Contacts
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRvWaSMfYZrrc6HgfgJxHZKP1YHA7oxUWIlo6eYksW8/edit#heading=h.vfndn7j79vdf
Contact Dice Pool
Contacts roll Connection x 2 + Loyalty + Domain bonus, as dice pool. Domain bonus is a flat +6 dice pool modifier that applies to the contact’s area of specialization. Contacts have no limit for their dice pool, except if the limit involves Force or Level. Contacts will usually not edge their rolls for you.
Contact Types
There are three types of contacts.
Fixers
Fixers help you land jobs and introduce you to new people. Fixers apply their domain bonus to networking which is a service exclusive to fixers. If you are in need of a temporary contact or to get in touch with someone, your fixer can roll their dice pool with a threshold equal to the connection of the person you are trying to get in touch with. If they succeed on the networking test, you may use that temporary contact for the duration of the run. All temporary contacts have a loyalty of 1 that cannot be improved unless you have them permanently as a run reward.
Gear Contacts
These contacts will sell you gear and/or fence gear for you. All gear contacts can sell or fence any gear type. However, each gear contact has a domain based on their gear specialty. The contact will get the domain bonus for only gear of that type. Gear domains are:
Augmentations (Cyberware, Bioware, Genemods and Nanoware)
Armor and Clothing (includes armor mods and accessories)
Chemist (sells toxins and all drugs, including custom drugs)
Critters (mundane and paracritters as well as their training equipment)
Weapons and Ammunition (includes weapon mods and grenades)
Electronics (cyberdecks, RCCs, commlinks, software and other electronic gear)
Explosives
Vehicles and Drones (includes vehicle and drone mods)
SINs and Licenses
Talismonger (sells all manner of magical goods)
Miscellaneous (any gear not covered by the other domains)
Service Contacts
These contacts offer a specific service and apply their domain bonus to all rolls involving that service (Eg: a street doctor applies their domain bonus to all healing and medicine rolls). This could be an NPC hacker, a getaway driver, a doctor, a lawyer, an information broker, an alchemist, a makeup artist, etc. Feel free to be creative when coming up with a service contact. Service contacts can be asked to do a service outside of their domain, at GM discretion. Doing so will either result in them refusing or increasing the Favor rating needed by 1. They will also not gain their domain bonus for that task.
Service contacts may teamwork you as part of their service. Add the contact’s Connection + Loyalty as teamwork dice (limited by your skill rating) for the test. The Favor Rating per teamwork is equal to the contact’s Connection - Loyalty (minimum 1). The contact does not suffer drain or fade. The standard rules and house rules for teamwork apply.
Free Spirit: Free Spirits are a type of service contact. Powerful entities with alien and capricious natures, however they often find humans fascinating or at least useful to have around. Free Spirits will often trade their powers for favor (if it has the Spirit Mark contact power). In general a free spirit functions as a full magician service contact and is able to assist on spellcasting, ritual casting, and other magical tasks. The Force of a free spirit is equal to their Connection. Free spirit contacts know a number of powers equal to their Connection, including a single Greater power (SG 205). They may not know great form spirit powers.
Gaining Contacts
Apart from gaining them via the Carousing downtime action, contacts can be gained by paying Nuyen, Karma or a mix of both. You can obtain a new contact by paying:
(Connection + 1) Karma, or
(Connection + 1) x 4000¥, or
A mix of both using the exchange rate of 1 Karma = 4000¥
Gaining contacts this way doesn't cost downtime slots. The maximum Connection of a contact that can be gained this way is 4. Loyalty starts at 1. You then upgrade the contact’s Connection and Loyalty via the Carousing downtime action listed in our Downtime Rules.
Buying Gear
Buying gear is handled differently from RAW.
Buying gear is an extended test (cumulative penalty of -1 per roll beyond the first). The availability acts as the threshold (you do not roll against the availability).
Either your character or one of the character’s contacts can roll to buy gear once per day in real time (you may edge your negotiation test as normal). Keep track of your/their hits. Once you/they meet the threshold you instantly get the item.
Alternatively, instead of rolling once per day you may roll the entire extended test on the same day (with a cumulative -1 per roll beyond the first), keeping note of how many checks it took to get the item. If you succeed, you get the item after a number of days equal to the number of checks it took. Succeed or fail, the contact is now unavailable for a number of days equal to the number of checks you made. Eg: If you made 3 checks today to successfully acquire an item, you get the item 2 days from now. Succeed or fail, the contact is not available until the 3 days from today.
You may not combine the hits of different contacts or you and your contacts.
A character or a contact can only work on the availability rolls of one gear at a time (although you can buy multiple copies of that gear once you succeed). Should they try to roll availability for another gear before succeeding in their previous availability roll, all progress is lost. You and a contact or multiple contacts cannot teamwork towards a gear.
Once the extended tests succeed, delivery time is instant. If the test fails, you can try again from the start. You don’t need to pay the price of the gear.
Selling Gear
When selling/fencing gear using a gear contact. You get an amount of money back, equal to (Loyalty x 10)% of the original price of the gear. To gain these selling prices, gear must be sold to a gear contact with a domain that matches the gear being sold.
Gaining and Improving Contacts
Rules for gaining new contacts or improving a contact’s loyalty or connection is described in the Downtime Rules.
Tests of Loyalty
Situations may arise where your contact is on the fence about not helping you or you risk the contact’s loyalty going down due to the actions of the player. In such a case, the GM should roll a dice pool of (13 - Connection) of the contact with threshold equal to (6 - Loyalty of the contact). If the test succeeds the contact will help you and/or there is no loss of loyalty.
If loyalty of a contact does go down due to the bad actions of the player, it should not go down more than 1 point at a time. A contact that drops to 0 loyalty is forever lost.
Favors
Favors are an abstract metric of measuring the value of a service provided by a contact. The most direct way to repay a favor is to pay nuyen on the spot. Alternatively, you may hold on to that favor and repay them in downtime, without paying nuyen. GMs are free to determine the rating of a favor or consult with the rest of the table as to what the favor rating should be based on the magnitude of the service provided. Keep in mind, rating 5 and 6 favors are for truly big or outrageous requests. If you already owe a contact a favor, you cannot ask for more favors from that contact until you repay the last one.
The nuyen cost of favors depends on the loyalty of a contact. Consult the following table.
Favor Rating | Loyalty 1 | Loyalty 2 | Loyalty 3 | Loyalty 4 | Loyalty 5 | Loyalty 6 |
Rating 1 | 1000¥ | 900¥ | 800¥ | 700¥ | 600¥ | 500¥ |
Rating 2 | 2000¥ | 1800¥ | 1600¥ | 1400¥ | 1200¥ | 1000¥ |
Rating 3 | 4000¥ | 3600¥ | 3200¥ | 2800¥ | 2400¥ | 2000¥ |
Rating 4 | 8000¥ | 7200¥ | 6400¥ | 5600¥ | 4800¥ | 4000¥ |
Rating 5 | 16,000¥ | 14,400¥ | 12,800¥ | 11,200¥ | 9600¥ | 8000¥ |
Rating 6 | 32,000¥ | 28,800¥ | 25,600¥ | 22,400¥ | 19,200¥ | 16,000¥ |
Contact powers that require a favor will list the rating of the favor needed. Here are some listed favor ratings for common services.
Alchemy: Alchemical preps can only be purchased during a run. What spells are available as preps and their price depend solely on the GM. A suggested guideline for prep prices is Favor Rating = Force/2. Trigger must be Contact or Timed. All preps purchased during a run will be rendered inert after the run, even if placed inside a vault of ages.
First Aid: Rating 1 Favor per roll, when done in their clinic. Rating 2 for house calls. Contacts are not affected by the healing modifiers table. First aid by contacts don't have a threshold of 2, they heal one box of damage per hit.
Magical Healing: Rating 1 Favor per roll, when done in their lodge. Rating 2 for house calls. Contacts are not affected by the healing modifiers table. The spell is cast at Connection Force. The contact takes no drain.
Preparing Inanimate Vessel: Using a contact to prepare an inanimate vessel will work in this manner.
You must have an appropriate service contact (eg: an alchemist contact).
You must provide the number of radical reagents (5 x Force of spirit) yourself, using your own money.
Alternatively, you may use a R6 favor and ask the alchemist contact to refine standard reagents into radical ones, at a rate of 100:1. You must still pay for the standard reagents. The contact follows the rules in (SG 210) to make these, you may buy hits to gain 3 hits and avoid unnecessary dice rolling.
The contact then rolls for ritual. If the contact succeeds, you owe them a R3 favor. If the contact fails, you owe them nothing, but some radical reagents are lost as per (SG 214).
If a drone or vehicle has been successfully prepared as a vessel, it continues to remain a vessel even if it was destroyed and then reformed via the "Nanomachines, Son!" power.
Force or Level
The maximum force or level a contact can use for things that have a force or level is limited to their Connection. Contacts also add the rating of their lodge, as limit, to any tests involving force. The rating of their lodge is equal to their Connection. Contacts do not suffer drain or fade.
Contact Powers
Each contact has access to a single power. You are free to choose any power from the following list, provided your contact meets the requirements. We are always looking for new contact power ideas. Feel free to contact us to bounce off new ideas.
A Stitch In Time
Requirement: Gear Contact (Armor and Clothing).
The contact can get you any armor modification or armor accessory up to an availability of (Connection + Loyalty + 6), without needing to roll for availability. If obtaining armor mods that add to the availability of the base item. You must use the modified base availability as the value to see if the contact can get you that without rolling. Eg: If you are obtaining an armor mod that has +6 availability and the base availability of the item is 12. Treat the availability as 18.
Already Trained
Requirement: Gear Contact (Critters).
Any critter you buy from this contact comes trained with a single trick of your choice. This trick does not count against the maximum number of tricks a critter can learn.
Attorney
Requirement: Fixer
The fixer also acts as a Service Contact (Lawyer). If you get arrested, the contact will try their best using legal and less than legal means to get you out. The Favor rating for this will increase with the level of charges pressed against you.
Can I Borrow That?
Requirement: Minimum Connection 6
The contact has a single super cool piece of non-implanted, non-foci gear, vehicle or drone (eg: a VTOL, a Neo NET Juggernaut, a high end cyberdeck, etc) that they can lend out for a single run, for a Favor. The cost of the object should be a maximum of 50 times the cost of the Favor, calculated at loyalty 1. The final cost of borrowing the item is then modified by loyalty, as per the favor table. Should the player lose the object or the object gets destroyed during the run (damage that can be repaired is not penalized), the contact will lose a number of Loyalty equal to the rating of the Favor. If loyalty drops to 0, the player character permanently loses the contact and gains a point of notoriety.
Deltaware Clinic
Requirement: Gear Contact (Augmentations).
The contact has access to a deltaware clinic for mundanes.
Expert Alchemist
Requirement: Service Contact (Alchemist).
The has the Flexible Signature (SR5 325) and Fixation (see house rules doc) metamagic with an initiate grade equal to their Connection. The contact also has the Durable Preparations quality (FA 36).
Harmacist
Requirement: Gear Contact (Chemist).
The contact can get you Drugs (including custom drugs) and Toxins up to an availability of (Connection + Loyalty + 6), without needing to roll for availability.
Here Are Your Passports
Requirement: Gear Contact (SINs and Licenses).
The contact can make burner SINs for you without needing to make availability rolls. These temporary fake SINs cost Rating x 500¥. Each license attached costs Rating x 120¥. These temporary fake SINs and attached licenses last up to a number of days equal to their rating. The maximum rating of a burner SIN and its licenses, the contact can make is equal to their connection (maximum 6).
I Want It Now
Requirement: Gear Contact.
The contact will roll an extended test of Connection x 2 + Loyalty (no domain bonus) up to 4 times immediately, against the availability threshold of the desired item. Contacts cannot use this power for items outside of their domain. If successful, you must immediately buy the item in question and your contact arranges its immediate delivery. This can be done during a run. Using this power costs you a Rating 2 favor regardless of whether or not the item is available for purchase. This power may only be used once per contact per run. You cannot use this power to purchase gear over availability 18.
It Will Be Removed
Requirement: Fixer or Gear Contact (SINs and Licenses).
The contact can reduce your public awareness. To remove 1 PA, it costs a Favor of rating equal to your current PA.
The contact can reduce your notoriety by 1 for a Rating 6 favor. This can only be done once per month and if you have not gained notoriety that month. This cannot remove notoriety gained from qualities. This power cannot be combined with the Lay Low, downtime action.
Made Man
Requirement: Any Gear Contact.
This contact is a member of a gang or criminal syndicate. If you are a made man of the same faction as them, they will offer a 10% discount on any gear purchased from them (domain or not) and have a +1 dice pool modifier for making availability tests for gear in their domain. A contact with this power cannot be a Black Market Pipeline contact and the discount does not stack with Dealer Connection.
More Dakka!
Requirement: Gear Contact (Weapons and Ammunition).
The contact can get you ammunition up to an availability of (Connection + Loyalty + 6), without needing to roll for availability.
Misdirection
Requirement: Service Contact (Police).
For a rating 2 favor, the contact can misdirect police forces from closing in on your location. Treat police response times as one level higher. Eg: AAA zone becomes AA. The contact can only do this if the area falls under the jurisdiction of the police force they belong to. This ability cannot block in-house security or corporate HTR in extra territorial zones.
Nanomachines, Son!
Requirement: Gear Contact (Vehicles and Drones) or Service Contact (Mechanic).
The contact has access to a Nano Forge and can replace your destroyed vehicles and drones for 50% of the original price. It will be restored with all its mods and weapons intact. At loyalty 4, the cost gets reduced to 25%. At loyalty 6, the cost gets reduced to 15%.
On The House
Requirement: None.
At the beginning of the next month if you owe this contact a favor, that favor is considered repaid for free. The maximum rating of a favor that can be repaid this way cannot exceed the contact’s loyalty rating.
Perfect Fit
Requirement: Gear Contact (Armor and Clothing).
This contact can tailor your armor with such finesse that armor purchased from this contact that has the custom fit or custom fit (stack property) never loses their social bonuses, even if your physical attributes change. If you avail this service the piece of armor costs 25% extra.
Pet Sematary
Requirement: Gear Contact (Critters).
The contact has access to a Cloning Lab that can store genetic information of any of your pets. The cloning process can replace your dead critter pets for 50% of the original price. It will be restored with all its modifications and implants intact. At loyalty 4, the cost gets reduced to 25%. At loyalty 6, the cost gets reduced to 15%. Any non implant gear the critter was carrying is not replaced (if lost).
Refurbished Ware
Requirement: Gear Contact (Augmentations).
The contact has a lot of used ware lying around in their clinic. They don’t not need to roll for availability to get used ware.
See You On The Other Side
Requirement: Fixer.
For a Rating 3 favor, the contact can smuggle a single person and a duffle bag worth of gear across any international border. If you plan to bring in significantly more gear, increase the Favor rating to 4. If you plan on bringing vehicles, increase the Favor rating to 5.
Side Business
Requirement: None.
A Gear contact can select a second gear domain or a single service domain.
A Service contact can select a second service domain or a single gear domain. If they select a gear domain, they can only get gear from that domain.
A Fixer can select a single service or gear domain. If they select a gear domain, they can only get gear.
In all three cases, domain bonuses will apply to selected domains only.
Spirit Mark
Requirement: Service Contact (Free Spirit)
Select any one spirit power that the Free Spirit knows (excluding great form spirit powers, possession and inhabitation) which can only be used on other characters or creatures. A temporary magical mark/tattoo appears on you till the favor is used. The Favor Rating for gaining the mark is equal to the spirit’s Connection. The mark bears the spirit’s aura. The favor can be paid with nuyen or karma at a rate of 4000 nuyen = 1 karma (minimum 1 karma). You may activate this mark at any time, upon which the mark disappears and the spirit power stored within is unleashed. If it's a sustained power, the power is sustained by the spirit for the duration of the run or until the player wills it to drop the power or the power is disrupted in some way. If it's a power that targets some other creature, it originates from the mark. Any dice roll involved uses the spirit’s Connection + Loyalty + Domain bonus as its dice pool.
Tattoo Artist
Requirement: Gear Contact (Talismonger).
Any type of foci (except weapon foci), you purchase from this contact can be inked into your body as a tattoo. Normally only qi foci can take the form of a tattoo.
That Costs Extra
Requirement: None.
For a Rating 2 favor, the contact will post edge their roll.
The Best Breed
Requirement: Gear Contact (Critters).
By paying +50% extra (of the base price), the critter comes with a single chimeric modification of your choice, without any change in availability. The critter can take no more chimeric modifications. You Are Safe Here
Requirement: Service Contact (Any).
This contact has a number of safehouses equal to their Connection rating in and around a sprawl of your choice. They will rent these safehouses out for a Rating 1 favor per day. Using a safehouse guarantees the tenant (and whoever they bring with them) safety so long as they stay within and off the matrix. Each safehouse comes replete with a lodge equal to the connection of the contact. The lodge will work for any tradition.
Group Contacts
Group contacts work differently than standard individual contacts. You may use group contacts for knowledge skill rolls and legwork. When using group contacts, make your own dice roll but add the connection of the group contact as a positive dice pool modifier. If the group contact is an initiation or submersion group, you can add its connection to your initiation/submersion roll. You may only apply a single group contact to a roll.
Connection
The Connection of a group contact ranges from 1 to 5. Their Loyalty rating is capped at 1 unless stated otherwise. Here’s how group contacts would be ranked based on their connection.
Connection 1: A school. A dojo. A technomancer tribe. An initiation group. Small street gangs or Policlubs, etc.
Connection 2: Universities. Large go gangs like Ancients or Cutters. Large policlubs like Humanis or Orc Rights Commission. Most mid sized criminal syndicates. Unrated corps.
Connection 3: A rated corps. Large or international crime syndicates like the Shotozumi or Watada rengo of the Yakuza. The Black Lodge.
Connection 4: AA rated corps and small nations.
Connection 5: AAA corps and large nations like UCAS, CAS, etc.
Membership
Players can only have a group contact up to Connection 3. The Made Man quality grants you a free group contact of Connection 1 to 3 (depending on which gang or syndicate you join). Group contacts work like positive qualities and count against the positive quality limit during character creation. Group contacts that players can have, can be purchased during character creation by paying (Connection x 2) + 1 karma. After character creation, purchasing a group contact costs (Connection x 4) + 2 karma. As per RAW they function like qualities and thus count towards the positive quality cap during character creation. The GM or Chargen department can veto your purchase if you are buying group contacts for multiple gangs or syndicates (especially rival ones).
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