The Hollow Choir "You think this is bad? The land beyond would sear your flesh in the morning before you could get a yawn out, and freeze off your pecker in the evening seconds after you free it for a piss. Raging black icy winds that would rip 100 foot trees from the dirt, roots and all. Caustic rain that will melt your bones and serve you up as soup for the man-eating worms beneath ashy dunes that extend for thousands of miles. Let me tell ya, you don't know the half of it..."

1
Requires Seasoned
This Artifact allows you to create an environmental hazard.
Created by Riley.
On Legendary Artifact Luci's Sketchbook.
(Anyone who witnesses you activate this Effect is very likely to be disturbed to see an Eidolon of the Well. The act of meddling with other planes of existence does not come without some undesired side effects. Sometimes, when peering through the veil with the intent to make use of its energies, something stares back and imparts upon the onlooker a warning of disorienting magnitude. Requires an Anguish Roll. You must use this Artifact obviously when activating this Effect.)

The user must place their hand upon the cover of the sketchbook and utter these words, "Hear my call. Pierce The Well and Manifest The Hollow Choir." They then must rip their hand away and swing it over their head. A flood of ink will erupt from the sketchbook like a harsh ocean storm wave and surge around the user. It does not wash people away when it crashes over them, but it will completely bathe them in total darkness, where all light is swallowed up and destroyed.

Those within will be able to hear the low droning groans of those that had died seeking perfection.

Those that are unfortunate enough to be close enough to see the user as they activate this effect will meet eyes with one of The Well's Eidolons. And take it from Luci herself, that is no fun experience.

This is an ability that Luci has had access to for some time- to open a wide portal connected directly to The Well. It was and still is a requirement each time she has to craft an artifact or upgrade an item, but she had conceded the process to dangerous to use outside of a controlled space, such as her tree house in the Imp's Bog. Well, sometimes, drastic times call for drastic measures.

This power is mainly used as a per-requisite for accessing some of the other effects on this sketchbook- some effects that are simply just too weak not to be able to use while not actively bathed in The Well. But sometimes, in a pinch, it can be used offensively.

At the very least, though, Luci had to limit the exposure of its effects in order to be able to copy this ability onto her sketchbook and control it at her own whim, or at least while she has control of her sketchbook.


Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means.

You create a hemispherical dome of inky blackness originating at your Location, with a radius of 60 feet. and lasting for 2 hours. You are fully immune to the effects of your zone. The area inside your zone is affected in the following ways:

  • Suppressed Vision: The zone is fully blocked from view. Nothing within the zone may see anything or be seen from the outside. Any rolls that rely on sight fail automatically, and any rolls that benefit from sight are made at -3 dice.
The zone expands immediately to its full size from the chosen Location, but will be stopped from spreading in a particular direction by any barriers or cover, and can only fit through openings large enough to fit a grown adult. If a new opening appears while the Effect is still active, it will finish spreading in that direction.

You may end this Effect prematurely as a Free Action.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see an Eidolon of the Well. The act of meddling with other planes of existence does not come without some undesired side effects. Sometimes, when peering through the veil with the intent to make use of its energies, something stares back and imparts upon the onlooker a warning of disorienting magnitude. Requires an Anguish Roll.

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • The Effect does not follow you after you activate it.
  • If you select a location at the edge of your range, you will be just outside the zone once the Effect is activated
  • 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.

Community Targeted Gifts

A small number of nanites enter a target and replicate in their brain, mapping the neurons used for memory storage and transmitting information to a pressure-activated receiver that has been subcutaneously constructed behind his ear. Its neural connection runs through the cochlear nerve and always causes an irritating feedback, and while memories are transferred and processed quickly, this risks unfiltered exposure to traumatic stimuli.

The brain replication does provoke a hostile immune response, and the feedback on their destruction may alert the target's conscious mind in an unmistakably alien way

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a Living, Animate target within 25 feet. You must make a Trauma roll when you use this Effect. Its Difficulty cannot be reduced by any means. If you fail or Botch, you receive one Mind Damage and a new Trauma. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Intellect + Medicine 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.

This Effect is not obvious, and the only sign you are using an Effect is Laz pressing on a mole behind his ear.. If someone suspects that an Effect was used, they must roll Perception + Alertness, Difficulty 8 to pick up on your Tell.

Possession of this Power grants the following Battle Scar: Tinnitus.

  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Select a target within arm's reach.

The illusion must be 2-Dimensional only., which can be no larger than a person is generated at your target, and it will remain in place for the next minute or you choose to end it. It can be perceived by people through their hearing, smell, and sight. The illusion cannot be used as an attack. You cannot make an exact replica of an existing Animate being or Object.

Anyone who touches the illusion (or who would be able to perceive it significantly through a sense it cannot fool) realizes it is an illusion and can choose to perceive it or not at will.

The illusion will remain fixed to its initial target, and can only change locations if the initial target is mobile in some way. It may have moving parts and engage in simple, predetermined movements but cannot perform anything complex or interactive unless you maintain Concentration and “puppeteer” it.

Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation will almost certainly be disturbed to see A completely, impossibly flat thing...

  • When narrating disturbing content, be cognizant of your group's tone and accommodating to those who would like to "fast forward" through the description.
  • while you can use an illusion to obscure something smaller, you cannot make anything directly invisible (you can’t make a tank look like a regular baseball, but you can hide it in an illusion of a giant baseball).
  • You may only puppeteer a single illusion at once.
  • 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 Frangiclave is a legendary key that is the physical manifestation of the concept of "opening." It is capable of opening any lock or door, any many other things besides depending on its user's knowledge and creativity. It cannot be stored away, and must be kept in the hand or under the tongue.

Spend an Action. Select a Non-Alien door, container, knot, or lock within 20 feet. This Effect cannot be used unless it is to unlock/open the target and any locks are destroyed.

You may lock, unlock, and/or open your target.

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.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use Knife to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Brawn + Melee at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell which entities lay claim to each part of the area and how these borders have shifted over time.
  • You learn where exactly creatures and people live within the area, and what sorts of creatures they are.
  • You learn how heavily trafficked the area is, what sorts of Animate beings have moved through the area and when.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

After you finish activating this Effect, you cannot move quicker than a walk (max 15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour. Exhaustion’s penalty and duration stacks with multiple activations.

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

  • Exhaustion penalties and duration stack. If you activate this Effect or another Effect with Exhaustion, your penalty will worsen, and the duration is increased by one hour.
  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. Select an Animate target within arm's reach You may select a target at any range if you use up An object they used to perpetrate a major federal crime (I.e. Murder, Bank Robing, Drug trafficking.) of the target. You must use up Tuff of fur in order to activate this Effect. You must maintain Concentration while the effect is active. Roll Charisma + Culture at Difficulty 6. The target may resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 7.

You are able to view your target's memories. The target is unaware their memories are being probed. The Effect ends if the target moves out of range or your Concentration is interrupted.

You may ask specific questions about their memory - “what is their computer password,” “What were they doing at 4:00PM yesterday,” etc - but 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 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.

Stock Targeted Gifts

Spend an Action and use up this paper with mysterious calligraphy. Select a Animate target up to 100 feet away.

Targets are pushed back until they are 100 feet away.

This Effect cannot move anything heavier than 500 pounds.

Affected targets may use a Reaction and roll Dexterity or Brawn + Athletics to hold on to a nearby anchor, if available. A complete success increases their effective weight by whatever they hold onto.

Pushing a target straight upward requires you to be directly beneath them and halves the range. GM’s may ask for a Dexterity + Athletics roll when repositioning yourself around a target to get a desired angle. They may React to reposition or anchor themselves as normal.

You may maintain Concentration after the initial activation of this Effect to continue the push on the target. Lasts up to one minute.

  • This consumable is destroyed when used and cannot be used again.
  • 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.

This Effect activates whenever you receive a Severity 2 or higher Injury from an attack. It does not require an Action or Exertion. Select a Living target within 45 feet. Your target should be intuitively based on the triggering event. Roll Charisma + Influence at Difficulty 6. Affected targets can resist by rolling Mind at Difficulty 6.

If you succeed, for the next minute, your target will do things they otherwise wouldn’t have done, inspired by remorse for hurting such a pure soul. They will not necessarily display their emotions in an obvious way.

Actions they take will be in keeping with their character and the way they tend to deal with strong emotions. They will be unlikely to change their mind about any actions taken or decisions made until after the Effect ends.

  • When triggered, the Effect activation resolves immediately after the triggering Action. It is not Reaction speed.
  • Common emotions and the actions they inspire
    • Anger (shouting, cruelty, denying requests, attacking)
    • Pity (stopping an attack, executing an injured target)
    • Happiness (generosity, dancing, joking, socializing)
    • Sadness (finding solitude, openly crying, demotivation)
    • Fear (running, attacking)
  • If you succeed, the target MUST take at least one Action they otherwise would not have. Hey, GM who is reading this, I'm talking to you. You have to enforce this. Remember: Gifts must feel powerful.
  • 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.

Spend 10 Rounds and use up this a bottle of metallic fluid. Select a Object within arm's reach that is no larger than an SUV. Cannot be used on Alien technology. More than half the target object must be present in order to begin repairs. Roll 7 dice Difficulty 6, dice penalties do not apply.

If you succeed, your target is repaired back to a functional state. If you fail, you spend the full time working before realizing you cannot repair the target.

  • This consumable is destroyed when used and cannot be used again.
  • 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.

Exert your Mind and spend a minute. Investigate an area with a radius of up to 100 feet You must actively and obviously use a magnifying glass to activate this Effect. At the end of your investigation, roll Perception + Investigation at Difficulty 6.

You learn the following information about the area:

  • You can tell the age of any structure or natural formation in the area. This includes trees and plants growing in the area.
  • You learn how heavily trafficked the area is, what sorts of Animate beings have moved through the area and when.
The quality and specificity of information gained depends on your Outcome.

You cannot investigate the same area 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.

Spend an Action. Select a target any distance away from you. You must have a specific target in mind, but you require only an intuitive understanding of them, such as their name, face, or Location.

You may send a single message to your target. It can be as complex or as large as you like. It takes at least 30 minutes before it is received.

The message may be intercepted while in transit, and may be overheard, read, or otherwise understood by anyone near either you or the recipient. You must share a common language for your target to understand the message.

This Gift cannot have more than 3 Drawbacks, and its Gift Cost is capped at 2.

  • Depending on the length of your message, it may take a target some time and/or effort to understand it in its entirety.
  • Receiving a message does not force a target to pay attention to you, and they can feel free to ignore your message if they choose. Depending on the flavor of your Gift, they may or may not be able to return to it and read it later on.
  • Generally you cannot communicate with Contractors who are not in a Contract with you.
  • You can target yourself if you qualify as a valid target by the other requirements.