Crafted Artifact

The wind up key

Created and held by Vel.
Currently Destroyed.
A key like the kind which appears on the back of mechanical wind up toys

You place the windup key to the back of a toy, or similarly human representing golem. Twist for a minute until your hand begins to hurt. The toy will animate and grow in size to a friendly helper of the one holding the windup key.

If there is no toy, starting the process as if there were one will slowly make a basic enlarged teddy bear.

This artifact relies on the cultural idea of toys, and the cultural idea of wind up toys, especially in the minds of children. The basic idea of these wind up toys is that you wind them up, then let them go and they move around doing toy things, seeming almost alive. This artifact takes that idea, and merges it with a few other ideas of ways to create useful servants to make an artifact capable of making useful friendly minions.

The ritual to create this artifact relies on a ritual involving
- A variety of children's toys which are popular in the shared imagination
- A collection of stories and myths about the Hebrew golumn
- Mary Shelly's frankenstein
- Carefully shaping the pattern of a wind up key while reading various relevant parts of these stories

Exert your Mind and spend one minute.

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

  • Attacking: Minions can make melee range attacks with 4 dice to attack.
  • Body: Minions have 4 Body.
  • Movement: Minions can move 45 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 may use equipment.
  • Actions: Minions cannot dodge or Defend. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. Your minion is able to Medicine with a 7-dice pool.

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 may only use this Effect 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.
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Community Artifacts

The Faith Of Men

Created and held by Izaac Laven.
A simple steel lighter

*Click
The flame burns the end of the cigarette and smoke spills from the end. The cigarette smoke spills out and lightly fills the area. In the Zone, greek columns of smoke form a large crossroad no matter the direction anyone inside moves the crossroad appears to go on forever.

A vision fills the user's eyes. A three-formed woman is seen holding a torch its smoke fills the space. The user sees the woman spreading the smoke with the torch. Her faces smile and she opens her mouth to talk then it is over.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 60 feet of you. You must use up A cigarette in order to activate this Effect. 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.

You create a hemispherical dome of smoke originating at the chosen Location, with a radius of 60 feet, and lasting for 5 minutes. The area inside your zone is affected in any number of the following ways:

  • Disorienting: Any time someone moves within or through the zone, they must roll Mind at Difficulty 8. If they fail or botch, they move a similar distance in a different direction of the GM’s choice.
  • Overwhelming: Anyone inside the zone cannot Exert their Mind, and Mind rolls made within the zone are at -2 dice.
  • Slippery: All movement distances are halved within the zone. Anyone who wishes to move further than their Free Movement within a Round must roll Dexterity + Athletics. If they fail, their movement is limited to their Free Movement and they fall down.
The zone expands immediately to its full size from the chosen Location, but will be stopped from spreading in a particular direction by any barriers or cover, and can only fit through openings large enough to fit a grown adult. If a new opening appears while the Effect is still active, it will finish spreading in that direction.

Any time someone leaves your zone, they remain affected by your Zone Effects for an additional 3 Rounds as if they were still within the zone.

Your zone blends with the environment, seeming to arise naturally from local effects. Observers who roll Perception + Alertness and achieve an Outcome 4 or higher notice that it is unnatural.

  • Affected targets may still spend Source.
  • 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.

Silver crown

Created and held by Xx1988AnimeLover22xX.
This is a Silver crown with an ember gem.

A magical crown that inspires beautiful hearts to come together

Spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless Only appears when you are a magical girl. 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 4.

If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.

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

  • 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.

Soulbound Chains

Created and held by Dr. George Elliot.

Bloody and rusted chains will shoot out and turn ethereal before ensnaring the target and binding them in place.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Intellect + Crafts at Difficulty 6. the target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If you succeed, your target will be restricted at their location by an intangible, ethereal binding. They cannot move to a new location, and, if your Contested Outcome was greater than their Mind divided by 2, they are encased and cannot take any physical Actions until they break free.

Restricted targets may attempt to break the binding and escape by spending an Action and rolling Mind at Difficulty 7. Breaking free requires a total cumulative Outcome equal or greater than the original Contested Outcome.

You may use this Effect as a Reaction to contest any physical Action a target is taking. Excess Outcome does not restrict the target. This interrupts Concentration.

Your bindings affect intangible beings like ghosts.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see screams from the chains as its activated.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • For entities whose movement could be considered an attack (e.g. a kaiju), the GM may rule that they are merely slowed instead of fully restricted.
  • 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.

Booster Boots

Created by Jason Valent, given to Minerva McAlaster.
A pair of red, white, and blue ski boots with the Valent Arms logo.

The booster boots are able to create thrust for a limited amount of time. They are Rocket Boots, so generate exhaust & noise, though expert craftsmanship reduces the sound to manageable levels (about the same as a vacuum)

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect remains active for two hours.

As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.

You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.

You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:

  • Icarus: If you fly higher than 50 feet in the air, you must roll 1 die, Difficulty 6. If you fail, this Effect ends early and cannot be reactivated for an hour. Make this roll again at every interval of 50 feet off the ground (100 feet, 150 feet, etc).
  • Earthbound: You cannot fly or glide in an atmosphere thin enough to be unbreathable.
  • Commercial Flight: This Effect is suppressed any time you are over-encumbered. However, you may carry up to 1 passengers without increasing your Encumbrance. Any passengers must maintain physical contact with you or another passenger, or they will fall.

  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.

The booster boots are able to create thrust for a limited amount of time. The boots are blue and white and use thruster to stay in the air. In the background you can hear a Dodger's game.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect remains active for two hours.

As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.

You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.

You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:

  • Icarus: If you fly higher than 50 feet in the air, you must roll 1 die, Difficulty 6. If you fail, this Effect ends early and cannot be reactivated for an hour. Make this roll again at every interval of 50 feet off the ground (100 feet, 150 feet, etc).
  • Earthbound: You cannot fly or glide in an atmosphere thin enough to be unbreathable.
  • Weight-Limited: This Effect is suppressed any time you are over-encumbered.

  • Any penalties to dice or movement, including from Encumbrance, are applied as normal. If your movement is reduced to 0 due to encumbrance, you will begin to sink down to the ground.
  • You may activate this Effect while in midair, allowing you to slow and survive any free fall.

Portable Sun

Created by Andromeda, given to The Fentinator.
A gift for The Fentinator.

"Please think carefully before you use this."

The Portable Sun appears to be a small sphere (slightly larger than a tennis ball) that resembles a miniature sun. The artifact emits a faint light and is warm to the touch. The Portable Sun's texture is weirdly fuzzy and glass-like, feeling similar to how one would expect television static to feel.

When activated, the artifact will glow brighter for a moment, before quickly launching a fiery solar flare at the target. The flames dance through the open air, fizzling out into nothing if they fail to find a suitable target. Upon colliding with a target, the solar flare sets it ablaze.

Having learned about the possibility of crafting magical items during the events of Don't Look Up, Andromeda sought to craft something of her own. By channelling her mind, magic, and passion, she was able to create the first Portable Sun.

Spend an Action. Select a target within 20 feet which has both fuel and oxygen available (if you are starting a new fire).

You may start a new fire as large as a torch's flame at your target. Your fires require fuel and oxygen in order to continue burning.

Lighting a target on fire deals 2 Damage each Round on your turn, starting in the Round after the one in which they caught fire. This Damage is reduced by Armor, but the target’s Armor rating will be shredded by any Damage dealt, destroying material Armor once it reaches 0.

You may extinguish flames as a Reaction. This does not extend to explosives.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Your fires may be extinguished with appropriate Actions and materials. Stop, drop, and rolling to extinguish requires spending an Action and making a Dexterity + Athletics roll, with an Outcome of 2 putting out the flames.
  • If the target is larger than your flame size, the Armor destruction creates a weak point instead of applying to the entire target.
  • 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 Artifact Crafting Gifts

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

You get +0 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Naturally Resistant: Any time you make a Mind resistance roll, the individual who you are resisting must Exert their Mind, or your resistance succeeds automatically.
  • Clash Of Wills: If you fail to fully resist an Effect, your Outcome is considered to be 0.

  • These bonuses apply only to Mind rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to Trauma rolls or self-control rolls.

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

You get +2 dice to any Body resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:

  • Survivor: You are immune to all non-Alien diseases.
  • All Brawn No Brain: You suffer a -2 dice penalty on Mind resistance rolls.

  • These bonuses apply only to Body rolls made to resist Effects and other supernatural phenomena. They do not apply to other contexts such as attacks made while under the Creature Transformation Effect.