Legendary Artifact

The Passenger

Created and held by Lilith (Lily) Weider.
The Passenger is the physical manifestation of the curse on the Fleicher family, cultivated through imbument inside of Amaryllis's body. While not in use, it lives inside a host's circulatory system, usually finding its home resting along the spine. The creature adds about 1 liter of thick, dark-red blood to its hosts body, and the ichor must remain contiguous to remain in good working condition.

The Passenger rips forward out of the host's flesh, spraying the ground and anyone near with warm blood. It surges forward, carrying all of its malice and anger to pierce straight through any who stand before it. Though The Passenger itself is about a liter of crimson, the activation of this ability releases a torrent of blood that can be easily controlled and manipulated by its host. The dark red stays close to the host, not usually moving beyond five feet from the host, but the extra manifested blood can be controlled up to 30 feet away.

While the host remains competent and capable, The Passenger will behave, being as vicious or soft as its controller requires. It does not, however, tolerate failures, and when its host cannot meet its demands, it attempt to find another, more suitable host to augment.

The Passenger can be destroyed or stolen in a number of ways:

* Injecting the host with anticoagulants.
* Sucking it out of the part of the body that it inhabits.
* Severing the limb that it inhabits.
* Something able to grapple incorporeal creatures should be able to pull The Passenger out of its host.
* Once dead, The Passenger will burst out of the host's body to find a new host.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must use up 1 Liter of Blood in order to activate this Effect.

You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand. Lasts two hours.

Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Any Battle Scars that affect or remove your additional limb will heal in a single week.

Your extra appendage can be used to attack in exactly the same manner as a Thrusting Sword.

Your appendage is capable of bending and squishing in normally-impossible ways. It may fit through any gap that is not water-tight and retain its functionality.

Your extra appendage can stretch to reach an additional 30 feet.

You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.

Your extra appendage is not connected to your nervous or circulatory systems, and you will not take damage if it is hit by an attack or destroyed.

Your appendage has its own agenda (to Find a Better Host), which it will attempt to follow. You must roll Self-Control to reassert control when this occurs. If it chooses to act counter to your desires in Combat, it gets its own Action and controlling it costs your Action.

  • You may stretch or retract your limbs once per Round on your Initiative.
  • You may only switch this Effect on or off once per Round on your initiative as a Free Action.

As The Passenger rips from its host, the torrent of blood pouring from the individual's wounds begins to pool and swirl around their hands and arms. With a quick flick of the wrists, the blood surges forward towards a target, puncturing them in multiple places. Even a glancing blow will rend the target's internals to bits as The Passenger has an intuitive sense on what will lead to the quickest death.

This Artifact can be used as a thrusting sword. It is roughly the same size as a thrusting sword and just as difficult to conceal.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +8 Weapon Damage.

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:

  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

The bullets rip through Lilith’s body, soaking her clothes with crimson. Shallow breaths, rippling skin. She hits the ground in a heap, and the creature below her skin roils and expands to puppet her arms and legs. Eyes bloodshot and glassy, Lilith is clearly no longer in control of her body. Perhaps she never was.

The would-be corpse lifts its arm, a stream of near-black blood pouring from its wounds. Hundreds of bloody needles fire from its wrist, rending its quarry into little more than a pile of guts.

The source of her power is clear. Her blood. Drain her to fulfill the terms of her family’s death curse.

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

If you would take an Injury that would kill you, you don’t die. Instead, you survive in an Incapacitated state. While incapacitated, you can take one Action per minute, starting one minute after you were incapacitated. This state lasts for the next hour, at which point you fully return to life.

While Incapacitated, your only weakness is fully draining the body of blood, and if you take Damage from it, you will die. Damage from other sources will still be dealt and can cause Battle Scars, but will only kill you if your body is destroyed completely. If your weakness is not immediately obvious, attackers may roll to discover it. After you return, the Injury that would have killed you, as well as any Injuries sustained while Incapacitated, are healed. Battle scars obtained during this time remain.

  • Actions taken while incapacitated are taken at a full penalty unless you have a relevant penalty reduction.
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Community Artifacts

Doctors bag

Created by Doctor Malcolm, given to Faira Lenora McDougall.
Currently At home.
A large leather black medical bag with a big red cross on it

...

Expend a point of Battery and spend 1 Action.

You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting yourself even if you have not diagnosed or fully understood it. You may cure diseases or poisons even if they are not treatable through modern medicine. During treatment, the malady you are treating does not progress or cause additional Damage or other effects.

You may attempt to treat Alien maladies and curses. Instead of curing them outright on a success, you learn how to cure them.

  • Without some sort of diagnostic Effect, “fully diagnosing” a disease or poison will always require a roll of some sort, frequently Intellect + Medicine, but the specific roll and difficulty is at GM’s discretion.

...

Exert your Mind to activate. Select a Living target at any distance, provided you are able to communicate. Over the course of one day, your patient must communicate with you and reveal at least one of their Traumas to you, including the details of those Traumas and the circumstances of how they were acquired.

After the full treatment time has elapsed, you may If your treatment is successful, you may remove one of the patient's revealed Traumas without incurring any Experience cost.

Once per day per target, you may choose to use this Effect to stabilize the Mind of a target 50 feet. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.

  • The treatment time may be broken up into multiple sessions if necessary.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

...

Expend a point of Battery and spend 1 minute. Select a Living or Dead target within arm's reach. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Dexterity + Occult at Difficulty 6.

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.

If your Outcome is greater than the Severity of the Injury you were attempting to treat, you may apply any excess Outcome to other Injuries on the same patient.

If you begin healing an Injury on a target that has been dead for less than a minute, and your healing reduces their Wound Level to a non-lethal level, their life is restored.

  • Unstabilized wounds do not degenerate during treatment.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

...

Expend a point of Battery and spend a minute. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Select a Battle Scar on your target to treat.

The treated Battle Scar heals as you finish activating this Effect.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

..

You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.

All Stabilizations you attempt are considered Proper Stabilizations.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Perfect Dosage: When dosing a creature, you can intuitively control the dose based on desired effect. Dosages do not have to be carefully measured and prepared ahead of time. The full dose (syringe, pill, etc) is still used up.
  • Sterile: Sanitary conditions no longer matter during medical care. Your patients will never suffer an infection or toxic shock during treatment, even if you are performing surgery in a sewer. You may preserve harvested body parts indefinitely.
  • Surgeon Extraordinaire: You may perform any mundane surgery without inflicting or worsening an Injury, and recovery time is reduced to an hour.

  • Pursuant to the drug rules, all drugs take a minimum time to take effect, depending on the method of dosing.
  • All stabilizations being proper stabilizations applies to stabilizations from other Effects such as Heal Wound.

Saoirse

Created and held by BETH☠️METAL.
BETH☠️METAL's custom-built keytar. It's pronounced SHEER-sha. Beth does not know this.

As any director will tell you, soundtrack is the easiest way to trick your audience into feeling something. While you continue to score the scene, you set the vibe.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a number of Living targets equal to your Charisma within 45 feet as well as a specific emotion. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, for the next hour, affected targets will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by the chosen emotion. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way.

Actions they take will be in keeping with their character and the way they tend to deal with strong emotions. They will be unlikely to change their mind about any actions taken or decisions made until after the Effect ends.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.

  • Common emotions and the actions they inspire
    • Anger (shouting, cruelty, denying requests, attacking)
    • Pity (stopping an attack, executing an injured target)
    • Happiness (generosity, dancing, joking, socializing)
    • Sadness (finding solitude, openly crying, demotivation)
    • Fear (running, attacking)
  • If you succeed, the target MUST take at least one Action they otherwise would not have. Hey, GM who is reading this, I'm talking to you. You have to enforce this. Remember: Gifts must feel powerful.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

Shredding with your axe has been accepted rocker terminology since the 50s. This is just a slightly more literal interpretation of the term.

Beth's keytar is equipped with a spring-loaded axe head, which can be easily retracted back into the body when not in use. It squeals with feedback on every swing.

This Artifact can be used as a sword / axe. It is roughly the same size as a sword / axe but can be collapsed into a slot on the side of Saoirse and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

Attack by rolling Brawn + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +2 Weapon Damage.

You also gain the following effects:

  • Bane: Injuries dealt to creatures with sensitive or enhanced hearing are increased by 2 Severity levels.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. For material armor, this penalty lasts until it is repaired. For intrinsic armor, it lasts until the end of Combat and any relevant wound is healed.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

Your performance creates a safe haven - an oasis in the turmoil of combat. The barrier ensures safety, not only through obstruction, but by deflecting harm back to its source.

After all, today *is* gonna be the day that you're gonna throw it back to them.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Roll Charisma + Performance at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, you create a Barrier extending out 15 feet from yourself, which absorbs 2 times the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Only applies to attacks which originated outside the 15 foot radius, and protects anyone who is within that radius. 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. This Artifact 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.

  • If you use this Effect as a Reaction to dodge, you still need to make a roll to dodge. The Effect will occur regardless of the Outcome of this roll, but if you fail you will be hit by the relevant attack prior to the Effect occurring.

Swordbreaker Piercing

Created and held by Jacob Sterns.
silver eyebrow piercing

The piercing glows with a weak green shimmer, the eye which the piercing adorns glows green as well. Moments later, a noticeable tremor goes from the user through the ground and walls into the weapon the user looks at as it breaks or disintegrates in a green wave of light.

This piercing was made from blessed metal, dedicated to a goddess of both peace and destruction whose name has been lost in the eons.

This artifact was loaned to one Jacob Sterns by the British Museum.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action or Reaction. Select a Weapon within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Roll Perception + Occult Difficulty 6.

If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be fully and completely destroyed, leaving behind no meaningful remains. If your Outcome is less than 4, the target will be partially damaged, and any attempts to use it will suffer a dice penalty equal to your Outcome.

  • Destroyed targets cannot be repaired, as they do not leave any remains behind.
  • If you use this Effect as a Reaction to dodge, you still need to make a roll to dodge. The Effect will occur regardless of the Outcome of this roll, but if you fail you will be hit by the relevant attack prior to the Effect occurring.
  • The penalty from an object being damaged will stack with itself if a target is hit multiple times, but the object is destroyed when it reaches a total penalty of -4.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

The piercing glows with green light for a moment and the user's eyecolor on that side changes to green for the duration of the effect.

To effectively remove weapons you need to know where they are. The user of this artifact will be able to see through solid matter to find weapons.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action.

You may perceive things within 75 feet of you with perfect clarity as though there were no walls or obstacles blocking your view for the next 30 minutes.

You may perceive through up to 15 feet of material. The Difficulty of all Perception rolls made through a wall are increased by 1 per wall.

  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.
  • Your target must be within line of sight, or within range of another sense if more fitting for the Gift's flavor.

The Aegis Watch Mk.2

Created by Viktor Caetano ("Lex"), given to Minerva McAlaster.
Currently At home.
A Nice Hi-Tech watch that seems to not tell the time instead a screen that says "Welcome! Please Input Code." It also has a sentence sketched into the side of it with the words 'To my greatest friend Abe! Hope this saves your life one day."

Aegis Protocol

2

Parting Gift

Created by Guy Webber, given to Viktor Caetano ("Lex").
A simple Damascus steel ring. Inside, it’s inlaid with fractal knot patterns made of electrum wire. An engraving in tiny font along the edge reads “Without Apology.”

The initial design was the most complicated part, really. Once an object has been embedded with the complex fractal knot pattern, made of otherwise ordinary electrum wire, Guy suffuses the wire with extra-dimensional energies. Getting the right energies, and getting them to stick, can take some doing. The wire then guides the magic, which responds readily to a simple flex of intent.
When called upon, space twists into a fractal knot that expands from the wire, distorting perceptions of the object and surrounding space. As if it had always been there, one object is replaced by another, and space returns to its natural state.
No complicated on-the-fly calculations necessary.

With help from a 5-hour Energy value pack, a crash course in CAD software, and a local CNC machine, Guy was able to design the first functioning prototype, a proof of concept for one of his more outlandish ideas.

Space is locally expanded in an additional dimension, an otherwise unnoticeable effect that creates a kind of pocket space, perfect for storing items. The magic is limited in its functionality, and the spatial membrane is somewhat stubborn, so withdrawing an item requires an anchor. By pulling on the desired item and anchor at the same time, the magic can cause them to switch places with minimal strain.

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 Objects 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.

Whenever you withdraw an Object from your Stash, you must immediately Stash another object to replace it. You may only stash objects you are attuned to. Attuning an object requires one minute of physical contact.

  • "Equip" refers to drawing a gun, putting on a piece of armor, etc.
  • Containers which hold multiple things may count as a single item so long as the things within are generally packaged together. For instance, you may stash a clip full of bullets, a medical kit full of medical supplies, or a box of crackers, but you cannot stash a backpack full of miscellaneous equipment.
  • You may only attempt to store Objects which are free-standing and disconnected from other things. The use of this Effect will not allow you to sever any connections holding an Object in place.
  • The Maximum Object Size parameter is intended to roughly capture the weight / size restriction of items and isn’t intended to restrict shape. GM discretion is advised. A human being is level 4 in the Maximum Object Size parameter.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

Assault Helmet

This Effect activates whenever combat begins. It does not require an Action or Exertion.

You automatically detect all people wielding weapons within 300 feet of you for the next hour. This includes any who come within range during the duration. You have a sense of how many valid targets are nearby, as well as their distance and direction.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.

Selkie Skin

This Effect activates whenever you are submerged in salt water. It does not require an Action or Exertion.

You transform into small for two hours or until you choose to end the Effect. See the Extended System text for stats.

While transformed, you cannot use any equipment (including Artifacts and Consumables), and you cannot use your Active, Direct, or Trap Powers. However, you can use your Passive 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.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • Creature Stats
    • Medium (large house cat up to human) Body 3. Brawn 1. Dexterity 3. Fall damage reduced by 1.
    All creatures get +3 dice to any non-combat Action that they are naturally adapted for. All creatures Medium and larger may attack by rolling Body, dealing +0 Damage (+1 for “predators”). Gms and Playgroup leaders can apply other bonuses and effects to specific animals.
  • Animals that are quicker than humans (like dogs) have 50 feet of Free Movement. Animals that are very slow (like turtles) have 0 feet of Free Movement.
  • You cannot transform if there is not enough room to do so.

Lightning Bracers

A pair of bronze bracelets that glow with golden energy.

This Artifact produces ephemeral projectiles that can be used as a javelin. It is roughly the same size as a javelin but can be collapsed into a pair of bronze bracers and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +4 Weapon Damage. The target's Armor is fully effective against this Damage. Attacks

You also gain the following effects:

  • Chain Lightning: You may Exert your Mind to perform a chain lightning attack. If your attack succeeds, All targets within 5 feet of your primary target take full Damage. The Damage can “jump” up to 5 times. Each target can be hit only once.
  • Magic Quiver: Instead of throwing this Artifact, it is an object that produces an endless supply of temporary throwable objects. For example, bracers that allow you to throw ethereal javelins, or a sack of throwing rocks that doesn’t shrink when you withdraw one.

  • If there is not enough free space to expand the object, it cannot be expanded. You cannot expand this Object as an attack.
  • Created projectiles last only until they strike their target and cannot be shared or stockpiled.
  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.

Umbrella Identification

This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport and just as difficult to conceal.

Whenever you show this Artifact to someone, you may give a general description of an Object within the category of forms of identification, and anyone who hears the description and sees the Artifact will have their mind fill in the details to complete the illusion.

The way the Artifact is seen 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 Axe of Legend

This electric guitar has one edge sharpened into a deadly blade. It can be used as either sort of axe.

This Artifact can be used as a sword / axe. It is roughly the same size as a sword / axe and just as difficult to conceal.

Attack by rolling Brawn + Melee, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +5 Weapon Damage. The target's fully effective

You also gain the following effects:

  • Mjolnir: You may call your weapon back to your hand as a Quick Action if it is within 50 feet of you. Can only be used on melee weapon that you have wielded in the past hour.
  • Shredder: If you successfully hit your target, the value of any Armor they are wearing is reduced by 2. This penalty lasts until the armor is repaired.

  • Reminder: additional Weapon Damage granted by this Effect does not stack with any other bonus to Weapon Damage. Instead the largest bonus is used.