“Egg Shen: Can see things no one else can see. Do things no one else can do.
Jack Burton: Real things?
Egg Shen: As real as Lo Pan!
Jack Burton: Hey, what more can a guy ask for?
Egg Shen: Oh, the six-demon bag!
Jack Burton: Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What’s in it, Egg?
Egg Shen: Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!”
– Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Call it MacGuffin. Call it the centerpiece of a cinema piece. Call it whatever – what it is is something cool and your player want their characters to have that bit of cool. The following items are from various movies or TV shows and presented in GURPS terms – specifically, the same format that GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: Artifacts uses. Mostly because trying to fairly price such items is a exercise in futility – their powers are what the writers say they are, they’re not built on a specific system (usually).
Demon-killing Knife (Supernatural, 2006)
Power Item: 20 FP
Suggested Origins: Cosmic, Divine, Magical, Materials, or Spirit
First appearing in season 3 of Supernatural in the hands of Ruby, she used it to kill one of the seven deadly sins personified. Up until that point in the show, killing a demon was impossible except for those who had the Colt.
- Blade Quality: Treat the Demon-killing Knife as a balanced very fine large knife for all purposes (+1 to Knife skill, +2 to damage, and -2 to breakage) – however, see Sharpness below. The owner can wield it offensively and defensively like any other blade of that size.
- Demon-Killer: When used against a demon or similar spiritual entity that’s possessing a person, the damage inflicted by the knife affects both the host and the entity. This does not work against some “higher level” beings at the GM’s option (e.g., angels).
- Sharpness: Regardless of ST, the knife always increases damage by one die to both cutting and impaling attacks as well as adding a Armor Divisor of (2). This bonus damage is treated as if it were basic damage and thus benefits from Weapon Master, All-Out Attack (Strong), and so on.
Weight: 1 lb.
Constantine’s “Holy” Roomsweeper (Constantine, 2004)
Power Item: N/A
Suggested Origins: Materials.
Despite it’s otherwise “badness” as a movie, Keanu Reeve’s Constantine did have a really neat gun: the golden roomsweeper he puts together at the end of the movie for it’s finale. It shoots specially prepared loads, hurts like a sonuvabitch when you buttstroke someone with it, and oh yeah, has a built-in flamethrower.
- Firearm Quality: Treat the Roomsweeper as a Very Fine (accurate) and Very Fine (reliable) weapon for all purposes. See the table below for it’s statistics.
- Bane: Treat any attack fired from the Roomsweeper as if it were a holy or silver-based attack. If used to physically attack a target, such a attack is treated the same.
- Dragon’s Breath: Instead of firing the weapon the character may use a Ready maneuver and unleash a gout of dragon fire. He may do this ten times before needing to wait for the gas to recharge.
Weight: 14 lb.
GUNS (SHOTGUN) (DX-4 or most other Guns at -2)
TL Weapon Damage Acc Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk Rcl LC Notes
8^ Roomsweeper 5d pi++ 6 100/1200 14/1.3 3 12(5) 3 11† -5 4 3 [1][2]
[1] Statistics are using rifled slugs (GURPS High-Tech, p. 166).
[2] When used to perform a “butt stroke” (GURPS High-Tech, p. 198), increase base damage by +2.
LIQUID PROJECTOR (FLAMETHROWER) (DX-4 or other Liquid Projector-4)
TL Weapon Damage Range Weight RoF Shots ST Bulk LC Notes
8^ Roomsweeper 3d(2) burn 15/20 14 Jet 1x10s 11† – 1 [1]
[1] Treat the flammability class (Making Things Burn, p. B433) of the subject as two steps higher than it actually is.
Cloak of Invisibility (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 1997)
Power Item: 30 FP
Suggested Origins: Cosmic.
Though it seems like any other cloak of invisibility at first when it’s given to Harry it later on becomes apparent that it’s not. As one of three “Deathly Hallows” it’s a artifact worthy of the Reaper himself.
- Shroud: While worn, the cloak makes all covered areas totally invisible (p. B63) and unable to be visually detected by anything – even Cosmic sources. The cloak can be pulled off like any other garment, however. Notable sources that can “see” through it are Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody’s magical eye (which uses some weird form of “visual” detection) and the Marauder’s Map (which is a sort of scrying).
- Indestructible: The cloak is completely immune to most forms of damage. Even cosmic sources heal eventually (1 HP per 12 hours).
Weight: 1 lb.
Minor copyedit, "- there powers are what the writers say they are," should be "their powers"