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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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Flames of Rage

Cost: -1 (1 -2)

Requires Seasoned

The power to start and extinguish fires with ease.

Burnout gets pissed off and erupts into a burst of flames.

Extended Description

Fire originates from Burnout and burns outwards.

This Effect activates whenever failing or botching a Self-Control or Limit roll. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a target within arm's reach which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event.

You may start a new fire as large as a Christmas tree fire at your target. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.

Lighting a target on fire deals 5 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.

You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Burnout literally bursts on fire, and his skin appears to melt off his body.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Brittle Burning - Your body is made brittle by your burning hatred. (For an hour after using any fire-related Gift or Effect: you take +1 damage from all psychical sources.).

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Customer Service - Whenever a situation escalates or you would be made angry, roll Self-Control to not escalate (often violently).

Extended System

When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
Your fires may be extinguished with appropriate Actions and materials. Stop, drop, and rolling to extinguish requires spending an Action and making a Dexterity + Athletics roll, with an Outcome of 5 putting out the flames.
If the target is larger than your flame size, the Armor destruction creates a weak point instead of applying to the entire target.
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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Flames of Rage

Power

Pyromancy

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Cost: -1 (1 -2)

Flames of Rage

Cost: -1 (1 -2)

Requires Seasoned

The power to start and extinguish fires with ease.

Burnout gets pissed off and erupts into a burst of flames.

Extended Description

Fire originates from Burnout and burns outwards.

You may start a new fire as large as a Christmas tree fire at your target. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.

You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Burnout literally bursts on fire, and his skin appears to melt off his body.

Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Customer Service - Whenever a situation escalates or you would be made angry, roll Self-Control to not escalate (often violently).

Extended System

When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
Your fires may be extinguished with appropriate Actions and materials. Stop, drop, and rolling to extinguish requires spending an Action and making a Dexterity + Athletics roll, with an Outcome of 5 putting out the flames.
If the target is larger than your flame size, the Armor destruction creates a weak point instead of applying to the entire target.
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: -1

The damage dealt by your fires scales with the Fire Size parameter.

Style

Targeted

Trap (Gift Cost: -1)

Fire Size

Gift Cost: +2

Range

Gift Cost: -1

Enhancements

Gift Cost: +1

Arsonist (Starting fires has no Exertion cost. You must Exert your Mind to extinguish a fire.)

Cannot be taken with Triggered

Cannot be taken with Uncontrolled Burn

Cannot be taken with Disturbing

Cantrip (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 2.)

Cannot be taken with Triggered

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

Cannot be taken with Triggered

Flame Control (You may spend a Free Action on your initiative to move a fire from one location within range to another location within range, or to draw a line that a fire which is twice as large as your max fire size cannot cross.)

Cannot be taken with Uncontrolled Burn

Suspend (When you activate this Effect, instead of occurring immediately, you may choose to delay its effects until the target takes a particular Action. For example: "when they fire a gun" or "when they swim in deep water.")

Cannot be taken with Disturbing

Triggered (You cannot manually activate this Effect. Instead, choose a triggering event, always outside your control, that activates this Effect without requiring an Action or Exertion cost from you.)

Triggering Event:

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.

Cannot be taken with Triggered

Conduit (You may use this Effect at unlimited range, but you require a token of your target to do so. One activation per token. The chosen token must be an object that the target actively created or that was in the target’s possession for at least 24 hours.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Immortal Flames (When you create a fire, you may choose to maintain Concentration for up to 4 Rounds. As long as you maintain Concentration, the fire you created cannot be extinguished.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Veteran Enhancements

Need a Light? (You may Exert your Mind to light everything within 50 feet on fire OR to extinguish and/or prevent any fires you wish within range for the next two hours. This includes explosives.)

Requires Veteran status.

Drawbacks

Gift Cost: -4

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.)

Critical Failure (Roll a single D10 when you activate this Effect. If you roll a 1, you critically fail in a way that is extraordinarily dangerous. Failure should cause at least a Severity-4 Injury, a Major Battle Scar, or an effect counter to its purpose.)

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

Scar:

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.)

Disturbing aspect:

Exhausting (After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.)

Focus (Using this Effect requires a specific kind of item.)

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.)

Trauma:

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 Triggered

Cannot be taken with Disturbing

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

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 Triggered

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.)

Uncontrolled Burn (You are only able to start fires, not extinguish them.)

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.

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.

Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect is very likely to be disturbed to see Burnout literally bursts on fire, and his skin appears to melt off his body.

Extended Description

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

Gift incomplete

Gifts must cost a minimum of one Gift Credit

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Editing Gift Flames of Rage

Editing Gift Flames of Rage

Flames of Rage

Customize System

Style

Fire Size

Range

Enhancements

Seasoned Enhancements

Veteran Enhancements

Drawbacks

Customize Flavor and Finish

Visual Description

Extended Description

Gift incomplete

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Flames of Rage

Editing Gift
Flames of Rage