Contract Negotiations

What Are Contracts?

Devils and other Outside entities are widely known to be powerful and dangerous. To combat this, the Ministry has graciously provided information on Contracts: Magically binding documents which enforce certain behaviours. Officials, thanks to their Ministry connections, are able to create and enforce these contracts, though they are not freeform: instead, contracts rely on a collection of Writs, each of which is one self-contained clause. Most Writs come directly from the Ministry of External Affairs, and can be used repeatedly: once a contract has been fulfilled or broken, the Writs used to create it are returned to the parties who used them.

All players begin play with a single writ - the writ for their immortal soul. All other writs must be found in play, or received via an official.

Some Writs, however, are considerably cheaper than proper Ministerial ones, and can only be used once. These Writs, marked as Disposable, are known to be traded as favours, until eventually one finds its way into the hands of an Official, who will happily trade away someone else’s services. Disposable Writs are almost always of value 1. An example of a disposable Writ is shown below.

How Are Contracts Made?

Contract negotiations are a messy business, and an adversarial one. (It takes the form of a push-your-luck bidding game.)

Any number of unresisting (willing or incapacitated) parties can be involved in contract negotiations, divided onto any number of sides. Only one side can win. Whichever side commits the highest total value of writs wins the negotiation. However, all writs committed become contract terms, and parties are bound to fulfil everything they have committed. (This is what the values in the top-right of Writs are for.)

All contract negotiations have stakes, set by the Outside entity involved. This consists of an extra Writ, set off to one side. Those stakes are paid by the loser(s) to the winner. For example, a minor demon might set the stakes at an unspecified favour, while the Queen of Hell might set the stakes at a human soul. (If one side is forced into contract negotiations, the other side always sets the stakes. By default, this is the only case in which players set the stakes.)

Any side may choose to forfeit once they no longer wish to commit additional Writs to the contract. They must forfeit if they have no more Writs to contribute.

All contracts are binding, but if your hand is still on it, you can take back a Writ. Once you put it down, it’s committed.

If any agreed terms are in conflict, the lesser term wins. For example, if you sell your soul for a one-time favour, the new owner of your soul can’t use it to get out of doing the favour.

Once a contract is formed, the parties each sign the Writs they spent. (This is not optional; it’s to help the refs keep track of who’s promised what.) If there are specifics to be negotiated, this happens after the contract is signed in this way; for example, if you have been promised a favour, you can specify what it is immediately, or leave it open for later. However, once the Contract is made, no term in it can be refused later.

If, at a later time, the contract is fully completed, or becomes invalid for any other reason, all non-disposable Writs will be returned to the responsible parties, with the signatures magically erased. (The refs will provide new copies of the cards to players.)

What About Breaking Contracts?

Contracts are powerful bindings, and not lightly broken: they provide a physical and mental compulsion to obey. It is possible to resist this compulsion, but doing so places severe strain on the body, increasing in severity with the value of the Writ committed. Anyone refusing to abide by the terms of a Contract will receive Wounds corresponding to the value of the Writ refused at the start of each interactive, at minimum. (Other entities with whom you make contracts may have their own, additional, means of enforcement.)

Dealing with Devils

Some Writs, particularly those used by Devils, have small print. The meaning of this small print is consistent but unknown, and will affect in some way the function of the Writ - though it will not change its value. Small print on Writs takes the form of distinctive symbols.