Contacts
Contacts are associates the PC has acquired in their past life or potential new acquaintances they make during play. Contacts come in two levels: acquaintances and friends. Acquaintances will deal honestly with the PC, do favors for them that don’t put them at risk or significant expense, and perform their professional skills on the PC’s behalf. Friends will also do as much, but will undertake favors that cause them considerable risk or significant expense. Contacts will not normally go on missions with the PCs.
Initial Contacts
A new PC begins play with either two acquaintances or one friend of their choice. The player should give a name to each, a brief description of their profession, and a sentence or two about how they developed the relationship. Starting Contacts should not be elite figures or major players in the setting, but capable mid-level NPCs who can provide services and favors. Some examples would include a local cyberdoc, a black-market arms dealer, a popular club owner, an HR officer at a local megacorp branch, or similar sorts.
Gaining and Losing Contacts
Contacts can be gained and lost during play. When a PC acts in such a way as would reasonably earn a particular NPC’s friendship and trust, the GM may tell the player to note that NPC down as an acquaintance or friend. In the same fashion, if the PC burns or abuses a relationship, it may downgrade a friend to an acquaintance or cost them the connection entirely. Contacts exposed to danger by a request or favor may also be killed if events turn out poorly.
To create contacts, follow these steps:
- Give them a name.
- Give them a sentence of physical description.
- Give them a sentence describing what they do that might be useful to an operator.
- Write a line or two about how you met them.
The tables below give suggestions as to what kind of Contacts might be appropriate and some ideas as to how you came to know them. You can create your own with the GM’s permission, assuming they’re about the same degree of importance and influence. Contacts should be useful, but not major figures of importance.
You can call on a particular Contact once per game session. Acquaintances will do business with you at usual market rates, but are trustworthy within reason and will do you favors that don’t cost them much. Friends will do significant favors and take on substantial personal risk, but expect to be treated as actual friends and not mere minions. As a general rule, Contacts won’t go on missions with the PCs.
d20 Example Contacts
| d20 | Example Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Street arms dealer |
| 2 | Black market cyberdoc |
| 3 | Well-connected streetwalker |
| 4 | Middle manager for a specific corp |
| 5 | Gang enforcer |
| 6 | Experienced vehicle mechanic |
| 7 | Owner of a popular club |
| 8 | Popular drug dealer |
| 9 | Thrill-seeking corp scion |
| 10 | Watchful neighborhood elder |
| 11 | Antisocial freelance hacker |
| 12 | Capable drone pilot |
| 13 | Shopkeeper who fences goods |
| 14 | Security officer working for a specific corp |
| 15 | City hall bureaucrat |
| 16 | Fashionable model or public personality |
| 17 | Well-known musician or artist |
| 18 | Outlander smuggler |
| 19 | Dealer in restricted goods |
| 20 | Reliable criminal fixer |
d20 The Start of the Relationship
| d20 | How Did the Relationship Start? |
|---|---|
| 1 | Saved them during sudden street violence |
| 2 | Disposed of blackmail material for them |
| 3 | Protected them from a violent ex or partner |
| 4 | Loaned them direly-needed cash or goods |
| 5 | Did a criminal favor for them |
| 6 | Was a former lover or fling |
| 7 | Knew them growing up |
| 8 | Helped each other survive a dire situation |
| 9 | Learned embarrassing facts about them |
| 10 | Is some sort of blood relation |
| 11 | Both once shared the same boss |
| 12 | Killed somebody they happened to hate |
| 13 | Both participate in the same hobby or scene |
| 14 | Once worked together on a heist or crime |
| 15 | Spared them despite their crime against you |
| 16 | You did work for them in a crisis situation |
| 17 | Convinced you’re a good luck charm |
| 18 | They took a personal liking to you |
| 19 | Saved them when they screwed up badly |
| 20 | They’re highly attracted to you |
One-Roll Contact Tables
If the example contacts on the prior page don’t spark your imagination, you can use this one-roll table to sketch out the basics of your operator’s friend. You can either take one die of each type and roll them all at once, reading the entries from the tables accordingly, or you can pick directly from those items you know you want to include.
Once you’ve taken one item from each table, stitch them together in a way that makes sense to you. For example, if you roll someone who moves in street circles and can do cyberdoc work for you, it’s pretty likely you know a street doc. The “What Can They Do For You?” table should be taken as a general measure for what a Contact can accomplish, but they can also do other things that fit within their basic concept or role.
| d4 | How Well Do You Know Them? |
|---|---|
| 1 | You just met them within the past month |
| 2 | You’ve known them for several jobs so far |
| 3 | You go back a long time together |
| 4 | You’ve known them since you were young |
| d6 | Their General Social Circles |
|---|---|
| 1 | Street people, gangs, and criminal types |
| 2 | Corpers and other “respectable people” |
| 3 | Soldiers, mercs, or martial professionals |
| 4 | Entertainers, artists, or the demimonde |
| 5 | Badlanders, backwoodsmen, and ruralists |
| 6 | Docs, techs, hackers, or other skilled pros |
| d8 | Your Last Significant Interaction |
|---|---|
| 1 | You bailed them out of a bad situation |
| 2 | A wild carouse from a shared payday |
| 3 | A minor job gone wrong for both of you |
| 4 | You got a problem person off their back |
| 5 | You used your Edges to solve their problem |
| 6 | A minor argument over different ideals |
| 7 | Helped them with their day job a bit |
| 8 | Did a favor for someone important to them |
| d10 | What Do They Get Out of This? |
|---|---|
| 1 | Their day job has a use for your skills |
| 2 | They know your parents or family well |
| 3 | They think you’re good company |
| 4 | There is or was a romantic relationship |
| 5 | They owe you big for an old favor |
| 6 | They think you’re going to make it big |
| 7 | They trust you to a rare degree for them |
| 8 | You shared an idealistic cause in the past |
| 9 | You’re a relative or childhood friend |
| 10 | You take care of an important task for them |
| d12 | How Did You First Meet Them? |
|---|---|
| 1 | Encountered each other as youths |
| 2 | Were on opposite sides of a job once |
| 3 | Pulled them out of a fight or disaster |
| 4 | Hit it off at a club or social venue |
| 5 | Were hired with them on a prior job |
| 6 | A fixer sent you to them for help before |
| 7 | Covered up a major mistake they made |
| 8 | Introduced by a mutual friend |
| 9 | You shared a hobby or interest group |
| 10 | Met during your professional duties |
| 11 | They were a landlord or neighbor |
| 12 | They were an employer or fellow worker |
| d20 | What Can They Do For You? |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sell you not-too-very-illegal weaponry |
| 2 | Get you pharmaceutical and street drugs |
| 3 | Get you an inside line on a local corp |
| 4 | Drive you around or loan you a vehicle |
| 5 | Stitch you up or do cyberdoc work |
| 6 | Smuggle you or objects in and out |
| 7 | Help you find profitable operator jobs |
| 8 | Get you some clemency from city police |
| 9 | Make a local gang play nice with you |
| 10 | Find you nice used cyberware |
| 11 | Acquire useful street information |
| 12 | Give you a safehouse for a while |
| 13 | Broker contracts with a type of skilled pro |
| 14 | Fence stolen goods without too big a cut |
| 15 | Charm information out of a given target |
| 16 | Maintain or fix your gear for you |
| 17 | Get you in touch with a type of criminal |
| 18 | Sell you specialized or unique programs |
| 19 | Get you permits or city gov information |
| 20 | Find people who don’t want to be found |