This gold ring twists and turns while Chloe sleeps.
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.
Anyone but this Artifact's creator must Exert their Mind to wear this artifact or activate any of its Effects.
If this Artifact is used by someone other than its creator, its creator is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The creator may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range. The user gets the feeling that they are being watched.
This Artifact's creator must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.
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.
I'm here to clean house, and nobody's going to stand in my way. My aura reeks of confidence, a controlling smile on my face. This radiant Ruby sits atop a golden veneer, placed on my tooth to utilize it's power. There is no point to testing your luck, you don't have the winning cards. You should leave now before you lose everything to me.
As I flash my winning grin, you can see the glint of a golden veneer on my tooth. Perched atop it is a radiant Ruby, the gem of my Pot-Winning Bluff. With the curl of my smile, the room seems to shimmer with anticipation. The Ruby sparkles, emitting a red hue across the table. A psychic repulsion field emanates from me, extending out in every direction for 45 feet. It's like a force field of confidence, daring anyone to challenge my hand.
Any fool who can't see past my bluff knows that they're going to bust. They're trapped in their own defeat, pushed back to the edge of the radius like the pill of a spinning roulette wheel. They realize they've already lost before the first card is even dealt.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Any Animate targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
Create a repulsion field which extends out 45 feet from you in every direction, and lasts for the next 5 Rounds. Any Animate targets within the field that failed to resist cannot move any closer towards you. If they were within 45 feet from you when you activated the effect, they are immediately pushed back to the edge of the repulsion field.
You must maintain Concentration during this Effect.
When you activate this effect, you may designate any number of specific individuals to exclude from the Effect. Anyone designated in this way is unaffected by the repulsion field, and can approach you as normal.
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.
These delicate alloyed hoop earrings are adorned with shards of obsidian and dark garnet, glinting mysteriously before fading back into shadow. They grant Maggie a unique form of sense denial, subtly manipulating sight and sound to blur her presence, as if she drifts just beyond the edge of perception. In time, as Maggie’s bond with them deepens, they will allow her to vanish into the safety of oblivion. Maggie acquired these earrings in a forgotten mountain market, after trading a handful of charms and talismans with a wandering merchant. Rumor had it they were crafted by an old Romani sorceress who sought to escape the mortal gaze, leaving only a “murmuring invitation” for those brave enough to follow her into shadow. Now, they hold a treasured place in Maggie’s collection, from maybe an ancestor of times past.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts 30 minutes.
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.
You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.
The Pleading Jackal of Opening is a curious trinket from Maggie’s collection, a pendant strung on a simple leather braid necklace, fitted with copper wire. The jackal itself is carved from black stone, frozen in a pleading posture, like a desert dog begging for food. It’s not just for show, though—when knocked against a locked door or container, and with a shameless plea for it to please open, the jackal’s charm works its magic. Its reliable magic it can unlock nearly anything, for the price of good manners. A fitting companion for a grave robber who knows the art of coaxing secrets from stubborn doors.
Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within 20 feet.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
Indiscreet Maid's Talisman is an amulet that allows Maggie to understand all spoken and written languages, provided she takes a moment to concentrate on the pendant. The pendant, crafted from rose quartz and sculpted into the shape of a tongue, bears the image of a tower on between the tongue and upper lip. When activated, the amulet grants her the ability to decipher even the most obscure and forgotten tongues, unlocking secrets and hidden meanings. However, the power requires focus—without taking a moment to concentrate, the knowledge remains elusive, as if the languages are still shrouded in mystery.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
You may understand and communicate to Creatures, humans, and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.
While active and speaking to a single individual, you may choose to use glib tongue. When you do, anything you say to them (even gibberish) will be exactly what they want to hear. You gain no understanding of what that might be.
The cornerstone incantation of the Blackstar Sisterhood and the reason they are feared as powerful heralds of curses: a warlock adds her own mixture of incense powder to the Light of The Abyss, making it briefly emmit a sickly green light and an acrid odor, akin to rotting grass, upon which the curse takes effect.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet. You must use up incense powder in order to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.
If you succeed, either modify an existing Battle Scar on the target or inflict a new one. You determine the new Battle Scar, limited by the contested Outcome:
You may affect up to 3 targets within range.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
A devastating and disturbing physical attack, also belonging to the tradition of Blackstar Sisterhood - Archmistress Oitira of Byzantium is a martyred figure whose wounds at the hands of religious fanatics are now honored in the incantion, which also bears her name. The swirling smoke and arcane sigils are changed by the application of a different incense mixture, now coloring the ominous flame in shades of red, vermillion, and dark orange which take the shape of malevolent eyes that scan the environment, treating all as both prey to consume and threats to destroy. These eyes emit a multitude of piercing beams of energy that sear into the target, cause intense pain: the beams tear through armor, flesh and bone, leaving deep, scarring and agonizing wounds behind.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 300 feet. You must use up incense powder in order to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + 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 0. The target's Armor is completely ignored.
You may opt to have this Effect spread to all targets within 5 feet of the initial target, then to all unaffected targets within 5 feet of them, and so on, jumping a maximum of 5 times. No target may be hit more than once. You cannot hit yourself.
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.
If the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see as monstrous eyes appear in the smoke, locking in the targets with malevolent glee.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
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: Paranoia. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
The most basic tool in a seamstress' repertoire is the needle with a string threaded through its eye. Ironic in nature, needles patch up holes by creating countless more, piercing a fabric again and again until all the damage disappears under a newly sewn on patch. Though brutally cruel on the surface, the average sewing needle is too small and delicate to cause any meaningful injuries to anything other than the average article of clothing.
The Seamstress' Needle is a knife-sized sewing needle, sharp and refined into a lethal form. While at rest, the needle lacks a thread, though one is quick to appear once the supernatural elements of the needle come into play.
Not Quite Flying:
A red thread manifests itself, winding through the needle's eye and wrapping about the user's wrist. The string extends as the needle flies through the air, only stopping its expansion once the blade's destination has been reached. Then, the string pulls the thrower towards the needle, tracing its flight path with the user in tow, disappearing once the needle is reunited with the hand that threw it.
Pin:
As though being guided by an invisible hand, the needle twists through the body of the target and the closest surface, moving in a pattern identical to the motions typical of a normal needle and thread. A red thread follows the needle, binding the target to the surface. Once a stable connection has been made, the needle hangs loose, suspended by a tangle of strings.
Return:
A red thread appears, weaving through the needle's eye and winding back towards the user. The string wraps around the user's wrist, and the needle swiftly pulls itself along the string, eventually finding itself back in the hand of the user.
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:
A ball of light, blue and white in color, that when activated, will take ink from a bottle, and uses the ink as a conduit to draw and transform the terrain. The ink solidifies into either darkness or light, allowing a higher level of construct to be made. Yet this ball, is connected to one's soul, the darkness gives one nightmares, while the light disorient one body and makes it easily nauseous. Faintly, you can hear eldritch whispering as well, that makes you paranoid from within.
Exert your Mind (unless you are Sculpting) and spend an Action. Select a Location within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless Temporal spatial grafting is active. You must be in an area abundant with Space or a environment similar to space.
Select one of the following alterations to create out of Light and Darkness Energy Construction Materials originating at the target:
The alteration begins to form when you activate this Effect and finishes forming on your initiative in the next Round. Until it finishes forming, it is not guaranteed to function.
This alteration lasts indefinitely but may be prematurely destroyed or altered. Your alterations may be broken through with appropriate tools. Anyone attempting to break through must roll Brawn + a relevant Ability. A cumulative Outcome of 3 across all attempts breaks a hole large enough to move through. See the extended system text for GM guidance on various tools.
You may sculpt your walls, domes, or tunnels as you create them, without any additional activation time or cost.
You may opt to have your alteration form immediately. If you do, it falls apart in exactly one Round.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
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: Nightmares and Paranoia. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
Luminous, Taking his soul orb and binding it to his soul, the object being a catalyst for his spells, magic, and more.
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.
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.
With the soul orb, you can throw it up into the air, crushing a bottle of ink, the ink spread out becoming the inky darkness of space and the glass shards becoming the stars of the environment... grafting his own space and his own time directly into the current enviroment.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within 60 feet of you. You may choose not to pay this Effect’s activation cost. When you activate this Effect, if it is active from a previous activation where you didn’t pay, that Effect ends. You must use up Ink Bottle in order to activate this Effect.
You create a hemispherical dome of Outer space and Constellation 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:
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
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: Vertigo and Weak Stomach. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
Using one's soul... the soul orb pulls and yanks ones soul from the depths of hell itself. Though the soul is tortured and obviously in pain... For one that is evil, this is a fitting punishment.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip), spend one minute, and select a specific place, person, or item within arm’s reach. Select a Dead target within arm's reach with at least half its skeletal structure remaining. This Effect cannot be used unless Used within spatial time grafting and No one see's this effect. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you lost hand. You must use up Ink bottle in order to activate this Effect.
Your target rises as an Animate being. They remember their past life and retain their same personality. They can communicate as they would have been able to in life. They may roll Mind, Difficulty 8, to resist any commands you give them.
The creature lasts until it strays at least 80 feet from the chosen place, person, or item 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 Attributes are all the same as they were in life. Raised creatures have access to any Effects they had in life.
Luminous takes his soul orb, where as before, with Light of Redemption, he would access a character sheet, tampering into their very soul and re-editing their sheet to restore their scars. Using Light magic as a conduit to access their soul, redeeming them... now, his inner darkness has come to the front.
Using his dark magic as a conduit, different from his normal character editing, he now directly floods a target sheet with darkness. The darkness slowly corrupting their mind, before he readjust them with light magic, putting himself in a superior position over them. Replacing any time the target has felt joy, an absolute bless, or any time they have felt happy or proud, Luminous was the reason for it. He was there for them.
Exert your Mind (unless Space-Time Grafting is active) and spend 1 minute. Select a Sapient or Animate target within arm's reach. This Effect cannot be used unless no one is actively watching luminous when he starts casting this, Luminous has command over the creature/revived being, and Used on a revived being/undead. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you Traumatic Brain Injury. You must use up ink in order to activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 8.
If the contested Outcome is positive, a specific period of time (up to 1 week long) 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 may also choose to only alter a single specific detail rather than an entire period, such as a password, phone number, directions, etc.
You may use this Power to detect and repair any altered memories in the Target's mind.
Affected targets will invent new memories to justify the inconsistencies. For instance, if their memory was altered to include a new friend they don’t have, they may invent further memories of meeting that friend, spending time with them, etc.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Luminous is actively and obviously invading the being mind, intruding on it.
The spy can do up their passport to take on the appearance of any valid form of identification they may need.
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.
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.
Dazzle Glasses are advanced "black-tech" espionage gear. They can be styled as any sort sunglasses. When the wearer is recorded, they will quickly flash a non-visible laser into the recording device, destroying it after only a moment of footage is taken.
This Effect activates whenever you are recorded. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Non-Sapient Object within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Perception + Culture 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.
The Axe of Legend's blade has been imbued with the metal of the dark lord of rock and roll. It shreds chords and flesh. The rock god commanding it may recall it to their hand at will.
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:
The 255TE "Lancer" Rife fires an extremely deadly spike of plasma at its targets. It comes standard with a volume control, allowing the soldier to mute its normally fearsome lightning crack report for stealth missions. When not in use, it can collapse into a small metal disk that can fit into any utility belt.
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: