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. This Effect cannot be used unless It is used on a toy with arms and legs which the artifact consumes.
Summon a single enlarged animated toy at your location. They will last for two hours, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM but will follow any commands you give. This Artifact may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
A black rock with the symbol for "kimi" (Mayan symbol for death) heald by the caster releases a black smoke as they pray. the smoke solidifies into a solid obsidian skeleton once the prayer is completed.
When the skeleton attacks a ranged target they shoot obsidian arrows from their hands
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
Summon a single Non-Sapient, Animate Obsidian Skeleton 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 one minion active at a time.
When activated, Andromeda fades out to near imperceptibility. It’s almost as if the viewers mind just… glances over her, like she doesn’t exist.
Exert your Mind and spend one minute to activate.
You and any clothes or equipment you are wearing are partially obscured from sight for the next minute. All attempts to detect you using sight are rolled at a -3 dice penalty.
Entering Combat or being Injured does not cause the Effect to end early. Anyone you attack will immediately notice you; anyone else may re-roll to notice you each time you take a Combat action, at -1 Difficulty per Combat action you have taken. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for 1 hour.
Liz takes a deep breath and whispers a phrase in Navajo. A swirling whirlwind sweeps from he rmouth, whirling around flinging debris at random. It can be dissipated with enough force.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action to activate.
Summon a single dust devil at your location. They will last for an hour, or until they are destroyed. They are controlled by the GM and will not necessarily obey your commands. You may have at most 1 minion active at a time.
Minions have 4 Body and can make ranged attacks at targets up to 30 feet away with 5 dice to attack and +1 Damage. Your minions can move 20 feet per Round as Free Movement, and double that when performing an all-out Sprint. They cannot dodge or Defend. They have dog-level intelligence, and cannot communicate back to you. Any Perception checks they make are rolled with 3 dice.
Xibalba Sends their denezns to retrive that caster for their own protection. Rising from under them, they will pull them into their land leaving behind a clound of Obsidian dust.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You phase out of reality for 1 hour. During this time, you cannot perceive or affect the outside world but may take mental and self-targeting Actions. You cannot move. Nothing can interact with you in any way.
You may only use this Effect once per day.
This pouch of diamond dust is enchanted to turn someone invisible! To use it, simply sprinkle the dust carefully over your head and body, then speak aloud about a time you wished you were invisible. Upon the story’s conclusion, the wish will be granted, rendering the caster completely unseeable.
Use up this pouch of diamond dust (unless you succeed on 1d10, Difficulty 7) and spend two Actions performing the following ritual: sprinkle dust over your body and say aloud a time you wished you were invisible.. You must maintain Concentration while activating this Effect, and it fails if you are interrupted.
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. Activating a targeted or obvious Effect, attacking, or being Injured ends the Effect. When the Effect ends, it is disabled for one minute.
You may extend this effect to up to 1 other Animate targets, provided they remain in physical contact with you.
The werewolf unleashes their inner beast, transforming into an imposing hybrid of human and wolf. Their head reforms into that of a wolf, robbing them of speech but bestowing a maw of deadly fangs. Grey fur sprouts from their body as it swells with muscle, ripping any tight-fitting clothes. While transformed, the werewolf is impulsive and driven more by instinct than logic.
If The Werewolf is struck my moonlight, they are compelled to transform.
Exert your Mind and spend a Quick Action.
You transform into a werewolf for 3 minutes. You have access to all of your Powers while you are a werewolf, 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 Brawn is increased by 2 and your Dexterity is increased by 2. You do not suffer any Stress while transformed.
Your alternate form is its own deadly weapon. Unarmed attacks made in your alternate form deal +3 Weapon Damage (instead of the typical -1).
Your alternate form renders you unable to speak any human language and incapable of fine object manipulation. You can only hold or grasp objects in a crude, clumsy way.
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.
While transformed, you automatically fail any Mind roll to resist an impulse and suffer -3 dice on all other Mind rolls.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Whenever you are struck by the light of a full or gibbous moon, you must roll Self-Control to resist transforming. Triggers a max of once per night.
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 vampire sucks a copious amount of blood from a human and replenishes their own cursed flesh.
Exert your Mind and spend 1 minute. This Effect cannot be used unless you drink blood directly from a human until it injures them. Choose a specific Injury on yourself that has not yet been treated with this Effect and roll Brawn + Occult at Difficulty 6.
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 yourself.
Anyone who witnesses you during this Effect's activation or for its duration will almost certainly be disturbed to see you drink blood directly from the vein.
The beastmaster shouts, and their human voice cracks into a deep, bestial roar. Their body swells with muscle, clothes melting into a thick pelt of fur. Seconds later the beastmaster is gone. Standing in their place is a massive grizzly bear.
However, even in human form the beast within remains close to the surface, and the beastmaster finds highly civilized social situations unbearable.
Exert your Mind and spend an Action.
You transform into a brown bear 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.
Possession of this Power grants the following Trauma at all times: Intolerance for society. When you are in a situation with strict social protocols (like a trial or a formal dinner) roll Self-Control not to enter a flight or fight response.
The "Reaper" Assault Helmet is the signature piece of the Future Soldier's arsenal. It has a sleek, design and is made of a mysterious matte-metallic alloy. The wearer's face is exposed normally, but when activated, a blue holographic visor flickers to life in front of the eyes. This HUD contains information about the soldier's ammunition and shield status, but more significantly can detect enemy combatants. Anyone nearby who is holding a weapon is painted with a red dot that follows them in real time. This allows the Future Soldier to fire at painted targets in the dark, detect ambushes lurking around corners, and grants an overall tactical advantage.
Expend a point of Battery and spend an Action.
You automatically detect all people wielding weapons within 300 feet 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.