You chase each bond after bond like it's all you'd ever want, not knowing it was always meant to be fleeting. The beauty of life and serendipity escapes you as you insist on pinning the red string of fate upon each and every milestone.
Now, it has made it to your gifts as well. They are tethered to you by what may be an invisible string, and eventually you are bound to be connected to so many that you become a network of promises. The visuals remind you of an evidence board, beautiful in its ordered chaos, soon to be smothered in red.
This item has been promised to you. Do not let anyone take it away.
Never again.
On the red string:
Koriol, ever the artist, weaves in crimson strings. They wrap around and through the artifact, pinned down in the same manner that one would install 10 locks on a door. He's slipping. He needs a safety net. This will have to do. Soon enough the strings appear to vanish, but deep down we all know... it was meant to be.
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.
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.
These delicate alloyed hoop earrings are adorned with shards of obsidian and dark garnet, glinting mysteriously before fading back into shadow. They grant Maggie a unique form of sense denial, subtly manipulating sight and sound to blur her presence, as if she drifts just beyond the edge of perception. In time, as Maggie’s bond with them deepens, they will allow her to vanish into the safety of oblivion. Maggie acquired these earrings in a forgotten mountain market, after trading a handful of charms and talismans with a wandering merchant. Rumor had it they were crafted by an old Romani sorceress who sought to escape the mortal gaze, leaving only a “murmuring invitation” for those brave enough to follow her into shadow. Now, they hold a treasured place in Maggie’s collection, from maybe an ancestor of times past.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You and everything you are carrying is obscured in one of the following manners. Lasts 30 minutes.
While this Effect is active, any Effect that would obscure you or your equipment specifically from other, additional senses fails automatically.
If someone discovers you, this Effect will not help you hide from them for the next minute. This Effect does not end early when you activate an obvious Effect, attack, or receive an Injury.
You may turn this Effect on and off at will during its duration.
The Pleading Jackal of Opening is a curious trinket from Maggie’s collection, a pendant strung on a simple leather braid necklace, fitted with copper wire. The jackal itself is carved from black stone, frozen in a pleading posture, like a desert dog begging for food. It’s not just for show, though—when knocked against a locked door or container, and with a shameless plea for it to please open, the jackal’s charm works its magic. Its reliable magic it can unlock nearly anything, for the price of good manners. A fitting companion for a grave robber who knows the art of coaxing secrets from stubborn doors.
Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within 20 feet.
You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.
Indiscreet Maid's Talisman is an amulet that allows Maggie to understand all spoken and written languages, provided she takes a moment to concentrate on the pendant. The pendant, crafted from rose quartz and sculpted into the shape of a tongue, bears the image of a tower on between the tongue and upper lip. When activated, the amulet grants her the ability to decipher even the most obscure and forgotten tongues, unlocking secrets and hidden meanings. However, the power requires focus—without taking a moment to concentrate, the knowledge remains elusive, as if the languages are still shrouded in mystery.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
You may understand and communicate to Creatures, humans, and Sapient beings as if you are fluent in a relevant language for the next hour.
This also includes understanding any recorded communications from the relevant targets, including writings, scent trails, etc.
While active and speaking to a single individual, you may choose to use glib tongue. When you do, anything you say to them (even gibberish) will be exactly what they want to hear. You gain no understanding of what that might be.
The cornerstone incantation of the Blackstar Sisterhood and the reason they are feared as powerful heralds of curses: a warlock adds her own mixture of incense powder to the Light of The Abyss, making it briefly emmit a sickly green light and an acrid odor, akin to rotting grass, upon which the curse takes effect.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 45 feet. You must use up incense powder in order to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + Occult at Difficulty 6. The target may roll Body, -2 dice at Difficulty 7, as a Free Action to resist.
If you succeed, either modify an existing Battle Scar on the target or inflict a new one. You determine the new Battle Scar, limited by the contested Outcome:
You may affect up to 3 targets within range.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
Your alteration "heals" over the course of the next month, after which it is fully cured.
A devastating and disturbing physical attack, also belonging to the tradition of Blackstar Sisterhood - Archmistress Oitira of Byzantium is a martyred figure whose wounds at the hands of religious fanatics are now honored in the incantion, which also bears her name. The swirling smoke and arcane sigils are changed by the application of a different incense mixture, now coloring the ominous flame in shades of red, vermillion, and dark orange which take the shape of malevolent eyes that scan the environment, treating all as both prey to consume and threats to destroy. These eyes emit a multitude of piercing beams of energy that sear into the target, cause intense pain: the beams tear through armor, flesh and bone, leaving deep, scarring and agonizing wounds behind.
Spend an Action. Select a Living target within 300 feet. You must use up incense powder in order to activate this Effect. Roll Perception + 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 0. The target's Armor is completely ignored.
You may opt to have this Effect spread to all targets within 5 feet of the initial target, then to all unaffected targets within 5 feet of them, and so on, jumping a maximum of 5 times. No target may be hit more than once. You cannot hit yourself.
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 the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see as monstrous eyes appear in the smoke, locking in the targets with malevolent glee.
This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 1.
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: Paranoia. If they lose possession of this Artifact, the Trauma heals over the course of the next day.
The Glimmerwake Sentience manifests as a fragment of the Crystal Light—an autonomous sliver of its unknowable intellect, sheathed in shifting color and sharp geometry. It drifts silently through the air like a thought given form: translucent, angular, and slightly wrong to the eye. When Jessica exerts her will, the shard splinters away from the Nexus, unfolding into a dazzling lattice that scans its surroundings with alien precision. Invisible vibrations echo through the quantum weave of the environment, pulling forth residual impressions—memories etched in the very fabric of space. It does not see as we do. It remembers.
Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 1 mile At the end of your investigation, roll Intellect + Science at Difficulty 6.
You learn the following information about the area:
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see While safe to see from a distance, anyone within 30 feet of Jessica upon activation will vividly hallucinate with fragments of swirling colors and a glimpse of understanding of the Crystal Light - not enough to be useful, only to be deeply incomplete and unsettling (triggers the ''Monsters'' limit).
You cannot investigate the same area more than once per day.
At the heart of Jessica's research lies the revelation that crystalline light isn't merely an advanced concept in particle physics, but a manifestation of alien intelligence with its own will to form. Harnessing this phenomenon as a bridge, Jessica can merge alien genetic material with human physiology, yielding disturbing yet powerful biological enhancements. As she channels this ability, crystals of light proliferate across the room and patient, emanating an opalescent glow that shifts and writhes with impossible colors.
The process begins as luminescent crystal tendrils pierce the subject's skin, branching out like glowing veins beneath the surface. Affected areas undergo rapid, unsettling metamorphoses – limbs elongate unnaturally, extra eyes sprout in unexpected places, or skin becomes translucent, revealing pulsating, alien organs. Throughout the operation, the patient experiences intense fever and vivid hallucinations, a harrowing ordeal that subsides after several hours.
These alterations bestow superhuman abilities, with the enhanced flesh eventually conforming to the patient's original shape. However, occasional quivers and the development of colored geometric patterns betray the struggle of alien matter to maintain its new form within the human host. While temporary, the process leaves behind residual changes: faint, glowing skin patterns and fleeting flashes of inhuman perception serve as constant reminders of the tenuous veil between humanity and the cosmic unknown.
Exert your Mind and spend 30 minutes. Select a Living or Animate target within arm's reach. Your target must make a Trauma roll to reap the benefits of this Effect. They may choose to Resist the Effect and not make the roll. The target can easily Resist.
You may add one augmentation to your target. Each augmentation counts as a Trauma and can have exactly one of the following Effects:
By transplanting a body part from an Alien being, you can grant an intrinsic Effect from that part to the subject. Its power level should be limited to one Gift Point or less.
The augmentations you provide are not outwardly visible nor obvious.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see your flesh ripple and split open, revealing a pulsating lattice of crystalline light intertwined with writhing, alien tissue.
This capacity allows Jessica to enhance, fortify, and continually refine her second most vital creation: the Chromatic Nexus. Before powers ever entered the equation, she was already a world-class scientist, fabricator and systems architect. Now, with her intellect amplified and tools upgraded beyond modern comprehension, the Nexus has become a masterwork of adaptable engineering—nearly indestructible, fully modular, and capable of evolving alongside her needs. With nanoforged alloys, quantum-linked circuits, and dynamically shifting subsystems, it’s not just gear—it’s a living extension of her design genius. Her most critical tool will always be her mind… but the Nexus is a close second.
This Artifact has been upgraded.
This Artifact receives 3 extra dice to all actions taken for its intended use. Attacking with an upgraded weapon grants +3 Weapon Damage instead of additional dice. If it is a piece of Armor, it instead receives half that amount as bonus armor rating, rounded up. If an upgraded shield and armor are both worn, the upgrade bonus does not stack with itself.
Through her attunement with the Crystal Light—a being of unfathomable dimensional depth—Jessica has developed a limited mastery over space-time folding. Her Chromatic Nexus, a prismatic-cybernetic construct normally anchored to her musculature via cybernetic implants, can be summoned back to her at will. With a whispered impulse and a flash of multicolored light, she dislocates it across the continuum, bending distance and causality to bring it instantly to her side.
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.
The delicate shield actuators activates automatically in response to threats and incoming damage, creating an ethereal, glass-like armor that protects the Infinite Traveller from harm: It appears as a shimmering, near-invisible layer around her body, similar in light diffraction as crystal glass. Whatever it is, though, the material seems to be protective of the Infinite Traveller, lunging aggressively when attackers are close enough and instilling in her a wide array of cautions and suspicions.
You gain the following benefits as long as you are wearing this Artifact.
You have 6 Armor, which reduces incoming Damage. Armor from multiple sources does not stack.
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.
Prismatic Reforge harnesses crystal light's infinite potential to break down and reorganize matter, fabricating objects from seemingly nothing. By channeling her vast intellect and source energy, Jessica manipulates reality at a fundamental level. When activated, impossible colors writhe from her fingertips and eyes, forming a corona discharge of swirling hues that break down nearby matter into gathering light particles. These ethereal strands weave through the air, coalescing into the desired object as reality bends to her will. The process is accompanied by an unsettling hum that resonates from everywhere and nowhere. While mesmerizing, crystal light manifestations can be psychologically damaging, inducing seizures, triggering hallucinations, and instilling profound feelings of dread and persecution in witnesses.
Activation of the Radiant Reforge triggers the "Monsters" limit, suffusing the area with an otherworldly, prismatic glow that unsettles the mind and warps perception and reality, evoking the cosmic horror of colors beyond mortal perception: for Jessica's character concept, crystalline light is an independent alien intelligence (Inspired by "The Color of Madness" from Darkest Dungeon, Remiel from "Neon Genesis Evangelion", and "The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft)
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Choose an Object which could fit inside a regular backpack (up to 27 liters). It must be Non-Alien and generic. You cannot create explosives. You cannot create firearms.
Roll Intellect + Science to fabricate up to 5 copies of your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. Your created items no longer expire, and will last until they are destroyed.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see your eyes glow with unearthly light as your skin ripples with shifting, iridescent patterns. The air distorts around you, causing momentary hallucinations of impossible geometries. Objects appear to melt and reform in ways that defy natural laws, instilling a deep, instinctual dread in observers (triggers ''Monsters''; - see Extended Description).
An evolution born from necessity and hard-won wisdom, the Explorer Extraordinaire Exodus suit (or EEE, for short) is a fully integrated isolation suit ingeniously hidden within the architecture of the Chromatic Nexus. Seamlessly deployed from subdermal matrices, the suit envelops Jessica in a smooth, ergonomic shell resembling a spacefaring explorer’s uniform—sleek and form-fitting.
Flash-gold visor down, magnetic boots locked, and every joint encased in endoskeletal comfort, the Exodus is pure mastery in synth and style. Reactive fingertips shift to any control scheme; tool holsters, toggled spotlights, and crystalline-filament accents make every utility a flourish. Sensors and internal HUDs maintain constant readouts on both the outside world and Jessica’s own biosigns, all without breaking her stride.
It offers protection against exposure as a fully self-contained suit e.g ''astronaut suit''. Due to it's specialized design and bulk, it has the statistics of a suit of full plate: an Armor rating of 4, a mobility penalty of 2 and contributes 45 pounds to encumberance.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into EEE Mk I for 3 hours. You have access to all of your Powers while you are EEE Mk I, and you can use your equipment. Your Battle Scars, Injuries, and physical Liabilities are carried over between forms. Reverting from your Alternate Form cannot cause your existing Injuries to kill you. Instead, you remain Incapacitated.
While transformed, your Attributes are the same. Your Stress is reduced by 2.
While transformed, instead of your normal clothes and equipment, you are equipped with: Self-contained environment suit; helmet mounted flashlights, gold-coated eye visor
A container filled with a glowing orange substance called Estus, restoring their health.
Expend a point of Battery and spend 15 minutes. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Brawn + Athletics at Difficulty 8.
If you succeed, the Injury is reduced in Severity by your Outcome, unless it had Severity 4 or higher, in which case its Severity remains the same. 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.
Held at gunpoint by Ozz.
TL;DR: Feed Elmo cigarettes, become big flamethrower
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within 300 feet. You must use up an entire pack of cigarettes in order to activate this Effect. Roll Dexterity + 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.
You may choose to have this Effect Damage all targets in a perfectly straight line up to its maximum range.
When you die, you may activate this Effect targeting the person that killed you at any range and without any penalty. Its roll is at -1 Difficulty.
If the target suffers an Injury from this Effect, they will receive at least a Minor Battle Scar regardless of its Severity. When this Effect causes a Battle Scar, you may select which one of the appropriate level.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
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:
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: