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.
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.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
He spills his on the floor and an alcoholic spirit appears from the ground
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Spirit at your location. They last until they are destroyed They are controlled by you. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
If killed, you cannot re-summon your minion until after your next Contract.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
The Demonologist performs an elaborate ritual to summon and bind a winged lesser demon. during the ritual, the summoning circle glows a deep crimson, until a winged demon is dragged up through the circle, bound in glowing red chains, and forced into the Demonologists service, only to be released when it is slain and returned to Hell.
Uses Demonology
Exert your Mind and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: A ritual Circle must be drawn and offered a drop of the casters blood while a chant is used to bind the summoned demon to activate. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
Summon a single ________ 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 1 minion active at a time.
Minions have 6 Body and can make melee range attacks with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. They cannot move faster than a walk and cannot dodge incoming attacks. 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 Manual Labour with a 4-dice pool.
The Donfather whistles as a group of 3 comically large men in suits with even bigger hands rush from around a corner or something. Whatever is most cinematically convenient.
They all look like king pin or like those goons that Mr. O' Hare had in The Lorax
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate Musclehead Boys 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. You may have at most 3 minions active at a time.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: My Boys! - You care very deeply about your boys. (Whenever one of your boys would be killed, make a Self-Control roll not to act out in grief.).
As my blade goes against my palm the deal has been made. Rising from the void my minions summon ready to do my bidding.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use My Sacrificial Dagger to activate this Effect.
Summon a single Imp at your location. They will last for two hours, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 2 minions active at a time.
I take out a chess pawn and throw it. The pawn enlarges in a smooth manner while in the air to 5 feet in height. When it needs to attack it bashes into and jumps onto attackers wounding them with their immense weight.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up Chess Pawn in order to activate this Effect.
Summon a single Enlarged Chess Pawn at your location. They will last for two hours, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
The mobster knows a guy they can call for a hired goon, who arrives about a minute later. The goons are dumb as bricks, but tough nonetheless, perfect for sending a message when you need to keep your hands clean.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use cell phone to activate this Effect.
Summon a single Sapient goon 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. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
The Vampire is able to turn one of their victims into a lesser vampire, a pale shadow of a full creature of the night but useful nonetheless. Having drained and killed their target, the Vampire performs a brief ritualistic bloodletting, wherein they spill their own blood into the target's mouth, forcing them to drink, and bonding them together as child and sire.
Shortly afterwards, the fledgling vampire will rise from death, hungry for blood and eager to serve.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend one minute. Select a Dead target within arm's reach that has died within the last hour. This Effect cannot be used unless you drained the target's blood while they were still alive.
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 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. The raised creature must consume flesh every day or it will die again.
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.
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.
Any successful musician knows the value of a good roadie. The musician calls for a roadie, and one will promptly arrive. The roadie doesn't talk much, and they aren't too bright, but they can sure haul gear.
After a couple hours of work, the roadie will retire to smoke and get some sleep.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single Sapient roadie 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. You may have at most one minion active at a time.
You may only use this Effect once per day.