I know it can only be 1 square foot and 6 characters, but does it even have to be writing? Or can it just be a "logo"? Furthermore, if you want it to be bigger or longer, can you just cast it multiple times on adjacent squares?
It says your personal mark or rune. So a logo would probably work, but you couldn't form sentences without a higher level spell.
Think more of it like a signature than writing/drawing.
It's a brand... like what you mark cattle with... the mark can be a shape, a logo, a word... a rocking J or upsidedown R... whatever stupid $#!+ cowboys graffiti their cows with... or juvenile delinquents tag on alleyway walls.
As the others have stated, it is your personal mark or rune, which can be up to 6 characters, all of which must fit within a 1 square foot area (presumably it can get smaller than that, if placing it on an item you created, like the blade of a sword or something). So you could have a circle, with a line through it, the letters YQA and an eyeball on the bottom line of the circle. Or it could be the six letters 'YQATUB" like you were were writing your name, or it could be the three letters 'YQA' and the image of a tuba' (and two more)
Either way, it should be something that you would have described at 1st-level when you became a caster (though it could be later). It shouldn't be something you just change every casting. I would allow a caster to change it, such as adding or changing an aspect or character to reflect something, like becoming an archmage or being inducted into a particular esoteric order, but it would be as 'official' as a business changing its trademark or branding. So possible, but not something you change every day or even month or even year without a reason.
Mine has usually been ☃, which is one character.
Theoretically if you have a simple rune you could use multiple casting and stack them to create words like writing in a stone tablet, Asian writing, etc.
But that requires that the GM expressly allow it, and it will probably take ages to actually do (longer than just carving it normally).
It's a cantrip, so I let my players make their Arcane Mark look like anything they want. Tbh, the only abuse I've seen with that is making your Arcane Mark into their face and using Enter Image to spy on different rooms. It's hard to call that "abuse" though, I thought it was pretty creative.
PossibleCabbage wrote: Mine has usually been ☃, which is one character. Dumb question but what is that actually a picture of?
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Yqatuba wrote: PossibleCabbage wrote: Mine has usually been ☃, which is one character. Dumb question but what is that actually a picture of? Here's the larger version
All the above replies are valid.
As I see it, an Arcane mark can be as complex as being made by six different symbols, so, if you write in a non-alphabetic form, like Chinese characters, it can comprise up to six words.
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There was a cantrip back in AD&D 1e, Unearthed Arcana, called Two-D'lusion. Essentially you made a very simple 2d illusion, easily debunked by mundane means, but you projected an image, not a few characters. This is something I've allowed folks in my own games to use Prestidigitation to do.
And before I get the comment yes, I KNOW that Prestidigitation isn't supposed to imitate any other spells and YES, I know there's spells that make visual-only illusions so this TECNHNICALLY shouldn't work, but I houseruled in favor of it anyway so there.
Anyway, Arcane Mark could reasonably be a logo or a set of characters. Perhaps, with GM buy in, Prestidigitation could make a crude but lasting image of something more detailed, like a cave drawing or several 2d pictograms. Just a thought.
If you are a complete a&*+~%+, you make your arcane mark look like Nocticulas holy symbol, cast it on a rich uncooperative merchant, proclaim him to be a demon lord worshipper and seize his assets.
My good aligned party members never found out, but someone has to do what is needed to keep the crusade solvent!
Well, Nocticula isn't a demon lord anymore. So you'd mostly make people look like pervy weirdos, which might actually fit more rich folks than you'd expect.
Noticula is now the Chaotic Neutral goddess of artists, outcasts, and midnight.
She very much is still a demon lord during WOTR, and during the majority of pathfinder 1e content, chronologically speaking.
Noticula may, or may not have leveraged her portfolio back to demon lord. She is listed as such in Starfinder.
:)
I prefer her to be Schrödings deity/demon lord, both at the same time.
Arcane Mark:U0
it is a rune of mark (2 dimensional as per "inscribed" & AoE) composed of up to 6 monochromatic characters/symbols (normally comprised of brushstrokes or curving lines but could be simple pictograms). Not a picture or drawing that depicts visual scene or elements.
I think at its most complex it would be a cartouche, simple ink seal, or composite symbol. For many PCs the limit of its artistic quality or complexity is governed by Craft (artistic skill).
For clever casters it could be trail marks or pictograms which again rely on their skill set.
For GMs you could use Unicode symbol set and say choose up to 6 simple ones. Most latin alphanumerics are composed of 3 strokes, so 3*6=18 strokes total.
Waterhammer wrote: Noticula may, or may not have leveraged her portfolio back to demon lord. She is listed as such in Starfinder.
:)
Starfinder background was written before Nocticula change. Obviously, Paizo couldn't spoiler that by changing her beforehand in Starfinder.
I feel like the official position is now that Pathfinder and Starfinder do not exist on the same timeline, which is the only sensible thing they could do because they can't just update Starfinder everytime something happens in Pathfinder and they don't want Starfinder to write Pathfinder into a corner.
I mean, what is the Gap if not "History, and continuity, is broken."
What if the Starstone is nothing more than a piece of a ship that crashed into Golarion?
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Mark Hoover 330 wrote: What if the Starstone is nothing more than a piece of a ship that crashed into Golarion? The Starstone was launched by the Aboleths at the Azlanti.
PossibleCabbage wrote: I feel like the official position is now that Pathfinder and Starfinder do not exist on the same timeline, which is the only sensible thing they could do because they can't just update Starfinder everytime something happens in Pathfinder and they don't want Starfinder to write Pathfinder into a corner.
I mean, what is the Gap if not "History, and continuity, is broken."
Different timelines means no need for the Gap. In my not at all humble opinion, it’s what should have been done in the first place. But, it is what it is. Maybe being a god didn’t suit Noticula. I’m thinking you could use your god powers to secure an unassailable position as a demon lord, if such was desired. It explains the change, and you don’t even have to resort to the timeline dodge.
off topic
The two campaigns (Pathfinder 1 & Starfinder 1) have totally different focus and goals. The Org Play scenarios are totally different.
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