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.
If there is no toy, starting the process as if there were one will slowly make a basic enlarged teddy bear.
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 an Action.
Summon a single Sapient enlarged animated toy at your location. They last until they move more than 150 feet from you or are destroyed They are controlled by the GM, do not follow orders, and only act to Protect noncombatants. This Artifact may have at most one minion active at a time.
Caga is a large tree spirit. They manifest as a pacific dogwood tree, although they are also capable of turning into a wide variety of animals after bonding with Ethan. While in tree form, they rapidly change between being barren, flowering, berry-laden, and autumnal depending on their emotions and thoughts.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon the one and only Sapient Caga, Spirit of Forest 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.
Iryna pulls out a contraption that looks like a cross between a printing calculator, a Geiger counter, and a TI-82, tuned together and strapped to her wrist. She turns it on and sweeps the area, tuning it to the latent radiation around her to find the places where it’s most disturbed. It scans the area and prints out the coordinates as well as any instructions on how to get to the weapon.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
You automatically detect all sources of major environmental contamination and weapons of mass destruction within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. When you detect objects, instead of learning nothing about them, you may observe each object with all of your senses.
Even if there are no sources of major environmental contamination or weapons of mass destruction within 50 feet of you, you become aware of the direction the closest one is in, as well as a rough sense of its distance from you.
The means by which any sources of major environmental contamination and weapons of mass destruction are hidden or disguised is made clear to you, as well as how to access them if they are secured. This includes objects secured via the Stash Effect.
Artemis hold her hands over the scar or lost limb and concentrate on repairing the wound as glowing white light undoes the scars of battle received.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend a minute. You must actively and obviously use a staff or ring. to activate this Effect. Select a Battle Scar on yourself to treat.
The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.
The Werewolf unleashes the beast within, quickly transforming into an imposing hybrid of human and wolf with a series of bone-popping snaps. Their head is replaced wholesale with that of a wolf, robbing them of speech but bestowing a maw of deadly fangs. Grey fur sprouts from a great deal of their body, and tight-fitting clothing is often ripped and torn in the transformation.
If The Werewolf is struck my moonlight, they are compelled to transform.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
You transform into a werewolf for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a werewolf, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. While transformed, your Brawn is increased by 1, your Dexterity is increased by 1, and your Perception is increased by 1.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Bonus Damage (instead of the typical -2).
You do not suffer wound penalties while in your Alternate Form.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see You turn into a werewolf.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: you are compelled to transform each time you are struck by moonlight.
You cannot speak any coherent verbal language and must resort to other means of communication.
The Imperial Raiment consisting of the signature Feathered Top Hat, Brocade Coat, & Tailored Pants of the Emperor are so Iconic, that it is virtually impossible to imagine him without them: If they are removed, they will return the moment he is unobserved.
This Effect activates whenever stripped of Imperial raiment. It does not require an Action or Exertion. This Effect cannot be used unless Unobserved.
Choose a specific type of Imperial Raiment which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You cannot create firearms.
Roll Charisma + Performance to fabricate your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. Your created items no longer expire, and will last until they are destroyed.
The beastmaster closes their eyes and channels nature's bloody struggle for survival. When their eyes reopen, they catch the light and glow red like a dog's. While in this heightened state, they may sense heat signatures and triangulate the tiniest sound.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.
The Necromancer stands over a corpse and makes a series of grandiose lifting gestures. The corpse rises from the ground as though suspended by invisible strings, barks a pained groan, and lands on its feet, now a full-fledged member of the living dead.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action. You must use up corpse in order to activate this Effect.
Summon up to 3 Non-Sapient, Animate zombie 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.
You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
The magician reaches into their hat and focuses. Inside, light wells and flows like a viscous liquid. Then, they withdraws the item of their choosing.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. You must actively and obviously use a top hat to activate this Effect.
Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You may create firearms.
Roll Perception + Occult to fabricate your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.
The time-traveler spins the second hand on one of their watches and speeds up until they are a blur.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a watch to activate this Effect.
Lasts 1 minute. Whenever you use your Movement, after all other calculations, the distance you may travel is doubled.
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).
The Ninja is a master at blending in to any crowd or organization. If they can find complete privacy, they may channel their ninjutsu to temporarily create the illusion of any outfit or uniform they desire. The new clothes shimmer into existence over their existing garb over the course of a minute of meditation.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute.
You become disguised in a manner of your choosing. The disguise lasts for two hours, or you may end it early at will.
The new appearance must have a similar sex, age, and race to your own. You cannot significantly change your height and weight. Your disguise cannot directly mimic an existing person. You may change the appearance of your outfit. A disguise cannot affect your Attributes or other stats.
You may roll Charisma + Crafts to attempt to make your disguise Beautiful. If your Outcome is 6 or higher, non-Effect Charisma rolls where your good looks could help are rolled at -2 Difficulty. If you fail or botch, you are ugly instead, and non-Effect Charisma rolls are made at +2 Difficulty.
You cannot alter the appearance of your flesh and blood.