A wide smile spreads across my face as the Amethyst sparkles, dazzling the target into submission. This fixture on my teeth is imbued with a forceful magic that makes me appear that much more enticing, how could a charming man such as myself ever wish harm upon them?
In the hands – or rather, on the tooth – of its possessor, the Smile of the Ascended Ace becomes a conduit for mesmerizing influence. A wide grin adorned with the sparkling amethyst, coupled with a few choice words, can sway hearts, bend wills, and alter the course of destinies. Yet, as with all things of such potency, there comes a price.
For those who dare to wield the Smile of the Ascended Ace, a peculiar battle scar manifests over time. A burn mark, shaped in the likeness of an ace of hearts, emerges upon the skin, glowing with an ethereal light and causing a stinging sensation whenever its wearer indulges in deceit at the gambling tables. This scar serves as a reminder of the consequences that accompany the misuse of such formidable power.
Despite the allure of its abilities, the Smile of the Ascended Ace remains both a blessing and a burden to its bearer. Its influence can shape fortunes and sway the course of events, yet it demands caution and restraint lest its wielder succumb to the temptations of absolute control. In the cosmic dance of power and consequence, this legendary artifact stands as a testament to the delicate balance between influence and responsibility.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend at least one Action. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action and a conditional request. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action.
This Effect ends if you are stunned, fall asleep, go unconscious, are incapacitated, die, or if your total Stress ever exceeds 5.
Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: A Burn Mark in the Shape of an Ace of Hearts that Glows and Stings Whenever He is Cheating at a Table Game. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
The second charm on Trinity's necklace is a silver skull, with fletching buried in one of its sockets. As she pulls it off her neck it becomes a crossbow whose stock, barrel, and fore-grip are made of sharpened human remains. The limbs are made of four antlers in an X pattern, and as she draws back its string the pain of the spirits inhabiting it concentrate on the point she is aiming as she pulls the trigger.
Sometimes, when she shoots, it looks like she herself is thrown forward through a single point in space - appearing where she was aiming.
One day, she will purify it such that the spirits are not in pain.
This Artifact can be used as a crossbow. It is roughly the same size as a crossbow but can be collapsed into a skull charm on her necklace, with fletching sticking out of one of the eye sockets and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.Unless wielded by one who has accepted its whispers, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +4 Weapon Damage. Attacks do not require a successful called shot to do damage.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their body and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Battle Scar: Whispers: You suffer a -2 dice penalty to any roll which benefits from hearing. You cannot distinguish the words of others in loud situations. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
This item is a living thing. When targeted, it counts as a Living Creature in addition to its other target types. If destroyed or abandoned for more than two days, it dies and becomes unusable.
You also gain the following effects:
With the turn of the page and some quick hand signs, a wicked bolt of necrotic force arcs towards the target like lightning.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling Body, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4. The target's material Armor is completely ignored.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see The afflicted person begins to rot and decay from the inside out.
This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.
You draw forth a circle of magical energy, conjuring up a small grey creature to serve your beck and call. While mischievous, they're loyal to their master's orders, able to deal with most tasks easily enough.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon up to 3 Sapient Small Little 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 3 minions active at a time.
The Grimoire is now bound to your very soul, gilded in heavy chains of gold, the pages drip blood as they are turned and chains rattle restlessly with every hefty thump of the cover.
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 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 blade is unbelievably sharp, capable of slicing through many materials with unnatural ease. Even people.
This Artifact can be used as a knife. It is roughly the same size as a knife but can be collapsed into Mask and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.
Attack by rolling (Dexterity or Brawn) + (Melee or Brawl), Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +5 Weapon Damage.
The mask wraps and warps around the user's face, changing their physical features and allowing them to turn into another physical shape.
Spend a minute.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts until you either activate a new disguise, or choose to end the effect.
The new appearance may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You cannot alter your clothes. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
The axe, easily as tall as most men flies through the air spinning like a top as it bisects even large vehicles in twain with ease, and on each impact it rebounds, seeking the blood of the next largest target, the insatiable axe an excellent tool for dealing with the hordes of smaller scavengers that tended to congregate around large predators as much as it deals with the massive beasts in question before returning unerringly to the hand of the wielder, as if it had never been lost in the first place.
This Artifact can be used as a throwing axe. It is roughly at least twice as large as a throwing axe and cannot be concealed on your person or disassembled for storage.
Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Outcome + 6 Weapon Damage. The target's Armor is reduced to 1/2, rounded up against this damage. Attacks
You also gain the following effects:
Whenever wearing this garment, you feel embraced by the robes, protecting you in a way. Getting shot at, stabbed, and anything beyond that, seems to be absorbed within the robes and dissipate, to a degree, before dropping bits of blood, dissolving into the ground to an arrow where the shot/wound ended up from.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You have 4 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.
Whenever your Armor reduces incoming Damage, you are immediately made aware of the source of the Damage. You may pinpoint their location for 30 seconds.
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.
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
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”).
The airship of solitude is the mad scientist's lair and preferred mode of travel. Not only does it include a full science laboratory, it can be collapsed into an incredibly small canvas cube and easily transported. The mad scientist may pilot the ship alone or rely on its autopilot features for ultimate convenience.
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:
The lightning bracers can be activated to summon a thunderbolt into the wearer's hand. Throwing these thunderbolts makes an incredibly loud boom. Once a thunderbolt is in hand, the wearer can throw as many as they wish. The electricity from these bolts will jump between nearby targets.
This Artifact produces ephemeral projectiles that can be used as a javelin.
Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The Future Soldier's PSG is capable of briefly supercharging its effectiveness with a jolt of Omega Cell energy. While active, the future soldier glows with an extremely bright golden light.
While the shield is supercharged, the Future Soldier cannot move or see the outside world, but they are completely isolated from anything that occurs outside the shield.
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.
The Scepter of Ang-Kapal is a gruesome device fashioned to look like a skeletal arm clutching a glass eye. When used, blood from the person holding is drawn into the eye where it swirls with dark energy. The eye turns to a nearby corpse and shudders, reviving the creature. The creature does not retain any of its memories or personality, but it is absolutely loyal to whoever is holding the scepter.
The Scepter of Ang Kepal has the unfortunate side effect of driving its owner mad.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. 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.
Your target rises as an Animate being. The raised creature is totally mindless, with no memory of its past life or hint of its old personality. They cannot communicate. They will follow any command you speak.
The creature lasts for eight hours or until it dies again. It is revived at full health. Any Injuries it had in life are not accounted for when determining its penalties or progression towards re-death, though they may affect its ability to perform certain actions at GM's discretion.
Raised creatures have their Abilities set to the same that they were in life. Their Charisma and Intellect are set to 1, but their Dexterity, Brawn and Perception are the same as they had in life. A raised creature cannot use any Effects.
Destroying one of your zombies requires a called shot to the head or heart. All other Injuries zombies suffer result in Battle Scars only, limiting their mobility and effectiveness in other ways.
Your revived targets deal 2 Weapon Damage with their unarmed attacks.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.