I Know a Guy

Written by DoStuffZ

Know a Guy – Narrative Contact Mechanic

In deep space, connections matter more than credentials. At the start of the campaign, each player receives a “Know a Guy” Card — a narrative wildcard representing favors, debts, chance meetings, or murky pasts.

When you play your card:

• You declare that your character knows someone relevant to the current mission, scene, or crisis.
• You describe them: species, personality, role, relationship—anything that fleshes out the contact.
• The GM (or table) determines what Attribute + Department roll best fits the ask (Command + Security for an arms dealer, Presence + Engineering for a fixer, etc).
• The roll result shapes how the contact reacts:
• Successes mean cooperation, helpfulness, or unexpected aid.
• Complications might bring obligations, jealousy, betrayal, or surveillance.
• Critical rolls may lead to powerful assets—or dangerous consequences.

Bonus Traits (After-Effects)

Contacts leave traces. After spending the card, the character may receive a temporary or permanent trait—such as:

• “Owes Favor to Orion Syndicate”
• “Reputation: Quiet Fixer”
• “Tagged by Federation Security”
• “Renowned Exobiotech Consultant”
  These traits are narratively binding and may be invoked or challenged in future scenes.

Getting Another Card

Players may earn a new “Know a Guy” Card only through deliberate choices:

• Choosing a story-rich but mechanically disadvantageous option.
• Leaning heavily into canon themes (e.g., sacrificing for the Prime Directive, exposing yourself to scrutiny for moral reasons).
• Completing arcs or episodes that resolve part of your character’s backstory.

You can never hold more than one card at a time, so choosing when to play it is a strategic and thematic decision.

Famous examples of "I Know a Guy"

• Lando Calrissian - Han Solo "I know a guy, I technically stole his ship"
• Ferris Bueller's Day off - my friend's sister's boyfriend's girlfriend heard of a guy
• Luis in Ant-Man
• John Wick - Bowery is that guy
• Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Garak seems to have an inexhaustible list
• Saul Goodman - "Better call saul"
• Breaking Bad