These days, being smart is hardly enough to solve mysteries. Sometimes you have to shoot them in the face. Sometimes you want to shoot them in the face, because forgiveness is a learned weakness.
Upon you, we bestow knowledge accrued from three minds past. Never thought you'd become an ammunitions expert, did you?
Well?
You have everything you need.
What are you waiting for?
On shooting:
Shooting a gun is very much like deductive reasoning. At least, that's how Koriol imagines it'd be - he's barely held a gun his entire life, and suddenly he finds that he needs it more than ever. Ready, aim, shoot - you'd have to be pretty accurate in both cases.
On schematics:
As the 4th Knobbler, Koriol has gained access to schematics that allow him to forge certain weapons. While the Knoblobber is far from a normal gun, all he really needs to do is change up the size and shape of the barrel and cylinder. The mechanics can't be that different. Now, you have a revolver... hey, who else used revolvers, again? No, not that guy, the other one...
This Artifact can be used as a crossbow. It is roughly the same size as a crossbow and just as difficult to conceal.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +2 Weapon Damage. Attacks do not require a successful called shot to do 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: Doorknob Compulsion: Anytime that you come across a doorknob or doorknob-shaped object, you must succeed a Self-Control roll to resist the urge to steal it. If you fail, you may Exert your Mind to overcome the urge. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
You also gain the following effects:
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 the true owner of this Artifact ever dies, it immediately disappears. At least one week later, it will appear to Jacob Marcel Ignacio De Reyes Cruz and reveal its power to them. They become its new true owner.
If this Artifact is used by someone other than its true owner, its true owner is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The true owner may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range.
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.
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 otherwise sleek coat is covered with bloodstains of an unknown origin.
Some employees may brag about the bloodstain as a symbol of courage, but it has been there since the archetype was extracted. Perhaps it is the commemoration of all the tragedies of the past and the future.
People used to be afraid of machines in the beginning, but a mechanical rebellion soon became a myth of the past in our world."
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You have 4 Armor, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except WHITE 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 penetration. It cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.
"The sharp sawtooth of the grinder makes a clean cut through its enemy. Its operation is simple and straightforward, but that doesn't necessarily make it easy to wield.
As machines have no morals of their own, there was no clear boundary between good and evil. This disregard for value is precisely reflected by the weapon’s reliable dicing force.
People used to be afraid of machines in the beginning, but a mechanical rebellion soon became a myth of the past in our world."
This Artifact can be used as a thrusting sword. It is roughly the same size as a thrusting sword and just as difficult to conceal.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +6 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
a user, perhaps inspired by the lore of the leprechaun, holds a shillelagh, a traditional Irish wooden walking stick. With a sense of wonder and anticipation, they mimic the actions of the mythical leprechaun and tap the shillelagh on the ground. The moment the stick contacts the surface, something extraordinary happens.
The ground beneath their feet begins to shimmer and swirl, opening up to reveal a glowing portal. It’s as if the tap of the shillelagh has unlocked a hidden, mystical doorway. The user, filled with a mix of excitement and a hint of apprehension, finds themselves suddenly dropping through this portal.
As they fall, the world around them transforms. Colors and lights blend in a kaleidoscope of hues, creating an ethereal tunnel around them. The sensation is otherworldly, as if they’re traveling through a conduit of magic and ancient energy.
Suddenly, the journey comes to an end as they emerge from a hole in the ground in a completely different environment.
Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Select a Location within your line of sight.
You are transported directly to the chosen Location. Anyone who is touching you as you Travel will be brought along with you. You must wait an hour before activating this effect again.
If you traverse any Hills and Mounds for one minute, you may activate this Effect and travel to the edge of any other Hills and Mounds that you’re aware of, regardless of range.
As the activation ritual is performed, the origami wings unfold from the user's back and extend ten feet on all sides. Due to their modular structure-- being composed of countless amounts of paper sheets and feathers-- the wings are effectively immune to damage, as they repair themselves with replacement feathers the moment they are destroyed.
The calibration sequence to connect the wings to the user requires them to extend their arms to the side (reaching their wingspan) and read aloud a pangram (ex: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog").
The wings connect themselves to the user's inner Source or Mind to power their movements through the calibration sequence. Basically just imagine the wings the paper girl from Naruto uses (Konan).
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: activating and calibrating the wings with the user. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. 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 origami wings. You require 10 feet of clear space on all sides to fly. You may add 50 feet to Movement you take while flying.
You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:
In addition to its normal function, this device has a strange app or mode titled "Reconstruction". Opening it causes the device to scan you and collect a DNA sample from your skin. The device will then analyze your DNA and prompt you to select or describe the needed repair, before dispensing a quantity of grey/green "goo" from its charge port, which will reconstruct your tissues, bones, and organs to restore the affected area. The whole process takes about an hour. The app shows a "Nanite" level indicator that when used will reduce by 33% The bar will fill 33% over the course of one day. Any attempt to use the device with the nanite level below 34% will elicit a response of "Insufficient fuel".
With his Mind/machine interface in place, Doctor Lazcowicz is now experimenting with new functions. In this case, after extruding a small number of nanites into an existing computer, smartphone, or smartwatch he can use them to reconstruct the internals of the device. Enhancing onboard cameras into medical scanners and using the raw materials of the circuit boards within to construct a nanite factory, the device now acts as a controller and dispenser for specialized nanite piles that will reconstruct scarred and damaged body parts at a cellular level to make them good as new! with their micronized technology, they can even preserve the original function of the device by recreating its circuitry on a nanotic scale. Mundane functions still require normal power though, and trying to power on the device when the mundane battery is dead will allow only use of the "Reconstruction" app.
Attempting to dispense nanites while charging the normal battery is... ill advised.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an hour. Select a Battle Scar on yourself to treat.
The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.
This device is a piece of chrome the size and shape of the back of a spoon. When placed against the skin, small hypodermic needles sprout from the device and attach it to the user's bloodstream. There, it filters and releases lifesaving drugs into the bloodstream, granting complete immunity from contracting new diseases and added resiliency in all other cases.
WARNING: The immunizing drugs have been shown to reduce inhibitions in test subjects.
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:
The mad scientist can craft steel helmets that protect their wearers from mental influence and attack.
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: