Contents
How Do You Tattoo 3 Magical Items
Tattooist's Tools ........................................................... 3
Tattoo Application ...................................................... 3
Size .................................................................................................. 3
Intricacy .......................................................................................... 3
How Long Will It Take? ............................................................... 3
Sessions ..........................................................................................3
Efficiency & Complications ........................................................ 3
Quality ............................................................................................. 3
Tools of the Trade 4
Available Equipment ...................................................4
Ink ................................................................................................. 4
Making Your Own ..........................................................4
5 You can find my other Homebrewery works here.
Magical Tattoos
Attunement ..........................................................................5
A True Work of Art ......................................................5
Crafting a Magical Stylus ................................... 5
Rarity and Size ..................................................................5
2
6
Gnomish Inking Apparatus .........................................................6
Gravesealer Tattoo ........................................................................6
Greater Blade Pact Tattoo ...........................................................6
Life Bond Tattoo ............................................................................6
Mark of Elvenkind Tattoo ............................................................6
Shapechanger Tattoo ................................................................... 6
Shielding Tattoo ............................................................................ 6
Syndetic Tattoo ..............................................................................6
Tiny Dancer Tattoo ....................................................................... 6
Extras
Created by /u/OrbitalBliss.
Current Version: v1.0 (2021)
All art used only with permission.
Art Credits: Cover - RinRinDaishi        Below - MichaelWang
                          Pg3 - Broutefoin                 Pg4 - BryanSyme
                          Pg5 - Styxxsardonyx          Pg6 - MateuszKolek
A Simplified Guide to Tattoos in 5e D&D

T
attoos, both magical and mundane, have been a part of D&D for many years though there have been little to no
actual rules for them. Several 3rd party guides have been written and many have been modifications of guides that
came before them. This guide is no different. The aim here is to provide simple and streamlined rules for tattoos
avoiding much of the fluff and flavour, such as cultures and history, leaving all that up to your own world setting.
Here are the simplified 5e-esque rules for incorporating tattoos into your game quickly and easily.
An attempt has been made to work these rules seamlessly into the rules finally provided within Tasha’s Cauldron
of Everything regarding Magical Tattoos. Even though the provided rules are meager we can respect them.

How Do You Tattoo

So, let's first cover non-magical Tattoos as many magical
tattoos start out this way as well. Tasha's Cauldron includes
other artistic body modifications in its rules, so we will too.
For these purposes we are referring to tattoos as well as
scarifications, branding, patterns, or almost any permanent
cosmetic alteration. For non-tattoo versions, just observe
similar costs, medical, and canvas requirements.
Tattooist's Tools
Anyone could give a tattoo, but not in an appealing or safe
way. In order to create a tattoo one must have proficiency
with Tattooist's Tools, which is a type of Artisan's Tools.
These can be selected by anyone who can choose an Artisan
Tool, and some appropriate backgrounds (ie. Sailor) might be
allowed to take it in lieu of something else.
Tattoo Application
The skill of the artist can have an effect on the time it takes to
apply the tattoo, as well as mitigate complications.
While choices of size and intricacy of the tattoo are often
freely made, they also affect the application time. Magical
tattoos have a recommended minimum size (covered later).
Size
Your choices for size are Small, Medium, and Large.
Small is anything up to a hand or a foot, up to half a limb or
a shoulder, half the scalp, or a quarter of a chest or back.
Medium is effectively the size of two Small ones (a limb, the
shoulders, half a chest). Large is the size of two Medium, an
entire front or back torso for example.
Intricacy
Choose how intricate and detailed you'd like the tattoo to be.
Your choices are Simple, Average, and Ornate.
How Long Will It Take?
A Medium sized tattoo of Average intricacy will take 2d6+3
hours, or 2d6+5 hours if the tattoo includes colours.
If the tattoo is Small or Simple, half that time for each. For
Large or Ornate tattoos, double that time for each.
Sessions
It may take multiple sessions to complete the time required.
A typical session lasts 4 to 6 hours. To endure each hour
after the first 6, both the recipient and artist must make a
Constitution Save (DC6 + hours so far).
There is also healing time between sessions of 14 days at
the absolute minimum. Though, some work could be done on
another tattoo, on the same or another recipient. Magical
healing can reduce this time by one day per point of healing.
Efficiency & Complications
At the end of each session, the artist must make a Wisdom
ability check, with proficiency for the Tattooist Tools, and
with advantage if you have an assistant.
If the result is below 10, the recipient must make a
Constitution Save DC10 or gain an infection/disease. Double
the requisite healing time between sessions as well.
If the session was at least 4 hours long, for every 5 points
the result is greater than 10 you can add another hour to the
amount of time covered for the tattoo.
Quality
A proficient Tattooist won't make a bad tattoo, unless
applying it on horseback, but the check might reflect some
particularly beautiful artwork if the result is quite high (20+).

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 Tools of the Trade
A tattoo artist is first and foremost an artist. That they use
flesh as a canvas is just a specialization. Much of the
equipment they will use is common amongst artists. Item Cost Weight
Tattooist's tools 30 gp 6 lb
Available Equipment Medical supplies 4 gp -
Most of these supplies will be readily available in any decent
sized town, though some items may take some searching. Sketchbook 20 gp 2 lb
Ink pen 2 cp -
Tattooist’s Tools: This sturdy leather case contains a Temporary tattoo powder 5 gp -
selection of needles, taps and rakes, simple medical supplies
needed to care for the recipient properly, and everything Black ink (1 ounce bottle) 10 gp -
needed for cleaning and sterilizing equipment. It also comes Coloured ink (1 ounce bottle) 15 gp -
with everything to blend and prepare pigments and ink.
Though it does not come with ink, its weight accounts for the Magical ink (1 ounce bottle) ~100 gp -
inks you may have acquired, which are sold separately. Ink base (1 ounce bottle) 1 sp -
Medical Supplies: This is to replace the supplies in the Stylus (empty) 25 gp -
Tattooist's tools once they eventually run out.
Sketchbook: A book suitable for any artist to sketch design
ideas with 50 blank paper pages. This is not of the quality
needed to function as a spellbook.
Temporary Tattoo Powder: This powder is mixed into a
paste and applied to the surface of the skin. It will dry into a Making Your Own
crust which should not be removed for at least 6 to 8 hours, The Tattooist's tools contain everything they need to handle
leaving a temporary tattoo which can last a week or two. and use their inks, but also everything they need for mixing
and preparing their own pigments into ink for use in their art.
Ink
The inks sold for tattoos are actually the inks, bases, and Ink Base: This is the carrier used to produce your own ink.
pigments needed by the artist to create what they need. A 1oz Pigments of all kinds can be gathered from plants and
bottle of Ink will generally provide for a Medium sized tattoo animals. Perhaps some Nature checks to gather these
with a little to spare. Some colours are harder to find or may materials, and proficiency with a Herbalism Kit could help.
require more ink in use. Stylus (empty): This is a specially crafted needle used in
the creation of magical tattoos.
Black Ink: This is the standard ink used and is not so
dissimilar to regular black ink, though it is generally kept
more sterile and cleanly. More than enough here for a
medium sized tattoo, or a couple small ones.
Coloured Ink: Some colours are more common than
others but this is usually reflected in availablity more than
cost. Enough for a medium sized tattoo unless there is much
shading and filling involved.
Magical ink: There are any number of magical inks that
may be available for tattooing. The possibilities are endless,
but all of them are nothing more than cosmetic in nature.
One ink may be of all the colours of the rainbow shifting
continuously. Another might look like fire, or ice, or a storm.
They might look like twinkling stars, or glow of moonlight.
Maybe they look like solid silver or gold, or change colour
with your mood. The ink could animate the art slightly,
perhaps making the eyes follow you or a bird flap its wings.
How much these inks would cost and their availability might
vary widely. Some of these may not be available at all,
and those that are may cost several times this amount.
Simply using magical ink does not make it a magical tattoo.
That is a much more involved process.

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Magical Tattoos
Sometimes tattoos are more than just for show. As with any
other magical item, tattoos can be infused with magics to
generate all sorts of effects. They are at advantage because
they cannot be stolen or disarmed, and destroying them
generally means destroying the wearer. The tattoo will
continue to function even if the body is damaged or defaced.
They also have some down sides. You can't easily share the
item with a friend, and magical tattoos almost always require
attunement. So you are limited in not only the number of
magical tattoos you can have, but other magic items as well.
Attunement
A magical tattoo, once created, is a specific kind of wondrous
item which exists in a special magical needle we call a stylus.
You must apply the tattoo to attune to the item.
You apply the tattoo by spending a short rest holding the
stylus to your skin where you want the tattoo to appear. When
complete the stylus turns into the ink that becomes the tattoo
which appears on the skin and to which you are now attuned.
If your attunement to the tattoo ends, the tattoo vanishes,
and the stylus reappears beside you.
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A True Work of Art
What the tattoo looks like once applied depends on how it
was created in the first place. The creator has a choice while
crafting the magical stylus. The final product will contain the
true art of a tattooist, or be customizable when the wearer
attunes to the item.
The crafter can spend extra time and money on magical
inks and materials to allow for the tattoo's appearance to be
customizable whenever it is applied. This will result in an
increase to the magical tattoo's cost of 20% or more, but no
tattoo artist is required for the creation of such an item.
Alternatively, if a tattoo is properly crafted by a trained
tattooist it can be drawn into the finally prepared stylus and
will maintain the appearance created by the artist whenever
applied. This is less expensive with no extra time and
materials required. Once a physical tattoo is drawn into a
stylus it is forever set as that magical tattoos appearance.
Some feel this method yields a nicer result artistically.
The original tattoo could be created on and be drawn out of
a living subject, or another suitable medium such as a hide.
In fact, some sellers of magical tattoos may have a selection
of tattoos on hides so that the buyer has a choice of what
their tattoo will look like.
It is not common that the magic item crafter is also the
skilled tattooist, but it has happened.
Crafting a Magical Stylus
A magical tattoo is not so different from any other magical
wondrous item. The same people who make magical items,
can craft a magical tattoo.
All the normal costs of creating the magical item apply, and
the result will be a properly enchanted stylus. Talk to your
DM about which magic item creation rules you are using.
There are different rules in the DMG then what is presented
in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, or they may be using an
entirely different set of item creation rules.
Rarity and Size
Different magical items come in different rarities, and how
this plays out with magical tattoos is in determining how
much space the tattoo typically takes up on the body.
There may be exceptions, but generally at common and
uncommon rarity a magical tattoo is Small. Rare magical
tattoos are Medium sized. Very rare magical tattoos are Large
size, while Legendary ones are at least Large maybe larger.
5

Magical Items
Here are some magical items, mostly tattoos, to work with,
but you should be creative and work with your DM to come
up with tattoos you'll like. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything has
official releases which can also serve as inspiration.
Gnomish Inking Apparatus
Wondrous item, uncommon
This set of Tattooist's Tools causes your hands to shake
vigorously yet with precision. Your proficiency bonus is
doubled using these tools, your own Constitution saves for
long tattoo sessions always succeed, and bonus hours of work
gained from your Wisdom ability check are doubled.
Gravesealer Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), very-rare (requires attunement)
Zombie Bane. Your unarmed strikes deal an extra 1d4
radiant damage on a hit to undead creatures.
Lich's Bane. When you hit any creature that has a phylactery
with an unarmed strike they must make a Wisdom Save DC
16 or be destroyed. Once restored by their phylactery, the
phylactery is also destroyed freeing all souls within it.
Greater Blade Pact Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), rare (requires attunement by a
warlock with the pact of the blade feature)
Beyond Limits. Your Pact of the Blade feature can now
affect an artifact or a sentient weapon.
Life Bond Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), uncommon (requires attunement)
Bound. A pair of tattoos which must be attuned together.
Wearers can locate each other within 1,000ft.
'Til Death. While both wearers have more
than 1 hit point, when one of the wearers
would be reduced to 0 hit points they
drop to 1 hit point instead. The other
wearer receives the remaining
damage which can't be reduced
or prevented.
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Mark of Elvenkind Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), uncommon (requires attunement)
Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against
being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Trance. You don’t need to sleep. Instead, you meditate deeply,
remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
Shapechanger Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), very-rare (requires attunement)
All Shapes and Sizes. As an action you can cast Alter Self,
Enlarge/Reduce, or Polymorph on yourself. You can use this
feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus,
and regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Fast Healing. As an action you cast Regenerate on yourself.
This property can’t be used again until you finish a long rest.
Shielding Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), uncommon (requires attunement)
Shield of Ink. When hit with an attack, you can use your
reaction to add +2 to your AC, including against the triggering
attack, until the start of your next turn. You can use this
feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus,
and regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Syndetic Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), uncommon (requires attunement)
Linking the Ink. While this tattoo is on your skin, you may
attune up to two more magical tattoos without those counting
against your attunement limit. If this tattoo becomes
unattuned, those tattoos do as well. More than one Syndetic
Tattoo can be attuned, but all tattoos still take up space.
Tiny Dancer Tattoo
Wondrous item (tattoo), uncommon (requires attunement)
Strut for the Hut. You may cast the spell Tiny Hut as a ritual,
however you and all creatures within the dome must dance
   for the duration of the ritual while you sing the Tiny Hut
                    song. This property can’t be used again until you
                             finish a long rest.