The tip of the rope dart is covered in raised glyphs, and the silken cable attaches to a ringed medallion etched with seals and sigils on its surface to great Pazuzu.
Spiraling out whip-fast, a razor-wire-like shredding wind of shadow substance lacerates the target, drawing copious amounts of blood from any living thing. The blood forms a mist of crimson that is absorbed before it can hit the ground.
"Pazuzu, Tongue plucked raw from gaping maw. Blood from vein let fall like rain. Behold these eyes, your bloody prize. And now the fall from vaulted hall. These bones! This flesh! Consume it all! Pazuzu! Pazuzu! Pazuzu!"
king of the south wind demons. Adherents believed Pazuzu helped humans ward off other demons, and, thus, representations of his face served as popular apotropaic amulets in the 1st millennium bce.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Charisma + Occult Difficulty 6. The target may contest by rolling to Dodge or Defend as a Reaction, Difficulty 6.
If the Contested Outcome is positive, the target takes that much Damage plus 4. Armor is fully effective against this Damage.
The target suffers a -3 dice penalty for the next hour or until the Injury is healed. This dice penalty does not stack multiple times on the same target.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see Blood and Shadow exsanguinating the victim..
The device this is built into releases nanites which enter the head through the ear canal and read the selected pattern from the brain. Then the change begins as described below, ending with the new form. When the effect ends, the changes revert quite suddenly, leaving less time for disgust.
After the events of his last Contract, Laz wants to be anyone else. Eliza helped him work out how he can be.
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 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.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see nanites ooze out of the pores, caustically eating away mundane clothing, and within the naked body bones and sinew writhe under skin, as seams tear open and heal over and over where the shape of the body changes and excess flesh is eaten away by the same nanites before they reconstruct new clothes across the body and ooze back into the nose, mouth and ears...
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
A thin coating of nanite material has been applied to this plastic card, which can now change its outer form to become a driver's license, Passport card, government employee ID, security system badge, or any other form of ID or security pass the bearer wishes, including affecting the chip, mag stripe, or NFC components to generate valid responses on scanners.
This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a Blank SLE4442 Chip Card and just as difficult to conceal.
Spend a Quick Action to activate. This Artifact changes its appearance into an Object within the category of Identification & Security cards. 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.
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:
In its active form, it resembles a Citari 725 - Feather Model Hunting Shotgun, a Twenty-Eight Inch Barrel Length with a Blued Finish, Built to be used with Twelve-Gauge Shells, and Wooden Stock Completing It. But differentiating this from any other Citari 725 was a length of script engraved alongside the outside of the barrel, its language foreign and beheld a slight blue glow.
This Artifact can be used as a shotgun. It is roughly the same size as a shotgun but can be collapsed into A dark-steel colored metal ring 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:
When the band made by the above ritual is worn, it occasionally (every 4 hours or so) briefly flashes a translucent outline of its wielder’s body at peak condition (this is their “elemental”, the shell or outline of their soul), and the wielder is able to focus as if they themselves were at peak condition.
The band captures a person’s elemental, the shell of a person’s soul that is left behind in its movement, according to some of the occultist Helena Blavatsky’s teachings. By briefly redisplaying this shell over the user’s form, the user can synchronize their body with their soul at a healthier time.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
Your Body Penalty is reduced to 0. Does not reduce Mind Penalty.
The rod glows with green light, and the participant being targeted glows the same color. The energy has some kick back, causing a shadow of the harm of the poison on the wielder of the rod.
The rod is burns with purifying energy that drives the malady from the target. It draws from the symbol of the Asclepius.
This rod was made by a ritual focused on the symbol of the Asclepius, and experimenting with it. Vaccines, anti-virals, stories of miracle cures were all part of the creation process.
Take a Severity-1 Injury and spend 1 Action. Select a Living target within arm's reach.
You may cure any Non-Alien diseases, toxins, or poisons afflicting your target 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.
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 artifact can't be broken. There is a stylized "Heal the world for me- Vel" Inscribed on it.
If the artifact is lost, it returns to Vel. If the creator is dead, it finds a way to the nearest person who would use the artifact.
The creator (Vel) can tell when someone else is using it, and is aware of the user's appearance, direction, and distance.
[Future note: Although right now this is tied to Vel, I will update this to reflect that I change the signature to the person I choose once that patch is out]
This is an enhancement built on top of other artifacts to enhance how strong they are.
It's connection is to the person who originally made the artifact, not Vel.
It involves using
- a variety of hard materials (iron, titanium, etc)
- a history book
- a family tree diagram
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.
The spy can do up their passport to appear as any valid form of identification.
This Artifact can change its appearance. When not transformed, it is roughly the same size as a passport but can be collapsed into a wallet 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.
If the Selkie's seal skin is worn close to the body, any contact with salt water will cause them to transform into a seal. While transformed, they have full access to their normal suite of Powers.
This Effect activates whenever you are submerged in salt water. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event.
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, Targeted, 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.
Dazzle Glasses are advanced "black-tech" espionage gear. They can be styled as any sort sunglasses. When the wearer is recorded, they will quickly flash a non-visible laser into the recording device, destroying it after only a moment of footage is taken.
This Effect activates whenever you are recorded. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Non-Sapient Object within 20 feet no larger than a duffel bag (35 liters). Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Perception + Culture Difficulty 6.
If your Outcome is 4 or higher, the target will be completely destroyed and can no longer function, though it may still be repaired. 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.
Companions gawk at the sheer size and quantity of the equipment the survivalist stores in the Bug-out Bag, but when they open it, they find only a standard set of survival gear. Only when the survivalist opens it is its true capacity revealed.
This Artifact holds 5 times what it normally could inside of it. Objects stored inside are weightless.
Living things can be stored in this Artifact. They will have access to anything else inside and may attempt to break free, damaging or destroying the Artifact in the process.
If this Artifact is destroyed, things inside may get out, and it will cease to function until it is repaired.
When scanned or investigated without opening, the contents of this container appear normal and unremarkable.
If anyone other than you opens the container, it appears empty. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents.
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. If this Artifact is lost and in no one else’s possession, it finds its way back to its true owner during the next Downtime.
By default, the creator of this Artifact is its true owner. The true owner may formally bequeath this Artifact onto another person within arm’s reach, after which they are its true owner. If the true owner dies or is destroyed, their ownership ends. If this Artifact has no true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.
This Artifact's true owner is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.
The De-Neuralizer is a small silver device that can emanate a bright flash of light. Any being that looks into it with uncovered eyes has their most recent period of the their memory set into a highly over-writable state for a moment. While in this state, their memories may be overwritten at will.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Location within within arm's reach. All Sapient targets within 20 feet are affected. This Effect cannot be used unless the target is looking directly into the device with uncovered eyes. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.
If the contested Outcome is positive, the most recent 1 hour from your target’s memory is either replaced with new memories or forgotten entirely. This is recorded as a Condition. The level of detail and completeness of the alteration depends on your Outcome. If you fail, the target realizes that you are attempting to alter their memories.
The period is chosen either by time (i.e. “last Friday night”) or by reference to a specific event (i.e. “when the murder occurred”).