Contacts house/new rule for Dark Fantasy X part II

In my last post, I discussed the concept of contacts, some rules for how to deal with them, and offered a few sample ones that would be relevant, especially in the SHADOWS OVER GARENPORT campaign, or the Hill Country overall. Here is a list of several more contacts. Some of these will not necessarily be Hill Country or Garenport centric, and may be OK to take in another campaign, such as CULT OF UNDEATH or MIND-WIZARDS OF THE DAEMON WASTES. Many of them are either important iconic PCs that won't make the cut anymore after the consolidation of iconic PC groups, others are patrons from earlier campaign briefs, and some are NPCs that, assuming that they survive and the PCs develop friendly relationships with them, could be added as contacts during the course of play.

Alys Alys is a contact that I came up with as part of the iconics group, and the later stages of the Garenport campaign. The idea was a classic one; the PCs have to make common cause with unsavory types, including some that in less desperate times they'd be hunting down themselves; sorcerers, witches, and even undead of various types. Because they've made this alliance, this "consortium" if you will, of sorcerous villains, have sent an ambassador to be with the PCs, to advise, and help them as needed (and also, they suspect, to keep tabs on them as well. 

While she could provide actual adventuring support, she's really meant to be a resource available for downtime consultations. She can cast numerous spells, work with all kinds of magic, and provide all kinds of advice and consultation on anything occult-like going on that the PCs might stumble across. Alys is young, pretty, blonde, and looks like a a classic beauty of the Hillman race. However, this is an illusion.

Alys is actually a wight; an undead horror, who happens to be a talented spellcaster as well. She is beholden to a more powerful undead master. However, her loyalties are somewhat divided. In spite of herself, her condition, and her situation, she will become fond of the PCs and will want to see them succeed in their endeavors, and wants to stay with them, even when they eventually become a risk to her master. Although she is beholden to this master, she also hates him, and would not weep if she were freed from her obligation to him.

Well, she's an undead creature. She won't weep anyway. But you know what I mean.

If playing a SHADOWS OVER GARENPORT game, she would be available to the PCs fairly late, but the real exciting drama with Alys would come most likely in the CULT OF UNDEATH campaign; with the assumption that the same PCs would play both campaigns back to back. She's kind of an interesting option for a contact, because she's more of an active NPC than most contacts would be in most respects. She wouldn't be available at character creation, but is a contact that could be found in game, and her level would presumably rise as she spends more time with the PCs and becomes more fond of them over time.

Brythe Aermeld This young lass can be placed wherever you need her to be. She was young, pretty, and ambitious, and was a student at whatever university or academy that needs to be nearby for the campaign you're in—good candidates include Garenport, Barrowmere, Lomar, Mittermarkt, Simashki, or any other significant enough city that will play a major role in your campaign. She is a brilliant, if somewhat acerbic and sharp-tongued sorceress (or witch, if you prefer), but she's also an object lesson on why exactly witchcraft should be avoided. Corruption from her exposure to thaumaturgical rituals and energy has mutated her body. While she's still beautiful, after a fashion, she no longer looks remotely human, and is considered by sages to be a non-born cambion; i.e., a person who's exposure to witchcraft has made them half-daemon rather than one who was born half-daemon.

Because of this, Brythe almost never leaves tower in... again, whichever city you need her to be in. She will receive the PCs in the lobby of the tower, if they come to visit her in person, but will probably not show herself, preferring to keep the lobby very darkened, and her physical form hidden behind thick curtains or even a grated door. If she is gained as a contact, however, she doesn't need to be physically present to contact the PCs (or vice versa) she will give the character a small round stone inscribed with a few curious runes. If the character sleeps with this stone in his bedroll, or pocket, or otherwise on his person, he can speak to Brythe (and she to him) in his dreams as needed. If this is done repeatedly, eventually the rune will start to appear as a small mark on the skin of the character, and when it is fully realized, the stone will no longer be needed.

Brythe is a prodigy in sorcery. She can, if convinced, cast spells for the PCs. She can give PCs spells that she believes that they are capable of learning. She can also offer all kinds of advice on occult and magical concerns. Most importantly, as she is constantly looking for a way to reverse her corruption and expand her own power, she will have things that she wants from the PCs, and is a great source of potential side quests and other tasks, which she will barter for with the benefits that she can provide.

Brythe is very bitter about what has happened to her, and this is reflected in her arrogant and angry way of reacting to the world. Unfortunately, she doesn't accept responsibility for her condition, and hates the world, her former teachers, or anyone else who she can rationalize as a person to blame other than herself for her mutations. Or for that matter, anyone she can blame for doing anything wrong or inconvenient for her at all. But she is helpful, if you can tolerate her abrasive personality.

Dean Bannermane Dean grew up on the streets of Simashki; an expatriate hillman boy in a harsh, criminal environment. And he thrived. First as a pickpocket and small time con artist, later as a cat burglar and entry specialist. But always, he had a vision in his mind of home, of a place where he wasn't forced to be a criminal. In truth, at some point he wasn't forced to it anymore either. He had become relatively successful and wealthy, and he had cordial working relationships with almost everyone who was anyone in the criminal underworld of Simashki. 

When one of his rash friends was killed in a job gone wrong, he remembered his dream, cashed out with his fences, and traveled in style by coach across the Great Northern Road. He'd barely reached the technical edge of the Hill Country, when his coach was set upon by bandits. Because he was carrying everything he owned, he ended up penniless because of this unfortunate setback, but still—he had skills that he could put to use, and he did to gradually start reacquiring his fortune... although it galled him to now be taking it from what he considered his own people in his own homeland. One night when robbing the wrong house... maybe it turned out to be the right house. The man was a ranger in Barrowmere; an old, venerable, well-connected ranger. And he saw something in Dean that nobody else had. Bannermane found a real job; as a spy; using his skills to help his people rather than take from them. After the initial shock of the change, Dean found that he quite liked the work, and he liked feeling like doing what he was good at was actually doing some good.

Dean can be consulted, if he's your contact, for all kinds of information; politics, the nobility and other important people, crime, and the comings, goings and likely secret intentions of many who come and go. Because his assignment is what it is, he can be found anywhere; much of his best work happens away from the Hill Country, but he can be found there too; albeit Bannermane isn't much of a rural kind of guy. Big cities, where the movers and shakers operate is where he's likely to be.

In a pinch, Bannermane can also part with excellent spy tools. Some very unusual things he can actually go and get that the PCs may not be able to, or be able to afford, due to his past as a cat burgler; a skill that he still has.

Dean keeps a much lower profile than when he was robbed. He's actually fairly wealthy, but he looks like a rather common, plain artisan; extremely non-descript and someone you wouldn't look twice at. He's also extremely talented as an actor, impersonator, and at disguising himself. If Dean himself isn't where the PCs are when they need him, someone who is part of the Ranger spy network who knows him may be, and can either get in touch with him quickly, or provide some portion of what Dean might if he were there.

Fredegar de Vend The de Vend family was once a Timischer noble family, but one who'd bought a manor in Barrowmere, and spent most of their time there. The Ranger Corps uncovered evidence that a bastard son, Audley Hardwicke, was involved in human trafficking for occult means; and that his biggest customer was Lord de Vend himself. Rather than coming quietly when the Rangers, stiffened by the Lord Mayor's Guard came to arrest him, there was a big fight, in which cultists of all stripes attacked the Guard. In the end, there were dozens killed and the manor burned down. The full story was hushed up, but snatches of it made their way like wildfire through the rumor mill for years. Young Fredegar, the nephew of Lord de Vend, was a teenager, away visiting family in Timischburg when it happened. Horrified at the revelations that his uncle and head of the house was a foul cultist and murderer, he vowed to make it his life's mission to root out such evil whenever he could.

The fortunes of the de Vend family, needless to say, took a severe downturn from that point on, but Fredegar was able to marshal most of what remained of the properties and valuables, set up his remaining cousins and elderly relations financially who—as near as he could tell—were uninvolved with the Troubles, as he calls them, and have enough for himself. All of the remaining de Vends live much more modestly than they used to, but they are still borderline idle rich, unless they are ambitious enough to take an interest in some enterprise, which many have. Fredegar's own inheritance has often been supplemented by money made by his younger brother in the fur trade, since his brother heartily approves of his mission.

Fredegar is kind of like a traveling knight-errant mixed with the Inquisition. As a contact, he is knowledgeable about geography, and especially nobility and the other wealthy and powerful (he often stays as a guest of former friends of his uncle when traveling). He can be approached for help in terms of items, gear, knowledge, or even first-hand support if one is going up against a supernatural or cultic threat. He is also a strong source of side quests of that type, and he does offer support for such side quests as well. He's a powerful warrior, so he can stiffen many a weaker party of adventurers if absolutely necessary, but he should most often be seen as too busy with his own pursuits to chase down every rumor or assist personally in every mission. Which is exactly why he's often a font of side quests; stuff that he doesn't want to leave unaddressed, but which he doesn't have time to get to himself. 

Once characters have Fredegar de Vend as a contact, they may also be able to contact the many branch offices of his cousins mercantile pursuit, drop the famous (among his family business, at least) knight-errant's name and receive some help second hand as well.

Lord Anstal Tane Anstal Tane is an NPC potential patron of the SHADOWS OVER GARENPORT campaign, and illustrates an interesting problem; what exactly is the difference between an NPC giving quests and a contact? Tane is a mercantile "prince"; based on Barrowmere, but traveling (or sending caravans and ships) all across the Hill Country, as well as much of Timischburg and up to the northern part of Baal Hamazi where trade contact with the rest of the world is still common. In the first case; merely an NPC giving a quest, it's probably a one time thing. The NPC has a quest, he promises a reward, and will answer questions about it. In the case of a contact, this is a more friendly ongoing relationship. Anstal Tane as a quest giver is just an "expatriate" Northumbrian who wants to know about his old flame and if she's OK, so he asks the PCs to check in on here while they're heading that way—presumably—anyway. Anstal Tane as a contact will have branch offices where help can be found, where the PCs can crash if they need, where they can get some basic supplies if they need, and most importantly, where they can get more work. Side quests and little favors abound, and they will drive adventure possibilities, while also making sure that the PCs are equipped to be successful in these endeavors. 

Anyway, as I said, Tane is a middle-aged merchant prince, originally from Northumbria. He was engaged to the Grand Duchess Josephina once upon a time, and left Garenport for Barrowmere years ago when it turned out that she was going to marry the Grand Duke instead. He's well connected across the entirety of the Hill Country, but also, as noted above, other lands as well. But outside of the Hill Country, you won't find branch offices, or a representative, or a wagon or caravan route (or docks; those are found on the Darkling Sea and a few river ports only) in smaller communities, only in the major cities.

Revecca von Lechfeld Revecca cannot become a contact at the beginning. She will only make a cameo in SHADOWS OVER GARENPORT if the PCs visit her father Alpon von Lechfeld. As CULT OF UNDEATH starts, the whole premise of it is that her father has died under suspicious circumstances, and she is left as a wealthy but young and naïve teenager who will need some looking after. She'll play a role as a damsel in distress for some time, but after being rescued she can become a contact; even an infatuated one, perhaps. 

When Revecca is a contact, this is after that; she has decided that rather than waiting to become a damsel in distress again, that she will take matters into her own hands. Her studies and training have allowed her to become a pseudomage, a safer although much more expensive alternative to being a sorceress or witch.

Because of her history with the PCs, she'll be a very accommodating contact who wants to help them as much as she can, including putting them up, giving them supplies, and maybe even sharing some of her magical items. The problem with Revecca is that she's a little too eager, and wants to come along. She can offer some good help, but she also still needs some looking after; she's pretty young and pretty green still. As well as being just pretty! :)

Sir Liamond Wreldane The final sample contact is Sir Liamond Wreldane, a high-ranking (although now semi-retired, at least publicly) officer of the Ranger Corps. Although the Ranger Corps doesn't officially acknowledge or admit to the existence of a Shadow Division that focuses on supernatural threats, the reality is that Wreldane is the head of that, and the Ranger Corps leadership sees it as probably the most important division. But it is very secretive. 

Wreldane, however, likes to do some of this work "off the books" with talented freelancers. Many of these are themselves former Rangers themselves, but former Rangers still willing to work in the field are few, so much of what needs to be done needs to be people who are unconnected in any way with the Ranger Corps. Wreldane carefully vets potential freelances, but if you have him as a contact, then you are already pre-vetted. 

In addition to being a major side-quest source, Wreldane is a font of information on how to successfully fight supernatural threats, as well as a possible source of the gear needed to fight them (silvered weapons, etc.)

You're not likely to talk to Wreldane himself very often; he's older, he has a political/administrative role within the Ranger Corps, and he spends most of his time in Barrowmere, consequently. However, he has many agents, and they identify themselves with a special coin, and he will often send them around to recruit or give information or help to his freelances.

Wreldane is a powerful force within the Hill Country, and while he does occasionally look further abroad, his influence and reach drops off precipitously beyond the borders of the Hill Country.

Contacts house/new rule for Dark Fantasy X part I

How to use contacts? By contacts I mean something more than just the idea that a PC has a family, maybe, or friends. Rather, I mean that the PC has professional or personal contacts of enough power, influence, or knowledge to be useful to him in game. Maybe they've got a network that can be accessed in various places, like a criminal mob, or something like that. Maybe the PCs were childhood friends with someone who went on to become an important political or military figure in the kingdom. People who can offer real, substantial aid during the course of a campaign.

It's not in my nature to make overly complex systems of rules, because I greatly dislike doing so. But it is in my nature to come up with handwavey, and simple subsystems that allow players to roll more dice.

So, if a PC wanted to have a contact in his background that could offer meaningful and substantial real aid during the course of the game, how would I do it?

First off, recall that in Dark Fantasy X, a character puts all equipment on his person in one of twenty slots that he has. But these slots don't literally represent "slots" on your person, and there's no paper doll like expectation, like a video game. Spells count as slots, for instance, and if you want to use them, they have to be on your person. Contacts will similarly take item slots, and to be used, have to be "equipped." How many slots a single contact takes represents how "good" of a contact it is, i.e. how successful and likely he is to actually help you in a tough spot. A contact can be a one, two or three slot contact. Depending on how many slots he takes up, that's how many d20s you are able to roll when making a contact check; and of course, you take the highest roll.

The Contact Check When making a contact check, you first need to be able to get in touch with your contact. Contacts are not like Tom Bombadil; you don't get to simply recite a rhyme and have your contact instantly appear to bail you out of trouble. That doesn't mean that contacts need to be difficult to reach either; many contacts, especially two or three slot contacts, can be contacted via dead drop, via a network or agents, etc. and if you can afford to wait a couple of days tops, you'll probably get an answer from your contact.

The DC for a contact check depends on what you're asking. If your contact is some kind of sage, academic, or other holder of obscure and esoteric knowledge, and you want him to translate an ancient text for you, or tell you something about the provenance of an ancient relic, etc. that's probably a modest DC, unless it's something really obscure that your GM doesn't think hardly anyone is likely to know. I'd usually go for a 10-15 or so, with 15 being really obscure.

If you want your contact to give or loan you something spectacularly unusual, rare or precious, like a magic item that you need to overcome the innate magical protections of a daemon, you're probably only going to be successful on a natural 20—and even then, your GM may rule what you're asking is so unreasonable that even a natural 20 will only give you a partial success.

On the other hand, if your character concept is a "pseudomage"; a mechanic who's whole schtick is imitating magic by using magic items rather than taking the risk of casting actual spells, then you probably have a supplier that you can buy from at a more reasonable DC; 15-18 or so, depending on the power of the item, as well as a stiff fee for finding it. For this kind of thing, if you fail, especially by a relatively small margin, you can probably try again a few weeks later.

To make the check, your GM will tell you the DC, which he'll estimate by accounting for what kind of contact you have (is the help you're seeking in his wheelhouse or not?) and how reasonable it is that a contact would actually provide you with what you're asking for. Again, with a DC being between 10 and 25 or even a little more at the high end. Roll a d20 for each slot that the contact takes up, select the highest result, add your character level, and meet or beat the DC to be successful.

How many contacts can you have? As many as you're willing to sacrifice slots for. No contact can be more than a three slot contact, but if you want to have four three-slot contacts and are willing to permanently use 12 slots to do so, knock yerself out. It's highly recommended that if you have more than one contact, that you make them a different kind of contact with a different specialty.

Of course, a more economically viable way to do this is to have different players have different contacts, so no single character has to dedicate too many slots to them. Of course, when the party is looking for help, they better be together, because one character's contact will be meaningless to another character in the party.

Creating Contacts To create a contact, you'll have to work closely with your GM. For GMs, it may actually be prudent to get a handful of index cards and create contacts in advance that PCs could choose, or at least use as a model. This way, you can be sure that nobody is creating a contact that isn't appropriate for the type of campaign you're looking to run. 

Contacts need the following information to be useable:

- Level (i.e., how many slots does he take, 1-3. This more reflective of the closeness of the relationship between the contact and the character, but some contacts who are more limited in the scope of what they can offer may not be able to rise about 1st or 2nd level.

- Name, race, a few other distinguishing features.

- Area of expertise or specialty

- Where is he to be found, usually, and if he's not there (or if the PCs are somewhere else) how can he be contacted? Note; not every contact can be reached from everywhere. A contact with a political career in Garenport can be reached easily in Garenport itself, without too much trouble elsewhere in Northumbria, and with some possible delays anywhere else in the Hill Country, but if you're far away from the Hill Country, he probably can't be reached at all. (In which case, he probably isn't a very good candidate for a viable contact in a campaign that takes place somewhere other than the Hill Country.)

- A quirk or two of personality, including maybe something that he'd be especially willing to help with, and something that he'd be reluctant to help with. Or maybe he wants PCs to do something for him before rendering his help, etc.

I've created a few example contacts. In fact, as I've decided slowly that I wanted to merge my iconic PCs, I thought it might make sense for the unused iconics to turn into contacts instead. But I have some other NPC characters here that I always intended to be helpful contact-like characters from the get-go.

Alpon von Lechfeld

Alpon von Lechfeld A renowned scholar and investigator into the obscure and the occult. He had a storied career at the Academy in Mittermarkt, but is now retired to the Northwoodshire countryside after the death of his wife in Timischburg, where he continues his research independently and lives with his teenaged daughter Revecca.

Von Lechfeld is an older, middle-aged man, who has a dispensation from various authorities to study things would otherwise be illegal for most. His knowledge of the occult, necromancy, daemonology, and the forbidden is prodigious, although he himself is no necromancer or daemonologist. Rather, he's occasionally offered his services to various organization, such as the Shadow Rangers, the pursuit of rooting out these baleful influences. He studies them with an eye towards protecting his people from them.

Von Lechfeld tends to be friendly and polite, if closed off and quiet. His eyes get hard and he will go out of his way to help anyone who is on the track of a vampire, but he clams up and will often send away anyone who brings an influence who he believes might threaten his daughter.

Von Lechfeld holds forth in his manor outside Cockrill's Hill, a town in the eastern end of the Copper Hills in the Northwoodshire section of Southumbria, but he still travels a fair bit consulting his colleagues, or otherwise doing research, and he can be found sometimes when needed in any urban area in the Hill Country, or even the eastern part of Timischburg, where he still maintains contacts. Sometimes dropping his name in an academic setting can be as good as talking with him personally, as people who know him, or know him by reputation may be willing to help a friend of his. When he's not readily available, he can be reached by messenger bird (pigeons being the most commonly used, but occasionally specially trained ravens, usually an NPCs animal companion) or by express post, a service throughout the Hill Country that's somewhat similar to the old Pony Express.

Drancent Hewe

Drancent Hewe Hewe is also a renowned Zobnan scholar, although his area of expertise is not the occult, and he will generally indicate his distaste for any investigation into "generic" occult items, and provide a very high DC due to his reluctance to address it. He spends half of his time in Lomar, where his people are and his "permanent address", but he also has highly profitable "gigs" in both Garenport and Barrowmere, where he'll spend months at a time as a guest researcher in their universities and academies, living relatively large in houses in the center of town. His real passion is history, and he is especially knowledgeable about ancient kingdoms and places, languages, the history of the various demihuman kingdoms and comings and goings. More recent history, or history of more recent people like the hillmen, for instance, he finds boring. The older and more obscure, the more interesting to him. He is also universally recognized as the foremost expert on the Heresiarchs—other than the Heresiarchs themselves. 

Drancent is best consulted when one needs knowledge about something that is hard to find anywhere else, especially about history or geography. When the PCs need to find anything that they can about some lost artifact, city, powerful relic belonging to an ancient historical figure, etc. Hewe is their man.

Hewe is a Zobnan grayman, and a confirmed bachelor, although he's still only in early middle age (because of the pale coloration of graymen in general and their white hair in particular, they sometimes look older than they are anyway.) He's in good shape, but he is somewhat indolent in his habits. He can sometimes be more easily persuaded by someone who brings him a fine wine, exotic cigar, or who buys him a very fine meal first. He's a snappy dresser in finery that looks a bit exotic, but would otherwise be fit for what most people imagine nobility dresses like. In spite of all this, he's not averse to some real adventure, and if you have a really exciting (to him) thing that you're looking for, he could even be convinced to come with as a guide or on site expert. Although he'll probably pack way too many clothes and require his own packhorse (or two) for all of his luxuries.

Shule

Shule I've already discussed Shule somewhat as a potential iconic, but I think he actually works better as a contact. Shule is also a subject matter expert, but not an academic; he's the kind of person you go to for street smart wisdom and experience. As a goblin informant around town (whichever town he happens to be in, and he does wander quite a lot) his information seems nearly unbeatable. He's also got contacts, friends, and fellow informants and criminals of his own everywhere, or so it seems, and anyone who can confirm to their suspicious nature that they are friends with Shule, can be more or less equivalent to Shule, even in locations where Shule isn't at the moment.

In addition to being an informant about what's going on in the criminal underworld, Shule is also an important liaison between the PCs and potentially all kinds of other criminals and the services that they might offer; smugglers, black-marketers, fences, protection, and more. However, if it's the Chersky Mafia that you're trying to get information on, the only thing Shule will give you is whatever intel can be used to discomfit them. He hates the Chersky Mafia with an abiding passion, and isn't super keen on any kemlings at all, frankly, whether they're related to the Chersky Mafia or not. This can occasionally get the PCs in trouble, if Shule's prejudice against the Cherskies causes the PCs to be seen as enemies of them as well.

Shule has a rat that he always keeps with him, and he's rarely seen without it perched on his shoulder, or resting in one of his pockets. Sometimes he holds it up on his wrist and speaks to it. Some who know him believe that the rat is actually the eyes and ears of Shule's outfit, and that somehow he is able to communicate what he sees back to Shule, which explains his preternatural street smarts. Others, of course, think that this is superstitious nonsense.

Oisin Dughall

Oisin Dughall This large and strong woodwose used to be associated with the Chersky Mafia himself, as many urban woodwose were, as shakedown and protection, rather than deeply involved with the organization. Oisin, however, had a falling out with the Mafia (see the Shule link above; it's also an Oisin link). However, he's been "out" for a number of years, and spends most of his time in the rural areas of the Hill Country, avoiding the cities, and trying to keep a low profile. That said, he's a friend to many rural homesteaders, hunters, scouts, trappers, and other men with a lonely occupation in the wilderness. He's hard to find, but because he wanders across the Hill Country, he could be nearby almost anywhere if the GM needs him to be. Other hunters, trackers, homesteaders, and woodwoses may also have knowledge of where to find him, although they're often suspicious and protective, and will only share such knowledge if convinced that the seeker is a genuine friends of Oisin.

Oisin's support to potential PC activities can be quite varied. There are fewer experts with more knowledge of the backwoods and backcountry of the Hill Country than Oisin, and he can be consulted about what happens and what's to be found outside of settled areas, where his advice and knowledge is second to none. Where he can be even more helpful, though, is that because he's always on the move anyway, it's not hard to convince him to travel with the PCs for a short time, offering his expertise freely. Any time travel rolls are made through the Appendix travel system with Oisin in the group, treat such rolls as effectively +5 due to his expert knowledge of the geography. He's rarely lost, he makes good time across the wilderness, and he's an expert at finding food as well as avoiding trouble from other travelers, wildlife, or anything else that you might find in the wilderness. He's also a fierce fighter when he needs to be. However, he'll never stay with the PCs for long; a few days to maybe a week or two tops—and less if they are heading into a town, city or even a village for more than a night, or if they are magnets for trouble getting involved in all kinds of combat with all kinds of things.

Oisin is friendly to those he knows, but always chary, with everyone. His eyes dart around carefully, he rarely looks you in the eyes, he often stops and ignores you, even mid conversation, as he listens for something beyond you; in short, he always behaves paranoid.

——( † )——

That's enough for now. The post is long enough and it's getting late in the evening. When I come back for part II, I won't have more rules, but I'll have probably half a dozen more example contacts, some taken from NPCs in the campaign(s) and others as former iconics who didn't make the cut when I reorganized the iconic parties.