Something Simple Something Fun

[KnowTheToe]

My characters are about to fight an evil Cleric. I assume they will win after taking a small beating and will want to search the bad guy for goodies. The evil Cleric has a tatoo on his hand. When a character first touches the Cleric, the tatoo will crawl off of the cleric and onto the PC. For now the tatoo is nothing but a red herring. I was thinking of making the tatoo move while the character sleeps. Each morning the tatoo gets closer to the characters heart or forhead. I figure it will motivate the character to research the symbols in the tatoo etc. I have two requests.

1. Any ideas on what the tatoo could look like. I don't want to use the typical dragon / serpant stuff.

2. Anything the tatoo could do to freak out the player.

I will eventually give the tatoo a purpose. Maybe it marks the player a the ritual sacrafice for a doom cult. The cleric could have volunteered and when he was killed his slayer has to take on the responsability of being the sacrafice. I may give it minor powers that increase as the player raises in levels. Anyway, I am not there yet, for now I just want to freak out the player

 

[Buttercup]

What if the tattoo is the silhouette of a man harnessed to a large rock? Each day he drags the rock some distance on the wearer's body. How far he gets could relate in some way to the character's actions.

Or the tattoo could be a crawling spider, but I think that's just a bit too predictable.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Don't get me wrong but make it predicable and typical. The players need to see it as a danger and threat, something that will cause them to be concerned.

It could be a dagger with strange writing on it, a crawling hand, or the symbol of the god the cleric was for.

Reasons for it:
This is the guy who killed me, now kill him.
The tatoo is a key that opens a door, maybe letting a clone out or a demon.
A spell holding the sum knowledge of the cleric, looking for a host.
Marks the player as the guy that needs to be given to the god.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Lets see... fun tattoos....

A tornado
A rot grub (scrae the hell out of 2ed players)
A comet
The player's own face (have the tattoo change to his face as it attaches)
A single eye (it's going for my forhead!)

 

[Warrior Poet]

An hourglass: the sands sink to the lower chamber a little more each day ...

Flames: they flicker and dance in the character's peripheral vision, but stop when the character looks directly at the tatoo ...

A child: as the days pass, the child ages, becoming a young adult, then middle aged, and slowly growing more hoary as the tatoo nears the heart or head of the character ...

A sun: slowly the burning globe sinks behind a tatoo mountain range until, just at the character's heart, it sinks ominously from view ...

A moon: starts as a tiny waxing crescent. What will happen when it is full, or when it wanes to new ...

A dot: that becomes a line one day, then a triangle another day, then a square another day, then a pentagon, then a hexagon ...

A mouth: slowly eating its way to the heart or head of the character

A crown: what will happen when it reaches the character's head ...

A mirror: it actually reflects objects, or at least certain things, like magic, or the invisible ...

A wolf: as it moves along the character's body the character can hear sounds like howling, or panting, or running, and imagines the itch of new hair growth sprouting on the body ...

A fish: that increases in size the closer it gets to the heart ...

A theater comedy/tragedy mask: one day it shows the comedy side (grin), the next it shows the tragedy side (frown) ...

Warrior Poet

 

[Oogar]

A spider that grows larger.

Or the evil clerics holy symbol, that starts getting brighter and brighter (Glowing) as it gets closer to the heart.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Don't get me wrong but make it predicable and typical. The players need to see it as a danger and threat, something that will cause them to be concerned.

I think I will keep it simple. The more obvious, the larger the worry. I also like the ideas about the tatoo scenes that change subtly every day as they move.

Thanks for the input. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[wighair]

Maybe the tatoo could be writing, perhaps in script that the characters don't understand without aid of magic or a sage.

The number of lines of info could increase by one as it passes to the PC, suggesting to the players (hopefully) that with each passing from a victim to its new owner that more details are revealed. Depending upon the nature of your campaign and players this might lead to some fun if the next incomplete line hints at the location of some long lost artefact/treasure.

Would one nasty member of your group kill the owner to get the last clue?

Surely some evil NPC would? Perhaps the whole thing was a set up to get the tatoo onto the PC in the first place.

e.g.

When seven slayers
Lie cold and still
The treasure hoard
'neath barrow hill
Of dwarven lords
Shall be revealed as...

My riddle/prophesy is a bit crap, but you get the idea.

Hope this helps. My first post, so I hope it works!

 

[Furn_Darkside]

2. Anything the tatoo could do to freak out the player.

Salutations,

You would need the player's assistance for this- but he could start muttering phrases and using war cries in the name of the god of the cleric they slain.

When the rest of the party questions the player, he has no memory of doing anything of the sort.

As the tattoo moves, the more of a convert he becomes.

When the tattoo finally reachs the heart, the player fully converts. The final "revenge" of a cleric- to convert their murderer.

Perhaps the tattoo could only be removed by another cleric of the same clergy- which could lead to an interesting set of encounters.

FD

 

[fba827]

1. Any ideas on what the tatoo could look like. I don't want to use the typical dragon / serpant stuff.

2. Anything the tatoo could do to freak out the player.

As already stated, keep it simple - that is how the players will be able to related to it even better and thus increasing the sese of paranoia.

Even something as simple as a large red circle that moves towards the chest. Or perhaps instead of moving location, the tatoo mearly changes appearance - starting as one color but fading to another. Or changing from a sun to a moon (or starting as a sun but appearing to "eclipse")

I may give it minor powers that increase as the player raises in levels. Anyway, I am not there yet, for now I just want to freak out the player

I know you say you're not there yet.. so I won't focus on this statement too much. But, unless there is only ONE character in the game, I would suggest not doing this. Alternativly, you would have to give something equally mysterious to the other characters. It would just seem unfair if one PC suddenly got a new magic tatoo that grew in power while the rest of the didn't even have a chance to haggle for it or get one themselves...