The new UA Magic Tattoos appear to allow one attunement slot to grant unlimited Tattoos. This seems like a lot to me, if ONLY for the damage resistance.
Assuming a PC/NPC learns how to create magic tattoos, it is not unreasonable for a high level Tatooist to have the following tattoos, in addition to being attuned to 2 magic items:
Resistance to all 10 damage types (Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Poison, Psychic, Radiant, Thunder)
AC of 18, plus shield
action to Grapple at 15 ft, DC 14, doing 3d6 force
+1 (and magical) to unarmed strikes attack and damage and a bonus action range of 30ft to do +1d6 damage to any weapon or unarmed attack (1/dawn)
Crit on 19/20, +4d6 necrotic AND temp hitpoints = the necrotic, reaction with advantage on damaged,
* Write secret messages,
Death Ward 1/day
Ghost= 3x/dawn 1 minute of (Resistance to nonmagical, immunity to grappled and restrained, and move through solid objects)
* disguise self 1/day
=======
Originally I was going to put a * on the things that look to me to be powerful. Instead I went with the WEAK ones, as there were only 2 of them. The rest all looked so much better than normal magic items. Keep in mind that normally to get resistance to just one damage type requires using up one attunement.
Yes, this build would be expensive. But if you are the guy who sells tattoos, it is totally reasonable for you to have one of each, at least at a high level
I would house rule that a single attunement allows you to add 3 tattoos, but also rule that disguise self and the Illusionary script do not need attunement.
Check the "Tattoo Size" sidebar in the UA. It's listed as 'optional', bur virtually every DM who sees it agrees that it's a good limiter. I expect that it won't be optional in any sort of end document for exactly this sort of reason. It could be abstracted as each tattoo taking up a certain number of points, and a body can only support so many points of tattoo, but frankly I like the less mathy approach. A player who plays ball and isn't trying to cheese it can have a lot of fun with these; a player who does try to cheese it has a built-in counter in the UA doc. Not to mention rarity still applies, and I think the "these are permanent no unattuning/take-backsies" houserule on tattoos is nigh universal.
You mentioned a universal houserule on no un-attuning. I might allow that, but I do think it is appropriate for death to automatically unattune you to all tattos. That way:
1) Tattoos can't be used as a way to 'protect' your attuned magical effect from being stolen on death. No "I get raised and retain all my magic items".
2) This allows you to give treasure as tattoos, allow players to kill to get them, just like people kill to get magic items.
By the way, that means, that the most 'min-max' configuration I could think of was:
1a&b: Use your scalp for the Masquerade and the Illuminator Tatoo (common = 6 inch)
2a&b: Use one arm for both Coiling Grasp and Eldritch Claw (Uncommon = 1/2 a limb)
3: Use the other arm for your choice of Ghost Step (my choice) or Lifewell.
4,5, and 6: Use the back of your chest, the front of your chest and your two legs for a total of 3 Very Rares, chosen from:
AC 18, even when naked (ideal for magic users that are lacking in AC)
Shadowfell (ideal for stealthy types)
Force Resistance (My choice)
Radiant Resistance
Necrotic Resistance (My Choice - because of spells and abilities that benefit the attacker by # of necrotic damage )
Psychic Resistance (My choice)
(The other Resistances are easier to get from spells)
All in all, for just one attunement plus a lot of expensive purchases, that makes for a good but not quite abusive power. Basically equivalent to a single artifact level item.
The issue is more that tattoos with the given rules, where you can attune and unattune freely and just carry the tattoo around in your backpack, makes them feel less like badass magical tattoos and more like refrigerator magnets for your face. It doesn't feel proper, it doesn't feel right, and most everyone I've talked to agrees that at the very least, one should require a Restoration or possibly a Remove Curse to sever attunement to the tattoo. At my table we've batted around the idea that removing the tattoo this way destroys it, as well.
These things aren't meant to be directly analogous to regular magical items. The chance to acquire arcane power inked directly and more-or-less irremovably on your body should be a pretty big deal. as it stands? The UA doc comes off more as vinyl decals than magic tattoos; really cool ideas for the tattoo effects, but the rules need a clean-up.
The issue is more that tattoos with the given rules, where you can attune and unattune freely and just carry the tattoo around in your backpack, makes them feel less like badass magical tattoos and more like refrigerator magnets for your face.
The issue is more that tattoos with the given rules, where you can attune and unattune freely and just carry the tattoo around in your backpack, makes them feel less like badass magical tattoos and more like refrigerator magnets for your face. It doesn't feel proper, it doesn't feel right, and most everyone I've talked to agrees that at the very least, one should require a Restoration or possibly a Remove Curse to sever attunement to the tattoo. At my table we've batted around the idea that removing the tattoo this way destroys it, as well.
These things aren't meant to be directly analogous to regular magical items. The chance to acquire arcane power inked directly and more-or-less irremovably on your body should be a pretty big deal. as it stands? The UA doc comes off more as vinyl decals than magic tattoos; really cool ideas for the tattoo effects, but the rules need a clean-up.
I never thought about that, but now that you say it, it makes a lot of sense. I totally agree.
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Yes. I have to agree about tattoos not being easily removed. But I still think that if you kill someone they should somehow be recoverable from a killed opponent.
Perhaps a rule about magic tattoos being removable from a corpse via a Dispel Magic. Normal magic items stop working for a round when under the effect of a Dispel Magic, so having a Dispell Magic cause a Tattoo on a corpse to revert back to pen form makes sense.
I would also rule that of course, all magic tattoos would detect Magic, even if the body dies. An Identify cast on them would reveal they can be removed and reapplied via a Dispel Magic.
Which brings up what happens when you bring a magic tattoo into an Anti-Magic Field? Do they cease working or do they revert to pen form?
Salvaging a tattoo could involve Arcana checks and a ritual to transfer the magic from the previous owner to the new one, kinda like whatever the figgety-fudgewhistle Blackbeard does with Devil Fruits in One Piece. The reason it's rare/not often used could be that the ritual only works if the previous owner of the mark is dead - whether he was when the ritual started or not. Could be an interesting side game for certain campaigns, learning how to successfully 'steal' arcane marks.
If I was a DM, I might be tempted to roll a d100 die every time someone with a tattoo takes slashing, acid, fire etc. damage to see if a tattoo becomes "damaged" and either ceases to work, or needs to heal, or even be repaired. Maybe on a 1 on the die, it's permanently destroyed, and between 2-5 (for example) it's just damaged.
DND_Berzerker - do you do the same with a magic item? Weapons get cut up a lot. And they typically do not cover the entire body.
Magic items are not supposed to be damaged by normal use. They are supposed to be stronger than natural and resistant to damage.
If you are playing with called shots, I might allow a called shot to damage a tattoo until it was healed by magical means. But a regular shot? Nope. No more than I would allow you to disarm without a called shot.
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The new UA Magic Tattoos appear to allow one attunement slot to grant unlimited Tattoos. This seems like a lot to me, if ONLY for the damage resistance.
Assuming a PC/NPC learns how to create magic tattoos, it is not unreasonable for a high level Tatooist to have the following tattoos, in addition to being attuned to 2 magic items:
Resistance to all 10 damage types (Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Poison, Psychic, Radiant, Thunder)
AC of 18, plus shield
action to Grapple at 15 ft, DC 14, doing 3d6 force
+1 (and magical) to unarmed strikes attack and damage and a bonus action range of 30ft to do +1d6 damage to any weapon or unarmed attack (1/dawn)
Crit on 19/20, +4d6 necrotic AND temp hitpoints = the necrotic, reaction with advantage on damaged,
* Write secret messages,
Death Ward 1/day
Ghost= 3x/dawn 1 minute of (Resistance to nonmagical, immunity to grappled and restrained, and move through solid objects)
* disguise self 1/day
=======
Originally I was going to put a * on the things that look to me to be powerful. Instead I went with the WEAK ones, as there were only 2 of them. The rest all looked so much better than normal magic items. Keep in mind that normally to get resistance to just one damage type requires using up one attunement.
Yes, this build would be expensive. But if you are the guy who sells tattoos, it is totally reasonable for you to have one of each, at least at a high level
I would house rule that a single attunement allows you to add 3 tattoos, but also rule that disguise self and the Illusionary script do not need attunement.
Am I being too strict?
You also need to look at the sizes of the tattoos. Those are a pretty hard limit on it
Check the "Tattoo Size" sidebar in the UA. It's listed as 'optional', bur virtually every DM who sees it agrees that it's a good limiter. I expect that it won't be optional in any sort of end document for exactly this sort of reason. It could be abstracted as each tattoo taking up a certain number of points, and a body can only support so many points of tattoo, but frankly I like the less mathy approach. A player who plays ball and isn't trying to cheese it can have a lot of fun with these; a player who does try to cheese it has a built-in counter in the UA doc. Not to mention rarity still applies, and I think the "these are permanent no unattuning/take-backsies" houserule on tattoos is nigh universal.
Please do not contact or message me.
Thanks, that makes things a LOT less abusive.
You mentioned a universal houserule on no un-attuning. I might allow that, but I do think it is appropriate for death to automatically unattune you to all tattos. That way:
1) Tattoos can't be used as a way to 'protect' your attuned magical effect from being stolen on death. No "I get raised and retain all my magic items".
2) This allows you to give treasure as tattoos, allow players to kill to get them, just like people kill to get magic items.
By the way, that means, that the most 'min-max' configuration I could think of was:
1a&b: Use your scalp for the Masquerade and the Illuminator Tatoo (common = 6 inch)
2a&b: Use one arm for both Coiling Grasp and Eldritch Claw (Uncommon = 1/2 a limb)
3: Use the other arm for your choice of Ghost Step (my choice) or Lifewell.
4,5, and 6: Use the back of your chest, the front of your chest and your two legs for a total of 3 Very Rares, chosen from:
(The other Resistances are easier to get from spells)
All in all, for just one attunement plus a lot of expensive purchases, that makes for a good but not quite abusive power. Basically equivalent to a single artifact level item.
The issue is more that tattoos with the given rules, where you can attune and unattune freely and just carry the tattoo around in your backpack, makes them feel less like badass magical tattoos and more like refrigerator magnets for your face. It doesn't feel proper, it doesn't feel right, and most everyone I've talked to agrees that at the very least, one should require a Restoration or possibly a Remove Curse to sever attunement to the tattoo. At my table we've batted around the idea that removing the tattoo this way destroys it, as well.
These things aren't meant to be directly analogous to regular magical items. The chance to acquire arcane power inked directly and more-or-less irremovably on your body should be a pretty big deal. as it stands? The UA doc comes off more as vinyl decals than magic tattoos; really cool ideas for the tattoo effects, but the rules need a clean-up.
Please do not contact or message me.
Yurei, I couldn’t agree more.
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I never thought about that, but now that you say it, it makes a lot of sense. I totally agree.
Please check out my homebrew and give me feedback!
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Yes. I have to agree about tattoos not being easily removed. But I still think that if you kill someone they should somehow be recoverable from a killed opponent.
Perhaps a rule about magic tattoos being removable from a corpse via a Dispel Magic. Normal magic items stop working for a round when under the effect of a Dispel Magic, so having a Dispell Magic cause a Tattoo on a corpse to revert back to pen form makes sense.
I would also rule that of course, all magic tattoos would detect Magic, even if the body dies. An Identify cast on them would reveal they can be removed and reapplied via a Dispel Magic.
Which brings up what happens when you bring a magic tattoo into an Anti-Magic Field? Do they cease working or do they revert to pen form?
Salvaging a tattoo could involve Arcana checks and a ritual to transfer the magic from the previous owner to the new one, kinda like whatever the figgety-fudgewhistle Blackbeard does with Devil Fruits in One Piece. The reason it's rare/not often used could be that the ritual only works if the previous owner of the mark is dead - whether he was when the ritual started or not. Could be an interesting side game for certain campaigns, learning how to successfully 'steal' arcane marks.
Please do not contact or message me.
If I was a DM, I might be tempted to roll a d100 die every time someone with a tattoo takes slashing, acid, fire etc. damage to see if a tattoo becomes "damaged" and either ceases to work, or needs to heal, or even be repaired. Maybe on a 1 on the die, it's permanently destroyed, and between 2-5 (for example) it's just damaged.
DND_Berzerker - do you do the same with a magic item? Weapons get cut up a lot. And they typically do not cover the entire body.
Magic items are not supposed to be damaged by normal use. They are supposed to be stronger than natural and resistant to damage.
If you are playing with called shots, I might allow a called shot to damage a tattoo until it was healed by magical means. But a regular shot? Nope. No more than I would allow you to disarm without a called shot.