Legendary Artifact

History in Blood

Created and held by Lilith (Lily) Weider.
An annotated copy of History in Blood: The Quest for Life Eternal, with extra pages sewn in on the back in order to expand upon its research.

Spiraling runic shapes lift from the pages of History in Blood and surround the user's hands and arms. As soon as fingers are laid upon the flesh of a willing participant, it begins to roil and split. Runes are written across the target's skin, similar in nature to a particular cursed witch. The target can feel something crawling about their body, a coldness that rustles in the back of their mind, before their form is improved by the ritual.

Generally, these improvements are marked by a wound that never wants to close and must be bandaged. These wounds often take the form of runic symbols, strange and supernatural in origin, though their meanings are esoteric and unknown.

Lilith has spent a great amount of time researching various blood rituals of cultures all around the world. One book in particular has been a fantastic aid in developing her rituals. Fusing occult research and medical science, this copy of History in Blood holds a new appendix on Fleshcrafting, authored by the witch herself.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma. The target can easily Resist.

You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Battle Scar and can have exactly one of the following Effects:

  • Specialized: You receive +3 dice to a particular non-combat, non-Effect Action.
  • Environmental Adaptation: You do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in a particular environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
  • Implanted Tool: You have access to the functionality of some common Device at all times. The selected Device can be no larger than a backpack.
  • Armor: You have 3 Armor at all times. As always, Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
  • Pouch: Part of your body functions as a hidden pocket. It can hold no more than a backpack.
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 15 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +3 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

By transplanting a body part from an Alien being, you can grant an intrinsic Effect from that part to the subject. Its power level should be limited to one Gift Point or less.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Bloody Fleshcrafting.

  • The systems for any Powers or Effects granted by splicing from other creatures are subject to Playgroup Leader approval and may be adjusted from their NPC counterparts.
  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • Remember: A Contractor’s Body rating is reduced by 1 for each Battle Scar after their fourth.
  • You may not augment targets with pouches or implanted devices that are larger than they are.
  • Targets without Body ratings may have a maximum of 4 augmentations.
  • Example environments for adaptation: space, all saltwater, all fresh water, all water under 50 feet deep, all water deeper than 50 feet, the jungle, radioactive areas, a specific alien world, etc.
  • 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.

An extra chapter has been sewn into this book that cannot be found in other copies of History in Blood. It’s handwritten pages detail the origins and capabilities of vampires from countless cultures around the world, from the Romanian Dracula, to the Chinese Jiangshi, to the Indian Pishacha.

By performing a short ritual detailed at the end of the extra chapter, an occultist can imbue themselves with a potent, albeit short-lived, expansion of their natural senses not unlike the capabilities of many nightwalkers. After being fed a measure of blood, the skin around the practitioner’s eyes will stain red, only to fade back to its normal coloration after a few moments.

Whenever these senses are being tapped into, the practitioner’s irises will turn blood red, and will eventually stain the space around their eyes with extended use. Their vision will be tinted with a deep blue whenever detecting electricity and heat, with creature’s circulatory and nervous systems lighting up with red and silver respectively.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up 1 Liter of Blood in order to activate this Effect.

Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.

  • Smell: Your nose is highly sensitive and can differentiate between scents the way a dog can, as well as recognize things you have smelled before.
  • Electroreception: You may detect electromagnetic fields, electric currents, and even neurological activity in a 50 foot radius from yourself at all times. When detecting neurological activity, you learn nothing but the creature's rough size.
  • Thermal: You are able to "see" heat signatures within your line of sight.
  • Sight: You can see things that are normally invisible to the naked eye, such as fingerprints and bacteria.

Any senses which have been heightened cannot be overloaded. Battle Scars you receive cannot affect these senses.

  • Examples of overloading a sense include: an explosion causing temporary deafness, a bright light causing blindness, a sedative causing numbness, etc.
  • When you are within 50 feet of range, your electroreception sense is sufficient for aiming.
  • Your thermal vision allows you to judge temperatures of surfaces fairly accurately as long as they are within livable temperatures.
  • Your microscopic vision requires a close look at a very small, specific area to use. It does not grant increased distance vision, it simply provides a higher resolution, allowing you to see finer and finer detail.
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Community Artifacts

Cleaver

Created and held by Thomas.
A simple cleaver

Specially created throwing knives

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

Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +1 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Heavy Toss: If your attack hits a target, it either knocks them down, or knocks them back 5 feet times the attack's Outcome. Decide which before you roll.
  • Pin: If your attack inflicts an Injury on your target, you may "pin" to the ground or a nearby wall. They are stuck there until you remove the weapon. The target may spend a Quick Action and increase the Injury's Severity by 1 to pull themselves free.
  • Return: When you throw this weapon, you may opt to have it return to your possession at the end of the attack. Whoever threw this artifact last may use an Action to recall it from up to 100 feet away, attacking one target in its return path as they do so.

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

TORI

Created and held by Kurigo "Oz" Osikawa.
1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

TORI is a rebuilt, mint, 1982 black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. She looks identical to any other '82 Trans Am from the outside, except for a purple light bar in the front grill. The CPU is a fully interactive computer Artificial Intelligence. She has access to any knowledge you could find on the internet, unless specifically programmed. She has the ability to problem solve by compiling data like any other super-computer. TORI's CPU has the voice of a young British woman.

TORI stands for Tactical Off-Road Interceptor

This Artifact can be used as a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. It is roughly the same size as a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am but can be collapsed into Matchbox car and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

This 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am has Bulletproof Windows, Kevlar re-enforced body, run flat off-road tires, biometric security, ramming bar on grill. Any roll to pilot this vehicle receives +2 dice.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Amphibious: Your vehicle may move on and under water at its normal speed. If your vehicle includes an enclosed space, it will function as an airtight, pressurized cockpit.
  • Mind of its Own: This vehicle can move and take Actions without you driving it. It has seven dice for all Drive rolls.
  • Steady As She Goes: The motion of your vehicle never causes your passengers dice penalties, and you do not suffer dice penalties from the unsteadiness of any vehicle you are riding in.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded.

Using this power requires Oz to speak the commands to TORI. This can be done in her compact form if he speaks directly to her.

Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions to activate. Select a Computer within 300 feet. Does not work on Alien technology. Roll Intellect + Technology, with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6. The hacking roll and their defensive roll are both Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.

Your hack cannot be discovered by system administrators or firewall software for a number of hours equal to your Outcome on the initial roll.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Using TORI's onboard computer Oz can instruct her to create simple, mundane objects. These objects are 3D printed in a small box in her trunk.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend 1 minute to activate.

Choose an Object which could fit inside a messenger bag (up to 10 liters). It cannot be Alien and must be generic. You cannot create explosives. You cannot create firearms.

Roll Intellect + Technology to fabricate up to 5 copies of your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.

  • The Difficulty for the fabrication roll increases based on specificity. Something like a "shirt" would be Difficulty 5, whereas "Police uniform" would be Difficulty 9. The Outcome determines overall quality and how well the item fits the request.
  • You can fabricate a container of something so long as it contains a single type of thing (such as a tank of water) or it is designed to be packaged together (such as a first aid kit).

Masters’s Cape

Created and held by Lucas Wilder.
“A classic vampire cape”

The Cape is a dramatic, flowing garment made from a mysterious fabric that appears to be a blend of deep, shadowy black and dark crimson. The outer surface is silky smooth and reflective, glinting ominously in the light, while the inner lining is a rich, blood-red velvet that feels both warm and comforting to the touch. The collar is high and stiff, reminiscent of classic vampire attire, and it clasps at the neck with an ornate, silver brooch shaped like a bat with ruby eyes.

This Artifact cannot be broken.

If this Artifact is lost and in no one’s possession, it finds its way back to its creator during the next Downtime.

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

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

When Lucas activates the barrier, the cape undergoes a dramatic transformation. The outer fabric darkens significantly, absorbing surrounding light and casting a shadowy aura around Lucas. Spectral, gnashing teeth appear along the edges of the cape, moving and clamping as if eager to bite. A faint, sinister hissing sound accompanies the visual, enhancing the eerie atmosphere.

As an attack comes towards Lucas, the cape responds by flaring out, the spectral teeth gnashing more fiercely. The attack is visibly absorbed by an invisible barrier that forms around Lucas, the impact creating a ripple effect through the darkened fabric. Observers would see the attacker’s blow deflected and feel the supernatural force of the cape’s defense.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Roll Dexterity + Alertness 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.

Shades of Stardom

Created and held by Stan T. Mann.
Some kickass shades
Crafted by Stan T. Mann

Everyone’s seen swords thrown in movies with supposedly pinpoint accuracy. Everyone’s seen weaponized hats that are thrown like a frisbee. Heck, we've seen shields that ricochet and bounce around, defying all sense of realism. But has anybody ever seen somebody throw their kickass shades at somebody, knock em unconscious, then catch ‘em afterwards? Heck, why stop there? Why not have the shades fly back onto the thrower's face?
Stan pondered this for a while… and decided that he should be the first!
With the power of movie magic (and some fiddling with object vectors), this item can be thrown at a guy, boomerang style, and bounce between a bunch of goons. Afterwards, they fly right back into the wielder's hand; if they're kickass shades, they fly right back onto the wielder's face as if they were never taken off in the first place. So badass.
Stan typically uses his shades, but if a shield can be flung effectively, why can't anything else? Easier to throw small stuff, though. More believable.
All you need is that suspension of disbelief, kid. It'll take you to places you could've never imagined.

This Artifact can be used as a throwing knife. It is roughly the same size as a throwing knife and just as difficult to conceal.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +2 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Chain Lightning: You may Exert your Mind to perform a chain lightning attack. If your attack succeeds, All targets within 5 feet of your primary target take full Damage. The Damage can “jump” up to 5 times. Each target can be hit only once.
  • Heavy Toss: If your attack hits a target, it either knocks them down, or knocks them back 5 feet times the attack's Outcome. Decide which before you roll.
  • Return: When you throw this weapon, you may opt to have it return to your possession at the end of the attack. Whoever threw this artifact last may use an Action to recall it from up to 100 feet away, attacking one target in its return path as they do so.

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

Sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes they malfunction or go haywire.
For you? They seem to go well every time.
Thanks to movie magic (and some fudging of the coefficient of friction, though you don't realize it), any weapons that are swung at you seem to melt and become malformed as they collide with both you and the surrounding air, so long as you wear these kickass aviators that're emitting this li'l field of movie magic.
If you don’t pull em down and wink, then these babies won’t work. Little equations float around the glasses whenever they’re used in this way, too.
You still gotta act like you're taking the blow though. The trick works best when you get the fight choreography... just right.
How else will the audience appreciate the work put into this.

This Effect activates whenever you are attacked by a melee weapon. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a melee weapons within arm's reach no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Dexterity + Athletics 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.
Crafted by Koriol Celestheryne

You chase each bond after bond like it's all you'd ever want, not knowing it was always meant to be fleeting. The beauty of life and serendipity escapes you as you insist on pinning the red string of fate upon each and every milestone.

Now, it has made it to your gifts as well. They are tethered to you by what may be an invisible string, and eventually you are bound to be connected to so many that you become a network of promises. The visuals remind you of an evidence board, beautiful in its ordered chaos, soon to be smothered in red.

This item has been promised to you. Do not let anyone take it away.
Never again.

On the red string:
Koriol, ever the artist, weaves in crimson strings. They wrap around and through the artifact, pinned down in the same manner that one would install 10 locks on a door. He's slipping. He needs a safety net. This will have to do. Soon enough the strings appear to vanish, but deep down we all know... it was meant to be.

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.

  • "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.

Spacious Sealing Sack

Created and held by Paige Price.
An old burlap sack that has a myriad of esoteric patterns threaded in silver.

If the sack is opened by anyone other than its owner it appears to hold mundane, but uninteresting items reflecting the interests of its owner. For an antique appraiser, it would show discarded paperwork, pictures of artworks, a few measuring tools, etc.

When opened by its owner it shows the sack's true contents, which the inside seemingly stretches to accommodate.

When a living creature enters within and the sack is tied off, it is as if they are being held by an amorphous cloth on all sides with no sense of up or down.

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 but cannot break free.

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 has a way of falling back into its owner's possession. Whether that means suddenly appearing in one's things, being found somewhere previously unobserved, or having been returned by mail or bystander.

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.

  • "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.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

Wipe Memory

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.

The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).

  • You do not gain mind-reading through this effect, so your ability to alter their memory is limited by your knowledge of what they might know.
  • The target's roll to realize their memories have been altered can be made a maximum of one time per day.
  • 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 Axe of Legend

This electric guitar has one edge sharpened into a deadly blade. It can be used as either sort of axe.

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:

  • Mjolnir: You may call your weapon back to your hand as a Quick Action if it is within 50 feet of you. Can only be used on melee weapon that you have wielded in the past hour.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

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

Recharging Sheild

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

You have 6 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack.

Your Armor cannot be destroyed, and it always provides a minimum of 2 Armor regardless of any Armor shredding or penetration. It cannot be circumvented with Called Shots. When shredded, it returns to full potency in one hour.

Any time your Armor prevents Damage, your Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 2. Whenever it goes five Rounds without preventing any Damage, it is restored back to its full value.

  • Armor recharging happens automatically and does not require an Action.
  • This Effect’s Armor rating cannot be increased by any other Effects.

Cloak

You gain the following benefits as long as you are not at all wet and you are wearing this Artifact.

You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. You may Spend an Action to change the way in which you're concealed.

  • Hearing: You are completely obscured from hearing. You produce no sounds while this Effect is active. All attempts to detect you via hearing fail. Attempts via other senses where hearing would assist are rolled at -2 dice.
  • Sight:You are partially obscured from being noticed by sight. All attempts to detect you using sight are rolled at a -3 dice penalty, and all attempts to detect you where sight would assist are rolled at -1 penalty. Anyone who detects you cannot determine any visual details about you beyond your general shape.

While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you or your equipment specifically from other, additional senses fails automatically.

If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. This Effect does not end early when you activate an obvious Effect, attack, or receive an Injury.

  • GMs should use their discretion when determining the exact impacts of this Effect, particularly in conjunction with environmental factors. Standing still against a complex background may render you impossible to detect, and footprints in snow may make it easy. A chance to detect you is not guaranteed.

The Airship of Solitude

The airship of solitude is an imposing black blimp. While flying through the air, it is regularly struck by lightning, terrifying those below.

This Artifact can be used as a blimp. It is roughly the same size as a blimp but can be collapsed into a phone-sized canvas cube and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

This blimp has full science laboratory, bullet-proof envelope, and ample parachutes. Any roll to pilot this vehicle receives +2 dice.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Crew of One: You alone may stand in for an entire crew if the vehicle would normally be piloted by more than one.
  • Mind of its Own: This vehicle can move and take Actions without you driving it. It has seven dice for all Drive rolls.
  • No Muffler: Any stealth rolls made to hide your vehicle automatically fail, and any rolls made to notice your vehicle automatically succeed.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.