Magic Tattoos, Rules? applications? Options

[fourstring_samur...]

I noticed in runner havens there was a tattoo artist who'd give magic tattoos for the right price.

i'm pretty sure that's the first time I've heard of them in SR.
are there rules for these guys? or are they just astrally noticeable?



if there aren't any rules, what are some suggestions for their application?
Maybe a light drain mod? like once a day you get minus one drain to a single spell?

i hesitate to make them too good, and absolutely don't want them anything like a DnD magic item.


any thoughts out there in trid land?

[Fortune]

Tattoo Magic is a form of Quickening, and uses the rules for that Metamagic.

[Ancient History]

Street Magic->Metamagic Enchantments->Quickening Materials (p.85)

[Fortune]

Yeah yeah! I knew it was Quickening, but couldn't find the exact reference with a brief glance. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Grinder]

Street Magic->Metamagic Enchantments->Quickening Materials (p.85)

It had been available in SR3 already, right?

[Ancient History]

Yeah.

[Jaid]

It had been available in SR3 already, right?

depending on how you define available, anyways... yes.

[Riley37]

Could one create a Sustaining Focus in the form of a tattoo, rather than a Quickening effect?
It would work just as a traditional ring or some such... but be harder to remove/loot.

[Abbandon]

I wouldnt allow any type of liquid to serve as a foci. When you infuse magic into stuff it usually has to have a defined shape(reference: wards/ vessels). Your wanting a perma spell without paying all the karma. Not to mention that a very small amount of ink probably gets absorbed into the body, and another small amount gets damaged by the sun.

how about making a cupcake into a foci and then eating it. Sure you crap most of it out but a little bit stays in your system!!!! Heh.

[Fortune]

I wouldnt allow any type of liquid to serve as a foci.

Well, Healing Potions (which are referenced in SR4) would be a precedent. That being said, I wouldn't allow Sustaining Foci Tattoos in my game.

[Abbandon]

Hmmmm Im so torn.....personally I believe every mage would have tattoo's. I agree with GM's who want you to be able to lose your foci/fetish's. I agree with player who want to enchant tattoo ink before or after it get's inserted as long as they pay all the proper prices. I feel like if a GM wants to they can just go magneto on your ass and have something cast a spell to suck the ink out or make it burn its way out, or cut it out. Why do NPC have to be so freaking lazy that they can only take a foci in the shape of a ring or earring or neckalce lol.

Yeah so I guess I would let a player do whatever with the understanding that it doesnt matter what form it takes or where you put it, it is up for grabs when and if I feel like taking it. So you better not put the tattoo any place sensitive hehehe.

[Kronk2]

So does this allow the tattooed person to turn the thing on and off without loosing the spell? I know that with normal quickening if they turn off the spell the whole gig is off.

[Rasumichin]

There's so many possibilities for hiding a focus.
Tooth fillings, for example.
Or bioware.
Or your new cloned liver (that's a great idea for my boozehound raven shaman...i'll keep that in mind).

If you are really paranoid, carry some traditional foci, like a monowhip weapon focus, with you as a decoy.
But don't forget to bind them, too, since carrying a focus without a connection to your aura would be kinda suspicious.
It's a good idea for a christmas tree mage with tons of foci to hide only those that are most useful in case he gets caught and leave them turned of under normal circumstances to avoid that an enemy mage astrally perceiving him during battle goes all "that guy must have one more sustaining focus somewhere, it's cavity search time! And strip off all the tattoos, too!"

If a players goes to such extends in hiding a focus, i would feel rather stupid if i as a GM try to take the escape plan magic fingers sustaining focus cerebral booster away from him.

[Sir_Psycho]

The advantage of a physical focus is that you can put it down if you need to. Your quickened tattoo is active in your aura and WILL cause a lot of problems every time you pass through an astral barrier. It completely ruins your magical stealth.

[DocTaotsu]

Also I'm sure your not the first person to try and tattoo foci and if the wrong people get ahold of you... well, let's just say they probably have interesting and rapid methods of tat removal that doesn't involve the use of analgesics.

[Fortune]

So does this allow the tattooed person to turn the thing on and off without loosing the spell? I know that with normal quickening if they turn off the spell the whole gig is off.

Nope. Tattoo Quickening is just like normal Quickening, in that it is always on. Tattoos merely have the advantage in that they are harder to dispel/disrupt, and the disadvantage of limited skin space.

[MaxHunter]

But if you are a high grade initiate with extended masking... (2 at least) doesn't it start to pay off? I mean, you would probably be able to hide the tattoo's astral signature and skip your way through barriers... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Cheers!!

Max

[DocTaotsu]

Well that certainly works for me. But seriously, how often do GM's take foci away from players? Aren't your mages duct taping these things to themselves so not even a critical glitch will make them drop them?

[Sir_Psycho]

The main group that find use with quickened tattoos is the Yakuza. You can give an armor spell to your most prized enforcer. It not only makes him scarier (tattoos can be intimidating), but protects him as an investment. And your average leg-breaker or yakuza middle-man never needs to stealth his way through an astral barrier anyway, so no problem. I bet if you're a low-level Yak they might even subsidize it, allowing access to their pool of tattoo talent.

[nathanross]

Though just about everything pertaining to the issue has been covered, I do want to throw in my 2 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif)

First, as for tattoo foci. While there are no rules that I know of that pertain to exactly what foci must be composed of, I feel that a tattoo in and of itself is not enough. You need something solid to anchor the magic. That said, if you want to embed some kind of material in your skin, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to make what you plan to implant a focus. I do like the idea of a guy with flexible metal strips instead of skin in some artistic pattern on his back or head (or anywhere really). If the GM wants to make this cost essence then so be it.

Also, why not enchant a cyberlimb? It would probably require an amazing level of Cybertechnology as well as enchanting, but hey, why not?

Also, the benefit of quickened Tattoos vary depending on the GM, since if you are always running into wards on the run, you'll be totally boned. The ward not only gets the chance to break the spell, but the creator know the second it passes through. On certain runs, you may have to sit out completely. You might be able to talk the GM into playing easy on you, but Ive never had such luck.

[Sir_Psycho]

Aren't Foci usually made from a liquid suspension of Orichalcum and other radicals? I see no reason why you can't use inks as alchemical radicals to make foci, you can do it for quickened spells.

I mean, when making foci, you can use a litre of blood from an awakened critter. So liquid isn't a problem. And you could buy a cartridge of printer inks to do it, and it would be mundane telesma. However, if you went and extracted inks yourself with herbs and maybe a live squid, that would be virgin telesma. So I think that you could probably do it.

Although what I want to know is should you be allowed to turn off a tattoo focus like you can a normal focus? It would be cool if you began chanting for your spell and the magical patterns of ink rose to the surface of your skin (centering focus tattoo). But I'm not sure I could justify it balance wise.

[Ancient History]

Aren't Foci usually made from a liquid suspension of Orichalcum and other radicals?

Hah! Hell, no. Where did you get that idea.

Okay, just for everyone: there are two general arguments against enchanting tattoos as foci. One, it could be considered enchanting living material, which is verboten. You can't enchant the new liver you're going to get, you can't enchant your left eye, hell you can't enchant cyberware after it's been installed. The general reasoning behind this is the living aura gets in the way of the enchantment process-look in Street Magic under telesma and you will note the key word "inanimate." Also, I refer to the FAQ:

Can you enchant cyberware and bioware?

You can enchant cyberware, but this must be done before it is implanted, and should be carefully weighed before the gamemaster approves it. Such a focus would be considered Mundane Telesma (see pp. 83-84, Street Magic).

Bioware may not be enchanted, as it is a living material.

The second argument generally stems from the fact that a focus must be a finished product or form. This doesn't mean you can't enchant your lucky rabbit's foot and then attach it to the handle of your favorite gun without disrupting the enchantment, but it does mean that significant changes in form effectively count as damage against the focus. You can, for example, enchant a lump of obsidian, but if you then whittle it into an obsidian dagger you destroy the essential form of the focus and the enchantment is wasted. So simply enchanting the ink and then tattooing it would destroy the enchantment, because the material form was a vial of ink (or whatever), not a tattoo. Quickening materials circumspect this by a) not being a focus enchantment and b) being a form of ritual material that is meant to be consumed.

[fourstring_samur...]

Thanks Fortune and AH!


I must have missed other mentions of them. I've been playing since 2nd ed, i should know this!!!

[Muspellsheimr]

Tattoo's are Quickened spells with all the advantages & disadvantages of both, applied with Quickening materials.

Foci are physical objects in a finished form (non-living, solid), as such a tattoo cannot be a foci. Nor can a liquid, organ, or anything else of similar nature. You could conceivably enchant a fruit as a foci, but as soon as it begins rotting, or becomes eaten, the material is damaged, ruining the foci.

Well, Healing Potions (which are referenced in SR4) would be a precedent. That being said, I wouldn't allow Sustaining Foci Tattoos in my game.

Potions are not a foci, they are an Anchored spell - see Advanced Metamagic; Street Magic

Aren't Foci usually made from a liquid suspension of Orichalcum and other radicals? I see no reason why you can't use inks as alchemical radicals to make foci, you can do it for quickened spells.

I mean, when making foci, you can use a litre of blood from an awakened critter. So liquid isn't a problem. And you could buy a cartridge of printer inks to do it, and it would be mundane telesma. However, if you went and extracted inks yourself with herbs and maybe a live squid, that would be virgin telesma. So I think that you could probably do it.

Although what I want to know is should you be allowed to turn off a tattoo focus like you can a normal focus? It would be cool if you began chanting for your spell and the magical patterns of ink rose to the surface of your skin (centering focus tattoo). But I'm not sure I could justify it balance wise.

First, Radicals, blood, ect. are materials for the ritual process required to enchant a foci, not the foci itself.
Second, once again, tattoo's are *not* foci, they are Quickened spells. You turn off your Quickened spell, you are not turning it back on.

[Fortune]

Potions are not a foci, they are an Anchored spell - see Advanced Metamagic; Street Magic

Yes I know, which is why I said they were merely precedents of 'enchanted liquids', and not actual Foci.