Urban campaign NPC contacts

[Gwaednerth]

I have been working on writing an urban pathfinder campaign for the past few months, and I've been trying to build and/or swipe systems that really incorporate the characters into the setting. My group is really roleplaying intensive and I thought it might be nice to give them each a handful of contacts in the city. Mostly, it would be a more roleplaying oriented way to give the heroes plot hooks, rumours, and solve the occasional, "Wait, nobody put points into the appraise skill?" moment. However, I'm having trouble with specifics. There's a section in Ultimate Campaign about contacts, but it's not very helpful, except as general inspiration. How many contacts should they have? Should there be categories; like you get n family members, 2n friends, and 3n acquaintances? Should a gnome bard with 20 charisma have more contacts than a dwarf barbarian who sees it as a dump stat?
Thanks guys.

[Geddy2112]

The contacts section says that PC's should just start with one, if any. If the PC's are starting at a higher level then more contacts may be appropriate. Contacts should be made and earned by roleplay, not set by stats, mechanics and levels. Even the most gruff dwarf has friends, and even the most likeable gnome has enemies.

Contacts should work into the backstory if the PC's will start with them, and could be a rich family member, merchant or somebody else of prominence or skill that could help the PC.

[Karl Aegis]

It's not about the quantity of contacts, it's the quality of contacts. Personally, I would go with the stable master, the fabrics store owner and Pydron, but that's just me. Some people go with the tavern keeper, but he hasn't been a reliable contact, in my experience. Nothing compared to Pydron. However, you should probably know a medical professional or organization if you need to make contact with Pydron.

[Mendicant]

I have been working on writing an urban pathfinder campaign for the past few months, and I've been trying to build and/or swipe systems that really incorporate the characters into the setting. My group is really roleplaying intensive and I thought it might be nice to give them each a handful of contacts in the city. Mostly, it would be a more roleplaying oriented way to give the heroes plot hooks, rumours, and solve the occasional, "Wait, nobody put points into the appraise skill?" moment. However, I'm having trouble with specifics. There's a section in Ultimate Campaign about contacts, but it's not very helpful, except as general inspiration. How many contacts should they have? Should there be categories; like you get n family members, 2n friends, and 3n acquaintances? Should a gnome bard with 20 charisma have more contacts than a dwarf barbarian who sees it as a dump stat?
Thanks guys.

The only things that need much in the way of rules adjudication are things that'll have a significant effect on player power, so the halfling rogue can have a huge clan of friends and cousins as long as those friends and cousins only have a single level in commoner or expert. For more powerful contacts, maybe set a level limit: everyone gets to pick or create one friendly NPC, who has 3 levels in a PC class or 5 in an NPC class. You can have one additional starting contact if your Charisma is a 13. You could also add contacts as riders to the weak skill-boosting feats, or grant them with traits. I'd avoid too much systemization past chargen--the benefits you're going to get are probably going to be outweighed by the extra workload and the constraints it'll put on you. Just let them acquire contacts organically through roleplay, which being a roleplay heavy group they'll probably enjoy more anyway.

You could also let them have "contacts" who aren't individuals but groups they're related to in some way, and grant small benefits that way. For instance, you came from a family of thieves, and you don't have to pay a commission when you fence stuff, your brother does it for free. Or you're a member of a merchant guild, and get a decent discount on mundane gear. Stuff like that isn't going to break the game, but it helps reflect their ties to the community.