College of Ink

The College of Ink focuses on the arts of tattooing and body modification. Masters of tattooist’s supplies, these artists use needle and ink to channel their magical will, granting a permanency to their art that other bards can only envy.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join this college at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with Tattooist’s Supplies and Calligrapher’s Supplies.

Connoisseur of Symbols

Also starting at 3rd level, you have advantage on any ability check that you make using Arcana, History, Nature, Religion or your Tattooist’s Supplies or Calligrapher’s Supplies proficiencies to determine the nature of a tattoo, sigil, or symbol. This includes symbols using a language you do not understand, so long as the symbol is mostly comprised of other shapes and images. This allows you to identify magic tattoos with a successful check as well as understand basic warnings and information communicated through markings used across Ghelspad.

Lasting Inspiration

At 6th level, you can imbue your Bardic Inspiration into a tattoo. When you are tattooing someone, you may expend all remaining uses of your Bardic Inspiration to imbue one Bardic Inspiration die into the tattoo. The tattoo receives your current Bardic Inspiration die and does not increase when you increase in level.

Once the tattoo is complete, the bearer may use a bonus action to activate the tattoo, adding your Bardic Inspiration die to their next attack roll, saving throw, or ability check. Once the recipient has used the tattoo in this fashion, it cannot be used again until they complete a long rest.

You may add Lasting Inspiration to any tattoo you craft, be it magical or not.

Adding Lasting Inspiration to a magical tattoo does not impact or impede its other effects in any way.

Once your Bardic Inspiration die has increased, you may spend one hour performing a touch up on a tattoo you have previously invested with Lasting Inspiration. At the end of the hour, you expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration.

Once this is complete, the Lasting Inspiration die increases to your current Bardic Inspiration die. You cannot perform touch ups in this way on another artist’s tattoos.

In addition, you are now considered to have achieved the necessary tattoo artist notoriety required to study under an established tattoo adept, even if you have never maintained a shop.

Magical Tattoo Flash

At 14th level, you can create magical flash art using your Calligrapher’s Supplies. To create magical flash art, you must spend a use of your Bardic Inspiration and take 10 minutes working on the art piece, which consumes one piece of paper or parchment. At the completion of the 10 minutes you spend a spell slot to cast any one bard spell you know into the flash art. The flash art then becomes a scroll, which can be activated with a command word of your choosing.

When creating magical tattoo flash, you must fulfill all components and costs of the spell normally. Anything consumed in the casting of the spell is consumed. If you are interrupted for more than one round while creating magical tattoo flash, all time, materials and your expenditure of Bardic Inspiration are wasted.

Finally, anyone who is proficient with Tattooist’s Supplies who has access to a piece of your magical tattoo flash can use it to craft a magical tattoo granting the bearer the ability to cast the spell once per long rest. Using magical tattoo flash in this fashion consumes the flash, but also allows the magical tattoo flash to fulfill the place of the spellcaster in the requirements for creating magical tattoos (see Scarred Lands Player’s Guide, Chapter Seven.)

Magic Tattoos

Tattoo Locations

Each body part can have only one magic tattoo. These rules assume a humanoid creature will have one head, one torso, two arms and two legs, for a maximum of five magic tattoos.

Please note that a magic tattoo can be placed on any available body part unless the item description says otherwise.

Tattoos carrying Bardic Inspiration through the Lasting Inspiration class feature do not count as magical for the purposes of determining whether a body part is used, unless those tattoos are also magical. Tattoos created through the Tattoo Adept’s Dancing Ink feature also do not count against this maximum.

Example Tattoos

Tattoo of the Lycan Master

Magic tattoo, very rare

This tattoo shows the image of a lycanthrope it its man-beast form. This allows the wearer to use an action to shapeshift into that lycanthrope’s hybrid form, gaining all the benefits and drawbacks thereof, as described in the lycanthrope’s stat block. This transformation lasts for 10 minutes but can be ended early on a bonus action.

Once this tattoo is used it cannot be used again until the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of the Mighty Gauntlet

Magic tattoo, uncommon

This tattoo is rendered as an iron gauntlet grasping the handle of a thorny whip. When activated as a bonus action, the wearer enters a rage as if they were a barbarian of their character level. This rage lasts for one minute and is not subject to conditions that would normally end a rage early. Once the rage ends, the bearer suffers a level of exhaustion. If a barbarian uses this tattoo, this rage does not cost the use of a rage but does benefit from any class features that modify the barbarian’s rages.

Once this tattoo is used it cannot be used again until the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of the Elder Rod

Magic tattoo, common

This image of a bamboo-like shaft wrapping around the wearer’s arm or leg. When activated as a bonus action, the wearer has advantage on Constitution checks and gains 2d6 temporary hit points. These effects last for one hour.

Once activated, this tattoo cannot be activated again until the bearer completes a short or long rest.

Tattoo of Exquisite Alertness

Magic tattoo, common

This tattoo features a stylized greathammer with a face on each head. When activated as a bonus action, the wearer has advantage on Wisdom checks and cannot be surprised. These effects last for one hour.

Once activated, this tattoo cannot be activated again until the bearer completes a short or long rest.

Tattoo of Storms

Magic tattoo, uncommon

This tattoo wraps one of the bearer’s limbs in stylized bolts of lightning. As a bonus action the wearer may activate the tattoo, which fills their body with an electrical charge.

The next creature that they touch, grapple or hit with a melee weapon attack, or the next creature who touches the wearer, hits the wearer with a melee weapon attack, or grapples the wearer must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 5d8 lightning damage on a failed saving throw or half as much on a successful one.

Once activated, the wearer must discharge the tattoo’s energy at another creature. If a number of rounds equal to the wearer’s Constitution modifier (minimum 1) pass and the wearer still has not touched a creature or otherwise discharged the shock, the wearer must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking no damage on a success and half damage from the tattoo’s 5d8 lightning on a failure.

Once activated, this tattoo cannot be activated again until the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of Light

Magic tattoo, common

This tattoo is typically executed as a pair of peacock feathers next to one another. When this tattoo is activated as a bonus action, the wearer regains 1d8 + 1 hit points of damage. This tattoo may be used three times and regains all spent uses when the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of the Forge

Magic tattoo, rare

This tattoo of four swords joined at the pommel with reddish, smoldering blades can be activated as a bonus action. Activating the tattoo grants the user the benefits of a stoneskin spell which lasts for one hour.

Once this tattoo is used it cannot be used again until the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of the Kinslayer

Magic tattoo, uncommon, cursed

This tattoo, used by Albadian barbarian tribes to punish heinous criminals prior to exile, is a harsh, ugly slash mark tattooed on both sides of the face. When this tattoo is placed, the wearer gains vulnerability to cold damage.

Furthermore, they begin to suffer exhaustion immediately when exposed to temperatures below freezing, suffering one level of exhaustion for each hour of exposure. This can prove deadly in the cold mountains of the North.

To remove this tattoo, the bearer must go through the normal process of tattoo removal and receive the benefits of a remove curse spell. Simply removing the tattoo has no effect as the mark returns within minutes.

Tattoo of Observer

Magic tattoo, common

This tattoo depicts a woman in a hooded cloak holding a stone sickle wrapped in ivy. You can use a bonus action to activate the tattoo, which places you under a sanctuary spell. For the next minute any creature wishing to target you with an attack or harmful spell must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or choose a new target. If you take an action that would end the sanctuary spell normally, it ends the effects of this tattoo.

This tattoo may be used three times and regains all spent uses when the bearer completes a long rest.

Tattoo of the Tar Dragon

Magic tattoo, very rare

This tattoo is an elaborate image of a dragon, filled in with black ink. The tattoo can be activated as a bonus action. When activated, the wearer gains advantage on Strength checks and their carrying capacity doubles. In addition, they gain resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons.

Once activated, these effects last for one minute.

While this tattoo is active, the bearer can use an action to vomit forth a 30-foot cone of black, tarry ichor, which functions as if the area had been layered in webbing from a web spell.

This spell’s save DC is 15 and the ichor webbing remains for up to 10 minutes.

When the effects of this tattoo end, the bearer suffers a level of exhaustion. Once activated this tattoo cannot be activated again until the user completes a long rest.

Titan Blood

Wondrous item, very rare

Despite the obvious dangers in acquiring and handling such a potent substance, alchemists with more ambition than sense have concocted numerous ways to utilize the foul blood of the fallen titans. Foremost, are the concoction of potions, which grant incredible power at immeasurable risk to any who drink them.

The following variants of titan blood potions are said to be found on Ghelspad.

Carrier’s Blood

This potion turns the drinker into a disease carrier. For one hour after drinking this potion, anyone touched by you must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or suffer a disease as determined on the Chern’s Infections table. Once a target is infected, the disease progresses normally.

Infections

d8	Disease
1	Cackle Fever
2	Sewer Plague
3	Sight Rot
4	Pestilite’s Sting* (as the creature’s attack)
5	Flesh Corruption* (as the creature’s attack)
6	Blight Wolf’s Bite* (as the creature’s attack)
7	Bleeding Sickness* (as the spell)
8	Roll Twice, treating further 8s as 7s

Once this potion’s duration ends, you are no longer a carrier but all who you infected continue to suffer their disease normally.

Devourer’s Blood

This concoction allows the drinker to safely devour anything without harm of ill effect. For three hours after drinking the potion, you may safely eat or drink anything you can fit in your mouth. You are immune to oral vector poisons and diseases, can drink raw sewage, and can eat anything you can chew or swallow whole. Objects that are harmful to the flesh surrounding your mouth harm you normally. For example, you could drink a vial of acid with little concern, but if you tried to eat lava the ambient heat would burn your face. You also must swallow anything you intend to gain the benefit of this potion from. If you attempt to spit the substance out, you immediately suffer the normal effects of exposure to the substance.

Once you have imbibed Gaurak’s blood, you are cursed with a craving for titan blood. Anytime you are presented with the opportunity to drink any form of titan blood, you must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or act as if you were under the effects of a dominate person spell, with the command “drink the titan blood.” This compulsion even applies to unrefined titan blood such as that found in the Blood Sea or pieces of Mormo’s flesh. Drinking unrefined titan blood can do all sorts of horrific things to a person, its full effects are left to the GM to determine and can include mutation, madness, and death. This addiction to titan blood can be removed with a remove curse spell.

Beast’s Blood

This potion mutates the drinker’s features into a monstrous, faceless mask. For one hour after imbibing the blood, your face, ears and hair fade away, leaving your head smooth and featureless. You suffer disadvantage on all Charisma ability checks except for those made with proficiency in Intimidation. You are also rendered immune to all attacks that utilize the senses of sight, hearing smell or taste. This includes magical attacks based upon such senses, including medusa stares, siren voices or troglodyte musk. Strangely, your senses are otherwise unaffected.

Once the duration expires, your features return to normal.

Befouled Blood

This elixir trades the drinker’s reason for raw power. For three hours after drinking this potion, you suffer disadvantage on Intelligence checks and saving throws, but your Strength score becomes a 22. You also exude a horrific odor. Any creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned until the start of its next turn. On a successful saving throw, the creature is immune to your stench for 24 hours.

When this potion wears off, the drinker suffers the poisoned condition until they complete a short or long rest, receive a magical effect that cures poison, or drink a dose of antitoxin.

Hunter’s Blood

This potion grants the drinker the weapons and tenacity of the Hunter. For one hour after drinking this fluid, you may cast the fire bolt cantrip at will.

If you know the fire bolt cantrip when drinking this potion, you gain advantage on attacks made with this cantrip, and you may double your damage dice on a successful attack.

If you are not a spellcaster, your Intelligence becomes your spellcasting ability for using this cantrip. If any creature, whether friend or foe, flees from you during the one-hour duration, you are compelled to pursue at the fastest speed possible and seek to bring the quarry down with fire bolts.

A successful DC 20 Wisdom saving throw allows you to resist this compulsion, but resisting it immediately terminates the effect of the potion.

Predator’s Blood

When properly refined, the blood of Kadum can be turned into a terrible potion that allows the drinker to inflict horrific wounds on their victims. When you drink this potion, all of your melee weapon attacks and unarmed strikes may inflict wounds as described under the effects of a sword of wounding. The effects of this potion last for one hour.

Serpent’s Blood

This blood gives the drinker a serpentine skin and immunity to poisons. For three hours after drinking this potion, your skin grows scaly like a snake.

You become immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition and your base AC becomes 13 + your Dexterity modifier when you are not wearing armor. While under the effects of this potion, you suffer disadvantage on Charisma checks.

For reasons unknown, the asaatthi are violently allergic to this potion. Any asaatthi who drinks this potion suffers the poisoned condition until they complete a long rest, receive a magical effect that cures poison, or drink a dose of antitoxin.

Firelord’s Blood

Drinking this spicy mixture transforms the drinker into a living flame for one hour. For the duration you assume a fire form as if you were a fire elemental.

Though this effect does not damage you, it is not at all subtle and is likely to destroy personal possessions and property, including your clothing and nonmagical items.

For the duration you also suffer water susceptibility as if you were a fire elemental.