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. This Effect cannot be used unless It is used on a toy with arms and legs which the artifact consumes.
Summon a single enlarged animated toy 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. This Artifact may have at most 2 minions active at a time.
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. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.
The Rune of Regeneration is carved into a stone and worn around the neck of the Dragon Slayer, accelerating their recovery from harm and sealing their wounds shut within seconds.
Exert your Mind and spend 15 minutes. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Intellect + Occult at Difficulty 8.
If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome. If you reduce its Severity to 0, the Injury is fully healed. Otherwise, it is partially healed and will heal the rest of the way at its natural rate.
This counts as a successful Makeshift Stabilization if the Injury was not already Stabilized; any Battle Scars caused by the Injury will remain.
The artifact quickly flows like water from one visage to the next, changing to resemble any set of clothing the user can imagine, changing based on the will and image of the user.
The ritual for this is a tricky one. Shape changing objects are a constant in the public's mind, but by it's nature, they aren't don't have many common symbols.
This took some effort from Vel, but after several trials Vel found a ritual involving
1 Destroying several different pieced of clothing simultaneously
2 reading then burning A variety of stories of Loki, Zeus, and other gods effortly changing shape
3 A chant about stories and specifications of shape changing objects in popular media
4 Carving the an image of a chameleon into the artifact being enchanted.
Which worked as intended.
This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a Chestplate and just as difficult to conceal.
Spend a Quick Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into an Object within the category of Apparel. 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.
When collapsed, the sword appears to be a spiral, origami spring with metal designs spanning across each segment. The user can expand the blade through extending the spring, which then unfolds into the shape of an elegant sword. Its craft grants it the potency to pierce through any defense.
This Artifact can be used as a thrusting sword. It is roughly the same size as a thrusting sword but can be collapsed into an origami spring and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +2 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The user draws a small piece of paper in which this artifact has been imbued onto and begins to rhythmically fold, unfold, and ultimately shape the paper into a form which resembles their surroundings. During this process, the user's mind is flooded with visions of the past, guiding their hands as they fold the paper at the risk of permanently damaging their psyche.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Crafts at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
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 Contested Outcome +4 Weapon Damage.
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: ,l. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.
This item is a living thing. When targeted, it counts as a Living Creature in addition to its other target types. If destroyed or abandoned for more than two days, it dies and becomes unusable.
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:
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: