Splatbook*

Identifying artifacts

When the PCs find an artifact, describe it! Tell them what they've found, and what's obvious at a glance.

If the artifact is merely interesting, useful, or valuable, then make that clear as part of your initial description or as soon as the PCs interact with it. Don't imply that there might be more to discover if there really isn't.

"Each corpse has a bronze hatchet. The heads are corroded and dull, but the wooden handles have this beautiful swirling grain. They're remarkably wellpreserved, too. They don't feel magical, but the smith could restore the ax heads with a little work, and they'd be, like, Value 1 each."

If there is more to the artifact, then make that clear as part of your description, or hint at more than meets the eye, or just offer an opportunity to learn more.

The PCs dig the urn out of the rubble and dust it off. "It's quite large," I tell them. "Like four feet tall and yea big around. The material is weird. It's not ceramic. More like… snail shell? And, Blodwen, you in particular feel like it's sort of… calling out? What do you do?"

From there, follow the PCs' actions and resolve them. If they look more closely, tell them what they see. If they pick it up, tell them what they feel. If the artifact has a custom move, and they trigger it, then present them with the move (and resolve it, of course).

If they Seek Insight about the artifact, resolve the move! On a 7+, answer their question(s) honestly and helpfully, with as much detail as the situation warrants.

"What should you be on the lookout for? Honestly, not much. The urn isn't calling you. It's magic, yeah, but it doesn't feel like magic that affects, like, mortals."

If they Know Things about the artifact and get a 7+, then tell them some combo of what it is, what it does, what it's worth, how they might activate it or sell it for its full value, or how they might learn more. If the artifact has a custom move, then maybe you'd give them some inkling of what it does on a 7-9, and give them the move's full text on a 10+.

Many of the artifacts in Book II include "something interesting" and "something useful" as part of their description.

Ultimately, you want the players to know what an artifact does and how to use it, so that they can make meaningful decisions. If the PCs can't figure this out now, give them a path toward doing so, such as…

  • … telling them the requirements. "Old Gorlas knows about the Fae, he could maybe tell you." Or, "You'll need to bring it home and consult your scrolls."
  • … Making a Plan with them to learn what it the artifact is or does.
  • … divulging the info via a love letter.
  • … revealing the info after a bit of downtime. Maybe ask the player how the PC learned it.
  • … some combination of the above.

Once a PC figures an artifact out, give the player its tags, write-up, and any custom moves, etc. If it's a steading improvement, add it to the steading playbook.

Arcana have their own considerations; see Arcana for details.