Legendary Artifact

Liam's Hip Flask

Created by Liam Holloway, given to Harry Johnson.
Liam's Flask is a stainless steel flask etched with a medical caduceus & the line, "We Can't Fix Stupid" - it then has the name "Liam Holloway" etched on the surface.

You use this item by taking hits of a peaty, Islay Scotch - you'll flinch, but you'll feel better. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead

Expend a point of Battery to activate. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Over the course of one minute, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired. After the full treatment time has elapsed, roll Charisma + Medicine at Difficulty 6.

Your target may Resist. If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.

Once per day per target, you may choose to use this Effect to stabilize the Mind of a target within arm's reach. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.

You may choose to use this Effect to temporarily relieve any number of the patient's Traumas (including mental Conditions). In this case, Treatment takes an Action and the effect lasts two hours. If the Patient is currently experiencing an episode, Difficulty is increased by 2.

  • The treatment time may be broken up into multiple sessions if necessary.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Liam shares a bit of the fiery Islay scotch in his hip flask - it burns all the way down, & brings welcome relief to any poisoning or illness. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead

Expend a point of Battery and spend 1 Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target so long as you have fully diagnosed or understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.

You may treat Alien maladies and curses. If there is some method to cure them, you learn what it is. If the malady does not provide its own means of curing it, it is cured.

Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: It's Five Somewhere: You must roll Self Control to not accept any drink offered, even if visibly poisoned.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Liam is a die-hard alcoholic, as many medics are. Even so, once he's had his Irish Coffee, he is ready for yet another double shift or whatever else comes his way. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead

Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach.

For the next 24 hours, your target does not require any food, water, sleep, or air. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.

Your target is adapted to their current environment for one hour. While adapted, they do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in that environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

The fiery scotch in Liam's Hip Flask suffuses you with warmth, makes your head spin a little, & gives you the courage to run into battle unafraid! Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Roll Brawn + Melee at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. This Artifact may only have 1 active barrier at a time.

The barrier will fall after two hours, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.

Any target that is or was under the protection of your Barrier in a given Round cannot take an Injury greater than Severity 6 that Round.

  • Effects which circumvent Armor completely also circumvent your barrier.

Liam's dependence on Alcohol has reached a critical level. He knows when anyone else drinks from his flask, & will typically find it if it's lost - not soon enough, though - each day without it is torture, as tremors, sweats, & hallucinations wrack him while he is denied his best coping mechanism.

This Artifact cannot be broken. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.

By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If this Artifact has no living true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.

If the true owner of this Artifact ever dies, it immediately disappears. At least one week later, it will appear to Vigilantes and reveal its power to them. They become its new true owner.

If this Artifact is used by someone other than its true owner, its true owner is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The true owner may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range.

This Artifact's true owner must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.

  • If there is no available Next of Kin, it will wait two months and then appear to a random person. If multiple next of kin are appropriate, the GM will decide randomly.
  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.
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Community Artifacts

One-sided Iron Axe

Created by Quinn Dyer, looted by Douglas Edwards.
A standard lumberjack axe that seems to glow ever so slightly. The handle is made from a dark wood and has a leather strip wrapped around its base for grip.

When Quinn uses their axe, it shoots out with mechanical whirring. The handle now has obvious sections where the axe can collapse back into its original state. When extended, the axe is fairly bendy, looking almost comical when used. When Quinn pins with their axe, the yellow glow surrounding the axe increases in strength.

This Artifact can be used as a sword / axe. It is roughly the same size as a sword / axe and just as difficult to conceal.

Attack by rolling Brawn + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +4 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • This melee weapon may extend for a single attack up to 50 feet away. Retracting back into its usable size is a Quick Action.
  • Pin: If you Injure a target with an Attack, you may choose to leave your weapon. If you do, the target is “pinned” to that location until the weapon is removed. Removing the weapon increases the Severity of that Injury by 2.

  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

The Mudnomicon

Created and held by The Mud Wizard.
The Mudnomicon is a small tome covered in mud, a small face is visible on the cover that is smiling. The pages are covered in mud and seems to be weirdly resistant to mud or water.

The mud tome rises to his side and begins to thrust mud above itself in a small orb.
The orb starts to shape and contort, revealing images in its shape.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 1 mile At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Alertness at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You learn about any traps or ambushes in the area. Using this power does not trigger said traps or ambushes.
  • You choose a specific type of event and receive a vision of the last time it occurred here.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.

You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.

  • Exhaustion penalties and duration stack. If you activate this Effect or another Effect with Exhaustion, your penalty will worsen, and the duration is increased by one hour.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

!

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You may choose not to pay this Effect’s activation cost. When you activate this Effect, if it is active from a previous activation where you didn’t pay, that Effect ends.

You create a hemispherical dome of Nexus of wrapping mud tendrils originating at your Location, with a radius of 200 feet. and lasting for 5 minutes. You are fully immune to the effects of your zone. The area inside your zone is affected in any number of the following ways:

  • Suppressed Vision: The zone is fully blocked from view. Nothing within the zone may see anything or be seen from the outside. Any rolls that rely on sight fail automatically, and any rolls that benefit from sight are made at -3 dice.
The zone expands immediately to its full size from the chosen Location and will spread to fill the entire area regardless of any barriers or cover.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Mud seeping out of the Wizard's Orifices.

Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: Mud is Life and The World Shall Know Mud. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • The Effect does not follow you after you activate it.
  • If you select a location at the edge of your range, you will be just outside the zone once the Effect is activated
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Mud is slammed into the lock or buzzer, and it opens, the door was technically mud once after all.

Spend an Action. Select a door, container, knot, or lock within arm's reach. This can be used on Alien targets.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

MUD GOLEMS.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate Mud Golems at your location. They last until they move more than 150 feet from you or are destroyed They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most 3 minions active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 5 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make unarmed Attacks. Their Attacks are melee range and deal +4 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 7 Body. They automatically fail all Mind resistance rolls.
  • Armor: Minions have 6 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 25 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint.
  • Intelligence: Minions have dog-level intelligence and cannot communicate back to you. They cannot actively use Equipment.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 4 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 6 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are obviously Alien to any observer.

  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.

The Mudnomicon floats effortlessly around The Mud Wizard

This Artifact cannot be broken. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.

By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If the true owner dies or is destroyed, their ownership ends. If this Artifact has no true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.

If this Artifact is in no one else’s possession, its true owner may Exert their Mind and spend two Actions to bring it to themselves.

Whenever this Artifact is unattended and within 300 feet of its true owner, it will fly back to them. When not held or stowed, it floats beside its true owner, moving with them. While within 10 feet, the true owner does not need to touch it to use it.

This Artifact's true owner must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.

  • The Artifact can fly at a maximum speed of 100 feet per Round and only towards its true owner. This does not grant the Artifact its own Action or Reaction, and it moves at the same time as its true owner’s Movement.
  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.

Shiny Toy Gun

Created and held by Mark Sinclair.
Electronic Light-Up Toy Sci-Fi Gun with SFX

This kid's sci-fi toy blaster lights up and flashes and makes the same types of noises you'd expect from the original, but it also fires out a red energy beam at the target like from some cheesy sci-fi movie or TV show. Also noticeably the beam is very harmful to living beings.

Also, of note, being a toy, it seems more accurate the more dramatic you are rather than based on eye-hand coordination.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within 50 feet. Roll Charisma + Performance Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.

If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of Effect. There must be no substantial obstructions between you and your target.

Swirly Sand Pouch

Created and held by Balthazar The Magic Guy.
A Dazzling Pouch containing freshly ground sand

A pinch of sand thrown upon the ground. Once imbued into the leylines it attracts other sand within the material it's on to bend to the casters will.

Exert your Mind (unless you are Sculpting) and spend an Action. Select a Location within 50 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Inspected if the area contains sand. You must use up A pouch of freshly ground sand in order to activate this Effect.

Select one of the following alterations to create out of Sand (Silica) originating at the target:

  • Sculpt: Sculpt a surface made of Sand (Silica) up to 40 feet by 40 feet. You may make aesthetic changes or minor functional improvements like a ladder or stairs. You may sculpt windows, doors, and similar alterations into structures you created with this Effect.
  • Wall: Create a straight wall made of Sand (Silica) up to 40 feet long, 10 feet high, and 12 inches thick. This wall can also be used to create a bridge, ramp, or similar. It must be free-standing.

The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.

This alteration lasts three hours but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 6 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.

You may sculpt your walls, domes, or tunnels as you create them, without any additional activation time or cost.

Anyone who tries to climb or move across your alterations takes 2 Damage each time they do so. Such alterations are obviously dangerous.

  • Attempting to break any alterations with inappropriate tools may damage or destroy the tools at the GM's discretion.
  • Any structures you create leave precise gaps for obstacles in their path or push them out of the way. You cannot directly destroy objects or structures or damage beings by creating walls or domes.
  • Tool guidance for GMs:
    • Difficulty 9: Brawn 5, no tools.
    • Difficulty 7-8: One-handed tools or makeshift tools (like a sword). Mythic Brawn without tools.
    • Difficulty 6: Appropriate manual tools. Crowbar, sledgehammer, armor-piercing sword, unarmed mastery with Armored Fist.
    • Difficulty 4-5: Power tools, vehicles, explosives.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Bound earring of Slink

Created and held by Liv.
A dark black gem fashioned into an earring. The summoned Demon’s name is Slink.

The artifact holds at least one demon bound to obey the commands and will of the wielder and advance their interests. When used a demon crawl's its way out of the object, and leap out, looking for enemies.

The demon in this iteration looks like a small creature of shadow, about the proportions of a human 10-year-old, but stretched upwards to be thin and lanky with dark scales, blank white eyes, clawed fingers and thin leathery wings. When firing at range, they shoot dark blades that dissipate after impact.

The demon can speak, reporting on anything it sees, and apply a level of intelligence to understanding the world around it.

This artifact is made by summoning a demon, making a deal with it, and binding it to the object in a long ritual.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.

Summon a single Sapient Bound shadow Imp at your location. They last until they are destroyed They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most one active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat.
  • Combat: Minions roll 4 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make Unarmed Attacks. Their unarmed Attacks have 50 feet of range and deal +2 Damage.
  • Body: Minions have 5 Body.
  • Armor: Minions have 1 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 15 feet per Round as Free Movement and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. Your minions can fly at their normal movement speed.
  • Intelligence: Minions have human-level intelligence and can speak your language. They can use equipment, Artifacts, and Consumables. However, they cannot Exert their Mind.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. If ordered to protect someone with its life, your Minion may sacrifice itself to absorb an Attack on their behalf, provided it is within 15 feet of them. Your minion is able to Stealth with a 7 dice pool. Any other roll is made with 3 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 2 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are obviously Alien to any observer.

  • Minions die if targeted with Energy Transfer (before the Effect resolves) or if an Artifact or Consumable they use would Injure them or cause them to roll Trauma.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

Winter Fang

A massive bow made of solid ice.

This Artifact can be used as a bow. It is roughly at least twice as large as a bow and cannot be concealed on your person or disassembled for storage.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage. Attacks do not require a successful called shot to do damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Infinite Ammo: This weapon never runs out of its standard ammunition.
  • Leave No Trace: Your projectiles crumble or vanish after impact, leaving no meaningful trace of your assault beyond the wounds they leave. If your attack would kill or incapacitate your target, they make no sound, even incidentally, for the next Round.

  • This Artifact cannot be disguised or morphed with other Effects like Shape-Changing object.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

The Bug-out Bag

No hiker would bat an eye if they saw someone wearing this 80 liter backpacking pack in the backcountry. Those who look closer find it's made of a curious mix of modern materials and what appears to be rawhide stitching.

This Artifact holds 5 times what it normally could inside of it. Objects stored inside are weightless.

Living things can be stored in this Artifact. They will have access to anything else inside and may attempt to break free, damaging or destroying the Artifact in the process.

If this Artifact is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.

When scanned or investigated without opening, the contents of this container appear normal and unremarkable.

If anyone other than you opens the container, it appears empty. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents.

  • A container of holding cannot be placed inside another created by the same Gift.
  • There is no cost to use this container.

This Artifact cannot be broken. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.

By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If the true owner dies or is destroyed, their ownership ends. If this Artifact has no true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.

This Artifact's true owner is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.

  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.

Dazzle Glasses

This Effect activates whenever you are recorded. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Non-Sapient Object within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Perception + Culture Difficulty 6.

If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • The penalty from an object being damaged will stack with itself if a target is hit multiple times, but the object is destroyed when it reaches a total penalty of -4.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

255TE "Lancer" Rife

A metallic disk that, with the press of a button, expands into a futuristic-looking rifle.

This Artifact can be used as a rifle. It is roughly the same size as a rifle but can be collapsed into a metallic disk and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +5 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Silencer: The report of any shots you fire may be made silent at will.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.
  • Rifles are +1 Difficulty to use in melee range. Sniper Rifles are +3 Difficulty to use without a tripod or in melee range. Setting up a tripod takes an Action.

Umbrella Identification

This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport but can be collapsed into a wallet and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

Spend a Quick Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into a chosen Object. This lasts until you decide to end the Effect, which may be done as a Free Action.

The new object's appearance can mimic specific items (such as a particular painting, a certain person’s ID, etc), but must be of a similar size and weight to this Artifact.

The new appearance is illusory; it will hold up to scrutiny, but its composition is not altered and it gains no new functionality. Any attempt to use it for a function which it cannot perform (for instance, making bread look like a knife and then trying to stab someone) will cause the illusion to fail or allow a Perception check to see through the illusion, at the GM's discretion.

When used as identification and scanned, the scanner will act appropriately and bring up appropriate generic information. Further searches for the identity in the computer will turn up no results. This will not open security doors on its own.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.
  • Changing the Artifact’s appearance does not allow you to conceal its Alien nature while any of its other Effects are in use.