You place the windup key to the back of a toy, or similarly human representing golem. Twist for a minute until your hand begins to hurt. The toy will animate and grow in size to a friendly helper of the one holding the windup key.
This artifact relies on the cultural idea of toys, and the cultural idea of wind up toys, especially in the minds of children. The basic idea of these wind up toys is that you wind them up, then let them go and they move around doing toy things, seeming almost alive. This artifact takes that idea, and merges it with a few other ideas of ways to create useful servants to make an artifact capable of making useful friendly minions.
The ritual to create this artifact relies on a ritual involving
- A variety of children's toys which are popular in the shared imagination
- A collection of stories and myths about the Hebrew golumn
- Mary Shelly's frankenstein
- Carefully shaping the pattern of a wind up key while reading various relevant parts of these stories
Exert your Mind and spend one minute.
Summon a single enlarged animated toy at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most 2 minions active at a time.
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 may only use this Effect once per day.
Delphyrion reaches a hand into their hair and pulls out what seems to be a hypercube. One can't really perceive what's inside it, but as it intersects with our world, a more recognizable object emerges.
On stashing:
Delphyrion's had access to obscure and illicit chemicals for a long time, but they hadn't expected to make such great use of them on the contracts. He loves his bags and long coats and big pockets, but he could always use a better way to store things that he doesn't want people seeing. There's a limit to how many liquids he could bring on a plane, and how many times someone could mistake him for a perv who brings... a "certain kind of liquid" to deadly missions.
On technique:
He's itching to go up to someone and lift his lab coat while saying, "Want some goods?" at some point. It's definitely more practical to pull it out from under their hair though.
On hypercubes:
There were so many. Too many. 8. Eight. Huit. Ocho. 여덟. Not a good memory. Still a cool concept. He hates it. He's enamoured. So much left to learn. He's falling.
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 briefcase (15 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.
Upon finding a corpse:
Nefario Darkus's eyes glow white. He raises his hand, and an evil screech whistles across the wind. The body begins to contort and animate, rising with a grumble, as Nefario cackles maniacally.
Fresh from the realm of the dead, a mindless zombie rises to serve the unholy will of Nefario Darkus. With grey skin and black veins, these creatures are unsightly and vile. They smell of rot and decay.
Any humanoid body or skeleton, including buried ones buried up to 6 feet underground is available to be used as a zombie minion. These undead minions will follow their master until he dismisses them or until they are defeated.
Undead minions cannot enter sacred spaces and are vulnerable to holy water.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. This Effect cannot be used unless Available corpse.
Summon a single Zombie at your location. They will last until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. You may have at most 2 minions active at a time.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see Zombies!.
Toropova activates the internal slot in her eye and takes out a lean on her current possessions for just for a tiny bit more focus in it. on a failure the Manitou takes the items into the spirit realm.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. Roll a single D10 as a critical failure check. If you roll a 1, the Effect fails, and you the slot comes up empty causing the Manitou to collect the most valuable/important object in her possesion and removing it from the contract..
Your senses are enhanced in the following way. Lasts for three hours.
Any senses which have been heightened cannot be overloaded. Battle Scars you receive cannot affect these senses.
On this artifact, there is a sizable aperture that leads inexplicably to a mass of hot metal fibres.
To activate this effect, the user reaches in and tears off chunks of fibre, which writhe and wrap painfully around the user's outstretched limb. They briefly cool and solidify, taking on the limb's appearance, before dislodging and becoming independently animate.
After three minions have been summoned, the aperture will close and remain closed until any minion is destroyed or the effect ends.
Thin metal membranes stretch outward from the centre, allowing for flight, and a frayed mouth opens across the front, mimicking the aperture on the artifact.
The minions can perceive and communicate using their antenna-like fibres and mouth respectively. They can rest in an amorphous state on your person, but take on the form of whatever appendage they first came into contact with otherwise. Their foremost edges can sharpen at will, and can deliver hot, piercing strikes as needed.
Increase your sacrificial Injury's Severity by 1 and spend an Action.
Summon up to 3 Sapient amorphous limbs at your location. They last until they are destroyed They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most 3 minions active at a time.
If you do not have a sacrificial Injury when you activate this Effect, take a new Severity-1 Injury.
Some shortbread, to bring on dangerous undertakings.
A protective item that, when consumed, thickens the skin like scales, which remains armoured until pierced.
Use up this caramel shortbread (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7) and spend an Action. Roll 7 dice Difficulty 6, dice penalties do not apply.
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. You 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.
The aquamancer dissolves into a flowing pool of semi-solid water. Anything they were carrying is left behind in a damp pile. While transformed, they may squeeze through tiny gaps, and are extremely resilient against most standard attacks.
Resolidifying is exhausting.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a flowing pool of water for the next minute. You may end the effect early and return to your normal form at will. Your structure must remain relatively contiguous. Observers will view you as an unusual entity moving with a singular purpose.
While in this form, you can squeeze through any gap that is not water-tight.
Injuries from standard attacks are reduced to Severity 1, but Damage from AOE effects is increased by 1.
You cannot communicate or use equipment while transformed. Your equipment does not transform with you beyond basic body coverings. You cannot carry any items while transformed.
You have access to your Powers while transformed.
After this Effect ends, you cannot move quicker than a walk (15 feet per Round) for one minute and suffer a -1 dice penalty for an hour.
The detective squints, drawing on years of police experience to find any hidden drugs, weapons, or other illegal objects, no matter how well-hidden.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all illegal materials within 50 feet of you for the next hour. You have a clear sense of both the distance and direction towards any detected items. You do not learn any details about the detected items.
The time-twister presses a button on one of their wristwatches, and, in a flash of orange light, disappears. They have skipped 12 seconds forward in time. To them, the travel is instantaneous, but everyone else must wait until they reappear.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action. You must actively and obviously use a clock or watch to activate this Effect.
You phase out of reality for 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 phase out, you may bring up to 1 additional target in arm's reach with you.
The Thief has a stash in which they can store a few objects. It can be accessed through any burlap sack.
Spend a Quick Action. You must actively and obviously use a burlap sack to activate this Effect.
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 briefcase (15 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.
The magician reaches into their hat and focuses. Inside, light wells and flows like a viscous liquid. Then, they withdraws the item of their choosing.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. You must actively and obviously use a top hat to activate this Effect.
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 may create firearms.
Roll Perception + Occult to fabricate your chosen Object. The Difficulty is assigned by the GM and depends on the specificity of your chosen Object. The created item lasts 2 hours.