Help me with a Contact

R

rythm_rampage

First Post

• Jun 8, 2006

• #1

Hi,

we're about to start a D20 modern Horror game and one of the PCs is a fast3/investigator3. He needs a low-level contact, but I have no clue what kind of contact he could have. I first thought about a Hacker and he agreed but right now that seems like a bad idea, because they really won't need a hacker. He works at a local police station and has a great interest in paranormal activities.
Do you have any ideas what a contact for a newbee paranormal investigator could be (his first real case) ?

_rampage

 

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jinx crossbow

First Post

• Jun 8, 2006

• #2

rythm_rampage said:

Do you have any ideas what a contact for a newbee paranormal investigator could be (his first real case) ?

Click to expand...

He knows this crazy guy called * from the enworld forum. * knows alot about
dark end evil thinks, but has to be contacted throug the forum.

* you can give this person a pseudonym like: diaglo, mouseferatu ...

Jinx

 

arwink

Clockwork Golem

• Jun 8, 2006

• #3

- An academic or psychologist that does consulting work with the police department. Maybe a profiler. This gives them someone to bounce ideas off and work out how to seperate the improbably from the utterly illogical (and therefore supernatural).

- The owner of a local occult store. While this guy shouldn't know a hell of a lot about the true supernatural, he has a bunch of resources that may come in handy should the PC think to say "research this for me."

- A doctor who asks no questions, preferably someone who can perform an autopsy if no-one in the group knows how to do one.

- His former partner who is now in a mental institution due to his own run-ins with the super-natural. The partner may know some background details about the goings on, but got locked away for being a loony before he could get close to the truth.

- Bend the rules and give him a floating specialist. Once per adventure he can call someone who knows something relevant about the background/topic that's linked to the investigation, but only if he spends an action point.

 

Prest0

First Post

• Jun 8, 2006

• #4

In addition to all of Arwink's excellent ideas:

- A mystery contact similar to Mulder's "Deep Throat" in the X-Files.

- A conspiracy theorist who believes everything, but has a wide (but not necessarily deep, since this is a low-level contact) knowledge of the pararnormal.

- A pawn shop owner who A) can tip off the character to strange items being fenced, or B) acquire unusual or hard-to-get supplies.

- A sibling in federal law enforcement (it's a family profession!)

Riffing off Arwink's suggestion of an academic who consults with the police department, that sounds like one of our Pinebox iconics-- Professor Glen Maclanahan. He's a professor of folklore at East Texas University. He's always dragging his grad students along on ghost hunts and has some beat-up ghost-detecting equipment. He could be a good resource for both recommending equipment, providing info, and occassionaly tipping the character off to paranormal activity.

 

Last edited: Jun 8, 2006

R

rythm_rampage

First Post

• Jun 8, 2006

• #5

I already have a fleshed out NPC who is similar to this Prof you were talking about. Maybe I'll just convince my player to stick with this one. He is a priest/psychologist who treats people who are/were posessed or encountered the supernatural in any way (or not, some are just nuts). He has a hole bunch of knowledge skills and can get his hands on quite a lot of supernatural stuff.
What exactly is low-level btw ?

 

R

ragboy

Explorer

• Jun 8, 2006

• #6

Also, considering that the character will become more versed in the paranormal as you go along, and in order to pinch off any "easy outs" that might occur, you might consider making his contact completely unrelated to the paranormal, but someone that can "connect the dots." For instance, a paid informant - street drug dealer that knows non-paranormal details about a ritual murder (like where the knife was bought, etc).

The floating specialist is actually great one. I used that and it worked very well. Especially if you mix it up a bit and have the same specialist available for a couple of adventures, then have an adventure where that specialist would be indispensible, only s/he is unavailable, dead, part of the cabal, etc.

 

R

rythm_rampage

First Post

• Jun 8, 2006

• #7

Yeah, I think that the floating specialist is an awesome idea !
It gives a lot of variety to the contact and is good for my group, because they're pretty self-sufficient (lots of money, fighting power and all kinds of skills). If they end up with something they can't solve themselves the specialist could find somebody to do the job (who would be low-level, of course). So he is somekind of help the PCs can rely on and it looks like that's what the contact is good for.
It works similar to the Favor talent IMC I guess.

 

Wraith Form

Explorer

• Jun 13, 2006

• #8

ragboy said:

then have an adventure where that specialist would be ....(snip)... part of the cabal, etc.

Click to expand...

Heh. Part of the cabal. Heh heh. That's good. that's VEEEERY good.

 

Wraith Form

Explorer

• Jun 13, 2006

• #9

rythm_rampage said:

What exactly is low-level btw ?

Click to expand...

A low-level NPC contact can be any level you want, from zero to the same as you group's average level. (Or higher. You're "god" so you do what you want.)

Depends on what you use him / her for. If the contact is only for info, there's no need to make the level very high. If that NPC is going to join in combat or other role-playing situations, maybe make him a little lower than the players so that they have to protect / shelter / bodyguard him.

The only danger is making an NPC that outshines the players--having them do most of the "cool stuff" makes the players feel good.