Magic Tattoos

[Jhaosmire]

Afternoon All,

What rules (whether official or house) have you applied with Magical Tattoos? I found these at d20pfsrd.com, Crude Tattoos. I couldn't find any reference to higher quality tattoos though. So here are some questions I had:

• 1) How many tattoos should I allow a character to have?
• 2) Should tattoos take up their own item slot, in order not to be abused?
• 3) Should tattoos have an activation cost or be constantly active (likely based on each effect)?
• 4) What has your experience been with Magic Tattoos?

Thanks in advance for any ideas and options

-Jhaosmire

[Jhaosmire]

Ah, I've already found a bit more that seems to be published by Paizo.

[MerlinCross]

Yeah this is a think Paizo actually has some rules for. It's been something I've always wanted to try and break into for use. But some of the cost(And crafting rules) have kinda kept me from doing so.

And as you've seen from the rules you've probably have a better idea of how to run it. I'll still run through my own opinions though.

1) How many can they afford? If you want to limit it, I suggest yoinking some ideas about Resonance from PF2 I've seen floating around. Or the rules for Cybertech. They can have Tattoos equal to their CON mod. Maybe tie it into CON and CHA/WIS. Cybertech uses CON and INT but I don't think INT is useful here.

2) Gm ruling here. Not useful advice but that's what I got. I use ABP anyway so can't really get to stupid stacking AC or stat bonuses. If you let them have 2, I'd suggest some order of rule and recall at times you need to touch your own Tattoo to use it. Heavier clothing/magic items might make it hard to activate it. Maybe let a magic active item but passive static tattoo? Depends on the group, game, GM couple factors.

3) I'd say based on effects. Or bonuses. Like "Deep Sea" Tattoo gives a static swim bonus but can be turned on to breath underwater. Lot of calls and homebrews here.

4) None. I keep kicking around the idea though. Spell Tattoo spell and the Half Orc Sacred Tattoo helped jump start the idea of an Ink based buff system. And could allow you to go low tech. Well lower tech than normal. Mammoth lords level of tech. Also looks to be a good way of giving enemies buffs without giving them an item(Or tossing Templates on them).

Lemme know how it goes for you if you don't mind, this is something that seems to be kicked to the "Not worth it" section of PF. But it's too interesting/odd for me to just throw it away.

I'm looking to see about using it in my Skull and Shackles game so see how that goes. Tattooed pirates, you have to have it.

[pjrogers]

There are actually some fairly extensive and interesting rules for tattoos.

1 & 2) Tattoos have their own slots, see HERE.

3) It all depends on the tattoo. Some such as Spell Tattoo are spell completion item. Others, such as Viper Tattoo specify their activation requirements. There are also Runeward Tattoos which are always active.

4) It all depends on the character and the degree to which they fit that individual's personality, role, abilities, etc. I have a half-orc bloodrager who makes tremendous use of them, and many other characters with none at all and no interest in getting any.

[Jhaosmire]

Cool cool, thanks for the advice. I will definitely be using them, not so much for minmaxing, moreso for the flavor; havkng a character littered with tattoos, or even someone noble who has a discreet tattoo of power just rings right in my mind.

I also run a campaign in which the Players are bound via magic head tattoos, so I thought I should flush out the rules a fair amount more on them. Thanks again! I'll post kn any updates I may have on how they play.

-Jhaosmire

[Cevah]

Jhaosmire wrote:

Afternoon All,

What rules (whether official or house) have you applied with Magical Tattoos? I found these at d20pfsrd.com, Crude Tattoos. I couldn't find any reference to higher quality tattoos though. So here are some questions I had:

If you search "tattoo" in the Archives of Nethys, you will find there are many kinds.

Jhaosmire wrote:

1) How many tattoos should I allow a character to have?

No limit is listed in the rules.

Jhaosmire wrote:

2) Should tattoos take up their own item slot, in order not to be abused?

Some tattoos use item slots, some are slotless, some are limited to a max per body or body part. Each set is separately counted.

Jhaosmire wrote:

3) Should tattoos have an activation cost or be constantly active (likely based on each effect)?

Varies with the tattoo. Some are even self activating.

Jhaosmire wrote:

4) What has your experience been with Magic Tattoos?

My half orc has the sacred tattoos, and I am thinking about getting more.

Some tattoos of interest:
Holy Symbol Tattoo: Use as a holy symbol if visible. Slotless, no limit.
Inscribe Magical Tattoo: This kind of tattoo uses the same slots as wondrous items on the body. This is in addition to the normal item slot. Only one tattoo per slot.
Inscribe Rune: Limit 1 per body, otherwise slotless.
Caster's Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, swift to activate.
Animal Totem Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, always active.
Reservoir Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, standard to activate.
Runeward Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, always active. While unlimited, more than 8 is not useful. My half orc wants 8. :-)
Spell Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, standard to activate. Consumable. Some placement restriction.
Tattoo Guardian: Unlimited, slotless, independent construct. My half orc wants this too. :-)
Tattoo Potion: Chest slot, standard to activate. Consumable.
Transfer Tattoo: Mill something with a tattoo you want? Here's a spell for you.

/cevah

[Dave Justus]

Cevah wrote:

Spell Tattoo: Unlimited, slotless, standard to activate. Consumable. Some placement restriction.

I believe you are incorrect here, Spell Tattoo uses the Inscribe Magical Tattoo feat above, and is subject to the same slot requirements.

[Cevah]

Given that the Spell Tattoo lists "slot: none", I think that specific overrides general.

There is room to argue, though, and it is not the only one with that feat required.

/cevah

[Java Man]

All of the entries for magical tattoos on AoN list slot: none. Even the weapon tattoo that goes on to describe what slot it occupies in the text.

[pjrogers]

Cevah wrote:

Given that the Spell Tattoo lists "slot: none", I think that specific overrides general.

I've always thought that the line "slot: none" referred to a normal equipment slot not a tattoo slot. For my one PC who has a significant number of tattoos, I specify the tattoo slot for all of them, including her Sacred Tattoo half-orc alternate trait and the Rune she has as a boon from one of the season 4 adventures. However, I freely admit that I may be doing a little overboard.

[Tiltedleft]

I've been playing in a long-running campaign with a character who took the Inscribe Magical Tattoo feat, with the idea of making tattoos to replace some of the big six items, thus opening up the slots for more interesting items. (Sadly ABP not in use.) Basically, I'm using it to create slotless wondrous items, since they need to be priced that way anyways. As such, my GM said not to worry about the slots, since I could do the same thing with Craft Wondrous Item without the limitation. I mean, nothing says your custom slotless items can't be tattoos in form, after all, so the feat is more limiting than Craft Wondrous Item. I just chose it because I found it cooler.

After a significant amount of time with the character, I can safely say doing so doesn't unbalance the game, as the crafting cost and particularly the crafting time are pretty big limiting factors. I doubt I'll ever reach a point where the slots would have been a major problem. I'm also slightly behind the other characters in terms of power, as I've been selling things to feed the feat to spend a long time crafting something I could have purchased in a slot for the same price.

That said, I'm one of only 2 tier 1 classes at the table, so I can afford it.

@Cevah: Thanks for that list, btw. Extra ideas are always welcome.