
You have spent several years perfecting the art of tattooing magical spells onto living creatures. With time and patience, you can transfer a spell to a tattoo, creating a spell tattoo.
- Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Sleight of Hand
- Tool Proficiencies: Calligrapher's supplies, Painter's supplies
- Equipment: Calligrapher's supplies, a set of traveler’s clothes, a bag of scrap practice leathers, and a pouch containing 15 gp
Crafting a spell tattoo is a meticulous task. When tattooing a third level spell, there is a 10 percent chance of a complication.
d6 | Tattoo Complications |
---|---|
1 | You bought up the last of the rare ink used for tattoos, angering a tattoo artist in the closest town. |
2 | The priest of a temple of good (or a potential rival) accuses you of trafficking in dark magic. |
3 | The creature bleeds excessively during the process, requiring it to rest for 1 day after completion of the tattoo. |
4 | Due to a strange error in creating the tattoo, it is instead a random spell of the same level. |
5 | The creature’s skin takes well to tattoos, reducing time by 1 day. |
6 | A thief (or a potential rival) attempts to break into your workroom. |
As a proficient Spell Tattoo Artist, you can create single-use tattoos, called spell tattoos, that store known spells of third level or lower.
Resources: You have learned to modify Calligrapher’s supplies by hardening special quills and have developed unique ink recipes for your tattoos. Scribing a spell tattoo takes an amount of time and money related to the level of the spell the character wants to scribe, as shown in the Spell Tattoo Costs table. In addition, you must provide any material components required for the casting of the spell. Moreover, you must have the spell prepared, or it must be among your known spells, in order to scribe a tattoo of that spell.
If the tattooed spell is a cantrip, the version on that the tattoo works as if the caster were 1st level.
SPELL TATTOO COSTS
Spell Level Time Cost
Cantrip 1 day 20 gp
1st 1 day 35 gp
2nd 3 days 350 gp
3rd 1 workweek 700 gp
Placement: The tattoo must be inked onto a creature with a corporeal body. Regardless of size, a humanoid has room on its body for one spell tattoo on each appendage and each side of its torso (six in total).
Suggested Characteristics
Spell Tattoo Artists are among the most interesting people in the world — until they set down their tools and take up an adventuring career. They understand the value of hard work and the importance of community, but they’re vulnerable to sins of greed and covetousness.
d8 | Personality Trait |
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1 | I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it — I’m a perfectionist. |
2 | I’m a snob who looks down on those who can’t appreciate fine art. |
3 | I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick. |
4 | I’m full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion. |
5 | I’m rude to people who lack my commitment to hard work and fair play. |
6 | I like to talk at length about my profession. |
7 | I don’t part with my money easily and will haggle tirelessly to get the best deal possible. |
8 | I’m well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I’m always taken aback when people haven’t heard of me. |
d6 | Ideal |
---|---|
1 | Community. It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful) |
2 | Generosity. My talents were given to me so that I could use them to benefit the world. (Good) |
3 | Freedom. Everyone should be free to pursue his or her own livelihood. (Chaotic) |
4 | Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil) |
5 | People. I’m committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral) |
6 | Aspiration. I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any) |
d6 | Bond |
---|---|
1 | The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me. |
2 | I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy of it. I’m still looking for someone worthy to recreate my greatest work. |
3 | I owe my mentor a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. |
4 | I pursue wealth to secure someone’s love. |
5 | One day I will return to my mentor and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all. |
6 | I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood. |
d6 | Flaw |
---|---|
1 | I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless. |
2 | I’m quick to assume that someone is trying to cheat me. |
3 | No one must ever learn that I once stole money from my best client. |
4 | I’m never satisfied with what I have — I always want more. |
5 | I would kill to acquire a noble title. |
6 | I’m horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I’m surrounded by rivals. |
