Does the "Friends in High Places" Quality work?
 

Hey chummers,

I've just stocked up on the latest releases and tried to adapt my characters to use the new qualities, equipment etc.

One of the characters has the "Friends in High Places" quality and would like to spend the additional points for his "Sensei", a disgraced Yakuza Mage. It seems like the quality does not work as intended, because it does not grant the additional free Contacts Karma, nor allows me to spend more than 7 Karma on a single contact.

Am I making a mistake using it?
Could it be a problem, because I've re-opend a already existing character? I've deleted all contacts in order to add them again - but that does not work either. I'd be happy for some assistance :-)

The additional karma is listed in a separate pool from your regular karma. Once the connection rating of a contact goes to at least 8, it will start drawing from that pool instead of the normal pool of free karma for contacts.

The quality is badly written - they forgot to include an exception to the normal rule that you can't spend more than 7 karma/contact. So, as written, this quality can't actually be taken during character creation - only during advancement, when the 7 karma limit doesn't exist.

Thanks for the feedback. So it doesn't work "as intended", but "as written". :-/
Bloody Catalysts...

Taking the Quality in game is a tad bit pointless, because you don't really spend Karma on Contacts in game. You get them, or you don't. :-)
Could I patch in an exception to the rule via Editor, or would this require extensive programming?

In the next update, I'll be adding an adjustment that will select a specific contact and exempt them from the <= 7 karma rule. Then you can use that to apply whatever your GM says was the rules as intended.

In the meantime, the <=7 karma rule isn't one of the ones that prevents you from going to advancement mode, so just ignore it.

Thanks, Mathias!

My OCD simply doesn't allow me to advance a character with an error message. :-)
I've just raised the ratings after advancing - that way it works just fine.

An adjustment requires adding manually. Just make the quality function properly to where a Contact coming from that pool is exempt.

It doesn't matter if you like the quality, yourself. It is there, and it is written just fine.

Could you please cite what parts of the wording of the quality support your assertion?

It is quite simple. The very nature of the Contacts gained from the quality having a Connection minimum higher than the standard rule maximum would render them exempt.

Add on top of that something that was already pointed out, that Contacts gained in-game don't cost karma. They're just handed out when deemed appropriate.