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?

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

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

Yeah yeah! I knew it was Quickening, but couldn't find the exact reference with a brief glance.

It had been available in SR3 already, right?

Yeah.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

Cheers!!

Max

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?

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.

Though just about everything pertaining to the issue has been covered, I do want to throw in my 2

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.

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.

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:


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.

Thanks Fortune and AH!


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

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.


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




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.

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

I have been thinking about using tattoo's like this as well, and though I agree to a point that it might be unbalancing, I really am considering it for two reasons:

It's really freaking cool (go ahead, imagine it and tell me it's not).

and

It does fit the theme and feeling of the setting.

So here is what I have been thinking, and no I don't have Street Magic, so I don't know if I'm treading tracked ground here.

Fetish Tattoo
This would function exactly like a fetish tied to a particular spell, with the benefit that it cannot normally be dropped or stolen or harmed (though if someone makes a called shot, you're out of luck chummer, heal up and pony up for some new ink). The cost of this however is at least 10 times the cost of a normal fetish, though prices of individual talented artist/enchanters vary. Also, good luck finding someone to do the work, as the base availability rating would be very high, as they are very rare.

Tattoo Foci
These extremely rare tattoos function in all ways as other foci (barring Weapon Foci, which cannot be tattooed). You can activate them or turn them off as normal foci, they add to magic dice pools or sustain spells as normal. The catch, is that they must be fed off your own Essence (thus making them comperable to cyber/bioware). I haven't worked out a chart of Essence cost yet however.

Thoughts?

(I know this is way outside of RAW here, and I only have SR4core, but I am looking for input.)

I've been thinking about this for a while too.

Frankly it's just to cool to not allow.

The other option that had crossed my mind was Stealth RFID tags. Far as I can tell perfectly legal to enchant and can be implanted at no Essence cost.

If that is legal RAW then I don't see what the problem with Tattoos is.

Hmm, I think there was a fan-created advanced meta-magic that was based upon quickening and anchoring that allowed you to create an item that could have a quickened spell/ or spells that could be turned off and on at will. It required you to have quickening and anchoring before taking it. There was an increase in karma required to create it. Maybe something like that could be developed as a tatoo?

It was basically something like a spell trap that would re-arm itself.

My character actually carries a large duffelbag around, which contains all my foci. I use stuff for all my spells, even when not required.
I would hate those tattoos, just because I've been carrying around this damn bag for a while now!

A called shot or going into physical overflow would disrupt the focus or fetish tattoo, if not flat out destroy it. In 'Augmentation', severe wound rules (pg.120) could included a destruction of the tattoo focus.

For increasing the cost, I would consider all tattoos on a mage's body collectively only count as one focus against the focus limit, but they must be 'constructed' using the stacked foci rules in 'Street Magic' (pg.84). That means every time a mage wants to add a focus tattoo, they must create a new formula because he is trying to incorporate an old tattoo focus into the new one. This also disrupts the set of tattoos and must be rebound, but as a stacked focus.

But the destruction of one tattoo would then disrupt all tattoos, shutting them all down. So the more foci stacked on the body the greater chance of disruption. For example: if you posses one tattoo, the last health box filled would disrupt the focus; if you posses two foci tattoos, the second to last health box filled would disrupt the focus. Then going into overflow would destroy one or more of the actual tattoos.

Stealing them would be easy as slicing off the flesh (at least an inch thick I'm guessing), but the flesh itself would not be a focus. I would be the combined materials of the original tattoo focus (the ink materials) plus an animal raw material (human flesh) which then could be built into a focus. This would deter people from wasting the time (if time's an issue) of slicing them off (if they even know about it). Or not, either way.

(Tattoo vampire with foci made of other people's tattoo foci stretched across metal rings. Rock on, BOC)

I think that makes it way to expensive. I'd just engrave a platinum iridium alloy with what ever magical symbols my beliefs required and have that implanted, would look like a grain of rice on a X-ray, and is invisible to human biology so would cost no essence. Get it done in the gums near a filling, and call it dental work if anyone asks.

And where is the coolness in that?

Being magical tatoos the subject of this thread I would like to know what you think about an idea that has kept spinning in my mind for a while: using magical tatoos as a form of magical augmentation.

1. It would be an advanced metamagic that requires the Quickening and Ancoring metamagic techniquies and basicaly allowes to fuse a spell into a willing subject's aura.
2. The enchanter must know the metamagic, know the spell being fused, gater the materials and perform the ritual (no formula required), the subject must the karma cost (and whatever the creator charges for the service). A tatoo can be modified at different time by any enchanter having mastered the metamagic and knowing the spell that must be added.
3. A character can have a maximum number of tatoos equal his/hers essence (rounded down) and the maximum force of the tatoos is equal to the higher betwen essence and magic. A single tatoo can be divided betwen multiple spells in the same way a stacked focus can be created. In the evenience that multiple tatoos grant the same effect only the best effect will be applied, they won't stack.
4. Tatoos can only be created from spells that target and affect the subject to improve properties of the body or mind (no combat or illusion spells, no mental manipulation) that have "sustained" duration.
5. A tatoo is created at force 1 containing a single spell, in orderer to increase its force a new spell must be added one at a time, if a spell already present in the tatoo is added its specific force will raised by one; the total force of the tatoo is equal the summ of the force of all the spells fused in it.
6. Tatoos work similary to adept powers, each spells fused in a tatoo can be actived and deactived indipendently.
7. Each tatoo will add its unmasked force to the dp of assensing tests to spot and recognize the subject on from astral space.

The name magical tatoo derives from ritual tatooing and/or scarrifications present in various cultures around the globe and is a bit a misnomer, while magical tatoo often come in the form of a tatoo the fisical representation is not necessary and a tatoo can work prefectly without leaving any sign on the subjects body; the same thing can't be said from an astral point of view because the tatoo actualy markes the subject aura in a very visible way, this marking can be a form of art in itself but has the defect to be eyecatching, for people that wish for a subtler way benefit from tatoos a (more expensive) masked version existes, in order to mask a tatoo the enchanter must blend the tatoo into the subject aura, which requires both Tatooing and Masking metamagic.
The karma cost of a new (force 1) tatoo is 6 karma, raising its force costs 3 x (new force); in order to avoid detection a tatoo can be masked, masking a tatoo costs 4 karma for force 1 and 2 x (new force) for subsequent increases, to determine the bonus granted by a tatoo to assensing tests to spot the subject subtract the masking from the force tatoo.

Oh man, bringing from thought to text for sure is hard (especialy since I'm not motherlenguage).
well, any comment?

In SR3 the tattoo size increased with increasing force - I found that rule very cool. Other than that, you're idea seems cool after a first read.

I could care less about the in game reasons for allowing or disallowing a magical tattoo. As someone else pointed out, the concept is to cool to ban. So despite any in game reasoning about why magical fetishes shouldn't be allowed (such as the ones Ancient History brought up) I think they should have a place in the game.

The problem of course is balance as others have pointed out. Fetishes are partially balanced because they can be taken away from a character. A magical tattoo obviously cannot be (at least not without some gruesome work). Thus some other means of balancing them should be implemented.

One idea is to have them cost essence. This makes a certain amount of sense as a magical tattoo can be thought to disrupt a characters astral pattern and thus cost essence. Its also the method used to balance cyberwear. The problem with this method is it makes mages unlikely to take the tattoos as they decrease their magical potency, and from that point of view a magical tattoo that makes you less proficient at casting magic seems unappropriate. If you go down this road I think a cost of .1 essence per point of force is probably a good level.

A different idea which I like is to have a magical fetish tattoo make the character dual natured permanetly. Which means he would always be a viable target for spells cost from the astral plane. It also makes wards effective at stopping them. A magician might be more likely to accept this limitation as they are able to fight back against this sort of threat. The downside of this is that it doesn't offer a way to scale this disadvantage depending upon the level of the focus.

I'm interested in hearing any other ideas you guys might have to balance tattooed foci.

I've started with 4th ed so I might be wrong, but I think in older editions there were some kind of foci called spelllocks that worked like foci but granted effects from spells. I think magical tatoo should work in a similar way.
For the idea that of using tatoos for foci I don't agreed, my idea of magical tatoo is that they use the strenght of the character's aura to augment him/her (kind like a "mind over body" thing); I also forgot to mention that magical tatoo can be undone and while modifying a tatoo requires knowledge of the metamagic, simple destruction doesn't (it still requires a magitian).
Tatoo foci strike me as wrong because they change the way character aura interacts with the astral plane, yes I know that it's exactly what foci do but they are astral constructs that are attuned to the aura (and even than there are some "sideffects"), if you make one of such constructs from said aura you're going to ravage it.
As for balance my idea is that tatoo as a form of augmentation cost karma (essence-free augmentations are the dream of awekened and emerged characters, whos are notorious for being karma hogs), an hefty ammount of and some effort to find someone who can do the thing.

Spell Locks were basically the Sustaining Foci of earlier editions.

Not that much different if you think about it.

1) Enchanting includes Vessel Preparation. Vessel Preparation can be applied to living beings, and in fact is opposed by a living subject's Willpower. Doesn't that contradict the rule you quote?




2) If the ink is not living material, and therefore legitimate according to the above (contradicted?) rule, could it not be enchanted after it had been tattooed on the body and fixed in form? Since tattooing doesn't reduce Essence, the interference from the wearer's Essence shouldn't be a problem.

3) If a living vessel were to significantly change, eg. lose 50 kg. weight and accordingly change shape, would that nullify the enchantment?

4) Hmmmm.... how about a Vessel Focus tattoo? Any thoughts?

Peter

Hi Guys

the only way I see to do it would be to have the ink infused with Orichalcum nanocrystals then the ink could be used either as a one time thing with the Orichalcum nanocrystals acting as a unit of Orichalcum & with the tatoo ink the other part of a 3-dimentional astral link for a one time spell. Or the Orichalcum nanocrystals themselves acting as a 3- Dimentional astral structure in conjunction with the physical form of the tatoo forming the (Astral Shadow) contuit to draw astral energies to empower the focus or spell. Either would still fall under the cost and time limitations to aquire said materials with more time needed to proccess 1 unit of Orichalcum into Orichalcum nanocrystals.

I like the idea of focus tattoos; I'd apply the following:

1) They're noticeable; they'll glow and sparkle. While active, they're (6 - Force) on an Intuition + Perception test to notice (just like spellcasting.)

2) Because they're close on the body, they're faster; activating only takes a Free action.

3) They're vulnerable. A Glitch on a Damage Resistance test will suspend their function until healed, while a Critical Glitch irrevocably destroys them.

4) Applying them requires an expert tattooist wizard, and you can't do it on yourself; you need an external POV to correctly integrate them into your aura.

Why did someone bump this thread after over a year? Let dead threads sit in peace.

Because he just joined that day and had something to say?

In the Long Run Anchoring Foci I think are where to look for broad use of the topic of tattoo Foci, Certainly Quickening Foci are discussed and certainly fine, but in long run quickening spells is cool and systematically effective but really its just another spell casting method that ups the dispel stakes. But Things like Anchoring Foci, Attunement, Both item and Animal, and Adept abilities like Living Foci, make some kind of Mystic Adept an interesting set of concepts. Anchoring can do things like give ya the Lightning Gun (all be it one shot).
But with little conclusion jumping and some GM fiat you could get a lot of use out mixing such abilities. Conditions on Anchoring can be set. and living foci also for things not normally done.

Well food for thought.

You know..I think it MIGHT be possible to do an Tattoo Focus..the problem is, it is not
something that can be done YET, or, if it can be done, the people who could do it would
be more likely to kill you to fuel their summoning of Bloodzilla. Face it, Tattoo Foci,
true tattoo foci, would be a form of Blood Magic...

It can be done temporarily. Just use Nanotattoos.

Hmm. I wonder if a run could be rewarded with a magic tattoo, the spell to be chosen from a list by the players......that could be intriguing.
Is there anything barring mundanes getting magic tattoos (as quickening foci, that is)

I would say "Is it what you want?", if the tattoos are for the awakened only they become just a gimmick for said awakened to sidestep the limitations that they have in the augmentations department; also the mundanes are already limited in their options, do you realy want to deprive them from the awesomeness of the tattoos as well?

You can quicken spells on mundanes. No problem there. You can use quickening materials when quickening spells, to make a brand or tattoo or something. No problem there either.

Glad to see this topic. One of my players was asking me about this and I couldn't recall if magical tattoos survived the SR3->SR4 transition.

- J.