New Inventions and Relics

New Inventions:

Fenton's Beaker

Fenton Whitecastle, mad scientist and alchemist, developed this device for refining elixirs and tonics. By depositing a single ounce of philosopher's stone in with a elixir, and an inert liquid (water works best), it is possible to dilute the elixir into multiple doses and still have it maintain its potency! Fenton now works for Smith and Robards, mass-producing elixirs for sale to the general public.

Reliability: 18
Hand: Flush

Operation:
To use the beaker, the alchemist combines the elixir with one ounce of philosopher's stone, and then starts the mixing procedure while slowly adding water. Only one dose of an elixir may be treated at a time. The alchemist must then make a Fair (5) science: alchemy roll. A success doubles the amount to two doses, and each raise adds an additional dose. The ounce of philosopher's stone is absorbed into the elixir during the process, and cannot be recovered. Any elixir treated or created by Fenton's Beaker cannot be treated a second time, and any attempt to do so fails automatically and renders the elixir useless.

Malfunctions:
Minor Malfunction: Bad batch. Reduce the Reliability of all doses produced by 1d4.
Major Malfunction: A faulty mixing mechanism renders the entire batch inert. It takes a Fair (5) tinkerin' roll to fix.
Catastrophe: The philosopher's stone dissolves improperly. While the batch appears normal, the Reliability of any elixir produced is reduced by 4. Furthermore, anyone taking a dose must make an Onerous (7) Vigor roll or come down with ghost rock fever. A Hard (9) science: alchemy/Cognition roll will reveal the problems with the batch.

New Relics:

The Deck of One-Eyed Jack

It is said that whenever a huckster is killed by a manitou, One-Eyed Jack is reborn. During the times when this fearmonger has been laid to rest, though, his deck of cards can give great power to an unsuspecting mortal.

Power: Any mortal -without- an arcane background can use this deck (no, Harrowed don't count as mortal for this purpose). For anyone with supernatural abilities of any kind, it only acts as a normal deck (except for hucksters, for whom it works exactly like Hoyle's Cards). For normal mortals, it has great power...and a great curse.

With a successful gamblin' roll, the character can call up nearly any hex in existence. The target is based on the type of hex, listed below:


Hex Type                        TN     Hex Level
Offensive                        7         7
Informational                    9         5
Defensive                       11         3
Miscellaneous                    9         5

On a successful roll, the character can draw five cards. However, unlike a normal Huckster, the character can choose to discard up to three cards (four if he holds an Ace), and draw new ones. Jokers cannot be discarded. The final hand is used to determine the effect of the hex.

Taint: The character slowly develops a lust for gambling, in everything they do. Bets must be accepted, no matter how foolish they may be. Danger will be sought out rather than avoided. If the character doesn't have the finances to fuel their gambling mania, they will do whatever it takes to get more money. These compulsions can be avoided on a Hard (9) Spirit roll, but such rolls must be made daily, or whenever a particularly strong temptation occurs. Anyone that dies as a result of hex backlash is killed -permanently-, and One-Eyed Jack is reborn.

And, of course, it won't be long till One-Eyed Jack is reborn anyway, and comes calling for his favorite deck of cards...the character won't be likely to survive that encounter, especially with an inclination to make foolhardy bets.

Andrew Jackson's Cloak

This black cloak is a bit worn, and there are places where the cloak has been patched to hide holes (made by bullets). Andrew Jackson wore this cloak in multiple duels, including a famous one where he was shot but ignored his injuries in order to kill his opponent.

Power: The cloak provides two supernatural benefits. First, when the wearer is hit in any area covered by the cloak, any single wound done to that area cannot exceed four wound levels, regardless of the damage roll. However, successive wounds can cause raise the damage level for the area above a Critical wound. All damage caused to a specific area in a single action is considered part of the same wound, for this purpose (this includes explosions, firing both barrels of a double-barrel shotgun, etc). Second, penalties caused by a particular wound are ignored until the end of the round after the wound is received. On a more mundane level, the cloak gives a -1 to hit on any attack against the wearer, unless the attack is a called shot against an area not concealed by the cloak.

Taint: The wearer of this cloak will find it very difficult to refuse a duel (-2 to all rolls to resist). Likewise, if the character fails a Test of Wills involving Ridicule, they will immediately challenge the instigator to a duel (if the circumstances are appropriate). The wearer will never back out of a duel.

Franklin's Key (contributed by Tim Wilbanks)

In addition to being one of the founders of America, Benjamin Franklin was also a man of science. Most know the story of his famous experiment in which he proved that lightning was just a form of electricity. As he flew a kite in a rainstorm, Franklin was holding onto a thin silk thread, that was tied to the kite string. To the string he attached a key, to ground the electricity to a leyden jar to capture it. His experiment was successful, but what of the key?

Power: Anyone holding the key cannot be harmed by electricty. This includes mystical sources (such as the hex Black Lightning) and gizmos, as well as natural sources.

Taint: Unfortunately, Franklin's Key is a magnet for lightning, which can wreak havok on the bearer's possessions, nearby companions, etc. Furthermore, any use of electricity by the bearer (including electricity-powered gizmos) will be cancelled out by the key.


Franklin's Spectacles

These spectacles, worn by perhaps the most famous scientist in America, are a major relic of the Weird West.

Power: Franklin's Spectacles correct any vision problem short of blindness as long as they are worn. When worn by someone with Arcane Background: Mad Scientist, they have an even greater power. The wearer may roll twice when suffering a gizmo malfunction, and take the better of the two rolls.

Taint: There is no significant taint, although the wearer will tend to pick up Franklin's personality traits over time.



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