Spell tattoos appear to work almost exactly like scrolls, so creating one would use one of your castings of the spell.
How do tattoos work? If I tattoo mirror image on myself, does that remove the duration?
If I'm understanding you correctly, no... that function corresponds to Reservoir Tattoo, which is only available by the Feat. The archetype only grants Spell Tattoos which are 1 time (per tattoo) spells akin to scrolls or potions (unlike a Reservoir Tattoo which itself is permanent, but can 'absorb' spells when it is empty). You just use all spell parameters as if you had made a scroll.
I'm still not sure exactly how it works otherwise, it says 'just like scrolls' which would mean you provoke and can be disrupted when doing this, and it would also mean that if you put it on other people they may need Umd to activate them... Especially the latter doesn't seem like the intent to me.
Understand: the archetype is giving you Craft Tattoo 8nstead of EschewMat, you can use the Feat normally, which works like Crafting a Scroll, it requires casting a spell and the time is the same as scribing AFAIK.
the archetype also lets you create a limited number per day with just a Su standard action, that isnt casting so it isnt expending a spell slot, and it doesnt take any gold and is alot faster regardless of the spells casting time.
basically, you are getting extra spell slots/day, that can also be used by your friends, you just need to 'prep' the specific spells ahead of time, so it's akin to free pearls of power in reverse. Activating them is also benefitting from free silent spell, and should be harder or impossible to Id.
I am unsure on the activation RAI, if nobody Ever needs UMD there is the advantage that your friends can use them like potions that dont need to be drawn and that can be any spell, unlike potions.
the other usages of the actual feat are stronger, reservoir lets a spell be reactivated as a standard, without being able to Id the casting, and without needing a concentration check, such as in a grapple, castind dimensiondoor or freedom of movement. the caster tattoo is similar, if more expensive because its flexible on the spot.
note that the class ability free spell tattoos need to be spells You Know, but the normal usages of the feat doesn't, so you can convert scrolls or ally cast spells into tatttoos, same goes for reservoir.
So over all, its way more flexible than most 9th level Bl abilities, you can use whatever spells you want, and the higher spell levels you get, the stronger it gets.
i actually just got stoked on this archetype myself, being able to get this and a familiar atop of any BL is pretty damn awesome... ive been planning a tattooed fey sorceror.
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1) the normal usage of the feat doesn't have that limitation for spell tattoos.
2) you can take eschew materials and any but expensive component spells become material component-less.
(that doesn't take care of focus requirements, but this allows many spells to work fine)
honestly, i'm not really sure why there is that limitation on the class ability but not the feat,
excluding expensive components could have been sufficient, or consume the material components when making the tattoo,
or just make it work like the caster's tattoo:
regardless, eschew material components is an easy fix for material component spells (if not focuses).
...personally, i rather like the flavor of being a sorceror that DOESN'T have eschew material components,
and thus routinely using those things for spells even though otherwise they are 'innate' to the character...
EDIT: honestly, i'm even more of the opinion that the 'no material component' rule may be in error,
since the other class ability, improved varisian tattoo states
I'm not 100% clear on why even those are excluded for this ability (certainly not focuses, costly material components at least does exclude certain spells of arguably higher power), but it seems likely that the same paradigm should apply to both abilities, and thus only COSTLY material components shouldn't be compatible: non-costly material components is OK. Although like I said before, simply consuming the components when the tattoo is made, or require them to be 'on your person' and be auto-consumed (without needing to draw them) when the tattoo is activated, also seems like a reasonable functionality.
I'm hitting FAQ because I'm unsure of RAI vs. RAW there, as well as how spell tattoos are activated in general, i.e. whether they are really activated just like scrolls, and thus would require 'Read Magic' and/or Caster Level Check/UMD for other characters to make use of them. It seems reasonable for Spell Tattoo activation to be akin to SLAs, i.e. be disrupt-able/require Concentration checks, but allies needing to use UMD seems a bit off of what I would expect based on the flavor of the ability. ...But I don't know for sure, since I didn't write the Archetype. If they do work exactly like Scrolls, then anybody should also be able to Read Magic and know what spells you have tattooed onto you.
EDIT(2): BTW, I believe I goofed when I suggested using Reservoir Tattoo for ANY spell, including those that others had cast on you, the requirement for self-cast spells in pretty iron-clad, although it DOES seem to allow for scroll usage, even thru UMD.
How do tattoos work? If I tattoo mirror image on myself, does that remove the duration? Do I use one of my castings when tattooing myself? What about Vanish?
Can someone explain how this works and suggest some spells to use with it?
The archetype does not grant you the Inscribe Magical Tattoo (Item Creation) feat.
Create Spell Tattoo (Su): "At 7th level, a tattooed sorcerer can create a spell tattoo once per day with a single touch as a standard action. The recipient of the spell tattoo must be willing to receive the spell tattoo. If she gives the spell tattoo to herself, it does not count against the regular limit of magic tattoos she can have. The spell tattoo must be of a spell that she knows that has no material or focus component. She can maintain one spell tattoo created by this ability at a time—if she uses this ability again, the previous spell tattoo she created fades away. Spell tattoos she creates with Inscribe Magic Tattoo do not count against this limit. She can use this ability twice per day at 11th level, and three times per day at 15th level. This ability replaces the bloodline feat gained at 7th level."
Note: That's a Spell Tattoo, not a Caster’s Tattoo or Reservoir Tattoo.
Tattoo, Spell: "A spell tattoo is essentially a wearable scroll inscribed on flesh instead of on parchment or vellum. These tattoos appear as colorful and intricate patterns rather than magical writing. The tattoo is a silent, spell completion item that only the bearer can activate. It vanishes when activated. A spell tattoo must be visible to the bearer and must be touched as part of its activation. These magical tattoos are not normally placed on the head, neck, or back as a result, since most creatures would require mirrors to activate them. A spell tattoo’s aura and caster level varies as per the scroll it emulates. A spell tattoo has a market price four times as much as an equivalent scroll."
There's no duration to the tattoo. It stays until you use it or make a new one. When you use it, it vanishes. If you use the ability to tattoo mirror image on yourself, it doesn't count against the limit of real spell tattoos if you did take the feat. You're not covered in images yet, because you haven't activated the tattoo.
When you activate it, it uses Spell Completion but is silent. So just like a silent scroll. Once you do activate it, the tattoo vanishes, and it's exactly as if you had just cast mirror image. The duration and whatnot are just like if you had now cast the spell. (Like a scroll, but you've got no reason to not have 'scribed' it with max caster level)
Vanish works the same way.
The ability doesn't say you lose the spell slot. Real spell tattoos made via the feat work like crafting wondrous items, so they would use up the time/gold/spell slots like any other wondrous item.
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The whole point here is that you create a scroll on your skin for free, which essentially lets you cast an additional spell per day at level 7, or more at higher levels. As mentioned above, it's like a Pearl of Power, but you set it up in advance.
Yes, the lack of material components thing is mildly annoying, but there are plenty of good spells that meet the requirement - Daylight, Dispel Magic, Dimension Door, Charm Monster, Greater Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer, etc.