Magical Tattoos

[Navar]

I say that they can be scroll or potion tatoos. (one use items) or ring tatoos and the like as well. I would say any magic item can be made into a tattoo, but it requires another feat by the one making the item/making the tattoo. Pretty simple really.

 

[Limper]

Most of the tattoo magic things I've seen SUCK. The creaters seem to be under the weird delusion that tattoos are a temporary thing. Um, no, not without laser surgery! I'm pretty sure that the FR is the useless "one use only" type of tattoo that only someone using powerful and illegal drugs would come up with.

Ahem. Not that I have any issues.

Spot on.

One simple, quick-and-dirty way of doing it is to treat the tattoos as an "unslotted" item. You want a tattoo that gives +1 resistance, you double the price of a cloak of resistance +1 (1000 gp doubled). The xp cost goes up, too. I'd recommend coming up with various "slots", like upper arm, lower arm, chest, abdomen, back, upper leg, and lower leg -- that'd give 11 "slots". Add a head one and it'd be 12. That should be plenty.

Have fun with 'em! I love the idea of tattoo magic.

We handled them like that in my last game and it worked like a charm. Best partwas it didn't take any new rules to handle it.

 

[Stormborn]

Urban Arcana for d20 Modern has rules for single use tats. Which are fine, but I agree with the sentiment that there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of point except as a potion/scroll that can't be lost or stolen and takes up no space. Advantageous in some circumstacnes (like being in jail) but not lots.

I don't think permanent tatoos would be a problem generally based on stacking rules. A magic item tattoo would take the place of a magic item that did the same thing. However, if you were worried about magic item abuse, something that could be avoided by a careful DM, just say that the tatoos have to be seen/uncovered to work. Thats how dragonmarks work in Eberron IIRC, and thats all they are really is magical tattoos. (Although the "unslotted" would work well too I think, the "you have to see it" rule makes them more affordable. You could use both options.)

Use the standard rules for making magic items in the DMG - just say that the ink for a permanent magic item tattoo requires rare components, or a ritual or something, to justify the cost and keep it balanced. You might even use both, one priced as a scroll with limited uses and one as a permanent magic item.

If your players see this as a magic item that can't be taken away just throw a villan at them that has a shield made of a large patch of humanoid skin with an obvious Mage Armor Tattoo on it, that should make them a little wary of showing of their new ink to the bad guys.

 

[Dog Moon]

The Complete Book of Eldritch Might has a feat for tattooing it on you, though you call the item to you from the tattoo when you want to use it. It also grants an extra little ability. I think that book also has a feat the infuses the item within you, which is cool.

Anyway, you should have a couple of tattoo spots on each person. Instead of someone tattooing you, you buy patches of skin with tattoos on them and when you 'Equip' them, you gain the benefits of the tattoo. And you can put different eyes in your socket and the skull head which floats around after you can change his tooth to have different attacks.

Hehe, oops. I got carried away, sorry.

 

[Terath Ninir]

Anyway, you should have a couple of tattoo spots on each person. Instead of someone tattooing you, you buy patches of skin with tattoos on them and when you 'Equip' them, you gain the benefits of the tattoo. And you can put different eyes in your socket and the skull head which floats around after you can change his tooth to have different attacks.

KEWL. You so rawk. Tell us more! I especially like the "changing eyes" part...

 

[Dog Moon]

Originally posted by Cyberzombie
KEWL. You so rawk. Tell us more! I especially like the "changing eyes" part...

Well, I stole this idea from Planescape: Torment, a 2e PC game. Basically, the main character is an immortal person who wakes up in the Mortuary. Whenever he dies, he appears back there. I forget the exact details, but later you find an eye which gives you a bonus and you can replace it with your eye [At one point, you search through your own intestines and find a magical ring]. There's a flying skull called Morte who flies around with you. He attacks through biting people and the only way to increase his attack is by finding different teeth.

There was a character who sold tattoos. Some had simple bonuses and some were based on the characters and events which occurred [Which included when the character joined, IIRC]. Each character had 3 slots for tattoos. Realistically, I'm not sure how they easily swapped tattoos, but I still like the idea anyway. Probably since they were magic when placed on the skin they were simply absorbed into it and when the wearer desired, he could strip it off.

I've occasionally considered doing something like this for my campaign, but haven't yet.

 

[Jesus_marley]

I'm honestly surprised that no one mentioned the Shaman's Handbook by Green Ronin. That book has all kinds of rules concerning the creation and use of magical tattoos (both temporary and permanent). I highly recommend it as a valuable supplement. It even gave me a great idea to modify the Brew Potion feat into one that allowed my shaman character to infuse healing magic into specially prepared feathers... but I digress...

Incidentally, I see nothing wrong with a magical tattoo that disappears after use... after all it is magical.....