Legendary Artifact

The Phone of Business

Created and held by Icy Hotman.
It's a Nokia

The phone vibrates and Icy Hotman calls for reinforcements. They don't like the poor.

This Effect activates whenever you take a sev-2 injury. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event.

Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate Corpo-Rat Cops at your location. They last for two hours or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. They will attack any The Poors targets they encounter immediately and will ignore your commands to do otherwise. This Artifact may have at most 3 minions active at a time.

  • Initiative: Minions act directly after you in Combat starting the Round after they are summoned.
  • Combat: Minions roll 4 dice to dodge, Grapple, or make unarmed Attacks. Their Attacks have 50 feet of range and deal +3 Damage.
  • Body/Mind: Minions have 7 Body. They automatically fail all Mind resistance rolls.
  • Armor: Minions have 3 Armor.
  • Movement: Minions can move 15 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 cannot actively use Equipment.
  • Actions: Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice. They can lift and haul as though they have 4 Brawn.
  • Unusual: Minions are obviously Alien to any observer.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • Minions will only attack The Poors targets that are larger than a mouse.
  • Your minions may count as additional targeting types based on their flavor. For example: Living, Computer, Creature, etc.

Ew don't touch my stuff.

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.

The poor (anyone who doesn't have Rich Finances 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 The next Warren Buffet 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.

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: Compulsion to Hate the Poor and Fear of Poors. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • 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.

Womp womp business calls woot.

Spend an Action.

You may send a single message to all targets which are within a specified range. It can be as complex or as large as you like.

You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.

  • Depending on the length of your message, it may take a target some time and/or effort to understand it in its entirety.
  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
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Community Artifacts

Drunkard's Shin

Created and held by Cody Moore.
rusted metallic right leg, green accents.

A rusted metallic right leg, with green accents along the shin and calf resembling that of veins. An opening along the calf muscle allows for insertion of an alcoholic beverage. When inserted, the green accents along the leg glow a vibrant neon colour, returning to their dim counterpart when the alcoholic fuel is fully depleted.

Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend a Free Action. You must use up alcohol in order to activate this Effect.

You can run at four times your normal movement speed for the next hour.

If you move faster than your normal move speed, the world around you turns to a blur, and Perception rolls are made at -3 dice.

  • 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.

Time Travelers Timepiece

Created by Harold Polk, given to Gideon Lockhart.
The clanking gears of this bronzelike watch sometimes emit small puffs of steam, and a dial on one side is connected by cable to a miniature speaker. Twisting the dial calls up a historical figure from the past of the timestream in mind for a conversation 1/game Seance for past historical famous figures (Da Vinci, Einstein, etc.). If upgrade is used to give it more battery, this can be used more than once per game.)

In the clandestine world of espionage, where shadows whisper secrets and the line between ally and adversary blurs, there exists a lawyer turned spy, a master of subterfuge with a power as unique as their dual life. This individual, known only to a select few, possesses an extraordinary ability to infuse mundane spy equipment with unparalleled capabilities, transforming them into artifacts of immense tactical value.

On a night draped in secrecy, our spy enters a nondescript room, the air thick with anticipation. Around them, an array of common espionage tools lay scattered across a workbench—each item a silent witness to missions past and yet to unfold. With a practiced eye, the spy selects a compact surveillance device, its appearance unremarkable, its potential untapped.

As their hands envelop the device, a faint glow emanates from their fingertips, casting an ethereal light in the dimly lit room. The air hums with unseen energy as the spy focuses their will, channeling their unique power into the heart of the gadget. Under their touch, the device begins to transform, its form becoming sleeker, its essence imbued with a power that defies conventional understanding.

This Artifact has been upgraded.

This Artifact receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. While it is upgraded, the item cannot be destroyed.

Upgraded weapons count as any material your opponent might be particularly vulnerable to. Upgraded Armor cannot be circumvented by called shots. Upgraded Devices do not run out of fuel or energy.

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: I plead The Fifth -Roll a mind to speak to the police. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.

  • "Destroyed" in this context means "prevented from functioning for its primary purpose", so for instance, an upgraded land mine would still explode as normal if triggered, even though it cannot be "destroyed" and a car's windows may still be broken.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used. The same is true for extra dice.
  • Extra dice from this Effect do not apply to Gift activation rolls.

Jules Backpack

Created by Jules, given to Allister Wildheart.
Currently At home.
This grey backpack was worn by Jules the Thief when he stole the fabled Seal of Nephthys from the British Musuem - having come to an arrangement with the Egyptian Goddess, Nephthys has allowed Jules Backpack to bridge the realm of her divine domain.- at fire Hazard not loaned

The Goddess of Darkness assists Jules in his quest to return her sacred objects. She has allowed the backpack he was wearing the day he retrieved the Seal of Nephthys to form a bridge into the Otherworld. This 50 liter Backpack can hold an astonishing 1500 liters. The pack can only be opened to the Otherworldly Dimension of Nephthys when in shadows or darkness - at all other times, it appears to be empty.

https://www.amazon.com/Backpack-Business-Charging-Resistant-Computer/dp/B07N3WQ6H7/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Best%2BProfessional%2BBackpack&qid=1652670514&sr=8-3&th=1

This Artifact can be used as a container. It is roughly the same size as a backpack and just as difficult to conceal. Unless night/shadows, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart.

Your backpack holds 30 times what it normally could. Objects stored inside are weightless.

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

If your backpack is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.

  • There is no cost to use your container.

Staff of the Crimson Flame

Created and held by Sora Tatsuya.
A large staff with a crescent moon shaped head and an orb hovering in the center of it. When activated, the orb will glow with crimson flames

As Sora recites the oath, crimson flames begin to spill out from the ball at the head of the staff. Flowing to every oathtaker and marking them with a ringed tattoo of flame.

You may make an oath with any number of physically-present, Sapient targets. Communicate the oath's terms to the targets, including the requirements and penalties for each participant. If all agree to the terms, you must Exert your Mind and all participants must grasp the staff as the flames spill from it to seal the deal.

Record the oath as a Condition. If a party breaks the oath, the Condition ends and they suffer the oath's penalty.

When crafting your oath, you may incorporate any of the following penalties:

  • A Battle Scar up to Severe (deaf, missing limb)
  • The oath-breaker is physically marked as an oath-breaker, and any investigative effect will reveal the terms of the oath they broke.
  • A particular Trauma and a single Mind Damage
  • The oath-breaker goes unconscious for up to 24 hours
  • An Injury up to Severity-6 (cannot be reduced by any means)

The targets cannot be compelled to agree via a direct threat of violence, another Effect, or another oath. If you would like to use clever wording to mislead the targets, you must succeed a contested Intellect + (Culture or Influence) roll.

You may revert a penalty for breaking one of your oaths on any participant other than yourself.

When crafting your oath, you may opt to enforce compliance. If you do, any participant that wishes to break the deal must take 3 Mind damage and succeed a Self-Control roll. They may attempt once per day.

It is obvious to your targets that the oath you are proposing will be supernaturally enforced.

  • Reverting a penalty covers only the direct penalty for breaking the oath, eliminating the relevant Injury, Battle Scar, etc.
  • All Oaths must have at least two participants.
  • The target must be physically present to enter the oath.
  • The terms and penalties of the oath do not need to be equitable and do not need to affect all parties equally.
  • A single action cannot break multiple oaths. You cannot 'stack' oath penalties by having a target sign multiple identical oaths, or similar.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Handgun

Created and held by Larry Augustes Bartholomew Junior.
"Ordinary" Handgun

A shiny, glistening handgun that appears to hold sentence. The colour of the handgun changes based on the user's current emotion.

After exerting a significant amount of time and mystical energy into this handgun. It has been imbued with a life of its own and cooperates with its owner to prevent any harm coming their way. It seems to be able to speak telepathically with its wielder yet cannot be heard by others.

This Artifact can be used as a handgun. It is roughly at least twice as large as a handgun and cannot be concealed on your person or disassembled for storage.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal 4 Weapon 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 may spend a Quick Action to change this firearm's base stats into those of any other basic firearm.

  • 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.
  • This Artifact cannot be disguised or morphed with other Effects like Shape-Changing object.
  • 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.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

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.

Umbrella Identification

This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport but can be collapsed into a wallet and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

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), 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.

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. This will not open security doors on its own.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.
  • Changing the Artifact’s appearance does not allow you to conceal its Alien nature while any of its other Effects are in use.

The Skeleton Key

At first glance, this appears to be a standard, modern house key made of ivory. A close observer might compliment its skull-shaped head or usual material. No one would suspect it to be one of the Thief's most prized possessions: The Skeleton Key.

Spend an Action.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, containers, knots, or locks within arm's reach of you. Cannot be used on Alien technology.

If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • 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.

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.

Personal Shield Generator

The device itself is a metal hexagon that is worn on the belt and glows when active.

Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.

You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.

When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.

You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.

  • If you use this Effect to dodge as a Reaction, it succeeds without the need for a roll. Cannot be used as a Desperate Defense.
  • You may use your Free Movement on the Round you phase back in, but you cannot take an Action.