Legendary Artifact

Commune Notebook

Created and held by Elestren.
Leather bound notebook with blank pages

Write what you want to say in the book and present it to the viewer. The words written will automatically be translated into their language. Once it has been written, the words will slowly fade away, leaving the page blank again.


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

You may communicate to humans and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language.

This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.

  • The target of "human" refers to any target that speaks a human language.
  • When reading written communications, you get no information beyond what the writer was intending to communicate.

Community Artifacts

Fractal Spiders

Created by Jason Valent, given to Ethos.
A small black box with a red button. When the button is pushed, the wielder proceeds to vomit a host of ghostly spiders that crawl into the targeted device.

Jason always had an interest in technology and making it better. Now he makes small spiders that can attach to technology and do his bidding. The technology is draining and takes to to complete. The small spiders will attach to the piece of technology and integrate into the tech by moving it or forming together to plug into it.

What makes the spiders creepy is that it is a small swarm of spider bots they have dark red eyes and brown and black fur.

(NSFW) https://www.latestly.com/socially/social-viral/spiders-swarm-australian-homes-to-escape-nsw-floods-viral-videos-will-give-you-nightmare-2387658.html (NSFW)

The spiders are small and integrate into the technology. Jason keeps the spiders in a small black box that he uses to operate.


Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute to activate. Select a Device within 20 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.

When targeting non-computer devices, you may operate switches, buttons, dials, levers, and latches.

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

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.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.

Parasitic Tool Bag

Created by Bruno Pegul, given to Mike Carson.
A brown canvas tool bag with molle webbing and a shoulder strap. Appears normal when opened by others, but when the owner unzips it, the zipper "teeth" turn out to be actual tiny grey pointed teeth covering a disproportionately large inner chamber that feels uncomfortably like the inner flesh of a mouth.

Bruno creates a bag by coating the inside of the bag with his blood. After a day, the bag absorbs the blood and comes to life. It requires raw meat to live. A new owner can bond to the bag by feeding it some of their blood over two days. The bag can't see, but it can purr, growl, and whine based on its mood.


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

Your shoulder bag holds 3 times what it normally could. Objects stored inside are weightless.

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

If your shoulder bag 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 your 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.

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.

  • There is no cost to use your container.

The Silver Ring of Gyges

Created by Vel, given to Ware.
A ring of Silver. It has elvish inscribed on it. Along with a small engraving of an arrow. Matching to The Maiden. There is an additional Elvish inside. The phonetic pronunciation of Edith

The artifact, a ring of metal, shimmers slightly, spreading a mist that hides the user slowly disappear into nothing as its user rubs the inscription along the artifact. A bit of Elvish from J.R.R. Token, but saying something different.

"Keep me secret, keep me safe"

Vel made this artifact with a ritual pulling on the long history of legends of artifacts of invisibility.

The ring of Gyges is the first, and the one Vel picked the name for
The second is the helm of hades, the source of the mist that powers the effect.
The last, and the most well known, the one ring, and tempered by the other two stories

Vel starts by casting the metal for the base of the artifact, typically a ring. As Vel does so they tell extracts of the story of the ring of Gyges

Vel then lets the ring cool, surrounding it in steam as they talk about the stories of the helm of hades.

Vel finally carves in elvish the words into the ring. The patterns are common enough that the ring looks recognizable as something akin to the one ring, drawing power from people's conception of that. The specifics of the wording serve as another specific bit of meaning, anchoring the power of the ring in the point of time when the ring was harmless, and connecting it to the other 2 stories of less malevolent effects.

Notes:

[So my thought process for this is that the most well known ring of invisibility and symbol of invisibility is the ring from Lord of the Rings.

When trying to impart an effect, Vel doesn’t want to make a ring that destroys lives and minds. So, the other stories, and the words in elvish are a way of anchoring the power Vel gets from the big story, pulling the other stories of similar tools, and using them to divert the effects the one ring is supposed to have.

I could probably switch to just the Greek stories to make it a little cleaner, but I think if you are making a ring of invisibility using the cultural understanding of rings of invisibility, you need to address the one ring, or it will slip in.]


Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts one minute.

  • Sight:You are completely obscured from sight. All attempts to detect you via sight fail. Attempts via other senses where sight would assist are rolled at -2 dice.

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. Activating a targeted or obvious Effect, attacking, or being Injured ends the Effect. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for one minute.

  • 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.

Knobbin

Created and held by Koriol Celestheryne.
It's a bin o' knobs!

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.

Book of the Devourer

Created and held by Lau Boros (real).
A tome bound in layers of human and snakeskin, with worn pages and smelling of tar. The pages are written in Coptic.

Lau can spend time putting ingredients together and performing ritual surgery on a target to add features.

Blessings are boons granted passively through possession of the book. Further scribing of rituals would allow for more powerful effects, but requiring time and effort to perform.


Exert your Mind and spend eight hours. Select a Living target within arm's reach. 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 +2 dice to a particular non-combat 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 motorcycle helmet.
  • Armor: You have 2 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 briefcase (15 liters).
  • Zippy: Your Free Movement is increased by 10 feet.
  • Maws and Claws: Your unarmed attacks do +2 Weapon Damage instead of -1.

The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

  • 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.
  • 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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

  • The called shot requires 4 Outcome dealing 4+ Damage or 6 Outcome dealing 2+ Damage.
  • The sacrificial Injury received from activating this Effect cannot be prevented by any means or healed before 1 day has passed. It is shared with all Effects that use sacrifice. This Injury does not requires Stabilization or cause Battle Scars when it becomes Severe.
  • 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.