Legendary Artifact

Jonathan

Created and held by Louie G.
A plunger.

The plunger’s head sticks to the control mechanism of the vehicle, such as handlebars or a gearstick.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact and you are piloting any vehicle.

You receive +2 dice to any rolls to pilot a vehicle.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Trauma to manifest over the course of a day: Free Bird: You must roll Self-Control each time you could drive erratically and dangerously, and must do so on a failure.. If you lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next month.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Afterburner: Your vehicle has a 25% faster top speed and you may Exert your Mind to accelerate to its top speed in a single Round.
  • Daredevil: Damage you and your passengers take from vehicle collisions is halved (rounded up) and the result is limited to a maximum of 5.
  • Drive-By: You may drive or pilot your vehicle as a Free Action, without taking any penalty on other Actions.
  • Jump: If going off a ramp, your jumps bring you twice as far and twice as high. If not, you may Exert your Mind to jump a minimum of 5 feet vertical and 15 feet horizontal.

The plunger appears to blur as if it was spinning. When it unblurs, the plunger takes on the form of the chosen firearm.

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

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal 1 Weapon Damage +2 Bonus Damage. The target's Armor is fully effective against this damage.

This item is a living thing. It counts as a Creature when targeted. If destroyed or abandoned for more than two days, it dies and becomes unusable.

You also gain the following effects:

  • You may spend a Quick Action to change this firearm's base stats into those of any other basic firearm.
  • Quick Fingers: Drawing your weapon is a Free Action as long as it is on your person. You may reload as a Free Action.
  • Silencer: Shots you fire can be made silent at will.

  • Changing this weapon's base type affects its range, Weapon Damage, concealability, and roll. Other mechanics of the chosen base firearm (such as the tripod requirement for sniper rifles) apply.
  • 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.

As Jonathan strikes the target, The targets feet become plungers and are stuck to the ground, rendering the target unable to move

Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. Select a target within arm's reach. Roll Dexterity + Drive at Difficulty 6. 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 any physical actions they take suffer a dice penalty equal to twice the contested Outcome from the Effect activation, except attempts to escape or break the binding, which only suffer half this penalty.

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 of twice the contested Outcome on the Effect activation.

  • The penalty from being cocooned does not apply to your rolls to escape the binding, since they are Mind rolls, not physical actions.
  • 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.

Jonathan is lifted off the ground, revealing more and more of a Louie C as he rises.

Exert your Mind and spend one minute to activate.

Summon a single Louie at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.

Minions have 4 Body and can make ranged attacks at targets up to 30 feet away with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. Your minions can move 20 feet per Round as Free Movement, and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. They cannot dodge or Defend. They have dog-level intelligence, and cannot communicate back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice.

Your minion is able to drive 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.
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Community Artifacts

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Created and held by Grace W. Sharp.
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As the user switches on the effect, they slip into what seems like an invisible current, the teeth around the necklace begin to levitate in place as if they were floating in water. The air around them bends and the air grows heavier with the weight of the ocean's depths, creating a camouflage that shrouds and obscures their silhouette.

You gain the following benefits as long as 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.

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

You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.

  • You may only switch this Effect on or off once per Round on your initiative as a Free Action.

The user glides through the air as if they were flowing through rushing water, allowing them to move and act at an unnaturally fast rate. The teeth of the artifact similarly levitate and trail behind the user's movements as if they were being pulled underwater. When accelerating, the air around the user ripples like a bullet piercing water.

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

Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.

If your last Action was used for an all-out sprint or you are already accelerated, you may spend an Action to accelerate without a roll, adding 150 feet/Round (not affected by your speed bonus) to your sprint speed, to a max of an extra 300 feet/Round. As long as you stay at these speeds, you may use this distance per Round as your Free Movement.

Any terrain you traverse while accelerated must be passable by a standard vehicle at similar speeds. Stopping, turning sharply, or decelerating more than 150 feet/Round must be performed as an Action. Failing to decelerate with an Action (whether because of an obstacle, sudden unfavorable terrain, an Injury, or other event) deals 3 Damage which Armor does not reduce.

Outside of Combat, any non-Gift, non-movement Actions you attempt take drastically less time to complete, as long as your personal speed is a factor in the Action. Total time reduction is determined by the GM and capped at 90% (executing the Action takes no less than 1/10th the normal time).

If you were moving quicker than you could without super speed and go a Round without using your Movement, you collapse and must remain immobile and resting for two Rounds.

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: Vengeful: You don't let insults or attacks to your person go easily. Each time someone wrongs you or disrespects you in a major way, you must succeed a Self-Control roll to resist taking revenge.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • The time reduction on non-Movement Actions applies only to the parts of actions when your personal speed is a factor,: pouring water or smoking a steak are not affected, but constructing a shelter or picking a lock would be. The GM will determine how much the total time is reduced based on how relevant personal speed is to the task.
  • 150 feet/Round is approximately 33 mph.
  • Any Encumbrance penalty to your movement still applies, but you do not suffer from any sort of exhaustion.
  • Damage from a collision depends on your speed at the time, as well as what you hit. GM's discretion, but generally moving faster than a car on the freeway and hitting a dense, solid object like a wall or a tree should be lethal. Mundane armor will not apply, but any supernatural forms of protection will.

Vel's Dream Realized 2

Created and held by Vel.
A small rod about the size of a wand with a green snake wrapped around it. Its eyes are emerald.

The rod glows with green light, and the participant being targeted glows the same color. The energy has some kick back, causing a shadow of the harm of the poison on the wielder of the rod.

The rod is burns with purifying energy that drives the malady from the target. It draws from the symbol of the Asclepius.

This rod was made by a ritual focused on the symbol of the Asclepius, and experimenting with it. Vaccines, anti-virals, stories of miracle cures were all part of the creation process.

Exert your Mind (unless In a hospital, Clinic, or other healthcare setting) and spend 1 Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.
  • 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.

The artifact can't be broken. There is a stylized "Heal the world for me- Vel" Inscribed on it.

The true owner can summon the artifact back to them as they need it, and it appears. No flash of light or noise, it is reached for, and it is where the owner wants.

The object wants to be used. But more than that, it wants healing magic to be used for the world. It will burn anyone who holds it who intends only to keep healing magic and effects to themselves without sharing (using any healing on this artifact at least once a week).

The true owner can tell when someone else is using it, and is aware of the user's appearance, direction, and distance.

This is an enhancement built on top of other artifacts to enhance how strong they are.

The true owner can change the identity of the person who is the true owner by wiping away their signature, and writing the name of the new owner.

The ritual for making it involves using
- a variety of hard materials (iron, titanium, etc)
- a history book
- a family tree diagram
- a bit of Vel, captured in a photo, then burned away, infusing the artifact with a bit of Vel

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.

A being without Lifesaver cannot hold or use this Artifact. They take a Severity 1 Injury each Round they touch or possess of the Artifact. It cannot be prevented or healed by any means until one day after they relinquish possession.

If the true owner of this Artifact ever dies, it immediately disappears. At least one week later, it will appear to A potential hero. Someone willing to live a hard life to make the life of other's safer and easier 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.

  • If there is no available Next of Kin, it will wait two months and then appear to a random person. If multiple next of kin are appropriate, the GM will decide randomly.
  • "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.

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.

Bone Stick-and-poke Kit

Created by Gull Le'garde, given to BETH☠️METAL.
A set of bone needles that emerged from Gull's skin 5 years after his original tattoos.

Off-white needles made of bone, dripping ink that seems to leap off the tip of the needles. The augmenting process is mostly preparation, thoroughly sterilizing the area and discussing what animal effectively represents the desired effect, before touching the needle to the recipient's skin. After this, the discussed tattoo appears instantly.

5 years after Gull's encounter with that tattoo kit, a new one fell out of his skin. This kit is made of bones, and Gull knows they're his.

Spend 30 minutes. 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.

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

  • 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.

The needle from Gull's tattoo kit seems to pull scar tissue off of skin and turn it to ink, using the flesh-ink to mend the scars.

Expend a point of Battery and spend a minute. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.

The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.

  • 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.

Psychic Paper

Created and held by Cosimo Faber.
A blank sheet of paper which can change into any form of credentials, befitting the size

In the blink of an eye, text appears on the paper which provides valid credentials.

This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a sheet of A7 paper and just as difficult to conceal.

Spend a Quick Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into a chosen Object. 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), and can take on a different size, shape, and weight to the 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) or any situation which makes the size/weight disparity particularly noticeable will cause the illusion to fail or allow a Perception check to see through the illusion, at the GM's discretion.

When used as identification and scanned, the scanner will act appropriately and bring up appropriate generic information. Further searches for the identity in the computer will turn up no results.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

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.

The Axe of Legend

This electric guitar has one edge sharpened into a deadly blade. It can be used as either sort of axe.

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:

  • Mjolnir: You may call your weapon back to your hand as a Quick Action if it is within 50 feet of you. Can only be used on melee weapon that you have wielded in the past hour.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

Assault Helmet

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.

You automatically detect all people wielding weapons within 300 feet of you for the next hour. This includes any who come within range during the duration. You have a sense of how many valid targets are nearby, as well as their distance and direction.

  • This Effect does not satisfy the line of sight targeting requirement for other Effects.

Wipe Memory

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”).

  • You do not gain mind-reading through this effect, so your ability to alter their memory is limited by your knowledge of what they might know.
  • The target's roll to realize their memories have been altered can be made a maximum of one time per day.
  • 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.

The Coffin

"The Coffin" is a black, alligator-skin briefcase made to look like its namesake. The interior is coated in red, quilted leather. It is quite a bit larger on the inside, appearing to stretch backwards like a dark passageway.

This Artifact holds 5 times what it normally could inside of it. Objects stored inside are weightless. Unless you are storing something commonly found in coffins, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart. This Effect cannot be used unless you are storing something commonly found in coffins.

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.

On a Downtime, you may change this Artifact from one type of container to another. Maximum once per Downtime.

If anyone other than you opens the container, it appears empty. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents.

  • You cannot change the container's type if you are not in possession of it.
  • A container of holding cannot be placed inside another created by the same Gift.
  • There is no cost to use this container.