Magic Binding Tattoos
M
agical tattoos are a rare and special
form of controlling the weave. It binds
the folding of the Weave's energies into
the skin of the tattooed for a limited
time. The power and rarity of the magic
and the will of the recipient will
determine how much of the Weave can
be bound to flesh.
Magical Tattoos are a temporary connection to the Weave
for any person who can with stand the binding, and not
everyone can. There are those who seek out the power of
these tattoos, undergo the process, and whether it’s from
poor materials, rushed work or an unskilled artist the tattoo
process fails catastrophically and what was meant to
enhance will harm or even curse depending on the power
that was sought after.
If the tattoo is inked by a master artist using an ink crafted
from the finest possible ingredients, the binding to the Weave
can be more powerful than anticipated.
In the end, each tattoo is different depending on a variety of
factors: the size of the tattoo, the rarity of ingredients for the
ink, level of the spell or effect attempting to be bound, and the
will of the recipient. And, no matter what the tattoo, it will
doubtless grant a great advantage to the bearer.
Tattoo Size
Tattoos come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. The
size of the tattoo helps to determine how much of the Weave
id directly bound to flesh. A larger tattoo means more magic,
but it also means a larger chance of failure.
Tattoo Size
Size Tattooing Check Charges
Small 1 Check 4 but a roll of 20 now imbues the small tattoo with 8 total
Medium 2 Checks 8 charges!
Large 3 Checks 12
Tattoo Ink
No ordinary ink can be used to bind the Weave in a tattoo.
From the very first ingredient, a spell scroll of the desired
effect, to the components of that same spell, all of its sum
forges a magical binding link directly to the weave. In the
process of creating the ink, all parts and consumed and
transformed into the ink. The higher the quality of the
ingredients, the greater the chance of the tattoo being
successful.
A spell scroll and its components are only the base
ingredients for the ink. The DM should look at the desired
spell and select addition ingredients beyond what basic spell
components are required. For example, Fireball requires a
small ball of bat guano and sulfur. The DM may decide that
additionally the essence of a Fire Elemental is required to
help bind the ingredients and magic together in the tattoo.
In the end, each tattoo will have a different ink recipe that
will be determined by your DM. The recipe starts with a spell
scroll and the spells components and then is flavored for
story and possible adventuring depending on your campaign.
The cost of the scroll is also used to determine the price of
higher quality ingredients which will have a direct effect on
the chances of success and how many uses the tattoo will
have (See Tattooing DC chart). The art of the tattoo does not
have to directly affect the magic, but if you are going to have a
tattoo, you should make it a badass one.
Tattooing DC
Once the type of spell effect, and the ink recipe are decided
on, the difficulty of the binding the magic to the tattoo is
determined. The chart below, Tattooing DC, shows a spell by
level and its comparable scroll rarity. As the rarity or level of
the spell increases, so does its difficulty in bridging a direct
link from flesh to the weave.
For example, a fireball spell scroll would be an uncommon
scroll, and thus have a tattooing DC of 15. If the tattoo is a
large tattoo then three checks would need to be made. All
checks must be successful for the tattoo to bind the magic. If
a check is failed the components are consumed and the ink is
lost with no adverse effect.
The only caveat to this is a critical fail, in which case the
tattoo binds incorrectly cursing the recipient with the
suggested opposite effect of the spell. For example, a tattoo
used to increase AC might decrease AC during combat and
the worst possible time. It is up to the DM to decide the
penalty for a critically failed tattoo check.
Conversely, a critical success will double the charges of the
tattoo. For instance, a small tattoo has a base of 4 charges,
Tattooing DC
Spell Level Spell Scroll Rarity Tattoo DC
Level 0-1 Common 10
Level 2-3 Uncommon 15
Level 4-5 Rare 20
Level 6-8 Very Rare 25*
Level 9 Legendary 30*
*The attempt to bind a high-level spell is a very serious
undertaking. Even when successful, the power bound can be
more that the recipient can handle. A constitution check by
the recipient is needed; very rare DC15; Legendary DC20.
Failure does not mean the tattoo did not take, but the mind
and body of the recipient paid a heavy toll. This heavy penalty
is determined by the DM based upon the magic attempting to
be bound
| Magical Tattoos
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 Physical limits of the flesh
The power of the tattoo Only so much magic can be bound to the flesh. Each new
Each tattoo is a binding bridge to the Weave, but not a bridge to the weave pushes the physical limits of the body
permanent one. Each tattoo has a finite amount of arcane beyond where they were intended to go. By the third tattoo,
energy bound with in it. Once that power is spent, the tattoo the magic begins to take a more serious toll on the body, and
vanishes. Furthermore, even though the magic is strong, the a CON DC needs to be made for each new tattoo. Failure
flesh is weak, and can channel so much energy directly from simply means the body could not be adhere to the magic at
the weave. This breaks down into charges and uses. this time. Unfortunately, all the materials and costs are lost in
The total amount of power a tattoo has is its number of the failed attempt.
charges, which is primarily determined by the size of the
tattoo. Once these are gone, the tattoo fades away. Tattoo limits
The number of uses a tattoo has, or how often the magic # of Tattoos Con DC
can be called on, is based on how powerful the spell effect is. 1-2 DC 0
A lower level healing tattoo might be used 6 times in a day, a
higher-level healing spell might be able to be used only once a 3 DC 5
day before a short or long rest. 4 DC 10
Tattoo usage 5 DC 15
The level of the spell limits how often the magic of the tattoo 6 DC 20
can be channeled. A tattoo's use per day recharges fully after
a long rest. On a short rest, you may make an arcana check to 7 DC 25
regain half of your spent uses for the day. For example, if you 8+ DC 30
can use your tattoo 4 times per long rest, on a short rest, with
a successful arcana check, you would regain 2 more uses. If
the tattoo has only one use for the day, then the magic is too
powerful to be recouped during a short rest, and only a long
rest will suffice.
Tattoo effects can be activated with an action, unless
otherwise stated by the spell effect you are trying to create or
if your DM decides otherwise.

Uses per day by spell level

0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
no limit 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1

Tattoo charges
Magical tattoos are a direct and powerful link to the Weave,
but a temporary one. Once all the charges are spent the
tattoo is no more. Unlike a normal tattoo, each use of the
magic consumes and degrades the ink of the art. The larger
the tattoo, the more magic can be bound, but it comes at a
higher cost in materials and chances for failure. The quality
of the ingredients may boost the ink's magical properties as
well.
For example a small tattoo can bind enough magic for 4
charges, but if the ink is made with enhanced ink, an
addtional charge can be bound for a total of 5.
Size Base charge # Enhanced ink
Small 4 5
Medium 10 11
Large 15 16

Physical
| Magical Tattooslimits of the flesh
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 In addition to the artist getting advantage on one DC check,
enhanced ink adds one additional charge to the tattoo.
Spell scroll costs
Flux of the Weave
Spell scroll level cost in gp Rarity
A critical roll of 20 on a DC check will grant the tattoo an
Level 0 30 Common additional charge.
Level 1 60 Common
A critical roll of 1 on a non-advantage DC check results in a
Level 2 120 Uncommon critical failure. See failed tattoos.
Level 3 200 Uncommon Failed Tattoos
Level 4 320 Rare Binding the power of magic is no small feat and can grant its
bearer fantastic powers, but when it goes wrong, it goes
Level 5 640 Rare terribly so.
Level 6 1280 Very Rare At the bare minimum, if the arcane energies do not bind
Level 7 2560 Very Rare
properly and corrupt, the magic will pervert the blood with
corrupted power cursing the recipient by reducing their
Level 8 5120 Very Rare primary ability score by 1d6 until a greater restoration is
Level 9 10240 Legendary used to remove the curse.
Alternatively, and heavily encouraged, the DM may choose
based on Sane Magical prices to create a unique curse based upon the spell. In this case the
tattoo binds incorrectly cursing the recipient possibly the
opposite effect of the spell.
For example, a tattoo used to increase AC might decrease
AC during combat and the worst possible time. It is up to the
Modifying Success and failure DM to decide the penalty for a critically failed tattoo check,
The successful binding of magic in the form of tattoos is a and it should be fun, but not vindictive.
powerful endeavor and as such it is not a simple task. Many
things can influence the binding process. The quality of the
materials, the skills of the artist, and the flux of the Weave.
Ink Quality
Basic Quality Ink
If the ink is made from only the basic ingredients, the cost
of the relative spell scroll, one DC check is made with
disadvantage
High Quality Ink
If the ink is made with higher quality ingredients, twice the
cost of the relative spell scroll and ingredients, a straight DC
check is made per tattoo size.
Superior Quality Ink
If the ink is made with superior ingredients, 3 times the
cost of the relative spell scroll and ingredients, one tattoo DC
check is made with advantage.
For example, A scroll of Fireball is a level 3 spell scroll with
a scroll cost of 200 gp. To give one DC check advantage, the
base cost of the ingredients would be 600. If it is a small
tattoo then the one and only DC check will be made with
advantage.
Enhanced Ink Ingredients
Enhancing the Ink with extra materials obtained from a
creature related to the spell effect beyond will give the artist
an advantage with one Tattoo check. The components must
come from a creature(s) whose CR is double that of the
relative spell level, or adds up to double the spell level.
For example, Fireball is a level 3 spell. For the tattoo artist
to have one DC check rolled with advantage, the essence or
material from 2 Fire Elementals (CR5) could be added to the
ink. Even though a fire elemental is only CR5 the essence of
2 adds above the required CR6.

| Magical Tattoos
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Lets get inked!
So you wanna get a sweet ass tattoo? Lets go for it.
Our brave adventurer, Fargrim, has decided he needs a
little extra something to help him on his next expedition. He
heard about a wizard who, although a little crazy, was
incredibly talented and had the ability to bind magic directly
to an individual.
Finding this wizard was almost a quest in and of itself, but
one well worth Fargrim's time end effort. After much ale and
deep discussion, the wizard gave the Fargrim a list of various
things to collect.
Fargrim wanted needed a little extra protection when
things got rough but if he wore more armor, he would lose his
Dexterity bonus. So, it was agreed the wizard would work on
a design to bind the protective energies of the weave to his
skin in a small sigil piece on his shoulder. The spell the tattoo
effects will be based on is Shield
| Magical Tattoos
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Shield
1st level Abjuration
Casting Time: Special
Range: Slef
Components: V,S
Duration: 1 rounds
Reaction trigger: You are hit by an attack or targeted by the
magic missile spell
An invisible barrier of magical force appears and protects
you. Until the start of your next turn, you have a +5 bonus to
AC, including against the triggering attack, and you take no
damage from magic missile.
We can start with the cost of a level 1 scroll is 60gp as a
starting base price. Then double it for higher quality
materials to negate a disadvantage on the DC check. Since
it’s a spell with no components, we need to come up with
something that makes sense thematically. We say the ink
needs silver for its purity and innate magical quality and for
questing flavor we add in gargoyle dust for the strength and
durability.
The breakdown would go as so:
Spell effect Shield level 1 scroll common 60 gp
Small tattoo Base cost 60gp per spell scroll x2 120gp for
higher quality ingredients
Ink ingredients of 100sp and Gargoyle dust 1 ounce
Small tattoo of a common spell scroll level needs 1
tattooing check DC 10
No current tattoos means Con check DC 0
The Results are a small shield tattoo with 4 charges and
since Fargrim is a level 10 barbarian, he can use all 4 charges
in a single day if he wishes
Now let’s say Fargrim knows he’s going into a deep
dungeon delve and will be facing some pretty nasty beasties.
He knows he’s going to need more than 4 uses of the shield
tattoo.
Spell effect Shield level 1 scroll common 60 gp
Medium tattoo Base cost 60gp per spell scroll x3 180gp
for superb ingredients x2 for size 540gp
Ink ingredients of 100sp and Gargoyle dust 1ounce x2
Enhancing ink ingredients: 2 Hulking Crab shell (CR5) or
1 Galeb Duhr (CR6)
Medium tattoo of a common spell scroll level needs 2
tattooing check DC 10 one check is made with advantage
for superior ingredients.
No previous tattoos means Fargrim needs to Con check
Results are a Medium shield tattoo with 8+1 charges.
Fargrim can use up to 4 charges in a single day until a long
rest. On a short rest and a successful arcana check he will
recoup 2 uses.

The Tattoo Artist
It takes a considerable amount of skill and intellect to bind
the Weave into flesh. Of the few that start that path of magical
understanding, very few ever make it past the ability to
understand how to bind higher level magic to flesh, and of
those even fewer still reach the mastery of the skill to attempt
the highest levels of magical binding. The skill and research
involved in the art leaves very little time for adventuring. They
prefer to solicit adventures to procure the rare and hard to
obtain resources than venture out themselves.
As such, these tattoo shops make a great source of income
for the daring adventurer who has been fortunate enough to
find one. Magical Tattoo shops are not uncommon at the
lower levels of magic, often being found in large cities where
magic is abundant and the norm. The magical districts of
Districts and areas of arcane studies are a safe place to start
one’s search. Though these tattoo shops rarely have an artist
capable of binding more than rare magic.
The shop of a master tattooing wizard on the other hand, is
so rare and hard to find, it is a quest in-and-of-itself to locate
one. These rare masters tend to only work with very rare
magics, constantly seeking to push their understanding
further. They will send out their apprentices to located the
strongest adventurers, and offer their services in the hope to
learn how to bind legendary levels of magics to flesh.
The tattoo artist makes is tattooing DC check based on her
level of mastery. Below is the recommended shop and artist
skill level and its scarcity. A master has a bonus total of 12,
making lower level tattoo spells mundane and boring for
them to work. They hungrily seek out the challenged that
comes with legendary magic, but disdain the annoyance of
dealing with less powerful adventurers asking for simple
things.
Artist mastery/shop scarcity
skill level prof bonus Int Mod difficulty locating
Novice +2 +3 Easy
Skilled +3 +3 Some effort
Advanced +4 +4 Hard to find*
Expert +5 +5 Extremly difficult**
Master +6 +6 By quest only***
FIrst contact is often made in the form of a quest to gather
a rare component needed by the artist, so the master will
know you are worthy of his time and effort.
optional rule of infection
Not every tattoo artist is equal, and the practices of a younger
Novice compared to those of an extraordinary Master are as
vastly different as a celestial is to a Devil.
From how the ink is prepared to the cleanliness of the shop
you find them in.
Some ink recipes will require you to work with infectious
and diseased materials that if not prepared correctly, can
leave you with more than just magic coursing through an
adventures blood. And with the magical nature of the
ingredients, a quick trip to the local cleric might not fix them
up as fast.
Chance of infection
skill level % chance of infection
Novice 20
Skilled 15
Advanced 10
Expert 5
Master 0
If an infection occurs, the recipient receives 1d6 levels of
exhaustion minus the proficiency bonus of the tattoo artist.
For example, Fargrim drunkenly decides to get inked up at
"The Half-Orc's House of Waffles and Ink" and things don’t go
so well.
Surprisingly, Fargrim gets an infection and rolls a 6 for
levels of exhaustion, -2 for the novice level of the artist for a
total of 4 levels of exhaustion.

*Only about a quater of those who study the art of magical

tattoos become advanced enough to bind rare magic to flesh.
They tend to have shops open in all cities where magic is
available and practed openly. The artists there are eager to
push themselves and welcome customers readily.
**One tenth of those who achieve advanced in thier skill are
able to break through the secrets of the arcane enough to
formulate and control the very rare magic in these inks.
Hearsay and rumors will lead you here possibly from stories
in taverns or even a minor quest that leads to this artist's
shop.
***Only 1 percent of experts ever achieve the rank of
Master. There is little to no chance of stumbling across a
master artist. Chances are if you do, he meant for you to find
him. Perhaps his apprentice, and expert level artist sent word
to him, or through a network of eyes in the various cities, your
power drew his attention upon you.

| Magical Tattoos
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 Tattoo Book
Here are some tattoo templets with their costs and ink
components, and a description of how they would work. Most
are based on the PHB spell list, while a few have been pulled
from previous versions of D&D. The important thing is to
have fun and be creative with the tattoos. Allow your players
to be descriptive with their design. It can help build a feeling
of badassery and encourage roleplaying in your game. I will
be updating this section from time to time with more tattoos
as they become needed in my own games.
Ultimately, it’s up to the DM to decide what will or won’t
work, and how each tattoo will function. Every tattoo will
require a very special and different kind of ink. Some will be
cheap and easy to create, others may lead to incredible
quests to collect all the ingredients and spell components.
All ink recipe's are based on small sized tattoos.
Light Healing Tattoo
Based on Cure Light Wounds
1st-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Ink recipe: Cure light wounds spell scroll, 3 willing drops of
a priests blood, 100 sp,
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Scroll Cost: 60gp
Tattooing DC: 10
Enhanced ink: 3 Giant eagle Feathers
This tattoo has a heart with a halo stars around it. There is
a lightly glowing star in the halo for each charge.
For each charge spent, one star looses its glow and you
regain a number of hit points equal to 1d8 + your wisdom
modifier.
The tattoo completly disapears once all charges are spent.
You may use more than one charge at a time. The healing
increases by 1d8 for each Charge used.
Second Chance
Based on Death Ward
4st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Ink recipe: Death ward spell scroll, Bone Naga tail bone, 3
onyx gems valued at 50gp, 2ep
Duration: 8 hours
Spell Scroll Cost: 320gp
Tattooing DC: 20
Enhanced ink: The essence of 2 Shadow demons (CR4) or
the essence from 1 Spirit Naga (CR8).
This tattoo is a figure with an arrow in his back, picking
itself up off the ground, sword still in hand with slightly
glowing eyes and a predator’s smile.
After each charge is used, a new arrow appears in the
figures back until all charges are spent, at which time the
tattoo vansihes.
You gain a measure of protection from death. The first time
you would drop to 0 hit points as a result of taking damage,
the you instead drop to 1 hit point, and the spell ends.
If the spell is still in effect when the target is subjected to
an effect that would kill it instantaneously without dealing
damage, that effect is instead negated against the target, and
the spells ends.
| Magical Tattoos
6
Look again
Based on Blur and a Displacerbeast
2st-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Ink recipe: Blur spell scroll, Displacer Beast blood, Crystal
prisim worth 100gp
Duration: 1 min
Spell Scroll Cost: 120gp
Tattooing DC: 15
Enhanced ink: A green Hag's Eye
This tattoo appears to be very blurry no matter how long
one might stare at it. With each expideniture of a charge
though, the image becomes more clear until on the last
charge, the image is easily seen as a displacerbeast, poised to
attack
If you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a
saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no
damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half
damage if it fails.
While your tattoo is active, you project a magical illusion
that makes you appear to be standing near your actual
location, causing attack rolls against you to have
disadvantage.
If you are hit by an attack, this trait is disrupted until the
end of your next turn. This effect is also disrupted while you
are incapacitated or have a speed of 0.
Immolation
Based on Immolation
5th-level evocation
Casting Time: 1 action
Ink recipe: Immolation spell scroll, 2 flawless rubies vauled
at 100gp each, essence from 2 fire elementals, red dragon
scale
Duration: concentration up to 1 min
Spell Scroll Cost: 640gp
Tattooing DC: 20
Enhanced ink: Red Dragon blood 1 gallon (young or greater)
or Fire Giant blood 1 gallon plus Fire elemental essence
Flames wreathe one creature you can see within range.
The target must make a Dexterity saving throw. It takes 7d6
fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
On a failed save, the target also burns for the spell’s
duration. The burning target sheds bright light in a 30-foot
radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet.
At the end of each of its turns, the target repeats the saving
throw. It takes 3d6 fire damage on a failed save, and the spell
ends on a successful one. These magical flames can’t be
extinguished through nonmagical means.
If damage from this spell reduces a target to 0 hit points,
the target is turned to ash.
 This was formmated on the incedible
Final word to the DMs http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/
I hope your read and found usefulness in the pages
above. Above all I hope you take this and make it
your own. I’ve tried to set up a system of checks
and balances for you to limit the power and
number of tattoos in your world.
The tattoo artist is your bottle neck if you need a
narrative explanation for your barbarian who wants
10 level 9 spells tattooed on his back. The
accessibility of tattoos in your world can be as hard
or as easy as you want them to be.
Your second tool for opening or limiting tattoos
are your ink recipes. I’ve purposefully left that area
open for you to decide. Maye that level 9 true
polymorph tattoo needs the blood of a great red
dragon. That’s going to make getting a large back
piece a bit more difficult than walking into the
corner tattoo shop.
Above all, I encourage creativity and fun. Let your
players have fun coming up with ways to boost
their characters with new found powers, because
what’s more fun that a Frost Giant ambushing your
party, a two headed Frost Giant with a pack or
starving Gnolls riding Wyverns :D looks like your
party should have gotten a large fireball tattoo
instead of a small one. Oh well, live and learn… or
TPK

Bugs, Issues, Suggestions?

Everything above are mainly suggestions. Take what you
think will work best with your campaign and leave what wont.
I tried to balance everything out to work in a heavier magic
item used campaign like my own. I only wanted to share what
worked in my game hopefully allowing you to work it into
yours.
Obviously making it your own is the most fun. A level 9
tattooed wish is something I wouldn't allow in my game
because its just insane to have at the ready a tattoo wish, but
maybe it will work in yours! Have at it and have fun. I hope
this is useful to anyone looking it over.
If you have questions or comments or feedback, please let
me know, I’m always looking to improve this system. Please
send hate or love to Ken at ukyo@ukyo3d.com, hopefully
more love than hate :D
Legal Junk
I know important stuff is supposed to go here, but i have no
idea what. If you are an important person, please tell me what
to put here so i dont get in trouble and i will happily fix it!
Credits
Art page 2 Kerem Beyit
Art page 3 Wayne Reynolds
Art page 4 Mark Rhodes
Art page 5 Andreas Rocha

| Magical Tattoos
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