Alien Artifacts discovered as part of your background are relics of ancient and unknown civilizations that wandered through the galaxy in ages past.  Their identities have usually been lost to time, but their relics seem to have withstood the test of time.  The vast majority of these objects are in the hands of private collectors, or are scooped up by governments and private research agencies seeking to unlock their secrets, but you have managed to stumble across one of them and keep it for yourself.

To determine the nature of a background-obtained alien artifact, roll on the following table and then consult the GM with the randomly-determined details. The GM generates all background-obtained alien artifacts as when and where the artifact was obtained has some impact on what the artifact is. No background-obtained alien artifact will be of the Chemical technology type.