Joey the Doll (Cursed Relic)
Description: Joey the Doll looks like a hand-made children's rag-doll, very old and much abused. The doll is far from an ordinary children's toy however. It's faded cloth body contains an evil spirit: the soul of Joseph-Michael Ghiru. Joseph-Michael (or "Joey" as he was better know) was a notorious serial-killer before the war. He had been convicted of the murders of eight children and had been connected with the disappearances of eleven more in the Nevada/Arizona/New Mexico region before his death by electrocution in 2079. In a deal made with occult forces (probably the Reckoners), Joey's soul was granted immortality of a sort, imprisoned within the body of the doll (a "souvenier" of Joey's first victim). It is in this form that he now serves the forces of evil in the Wasted West.
Powers/Taint: If a character under the age of 15 touches the doll, they must immediately make a spirit roll vs. Joey's spirit. Due to his long "career" in working with children, he has special insight into their psyche and will always make this roll at one coordination higher than the character. If the character fails the roll, they will think Joey is a long lost toy from their earlier years and will not want to be separated from him. If a character over the age of 15 touches the doll there is no effect. While in the young character's posession, Joey will speak mentally to his new "owner" and will have complete knowledge of his/her background, adopting an identity from their memories or even creating one if appropriate (like an "imaginary friend" for example). He will strongly suggest to his new "owner" that they not tell anyone that he can "talk" (it's a secret - they wouldn't understand). Joey is very knowledgable, and will constantly offer advice as to how the character should react to certain people or situations. This advice will always keep the character safe, but will be designed to cause the most chaos possible among those around him/her (consider everyone around Joey's "owner" to be affected by a Bad Luck hindrance effect as well). Joey will also offer to answer questions on any subject for the character. Questions about Joey himself will always be answered with convincing lies. If the character asks Joey a question, the marshal draws a card without revealing it to the player and consults the following table before answering:
Spade: The answer will sound and in fact be truthful, but might not be complete.
Heart: The answer will be (basically) truthful, but will sound suspicious.
Diamond: The answer will sound truthful, but will in fact be false and misleading.
Club: The answer sounds suspicious, and is false and misleading.
Red Joker: The answer is truthful and complete.
Black Joker: Joey will claim he can't answer the question - the character has nightmares that night
(gains the effect of Night Terrors for 24 hours).
If the doll is forcibly removed from the character and destroyed (burned, ripped to shreds and discarded, etc.), the character permanently gains the Night Terrors hindrance. To get rid of Joey by themself, the character can make a new spirit roll each morning against Joey's current spirit. Joey gains an additional +1 bonus towards this roll for each week he has been in the character's possession. If the character makes the roll, Joey falls silent and can be discarded/destroyed without incident. If the doll is destroyed using "conventional" methods it will reform at a different location a week later. Nothing short of an exorcism will permanently destroy the doll.