The Grimoire is now bound to your very soul, gilded in heavy chains of gold, the pages drip blood as they are turned and chains rattle restlessly with every hefty thump of the cover.
This Artifact cannot be broken.
If this Artifact is lost and in no one’s possession, it finds its way back to its creator during the next Downtime.
If this Artifact is used by someone other than its creator, its creator is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The creator may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range. The user gets the feeling that they are being watched.
This Artifact's creator must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.
The blade of the scalpel gains an ethereal shimmer as it is activated: the nano-machines composing its tip surge into the subject and begin to painlessly (but violently) tear apart and viscerally replace the targeted system and area. It is gruesome and horrific to watch the drawn out thirty-minute transformation of sinew, flesh and bone be made into synthetic counterparts by way of microscopic factories made of biological matter.
…The aftermath is initially disorienting and nauseating - the unnatural feelings of synthetic augmentation can potentially traumatize those afflicted. It may take time and therapeutic assistance in order to overcome these issues.
The nano-machines within are given a command alongside the patient - if the patient breaks protocol, the machines revert the augmentation.
Exert your Mind and spend 30 minutes. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Your target must make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. 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:
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Excess flesh (or material) is rapidly excised and cannibalized for mechanical alteratives. Waste not, want not..
The oracle dons the Witherheart Mask, which glows with a strange green mist. This mask is clearly magical, though seemingly only to predict the future as the oracle begins to speak their prophecy.
On mythology:
Cassiopeia has always been interested in the occult, to the point where she's done a double major involving Psychology and Classical Mythology. She's also incredibly curious about conspiracy theories, often going down lengthy rabbitholes, though part of her keeps a distance from it in that she's only reading a fictional story. With this gift she could very well bring them to life, and she's doing it all for the funsies.
On prophecies:
One has seen enough self-fulfilling prophecies in everyday life to know that people are very easily influenced by their own wills to stick to a path or stray from one completely. Though, it inevitably ends up the way it was predicted. If you were driving a car and trying not to hit a tree on the road, your focus is so solely on the tree that you veer towards it anyway. Cassiopeia is making use of this age-old hubris, this fallacy that "I'm not like them, I won't end up like this". She's not any better than this, of course she falls into this cycle too, but at least she's aware that it does happen.
On wordplay:
If she's going to use her arsenal of words learned from 4 years of being an Arts student, it's only fair to allow the listener some level of free will. Let them play their cards against what they perceive to be Apollo's blessing, when in reality it all relies on Cassiopeia's competence.
Exert your Mind and spend at least one Action. Select a Human target within 20 feet. Your target may be actively engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to the letter-- but not necessarily the spirit-- of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.
The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.
Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action and a conditional request. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.
You may activate this Effect as a Reaction to contest any Action a valid target is taking, reducing their Outcome by your own. Your command has no impact beyond disrupting their Action.
While Aginos possess the user's body, he has the potential to do great damage with his club like hands, and gnarled teeth. He fights with no regard for those around him.
Legends say that Aginos' rage in battle could crumble mountains and boil oceans.
You gain the following benefits as long as Warp Spasm is Active, you are wearing this Artifact, and you are engaged in unarmed combat.
+2 dice to rolls for Attacking, Defending, and Clashing without a weapon. Unarmed attacks do +4 Weapon Damage (instead of -1). The target's Armor is fully effective against this damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The Umbrae Defender is outfitted with advanced adaptive projection technology, a system of micro-projectors and flexible nanomaterial layers that allow it to shift its appearance seamlessly. These micro-projectors emit an ultra-fine holographic overlay onto the umbrella’s surface, precisely adjusting colors, textures, and details to match the desired disguise. Meanwhile, an array of shape-memory polymers within the artifact’s frame enables it to collapse or expand at will, adjusting its size from a full umbrella down to something as compact as a passport.
Embedded RFID spoofing technology enables it to mimic the function of an ID card when scanned. This module temporarily broadcasts generic but plausible data without creating a traceable record in external systems, a key feature for bypassing low to mid-level security checks. However, the spoofed signals don’t generate true access credentials, so they won’t engage high-security systems.
The technology that drives the Umbrae Defender’s disguise capabilities uses pressure-sensitive smart polymers that detect attempts to use it in unintended ways. If the artifact is forced into actions outside its structure—such as being disguised as a knife and used to cut—these polymers signal the projection systems to suspend the illusion, ensuring it won’t compromise its own integrity. This amalgam of adaptive materials and projection tech makes the Umbrae Defender a marvel of modern concealment technology, tailored for a sleek, sophisticated, and covert user experience.
This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a Umbrella but can be collapsed into Passport 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.
More than a literary device, this plain rifle is always relevant to the story by being Tropir's preferred weapon. When not in use, it's a keychain attached to his belt for easy access.
This Artifact can be used as a rifle. It is roughly the same size as a rifle but can be collapsed into toy rifle keychain and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +5 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The Skeleton Key slips easily into any keyhole and turns without a fuss.
Spend an Action.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, locks, or locked targets 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.
The spy can do up their passport to take on the appearance of any valid form of identification they may need.
This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport and just as difficult to conceal.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into an Object within the category of forms of identification. 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.
The survivalist has depended on the Bug-out Bag for so long, they've formed a powerful bond with the pack. This bond renders the pack unbreakable, and grants the survivalist an understanding of what direction it's in at all times.
This Artifact cannot be broken.
This Artifact's creator is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.
The airship of solitude is the mad scientist's lair and preferred mode of travel. Not only does it include a full science laboratory, it can be collapsed into an incredibly small canvas cube and easily transported. The mad scientist may pilot the ship alone or rely on its autopilot features for ultimate convenience.
This Artifact can be used as a blimp. It is roughly the same size as a blimp but can be collapsed into a phone-sized canvas cube and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.
This blimp has full science laboratory, bullet-proof envelope, and ample parachutes. Any roll to pilot this vehicle receives +2 dice.
You also gain the following effects:
"The Coffin" can only be used to store things commonly found in coffins, such as bodies, clothes, jewelry, photos, weapons, coins, and similar.
This Artifact can be used as a container. It is roughly the same size as a alligator-skin briefcase and just as difficult to conceal. Unless you are storing something commonly found in coffins, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart.
Your alligator-skin briefcase holds 5 times what it normally could. Objects stored inside are weightless.
Living things can be stored in your alligator-skin briefcase. They will have access to anything else inside and may attempt to break free, damaging or destroying the alligator-skin briefcase in the process.
If your alligator-skin briefcase is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.
You may change the type of your container between Contracts.
Only you may open and close the container. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents