Resonance services is up to the GM based on the risk of said service. GMs should account for the service’s drain/Fading values while determining the risk to the Contact. Magicians and technomancers are rare and know their worth, double the nuyen cost in the table above for their services. | ||
Generally, 3 drain/ | Generally, 3 drain/Fading is a rating 1 favor. 18+ drain/Fading is a rating 6 favor. Double the nuyen cost again if the drain/Fading exceeds 50% of the Contact’s dice pool since that is generally when these things change from stun to physical damage. However, the favor rating can also be increased by circumstance. Sustaining a spell to go geek some rats is very different from sustaining a spell to go geek an Aztech blood mage in an Aztech pyramid. These are just guidelines and the favor rating should be both a discussion between the GM and player along with the contact and runner. | ||
===Complications, Side Objectives and Runs as Payment=== | ===Complications, Side Objectives and Runs as Payment=== | ||
GMs should have | GMs should have Contacts who take payment in services or goods seek repayment for their services. This repayment can be in nuyen or tasks whose threat is determined by the RVP guidelines above. | ||
'''Example:''' [[Trash Panda]] calls her contact [[Daniel Lufe]] for [[The_Collectors:_Let%27s_Take_A_Time_Walk#The_Owner|assistance in a run]]. She needs her forger Contact to create a fake dating profile to lure a target out of their house. This is a fairly basic, low threat task for Daniel Lufe, and he agrees to do so in exchange for a favor. He asks that while Trash Panda is inside that rich guy's house, that she take one of his expensive bottles of chardonnay for him to use with his cooking interests. This adds another objective for Trash Panda to complete while she is inside the house robbing the joint. | |||
===Favors and Chips=== | |||
Some Contacts may agree to work for free in exchange for a favor, or may agree to owe a character a favor. These are tracked with "Chips". A positive number of Chips means the Contact owes the PC a favor. A negative number means the PC owes the Contact a favor. This may affect your Contact’s [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]], [[#Service Costs|Service Costs]], ect. A Contact is less willing to help out if they are owed, especially if the character isn’t interested in repaying the debt. | |||
*If the Contact has a positive Chip value (i.e. Contact owes the PC a favor) and the player is calling in that favor, add the value of the favor as a dicepool bonus to the test. | |||
*If the contact has a negative Chip value (i.e. PC owes the Contact a favor), apply the number of favors owed as a penalty to the Contact’s Loyalty. If the Contact reaches 0 Loyalty in this way, they will still assist, but will always charge for help, and may charge extra until such time as they have been repaid. | |||
**Note that this modification of Loyalty will affect [[#Capability (Dice Pool)|Capability]] rolls, as well as [[#Contact Availability Checks|Contact Availability Checks]]. | |||
**If the negative Chips value drops the Contact to 0 Loyalty, they are not lost. Instead, the Contact will refuse to assist the runner any more until the debt is repaid. | |||
GMs are encouraged to find opportunities for Contacts who prefer favors as payment to either ask for favors, or offer a Chip in the form of a favor in the future. | |||
==Player Actions with Contacts== | ==Player Actions with Contacts== | ||
===I Know | ===I Know a Guy Adaptation=== | ||
Ignore the rules on | Ignore the rules on Run Faster, page 177. Instead, use the following rules: spend a point of edge, describe the contact, how you know them, and why they aren't your contact currently. The GM should assign a connection between 1 and 6 and Loyalty to this Contact, granting more Connection for better or more entertaining flashbacks to the Contact. You temporarily gain the Contact for the run. You may buy the Contact permanently at a 1 RVP or 2 CDP discount, with a minimal cost of 1 RVP/2 CDP. | ||
===Personal Contact Tags=== | ===Personal Contact Tags=== | ||
Players may apply the following tags on their | Players may apply the following tags on their Contacts without paying karma. They function exactly like RAW unless otherwise noted. | ||
*Blackmailed - | *Blackmailed - follows RAW rules (Run Faster, page 178). | ||
*Family - | *Family - treat this contact as having -1 loyalty for all tests except Tests of Loyalty, which are +1. You also earn one less Chip than normal when doing favors for your family Contact. | ||
*Intimidated - | *Intimidated - follows RAW rules (Run Faster, page 178). You can not remove this tag once applied outside the use of memory magic or drugs during a run. | ||
==Buying and | ==Buying, Upgrading and Creating a Contact== | ||
===CDP=== | |||
{{:CDP}} | |||
===Buying Contacts=== | ===Buying Contacts=== | ||
A | A Contact costs: | ||
*(Connection+Loyalty)*2 [[CDP]] - 2 [[CDP]] | *(Connection+Loyalty)*2 [[CDP]] - 2 [[CDP]]. | ||
*(Connection+Loyalty)*1 [[RVP]] - 1 [[RVP]] | *(Connection+Loyalty)*1 [[RVP]] - 1 [[RVP]]. | ||
*You may convert [[GMP]] into [[CDP]] at a rate of 1 GMP = 2 CDP. | |||
Furthermore: | |||
* | *Contacts can be purchased at the price listed on the above table. Existing Contacts must be bought at their listed Connection as Connection is global on ShadowHaven. | ||
*Contacts with a Connection rating greater than 6 may only be gained as run rewards. | |||
*You may spend 20 faction reputation (Cutting Aces, page 160) to buy a contact with a Connection equal to or lower than that Faction’s Connection at Loyalty 2. (The Connection 6 cap still applies.) | |||
*Contacts purchased outside of a run reward will start at Loyalty 1. See the Upgrading Contacts header below for information on upgrading them beyond Loyalty 1. | |||
**When awarded as a part of run rewards, GM may choose loyalty up to 4 without approval. Loyalty 5 or 6 require thematics approval. | |||
{{Redbox|<center>ALL CDP EXPENSES '''MUST''' BE RECORDED IN THE #PAPERWORK CHANNEL OF THE DISCORD SERVER.</center>}} | |||
===Upgrading Contacts=== | ===Upgrading Contacts=== | ||
To upgrade a | To upgrade a Contact’s Connection or Loyalty: | ||
*Pay 2 [[CDP]] * New Rating | *Pay 2 [[CDP]] * New Rating. | ||
*Pay 1 [[RVP]] | *Pay 1 [[RVP]] * New Connection as part of a run reward. | ||
* | *Pay 1 [[RVP]] * (New Loyalty- Old Loyalty) as part of a run reward. | ||
*You may convert [[GMP]] into [[CDP]] at a rate of 1 GMP = 2 CDP. | |||
*Upgrades have to be incremental. For example, it is not possible to go from Connection 1 straight to 6 for 2 x 6 = 12 CDP, but requires paying for each upgrade (2 x 2 = 4 for C2, 2 x 3 = 6 for C3, 2 x 4 = 8 for C4, 2 x 5 = 10 for C5 and ''then'' 2 x 6 = 12 for C6, a total of 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 = 40 CDP). | |||
*Upgrading the connection past 6 requires Thematics approval. When a Contact’s Connection is upgraded, everyone with the Contact gets the upgrade. | |||
*Upgrading the Loyalty beyond 4 requires an associated run. Note that this limit does not apply at chargen. | |||
* | ===Creating Contacts=== | ||
*You can freely create Contacts up to a Connection of 6. Negative aspects need the approval of a Thematics team member. | |||
*Contacts with a Connection 7 or greater require the approval of the Thematics Department Head. | |||
==Contact Availability Checks== | ==Contact Availability Checks== | ||
Contacts have their own lives. A GM can make a | Contacts have their own lives. A GM can make a Contact available or unavailable due to a situation where a runner can intervene. Generally, higher Connection Contacts are more busy. | ||
If a GM doesn’t care either way, ignore the core rules (the core book, page 387) and instead roll 2D6+Loyalty (Connection). Note this works like an initiative roll, not hits; if the total of the two dice and your Loyalty exceeds the contact’s Connection, the following applies: | |||
On a tie, the contact isn’t immediately available, but will get in contact with the character after what the GM deems a thematically appropriate delay. They will also have a reason or complication regarding why they couldn’t return the message. | |||
With 1 higher than the threshold, the Contact will immediately answer the runner, but explain a situation or complication that they need to resolve before helping the runner. The runner may intervene in these situations. | |||
With | With 2 or more higher than the threshold, the Contact is immediately available with no complication. | ||
Add the number of Chips you owe to the Connection threshold. Subtract the number of Chips you are owed from the Connection threshold. | |||
Add | Add an additional +2 to this test if the character has Candle in the Darkness. | ||
=Contact Restrictions= | =Contact Restrictions= | ||
*Contacts may not have qualities. | *Contacts may not have qualities - this is covered by their [[Contact_Rules#Contact_Archetype|Archetype]] and [[Contact_Rules#Aspect_Details|Aspects]]. | ||
*Edge may not be used on contact rolls. | |||
*Contacts may not be current player characters. | |||
*Contacts may be retired player characters given the following restrictions - they can not be larger than life, plot significant, high Connection Contacts. Retired PC contacts over 6 Connection are subject to thematics review. It is better to have them be "normal" and discard the protagonist's benefit in their retirement as a Contact. PCs do not automatically gain a retired player character as a contact for having worked together before. Rules for [[Contact_Rules#Buying_Contacts|buying contacts]] apply as normal. | |||
*Contacts may not be named NPCs from a Shadowrun sourcebook. | |||
* | *GMs may give out named NPCs as a result of a prime run. These contacts are private to those runners, and are subject to Thematics approval as per out [[GM_Rules#Needs_Approval|GM Rules involving canon characters]]. | ||
*Contacts may | *Named dragons from CGL sourcebooks can’t be taken as Contacts, but you may get Thematics to approve homebrewed dragons. It is better to use liaisons to dragons than dragons directly. | ||
*Taking dragons and certain other infamous things as Contacts, at the sole discretion of Thematics, will automatically earn a point of notoriety. | |||
*Contacts will only operate in the way specified by the GM. | *Contacts will only operate in the way specified by the GM. | ||
*Contacts are people as well and are not at the beck and call of the PCs. GMs should portray them as such and the | *Contacts are people as well and are not at the beck and call of the PCs. GMs should portray them as such and the Contact might require payment/favors for some tasks. | ||
==Other Deviations from RAW== | |||
*Improving Loyalty with Chips is banned (Run Faster, page 176). | |||
*Social Networking is banned (Run Faster, page 177). Instead, players may freely contact multiple contacts and ask them to work together on a test, paying all their associated fees. | |||
*Unpaid Chips (Paying Off Debt, Run Faster, 178) does not degrade loyalty over time. Instead, owed chips modifies your Contact Availability Tests until paid off. | |||
*Contact Loyalty Degrading Over Time is not in effect (Maintaining Contact Relationship, Run Faster, page 178). | |||
*The "Using Con/Seduction" is not in effect since contacts don’t lose Loyalty over time. You may still lie or seduce your Contacts to achieve other goals during runs (Run Faster, page 177). | |||
*Having a notoriety score does not increase the cost of upgrading contacts. (When Your Reputation Precedes You, Run Faster, 178). | |||
==Aspect Details== | |||
== | ===Negative Aspects=== | ||
Adding a negative Aspect to a Contact grants it an additional positive Aspect. GMs are encouraged to leverage the negative Aspect of contacts a player involves in a run to make said run extra spicy. Removal of negative Aspects are under the oversight of Thematics. You may only use the Aspects listed below. The lifespan of Contacts with negative Aspects is also questionable. Additional negative Aspects may be submitted to Thematics for approval, but may not be assigned to Contacts until they have been approved. | |||
*Wanted. | |||
*Blissfully Unaware - this is someone who doesn’t think that their contacts are runners and doesn’t understand the whole runner thing. If they find out you are a runner, immediately make a Test of Loyalty. If you fail the Test of Loyalty, they will think you are a terrorist, burn you and contact law enforcement. If you succeed in a Test of Loyalty, they will be willing to listen to you explain yourself and even help you leave the runner life. You may be able to convince them to associate with the shadows. Contact a GM or Thematics if this happens as it may involve the removal of that tag. Gear Contacts with this Contact will only sell you legal gear, or restricted gear with the appropriate licenses unless you conduct a Social Test to convince them the lack of paperwork is for a benign reason. | |||
*Toxic Magic/Dissonance. | |||
*Hard to Reach - always make an Availability Test for this Contact with their Connection +3 than normal. | |||
*Unreliable - the GM rolls a 1D6 in secret. If the roll is a one, the contact will say, with complete confidence, that they will do the request or that they have the right information. They will then flake out or their information will be wrong. They will say they got the gear, then accidentally sell it to another person. | |||
*Overworked - services may take longer. Every time the Contact provides a service, roll 2D6. The normal amount of time that it would take to provide the service is multiplied by the resulting number. | |||
You can find more examples of negative Aspects [[:Category:Contacts With Negative Aspects|here]]. | |||
=== Positive Aspects === | ===Positive Aspects=== | ||
<!-- Council ruling: https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowHavenBBS/comments/faxxom/clarification_of_contact_aspects/ (Item 224) | |||
Aspects that refer to attributes of a PC are not allowed. Aspects can only trigger based on what the contact is being used for, rather than who the contact is being used by. It is too easy to tune aspects so they all apply to a certain PC. | |||
*Specifically, aspects that give bonuses if someone has a language skill are banned.Added as part of the council threads push. --> | |||
Aspects are to apply to what the contact is being asked to do, rather than who is asking. They may not refer to the attributes or skills of the character. This is to avoid aspect tuning so that the contact may only be used by a single character. Specifically, but not exclusively, aspects that refer to language skills are not allowed. | |||
Aspects can stack, but should not be synonymous for the same thing already on the | Aspects can stack, but should not be synonymous for the same thing already on the Contact. Ideally, they should get more specific the more you go. | ||
Good example: Weapons Dealer > Firearms > Krime > Shotguns | Good example: Weapons Dealer > Firearms > Krime > Shotguns | ||
* This example is good because while they are going to be REALLY good at finding you a Krime Wave, their specializations tend to branch off of each other and they won’t all apply in all attempts at acquiring gear. | *This example is good, because while they are going to be REALLY good at finding you a Krime Wave, their specializations tend to branch off of each other and they won’t all apply in all attempts at acquiring gear. | ||
Bad Example: Arms Dealer > Weapons Smuggler > Armaments Expert > Supply Sergeant | Bad Example: Arms Dealer > Weapons Smuggler > Armaments Expert > Supply Sergeant | ||
* This example is bad because all 4 | *This example is bad because all 4 Aspects are basically the same thing, and all 4 would always apply to every roll made to acquire any weapons. | ||
A few positive | A few positive Aspect examples are listed below. You may create your own as well; however, Thematics holds veto power over any Aspects. | ||
* Service Type (Armorer, Doctor, Smuggler, etc.) | *Service Type (Armorer, Doctor, Smuggler, etc.) | ||
* Drones | *Drones | ||
* Cyberware | *Cyberware | ||
* Bioware | *Bioware | ||
* Blades | *Blades | ||
* Blunt Weapons | *Blunt Weapons | ||
* Automatic Firearms | *Automatic Firearms | ||
* Handguns | *Handguns | ||
* Longarms | *Longarms | ||
* Heavy Weapons | *Heavy Weapons | ||
* Drugs | *Drugs | ||
* Electronic Accessories | *Electronic Accessories | ||
* Commlinks | *Commlinks | ||
* Cyberdecks | *Cyberdecks | ||
* Rigger Command Consoles | *Rigger Command Consoles | ||
* Milspec Gear | *Milspec Gear | ||
* Consumer Grade | *Consumer Grade | ||
* Ammunition | *Ammunition | ||
* Equipment Brand, e.g. ''Ares, Krime, Shiawase'' | *Equipment Brand, e.g. ''Ares, Krime, Shiawase'' | ||
* Magic Tradition (Dark Magic, Missionist, Vodou) | *Magic Tradition (Dark Magic, Missionist, Vodou) | ||
* Magic Category (Combat, Illusion, Detection, Manipulation, Health) | *Magic Category (Combat, Illusion, Detection, Manipulation, Health) | ||
* Spirit Type (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Man, Beast, etc.) | *Spirit Type (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Man, Beast, etc.) | ||
* Focus Type (Qi, Power, Sorcery, Conjuring, etc.) | *Focus Type (Qi, Power, Sorcery, Conjuring, etc.) | ||
* Fake SINs | *Fake SINs | ||
* High-Fashion Armor | *High-Fashion Armor | ||
* Tactical Armor | *Tactical Armor | ||
* Firearm Accessories | *Firearm Accessories | ||
* Armor Accessories | *Armor Accessories | ||
* Explosives | *Explosives | ||
* Software | *Software | ||
* Extreme Environments | *Extreme Environments | ||
* Vehicles | *Vehicles | ||
* Medical | *Medical | ||
* Blackmail | *Blackmail | ||
* Private Info | *Private Info | ||
* General information | *General information | ||
* Building layouts | *Building layouts | ||
=Group Contacts= | =Group Contacts= | ||
Diverging from RAW, | Diverging from RAW, Group Contacts have been redesigned to fit more neatly into an LC setting, and to be dynamic, changing with player action. A Group Contact will have 4 stats: Health, Connection, Player Joinability, and Type. | ||
New | New Group Contacts should be suggested to the Thematics Department, and cannot be player-created. Factions can be player-created, but must gain approval from Thematics to be joinable. | ||
==Health== | |||
For example, the Halloweeners have not been featured in any recent runs or lore, so they are assumed to be going about business as normal or whatever those gangers would consider normal. | Health is a direct measurement of how this group is currently doing. It goes from lowest to highest: Maimed, Bruised, Maintaining, Boosted, and Invigorated, each giving -2, -1, +0, +1, and +2 to all actions done by or through the faction. This can be changed through runs benefiting or hurting the faction, or overall events happening in the Shadowrun world, and will head back or forward one point towards the middle every 2 months, barring significant events or Faction destruction. | ||
For example, the Halloweeners have not been featured in any recent runs or lore, so they are assumed to be going about business as normal or whatever those gangers would consider normal. NeoNET, on the other hand, is not doing too well, so is on the lower side of health, even though there haven’t been any runs against them. Finally, a GM has been running a series of games featuring the Black Lodge, and they have been doing very well, bringing them up to invigorated. | |||
==Connection== | |||
This represents the power, influence, and assorted other connections a group has, expanded from 1-3 to 1-5. These are the bonus dice a PC gets when using the Faction for legwork or networking, as per RAW. The ratings roughly represent as follows: | |||
1: A group with little power or influence, if any. A book club, small mage study group, or things of that nature would fall under this category. | 1: A group with little power or influence, if any. A book club, small mage study group, or things of that nature would fall under this category. | ||
| Line 495: | Line 551: | ||
2: While not a true power player, this group has quite a bit of influence at a local level, and can sway things in that area. Groups include street gangs, small policlubs, and the like. | 2: While not a true power player, this group has quite a bit of influence at a local level, and can sway things in that area. Groups include street gangs, small policlubs, and the like. | ||
3: Considerable power in an area and even abroad, this includes A level corporations, major criminal syndicates, Shadowhaven itself, etc. | 3: Considerable power in an area and even abroad, this includes [[:Category:A Rated Corps|A level corporations]], [[:Category:Syndicates|major criminal syndicates]], [[Shadowhaven]] itself, etc. | ||
4: This is where the true power players are, Nations like the UCAS, Canton Confederation, or Amazonia, along with AA Corps, would fit here. | 4: This is where the true power players are, Nations like the UCAS, Canton Confederation, or Amazonia, along with [[:Category:AA Rated Corps|AA Corps]], would fit here. | ||
5: This is solely the realm of the AAAs. | 5: This is solely the realm of the [[:Category:AAA Rated Corps|AAAs]]. | ||
It is up to the GM how much of the connection rating a PC has access to. If a | It is up to the GM how much of the connection rating a PC has access to. If a NeoNET citizen PC wishes to dig up info on an SK executive without being noticed, for example, they would not get the full bonus as they are not using the entirety of the group’s resources. | ||
These ratings can only change for player created groups, and even then, will require a lot of effort. | These ratings can only change for player-created groups, and even then, will require a lot of effort. | ||
In addition, PCs with Made Man gain 2 automatic hits to tests done through their group. | In addition, PCs with Made Man gain 2 automatic hits to tests done through their group. | ||
==Group type== | |||
This should be fairly obvious - a gang is a gang, a corp is a corp, a secret death cabal is a secret death cabal, and thus outlines what a group can and can’t help with. For example, using the Halloweeners to help find a local ghoul nest would gain benefit of their Connection rating, but connecting a PC with a reclusive hermetic archaeologist would not gain any benefit. This is all GM fiat. | |||
Additionally, separate Group Contacts may have tenets, for example, the Vory forbid cooperating with authority, that PCs will have to visibly abide by to stay in the group. Individual Group Contacts might also gain bonuses, such as the Red Hot Nukes allowing for easier requisitioning of explosives. These bonus will be decided on a group by group basis. | |||
To join a corporation, the Corporate Limited SIN or Corporate SIN negative | ==Joinability== | ||
Not all factions are joinable, though all Group Contacts are. However, there are some requirements. | |||
To join a corporation, the Corporate Limited SIN or Corporate SIN negative qualities are required. | |||
Those with the Made Man and Prime Datahaven Membership qualities are automatically a member of their factions, and do not have to spend any additional karma. | Those with the Made Man and Prime Datahaven Membership qualities are automatically a member of their factions, and do not have to spend any additional karma. | ||
===Joining Groups=== | |||
====At Character Generation==== | |||
At character creation, players can join groups by spending karma equal to (group’s Connection)*2+1 as if the group contact was a positive quality. They may also join an organized crime faction by taking the Made Man quality or a Datahaven by taking the Prime Datahaven Membership Quality. | |||
====Post-Character Generation==== | |||
After character creation, players can join groups by spending karma equal to (group’s Connection)*4+2 as if the group contact was a positive quality. Those taking the Made Man quality must first demonstrate a long standing relationship with the organized crime group. Those taking Prime Datahaven Membership must demonstrate their worth to the Datahaven. | |||
Barring qualities, loyalty starts and ends at 1. | Barring qualities, loyalty starts and ends at 1. | ||
===Faction Rep=== | |||
Players with a group contact gain 1 Faction Rep with that Faction for every run they complete after purchasing it. Furthermore, Faction Rep can be spent to acquire a Faction-related public Contact at the cost of 5 x Connection and 2 x desired Loyalty. This public Contact may be upgraded via the same method. A faction-related public Contact can also have its Connection increased at the cost of 10 x Connection. As usual, contacts with more than 6 connection must be approved by Thematics, and Loyalty cannot exceed 4 without a run. Multiple players with the same Group Contact may pool their Faction Rep for global purchases, such as increasing a public Contact's Connection. | |||
===Player Character Page Templates=== | |||
Please use [[Template:GroupContactTable]] to add a Group Contact to your character's page. Note that this template automatically adds +1 to your Faction Rep for each run your character has been on. You will need to adjust this number using the <code>|FactionRep=</code> entry in [[Template:GroupContact]] with a negative number to reduce this number down to 1 at the time of purchase. | |||
=== | |||
==Group Contact Examples== | |||
Rogatty Vydra is a | Rogatty Vydra is a Vory enforcer with the Made Man quality. He calls his Vory friends looking for a place to lay low, rolling Shadow Community to find a place. The Vory are making a lot of nuyen with the syndicate war, so their health is at boosted. He rolls Intuition (5) + his knowledge skill rating (4) + his group’s connection (3) + the group health bonus (1) or 13 dice. He rolls and gets 4 hits which add onto his 2 autohits from being a made man for 6 hits. He is able to find one of the best hidden places in the shadows. | ||
The group is having trouble learning about their extraction target. Photon, a member of the Grey Wolves, tries reaching out to her network. She rolls her | The group is having trouble learning about their extraction target. Photon, a member of the Grey Wolves, tries reaching out to her network. She rolls her Intuition (4) + her knowledge skill in notable Matrix specialists (5) + her spec in technomancers (2) + her group’s Connection (3). She gets 5 hits on 14 dice and learns a lot about their target, including the fact they are in vacation in London at the Grand Hilton. However, the Grey Wolves are allied with Spinrad Industries. In preparation for becoming SpinGlobal, they need expert Matrix sculptures. A member of the Grey Wolves offers Photon 15K nuyen to each member of her team to screw over their Johnson. At stake is plus or minus reputation with the Grey Wolves. | ||
Latest revision as of 05:05, 12 November 2024
New contacts must be added to the wiki prior to use. Our full contact rules are below, but to facilitate the ease of wiki page creation, you may either copy Template:Contact into the desired page, or set up the basic template with our discord bot.
Capability (Dice Pool)
A Contact’s dice pool describes how well they can and are willing to perform a particular service for a particular character. Add the following together to form a Contact’s dice pool:
- The Connection of the Contact.
- The Loyalty of the Contact (Including penalties applied to Loyalty due to favors owed to the Contact.
- 2 dice for every Aspect that applies to the check.
- The dice pool modifier for the Contact’s Archetype.
- If cashing in favors owed to the player, a bonus equal to the number of Chips being cashed in.
- And the dice pool modifier for the Contact’s Faction, should it apply.
- If the character has Candle in the Darkness add 2 to dice pools.
Connection Rating
As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Connection Rating describes the Capabilities of a Contact.
A Contact has a number of Aspects equal to their Connection Rating plus one. This value is global for public contacts on ShadowHaven. When it is upgraded, all players receive this upgrade.
Loyalty Rating
As described on page 386 of the core rule book, Loyalty describes the relationship between a Contact and a player character.
To reflect a Contact’s motivation to go above and beyond, Loyalty, together with Connection Rating and Aspects, will determine a contact’s Capability for any given service.
Loyalty also factors into whether a contact will accept compensation other than nuyen.
Loyalty is capped at 6 at all times.
Loyalty may be negatively affected by favors owed.
Aspects
A number of keywords equal to their Connection Rating plus one, signifying areas of expertise and specializations applicable to the contact’s services. If you want your contact to be Awakened or Emerged, you have to put one of their Aspects as something related to the magical or Resonance nature. This can be fairly freeform from 01 Follower to Security Aware. Some examples:
- A C2 Weaponsmith with the Aspects: Maces, Troll Weaponry and Krime.
- A C2 Investment Banker with: Corporate Finance, Executives and EVO.
- A C3 Punk Band Frontman with: Puyallup, Street, Anarchist and Music.
- A C2 Street Doc with: Awakened Patients, Toxins and Drugs.
- A C3 Hermetic Mage with: Hermetic Magician, Health, Manipulation and Ritual Spellcasting.
The Flavor of a Contact and Their Relationship to the World at Large
In this system, the flavor of a Contact and their mechanical attributes are intended to go hand-in-hand. When writing a Contact’s motivations, aspirations and vices, consider including hooks for complications as payment. When writing a Contact’s social ties, background and career path, try to develop their Aspects from it.
Contact Archetype
In addition to Aspects, each Contact has an Archetype that modifies their dice pool for a certain type of action.
- Service Contacts focus on active skills.
- Gear Acquisition Contacts get a bonus to finding stuff.
- Legwork Contacts get a bonus to their knowledge skills.
- Generalist contacts balance their abilities, but are weaker overall.
- Fixers are special (see below).
| Fixer | Service | Gear | Legwork | Networking | Generalist | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Checks | 0 | 4 | -2 | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Active Checks | -2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 2 |
| Gear Acquisition Checks | 4 | 0 | 8 | -2 | 0 | 2 |
| Networking Checks | 8 | -2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
Fixers
Fixers have invested time and nuyen into your runner and as such they are more firmly in your corner and will not give up information about you except under exceptional pressure. They will organize rescue runs in the event you burn edge and generally ensure you won’t be screwed over by your Johnson. They also vet you to your Johnson, putting your J at ease. Your success is their profit, so they will ensure you can get to a meet and can complete the run.
We require every runner to have a fixer because we want someone who can advocate on your character’s behalf when should drek hit the fan.
Custom Archetypes
Custom Archetypes may also be created, assigning the +8,+4,0,-2 bonuses however you like. They are denoted on the contact page using the following:
For example, Custom(K,A,G,N) for +8 knowledge, +4 Active, 0 Gear, -2 Networking.
You also may have a custom Fixer array denoted as Fixer(K,A,G,N). Fixer(Generalist) works too.
You may swap the order to change the array.
When entering the Archetype on the character page, follow the above examples for the format. Any deviation from the above will break the template which generates dice pools. For example, do not put as the archetype "Custom(K,A,G,N) Talismonger". Instead, put "Custom(K,A,G,N)" as the Archetype, and use "Talismonger" for the Profession.
Contact Faction
Every Contact can have a Faction. A Contact’s dice pool can be modified by their Faction’s attitude towards you (Cutting Aces, 160). You can treat a Contact’s Faction as an Aspect on top of their normal Aspects (a Contact’s Faction is not an Aspect itself, merely treat the Contact’s Faction as if it were a valid Aspect), but be careful when asking detailed questions about a Contact’s Faction. For example, an Ares Contact may be concerned about you asking about their secret bug project site. You may have to roll a Con test against the contact or other Social Tests.
Contacts will not burn a runner merely for running against their Factions - business is business - but they will be upset if they know they were used in order to complete a run. They will also appreciate getting a heads up, especially if your run could endanger their lives or the lives of their loved ones.
If you and a Contact share a Faction, you gain +1 on Contact tests. If you want your whole Faction to know about the request, you may add the Faction’s Connection to Networking and Legwork Tests. This may invoke complications in the run.
Contact Actions
Knowledge Checks
Ignore the Contact Legwork mechanics in the core book, pages 387-388.
Players may ask their Contacts questions. A Contact’s Aspects define their areas of expertise. A Contact with the Aspect of "Gang Member" would know about other gangs, what their turfs are and who is who among gang leaders.
Contacts roll their Capability against the normal thresholds for Knowledge Tests as outlined in the core book.
Contacts will freely give away information up to Loyalty hits. However, if the Contact gets hits over their Loyalty, they may ask for nuyen or favors according to the table below with time equal to 1 hour. Consider the risk to the Contact in providing this information, but generally, every hit over the Loyalty is a favor.
Contacts can take up to Connection rating in teamwork dice. If you help your Contact, this does not apply to the dice pool when calculating costs.
Networking Checks
Ignore the Contact Legwork mechanics in the core book, page 388.
Contacts roll their dice pool to see if they know a person who would be in a position to be of use to the players, the test has a threshold of the desired Connection rating of the person being sought after. Their dice pool is based on their Capability, determining Aspects valid to the type of person searched for. If no existing contact exists and therefore no Connection is established, the GM sets the threshold as they deem thematically appropriate, a janitor might be C1 or C2 while the personal assistant of the mayor could be C5 or even higher.
Contacts will freely introduce you to other Contacts whose Connection ratings are equal or lower than your Loyalty rating to that contact. Otherwise, it is considered a favor and the Contact will want nuyen or a service for the connection according to the table below. Consider the risk to the Contact in providing this Connection, but generally, every hit over the Loyalty is a favor.
Gear Acquisition Checks
Contacts roll their Capability to see if they can find gear for characters with applicable Aspects applying.
Loyalty 6 Contacts apply a -4 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear.
Loyalty 5 Contacts apply a -3 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear.
Loyalty 4 Contacts apply a -2 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear.
Loyalty 3 Contacts apply a -1 dice pool penalty to the availability of gear.
Loyalty 2 and up include discrete delivery.
Example: Trash Panda has the contact Scrap, a Gear Acquisition contact, at Connection 2, Loyalty 5. She wants to buy an R6 area jammer from her contact for the run. Scrap has the applicable Aspects: Electronics and Black Market Connections. Trash Panda would roll 2 (Connection) + 5 (Loyalty) + 8 (Gear) + 2 (Electronics Aspect) + 2 (Black Market Connections Aspect) for a total of 19 dice. The Area jammer normally has an availability of 18F; however, because of Trash Panda's high Loyalty with the Contact (5), we impose a -3 penalty to the availability of the gear giving us a total of 15 dice in the Opposed Test.
Gear Selling/Fencing Services
Per the CRB rules, contacts are able to sell equipment at a reduction from the cost of 5% * Loyalty. Example: Trash Panda wants to buy a new set of armor and doesn't want his armor jacket anymore. He calls up his gear contact (loyalty 4) and asks them to move it. Panda's jacket costs 1000Y and the contact can get 200Y for it. 1000 * 5 * 4 / 100.
Active Skill Checks
A Contact’s dice pool is equal to their Capability. A Contact with the Aspect of "Infobroker" would add that Aspect to their dice pool for the purposes of performing a Matrix search.
Contacts can take up to Connection rating in teamwork dice. If you help your Contact, this does not apply to the dice pool when calculating costs. Easy tasks with low favor ratings may be done freely by the Contact up to Loyalty rating. Everything over loyalty rating must be paid for as a favor.
Lend Gear and Services
Contacts lend gear based on their Aspects. What gear a Contact has is based on GM fiat. Follow the table to determine the max value of gear a Contact will freely lend out.
| Connection | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Loyalty | 1 | ¥94 | ¥781 | ¥2,188 | ¥2,734 | ¥3,516 | ¥3,906 | ¥4,297 | ¥4,688 | ¥5,469 | ¥6,250 | ¥7,031 | ¥7,813 |
| 2 | ¥375 | ¥3,125 | ¥8,750 | ¥10,938 | ¥14,063 | ¥15,625 | ¥17,188 | ¥18,750 | ¥21,875 | ¥25,000 | ¥28,125 | ¥31,250 | |
| 3 | ¥1,500 | ¥12,500 | ¥35,000 | ¥43,750 | ¥56,250 | ¥62,500 | ¥68,750 | ¥75,000 | ¥87,500 | ¥100,000 | ¥112,500 | ¥125,000 | |
| 4 | ¥6,000 | ¥50,000 | ¥140,000 | ¥175,000 | ¥225,000 | ¥250,000 | ¥275,000 | ¥300,000 | ¥350,000 | ¥400,000 | ¥450,000 | ¥500,000 | |
| 5 | ¥24,000 | ¥200,000 | ¥560,000 | ¥700,000 | ¥900,000 | ¥1,000,000 | ¥1,100,000 | ¥1,200,000 | ¥1,400,000 | ¥1,600,000 | ¥1,800,000 | ¥2,000,000 | |
| 6 | ¥96,000 | ¥800,000 | ¥2,240,000 | ¥2,800,000 | ¥3,600,000 | ¥4,000,000 | ¥4,400,000 | ¥4,800,000 | ¥5,600,000 | ¥6,400,000 | ¥7,200,000 | ¥8,000,000 | |
For gear over that price, a Contact will lend it out at a rate of (7-Loyalty)*5% the remaining worth. Contacts expect their gear to come back in the same condition; make sure to patch up any bullet holes before returning it.
If you get in trouble, higher Loyalty Contacts will use this pool of money to try to bail you out. They do expect to get paid back ASAP.
Tests of Loyalty
This section overrides the RAW Test of Loyalty. Run Faster, page 177.
Sometimes, your Contact is holding the bag or otherwise finds themselves in a slotted up situation where throwing you under the bus would help them. If that is the case, roll 13-C with a threshold of (6-loyalty). If you beat the threshold, the Contact will attempt to use their active skill dice pools and nuyen to help you out, risking themselves and their reputation. If you fail, under the bus you go.
Paying your Contacts
Services and Favor Rating
Capability can be rolled to determine a Contact’s willingness and ability to provide a favor, using the Favor Ratings table in the core book, page 389. Use the rating given as a threshold for the test. The roll can be bypassed with GM fiat determining success or failure. The test may, at GM discretion, receive some of the modifiers applicable to Social Tests (the core book, page 140):
- Projected outcome appears advantageous to Contact: +1.
- Projected outcome appears annoying to Contact: -1.
- Projected outcome appears harmful to Contact: -3.
- Projected outcome appears disastrous to Contact: -4.
- Character has a heavy bargaining chip/highly desirable favor to trade: +2.
GMs are free to add additional modifiers as they feel appropriate to the situation.
If a Contact is tricked into acting against their own interest and finds out, GMs may choose to to dock one or more points of Loyalty rating as they feel appropriate and/or have the Contact demand a favor in recompense.
Ultimately, the impact of player choice’s on a Contact is the realm of GM fiat with Thematics’ oversight. It is completely possible to do something ruinous to a contact that dissolves all their Connection and/or Loyalty.
Service Costs
Favor ratings are also guidelines for the costs of getting help from a Contact. These numbers are guidelines and GMs are free to adjust them to better fit with the payscale of the run (especially hooding runs, high risk of retaliation runs, etc.). The suggested cost is based on the favor rating (as determined by the GM), and the dice pool of a Contact. (A more skilled Contact will charge more for their expert services.)
| Favor Rating | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| Payment Type | Hits (Nuyen) | (DP/4)*100¥ | (DP/4)*250¥ | (DP/4)*600¥ | (DP/4)*1,500¥ | (DP/4)*6,000¥ | (DP/4)*10,000¥ |
| Hits (RVP) | (DP/4)*0.05 RVP | (DP/4)*0.125 RVP | (DP/4)*0.3 RVP | (DP/4)*0.75 RVP | (DP/4)*3 RVP | (DP/4)*5 RVP | |
| Extended Service | (DP/4)*hours*100¥ | (DP/4)*hours*250¥ | (DP/4)*hours*600¥ | (DP/4)*hours*1,500¥ | (DP/4)*hours*6,000¥ | (DP/4)*hours*10,000¥ | |
| Favor/Run RVP | (DP/4)*hours*0.05 RVP | (DP/4)*hours*0.125 RVP | (DP/4)*hours*0.3 RVP | (DP/4)*hours*0.75 RVP | (DP/4)*hours*3 RVP | (DP/4)*hours*5 RVP | |
Magical/Resonance Services
The cost of magical and Resonance services is up to the GM based on the risk of said service. GMs should account for the service’s drain/Fading values while determining the risk to the Contact. Magicians and technomancers are rare and know their worth, double the nuyen cost in the table above for their services.
Generally, 3 drain/Fading is a rating 1 favor. 18+ drain/Fading is a rating 6 favor. Double the nuyen cost again if the drain/Fading exceeds 50% of the Contact’s dice pool since that is generally when these things change from stun to physical damage. However, the favor rating can also be increased by circumstance. Sustaining a spell to go geek some rats is very different from sustaining a spell to go geek an Aztech blood mage in an Aztech pyramid. These are just guidelines and the favor rating should be both a discussion between the GM and player along with the contact and runner.
Complications, Side Objectives and Runs as Payment
GMs should have Contacts who take payment in services or goods seek repayment for their services. This repayment can be in nuyen or tasks whose threat is determined by the RVP guidelines above.
Example: Trash Panda calls her contact Daniel Lufe for assistance in a run. She needs her forger Contact to create a fake dating profile to lure a target out of their house. This is a fairly basic, low threat task for Daniel Lufe, and he agrees to do so in exchange for a favor. He asks that while Trash Panda is inside that rich guy's house, that she take one of his expensive bottles of chardonnay for him to use with his cooking interests. This adds another objective for Trash Panda to complete while she is inside the house robbing the joint.
Favors and Chips
Some Contacts may agree to work for free in exchange for a favor, or may agree to owe a character a favor. These are tracked with "Chips". A positive number of Chips means the Contact owes the PC a favor. A negative number means the PC owes the Contact a favor. This may affect your Contact’s Capability, Service Costs, ect. A Contact is less willing to help out if they are owed, especially if the character isn’t interested in repaying the debt.
- If the Contact has a positive Chip value (i.e. Contact owes the PC a favor) and the player is calling in that favor, add the value of the favor as a dicepool bonus to the test.
- If the contact has a negative Chip value (i.e. PC owes the Contact a favor), apply the number of favors owed as a penalty to the Contact’s Loyalty. If the Contact reaches 0 Loyalty in this way, they will still assist, but will always charge for help, and may charge extra until such time as they have been repaid.
- Note that this modification of Loyalty will affect Capability rolls, as well as Contact Availability Checks.
- If the negative Chips value drops the Contact to 0 Loyalty, they are not lost. Instead, the Contact will refuse to assist the runner any more until the debt is repaid.
GMs are encouraged to find opportunities for Contacts who prefer favors as payment to either ask for favors, or offer a Chip in the form of a favor in the future.
Player Actions with Contacts
I Know a Guy Adaptation
Ignore the rules on Run Faster, page 177. Instead, use the following rules: spend a point of edge, describe the contact, how you know them, and why they aren't your contact currently. The GM should assign a connection between 1 and 6 and Loyalty to this Contact, granting more Connection for better or more entertaining flashbacks to the Contact. You temporarily gain the Contact for the run. You may buy the Contact permanently at a 1 RVP or 2 CDP discount, with a minimal cost of 1 RVP/2 CDP.
Personal Contact Tags
Players may apply the following tags on their Contacts without paying karma. They function exactly like RAW unless otherwise noted.
- Blackmailed - follows RAW rules (Run Faster, page 178).
- Family - treat this contact as having -1 loyalty for all tests except Tests of Loyalty, which are +1. You also earn one less Chip than normal when doing favors for your family Contact.
- Intimidated - follows RAW rules (Run Faster, page 178). You can not remove this tag once applied outside the use of memory magic or drugs during a run.
Buying, Upgrading and Creating a Contact
CDP
Character Development Points
Contacts can be purchased and upgraded via CDP, a new system that encourages story-driven character growth outside of core competencies. CDP (Character Development Points) are a new run reward separate from RVP. It can be used with GM permission to upgrade knowledge skills and buy or upgrade contacts. It may not be used for any other purpose. GMs should feel free to suggest CDP expenditures to reflect lessons learned and contacts made during a run. Players can work together and contribute CDP to a public contact to globally boost that contact’s Connection Rating. For the purposes of awarding contacts on a run at GM discretion, the GM may convert RVP from the run rewards into CDP at an exchange rate of 1 RVP = 2 CDP. This may be used for Buying Contacts or Upgrading Contacts in accordance with the Contact Rules.
Players will receive 2 CDP per run, this can be increased with Thematics approval for low payout (for example hooding) or failed runs.
In addition to contacts, CDP can be spent on knowledge skills, at a rate equivalent to karma. They do not count as career karma.
Buying Contacts
A Contact costs:
- (Connection+Loyalty)*2 CDP - 2 CDP.
- (Connection+Loyalty)*1 RVP - 1 RVP.
- You may convert GMP into CDP at a rate of 1 GMP = 2 CDP.
Furthermore:
- Contacts can be purchased at the price listed on the above table. Existing Contacts must be bought at their listed Connection as Connection is global on ShadowHaven.
- Contacts with a Connection rating greater than 6 may only be gained as run rewards.
- You may spend 20 faction reputation (Cutting Aces, page 160) to buy a contact with a Connection equal to or lower than that Faction’s Connection at Loyalty 2. (The Connection 6 cap still applies.)
- Contacts purchased outside of a run reward will start at Loyalty 1. See the Upgrading Contacts header below for information on upgrading them beyond Loyalty 1.
- When awarded as a part of run rewards, GM may choose loyalty up to 4 without approval. Loyalty 5 or 6 require thematics approval.
Upgrading Contacts
To upgrade a Contact’s Connection or Loyalty:
- Pay 2 CDP * New Rating.
- Pay 1 RVP * New Connection as part of a run reward.
- Pay 1 RVP * (New Loyalty- Old Loyalty) as part of a run reward.
- You may convert GMP into CDP at a rate of 1 GMP = 2 CDP.
- Upgrades have to be incremental. For example, it is not possible to go from Connection 1 straight to 6 for 2 x 6 = 12 CDP, but requires paying for each upgrade (2 x 2 = 4 for C2, 2 x 3 = 6 for C3, 2 x 4 = 8 for C4, 2 x 5 = 10 for C5 and then 2 x 6 = 12 for C6, a total of 4 + 6 + 8 + 10 + 12 = 40 CDP).
- Upgrading the connection past 6 requires Thematics approval. When a Contact’s Connection is upgraded, everyone with the Contact gets the upgrade.
- Upgrading the Loyalty beyond 4 requires an associated run. Note that this limit does not apply at chargen.
Creating Contacts
- You can freely create Contacts up to a Connection of 6. Negative aspects need the approval of a Thematics team member.
- Contacts with a Connection 7 or greater require the approval of the Thematics Department Head.
Contact Availability Checks
Contacts have their own lives. A GM can make a Contact available or unavailable due to a situation where a runner can intervene. Generally, higher Connection Contacts are more busy.
If a GM doesn’t care either way, ignore the core rules (the core book, page 387) and instead roll 2D6+Loyalty (Connection). Note this works like an initiative roll, not hits; if the total of the two dice and your Loyalty exceeds the contact’s Connection, the following applies:
On a tie, the contact isn’t immediately available, but will get in contact with the character after what the GM deems a thematically appropriate delay. They will also have a reason or complication regarding why they couldn’t return the message.
With 1 higher than the threshold, the Contact will immediately answer the runner, but explain a situation or complication that they need to resolve before helping the runner. The runner may intervene in these situations.
With 2 or more higher than the threshold, the Contact is immediately available with no complication.
Add the number of Chips you owe to the Connection threshold. Subtract the number of Chips you are owed from the Connection threshold.
Add an additional +2 to this test if the character has Candle in the Darkness.
Contact Restrictions
- Edge may not be used on contact rolls.
- Contacts may not be current player characters.
- Contacts may be retired player characters given the following restrictions - they can not be larger than life, plot significant, high Connection Contacts. Retired PC contacts over 6 Connection are subject to thematics review. It is better to have them be "normal" and discard the protagonist's benefit in their retirement as a Contact. PCs do not automatically gain a retired player character as a contact for having worked together before. Rules for buying contacts apply as normal.
- Contacts may not be named NPCs from a Shadowrun sourcebook.
- GMs may give out named NPCs as a result of a prime run. These contacts are private to those runners, and are subject to Thematics approval as per out GM Rules involving canon characters.
- Named dragons from CGL sourcebooks can’t be taken as Contacts, but you may get Thematics to approve homebrewed dragons. It is better to use liaisons to dragons than dragons directly.
- Taking dragons and certain other infamous things as Contacts, at the sole discretion of Thematics, will automatically earn a point of notoriety.
- Contacts will only operate in the way specified by the GM.
- Contacts are people as well and are not at the beck and call of the PCs. GMs should portray them as such and the Contact might require payment/favors for some tasks.
Other Deviations from RAW
- Improving Loyalty with Chips is banned (Run Faster, page 176).
- Social Networking is banned (Run Faster, page 177). Instead, players may freely contact multiple contacts and ask them to work together on a test, paying all their associated fees.
- Unpaid Chips (Paying Off Debt, Run Faster, 178) does not degrade loyalty over time. Instead, owed chips modifies your Contact Availability Tests until paid off.
- Contact Loyalty Degrading Over Time is not in effect (Maintaining Contact Relationship, Run Faster, page 178).
- The "Using Con/Seduction" is not in effect since contacts don’t lose Loyalty over time. You may still lie or seduce your Contacts to achieve other goals during runs (Run Faster, page 177).
- Having a notoriety score does not increase the cost of upgrading contacts. (When Your Reputation Precedes You, Run Faster, 178).
Aspect Details
Negative Aspects
Adding a negative Aspect to a Contact grants it an additional positive Aspect. GMs are encouraged to leverage the negative Aspect of contacts a player involves in a run to make said run extra spicy. Removal of negative Aspects are under the oversight of Thematics. You may only use the Aspects listed below. The lifespan of Contacts with negative Aspects is also questionable. Additional negative Aspects may be submitted to Thematics for approval, but may not be assigned to Contacts until they have been approved.
- Wanted.
- Blissfully Unaware - this is someone who doesn’t think that their contacts are runners and doesn’t understand the whole runner thing. If they find out you are a runner, immediately make a Test of Loyalty. If you fail the Test of Loyalty, they will think you are a terrorist, burn you and contact law enforcement. If you succeed in a Test of Loyalty, they will be willing to listen to you explain yourself and even help you leave the runner life. You may be able to convince them to associate with the shadows. Contact a GM or Thematics if this happens as it may involve the removal of that tag. Gear Contacts with this Contact will only sell you legal gear, or restricted gear with the appropriate licenses unless you conduct a Social Test to convince them the lack of paperwork is for a benign reason.
- Toxic Magic/Dissonance.
- Hard to Reach - always make an Availability Test for this Contact with their Connection +3 than normal.
- Unreliable - the GM rolls a 1D6 in secret. If the roll is a one, the contact will say, with complete confidence, that they will do the request or that they have the right information. They will then flake out or their information will be wrong. They will say they got the gear, then accidentally sell it to another person.
- Overworked - services may take longer. Every time the Contact provides a service, roll 2D6. The normal amount of time that it would take to provide the service is multiplied by the resulting number.
You can find more examples of negative Aspects here.
Positive Aspects
Aspects are to apply to what the contact is being asked to do, rather than who is asking. They may not refer to the attributes or skills of the character. This is to avoid aspect tuning so that the contact may only be used by a single character. Specifically, but not exclusively, aspects that refer to language skills are not allowed.
Aspects can stack, but should not be synonymous for the same thing already on the Contact. Ideally, they should get more specific the more you go.
Good example: Weapons Dealer > Firearms > Krime > Shotguns
- This example is good, because while they are going to be REALLY good at finding you a Krime Wave, their specializations tend to branch off of each other and they won’t all apply in all attempts at acquiring gear.
Bad Example: Arms Dealer > Weapons Smuggler > Armaments Expert > Supply Sergeant
- This example is bad because all 4 Aspects are basically the same thing, and all 4 would always apply to every roll made to acquire any weapons.
A few positive Aspect examples are listed below. You may create your own as well; however, Thematics holds veto power over any Aspects.
- Service Type (Armorer, Doctor, Smuggler, etc.)
- Drones
- Cyberware
- Bioware
- Blades
- Blunt Weapons
- Automatic Firearms
- Handguns
- Longarms
- Heavy Weapons
- Drugs
- Electronic Accessories
- Commlinks
- Cyberdecks
- Rigger Command Consoles
- Milspec Gear
- Consumer Grade
- Ammunition
- Equipment Brand, e.g. Ares, Krime, Shiawase
- Magic Tradition (Dark Magic, Missionist, Vodou)
- Magic Category (Combat, Illusion, Detection, Manipulation, Health)
- Spirit Type (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Man, Beast, etc.)
- Focus Type (Qi, Power, Sorcery, Conjuring, etc.)
- Fake SINs
- High-Fashion Armor
- Tactical Armor
- Firearm Accessories
- Armor Accessories
- Explosives
- Software
- Extreme Environments
- Vehicles
- Medical
- Blackmail
- Private Info
- General information
- Building layouts
Group Contacts
Diverging from RAW, Group Contacts have been redesigned to fit more neatly into an LC setting, and to be dynamic, changing with player action. A Group Contact will have 4 stats: Health, Connection, Player Joinability, and Type.
New Group Contacts should be suggested to the Thematics Department, and cannot be player-created. Factions can be player-created, but must gain approval from Thematics to be joinable.
Health
Health is a direct measurement of how this group is currently doing. It goes from lowest to highest: Maimed, Bruised, Maintaining, Boosted, and Invigorated, each giving -2, -1, +0, +1, and +2 to all actions done by or through the faction. This can be changed through runs benefiting or hurting the faction, or overall events happening in the Shadowrun world, and will head back or forward one point towards the middle every 2 months, barring significant events or Faction destruction. For example, the Halloweeners have not been featured in any recent runs or lore, so they are assumed to be going about business as normal or whatever those gangers would consider normal. NeoNET, on the other hand, is not doing too well, so is on the lower side of health, even though there haven’t been any runs against them. Finally, a GM has been running a series of games featuring the Black Lodge, and they have been doing very well, bringing them up to invigorated.
Connection
This represents the power, influence, and assorted other connections a group has, expanded from 1-3 to 1-5. These are the bonus dice a PC gets when using the Faction for legwork or networking, as per RAW. The ratings roughly represent as follows:
1: A group with little power or influence, if any. A book club, small mage study group, or things of that nature would fall under this category.
2: While not a true power player, this group has quite a bit of influence at a local level, and can sway things in that area. Groups include street gangs, small policlubs, and the like.
3: Considerable power in an area and even abroad, this includes A level corporations, major criminal syndicates, Shadowhaven itself, etc.
4: This is where the true power players are, Nations like the UCAS, Canton Confederation, or Amazonia, along with AA Corps, would fit here.
5: This is solely the realm of the AAAs.
It is up to the GM how much of the connection rating a PC has access to. If a NeoNET citizen PC wishes to dig up info on an SK executive without being noticed, for example, they would not get the full bonus as they are not using the entirety of the group’s resources. These ratings can only change for player-created groups, and even then, will require a lot of effort. In addition, PCs with Made Man gain 2 automatic hits to tests done through their group.
Group type
This should be fairly obvious - a gang is a gang, a corp is a corp, a secret death cabal is a secret death cabal, and thus outlines what a group can and can’t help with. For example, using the Halloweeners to help find a local ghoul nest would gain benefit of their Connection rating, but connecting a PC with a reclusive hermetic archaeologist would not gain any benefit. This is all GM fiat.
Additionally, separate Group Contacts may have tenets, for example, the Vory forbid cooperating with authority, that PCs will have to visibly abide by to stay in the group. Individual Group Contacts might also gain bonuses, such as the Red Hot Nukes allowing for easier requisitioning of explosives. These bonus will be decided on a group by group basis.
Joinability
Not all factions are joinable, though all Group Contacts are. However, there are some requirements.
To join a corporation, the Corporate Limited SIN or Corporate SIN negative qualities are required.
Those with the Made Man and Prime Datahaven Membership qualities are automatically a member of their factions, and do not have to spend any additional karma.
Joining Groups
At Character Generation
At character creation, players can join groups by spending karma equal to (group’s Connection)*2+1 as if the group contact was a positive quality. They may also join an organized crime faction by taking the Made Man quality or a Datahaven by taking the Prime Datahaven Membership Quality.
Post-Character Generation
After character creation, players can join groups by spending karma equal to (group’s Connection)*4+2 as if the group contact was a positive quality. Those taking the Made Man quality must first demonstrate a long standing relationship with the organized crime group. Those taking Prime Datahaven Membership must demonstrate their worth to the Datahaven.
Barring qualities, loyalty starts and ends at 1.
Faction Rep
Players with a group contact gain 1 Faction Rep with that Faction for every run they complete after purchasing it. Furthermore, Faction Rep can be spent to acquire a Faction-related public Contact at the cost of 5 x Connection and 2 x desired Loyalty. This public Contact may be upgraded via the same method. A faction-related public Contact can also have its Connection increased at the cost of 10 x Connection. As usual, contacts with more than 6 connection must be approved by Thematics, and Loyalty cannot exceed 4 without a run. Multiple players with the same Group Contact may pool their Faction Rep for global purchases, such as increasing a public Contact's Connection.
Player Character Page Templates
Please use Template:GroupContactTable to add a Group Contact to your character's page. Note that this template automatically adds +1 to your Faction Rep for each run your character has been on. You will need to adjust this number using the |FactionRep= entry in Template:GroupContact with a negative number to reduce this number down to 1 at the time of purchase.
Group Contact Examples
Rogatty Vydra is a Vory enforcer with the Made Man quality. He calls his Vory friends looking for a place to lay low, rolling Shadow Community to find a place. The Vory are making a lot of nuyen with the syndicate war, so their health is at boosted. He rolls Intuition (5) + his knowledge skill rating (4) + his group’s connection (3) + the group health bonus (1) or 13 dice. He rolls and gets 4 hits which add onto his 2 autohits from being a made man for 6 hits. He is able to find one of the best hidden places in the shadows.
The group is having trouble learning about their extraction target. Photon, a member of the Grey Wolves, tries reaching out to her network. She rolls her Intuition (4) + her knowledge skill in notable Matrix specialists (5) + her spec in technomancers (2) + her group’s Connection (3). She gets 5 hits on 14 dice and learns a lot about their target, including the fact they are in vacation in London at the Grand Hilton. However, the Grey Wolves are allied with Spinrad Industries. In preparation for becoming SpinGlobal, they need expert Matrix sculptures. A member of the Grey Wolves offers Photon 15K nuyen to each member of her team to screw over their Johnson. At stake is plus or minus reputation with the Grey Wolves.