The Modern Dispatch 036 - Alien Artifacts, Podreczniki RPG, The Modern Dispatch
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The
Modern
Dispatch
Alien Artifacts
By Lizard
In most space-opera or interstellar science-fiction
settings, there is usually a presumption that the
galaxy has been inhabited for a long time. Whether
they are called Precursors, Elder Races, First Ones,
or Ancients, the existence of once-mighty but
non-vanished races is a common trope. Of course,
the only way one knows of the existence of said
races is from what they left behind – their tools,
toys, constructs, and weapons, all of which are
phenomenally advanced compared to even the most
advanced science available to the current starfaring
species. Many seem to defy all known laws of
physics, or use materials whose physical properties
cannot be fully understood. Wars might be fought to
possess such items, and the rumor of one could set
off a mad rush of treasure hunters.
No price is given for these items. They are never
offered for sale, at least not legitimately or
knowingly. If they are purchased, it is usually from
someone who does not know what they have. (This
then leads to the characters being pursued by forces
who want what they’ve just purchased and who will
happily kill them in order to keep them from telling
anyone about the item) If a relic is offered for sale at
a ‘reasonable’ price, it will always be either a scam
or a setup. Should the GM wish to have such items
bought and sold, the price should be a purchase DC
of 60 or more, at least equal to a small starship. In
most cases, the value is not so much for what the
item can do – sure, a tachyon blade is great, but, for
the cost, you can hire an army of mercenaries – but
for the potential to figure out how it works. In other
cases, the item allows the user to do things no one
else can – the chameleon cocoon, for example, can
allow someone to infiltrate an alien race.
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And they are here!
Overview
Because these are intended to be singular or very rare
items, they come with a bit of back-story and flavor
text. This can, and should, be modified by the GM to
fit in with his own campaign background. The items
should tie into whatever elder races or ancient powers
once walked in his universe.
This supplement for futuristic campaigns (using the
D20 Modern
system and supplements) presents a
number of powerful alien artifacts, relics of long-
vanished races and cultures. They can be considered
Progress Level 9+ -- they are beyond common
manufacture or use. Many have a definite ‘science
fantasy’ flavor to them. Introducing one of them
into a ‘hard science’ game will present an intriguing
mystery; introducing many more can change the
tone of the game, which may or may not be desired.
Overall, they fit best into a space-opera or action-
oriented game.
Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying
Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are
trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the
United States and other countries and are used
with permission. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20
System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the
Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms
of the d20 System License version 6.0. A copy
of this License can be found at www.wizards.
com/d20.
The Artifacts
Chameleon Cocoon
Perhaps the ultimate in infiltration or disguise
technology, the chameleon cocoon makes such
things as the hologuise seem no more effective than
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a false mustache and a plastic nose. When used, it
transforms an individual on a genetic level, making
him a truly perfect duplicate of his target.
The mechanism by which the cocoon generates or
expels excess mass remains a mystery; the original
manufacturers had many technologies inconceivable
to the minds of lesser beings.
campaign) are ‘genetic’ and thus duplicated or are
something ‘apart’ from DNA and thus are not.
Dreamweb
A dreamweb appears as a long length of thin cord,
most often striated in rainbow colors, with the ends
fitted with connectors so that they can be linked
together, forming a loop. A small number of controls,
all unlabelled and confusing, are placed along the
length of the cord. There is one fairly prominent
control on the linking components; this control
cannot be activated until the two ends of the cord are
connected. When looped, the cord encloses an area
30 feet in diameter.
The device was believed to have been widely used in
a galaxy-wide ‘cold war’ aeons past; it is often put to
the same use today. A spy or infiltrator with access to
the cocoon can perform acts of espionage or sabotage
that no one else, no matter how skilled, can equal.
The only traits that the cocoon cannot replicate
are such things as tattoos, birthmarks, and other
environmental factors.
A transformed being retains his natural Intelligence,
Wisdom, and Charisma, and all skill ranks. He has an
instinctive understanding of how to use any abilities
native to his new form – such as wings if he is
transformed into a flying race. He does not gain any
learned knowledge, such as languages.
In its natural, inactivated, state, the cocoon seems
like a small lump of orange wax, accompanied by a
plastic sphere roughly an inch in diameter. The sphere
can be opened, revealing a hollow interior. Placing
any genetic material – blood, hair, skin cells – into
this hollow begins the activation process. To use the
cocoon, the owner must then find a safe spot, place
the sphere into the soft ‘wax’ of the cocoon, and
press the orange blob to his skin. In a few seconds,
the material will begin to seep into the skin; in a few
minutes, the user’s skin will turn orange and begin
secreting an orange-yellow liquid, which rapidly
hardens. (Hardness 6, 10 hit points) At this point, the
user loses consciousness.
If the cord is laid out so as to form a closed loop and
the primary switch (the one on the link) is thrown,
all those within the enclosed area are subsumed into
a powerful psionic induction field. Those failing a
Will Save (DC 28), or choosing not to make one, are
mentally transported into a virtual world which is
completely indistinguishable, to them, from reality.
All input from their physical senses is blocked;
everything they perceive is sent to them directly via
psionic induction. The thin ‘cord’ of the dreamweb
contains advanced AI systems, immense amounts
of data storage and cultured neural tissue which
provides the basis for the psionic effects.
To any visual inspection, the user
is
the target – no
Disguise check is needed. Sense Motive may be used
to notice odd or uncharacteristic behavior, and gaps
in knowledge may tip off the wary. Since genetic
tests will show the character to be who he is claiming
to be, it is most likely that anyone who picks up on
something odd will assume mind control, hypnosis,
or insanity rather than disguise, unless the existence
of such devices as the cocoon is common knowledge.
Over the next 1d4 hours, the user is remade
genetically by the cocoon. When it is over, he will
be not merely a physical duplicate of the individual
whose DNA was placed in the sphere – he will
be a genetic duplicate. His DNA will have been
transformed. Only his thoughts and memories remain
his own; his entire body has been remade. This
transformation can include gender and species; the
character will be ‘fully functional’ when it is over.
When the process is complete, the crystalline shell
liquefies and coalesces back into the original waxy
lump.
To change back, the user must place his own DNA
into the sphere and repeat the process. He can also
shift to another form without reverting to his original
form. However, the surviving cocoons are rather
old and prone to failure; there is a 10% chance per
use that the cocoon will not reform following the
transformation, leaving the user trapped in his new
form, unless, of course, he finds another cocoon.
There is no visual or auditory manifestation. Those
outside the bounds of the dreamweb see those inside
simply collapse into a comalike state. The dreamweb
is a mind-affecting device, and any being immune to
mind-affecting powers is likewise unaffected by it.
The cocoon can transform the user into any
aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid,
magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or plant, subject
to the size limits noted above. It is up the Game
Master if any magical abilities (if such exist in the
The various controls along the edge of the dreamweb
set the parameters for the simulation, including such
things as lethality. Too few dreamwebs have been
discovered to allow anyone to understand what the
settings mean or even how to alter them; in general,
The target of the transformation may be up to one
size category larger or smaller than the original user.
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one must accept whatever settings are already entered
into the web.
interstellar society), then the worlds might be
recognizable or at least comprehensible.
known is that those few people who have found and
used this artifact have become incapable of dying by
natural causes, and are very hard to kill unnaturally.
The world simulated by the dreamweb is perfect.
All sensations, including taste, touch, and smell, are
present. The beings encountered react intelligently
and seem to have lives, histories, and desires far
beyond the limits of the ‘game’. The ‘rules’ of the
dreamweb can vary considerably – those within it
might have no skills or powers they do not possess
in reality, or they might be given special or unique
abilities, such as facility with a weapon they have no
genuine proficiency in or even ‘magical’ abilities.
Whether or not a dreamweb can be deactivated from
the outside is dependant on the settings, as is the
duration of the experience. The dreamweb might
keep itself active indefinitely, or until some goal is
reached, or until a preset amount of time has passed.
The web provides
no
life support; those within it will
starve or die of thirst unless appropriate measures
were taken prior to entering the web.
The serum is always found in liquid form, a pale
yellow fluid much like honey. It is found in sealed
containers; it rapidly degrades upon exposure to air.
When swallowed or even rubbed into the skin, it
begins to work, inducing the following changes:
If the user is beyond the physical prime of his species
(around 25 for humans) he begins to de-age towards
that point, at a rate ten-fold that of passing time – for
each day which passes, he de-ages ten. This is not
noticeable immediately, but after a few months, it
is evident and after a year, impossible to conceal
without Disguise.
Physically dragging someone from the web causes
serious psychic trauma. A Will save (DC 20) must
be made. If it fails, the character takes 1d4 points
of temporary Intelligence and Charisma damage.
(The Game Master may wish to increase this;
some dreamwebs have an especially powerful grip.
Removal can cause permanent damage or even
death.)
Combat in the dreamweb seems real, but may or
may not be lethal. If the dreamweb is set to non-
lethality, anyone ‘killed’ is simply removed from the
simulation. If it is set to lethality, anyone killed must
make a Fortitude save (DC 25) or be reduced to -5 hit
points by sudden shock. If he fails to stabilize before
reaching -10 hit points, he will die.
All tattoos, piercings, scars or birthmarks fade within
1d4 days.
Immortality Serum
Advances in medical technology as Progress Levels
increase greatly extend the lifespan of most sentient
races. Doubling or even tripling lifespan is not
unheard of, and old age is spent free of most of the
burdens of time – the mind is sharp and the body fit.
However, not even the most advanced technology can
do more than slow the process and provide increased
resistance to the ravages of age. Even at PL 8, death
remains as certain as taxes.
The user ceases to age, at all. There is no further
cellular degeneration. The process does not seem to
slow down, but to stop completely.
Anyone entering the dreamweb after it has been
activated will be subsumed into its reality in 1d4+5
seconds.
The user gains a +8 natural bonus on all Fortitude
saves against poison, disease, starvation, thirst,
suffocation, massive damage, or environmental
effects.
It is possible for those within the dreamweb to
activate certain internal controls, or deactivate the
web entirely – if this is allowed by the settings. If
it is, a Will save (DC 20) is needed to bring up the
‘control panel’ – this will manifest in different ways
depending on the settings on the web. For example,
it might appear as a strange clockwork device, a
floating swarm of crystals, or an obedient servant.
The user gains Regeneration (Radiation).
The user’s massive damage threshold is increased by
+6 if using the Massive Damage=Constitution rule,
or +25 if using Massive Damage=50 points rule.
Beyond the limits of known science, however...
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the
immortality serum is that it works on any organic
life form. It seems to operate on something more
fundamental than genetics. Speculation of subspace
nanobots or temporal warps is common, but neither
hypothesis has much supporting evidence. What
is
The Game Master must decide what species or
race designed the dreamwebs. If it was a very alien
species, the ‘worlds’ within the webs will likewise
be incomprehensibly alien. If it was some forgotten
human race (perhaps from a long-vanished human
The immortality serum will affect any humanoid,
animal, dragon, giant, magical beast, or monstrous
humanoid. It may or may not affect an aberration
– if the creature is basically a flesh-and-blood mortal
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being, it will. Fey, outsiders, elementals, oozes and
plants cannot be affected by the serum.
Gravitic Wand
This artifact is the remnant of a culture which
believed that controlling a device should be as simple
as possible – even if the device was amazingly
powerful. The raw technology of the device is
only a millennia or two beyond an advanced PL 8
culture, but the small size, efficiency, and unique
control mechanism mark it as the product of a far
more advanced species. It is likely the wands were
primarily tools, not weapons, as countermeasures
would have been widely available in the original
culture. In the current era, however, the wand can be
remarkably useful in combat situations.
The wand is controlled entirely by thought. There is
no need to set complex controls to narrow the beam
or switch it from ‘increase’ to ‘decrease’ or to select
a few objects out of a mass. The user merely aims the
wand in the general direction of the desired effect and
thinks of what he wishes down. This allows him to
pluck an individual out of a crowd, lower the gravity
in an area of any shape (within the maximum 20 foot
diameter radius), or lift the eggs out of a carton while
leaving the carton on the ground.
damage if they hit.)
• Manipulating the controls of a device from a
distance.
The wand is fairly obvious in use – the user must
hold it out and aim it, making it fairly obvious what
the source of the various effects is. Careless users
will find their prize taken from them.
The wand can affect one target per round; a 'target' is
an area, object, or group of objects moving together.
Switching targets is a free action.
The mental control of the wand is so fine that it can
be used to grab an object from someone’s hands, turn
screws at a distance, or perform other feats. The user
may make Sleight of Hand checks on ranged objects,
with a total bonus of 10+his Intelligence modifier. He
may also attempt to tear a held object from someone’s
grip. The wand is assumed to have a Strength bonus
of +5; if it wins a contest of strength, the object has
been grabbed.
The wand draws power from an unknown source,
most likely zero-point energy. It never needs
recharging. There is a 1% chance per round of use
that it will fail due to age.
The wand is a featureless silver cylinder an inch thick
and a foot long, tapered at one end. The non-tapered
end is where the wielder holds it. Once it is grasped,
the user receives a flood of telepathic information
instructing him in the operation of the device. All that
is required is, literally, ‘point and think’.
Morphic Arsenal
The wide variety of weapons available to an
advanced culture (and what better measure of
advancement than the number of ways in which you
can kill people?) means that for any job, there is a
proper tool. Unfortunately, most beings cannot carry
two or three dozen weapons around with them at all
times, leaving them to have to pick carefully among
the available options and hope they’re prepared.
Those few who have found a morphic arsenal have
no such problems.
Using the wand is a standard action which does not
provoke an attack of opportunity.
The wand can raise or lower local gravity, or the
mass of a specific object. It can reduce the gravity of
and area or the mass of an object to effectively 0, or
increase them to 5 times their natural levels. If used
to affect an area, the wand can affect a region up to
20 feet in diameter and 500 feet in height; if used
to affect an object or objects, it can affect 1 Huge,
2 Large, 4 Medium, 8 small or 16 Tiny or smaller
objects. The range of the wand is 500 feet.
Some uses for the wand include:
• Increasing local gravity to prevent
individuals from moving.
• Flying (the user may reduce his own mass
and direct himself with the wand; he flies at
60 feet/round with Perfect maneuverability.
• Raising an object up and then increasing its
weight so that it does tremendous damage to
those below.
• Placing a person high in the air and then
allowing him to fall.
• Increasing gravity in a region in front of
the character, causing solid projectiles to
plummet or lose power (all attacks involving
solid missiles, such as arrows or bullets,
suffer a 20% miss chance and do half
A morphic arsenal always appears to be a typical
hand weapon of excellent manufacture. If it is found
at some xenoarcheological site, the construction
and styling will most likely be very alien, but the
functionality will be no more than that of a well-
made (masterwork) weapon of the current culture – it
will seem to have no unusual or exotic properties, and
relic-hunters may dismiss it as something of interest
to collectors or historians only.
If an object has been reduced to 0 mass, the wand can
be used to move it from place to place. It can affect
multiple objects at once, but a group must all move in
the same manner; to move some objects left and some
right, two uses of the wand are required. Objects can
be moved to a maximum of 500 feet from the wand
and travel at a speed of 60 feet per round.
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However, careful examination of the weapon (Search
check, DC 25) will reveal some hidden controls.
The most important of these is the scanning beam.
This beam can scan an area up to 5 square feet. Any
weapon – gun, beam blade, rusting dagger – placed
in the beam will be scanned and then absorbed. Once
absorbed, the morphic arsenal can change itself
into
that weapon. It is believed that the weapons are
modified by the scanning and absorption process to
add the necessary shifting controls, and then placed
in a subspace compartment.
Switching weapon modes is a free action which does
not incur an attack of opportunity. The user must
have the necessary hands free to wield the weapon
– if he switches from a one-handed to a two-handed
weapon, he must have nothing in his second hand.
This means that no item which cannot fit into the
trunk when closed can ever be placed into it, and that
only the person who added an item can remove it.
Multiple people can add items to the same trunk.
If a trunk is found, 10+1d20% of its internal storage
capacity will already be consumed by other items
placed there by long-dead owners.
Subspace Storage Trunk
It is unknown if these devices were extremely rare
items used by the elite of their creating culture, or if
they were so common that tourists in some forgotten
age considered them a simple necessity of life. Either
way, they are very rare today, and much prized.
Items placed in the trunk lose all perception. Living
beings report nothing from the instant the trunk is
closed on them to the interest they are retrieved.
Time does not pass – the most sensitive instruments
show not much as a femtosecond passes between the
instant the lid is closed and the instant the item is
retrieved. This means that cameras, microphones, or
other means of seeing what is ‘inside’ a trunk fails.
The weapons have no other modifications to
functionality. Weapons which require power cells
will still require them; weapons which require
ammunition will need it. The morphic arsenal can
absorb grenades, but using it in this manner will
destroy the weapon. (The grenade will explode as
expected; this will destroy the controls which shift
weapons to and from their holding place.)
These trunks come in a variety of styles and shapes
– a dozen have been found in the galaxy, and no
two are like. Some speculate each is an artifact
of a different culture, but advanced dating and
archeological techniques imply this is not the case.
This has not ended the common-vs.-rare debate; some
xenoscientists claim this means they were unique and
handcrafted items, while others claim it proves they
were a consumer good made in a variety of styles.
A trunk weighs 1 pound (for the smallest sizes) to 8
pounds (for the largest). This weight is not affected
by what is stored within.
A morphic arsenal can store 12 different weapons.
If a 13
th
is desired, the oldest stored weapon will be
‘ejected’ from subspace.
Tachyon Blade
These weapons were created for an elite warrior
corps. It is believed each is unique, hand-crafted,
probably via the use of extremely powerful
psychokinetic manipulation of matter at the sub-
quantum level. Over countless aeons, most have been
lost, but once in a century or so, one is discovered
on some dead ruin of a world. If the finder possesses
the skill to wield it, it can be the most potent melee
weapon in the galaxy. An Exotic Weapon Proficiency
(Tachyon Blade) feat is required.
Trunks range in apparent, external, size from 1 foot
by 1 foot by 6 inches to 6 feet by 2 feet by 1 foot.
The outer surface is generally smooth and almost
featureless, and appears to be either a high-impact
plastic or a strong metal. No trunk with an ‘organic’
surface texture has been found. The size of the trunk
limits only what can be placed within it, however, not
its internal size.
When found, a morphic arsenal will usually have
stored 1d4+1 weapons. These will be the alien
equivalents of PL7 to PL8 devices.
A morphic arsenal has many uses. Smuggling is one
such; a person can be seen to be carrying nothing
more than a ceremonial dagger, then draw forth a
pulse rifle and begin a massacre.
The trunk always appears empty when opened. Any
item placed within will seemingly vanish when the
trunk is closed. In actuality, the item is teleported to
a subspace pocket dimension whose dimensions are
100 feet by 100 feet by 100 feet. In order to retrieve
an item deposited, the same person who placed it into
the trunk must visualize it while the trunk is open; it
will then materialize inside the trunk.
The scanning and storing system of the morphic
arsenal is capable of distinguishing ‘weapon’ from
‘non weapon’, and will not scan items which are not
designed or intended to cause harm. Some form of AI
coupled with a low level telepathic field is apparently
involved.
The hilt of the blade is usually made of diamond, a
single stone of perfect clarity, shaped to fit a typical
humanoid hand. (A few have been found which seem
to fit somewhat more alien appendages...) Within the
diamond hilt, controls of ruby, emerald, and sapphire
are set. These gemstones move and slide through the
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