Contract Patch 22.11.1

Highlights

GM Reward Changes

• GMing a Contract now grants an Improvement instead of 6 Experience. 

• Achieving the Golden Ratio or Into the Fold bonus now grants 6 Experience instead of an Improvement. 

• These changes are not retroactive. 

Guidebook Improvements

• New “How to Start GMing” Guide

• New “Craft of the GameMaster” Guide filled with advanced tips for experienced GMs.

• Many improvements to “The Rules” including a brand new intro and section on The Basics

Stock Gifts Overhaul

• Many new Stock Gifts, and all stock gifts updated.

• When rewarding a Contractor, you can visit the stock gifts page and select a gift to update.

• You can view Stock Gifts in the Gift Builder by clicking the “Ex” button on each Effect.

• New tutorial modals for Stock Gifts and for Customizing them.

Mechanics Changes

• Crafting additional Consumables now costs 1 Experience instead of 2 Experience.

• Assets and Liabilities may now be purchased after Contractor Creation with Playgroup Leader approval. This is intended for situations where achieving these effects is possible by investing time and without making a Move, such as learning a new language.

• Firearms Aiming rules changed to: “Contractors may reduce the Difficulty of a firearms attack by spending time aiming at a stationary or predictably-moving target. -1 Difficulty per Round spent aiming, to a minimum of -2 Difficulty.” 

• Contractors may take a maximum of 3 Quick Actions per Round.

• Asset Iron Will changed to: “+2 dice to all Mind rolls.”

• Firearms sweeps require you to expend your entire clip.

• Will to Survive always gives a Major Battle Scar. 

• Concentration now limits your movement to 10 feet per Round.

Website Changes

Character Sheets

• The Create Contractor page now has random Archetype and Ambition generators. 

• Assets and Liabilities (only assets and liabilities taken after this update)

• When you remove Assets and Liabilities, they remove their relevant Conditions and Circumstances

• When you remove Conditions and Circumstances from your sheet without removing their Assets and Liabilities, the sheet flags it. 

• Trophies, Conditions, circumstances now show who they were granted by.

• Loose Ends surface more clearly when they’re due with a banner at the top of the sheet.

Gift Website Improvements

• Transitive modifier dependencies (Enhancement A requires B, which requires C) no longer break when you de-select the “root” dependency. 

• Fixed a bug with Legendary Artifacts that made it impossible to add/edit gifts for them if they were not attached to a contractor

• Added the ability to edit and transfer legendary artifacts that are not attached to a contractor.

Emails

• Emails now come from an @thecontractrpg.com email address. 

• New email preferences are available in the account page:

• Contract invitations

• Contract time changes

• Contract completions

• Direct Messages

Misc

• Moves can now be marked as private. Private moves do not display who was involved.

Gift Changes

Fixed many punctuation, grammar, and clarity issues.

Big Effect Changes

• The Effect Intangibility has been removed, and its behavior has been merged into Phase Out.

• The Effect Immunity has been overhauled to work more like Mind Shields.

Existing Gift Changes

Advanced Movement

• Added Enhancement: Amphibious (You are able to move about in liquids using standard Movement rules rather than any special swimming rules.)

Afflict

• Default period for symptoms worsening is now one hour instead of one day

• Removed Enhancement “Rapid Onset”

• Added Drawback: Downward Spiral (Symptoms now worsen every hour instead of every day.)

• Changed Enhancement “Magical Miasma” to start at Difficulty 5 (from 6)

• Changed Enhancement “Psychotic Episodes” to “Mind Melt” and its behavior to: “The target must make a Trauma roll each hour at a -1 dice penalty, increasing until it reaches your Outcome.”

Amorphous Transformation

• Added Enhancement: Subsume (Damage from your overrun attack is increased to +4, and if the contested Outcome is greater than the target’s Brawn, they are grappled.) requires Overrun and Seasoned Status

• Added Enhancement: Rats With a Gun (You may use Equipment while transformed.) requires Seasoned

• Added Veteran level to duration parameter: Indefinitely. 

Armor

• Added Enhancement: Bulwark (You may transfer your Armor to another target within 30 feet once per Round as a Free Action. You may transfer it back to yourself at any range.)

• Added Enhancement: Impenetrable (Armor penetration does not affect your Armor, and it cannot be shredded or destroyed.) requires Veteran

• Added Enhancement: Vanguard (Whenever your Armor reduce incoming Damage, you are immediately made aware of the source of the Damage.)

Augment

• Added Enhancement: Emergency Failsafe (You may target any being you have Augmented with other Effects at any range, and they are at -2 dice to any resistance rolls.) requires Veteran

• Added Enhancement: Chimera (By transplanting a body part from another creature, you can grant any Powers intrinsic to that body part to the subject.) requires Seasoned.

Binding Oath:

• Enhancement “Enforced Compliance” changed to: “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.”

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

• Added Enhancement: I Am Altering the Deal (Any time after finalizing a deal, you may alter the penalties for anyone other than yourself as long as you inform them.) requires Veteran

Cleanse

• Cast Time Parameter default decreased to 1 minute. Removed “2 Actions” cast time. Removed veteran gating on 1 Action.

Command Creature

• Added “Easy” Enhancement

• Added Seasoned only Enhancement: Tame (If you use this Effect on the same creature two days in a row, it lasts indefinitely.)

• Alpha (Any creature under your control cannot be commanded or controlled by anyone else, even using other effects.) requires veteran

Commune

• Added Drawback: Animal Tongue (You may only communicate with terrestrial animals) requires Enhancement Commune type: Creatures

Compact Enhancement:

• Changed to Quick Action from Free Action.

Emotion Control

• Enhancement “Chain of Screaming” now specifies that each new target gets a resistance roll. 

Energy Transfer

• Enhancement “Universal Exchange” changed to: “You can transfer up to two points of Source.” and no longer requires Seasoned.

• Enhancement “Large Team” renamed to “Cult Leader”

• Cooldown Parameter now defaults to “Next Hour”

• Added Enhancement: Power Exchange (You may transfer Powers temporarily between targets. Lasts two hours. You cannot transfer this Power)

Extra Appendage

• Enhancement “Reach” now specifies: “You may stretch or retract your limbs once per Round on your Initiative.”

• Enhancement “Sticky Group changed to: “Your appendage has a grip that is hard to shake. While grappling a target, when contesting their physical actions, you may roll your full dice pool, but it only counts as a Quick Action.”

Firearm and Firearms Mastery:

• Changed Bonus Damage Parameter to: +0, +2, +4 (Seasoned), +7 (Veteran)

• Change armor piercing Parameter to ½ (seasoned), ¼ (Veteran), completely ignored

• Enhancement “Swift Shooter” changed to: “You may move your full Dash distance and make an attack without a dice penalty.”

• Enhancement “Fastest Gun in the West” changed to: “Any time you engage in a Clash with your firearm, the opponent’s Outcome is zero. Defending against your firearms is +2 Difficulty.”

Fabricate

• Added Enhancement: Built To Last (Your created items no longer expire, and will last until they are destroyed.) requires veteran

Hack

• Enhancement “Circuit Scrambler” now only works on Computers.

Heightened Senses

• Electroreception range increased to 50 feet.

• Heat Pits range increased to line of sight

• Enhancement “Protected Senses” changed to: “Any senses which you have heightened cannot be overloaded, and you cannot receive Battle Scars which would affect these senses.”

Heal Scar

• Enhancement “Quick recovery” no longer requires Seasoned status

Inhuman Physiology

• Enhancement “Reach” now specifies: “You may stretch or retract your limbs once per Round on your Initiative.”

• Added Enhancement: Physical Perfection (You get +3 to your Body rating, but -1 to your Mind rating.) requires veteran

Injure

• Added Enhancement: Chain Lightning (This effect is applied to the target and all targets within 5 feet. It can “jump” up to 5 times.) requires Seasoned

• Added Enhancement: Kill (If a Living target would suffer an Injury Severity 5 or greater from this Effect, they die.) requires veteran

Investigate Individual

• Default level of Range Parameter increased to 20 feet.

• Added Style: Trap

• Changed Enhancement “Killer” to: “Determine how many living beings the target has killed, what sorts of creatures they were, and how long it has been since they last killed.”

Melee Mastery

• Removed Enhancement Bullet Parry and incorporated the ability to defend against firearms attacks into the base system. 

• Enhancement “Two Swords are Better than One” changed to: “If you are wielding two melee weapons, your Weapon Damage is increased by 1, and you receive +2 dice to any Clash. If you split your Outcome to attack two targets, any target you successfully hit takes the full Weapon Damage and full Bonus Damage.”

• Enhancement “Sheathing the Sword” difficulty reduction increased to -2 from -1. 

• Added Enhancement: Dark Harvest (Whenever you inflict an Injury with Severity 4 or greater on a Living target, you may reduce an Injury on yourself by 1 Severity. If the Injury kills the target, you may instead reduce an Injury on yourself by 3 Severity.) requires veteran

Melee Weapon

• Added Enhancement: Pin (If you Injure the target with an attack, the target is “pinned” to that location as long as your weapon remains in that spot. The target cannot remove the weapon.)

Memory Manipulation

• Enhancement “Mechanic” and Drawback “Biological Psychology” can no longer be taken together. 

• Added Drawback: In Time, With Therapy (Your alterations count as a Trauma instead of a Condition. Rolls to determine their memories have been altered are Difficulty 6.)

Mend Trauma

• Drawback “Adjust Trauma” changed to require a specific predetermined Trauma instead of a new one of your choice. 

Metabolism

• Added Enhancement: Weekly Pill (The duration is increased to one week) (targeted style only)

• Added Enhancement: Adapt to Survive (You may Exert your Mind to adapt to your current environment for one hour. While adapted, you do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in that environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.) (passive and targeted vector)

Mind Shields

• Enhancement “Resilient Mind” changed to “Penalty does not apply to any Mind rolls you make” (instead of just Mind resistance rolls)

Mythic Charisma

• Drawback “The Price of Fame” changed to: Any sightings or recordings of your activity can easily be traced back to you. Even when disguised or using an alias, people always get a Perception check to recognize you.

• Added Enhancement: Anime (You may have a 30 second conversation with another character on your initiative each Round in Combat, and using any Communication Effect takes a Free Action instead of a full Action.)

Mythic Dexterity

• Changed Enhancement “Bullet Time” to: “Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction to make a single dodge roll that applies its full Outcome to any attacks made against you that Round. You may also React or Defend against firearms and other projectile attacks without Exerting.”

• Removed Enhancement: “Wait for your moment”

Mythic Intellect

• Added Enhancement “Wait for your Moment” and changed it to: “You may take your Action on the turn of anyone who has a lower Initiative than you. If you do, you receive +2 dice to that roll.”

• Changed Enhancement “Quick Thinking” to: “Any Intellect rolls other than Effect activations are made as Free Actions. You get +2 dice to all Initiative rolls.”

• Changed Enhancement “Re-Think” to: “You may wait until after all relevant rolls have been made to decide whether to Exert your Mind and get +1 to the Outcome.  If Exerting would have caused you to ignore your Penalty and roll more dice, you may roll that many additional dice as well.”

• Enhancement “Push Through it” changed to: “When you Exert your Mind to ignore Penalty and gain +1 to your Outcome, it lasts for 3 Rounds.”

• Enhancement “Brilliant Deduction” changed to: “You may spend five minutes pondering an enigma, puzzle, or mystery, and roll Intellect at Difficulty 8.  Success will reveal a clue or other tidbit that you have otherwise missed.  Limit once per enigma.”

• Added Enhancement: Utmost Efficiency (Any time you Exert your Mind, you may roll 1d10 Difficulty 6. If you succeed, your exertion does not cause Mind damage) requires Veteran

• Added Enhancement: Sheer Willpower (You may Exert your Mind any number of times per Round, including multiple times for each roll) requires Seasoned

Obscure

• Added Enhancement: Switch (You may turn this Effect on and off at will for its duration). 

• Duration Parameter increased to: 30 seconds, 10 minutes, one hour, one day

• Default behavior changed to: “All attempts to detect you via sight alone are made at a -3 dice penalty, and all attempts to detect you where sight would assist are rolled at -1 penalty”

Phase Out

• Enhancement “Too Slow” requires Seasoned and now specifies that you do not need to make a roll to dodge with the Effect.

• Enhancement “Willful End” changed to: “When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.”

• Enhancement “Peek” no longer requires Seasoned status.

• Duration Parameter changed to: 1 Round, 4 Rounds, 10 minutes, 1 hour (seasoned), 1 day (veteran), indefinitely

• Added Enhancement: Intangibility (You may move as normal while phased out. You may pass through walls and “climb” up and down through solid material at normal climbing speeds. If you phase in while intersecting with solid material, you take a severe, potentially-lethal Injury.) requires Seasoned

• Added Enhancements from Intangibility Effect: “Poltergeist”, How About a Present?”, “From Beyond”

Project Senses

• Added Drawback: “Material Window” (Your sensory projection must begin and end in a specified medium, They don’t have to be the same medium, but they should be related in a flavorful way (fire and smoke, for instance).)

Repair

• Removed Enhancement “Expert Handyman” from consumable crafting Gifts.

Regeneration

• No longer affects Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.

• Added to the base behavior: You may also Exert your Mind and spend an Action to reduce the Severity of a single stabilized Injury by 1.

• Cooldown Parameter buffed to: every day, every 6 hours, each hour, every 10 minutes, each Round

• Enhancement “Not Dead Yet” no longer gives unhealable Battle Scars

Restrict

• Changed Drawback “Caltrops” to: “Restricted targets may escape their binding by spending an Action and taking a Severity-1 Injury. Their movement is reduced by 10 feet until the Injury heals.”

Sense Objects

• “Detected Object Type” field now has errata with guidance on which object types are valid. 

• Enhancement “Truffle Hunter” changed to “The means by which any detected objects are hidden or disguised is made clear to you, as well as how to access them if they are secured. This includes objects secured via the Stash Effect.”

• Removed Enhancement “Piece of Cake”

Sleep

• Changed Enhancement “Dream Sculptor” to: “You may determine the dreams of any sleeping being within range. By Concentrating, you may appear in their dreams and communicate with them.”

Spawn Minions

• Added Enhancement: Slime Patrol (The Injuries your minions take cannot exceed Severity 1.) requires Veteran

Stash

• Changed Enhancement “Legerdemain” to: “You can store and withdraw items as a Quick Action. You may also choose to equip any equipment you withdraw.”

• Changed Enhancement “Terrarium” to: “You may store any type of target in your Stash, including both Living and Animate things. Animate targets may Resist being stashed.”

Stun

• Removed Enhancement: Flash-bang

Suggestion:

• Removed Enhancement: Cantrip

• Added Enhancement: Easy

Super Leap

• Enhancement “Too Slow” now specifies that you must make a roll when using the Effect to dodge. 

Super Speed

• Enhancement “Ride-along” now requires Newbie instead of Veteran.

• Enhancement “Parkour” changed to “Your super speed affects all kinds of movement, not just running, and you may ignore small obstacles.”

• Added Enhancement: Juggernaut (You are immune to collision damage and +2 Difficulty to target while using this Effect.) requires veteran

Suppress Sense

• Added Enhancement: Engineered Psychosis (You may control what the target perceives via any suppressed sense, including causing them to perceive things which are not truly there.) requires Veteran

Traps

• Enhancement “Quick n Dirty” now specifies that anyone who watches you place the trap can avoid / trigger it at will. 

Telekinesis:

• Added Enhancement: Air-Traffic Controller (You may Exert your Mind and spend an Action to determine the target of all projectiles within range for the next Round.)

Traumatize

• Added Enhancement: Character Assassination (Instead of a trauma, you may give the target a Condition which grants a new Limit of your choice.) requires Veteran

Unarmed Mastery

• Removed “bullet catch” Enhancement and made default behavior.

• Added Enhancement from Melee Mastery: Assassin

• Enhancement “finesse” changed to: “You may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level to inflict on the target.”

• Added Enhancement from Melee Mastery: Fancy Footwork

• Enhancement “Flow Like Water” now also works when you Defend: “If you win a Clash or successfully prevent an attack by Defending, you may instead redirect the incoming attack to another target within range.”

• Changed Enhancement “Meat Shield”: “If you have successfully grappled a target, you may have any incoming attack target them instead of you”

• Enhancement “Precision Strikes” changed to: “You may use Dexterity instead of Brawn on your attack rolls. All Called Shots you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 or more to be successful.”

Upgrade

• Attacking with upgraded weapons now grants Bonus Damage instead of extra dice.