Legendary Artifact

The Dark Grimoire

Created by Victor Green, given to Gulliver Archer.
A black leather book, large enough to only barely fit into a backpack

The Demonologist has made a contract with the mysterious book known as the Dark Grimoire, and now they are bound together for the rest of their days. The Dark Grimoire is an ancient black book with a blank cover, with the inside written in what appears to be Latin, along with a series of complex ritual diagrams. Somehow, the book always seems to have room for additional information to be written.

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.

The Demonologist draws from the power contained in their Dark Grimoire to hurl a bolt of deep crimson Hellfire at their foes, effortlessly burning through armour, flesh and bone.

Uses Demonology

Spend an Action to activate. Select a target within 300 feet. Roll Intellect + Occult 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 3. Armor is reduced to 1/2, rounded down against this damage.

This Gift's level is capped at 2 Gifts and cannot be increased further.

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

The Demonologist performs an elaborate ritual to summon and bind a winged lesser demon. during the ritual, the summoning circle glows a deep crimson, until a winged demon is dragged up through the circle, bound in glowing red chains, and forced into the Demonologists service, only to be released when it is slain and returned to Hell.

Uses Demonology

Exert your Mind and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: A ritual Circle must be drawn and offered a drop of the casters blood while a chant is used to bind the summoned demon to activate. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

Summon a single ________ at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.

Minions have 6 Body and can make melee range attacks with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. They cannot move faster than a walk and cannot dodge incoming attacks. They have dog-level intelligence, and cannot communicate back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice.

Your minion is able to Manual Labour with a 4-dice pool.

The Demonologist performs an Arcane Ritual to summon an Imp and bind it to the mortal plane. It takes the form of a small, red-skinned humanoid creature with wings and short, stubby horns, and possesses the ability to hurl bolts of fire short distances.

Uses Demonology

Exert your Mind and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: A ritual Circle must be drawn and offered a drop of the casters blood while a chant is used to bind the summoned demon to activate. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.

Summon a single ________ at your location. They will last for an hour, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.

Minions have 4 Body and can make ranged attacks at targets up to 30 feet away with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. They cannot move faster than a walk and cannot dodge incoming attacks. They have dog-level intelligence, but are capable of communicating information back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice.

Your minions can fly at their normal movement speed.

The Demonologist calls upon the power of their Dark Grimoire to heal their wounds, knitting them shut as Demonic Energy writhes around the injury

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

Any Injury you receive heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level each day, starting once it becomes stabilized. Battle Scars caused by your Injuries will remain. Any Injuries you receive stabilize automatically and do not deteriorate further.

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Community Artifacts

bag gun

Created and held by Thomas Taylor.

The bagman's power infused with Thomas' revolver which causes it to emit more smoke than usual, with even the bullets being encased in smoke.

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

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +9 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Infinite Ammo: This weapon never runs out of its standard ammunition.
  • Keyhole: Any bullet that kills your target tumbles through their body and may strike a target in a 90 degree angle behind them. Any damage beyond that needed for the kill is applied to the secondary target.
  • 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.
  • Silencer: Shots you fire can be made silent at will.

  • Excess keyhole damage does not reapply the weapon's damage bonus and is affected by Armor as normal. The secondary target may React to the tumbled bullet if they have a Gift which lets them 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.
  • 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.

G.V.E: Flashpoint

Created and held by Creek Blacklick.

A holographic sight is connected to the firearm via picatinny rails once connected from the inside of the sight a storm of sand flow out and begins to compensate for user error by pushing and prodding the firearm in the correct location. when shots are fired out of the gun a smattering of sand is shot out the barrel with the bullet silencing the target of the shot.

You gain the following benefits as long as Requires a firearm with picatinny rails, you are wearing this Artifact, and engaged in combat with firearms.

+2 dice to all firearms rolls.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bullet Parry: You may Defend against any attack in range of your attacks. Defending this way still costs a Reaction.
  • Point Control: Called Shots that you attempt only require a Contested Outcome of 2 for small targets and 4 for tiny targets.
  • Finesse: You may limit the Severity of any Injury you inflict or determine a maximum Wound Level to inflict on the target, including Incapacitated. You may also choose to make this Injury properly or improperly stabilized, or to keep it unstabilized.
  • Silent Killer: If your shot would kill or incapacitate your target, they make no sound, even incidentally, for the next Round.

  • Reminder: Bonus Damage stacks with Weapon Damage, but does not stack with any other Bonus Damage. Instead, the highest Bonus Damage is used.

Chicago Beamwriter

Created and held by Frankie Horrigan.
Two Large black leather gloves with sharpened fingertips. Gaelic runes are etched into it with silver stitching.

Frankie Lifts his armored hands to his mouth and reaches in, pulling out a glob of strange frosted blood. his hands move swiftly as he pulls and prods at this gross glob of mailable blood and forms it into a strange bloody hardened mess of a support I-Beam.

This Artifact produces ephemeral projectiles that can be used as a javelin. It is roughly the same size as a javelin and just as difficult to conceal.

Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Hail Storm: You may Exert your Mind to make an attack with against all targets within a 120 degree arc in front of you. Your full attack Outcome applies to each of them, but they may attempt to Dodge or Defend if they are aware of the attack.
  • Magic Quiver: Instead of throwing this Artifact, it is an object that produces an endless supply of temporary throwable objects. For example, bracers that allow you to throw ethereal javelins, or a sack of throwing rocks that doesn’t shrink when you withdraw one.
  • Not Quite Flying: You may Exert your Mind and use up your Movement to “follow” any attack using this weapon, traveling right next to its point of impact.

  • Created projectiles last only until they strike their target and cannot be shared or stockpiled.
  • The attack must be the primary form of attack for this weapon.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

Frankie channels the fae magic within his gloves into the silverware hes holding, with a burst of ferocity and brutality he rips into the target pulling chunks out of them and consuming them leaving their body and soul ravaged as he is replenished. to complete a transfer he may some times have to force feed the target chunks of his flesh as well.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Select two Sapient targets within arm's reach. You must use up Silverware Fork and Knife in order to activate this Effect. If a target does not consent to the transfer, you must roll Brawn + Athletics at Difficulty 6 to use the effect on them. They can resist by rolling either Body or Mind at Difficulty 6, depending on what you are attempting to transfer to them.

You may choose one each of as many things as you like from the following to transfer between your two targets:

  • A single Battle Scar without the accompanying Injury which caused it
  • Up to two points of Mind damage
  • A single Power. Lasts two hours. You cannot transfer this Power.
  • A single Injury and any Battle Scars it caused
This Effect cannot be used again on the same target for the next day.

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

Whenever you transfer an Injury, it's Severity increases by 1. Whenever you transfer Mind damage or Traumas, the recipient takes an additional Mind damage.

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.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • 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.

Frankie channels the spirit of the fae trapped within his gloves, a tiny wisp of light floats from the glove which he crushes into dust that he sprinkles into his eyes.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.

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

  • 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.
  • Taste: You can recognize any flavor you have previously tasted and name it, and may determine the composition of something based on its taste.

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.

Frankie Hypes himself up Flexing his muscles, as he does so he raises his gloves and starts to whisper to the wisps inside it, allowing them to start glowing. he then takes whatever the object is in front of him and crushes it with his gloves straining with all his might, leaving a bit of golden dust where the object is now destroyed.

Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Frankie hypes him self up, jumping and pumping his muscles. Select a Non-Sapient Object or piece of an Object or structure within arm's reach no larger than a large luggage bag (75 liters). You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. Roll Brawn + 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 activating this Effect, you may spend an extra minute and maintain Concentration. If you do, it has no Exertion cost, and you may destroy an object which has up to 3x larger dimensions, or up to 27x larger volume than the normal maximum size.

If you have access to the remains of an object you had previously damaged or destroyed, you may spend an Action to un-destroy it.

  • The shape of the destroyed material must be simple, such as a box or sphere. Bringing down large buildings requires an Intellect + Crafts roll to analyze the structure and may also require multiple activations. Buildings that are destroyed usually fall slowly or in pieces, creating an environmental hazard for a few Rounds prior to collapsing.
  • The amount of remains necessary to un-destroy an object must be at least equivalent to half the size of the original object. The GM may make exceptions to this at their discretion in circumstances where the method of destruction has altered the size significantly, but the remains you possess are still clearly the majority of the original object.
  • 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.

Chekhov's Gun

Created and held by Corpor Anderson.
An Ornate revolving pistol of Russian origin. Precious metals seem to coat the outside of the revolver.

Nothing unusual appears to happen when the gun is fired other than the fact that it never needs to be reloaded, the cylinder of the gun seems to constantly be full even after firing and ejecting a casing.

This weapon is a lot older than it seems, originally created in the early Russian Empire by a notoriously mysterious and supposedly supernatural weapon-smith.

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

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

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: Act Three - Roll Self Control after drawing this weapon. You have X number of rounds before you must attempt to fire this weapon at an Animate target, where X equals the number of successes rolled on Self-Control. On a Failure you must fire the weapon immediately after it is drawn. On a Botch the GM chooses the target.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Any Injury inflicted is considered Unstabilized no matter its Severity. The roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6. These wounds do not heal naturally, though Effects may still be used to heal them.
  • Infinite Ammo: This weapon never runs out of its standard ammunition.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Voodoo fetish

Created by Molly Pathor, looted by Carter Train.
...

...

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Select a Dead target within 50 feet. For dead targets, you must possess their something the target cared about..

The target can communicate in your language for the next 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.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

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 can be used as a container. It is roughly the same size as a 80 liter backpacking pack and just as difficult to conceal.

Your 80 liter backpacking pack holds 5 times what it normally could. Objects stored inside are weightless.

Living things can be stored in your 80 liter backpacking pack. They will have access to anything else inside and may attempt to break free, damaging or destroying the 80 liter backpacking pack in the process.

If your 80 liter backpacking pack is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.

Only you may open and close the container. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents

  • There is no cost to use your container.

This Artifact cannot be broken.

This Artifact's creator 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.

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.

The Skeleton Key

At first glance, this appears to be a standard, modern house key made of ivory. A close observer might compliment its skull-shaped head or usual material. No one would suspect it to be one of the Thief's most prized possessions: The Skeleton Key.

Spend an Action.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, locks, or locked targets within arm's reach of you. Cannot be used on Alien technology.

If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.

  • Any door or restraint that is fastened or shut with a mechanism may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. Can be used on control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems.
  • If you operate a locking mechanism through this Effect which has some other secondary effect (such as the ignition on a car causing the car to start) you may cause that effect as well.
  • 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.

Personal Shield Generator

The device itself is a metal hexagon that is worn on the belt and glows when active.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.

You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.

When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.

You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.

  • If you use this Effect to dodge as a Reaction, it succeeds without the need for a roll. Cannot be used as a Desperate Defense.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.

Umbrella Identification

This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport and just as difficult to conceal.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into an Object within the category of forms of identification. 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.