Magical tattoos

[Romeo Riviere]

Right-o, Jay here, new to the FFXIV RPing community. When decided on being an Arcanist, I, naturally, scoped out bits and pieces of lore about them. I had read that Arcanists channel their magic through the magical ink in their grimoires (said ink being rare; hence why there aren't libraries filled to the brim with Arcanist books) and the spell takes effect.

 

However, could the aforementioned magical ink possibly be used in tattoos? One would create a tattoo of a single geometrical design; allowing them to do one spell without their books - would this be feasible?

[Jancis]

That sounds like a very creative idea to me and can also help with streamlining some basic things if it's something a character commonly does.

 

I kind of do something similar with Jancis' conjurer ability to heal where she has natural items on her person or weaved into her gloves so she can heal without having to hit/point at everyone with a wand or a staff if she can touch them. She'll also conjure water to knock people away from her, but beyond being in physical touching range she'd need a true natural weapon to be of any magical use.

 

I wonder if that ink would have any side effects of being in the skin. Another creative way to view it. Or if someone else knew the spell and saw it could use it against the inked arcanist?

 

What a twist!

[Raelas]

I actually know someone who's already tried this out RP wise. It worked great! He kept the spells very short range and even tattoo's his hands to literally tear spells from his book with his fingers without casting!

 

It was kinda cool

 

Though he only went as far as to have two spells tattoo'd onto his hands for balance though

[Unnamed Mercenary]

I think it would depend on if the ink was poisonous to the body or not. From a crafting perspective, they are made from some rather....unsavoury materials, such as rare metals,  toxins, and the blood of other creatures.

 

Here is a list for the craftable ones: http://ffxivcrafting.com/recipes#enchanted|all|1|50||

 

Now, let's say you made a more custom ink that enchanted, I think something like a tattoo could work.

[Raelas]

I think it would depend on if the ink was poisonous to the body or not. From a crafting perspective, they are made from some rather....unsavoury materials, such as rare metals,  toxins, and the blood of other creatures.

 

Here is a list for the craftable ones: http://ffxivcrafting.com/recipes#enchanted|all|1|50||

 

Now, let's say you made a more custom ink that enchanted, I think something like a tattoo could work.

 

Its funny you mention that! The person in question had to take regular visits to a conjurer to keep the poison at bay. (He was very hell bent on revenge )

[FreelanceWizard]

I know a few people who RP arcanima patterns as being something you can etch on a body (either via tattoo or scarification), on the basis that the magic also involves the geometry itself -- the ink alone is not sufficient, as the magical geometry is really the "invocation." So, I think your tattoo idea is definitely workable.

 

Somewhat related but a bit off the topic, Arcanima's praxis reminds me a lot of Hermeticism and Western esoterica generally (especially sacred geometry, occult science, and the Order of the Golden Dawn), so you probably can't go wrong with a "feel" to your character's style that's similar. If you want a more RPG-ish reference, I'd take a look at the Solificati and Order of Hermes from Mage: the Ascension or House Verditus from Ars Magica as sources of inspiration.

[Romeo Riviere]

Thank you all for answering my question! Looks like Jamie'll be getting some tats and some neat little side effects with it.

[Val]

Right-o, Jay here, new to the FFXIV RPing community. When decided on being an Arcanist, I, naturally, scoped out bits and pieces of lore about them. I had read that Arcanists channel their magic through the magical ink in their grimoires (said ink being rare; hence why there aren't libraries filled to the brim with Arcanist books) and the spell takes effect.

 

However, could the aforementioned magical ink possibly be used in tattoos? One would create a tattoo of a single geometrical design; allowing them to do one spell without their books - would this be feasible?

 

I have one of my more, ah.. malevolent characters do this. They aren't tattoos so much as he uses a brush to paint ritualistic signs all over his body. That way, should someone disarm him, he's still able to channel his spells. I balance it out by saying that, since it is the components in the ink and not the ink itself, he only has so many casts before they run out of juice.

[Drifter]

I'm glad someone asked this. I've been toying with the idea of my character getting some magic tattoos for awhile, and I honestly never thought of the potential side effects.

 

Now is there anyone who has a Tattoo Artist character that would be up for some IC work?

[Yaaris]

It sounds like it could certainly be possible, but I don't know abou making them visible. It would be a good reason for an adversary to be motivated to lop off your limbs to disarm you. If you had some, I'd put it under your clothes where there's a less likely chance it could be seen, and not on a limb where it could be easily grappled and cut off, such as a hand or arm. I'd also save it as a trump card, maybe even use it while holding a book (any book) to make it appear you are better armed than you are.

[Erik Mynhier]