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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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Tie the Knot

Cost: 1

Requires Seasoned

The power to mark and track a target.

The target sees Nathan grasps one of the vibrant red threads of fate emanating from his target and, only possible with consent, severs the unbreakable connection. He pulls out another cord from the mirror, visible to all while outside the reflector, stemming from his reflection, and ties the two together. Connected, the two are tied by fate, always perceptive of the thread and affect each other so much more.

Extended Description

Conditionally Costless:
If the target is partially possessed by a ghost invited by Nathan, he can instead bind his reflection to the damned, skipping the process of pulling the thread into the mirror and instead binding the two within the mirror realm.

Exert your Mind (unless the target possesses one of your Augments) and spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach. You may select a target at any range if you use up a mirror that the target actively used of the target. You must actively and obviously use a mirror to activate this Effect. The target may Resist.

Your target is marked with a very fine red thread drifting from them, dissipating into nothingness. The mark can only be discovered with a deep medical inspection or Effect. Removal inflicts a Severity 1 Injury on the target.

You are aware of the marked target's direction and distance from you. This lasts for the next month, or until either the mark is removed, or you choose to end the Effect. You can have up to 8 marks active.

You receive +2 dice to any rolls made against a marked target.

This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source.

Your Marked targets are all similarly aware of your direction and distance from them while the Mark is active.

Extended System

Marked individuals satisfy the line of sight requirement for targeted Effects.
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
Tie the Knot

Power

Mark

Customize

Cost: 1

Tie the Knot

Cost: 1

Requires Seasoned

The power to mark and track a target.

Extended Description

Conditionally Costless:
If the target is partially possessed by a ghost invited by Nathan, he can instead bind his reflection to the damned, skipping the process of pulling the thread into the mirror and instead binding the two within the mirror realm.

You receive +2 dice to any rolls made against a marked target.

This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source.

Your Marked targets are all similarly aware of your direction and distance from them while the Mark is active.

Extended System

Marked individuals satisfy the line of sight requirement for targeted Effects.
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

Style

Targeted

Trap (Gift Cost: -1)

Mark Appearance

Your Mark is a physical object or marking that can be discovered.

Maximum Active

Gift Cost: +1

Range

Enhancements

Gift Cost: +3

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 Conditionally Costless

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

Cannot be taken with Conditionally Costless

Target Lock (You receive +2 dice to any rolls made against a marked target.)

Trail (Marked targets leave a trail wherever they go that is visible only to you and those you teach to see it. This trail shows how long ago the target was there and is followable even when they are in a vehicle.)

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.)

Cannot be taken with Conditionally Costless

Vitals (You are aware of the marked target's physical well-being, including whether or not they're alive and any Injuries they have.)

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.

Condition:

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.

Token Type:

Connected (Your mark satisfies the token requirement of any Effect with the Conduit Enhancement. Using a mark in this way consumes the mark.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Probe (You may use any Awareness Powers on a marked target at any range.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Veteran Enhancements

Locus (You may activate another Effect through your Mark as though you were standing at its location. This destroys the Mark.)

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.)

Conscious Effort (This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.)

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.)

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.)

Easy to Resist (The target must either consent to be targeted or be unconscious, hypnotized, thoroughly drugged, in surgery or similarly incapacitated such that they could not or would not roll to resist this Power.)

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.)

Object:

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

Cannot be taken with Focus

Long Cast (This Effect takes one minute to activate.)

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 Conduit

Mutual Tracking (Your Marked targets are all similarly aware of your direction and distance from them while the Mark is active.)

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

Overt (This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source.)

Overt Mark (Your mark is fairly easy to notice, such as a tracking device or infernal tattoo.)

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 Conditionally Costless

Short-Term Surveillance (Your Mark only lasts an hour.)

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.)

Tunnel Vision (While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.)

Unattached Mark (If the target finds the mark, they may dispose of it easily, potentially even by accident, without suffering any Injury.)

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.

This Effect is obviously Alien and eye-catching across its range to those witnessing it, and you are obviously the source. The mark looks like a very fine red thread drifting from them, dissipating into nothingness. The mark can be intuitively removed if it is discovered. You must actively and obviously be using a mirror.

Extended Description

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

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Editing Gift Tie the Knot

Editing Gift Tie the Knot

Tie the Knot

Customize System

Style

Mark Appearance

Maximum Active

Range

Enhancements

Seasoned Enhancements

Veteran Enhancements

Drawbacks

Customize Flavor and Finish

Visual Description

Extended Description

Editing Gift
Tie the Knot

Editing Gift
Tie the Knot