Art by Gwynn Tavares

The Contract is a TableTop Role Playing Game about ambitious individuals who agree to go on deadly missions in exchange for fantastic Powers. Set in a world where the advent of camera phones confirmed the existence of the supernatural instead of disproving it, the Contractors operate on the front lines between the mundane and extraordinary. Those who survive are forged into some of the most fearsome beings in existence.

A game that plays like a gritty action flick crossed with shonen anime.

Be Unique. Craft novel Powers for your Contractors using The Contract's robust Power-building system. Any Character concept-- from a psychic gambler to an undercover alien-- is easy to create, progress, and balance.

Raise the Stakes. Combat is realistically quick and brutal. Gameplay and Advancement center around controlling chaotic situations and creating the right fight rather than becoming the best fighter.

Get Creative. The missions (called Games) may take any form, from monster hunts, to heists, to corporate espionage, and the Contractors' lives are always on the line. Instead of relying on their raw stats, they must use their wits and resourcefulness to survive and succeed.

Play with Anyone. Each Game may feature a different set of Contractors. You don’t need to cancel if one of your Players can’t make it, and each Player who shows can play and advance their favorite Contractor. The responsibility of the Game Master (GM) also rotates as desiried, preventing “forever GM” burnout.

100% Free. The Contract eschews traditional publishing in favor of a 100% free website. There are no source books to track down and buy. All new content, balance fixes, and updates are available immediately to all Players, and the Website is rich with features that make learning and running The Contract easy.

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The Contractors

"I am not like you. We share only our willingness to sign on the dotted line."
- Five, novice Contractor

Players control Contractors: ambitious and competent individuals who risk their lives in the Harbingers’ Games. Each successful Game awakens their latent Powers, transforming them from ordinary humans into something more.

Making a New Contractor is easy with The Contract’s Interactive Online Character Sheets. The website can track Experience, Injuries, Game history, and other stats to minimize tedious bookkeeping.

Powers for Any Concept

Each victory grants the Contractors a Gift that can be used to purchase a new Power or improve an existing Power. The Contract’s Power System provides a means of creating a wide variety of Powers that are unique, flavorful, and balanced. Creating custom Powers is easy.

"I want to. . ."

Select from 80 Base Powers

Injure

Deal a burst of damage

Alternate Form

Take on a Powerful Alternate Form

Phase Out

Stop existing for a moment

Customize and Balance with 772 Enhancements, Drawbacks, and Parameters

Drawback: Focus (Activating this Power requires a specific kind of item.)
Object:
Enhancement: Cantrip (This Power has no Exertion cost, but its level is capped at 2 Gifts, and it cannot be upgraded further)
Parameter: Range

Finish with a Description

Throw Fireball - 1 Gift Injure Power

The pyromancer channels her focus into a flame, gathers it into a sphere, and tosses it at her enemy. It explodes with a crackling pop on impact. The heat is short-lived but more than enough to cause grievous burns, especially to any unarmored targets.

System:

Spend an Action, choose a target within [[range-long]], and roll Dexterity + Occult, Difficulty 6. The target may use a Reaction to dodge, parry, or resist, depending on the flavor of the Power. Damage dealt equals the difference between your attack roll's outcome and the resistance roll's (if one was made), plus 3.The target's Armor is Fully Effective.

You must have a lighter, match, or other source of fire to use this Power.

Enhancements: Cantrip

Drawbacks: Focus

Customize

Tap to show system Click to show system

Select from 80 Base Powers

Injure

Deal a burst of damage

Alternate Form

Take on a Powerful Alternate Form

Phase Out

Stop existing for a moment

Customize and Balance with 772 Enhancements, Drawbacks, and Parameters

Drawback: Paws (You are incapable of fine object manipulation in your Alternate Form.)
Enhancement: Willful End (You may end this Power before its duration has elapsed.)
Parameter: Duration

Finish with a Description

Wolf Out - 1 Gift Alternate Form Power

The Werewolf unleashes the beast within, quickly transforming into an imposing hybrid of woman and wolf with a series of bone-popping snaps. Her head is replaced wholesale with that of a wolf, and her hands become fearsome claws, useful only for tearing the flesh of her enemies. Grey fur sprouts from a great deal of her body, and tight-fitting clothing is often ripped and torn in the transformation. She cannot return to human form for several minutes.

System:

Exert your Mind and spend an Action transforming. You must spend 3 minutes as a werewolf.

While in your werewolf form you gain +1 Brawn. You cannot use any objects that require manual dexterity as a werewolf. Brawl attacks you make with your teeth or claws cannot be soaked by Brawn and deal +1 Damage.

You have access to all of your Powers as a werewolf.

Enhancements: Anatomical Weapon Boosted Attribute

Drawbacks: Paws

Customize

Tap to show system Click to show system

Select from 80 Base Powers

Injure

Deal a burst of damage

Alternate Form

Take on a Powerful Alternate Form

Phase Out

Stop existing for a moment

Customize and Balance with 772 Enhancements, Drawbacks, and Parameters

Enhancement: Too Slow! (You may use this Power as a Reaction)

Finish with a Description

Skip Ahead - 1 Gift Phase Out Power

The time-twister presses a button on one of her wrist watches, and, in a flash of orange light, disappears. She has skipped 9 seconds forward in time. To her, the travel is instantaneous, but everyone else must wait until she reappears.

System:

Spend an Action and Exert your Mind, and touch your watch to phase yourself out for 3 rounds. You cannot perceive the outside world or take any actions during this time, but nothing can interact with you in any way. This Power may be activated as a Reaction.

Enhancements: Too Slow!

Drawbacks: Focus

Customize

Tap to show system Click to show system

Overwhelmed? Choose from a collection of 106 premade Stock Powers that can be gifted as-is or customized.

The Games

Set in a world where videos of supernatural phenomena go viral every day. Here, witch hunts have merit. Tech billionaires and US Senators employ paranormal advisors and bodyguards, and everyone knows. Charlatans become pop culture icons, and each discovery inspires a new cult. The world is changing. The secret societies that pull humanity's strings scramble to adapt.

Now's a good time to move up.

"When all doors lead to death, make a new door."
- Xin Mei, seasoned Contractor

Mission: Improbable. Though the Harbingers’ Games take many forms, straightforward solutions are rare. Contractors may be asked to win a boxing match against an opponent they cannot beat. They cannot roll dice to win. They must use their creativity, and the incredible freedom empowered by the GM, to blaze their own path to victory. Contractors drug their competitors, blackmail the judges, and doctor the ringside video.

Two Scenarios included.
View one immediately, unlock more by Signing up.

Deadly risk. Just how deadly is up to you, but we put our thumb on the scale. GMs are handsomely rewarded for running a Game that achieves the "golden ratio" where at least one Contractor dies while another achieves victory. Players are likewise rewarded when one of their Contractors dies. However, no Game can require a Contractor's death.

One Shot at a Time. Built from the ground up to follow Contractors through a series of one-shot sessions, The Contract is well-suited for consistent and shifting groups alike. Contractors are portable, but each Player Group (Cell) has its own world for Contractors to build (or destroy). The downtimes between Games are often just as important as the Games themselves.

The Dice

D10 Pools. The Contract describes Characters’ capabilities in terms of their Attributes and Abilities and uses a d10 dice pools system to model resolution for a wide variety of situations.

Quick, High-stakes Combat. Combat feels like it does in real life: chaotic, brief, and brutal. Contractors quickly learn that raw destructive capability is less important than knowing when to fight, who to fight, and how to make an unfair fight.

It is far easier to be deadly than resilient. Fights usually last three rounds or less.
Injuries are tracked individually, heal slowly, and may leave debilitating scars.
Most Actions require a single roll.
The Clash mechanic allows Characters on the defensive to attempt an all-or-nothing counterattack on their assailant.

Advancement Without Min-maxing. Advancement is focused on giving Contractors tools to control chaotic situations, find advantages, and enable outside-the-box solutions.

Contractors may start as world-class experts in their fields.
Powers are more likely to open opportunities than they are to help in a direct confrontation.
Dice bonuses from multiple sources do not stack; instead the largest bonus is used.

Read the Rules

The Website

Free and Accessible. The Contract is available in its entirety for free on this website. All new content is available immediately to all Players, and, unlike paper-published RPGs, The Contract can easily be patched and balanced as public play reveals issues.

Say Goodbye to Tedious Bookkeeping. The Contract's Website offers far more than a convenient Character creator and custom Power builder. We provide automated tools for tracking who played in which Games, who succeeded and failed, and how they spent their Experience and Gifts. We keep a detailed history of every edit to each Character and Power. Cell Leaders can also help their less dedicated players manage their Characters and Powers.

Save your Brain for the Game. The website's game-ready Character Sheets track Injuries, Penalties, and other stats directly online. They also surface rules and info with helpful mouse-over tooltips. Don't bother memorizing the formulas; we'll do all the calculations for you.

Build Content to Share. Create, discover, and share Scenarios with the community. See the obituaries of fallen Contractors in the Graveyard. Share your Contractors, Powers, and Journals, or keep them to yourself by making them private to anyone who isn't actively GMing a Game for you.

The Sign Up page lists and unlocks more features.

We don't try to do it all. The Contract is not designed to replace a tabletop, real or virtual, and we do not offer chat, maps, tokens, communal dice-rolling, or similar features. We recommend using Roll20 for that. We also do not offer any matchmaking services. We utilize Discord and Reddit instead of an on-site forum.

This website is 100% Open Source, so anyone can help develop and maintain it.