Contacts
Background
You know people all over the city. When you start making phone calls around your network, the amount of information you can dig up is impressive. Rather than friends you can rely on to help you, like Allies, Contacts are largely people whom you can bribe, manipulate, or coerce into offering information. You also have a few major Contacts — associates who can give you accurate information in their fields of expertise. You should describe each major contact in some detail before the game begins.
In addition to your major contacts, you also have a number of minor contacts spread throughout the city. Your major contact might be in the district attorney’s
office, while your minor contacts might include beat cops, DMV clerks, club bouncers, or members of an online social network. You don’t need to detail these various “passing acquaintances” before play. Instead, to successfully get in touch with a minor contact, you should roll your Contacts rating (difficulty 7). You can reach one minor contact for each success. Of course, you still have to convince them to give you the information you need, assuming they can get it.
Contacts may be pooled within the characters’ coterie.
• One major contact
•• Two major contacts
••• Three major contacts
•••• Four major contacts
••••• Five major contacts
Ratings
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| • | One major contact |
| •• | Two major contacts |
| ••• | Three major contacts |
| •••• | Four major contacts |
| ••••• | Five major contacts |
Also in W20 p. 138 — text differs from V20 (70%)
Contacts are the people you know from all walks of life. They’re acquaintances, drinking buddies, or friends who don’t mind letting you know what’s going on, but wouldn’t take a bullet for you. In addition to a general network of people who you can con or bully information from, you have a few major contacts — people you trust to feed you accurate information in their area of expertise. You should come up with a name and a field for your major contacts, either at the start of play, or as you use them.
You also have a number of minor contacts around the area. They are not quite as friendly or reliable in a pinch, but they work in a whole range of different areas and you can bribe, intimidate, or manipulate them into telling you what you need to know. To get in touch with a minor contact, make a roll using your Contacts rating (difficulty 7). Each success means that you have located one of your minor contacts. Because major contacts are closer to you (they’re usually good friends), they are easier to find.
Contacts may be pooled among a pack. • One major contact •• Two major contacts ••• Three major contacts •••• Four major contacts ••••• Five major contacts.
Referenced by 15
Backgrounds
- Retainers shared/trait/background/retainers
Bestiary
- Enticers werewolf/creature/fomor/enticers
- Ferectoi, the Larvae of the Wyrm werewolf/creature/fomor/ferectoi-the-larvae-of-the-wyrm
- Fixer vampire/creature/ghoul/fixer
- Shadowfiends werewolf/creature/fomor/shadowfiends
- Sons of Typhon werewolf/creature/fomor/sons-of-typhon
- Toads werewolf/creature/fomor/toads
Gifts
- Global Citizen (Homid Level Two) — Some homid werewolf/power/gift/global-citizen-homid-level-two-some-homid
- Madness werewolf/power/gift/madness
- Oath of the Great Bear werewolf/power/gift/oath-of-the-great-bear
- Ultimate Argument of Logic werewolf/power/gift/ultimate-argument-of-logic
Items
- Human Skin werewolf/item/fetish/human-skin
Merits & Flaws
- Master of Red Tape shared/trait/merit/master-of-red-tape
Places
- Thomas Lives-Nowhere werewolf/location/caern/thomas-lives-nowhere
Rules
- Pooling Backgrounds shared/rule/optional_rule/pooling-backgrounds