Hello, Looking for feedback...there's a lot of spell tattoo rules out there, so I decided to make my own... o.O Other homebrew rules/publications out there seem to usually use a tattoo as a permanent bonus to some stat or gives you some permanent special power and is really creating something extra... but mine is simply a different version of existing items/rules and just answers the question 'can i write a spell on a tattoo?' It is a combination of 3 sets of existing rules: Artisan background, Spell Scroll magic item, and the Scribe a Scroll downtime activity (and some sprinkling of details from the 3rd edition Tattoo Magic Feat). There's two parts i) how do you create a tattoo, and ii) how does the tattoo work.
A spell tattoo bears the words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher. If the spell is on your class’s spell list, you can read the tattoo and cast its spell without providing any material components. Otherwise, the tattoo is unintelligible. Casting the spell by reading the tattoo requires the spell’s normal casting time. Once the spell is cast, the ink pattern or design vanishes from the bearer’s skin. If the casting is interrupted, the tattoo is not lost. To cast the tattooed spell, the tattoo must be clearly visible to the caster. Tattoos can not effectively be read from a character’s own torso.
If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a failed check, the tattoo disappears with no other effect.
The level of the tattooed spell determines the spell’s saving throw DC and attack bonus, as well as the tattoo’s rarity, as shown in the Spell Tattoo table.
SPELL TATTOO Spell Level Rarity Save DC Attack Bonus Cantrip Common 13 +5 1st Common 13 +5 2nd Uncommon 13 +5 3rd Uncommon 15 +7
A wizard spell on a spell tattoo can be copied just as spells in spellbooks can be copied. When a spell is copied from a spell tattoo, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. If the check succeeds, the spell is successfully copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell tattoo disappears.
A Dispel Magic spell can erase one spell tattoo if the tattoo is targeted, or all spell tattoos on a creature if the creature is targeted.
hi, thanks for your questions.....check out the background as well, they way i wrote it, the background covers all the questions around creating a tattoo.
The cost varies depending on the level of the spell: 20 gp for a cantrip, up to 700gp for a 3rd level spell. A person can have up to 6 spell tattoos. Non spellcasters can have spell tattoos...its just jiberish to them though.
Hello, Looking for feedback...there's a lot of spell tattoo rules out there, so I decided to make my own... o.O Other homebrew rules/publications out there seem to usually use a tattoo as a permanent bonus to some stat or gives you some permanent special power and is really creating something extra... but mine is simply a different version of existing items/rules and just answers the question 'can i write a spell on a tattoo?' It is a combination of 3 sets of existing rules: Artisan background, Spell Scroll magic item, and the Scribe a Scroll downtime activity (and some sprinkling of details from the 3rd edition Tattoo Magic Feat). There's two parts i) how do you create a tattoo, and ii) how does the tattoo work.
How to create a Spell Tattoo: It's all here as a Background: https://www.dndbeyond.com/backgrounds/95060-spell-tattoo-artist
How does a Spell Tattoo work:
Spell Tattoo
Tattoo, varies
A spell tattoo bears the words of a single spell, written in a mystical cipher. If the spell is on your class’s spell list, you can read the tattoo and cast its spell without providing any material components. Otherwise, the tattoo is unintelligible. Casting the spell by reading the tattoo requires the spell’s normal casting time. Once the spell is cast, the ink pattern or design vanishes from the bearer’s skin. If the casting is interrupted, the tattoo is not lost. To cast the tattooed spell, the tattoo must be clearly visible to the caster. Tattoos can not effectively be read from a character’s own torso.
If the spell is on your class’s spell list but of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a failed check, the tattoo disappears with no other effect.
The level of the tattooed spell determines the spell’s saving throw DC and attack bonus, as well as the tattoo’s rarity, as shown in the Spell Tattoo table.
SPELL TATTOO
Spell Level Rarity Save DC Attack Bonus
Cantrip Common 13 +5
1st Common 13 +5
2nd Uncommon 13 +5
3rd Uncommon 15 +7
A wizard spell on a spell tattoo can be copied just as spells in spellbooks can be copied. When a spell is copied from a spell tattoo, the copier must succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. If the check succeeds, the spell is successfully copied. Whether the check succeeds or fails, the spell tattoo disappears.
A Dispel Magic spell can erase one spell tattoo if the tattoo is targeted, or all spell tattoos on a creature if the creature is targeted.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
questions for you.
How much would a tattoo cost?
how many tattoos can one person have?
Can only caster wear a spell tattoo?
hi, thanks for your questions.....check out the background as well, they way i wrote it, the background covers all the questions around creating a tattoo.
The cost varies depending on the level of the spell: 20 gp for a cantrip, up to 700gp for a 3rd level spell. A person can have up to 6 spell tattoos. Non spellcasters can have spell tattoos...its just jiberish to them though.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks