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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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Chain Reaction

Cost: 2

Requires Veteran

The power to temporarily transform into a powered-up form.

Catalytic powers up, bringing the burning energy underneath his skin to the surface, beginning to steam. Faster, stronger, and a hell of a lot tougher.

Exert your Mind (unless you have recently been struck by an energy based weapon which would've dealt at least a Severity-4 Injury) and spend an Action. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you you explode, giving yourself a Severity-6 Injury and rendering you Incapacitated.

You transform into a powered-up form for 30 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a powered-up form, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.

While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.

If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into a crackling being of pure energy. All dice rolls are at -1 Difficulty for the next minute or until this Effect ends. Cooldown 1 day.

If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see your skin starts to flake off, revealing energy underneath.

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.

Extended System

When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

Gift Example

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Editing Gift
Chain Reaction

Power

Alternate Form

Customize

Cost: 2

Chain Reaction

Cost: 2

Requires Veteran

The power to temporarily transform into a powered-up form.

Catalytic powers up, bringing the burning energy underneath his skin to the surface, beginning to steam. Faster, stronger, and a hell of a lot tougher.

While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.

If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see your skin starts to flake off, revealing energy underneath.

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.

Extended System

When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
Attribute bonuses from multiple sources do not stack. Instead the highest bonus is used.

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

Alternate Form

What is your alternate form?

Extra Perception

Extra Intellect

Extra Charisma

Extra Dexterity

Extra Brawn

Duration

Gift Cost: +1

Enhancements

Gift Cost: +4

Able-bodied (Your body has a beneficial inhuman adaptation. This can provide up to +3 dice to a specific non-Attack Action (swimming, lockpicking, etc))

Anatomical Weapon (Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).)

Combat-Ready (You do not suffer any Stress while in your alternate form.)

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

Cannot be taken with Conditionally Costless

Quick Change (Your transformation is nearly instant. Instead of requiring a full Action, you may activate this Power as a Quick Action [-2 dice to your main Action].)

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

Uniform (You have an outfit and/or equipment that appears on you in your alternate form. It replaces your current equipment for the duration. You cannot access this equipment outside of your Alternate Form.)

Willful End (You may end this Effect before its duration has elapsed as a Free Action.)

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:

Different Body (The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Unleash (If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, transforming immediately ends the effect. Cooldown 1 minute.)

Requires Seasoned status.

Veteran Enhancements

Final Form (If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into your final form. All dice rolls are at -1 Difficulty for the next minute or until this Effect ends. Cooldown 1 day.)

Requires Veteran status.

Final form appearance:

Drawbacks

Gift Cost: -3

Beast Mode (Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.)

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.)

Critical Failure effect:

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

Disturbing (Witnessing this Effect is disturbing and/or morally abhorrent to the average person. Anyone who witnesses you during its activation or for its duration will be repulsed, outraged, and will likely think differently of you from that moment on.)

Disturbing aspect:

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.)

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

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

Indiscriminate Killer (Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.)

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

Lose Yourself (While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.)

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 Disturbing

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

Public Freakout (Whenever you fail or botch a Trauma or Self-Control roll, you must activate this Effect. You pay the activation cost as normal.)

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

Super Shroom (If you become Incapacitated or suffer an Injury Severity 4 or greater, this Effect ends.)

Cannot be taken with Final Form

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.)

Cannot be taken with Critical Failure

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 or for its duration is very likely to be disturbed to see your skin starts to flake off, revealing energy underneath.

Extended Description

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

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Editing Gift Chain Reaction

Editing Gift Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction

Customize System

Alternate Form

Extra Perception

Extra Intellect

Extra Charisma

Extra Dexterity

Extra Brawn

Duration

Enhancements

Seasoned Enhancements

Veteran Enhancements

Drawbacks

Customize Flavor and Finish

Visual Description

Extended Description

Editing Gift
Chain Reaction

Editing Gift
Chain Reaction