Intel - Aliens, Artifacts & Objects is the specialized ability to examine, identify, and understand alien artifacts, ancient technology, and xenological objects. This skill encompasses archaeological analysis, artifact dating, material identification, and understanding the purpose and function of alien technology and relics. As an expert in this field, you can spot the difference between a priceless ancient artifact and clever forgery, identify the civilization of origin, and determine potential uses or dangers of alien objects. Your knowledge extends to recognizing archaeological significance, understanding alien engineering principles, and safely handling potentially dangerous relics.
With this skill, you can evaluate artifacts for authenticity, age, and origin, interpret alien writing or symbols on objects, understand the technological principles behind alien devices, and identify valuable or significant finds. You are invaluable on archaeological expeditions, salvage operations, and any mission involving ancient sites or alien technology.
Each artifact analysis will have a difficulty rating based on the rarity of the civilization, the obscurity of the object, and the complexity of the technology. The more ancient, alien, or unique the artifact, the higher the difficulty.
When you attempt to identify, authenticate, date, analyze, or understand alien artifacts and ancient objects, you will make an Intel - Aliens, Artifacts & Objects skill check against the task's difficulty rating. The GM may apply Boons or Banes based on factors such as available reference materials, quality of analysis equipment, artifact condition, or your specialization in that civilization.
- A Critical Success provides comprehensive analysis and breakthrough insights. You not only identify the artifact's origin, age, and purpose, but also discover hidden features, understand advanced technological principles, spot incredibly subtle forgeries, recognize previously unknown civilizations, or realize the artifact is far more valuable or significant than initially apparent. Your analysis may reveal secrets that escaped other experts.
- A Regular Success allows you to successfully analyze the artifact. You accurately determine its authenticity, approximate age and origin, basic purpose and function, technological principles, and fair market value. You accomplish your analysis objectives and provide reliable information.
- A Failure means your analysis is incomplete or uncertain. You can make educated guesses about the artifact but can't confirm details with confidence, may miss whether it's a forgery, misdate it by significant margins, or fail to understand its full purpose or significance. Your analysis isn't wrong, just insufficient.
- A Critical Failure results in catastrophic misanalysis: you authenticate a clever forgery as genuine (or vice versa), completely misidentify the civilization of origin, trigger a dangerous artifact's defenses or traps, damage or destroy a priceless relic through improper handling, or provide analysis that's completely wrong and leads to dangerous decisions. Your mistakes could have serious consequences.
Rather than spending skill points to move up skill levels, you may instead spend skill points to purchase any of the following tricks.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You can make rapid assessments of artifacts and objects, reducing the time needed to examine them by half while maintaining accuracy. When time is critical, you can analyze artifacts in minutes instead of hours while still providing reliable identification and authentication.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You can identify potentially dangerous artifacts, booby traps, or hazardous materials in ancient sites before they pose a threat. You automatically detect cursed objects, trapped relics, radioactive materials, or unstable ancient technology, giving you time to take precautions.
Cost: 2 Skill points
Requires: Tactical Training
Frequency: Once per Lockdown
Effect: You can accurately assess the market value and rarity of artifacts instantly. When examining alien objects, you gain a +1d6 Boon to Intel - Marketeering rolls when buying or selling artifacts. You know exactly what collectors will pay and what items are truly priceless.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You can automatically determine an artifact's authenticity (whether it's genuine or a forgery/replica) and approximate age with high precision. Your expertise is so refined that you can spot even masterful forgeries that fool other experts. This works through visual inspection, material analysis, and subtle tells.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: You have extensive knowledge of ancient and dead languages. You gain a +1d8 Boon when attempting to translate inscriptions, symbols, or writing on artifacts. You can decipher previously unknown scripts by comparing them to related languages and understanding linguistic evolution patterns.
Cost: 6 Skill points
Requires: Expert Training
Frequency: Once per Op
Effect: When examining alien technology or ancient devices, you can understand their operational principles and construction. You gain a +1d8 Boon to Engineering rolls to understand, repair, reverse-engineer, or reactivate the technology. You can often get ancient tech working again.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: Choose one ancient or alien civilization that you've studied extensively. For one mission, you have encyclopedic knowledge of that civilization's artifacts, technology, culture, and history. You automatically succeed on basic identification checks for their artifacts and gain a +1d12 Boon on complex analysis. You can take this trick multiple times for different civilizations.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: You know how to perfectly preserve and protect even the most delicate artifacts. For one mission, any artifacts under your care are immune to environmental degradation, accidental damage, or quality loss. You can even stabilize artifacts that are actively deteriorating, preserving them indefinitely.
Cost: 10 Skill points
Requires: Master Training
Frequency: Once per Mission
Effect: Your artifact analysis reaches supernatural levels. When examining an artifact at its original location (archaeological sites, ancient ruins), you can reconstruct its complete history - who made it, when, why, how it was used, and what became of it. You gain perfect contextual understanding and can determine original purpose and cultural significance with absolute certainty.
- Identifying Ancient Artifacts: Examining relics found in alien ruins to determine age, origin, and purpose
- Authenticating Objects: Determining if a "priceless artifact" is genuine or a clever forgery
- Technology Analysis: Understanding how ancient alien devices functioned and potentially reactivating them
- Cultural Significance: Recognizing religious, ceremonial, or culturally important objects
- Hazard Detection: Identifying dangerous artifacts, cursed objects, or booby-trapped relics
- Material Composition: Analyzing what materials were used in construction and where they came from
- Translation Work: Interpreting inscriptions, symbols, and writing on artifacts
- Salvage Operations: Determining valuable items during ship or station salvage
- Market Appraisal: Evaluating artifacts for sale or acquisition
- Archaeological Excavation: Properly documenting and analyzing finds at dig sites
- Intel - Aliens, Cultures & Customs: Understanding the cultures that created the artifacts
- Intel - Astrography: Knowing where artifacts originated and trade routes of ancient civilizations
- Engineering - Repair Electronics: Repairing or reactivating ancient technology
- Espionage - Search: Finding hidden artifacts or secret compartments
- Intel - Marketeering: Selling artifacts or negotiating prices with collectors
- Requires: Intel - Aliens, Artifacts & Objects check (DC varies by specialization)
- Simple Catalog (DC Easy): Common artifacts from well-known civilizations
- Advanced Catalog (DC Medium): Rare artifacts or obscure civilizations
- Elite Catalog (DC Hard): Unique artifacts, lost civilizations, or alien technology
- Time: 2-6 weeks of research and documentation per civilization or artifact type
- Resources: Access to artifacts, libraries, databases, archaeological records
- Requires: Research data + artifact samples or images + authentication testing
- Time: 1-3 weeks of compilation and verification
- Materials:
- Research Access: Libraries, museums, databases (Cheap to Moderate)
- Sample Analysis: Material testing, dating, authentication (Moderate to Expensive)
- Documentation: Catalog creation, images, notes (Cheap)
- Workshop: Research facility, museum, laboratory, archaeological site
Each artifact catalog grants a stacking Boon to Intel - Aliens, Artifacts & Objects rolls when examining related artifacts:
- 1 Catalog: +1d4 Boon
- 2 Catalogs: +1d6 Boon
- 3 Catalogs: +1d8 Boon
- 4 Catalogs: +1d10 Boon
- 5+ Catalogs: +1d12 Boon (then +1d4 for each additional)
Boons apply when:
- Identifying artifacts from cataloged civilizations
- Authenticating objects matching catalog entries
- Determining age and origin of similar artifacts
- Understanding technological principles of cataloged devices
- Recognizing forgeries based on documented authentic examples
- Appraising value of artifacts in your specialization
Artifact catalogs provide practical advantages:
- Rapid Identification: Reduce analysis time by 50% for cataloged artifact types
- Authentication Certainty: High confidence in genuine vs. forgery determination
- Value Estimation: Accurate market pricing for cataloged artifacts
- Cultural Context: Understanding of artifact significance and proper handling
- Technological Insight: Knowledge of how ancient devices functioned
- Valuable Resource: Catalogs can be sold or licensed to collectors and museums
GM Note: Catalogs represent accumulated expertise in specific artifact types or civilizations. Broader catalogs take longer to create.
Artifact catalogs require occasional updates:
- New Discoveries: Add newly discovered artifacts or information (Cheap)
- Verification: Update authentication methods as forgery techniques improve
- Distribution: Catalogs can be copied, shared, or sold as proprietary knowledge
- Specialization: Each catalog covers one civilization, time period, or artifact type
- Academic Reputation: Well-researched catalogs enhance your professional standing
Dr. Elena Vasquez creates specialized reference works:
- Research Civilizations (DC Medium): Elena spends 5 weeks researching ancient Precursor artifacts, rolls Intel - Aliens, Artifacts & Objects (success)
- Create Catalogs: Over 3 weeks of compilation, she produces 3 artifact catalogs:
- Precursor Energy Devices: Weapons, power cells, and generators
- Ancient Precursor Art: Sculptures, relics, and ceremonial objects
- Precursor Navigation Tools: Star charts, compasses, and instruments
- Cost: Moderate for research access and material testing
- Benefit: When examining Precursor artifacts, Elena gains +1d8 Boon and 50% faster identification
- Duration: Permanent knowledge; occasional updates as new discoveries emerge
Galactic Museum of Antiquities maintains extensive catalogs:
- Multiple Catalogs: Museum has compiled 5 comprehensive catalogs covering major extinct civilizations
- Benefit: Curators gain +1d12 Boon when authenticating artifacts from cataloged cultures
- Resource: Catalogs include authentication signatures, forgery detection, and provenance tracking
- Access: Catalog access can be licensed to qualified researchers for a fee
"Lucky" Marcus Webb specializes in ship salvage:
- Practical Focus (DC Easy): Marcus creates a focused catalog of common starship artifacts and tech
- Quick Identification: When salvaging ships, gains +1d4 Boon to identify valuable components
- Time Investment: Cheap to create from his salvage experience over past missions
- Market Advantage: Catalog helps him spot valuable tech other salvagers overlook
- Limit to 5 active catalogs per character (each covering one specialization)
- Expertise Development: Catalogs represent deep specialization in specific areas
- Story Opportunities: Creating catalogs can drive research missions and archaeological expeditions
- Academic Value: Well-researched catalogs enhance character reputation
- Competitive Edge: Unique catalogs provide advantages in artifact markets
- Knowledge Sharing: Players must decide whether to share or guard their expertise