I apologize if this question has been answered before or if the answer is in the book and I'm just too blind to find it.

Does spending XP on buying a Contact count towards rank advancement or is it like an Elite Advance in that it doesn't have any bearing on your character's rank?

It counts towards rank advancement. As do Elite Advances, I cannot recall it every being otherwise? Only thing that does not specifically go towards rank advancement is Background packages.

Huh, I could have sworn I read somewhere in the books that Elite Advances don't count towards your character's rank advancement. But I can't seem to remember where.

Daisuke said:

ALL experience spent, even those spent to reduce insanity and; in Ascension , corruption points, counts towards rank advancement with but one possible exception. Background Packages can be argued to not count given the second sentence in the "Using Background Packages" write up on page 26 of the Inquisitor's Handbook , which states;

• " Any adjustments to your character by selecting a Background Packa ge does not count as an Advance for the purpose of increasing your Rank, nor do increases or reductions count toward the improvement of your Characteristics through normal means. "

Since you are spending XP on the Background Package , and that is what determines when you increase Rank, it is often taken that those points spent are not considered for such purposes. However, it may be a hold over from when the game was in early stages of playtest and the career system strongly mirrored the old 1st and 2nd Editions of Warhammer Fantasy RP , where you had to finish out an advance scheme to progress your character along his career path.

Either way, most GMs seem to count all spent Experience save that of the character's Background Package for determining Rank. Others count every point. It's not XP spent on stuff in your career, but the total spent that matters and is tallied.

-=Brother Praetus=-

Post Script: Wordy answers see others beat me to the punch...