The Cape is a dramatic, flowing garment made from a mysterious fabric that appears to be a blend of deep, shadowy black and dark crimson. The outer surface is silky smooth and reflective, glinting ominously in the light, while the inner lining is a rich, blood-red velvet that feels both warm and comforting to the touch. The collar is high and stiff, reminiscent of classic vampire attire, and it clasps at the neck with an ornate, silver brooch shaped like a bat with ruby eyes.
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.
This Artifact's creator is always aware of the direction and distance to this Artifact.
This Artifact's creator must have it with them to have restful sleep. They cannot regain Mind or Source while separated from this Artifact.
When Lucas activates the barrier, the cape undergoes a dramatic transformation. The outer fabric darkens significantly, absorbing surrounding light and casting a shadowy aura around Lucas. Spectral, gnashing teeth appear along the edges of the cape, moving and clamping as if eager to bite. A faint, sinister hissing sound accompanies the visual, enhancing the eerie atmosphere.
As an attack comes towards Lucas, the cape responds by flaring out, the spectral teeth gnashing more fiercely. The attack is visibly absorbed by an invisible barrier that forms around Lucas, the impact creating a ripple effect through the darkened fabric. Observers would see the attacker’s blow deflected and feel the supernatural force of the cape’s defense.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action. Roll Dexterity + Alertness 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.
Bankston raises the ornate scales high, uttering a commanding language reminiscent of a judge laying out a judgment. With a deft motion, he positions nettle and Mugwort leaves on opposite sides of the scales, Flames igniting on there own. The flames dance with hues of dark red and bright purple, casting flickering shadows. As Bankston gazes into the flames, visions of past crimes materialize before him. the flames surge forth, Painfully searing into his eyes and imprinting an awareness of his prey and their victims.
By intentionally criminal beings i mean to target beings that have an activate understanding and engagement with society and laws, they just chose to break those laws anyways.
Victims of crimes i mean individuals who are actively having a crime committed against them. some one being attacked in the streets, or kidnapped, or just got robbed an hour ago. People are not Victims forever.
Exert your Mind and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: Balancing the scales, and lighting the plants on flame on either side.. You must use up nettle and Mugwort leaves in order to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.
You automatically detect all Victims of crimes and intentionally criminal beings within 10 miles 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.
You learn basic information about why each detected being is being detected. For example, if you detect Criminals, you may learn how many crimes they have committed and what type.
You receive Their scent for each being you detect.
The sack is always cold to the touch, and when opened it, the sound of rushing wind can be heard.
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 but cannot break free.
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.
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: Kleptomania. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
The gun came in a plain box. No ceremony. No key. Just a folded letter, yellowed at the edges, from a man Myles had barely known but never stopped resembling.
“Every man’s got one truth he can’t outrun. This one’s yours now.”
At first touch, it breathed. Just enough to make him freeze. Warm to the grip, heartbeat-soft under his thumb. Something alive. Something waiting. Something judging.
The whispers began soon after. Not voices—more like convictions, raw and righteous. It made the world sharper. Colder. Clearer. Every criminal face lit up in red. Every excuse sounded like a lie.
He knows what it does. He knows what it is. He’s felt it stretch his thoughts like wire pulled taut. He’s watched his hand hover too long over the trigger. He knows it’s warping him.
But he can’t let it die.
He’s never left it behind. Not once. Not for more than a handful of hours. Because if it’s gone too long, it wilts. The warmth fades. The breath slows. And when that happened once—just once—he held it all night in both hands like a man waiting at someone’s deathbed. By morning, it had come back.
And he told himself he wouldn’t let it happen again.
Because letting it die would mean admitting it mattered. That he’s bonded to it. That it’s not just a weapon—it’s a witness. One he keeps alive.
Every time he fires it, the world gets quieter. Cleaner. The bang, if he wants it, is thunder. But when he doesn’t—it’s nothing. And when a shot is fatal, the silence hangs like a velvet curtain over the corpse.
They never scream. Never beg. The gun doesn’t let them.
And Myles? He just holsters it again and keeps walking.
He doesn’t call it a curse anymore. He doesn’t call it anything.
But it always has the last word.
This Artifact can be used as a handgun. It is roughly the same size as a handgun and just as difficult to conceal.
Attack by rolling Dexterity + Firearms, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +4 Weapon Damage.
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: Injustice - 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 black and green cybernetic arm. A dart gun module in the palm fan fire syringe like darts (Payload of 6 before reloading). The arm has a Tillinghast Resonator incorporated within that can allow it to reach through solid objects - there is a notable vibration apparent when this function spins up, & frequent users report hallucinations or other mental aberrations induced by Tillinghast Radiation - shielding has been improved in later trials.
Project Report: The framework for the VIPER protype is complete. Blood Turbines will power the Tillinghast Resonater, which will further power the arms through controlled emissions of Tillinghast radiation! We have just anesthetized Sara, telling her she is going to get braces...my hands tremble on the scalpel. Where my daughter had but weak, fragile flesh she will soon hold the legacy of our work!
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You gain an additional limb that functions as a standard human arm and hand.
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 Taser and Dart Gun.
Your appendage is selectively incorporeal, allowing you to reach through walls or ignore grapples on it.
Your extra appendage can stretch to reach an additional 30 feet.
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 Extra Appendage counts as an object and can be hacked or targeted by any Powers that affect objects or machines. Injuries to your Extra Appendage cannot be healed by Powers that affect living things but may be repaired during Downtime.
The Viper prototype can charge plasma collected from the interior blood turbines with Tillinghast radiation. This material can be injected into an injured subject, where the proto-plasma then seeks & replaces damaged tissue - becoming whatever is required. The injection of T radiation can cause confusion with higher planes, which can erode the sanity of the weak mined.
Project Update: This is a marvel of hyper geometry - my husband & I have decided to forgo further animal trials & test it on wounds surgically inflicted on Sara - if her mind is anything like ours, she will endure the cojoined reality without issue.
Expend a point of Battery and spend 2 Actions to activate. Select a Living target within arm's reach. Your target must make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Choose a specific Injury on your target that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Intellect + Medicine at Difficulty 5.
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.
The Tillinghast Resonator can warp space around the wielder, although doing so breaches so-called "Tillinghast Space" allowing creatures that move freely in alternate dimensions to be seen, & in some cases, see us. The field of warping, shifting reality will protect the wielder from harm, & the creatures from beyond may attack those who interact with the area of warped space - often in a violent manner.
Project Note: We are ready for the final test! We acquired rifles to test the event horizon of the Tillinghast Field! Not a moment to soon, as Sara has become all but useless now, a gibbering wreck. No matter - once they see the T-Field eat a hail of bullets fired at a helpless girl, they will be unable to doubt our brilliance!
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction to activate. Make a Trauma roll when you activate this Effect. Roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 6.
If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome + 4 Damage. Half the damage absorbed is reflected back at the attacker, which they can Defend against as normal. 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.
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.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see a field of corsucating energy engulf the wielder, in which alien creatures swim through alternate paralell dimensions.
The Tillnghast Resonator within the Viper prototype can charge darts with T radiation, allowing them to "slide" across extra-dimensional space. While this does involve a risk of T-Radiation to the environment, that concern was tabled for later development.
T Radiation can allow a single dart to carry greater payloads, arc over obstacles, ignore firing conditions in local dimensional space, & strike with unnatural accuracy, in part guided by the will imprint on the wielder.
Project Report: The Resonator is a wonder! We should be able to pull any defense contract we can find once they see the applications of the arm & it's cybernetic guidance system. Sara complains about hallucinations & has begun prattling about some imaginary friend she calls "Chitari" - I will need to increase the shielding in later models.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact and engaged in combat with Dart Gun.
You receive +2 dice to all rolls using Dart Gun. Reloading is considered a Free Action.
You also gain the following effects:
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.
The Axe of Legend's blade has been imbued with the metal of the dark lord of rock and roll. It shreds chords and flesh. The rock god commanding it may recall it to their hand at will.
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 +4 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The Skeleton Key slips easily into any keyhole and turns without a fuss.
Spend an Action.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open any number of doors, containers, knots, or locks within arm's reach of you. Cannot be used on Alien technology.
If you successfully operate a lock, you may choose to destroy it, rendering it inoperable.
The lightning bracers can be activated to summon a thunderbolt into the wearer's hand. Throwing these thunderbolts makes an incredibly loud boom. Once a thunderbolt is in hand, the wearer can throw as many as they wish. The electricity from these bolts will jump between nearby targets.
This Artifact produces ephemeral projectiles that can be used as a javelin.
Attack by rolling Brawn + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage.
You also gain the following effects:
The Future Soldier's PSG is capable of briefly supercharging its effectiveness with a jolt of Omega Cell energy. While active, the future soldier glows with an extremely bright golden light.
While the shield is supercharged, the Future Soldier cannot move or see the outside world, but they are completely isolated from anything that occurs outside the shield.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action or Reaction.
You phase out of reality for up to 4 Rounds. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world or take any Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
When you activate this Effect, you may limit its duration to a period of your choosing. If you are able, you may also end it as a Free Action on your initiative.
You leave a golden glow shaped like yourself at your location.