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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

Contract Obligations

Cost: 1

This Artifact allows you to craft binding oaths.

The book's pages fly open, and it opens to a blank page. The page turns into a contract, and a quill materializes out of thin air.

You may make an oath with any number of Sapient targets. Communicate the oath's terms to the targets, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must sign the contract to seal the deal.

Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.

When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:

A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

The targets cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the targets, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.

You may revert a penalty for breaking one of your oaths on any participant other than yourself.

The targets may be at any range, but you must still be able to communicate the terms to them, and they must be able to sign the contract.

Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.

It is obvious to your targets that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.

The same terms and penalties must apply to every party in each deal.

Extended System

Reverting a penalty covers only the direct penalty for breaking the oath, eliminating the relevant Injury, Battle Scar, etc.
All Oaths must have at least two participants.
The terms and penalties of the oath do not need to be equitable and do not need to affect all parties equally.
A single action cannot break multiple oaths. You cannot 'stack' oath penalties by having a target sign multiple identical oaths, or similar.
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
Contract Obligations

Legendary Artifact

Binding Oath

Customize

Cost: 1

Legendary Artifact

Contract Obligations

Cost: 1

This Artifact allows you to craft binding oaths.

The book's pages fly open, and it opens to a blank page. The page turns into a contract, and a quill materializes out of thin air.

Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.

When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:

A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

You may revert a penalty for breaking one of your oaths on any participant other than yourself.

The targets may be at any range, but you must still be able to communicate the terms to them, and they must be able to sign the contract.

Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.

It is obvious to your targets that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.

The same terms and penalties must apply to every party in each deal.

Extended System

Reverting a penalty covers only the direct penalty for breaking the oath, eliminating the relevant Injury, Battle Scar, etc.
All Oaths must have at least two participants.
The terms and penalties of the oath do not need to be equitable and do not need to affect all parties equally.
A single action cannot break multiple oaths. You cannot 'stack' oath penalties by having a target sign multiple identical oaths, or similar.
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: 1

Manner of Sealing the Deal

e.g. "shake hands," "mingle blood," "sign the contract."

Enhancements

Gift Cost: +4

Covenant (You may make a deal with any number of targets)

Debt Forgiveness (You may revert a penalty for breaking one of your oaths on any participant other than yourself.)

Easy (When you activate this Effect, flip a coin. If you win, its Exertion cost is refunded.)

Enforced Compliance (When crafting your oath, you may opt to enforce compliance. If you do, any participant that wishes to break the deal must take 3 Mind damage and succeed a Self-Control roll. They may attempt once per day.)

Oath Penalty: Mystic Threat (You may suspend a targeted Offensive Power which will take effect when the oath is broken)

Press "1" to Agree to the Terms (You may enter oaths with targets at any range.)

Witnessed Noncompliance (Whenever a participant breaks the oath, you are immediately made aware and may even witness the act as if standing nearby.)

Seasoned Enhancements

Conditionally Costless (This Effect does not require Exertion in certain circumstances. The condition should be balanced such that it has an activation cost the majority of the time you are able to use it.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Oath Penalty: On Pain of Death (The oath-breaker dies)

Requires Seasoned status.

Veteran Enhancements

I Am Altering The Deal (Any time after finalizing a deal, you may add, remove, or adjust the penalties for any party other than yourself, as long as you inform them of the changes.)

Requires Veteran status.

Drawbacks

Gift Cost: -2

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.)

Fair Deal (The same terms and penalties must apply to every party in each deal.)

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

Limited Time Offer (All oaths you create last 12 hours maximum)

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.)

Pact of Power (It is obvious to your target that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.)

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.)

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 must understand that you are presenting the terms of an agreement and that they are agreeing to those terms. Witnesses understand the same. 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 Contract Obligations

Editing Gift Contract Obligations

Legendary Artifact

Contract Obligations

Customize System

Manner of Sealing the Deal

Enhancements

Seasoned Enhancements

Veteran Enhancements

Drawbacks

Customize Flavor and Finish

Visual Description

Extended Description

Editing Gift
Contract Obligations

Editing Gift
Contract Obligations