The Involvement Spectrum

AX.GHW.14.03.01

Not every Hollow entity or Illuminated source is equally present in the Marked's life. Some contracts are quiet investments that surface only when the accounting demands it. Others are active relationships. The spectrum has five positions.

Level 1 - Dormant

The contract is real. The other party knows the bloodline exists. No active attention is being paid.

When this applies: Prior to the Marked formalizing their tradition, or in the early sessions of a campaign where tradition development hasn't yet been significant. Also applies to Marked characters who are actively suppressing their lineage — not using the tradition, not engaging with the contract's logic.

What the Marked experiences: The lineage perks function normally. No sense of being observed. The contract is background noise at most — a quality that the Marked who knows what they are might describe as a closed door in a room they live in.

What the GM tracks: Nothing yet. This is the baseline.

Level 2 - Aware

The contract source's attention is on this transaction. Not acting, not communicating — aware.

What moves the needle from Dormant to Aware: The Strained state. Every time the Marked uses their tradition in a scene and goes Strained, the contract source's attention is mechanically present. This is what the Strained state means: not just mechanical friction, but the awareness on the other end of the line that the practitioner is drawing on it heavily.

What the Marked experiences: The texture of the Strained state. Shadow-Bound practitioners feel observed and assessed — the cold at the edge of awareness that suggests something patient is taking stock. Light-Bound practitioners feel watched and evaluated — the warmth that implies a presence attending to what they do with the power and why. The mechanical effect (Disadvantage) is the same. The quality of the attention is not.

What the GM tracks: How often is this Marked going Strained? How far into the campaign are they? Repeated Strained use across multiple sessions without other triggers is still just Aware; it takes intentional action or significant tradition development to move it further.

Level 3 - Interested

The contract source has formed opinions. Minor obligations surface. The accounting is no longer abstract.

What moves the needle from Aware to Interested:

For Hollow entities (Shadow-Bound compacts): - Using Invoke for the first time (any expression) — this is the direct draw; the entity notices because it cost them something - Using Binding/Compact Compulsion — the entity facilitated a binding; they were informed and they have a record - Reaching 3D or higher in the Hollow Pact — the investment is developing into something the entity can use; they are starting to think about returns - Stage 1 advancement (10 XP) — the Marked is growing; the entity has been patient and is beginning to have expectations

For Illuminated sources (Light-Bound covenants): - Any use of the tradition in a way that clearly aligns with the covenant's evident purpose — the Illuminated responds to right action, not just heavy use - Using Consecration to protect a space the covenant has standing interest in - Using Accord's Command against an entity the covenant specifically opposes - Stage 1 advancement — same as Hollow compacts, but the Illuminated's expectation is directional, not transactional

What the Marked experiences: Minor obligations surface. These don't arrive as formal demands; they arrive as something that feels like instinct — a strong pull toward a specific person or place, a dream with unusual clarity about a specific action, a coincidence that's a little too pointed to be entirely coincidental. The Marked may or may not recognize these as contract source communication. The ones who do tend to be better at managing what comes next.

What the GM tracks: One or two minor obligations in motion. These don't need timelines yet. They're the contract source's way of testing whether the Marked is still paying attention to the agreement they carry. Think of them as open accounts — the source isn't calling them in yet, but they're on the ledger.

Level 4 - Engaged

The contract source is actively in the practitioner's life. Communication exists. Obligations have timelines.

What moves the needle from Interested to Engaged:

For Hollow entities: - Using Invoke repeatedly, or using Invoke at Threshold 4–5+; this is the heavy draw; the accounting has moved past casual - A Severe backlash from any Hollow Pact expression — the entity manifested and delivered a direct instruction; the relationship is now overt - Multiple uncompleted minor obligations accumulating — the entity's patience is finite; at some point they want the books balanced - Stage 2 advancement (25 XP) — the bloodline is now genuinely valuable; the entity has been waiting for this

For Illuminated sources: - Refusing a covenant expectation (as in Sacred Fire's Severe Accord's Command backlash) — the Illuminated registered the refusal; they are now paying close attention to whether it was a momentary failure or a pattern - Repeatedly using the tradition in ways misaligned with the covenant — the friction has accumulated into something the Illuminated cannot ignore - A significant act that either embodies or violates the covenant's core purpose - Stage 2 advancement — the covenant's investment has reached a point where the Illuminated expects it to be doing meaningful work

What the Marked experiences: Communication is real, not ambient. For Shadow-Bound practitioners: the Hollow entity makes demands — specific, concrete, bounded. Not "serve me forever" but "locate this person," "be present at this event," "deliver this message to this entity." The demands are always plausibly within reach; the entity has invested in this bloodline and wants returns, not failure. For Light-Bound practitioners: the Illuminated's expectations become explicit. The aligned/misaligned quality of the tradition becomes meaningful — Sacred Fire burns cleanly when the Marked is doing what the covenant requires, and develops friction when they aren't.

What the GM tracks: Active obligation queue. Keep a short list of what the contract source currently wants from the Marked. Each item should be specific, achievable, and meaningful — not a side quest, but something that connects to what the character is already doing or cares about. The best obligations are ones that complicate an existing situation rather than creating an entirely new one.

Level 5 - Claiming

The contract source is exercising the compact's or covenant's primary terms. The original purpose of the agreement is being collected on.

When this applies: Campaign-scale. The Marked has reached Stage 3 (50 XP) or the campaign has arrived at a point where the contract's foundational terms are relevant. This is not a level the GM should reach by accident or in early play.

What the Marked experiences: The contract is no longer ambient. The source's involvement is the campaign. For Shadow-Bound practitioners: what was invested is being called in — not with apology or delay, but with the patience of something that planned this. For Light-Bound practitioners: the covenant's purpose is coming due — what the original agreement was made for is now happening, and the Marked is required to be what the covenant made them.

What the GM tracks: What were the original terms? This is where Session Zero preparation pays off. Before the campaign begins, GMs should have at least a rough answer to: what does this specific contract source actually want from this bloodline? The answer doesn't need to be detailed, but it needs to exist. The Claiming level is where that answer becomes the story.