The next in Louis's foray into computer science is a little cartridge for his SEAL units. Simply retrieve one from your pack, and slam it into the machine and it'll perform an automated hack of the targeted device! Though fingers that are too fast may find themselves encountering a slight bug, as mashing the input as you input the cartridge has been known to cause the device to encounter a null error and hack itself, but, we promise we're working on that!
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute to activate. Select a Computer within arm's reach. Does not work on Alien technology. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you disable the artifact for a downtime as it hacks itself.. Roll Dexterity + Technology, with the Difficulty set by the GM depending on the security of the system you are hacking. Sapient targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6. The hacking roll and their defensive roll are both Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you may issue a single command to the targeted system. This command must have a specific outcome or be a request for specific login credentials. The command you issue must be within the machine's current capabilities. For example, you cannot order a standard security camera to grow legs and walk around.
You may issue a "self-destruct" command that leaves the hacked system's hardware inoperable, even if that machine had no such functionality previously.
Every hack you make leaves behind A gif of a seal clapping and arfing. in the system as a personal "calling card" that informs anyone who uses the system that the hack occurred.
With a little elbow grease and 21st century know how, this artifact can help you find all sorts of strange things while out on a journey. Through the science that founded radar combined with a little magic, this item can find all sorts of strange things hidden in the world around you and when you are out and about on the hunt you'll be glad you brought your SEAL.
Louis's introduction to the contracting world being so rife with artifacts has made him question what else may be out there, and curious to find more, he's begun digging into ways to do so. This gift is the harbinger's answer to his request for a way to sate that curiosity.
Exert your Mind and spend at least two Actions performing the following ritual: Transcribing details about the area into the scanner to activate. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
You automatically detect all Artifacts and Cursed Objects within 50 feet of you for the next ten minutes. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You get details of what each detected item is, as if you've glanced at each object.
Even while this Effect is not active, if any Artifacts or Cursed Objects come within 50 feet of you, you may roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 7 to detect them.
Even if there are no Artifacts or Cursed Objects 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.
While this Effect is active, you are at -2 dice to all Actions and cannot Concentrate.
The user traces the carving of a moth shaped key repeatedly, thinking of the shape they wish to hide in. At the end if the ritual, a new skin drapes over the user like a cloth.
This artifact allows the user to summon a new skin from the Mansus made of the jumbled memories of the dead, and remove the distinction between the user and the new skin. For a time, at least.
Exert your Mind and spend a half hour.
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 cannot alter your clothes. 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.
Fibrous strands of metal stretch outward from the point of contact with the wielder. When not in use, the primary tendril forms a perfect physical replica of Felix Law's left arm. Additional resting tendrils wrap tightly around the first.
The tendrils display some instinctive independence, and can extend, recede, contort, sharpen and liquefy as needed.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You gain 3 additional limbs that function as standard human arms and hands.
Each additional limb you posses can take one Quick Action per Round without incurring a -2 dice penalty to your main Action. Each additional appendage you have gives you +1 dice to make and resist Grapples (up to a maximum bonus of +4 dice).
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 cannot be mistaken for a normal human. You cannot always use standard human clothes, equipment, vehicles, and facilities, and when you can, you suffer an increased Difficulty.
Vein grants the wielder borrowed knowledge of the their form and function, and masterfully repairs and replaces their living fibres instantaneously, effectively rendering themself indestructible.
This Artifact has been upgraded.
This Artifact receives 2 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +2 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. While it is upgraded, the item cannot be destroyed.
Virtuoso's Vessel: When using this Device for its primary purpose, you always roll a minimum of 8 dice. Excludes Effect activation rolls.
Vein's fibres flow idly through the wielder's cardiovascular system. This metal stitches together any wounds the wielder suffers instantaneously, and acts as a kind of re-bar for healing lingering injuries.
Due to an innate self-defence mechanism, Vein's fibres have an opposite effect on damage from pure, unalloyed metal. As Vein's main weapon is capped entirely with elemental tungsten, this ensures they hold a distinct physical advantage should cooperation cease between the symbiote and their host.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
Any Injury you receive from a source other than unalloyed metal heals quickly, reducing its Severity by one level every 6 hours. Any Injuries you receive while this Effect is active do not deteriorate over time. However, any Battle Scars caused by such an Injury will remain unless it is Properly Stabilized as normal.
As long as at least half your body remains intact, you cannot die and remain at Incapacitated, regardless of how many Injuries you take. It is clear to observers that you are still alive.
You may Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action to reduce the Severity of one of your Injuries by 4. Does not affect Injuries suffered as an activation cost for Effects.
All Injuries you receive are considered Properly Stabilized. You may also choose to heal any Battle Scar on yourself that may not have been caused by an Injury. Doing so takes one day, and the Battle Scar affects you fully until that time.
Injuries you receive from unalloyed metal are increased in Severity by 1.
Vein's fibres wrap tightly around the wielder's skeleton. In response to physical trauma, the metal erupts instantly at the point of impact, absorbing a great deal of kinetic energy into Vein's physically indestructible form.
Due to an innate self-defence mechanism, Vein's fibres do not respond to damage from pure, unalloyed metal. As Vein's main weapon is capped entirely with elemental tungsten, this ensures they hold a distinct physical advantage should cooperation cease between the symbiote and their host.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You have 6, which reduces incoming damage from all sources of physical attack except unalloyed metal. Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
You may transfer your Armor to another target within 30 feet once per Round as a Free Action. You may transfer it back to yourself at any range.
Your Armor cannot be destroyed, and it always provides a minimum of 2 Armor regardless of any Armor shredding or penetration. It cannot be circumvented with Called Shots. When shredded, it returns to full potency in one hour.
The Hive Tendrils twist into boiling spikes of metal fibre. The metals are structured such that the spikes are hottest at the tip, capped with a narrow head of pure tungsten. They can be driven forward and finessed deep into a target, boring through nearly any material with a combination of liquefying heat and sheer percussive force.
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 +2 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:
Felix has surrendered his mortal future to the Arterial Hive in the pursuit of their shared goal. When Felix Law next dies, Vein's living metal fibres coil around his form as he is subsumed into the symbiote.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
The next time you die, you instead permanently transform into Vein.
One of Vein's Tendrils reaches into itself, through an aperture which opens behind the wielder. It grabs tightly and yanks them through the air, while the portal's centre remains directly behind the host.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect remains active for two hours.
As long as you are conscious, you are immune to falling Damage and may hover in place mid-air. Additionally, you may glide as you fall, traveling 35 feet horizontally for every 10 feet you fall. While gliding, you fall at a minimum speed of 10 feet per Round.
You may ascend into the air and fly using your mind. Your Free Movement is Mind x5 feet/Round, including vertically. You cannot Dash. When sprinting, roll Mind and add your rating in Mind plus 1 to the outcome, multiply by 5 to find your sprint speed. Your encumbrance limit is 10 lbs per point of Mind.
You are subject to the following effects while gliding or flying:
Vein's fibres intertwine delicately with the wielder's nervous system. The metal interferes with the synapses, regulating the host's physical and mental state at all times. In extreme circumstances, Vein will use this connection to force the host to act, even when incapacitated.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
Your Stress from Injuries and Mind Damage is reduced to 0.
While Incapacitated, you may Exert your Mind to take a single action.
The fibres at the end of Vein's primary Tendril fold into themselves, and a small aperture opens on the palm. Identical apertures open on the target's body. Words spoken into the aperture will be heard only in the minds of others under this effect. Every hole will close into itself and disappear if neither the user nor any target is maintaining concentration.
The aperture opens at a point chosen either consciously or subconsciously by each target, with the default being their left palm.
When sending a physical object with the message, Vein's Tendrils instead move to cover the desired object, swallowing it into the aperture. After about a minute, the object is expelled from the desired target's aperture, which can widen considerably to accommodate even a large payload.
This effect explicitly involves opening a series of minor portals to the Arterial Hive, the living pocket dimension that Vein originates from.
Spend an Action. Select a number of targets up to your Mind rating any distance away from you. You must have specific targets in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.
You open up a line of communication to your targets, and may converse with them as long as one of you maintains Concentration
The conversation will only be perceived by the intended recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.
You may Exert your Mind to send any physical Object that would fit into a backpack with your message. Takes 1 minute to arrive. Any active traps on the objects are triggered when you attempt to send them, and wards and marks are likewise removed.
Vein's needle-thin fibres pierce the target's body, wrapping as close to the brain stem as possible. Once situated, the target's mind is laid bare, and Vein's host can probe the open memories until contact breaks.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select an Animate target within arm's reach You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Dexterity + Melee at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Body at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you are able to view your target's memories. If you fail, the target knows you're attempting to read their memories.
You may ask a number of specific questions about their memory equal to your Contested Outcome. For example, “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc. You cannot get answers to broad, analytical questions like “are they a good person?” or “what are their plans for the future?”
Each question you ask and memory you replay takes a single Round to read.
You may read memories that the target has forgotten.
You use this item by taking hits of a peaty, Islay Scotch - you'll flinch, but you'll feel better. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead
Expend a point of Battery to activate. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Over the course of one minute, 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, roll Charisma + Medicine at Difficulty 6.
Your target may Resist. 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 within arm's reach. Treatment takes 30 seconds but will not remove any Traumas. If you are successful, restore 2 Mind damage.
You may choose to use this Effect to temporarily relieve any number of the patient's Traumas (including mental Conditions). In this case, Treatment takes an Action and the effect lasts two hours. If the Patient is currently experiencing an episode, Difficulty is increased by 2.
Liam shares a bit of the fiery Islay scotch in his hip flask - it burns all the way down, & brings welcome relief to any poisoning or illness. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead
Expend a point of Battery 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 so long as you have fully diagnosed or 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 treat Alien maladies and curses. If there is some method to cure them, you learn what it is. If the malady does not provide its own means of curing it, it is cured.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: It's Five Somewhere: You must roll Self Control to not accept any drink offered, even if visibly poisoned.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
Liam is a die-hard alcoholic, as many medics are. Even so, once he's had his Irish Coffee, he is ready for yet another double shift or whatever else comes his way. Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead
Spend an Action. Select a Animate target within arm's reach.
For the next 24 hours, your target does not require any food, water, sleep, or air. Any roll to resist an Effect dependent on any affected requirement is made at -1 Difficulty.
Your target is adapted to their current environment for one hour. While adapted, they do not suffer harm from heat, cold, pressure, or lack of oxygen in that environment, provided that challenge normally exists in that environment.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
The fiery scotch in Liam's Hip Flask suffuses you with warmth, makes your head spin a little, & gives you the courage to run into battle unafraid! Anyone receiving the effect of the Hip Flask will see their eyes shimmer with a spectral blue-white light, & bystanders will hear the whispers of the unquiet dead
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Roll Brawn + Melee at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome +4 Damage. The Damage reduction from the barrier is applied before Armor. This Artifact may only have 1 active barrier at a time.
The barrier will fall after two hours, 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.
Any target that is or was under the protection of your Barrier in a given Round cannot take an Injury greater than Severity 6 that Round.
Liam's dependence on Alcohol has reached a critical level. He knows when anyone else drinks from his flask, & will typically find it if it's lost - not soon enough, though - each day without it is torture, as tremors, sweats, & hallucinations wrack him while he is denied his best coping mechanism.
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 this Artifact has no living true owner, anyone may spend one day attuning to it to become its true owner.
If the true owner of this Artifact ever dies, it immediately disappears. At least one week later, it will appear to Vigilantes and reveal its power to them. They become its new true owner.
If this Artifact is used by someone other than its true owner, its true owner is alerted and learns the user's appearance, direction, and distance at that moment. The true owner may use a single investigation Effect on them once at any range.
This Artifact's true owner must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.
Winsley's deals are getting more serious, so naturally he requests to never be separated from his 'Friends'. If he is ever separated from one of the items he holds so dearly he can call upon some of his benefactor's debts and open a tear in the fabric to bring them to him.
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.
If this Artifact is in no one else’s possession, its true owner may Exert their Mind and spend two Actions to bring it to themselves.
This Artifact's true owner must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.
It appears as a clockwork version of the desired weapon. The projectiles are self-produced caseless rounds made of brass. The Words “Mortui salutem” Are etched into each round. Gears churn silently throughout its immaculate brass casing. Shots are left to a whispered hiss of steam. When changing forms tentacles reach out from within the casing and rearrange the barrel and shape in a moment. It can turn into a seemingly mundane lighter with clockwork inspirations that still functions as normally. Diva is a god of violence and craves the thrill of the hunt.
This Artifact can be used as a rifle. It is roughly the same size as a rifle but can be collapsed into a unique clockwork lighter and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.Unless You have another living Artifact, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +5 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.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: you believe that the gun is alive at all times, is named Diva, and is a close friend you’ve known for years. during moments or rest or extreme stress make a self control roll not to talk to the gun. If any Diva is destroyed make a trauma roll.. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
You also gain the following effects:
A decrepit flare gun, shooting out a green flare. Skittering in the darkness, several goblins burst from the shadows.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon up to 3 Sapient Gobbos at your location. They last until they move more than 150 feet from you or are destroyed They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. They will attack any Undead targets they encounter immediately and will ignore your commands to do otherwise. This Artifact may have at most 3 minions active at a time.
Anyone who touches this Artifact will notice it warping their mind and may drop it. If they choose to hold or use it, they immediately receive the following Trauma: Klepto. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
The mad scientist can craft steel helmets that protect their wearers from mental influence and attack.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You get +0 dice to any Mind resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects:
This device is a piece of chrome the size and shape of the back of a spoon. When placed against the skin, small hypodermic needles sprout from the device and attach it to the user's bloodstream. There, it filters and releases lifesaving drugs into the bloodstream, granting complete immunity from contracting new diseases and added resiliency in all other cases.
WARNING: The immunizing drugs have been shown to reduce inhibitions in test subjects.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You get +2 dice to any Body resistance rolls you make. You also gain the following effects: