Legendary Artifact

Heavenly Dragon (天龍)

Created and held by Hàoyu Xhao.

As you hold out your hand, open palmed, the beads swiftly swirl around your arm, forming a bow shape, stacking into a functional bow, shaping into a dragon. The bow itself seems to be, in the right light, breathing. As you pull back the string, an arrow form, firing, and hitting the target, only to quickly burn up, removing some of the armor it hits.


This Artifact can be used as a bow. It is roughly the same size as a bow but can be collapsed into Buddhist Beads and concealed. Collapsing or expanding it costs a Quick Action.

Attack by rolling Dexterity + Athletics, Difficulty 6. Successful attacks deal Contested Outcome +3 Weapon Damage. Attacks do not require a successful called shot to do damage.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: Disfigured. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.

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:

  • Bane: Injuries dealt to Humans are increased by 2 Severity levels.
  • Infinite Ammo: This weapon never runs out of its standard ammunition.
  • 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.

Community Artifacts

Adventure backpack

Created and held by Henry “Hank” Bannon.
A 60L backpacking bag

Opening the adventuring bag reveals a cavern of interior pockets, nets, and subsections.


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.

  • A container of holding cannot be placed inside another created by the same Gift.
  • There is no cost to use this container.

Stops Watch

Created and held by Richard Cummings.
Stainless steel watch

applies invisible field that doesn't allow bullets and shrapnel through


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

You have 6 Armor, which only reduces damage taken from bullets and shrapnel. Any armor piercing effects from bullets and shrapnel are ignored. 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 or shredded, and it always provides a minimum of 2 Armor regardless of any Armor penetration. Your Armor cannot be circumvented with Called Shots.

Any time your Armor prevents damage, your total Armor rating is temporarily decreased by 1. Whenever you go two Rounds without preventing any damage, it is restored back to its full value.

  • Armor recharging happens automatically and does not require an Action.

A bottomless looking hole appears on the entire face of the watch, allowing you to reach your arm into it and pulling things out presumably out of thin air.


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 rolling luggage bag (50 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.

  • "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.

Nekomata Pendant

Created and held by Special Agent J. Gottlieb.
A black stone set in a silver pendant, on a thin silvered chain. The stone holds within it a nekomata, the spirit of a cat who was wronged in death.

While using this ability, Gottlieb gains black and purple fire around his wrists, and his eyes turn completely black.

He shoots off black and purple orbs of 'cursed fire' from his palms, which draw from the fire around his wrists. Due to his firearms training, he has pinpoint accuracy with them. Each shot causes knockback.

He is not actually the one powering this ability, it is actually the nekomata residing within the cursed pendant who channels the energy through his body. Over time, he may come to regret taking on this 'friend'...


Spend an Action. Select a target within 45 feet. Roll Dexterity + Firearms 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.

Any Injury inflicted is considered unstabilized even if its Severity is less than 4. The equipment and roll required to Stabilize it is treated as though it is a minimum of Severity 6.

If the target receives an Injury, they are knocked back 5 * Severity feet.

This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: burned fingertips. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.

  • 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.

War maker mark 2

Created and held by Len.
Currently At home.
A coin that can become a gun, which can shift to look like any type of gun. It always includes the sigil of Ares.

The Dream Journal

Created and held by Camilla Wright.
A high-quality, hard-cover journal. Its intricately patterned surface is covered in a paper cover reading: "Musings, Dreams, Aspirations." along with contact information on the inside. Despite its relatively compact size and how many pages have already been filled, there always seems to be just enough space for another entry.

The user writes in the journal using a writing implement that has been fully doused in a bottle of ink, manifesting a connection between their dreams and a target. As they do so, wisps of otherworldly color momentarily surround the target, beckoning them to fall into the dream. When they do so, they are enveloped into a dream world of the user's choosing, where a version of themselves exists as a guide for the target.


Exert your Mind (unless the target is already drowsy) and spend an Action. Select a single Living or Animate target or a Location within 300 feet. If you select a Location, all Living or Animate targets within 20 feet of the chosen Location, besides yourself, are affected. You must use up a bottle of ink in order to activate this Effect. Roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6. Affected targets may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, affected targets becomes drowsy for the next 30 minutes, during which time they suffer an additional -2 dice Penalty to all Actions. At the end of their drowsiness, they fall asleep for Contested Outcome x 3 hours.

Sleeping targets will not prematurely wake up on their own, and can only be awoken by taking Damage or nearing death from hunger, thirst, or suffocation. Drowsy targets always fall asleep, regardless of what happens while they are drowsy.

You may determine the content of an affected target's dreams while they are asleep, but they must involve you in some way, and will reveal you as the source of their sleep as well as reveal secret information about yourself to them. By maintaining Concentration, you may enter their dreams and converse with them directly.

When activating this Effect you may attempt a knockout. If you do and your Contested Outcome exceeds 4, the target falls asleep immediately. Otherwise, they suffer the drowsy penalty for 2 Rounds.

The target can be compelled to take physical actions and use their senses by other Effects, and they will still remain asleep throughout. If this occurs, they will be obviously sleepwalking to anyone who observes them.

When an affected target wakes up, they remain drowsy for the next minute, and suffer a -3 dice penalty. If an affected target successfully resists being put to sleep, they will still become drowsy for the next minute, and will suffer the same penalty.

Possession of this Artifact causes the following Battle Scar to manifest over the course of a day: Tortured Poet: Your vitality is sapped by the journal, amplifying any pain you feel. Any Stress from your Body score is multiplied by 2. Hurt becomes -2, Wounded becomes -4, Maimed becomes -8, etc., Hand Of The Author: Writing in the dream journal has taken its toll over time. Called shots against your left hand do +2 damage. If an attack hits you which could conceivably hit your stomach, roll 1d10 at Difficulty 6. If you fail, the attack hits your soft spot and does +2 damage., and Day Dreamer: (You suffer a form of minor narcolepsy, as the dream journal beckons. Every hour, if you do not rest for at least thirty minutes, roll Mind at Difficulty 7. On a failure, you become drowsy and suffer a -2 dice penalty until you rest. If you fail this check again without resting or botch, you fall asleep. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Battle Scar heals over the course of the next day.

  • You do not physically enter a target's dreams; your body stays in place while you are Concentrating.
  • The target is aware than the secret information about you which was revealed in their dream is true, even if the rest of the dream may be written off as just a dream.
  • For targets where "sleep" does not make any sense in terms of flavor, they will power down, freeze, etc, whatever state they can be in which is analogous to sleep.
  • 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 user rips out a page from the journal which animates and protects them. The page is surrounded by an ethereal, dreamy mist which absorbs the power of incoming damage and sends it back in an intensified light.


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

If you succeed, you create a barrier around yourself, which absorbs the next Outcome + 6 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. 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.

The user can manipulate people through weaving a story for them in the dream journal. To begin, the user douses their writing utensil of choice (such as their pen, quill, or finger) into a bottle of ink, which is then absorbed into it. Afterwards, they can spend a minute writing into the pages of the journal that creates a suggestion for a target, which they must communicate by the end.


Exert your Mind (unless the target is asleep) and spend one minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must use up a bottle of ink in order to activate this Effect. Your target cannot be engaged in Combat. Communicate a command to your target. Roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

If the contested Outcome is positive, your target will be compelled to follow your command to their best understanding of the letter and spirit of the command until they have completed it or for your Contested Outcome in hours. You cannot issue another suggestion to the target until 10 minutes after they have completed the first command or 10 minutes after a failure.

The target is unaware that they are under supernatural influence and feel they are acting of their own free will. If you fail, they realize that you were attempting to influence them supernaturally with your command.

Your command can be an order to take an immediate Action, a conditional request, and an abstract goal. You cannot order a target to "do nothing," and they are free to take other Actions as they fulfill your request. Your command cannot be obviously self-destructive. The Effect ends if following your command would cause a target to cross one of their Limits in a way that would necessitate a Trauma roll.

  • The target must be able to understand you and must receive your communication for the suggestion to work.
  • Allowed Commands
    • Conditional Request: implants a triggered response or latent order. (e.g. "when you see your mom, give her a kiss" or "when I give the signal, strip naked and pretend you're possessed by the devil.")
    • Abstract Goal: You command can be general or abstract, leaving the details of how your target achieves it up to them. (e.g. “crash your company's stock price" or "help me find the nearest vampire.")
    • Direct Order: The target must take an immediate action (e.g. “Sit down,” "run away," or "tell me your password.")
  • In the case of a failed activation, GMs should consider how bystanders would realistically react to a potentially-outlandish accusation of mind-reading.
  • 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.

By sparking conversation while holding the journal, the user is able to ascertain a mystical insight into the target's inner dreams. While talking, the user subconsciously interprets the information by writing in the journal, using a utensil that has been imbued with a full bottle of ink.


Spend one minute. Select a Sapient target within 20 feet. You must actively converse with the individual in question for one minute in order to gather any information. You must use up a bottle of ink in order to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6.

You learn all the following information about your target:

  • Determine if this target is Alien in origin or whether it has any Alien energy or outside influences. You receive information about the type of energy, including the name of the relevant Source pool or equivalent. You determine the effect of any active Alien energy detected, and you get an idea as to the sorts of ways that latent Alien energy may be channeled by the target.
  • You learn where the target sleeps, how long they tend to sleep each night, whether or not they have nightmares, and what their nightmares tend to be about.
  • You learn a hidden desire of the target. Roll Outcome determines the relevancy / secret-ness of the desire.

The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

This Gift's Cost is capped at 2 and cannot be increased further.

You cannot investigate the same target more than once per day.

  • 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.

Infused with the dreams, imaginations, and aspirations of the user, the journal maintains its binding, pages, and words no matter what damage it receives. Moreover, its connection to the user's dreams allow for them to manifest the journal no matter where they are.

Intended Use: Creative Writing


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.

  • "Cannot be broken" means that damage cannot render the Artifact's Effects unusable, nor can it cease to be used for its primary mundane purpose, if it has one.

Stock Legendary Artifacts

255TE "Lancer" Rife

A metallic disk that, with the press of a button, expands into a futuristic-looking rifle.

This Artifact can be used as a rifle. It is roughly the same size as a rifle but can be collapsed into a metallic disk 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:

  • Silencer: The report of any shots you fire may be made silent at will.

  • 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.
  • Rifles are +1 Difficulty to use in melee range. Sniper Rifles are +3 Difficulty to use without a tripod or in melee range. Setting up a tripod takes an Action.

The Coffin

"The Coffin" is a black, alligator-skin briefcase made to look like its namesake. The interior is coated in red, quilted leather. It is quite a bit larger on the inside, appearing to stretch backwards like a dark passageway.

This Artifact holds 5 times what it normally could inside of it. Objects stored inside are weightless. Unless you are storing something commonly found in coffins, this Artifact behaves as its mundane counterpart. This Effect cannot be used unless you are storing something commonly found in coffins.

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.

On a Downtime, you may change this Artifact from one type of container to another. Maximum once per Downtime.

If anyone other than you opens the container, it appears empty. Others can still destroy it to get at the contents.

  • You cannot change the container's type if you are not in possession of it.
  • A container of holding cannot be placed inside another created by the same Gift.
  • There is no cost to use this container.

Lightning Bracers

A pair of bronze bracelets that glow with golden energy.

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:

  • 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.

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.

  • 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.
  • The form you take must have the same stats and abilities as a single, extant animal of the relevant size.

The Skeleton Key

At first glance, this appears to be a standard, modern house key made of ivory. A close observer might compliment its skull-shaped head or usual material. No one would suspect it to be one of the Thief's most prized possessions: The Skeleton Key.

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.

  • Operating some locking mechanisms through this Effect may have a secondary effect, such as a turn-key ignition on an older or cheaper car causing it to start or stop. Note that the locking mechanism itself must satisfy the standard targeting requirements (including line of sight), not just the vehicle.
  • Any mechanism that requires a key, keycard, key fob, or combination may be considered locked, at the GM's discretion. This Effect may be used on doors and containers secured with control panels or other electronic locks, but not computer security systems at large.
  • 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.