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The Illumination
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Setting: The Illumination
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Building Custom Gifts

"Gifts are why we sign The Contract"

Each session of The Contract, the Players' Contractors are invited to risk their lives in a deadly mission. Those who succeed are rewarded with a Gift Credit that can be spent here in exchange for extraordinary Artifacts or incredible Powers.

No two Contractors are alike. Each Contractor's Gifts are a unique expression of their concept, and any character concept can be realized by building custom Gifts.

Each Gift's system is automatically generated during creation. These systems are simple but specific. While such precise systems can be verbose, they focus gameplay on creatively using Gifts rather than interpreting them, and they ensure your Contractor plays the same no matter who is acting as GM.

Building Custom Gifts is Easy

Form an idea of what you want your Contractor to be able to do.
Describe your concept to this Gift-Building webpage. Select a Gift Type and Effect, then customize its modifiers until it matches your idea.
Apply flavor to your Gift by adding a description, name, and tagline.

You can also start by customizing a premade Stock Gift.

Watch the video tutorial

Further instructions are available at the bottom of this initial "Select Gift Type" page, and many elements can be tapped on hovered over for more information.

Gift Type: Powers

"Everything in life comes and goes. Everything but Powers."

Powers are a Contractor's bread and butter. They may be obvious or subtle, arcane or technological, actively called upon or passively empowering. Powers are the only Gift Type that doesn't always require equipment, making them the most reliable.

Powers include:

Any superpower
Magical spells and divine invocations
Cybernetic implants and other bodily augmentations
Supernaturally honed Abilities
Mythical Brawn, Dexterity, Intellect, Perception, or Charisma
Beneficial effects stemming from your Contractor's otherworldly nature

If your idea for a Gift isn't obviously one of the other Gift Types, it's probably a Power.

Gift Type: Legendary Artifacts

"I sure hope no one steals this."

Legendary Artifacts are high-risk and high-reward. These one-of-a-kind items are far more powerful than Powers or crafted items. However, they can be lost, destroyed, or even stolen by other Contractors. While there are ways to protect Legendary Artifacts, some risk always remains.

As your Contractor progresses, you may invest multiple Gifts and Improvements into a single Legendary Artifact, granting it multiple activated and passive Effects. Just remember, your Legendary Artifacts can be used by anyone, whether or not you're still alive.

Legendary Artifacts Include:

Unique alien technology
Mythical relics
Family heirlooms
One-of-a-kind creations

Any extraordinary equipment your Contractor did not create themselves is a Legendary Artifact.

Gift Type: Artifact Crafting

"Sure, I'll make you one. If you provide the proper incentive."

Artifact Crafting turns your Contractor into the golden goose. No Gift Type demands more sacrifice, nor a higher price. However, those Contractors who invest in Artifact Crafting create equipment that rivals the Gifts of the Harbingers. And make no mistake: most Contractors' loyalty can be bought.

Any Contractor who takes a crafting Gift can craft. When you craft with an Artifact Crafting Gift, you can either create a new Artifact with that Gift's Effect or add its Effect to another Artifact you've created.

Investing a Gift Credit or Improvement into an Artifact Crafting Gift lets you craft it once for free. After that, crafting with the Gift costs Experience equal to its Gift Cost + 1.

Crafted Artifacts Include:

Extraordinary weapons and armor
Skunkworks prototype devices
Spellbooks
Alien technology
Super-suits for your team

If you're looking to rival Hephaestus or Stark, you want Artifact Crafting.

Gift Type: Consumable Crafting

"Everybody take one. Use it if you get into trouble."

Consumables are single-use items that are easy to share and trade.

Any Contractor who takes a crafting Gift can craft. Each Downtime between Contracts, Contractors can craft one of each of their Consumables for free. Investing a Gift Credit or Improvement into a Consumable Gift grants an extra one for free. Additional Consumables may be crafted at a cost of 1 Exp each.

Crafted Consumables Include:

Potions
Specialty ammunition
Settable traps
Deployable super-tech
Magic makeup
Energy drinks that turn you into a mongoose

If it's supernatural, single-use items your Contractor makes, it's Consumable Crafting.

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Legendary Artifact

Shield of the deadLet them take out their anger

Cost: 2

This Artifact allows you to create a protective barrier.

As an obsidian dust cloud is expelled from the stone towards the target. It rapidly solidifies into a display of obsedian skelletons . As attacks are absorbed these corpses will retaliate as a mob trying to bring the attacker to their dead realm while turning into bleeding skeletons.

Extended Description

A denizen of xibalba gifts the souls of those who died or where buried near by an obsidian body on earth. This body is to be used to protect a target and take out their anger out on the attacker. Despite the bodies not being flesh they bleed possibly making the dead relive their last moments one earth causing them to scream in pain. As old habits die had specially after serving Chamiabac and Chamiaholom.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a barrier around your target, which absorbs the next Outcome +2 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of 2. Their Armor applies in full. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. This Artifact may only have 1 active barrier at a time.

You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.

Extended System

Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.
You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Gift Example

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Editing Gift
Shield of the dead

Legendary Artifact

Barrier

Customize

Cost: 2

Legendary Artifact

Shield of the deadLet them take out their anger

Cost: 2

This Artifact allows you to create a protective barrier.

Extended Description

A denizen of xibalba gifts the souls of those who died or where buried near by an obsidian body on earth. This body is to be used to protect a target and take out their anger out on the attacker. Despite the bodies not being flesh they bleed possibly making the dead relive their last moments one earth causing them to scream in pain. As old habits die had specially after serving Chamiabac and Chamiaholom.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Animate target within 20 feet. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6.

Extended System

Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.
You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Customize System

Customize your Gift's behavior.

When you're satisfied, scroll down to flavor and finish.

Tap this button any time to preview your Gift:

Cost: 2

Style

Activated (Gift Cost: -2)

Targeted

Activation roll

Range

Barrier Strength

Enhancements

Gift Cost: +3

Battery-operated (Instead of Exerting Mind to activate this Power, it has its own 3-point Source pool. The Source regenerates at the rate of one point per day and cannot be raised with Experience.)

Bubble Barrier (When you activate this Effect, you may opt to erect a bubble barrier. If you do so, no physical objects or entities can pass into your bubble until the barrier is broken, but you and the barrier cannot move.)

Requires: Bubble Shield

Bubble Shield (Your barrier’s strength is doubled, and it protects everyone within a 15 foot radius of your primary target. However, any attacks that originate from inside the radius will not be absorbed.)

Reflect (Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of the Barrier Strength Parameter’s bonus. Their Armor applies in full.)

Self-Powered (Activating this Effect has no Exertion cost, but it can have no more than 3 Drawbacks and its Gift Cost can never be increased above 1.)

Cannot be taken with Battery-operated

Too Slow! (You may activate this Effect as a Reaction.)

Tying Off (Any barriers you create last two hours, and you no longer need to maintain Concentration in order to maintain them.)

Cannot be taken with Reflect

Cannot be taken with Too Slow!

Seasoned Enhancements

Insurance (Any target that is or was under the protection of your Barrier in a given Round cannot take an Injury greater than Severity 6 that Round.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Multiple Shields (You may have up to 3 barriers active at a time.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Persistent Shielding (The barrier regenerates back to full strength at the end of each round of combat. It will still fall if the full amount of damage is dealt within a single round, or if you are interrupted.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Drawbacks

Conditional (This Effect is only available when a certain condition is met. This condition must be severe enough that this Gift is unusable the majority of the time.)

Disfiguring (Possession of this Gift grants a minor Battle Scar that can only be cured by buying off this Drawback.)

Disturbing (Witnessing this Effect's Activation is extremely disturbing and/or morally abhorrent to the average person. Anyone who witnesses its activation will almost certainly be repulsed, outraged, and think differently of you from that moment on.)

Draining (After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.)

Fuel (Using this Effect consumes some material good in addition to its other costs.)

Maddening (Possession of this Gift causes a Trauma that cannot be cured by any means. The chosen Trauma must be likely to come up on a Contract.)

Mage (Activating this Effect requires two consecutive Actions of Concentration. It involves intricate use of the body and voice. If interrupted during activation, the Effect fails. It is obvious you are preparing to activate an Effect during casting.)

Cannot be taken with Too Slow!

Martyr (When your barrier blocks damage, half of it (rounded down), is dealt to you.)

Once per Day (You may only use this Effect once per day.)

Partial Shield (The barrier only prevents half of the Damage from a given attack, the rest will penetrate through to the target. The barrier is still depleted by the full amount of Damage.)

Sacrifice (Instead of Exerting your Mind or expending Source, activating this Effect gives a Severity-1 Injury that worsens by 1 Severity each time you use an Effect with Sacrifice. This Injury cannot be prevented by any means or healed before 1 day has passed.)

Cannot be taken with Battery-operated

Scarring (When you Activate this Effect, roll a single d10. If the result is 5 or lower, your target receives a Minor Battle Scar.)

Traumatic (You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.)

Unreliable (When you activate this Effect, roll a single d10, Difficulty 4. If you fail or botch, the Effect fails and you cannot activate it again for an hour.)

Customize Flavor and Finish

Gift Name

Tagline

(Optional) Introduce the Gift in a flavorful way.

Attach to existing Legendary Artifact?

Item name

The name of the Legendary Artifact

Item description

(Optional) A physical description of the Artifact

Visual Description

A concise description of what this Gift looks like when it is used. What do participants and observers experience? This will be referenced by GMs at game-time to help them narrate.

The target and source of this Effect are obvious to bystanders.You must obviously use this Artifact to activate this Effect. When activating this Effect, this Artifact is obviously Alien and cannot be concealed under your clothes or similar.

Extended Description

(Optional) Wax poetic about this Gift's background, metaphysics, etc.

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Editing Gift Shield of the dead

Editing Gift Shield of the dead

Legendary Artifact

Shield of the deadLet them take out their anger

Customize System

Style

Activation roll

Range

Barrier Strength

Enhancements

Seasoned Enhancements

Drawbacks

Customize Flavor and Finish

Visual Description

Extended Description

Editing Gift
Shield of the dead

Editing Gift
Shield of the dead