Base Class: Bard
As an Inkslinger, you excel in creating magical artwork, most often this takes the form of various permanent and temporary tattoos on either yourself or your companion's bodies. These can be created with henna, ink, paint, stain, or any one of several other mediums, though often the inks must be specially prepared well ahead of time and are treated as if potions with a number of doses created from a single recipe. Most of the inks are simple to make (materials readily available). The materials for them can be purchased for gold at the cost of 5 gold multiplied by the level of the tattoo. However, special inks will often require unique ingredients that may have to be sought out and sometimes are not particularly easy to acquire.
The Inkslinger creates what are called "Works". These are magical creations that can be either complex or simple in nature consisting of anything from a single runic symbol painted in haste to an intricate fresco painted across the walls of a city. Their works can inspire, bolster, ensnare, and even come to life and fight.
Practiced Scribe
While particularly artistic, the Inkslinger's ability to create readable and fine reproductions of magical writing are legendary. All Inkslinger's gain expertise in the Arcana skill and reduce the cost of any spell scroll which they have the correct level of ink to scribe to zero (beyond the cost of the ink itself) and the time required is halved.
Living Skin
At 3rd level when the Bard joins the college of Inkslinging they can choose 2 tattoos to place on their skin. The tattoos can take any form that the Inkslinger wants but will fill one of the following roles.
- An Unkindness of Ravens - Scout, Flying
- Nine Tailed Fox Kit - Scout, Inconspicuous
- Bone Spider - Combat, Support
- Three Eyed Tiger - Combat Aggressive
- Red Dragon - Combat, Defensive
- Quickling - Non-Combat, Rogue
Using of your bardic inspirations you can conjure one of your tattoos into a physical form. The tattoo will remain until dismissed, killed, or until the Inkslinger next sleeps. The Inkslinger can never have more than one tattoo active at one time.
An Unkindness of Ravens
Using one of your bardic inspirations you bring to life the tattoo of a flock of dire black birds to spy upon and distract your enemies.
Bone Spider
Using one of your bardic inspirations, you summon forth a bone spider to harry and disturb your enemies. Its almost as cute as the Nine Tailed Fox Kit.
Nine Tailed Fox Kit
Using one of your bardic inspirations, you summon forth the form of a nine tailed fox kit to serve you as a spy, or maybe a thief, or maybe just cause its so darn cute.
Quickling Tattoo
Using one of your bardic inspirations you conjure a Quickling from your tattoo to assist you in opening a door, or a pocket, or probably something else that didn't belong to you, kudos.
Red Dragon
Using one of your bardic inspirations you conjure the powerful Red Dragon Tattoo.
Three Eyed Tiger
Using one of your bardic inspirations you can call forth the physical manifestation of your Three Eyed Tiger Tattoo.
Inkslinger Cover-Up
By using one of your bardic inspirations you can transform your physical body into liquid ink and reform your appearance into any shape you like as if a living tattoo. You cannot significantly change your mass, though you can appear up to a foot taller or shorter than your real height. This form does not have to be humanoid, though the mass limitations remain the same even if you change into a horse. It will simply be a horse that weighs exactly as much as you do and is roughly the same size as you are. This transformation lasts for up to one hour or until dismissed as a bonus action. You may spend additional bardic inspirations to increase the duration of this effect but gain only 30 additional minutes for the first, 15 additional minutes for the second, and 5 for the third. Once the effect ends you cannot use Inkslinger Cover-Up again until you finish a long or short rest.
If used to imitate someone you gain no memories or personal knowledge of that person that you did not already have. While attempting to impersonate the person around anyone familiar with them you will suffer from disadvantage on any deception skill tests related to convincing them of your identity. A DC (16) Insight test is required to see through the deception but does not reveal your true identity.
Ink in the Blood
You may now conjure and switch your living skin tattoos without using a bardic inspiration. If the physical manifestation of one of your tattoos is killed or otherwise destroyed it will have only one health when recalled until the Inkslinger has taken a long rest. After a long rest all Living Skin Tattoos physical forms are renewed.
Inkslinger's Charms
You can transform physical items into tattoos and apply them to your body for later retrieval. The item's size does not change, so you must have a large enough area of skin to place it. Retrieving an item requires two full actions, as does placing an item on your skin. Once placed as a tattoo items have no weight. Items containing other items can be placed but the two-action retrieval rule still applies.
Retrieving an item is a silent process using an act of will. The only evidence of the process is a small waft of colored mist (the color of the item) moving from the tattoo to the hand of the Inkslinger that last roughly 8 - 10 seconds depending on the item's size. Sleight of hand can be used to help mask this but even without that, it requires a DC 14 perception check for someone to notice the mist.
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