Artifacts


What are Artifacts? First and Foremost, they are rule-breakers.

Whereas nearly everything else in Usurper is defined as either an 'Entity' or an 'Item', Artifacts are defined as 'Pieces'.

Pieces are in one of these statuses: Stored, Housed but Off, or Housed and Charged.

What do these terms mean?

First, let us explain the difference between and item and piece. Items are carried by Units. Pieces are the only things that Leader-Types can carry. As a matter of fact, Pieces may ONLY be carried by Leader-Types (that is Leaders and Cohorts). They must be taken to a Lair and Stored or Housed immediately (as soon as possible) upon acquisition, or risk destruction or immediate awareness occurs. A Piece occupies as many slots in a Storage Room as any normal Item occupies, that is to say - a Single Slot per Artifact.

All Artifacts permanently reduce the obscurity rating of any Lair in which they are Stored or Housed but Off by -1. Should the Artifact be removed, then at the end of the month this reduction penalty is revoked, and may be repaired normally. Whenever an Artifact is brought to a Lair, the owner may choose to either Store it in a Storage Room or House it in their Mysterious Room. It is automatically Assigned the Housed but Off Status. Artifacts provide a bonus only when Housed.

At the beginning of any given month, the owner of an Artifact may choose to change the status of an Artifact to Housed and Charged. Doing so changes the properties of the Artifact. First and Foremost, the Artifact causes the permanent Obscurity rating penalty to go from -1 to -2. However, as a bonus, this Artifact becomes a positive Rumor-Building Item and provides a +3 Percentile bonus to ALL Diplomacy and Hunt for an Encounter actions conducted by Leader-Types of that Artifact's Owner.

The Artifact can only be changed to the Housed but Off position at the end of the Month. Finally, each Artifact has a special power that is activated when placed in the Housed and Charged Status.

An Example of an Artifact:
Minor Artifact:
Golden Goose:
When Housed, Each Week this Artifact provides 3GP to its Owner.
Special Activation: Each Week this Artifact instead provides 5GP to its Owner.