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.
Out of their armor, Infurance is pretty weird.
This Effect activates whenever you are removed from your suit. It does not require an Action or Exertion. “Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. This Effect cannot be used unless if you spend time after the day in this free state, you will gain a penalty of - 1. Each hour after that, this penalty increases by 1, and if it reaches a value equal to your maximum Body, you die and this state ends when you are put back into your armor.
You transform into a morphing mass of fire for the next hour. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. Observers will view you as an unusual entity moving with a singular purpose.
While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that is not water-tight. You may fly at your standard movement speed.
Damage from standard attacks is halved, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1. You may spend an Action to reduce one of your Injuries’ Severity by 2, as long as you obtained the Injury while transformed and the separated pieces could reasonably be rejoined. If you would die from Injuries sustained while transformed, you instead live, but the only action you can take is Reforming.
You cannot communicate or use equipment while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.
While transformed, you can make an unarmed attack using Body as your attack roll. The target may contest by dodging or Defending. This attack deals +2 damage.
You have access to your Powers while transformed.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a mass of fire and human parts.
Maddox bursts into a swarm of mice and rats with terrible claws and gnashing teeth.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend an Action. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma.
You transform into a swarm of rats for the next minute. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. It is not necessarily obvious that your transformed state is an unusual phenomena or that it is acting with singular purpose.
While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that a rodent could fit through.
Damage from standard attacks is halved, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1.
You cannot communicate, use equipment, or use Gifts while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. Carrying capacity is unaffected.
While transformed, you can make an unarmed attack using Body as your attack roll. The target may contest by dodging or Defending. This attack deals +2 damage.
When this effect occurs, Edgar undergoes a dramatic transformation, a period of rampant mutation from the multiple monstrous forces contained within his body - his talons lengthen, dripping with steaming, heated blood - his flesh writhes obscenely, as if dozens of steel cables pulsed & moved below his rugose flesh while his lolling tongue will often split like a flower, either into multiple tendrils or multiple eyestalks - perhaps most disturbing of all, his eyes swell & then burst - leaving gaping holes filled with a guttering orange flame. While under these episodes, the alien flesh of the Provider instantly regenerates any lost flesh, up to & including lost limbs - these mutations are imperfect however, often being formed of squamous flesh studded with the screaming faces of people the Ghoul has consumed - this flesh will swiftly become unstable, tearing itself away & crawling off to die (hopefully...) when the episode ends.
Augments during Mutation Episode
-Death Chisels (Maws & Claws, Aquatic Adaptation)
-No Escape (+15 Movement, Pouch)
-Blind
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a hulking mutant Ghoul for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a hulking mutant Ghoul, and you can use your equipment. The Injuries and Battle Scars of your Alternate Form and your true form are tracked separately.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
If you take Injuries totaling 4 Severity or higher while transformed, you recover all Injuries and change into a pulsating mound of flesh composed of the screaming corpses of all those the Ghoul has consumed. All dice rolls are at -1 Difficulty for the next minute or until this Effect ends. Cooldown 1 day.
If you are restricted, restrained, dazed, sleepy, or stunned, you may activate this Effect to break free or end the negative effect. You cannot free yourself by transforming more than once a minute.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Rampant Mutation.
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
Whenever you enter Combat, roll Self-Control. If you fail, you cannot choose which targets to attack and cannot stop fighting until there are no targets remaining.
Writhing flesh surrounds you, moving to match any attack and striking back at your foes.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Brawn + Brawl at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Any Damage absorbed by the barrier is reflected back to the attacker, up to a maximum of the Barrier Strength Parameter’s bonus. Their Armor applies in full. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. You may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
You must maintain Concentration while using this Effect. The barrier will fall if you are interrupted, or if it absorbs the full amount of Damage. When a barrier falls, you cannot use this Effect again for a minimum of 2 Rounds.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Warping lashes of decayed flesh propagate their stench in the vicinity.
With little more than a tap, Lilith is able to extract all the blood from a body within barely a second. A body shriveled in this way is likely difficult to identify, though its bones (especially teeth) will still be intact.
While the blood appears to be siphoned into Lilith's cursed wounds underneath her heavy medical bandages, it does not directly come into contact with her bloodstream. She can easily conjure stored blood from her wounds, willing it out in all manners of shapes and streams. With a flourish of her hands, she's able to use this newly summoned blood to fuel some of her more powerful abilities.
Spend a Quick Action.
You may withdraw an item from your stash, or add an item that is within arm’s reach to your stash. You may only stash targets which are in your possession, grappled, or otherwise controlled by you.
You may store Harvested Blood and Organs in your stash, each no larger than something which could fit inside a briefcase (15 liters), and you may store up to 3 things at a time.
You may choose to equip any equipment you withdraw at no additional cost.
By focusing, the Thief may shroud their hands in shadowy tendrils that seek nearby objects like static-charged hairs. They cast themselves across any surface the Thief touches, acting as anchors that allow the Thief to scale even the sheerest walls.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You may move easily and without a roll in any of the following situations. Lasts 2 hours.
The survivalist is an expert at wildlife survival in any natural environment. Even in the harshest climates, they have the capacity to find food, water, and shelter.
Exert your Mind (unless you win a coin flip) and spend 15 minutes. This Effect cannot be used unless you are in a wilderness environment.
Choose a specific type of food, water, or survival supply 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 Perception + Survival to fabricate up to 5 copies of 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 Vampire may channel their inner beast and take the form of an animal. It is said they may transform into either a wolf or a bat. If used too often, the Vampire risks losing themselves to their beast forever.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.
You transform into a vampire bat or a wolf until you transform into something else or choose to return to your original form. See the Extended System text for stats.
While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you do not have access to any of your Powers. Any equipment you are wearing transforms with you.
Injuries and Wound Level are carried over between forms. However, transforming can never kill you; you merely remain Incapacitated until your Injuries are sufficiently healed.
Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: A disfigured face with bat-like ears.
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 magician dons an unusual piece of clothing and immediately shifts their appearance to be completely different! However, they must reveal their true identity before they can cast any more spells.
Exert your Mind and spend 2 Actions. You must actively and obviously use a piece of clothing you wouldn't normally wear to activate this Effect.
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 may have a different sex, age, and race to your own, and you may alter height by up to a foot and your weight by 50%. 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.
This Effect ends if you take an Injury or are stunned or incapacitated.
While disguised, you cannot use any Activated or Targeted Powers.