Contacts

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”  Contacts are those people who the player characters know.  (Blended from Ultimate Campaigns p. 148 and Shadowrun p. 278)

Overview
I like most of what Pathfinder did with Contacts in Ultimate Campaigns, but there are also some great elements from Shadowrun that I am going to include.

Ratings
Contacts have two ratings: Connection & Loyalty

Connection Rating
This measures how well connected and influential the contact is.  The higher the contact’s connection rating, the more people they know and can influence.  The score typically ranges from 1 to 6.

  1. Practically None.  Knows very few people and has practically no social influence.  May be useful for Knowledge skills.  Examples: peasant, slave, manual laborer.
  2. Minimal.  Knows some people, but doesn’t have a lot of personal pull.  Examples: laborer’s apprentice, thieves guild member, tavern server.
  3. Average.  Regularly meets people and has some personal pull.  Examples: City guard, tavern owner, town healer, town fence.
  4. Above Average.  Knows many people or may be in a leadership position.  Examples: Guard sergeant, thieves guild lieutenant, fence with regional ties.
  5. Significant.  Knows lots of people over a larger area, or holds a senior leadership position.  Example: Guard captain, thieves guild boss, fence with national ties.
  6. Incredible.  Well-connected individual who knows people all over the world, or holds a key leadership position.  Examples: Leader of an international organization (like the Pathfinder Society or Aspis Consortium), fence with international ties.

Loyalty Ratings
This determines how much the character can rely on the contact.  It is essentially a blend of the “Trust” and “Risk” levels in the Ultimate Campaigns book.  This score also ranges from 1 to 6.

  1. Just Business.  The character and contact have a purely mercenary relationship.  Interactions are based solely on economics.  They may not even like each other, and will not offer any sort of preferential treatment.
  2. Regular.  The relationship is still all business, but the contact at least treats the character with a modicum of respect, like regulars or favored clients.
  3. Acquaintance.  A friendly relationship exists between character and contact, though it would be a stretch to call it friendship.  The contact is willing to be inconvenienced in small ways for the character, but will not take a fall for her.
  4. Buddy.  A friendship or solid level of mutual respect exists.  The contact would be willing to go out of his way for the character if necessary.
  5. Got Your Back.  The contact and character have an established relationship and level of trust.  The contact will back the character even in risky situations.
  6. Friend for Life.  The contact will do whatever he can for the character, even if it means putting his own life on the line.

Determining Contacts
You start with points equal to your Charisma modifier (so a Charisma of  10 equals 10 points). You can spend those points in any combination to create the Connection and Loyalty rating of your contact. The cost for each ratings is as follows:

Point CostConnectionLoyalty
11. Practically None1. Just Business
22. Minimal2. Regular
43. Average3. Acquaintance
64. Above Average4. Buddy
105. Significant5. Got Your Back
156. Incredible6. Friend for Life

You must buy each rating separately.

For example, if you have a Charisma of 10, you start with 10 contact points. You can spend those to create a contact with Average Connection (4 points) and Buddy Loyalty (6 points) for a total of 10 points.

Or, you could create five contacts with Connection of Practically None (1 point) and Loyalty of Just Business (1 points) for a total of two points per contact.

Make sure you get GM approval for your contact to make sure they are a good fit for the campaign.

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