Some schools of magic use a series of tattoos of magical force inlaid into their graduate's skin in order to release the magical power faster. This allows the caster to "shoot from the hip", casting spells more quickly than others, at the expense of more visible and obvious effects.
This kind of tattoo magic is favoured by warmage colleges, as the added intimidation of seeing tattoos light up as a spellcaster prepares for action can scare off a few more opponents and spread the dangerous reputation of the college. They are usually known for challenging any spellcasters who oppose them to duels, and often bare extra skin to show off their power. Effects: Spellcasters with this trait gain the Improved Initiative feat for free, but cannot disguise or hide their spellcasting as long as they have skin visible, even with the Silent Spell or Still Spell feats. How you can use Tattoo Magic in your game: - Warmages of the Tarth Moorda college are famous for use of tattoo magic. The appearance of their battalions of identically-marked spellcasters has been enough to frighten entire fortresses into surrendering. - Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy books feature a sorcerous dynasty under The Godking, an epically-powerful Warlock. Each of his family bears the Vir, a shifting, thornlike tattoo pattern in their skin which writhes as they use magic. - Dragonmarked Houses of the Eberron campaign setting (soon to be released for 5th edition D&D) have individuals marked with small portions of the Draconic Prophecy, with magical powers. Some individuals are even able to turn this into a sorcerous career by tapping into their dragonmark. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 4 September 2019. Comments are closed.
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