D&D: Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything Magic Tattoos Explained (2024)

Dungeons and Dragons

By Alexandria Turney

Updated6 days ago

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Dungeons and Dragons

Summary

Magic tattoos in DnD are unique features, offering appearance customization and useful powers.
Magic tattoos largely follow the typical magic item rules, but with certain guidelines covering their application, removal, and attunement.
11 types of magic tattoos with various effects exist.

First appearing in the Unearthed Arcana playtests, magic tattoos became an official part of the DnD world with the release of the Tasha's Cauldron of Everything sourcebook in 2020. Like just about everything else in Tasha's, magic tattoos are unique character features with an emphasis on the supernatural. They can be used to both customize a character's appearance, and to give them a new set of powers at once. They're ideal for a wide variety of character types since they don't require spell slots to use. With the right preparation, anyone can have a magic tattoo.

However, like everything else in the game, magic tattoos are subject to DnD rules. These mostly surround methods of application and removal, general considerations of attunement, and guidelines for size, shape, and use. Still, they're not strictly limiting. A clever player can use the rules of magic tattoos to their advantage, making a character far stronger (and cooler) simply by going under the needle. The different types of magic tattoos allow characters of all classes to get inked and, subsequently, gain extra powers based on their expertise. Here's all there is to know about the wondrous world of magic tattoos.

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D&D: What Are Magic Tattoos?

Application, Removal, Attunement, & Magic Item Rules Explained

D&D: Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything Magic Tattoos Explained (7)

In order to get a magic tattoo, a player will first need to find a needle and choose a design. Like a normal tattoo, magical ink is customizable in DnD, but is subject to guidelines around appearance. These unusual marks come in many forms, resembling brands, scarifications, or any other cosmetic alterations. They follow the regular rules for magic items, but the rarity of the needle depends on the size of the tattoo it applies. A magic item's rarity affects how difficult it is to find, what level characters can use it, and how much it costs.

Tattoo Size	Rarity	Required Level	Approximate Needle Price
One hand, one foot, or a quarter of a limb	Common	1	50-100 gp
Half of a limb or the scalp	Uncommon	1	101-500 gp
One whole limb	Rare	5	501-5,000 gp
Two limbs, the whole chest, or the upper back	Very Rare	11	5,001-50,000 gp
Two whole limbs and the whole torso	Legendary	17	50,001 gp or more

In general, all magic items above common rarity are not regularly available for purchase. However, a DM might make an exception in a large city, or an area with a well-studied wizard, a magic school, or a temple. In short, it's always best to discuss one's intention to get a magic tattoo with the DM beforehand, especially since rarity and price also vary depending on the tattoo's effects (more on that later).

Magic tattoos can be applied by anyone in possession of the requisite needle. Once the needle is pressed to the skin, the process of attunement begins. Yes, magic tattoos require attunement, an important concept for magic items in DnD. Characters must bond with certain magic items before using them in a process known as attunement. This means spending a short rest (in essence, the time it takes to apply the tattoo) totally focused on the tattoo needle. After the attunement is complete, the needle actually turns into the ink on the wearer's skin.

D&D: Magic Tattoo Types And Effects

Tattoos Can Grant Protection, Extra Abilities, & Much More

There are 11 possible effects of magic tattoos in DnD. In general, the rarer a magic tattoo's effect, the more space it'll cover on the wearer's body. For example, a tattoo with a common effect like an Illuminator's Tattoo might cover a hand or a forearm, while one with a Legendary effect like a Blood Fury tattoo would cover the entire torso and two limbs.

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However, even Tasha's Cauldron of Everything makes it clear this isn't a hard and fast rule, but merely a set of guidelines. A DM might allow players to have a small tattoo with a big effect, or vice versa, at their discretion. This may create conflicting ideas about how much the tattoo should cost, but in these cases, it's best to defer to the higher price. If a player just wants a small butterfly on their ankle with a Legendary effect, it'll probably still cost over 50,000 gp.

Magic tattoos can be used for attacking, defending, and a wide variety of other practical purposes. These are the 11 types of magic tattoos as listed in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything lore:

Tattoo Type	Rarity	Effect
Absorbing Tattoo	Very Rare	Players select a particular color to appear prominently in the Absorbing Tattoo, and their character is granted resistance to the corresponding type of damage. A green one, for example, resists acid damage. Blue resists cold, red resists fire, gold resists radiant, and so on.
Barrier Tattoo	Varies	The metallic Barrier Tattoo grants an innate Armor Class, a number determined by the tattoo's rarity. For an AC of 12 + the character's Dexterity modifier, the tattoo is considered uncommon; for 15 + Dex, the tattoo is considered rare; for 18 flat, the tattoo is considered very rare.
Blood Fury Tattoo	Legendary	The Blood Fury Tattoo grants its bearer ten charges of Bloodthirsty Strikes per in-game day. If they expend one upon hitting a creature with a weapon attack, they deal an extra 4d6 necrotic damage, and heals the attacker for the equivalent amount. The character may also expend a charge whenever they take damage, to perform a melee attack with advantage on the attacker.
Coiling Grasp Tattoo	Uncommon	With the Coiling Grasp Tattoo, the player character can extend the tattoo's ink forward as tendrils, reaching forward and grappling a character within 15 feet of them.
Eldritch Claw Tattoo	Uncommon	With the Eldritch Claw Tattoo, the bearer's melee attacks are considered magical to overcome immunity and resistance to non-magical attacks. They can also use Eldritch Maul as a bonus action once per day, causing their melee weapon attacks and unarmed strikes to hit targets 15 feet away from them, and dealing 1d6 force damage on a hit.
Ghost Step Tattoo	Very Rare	The Ghost Step tattoo grants the bearer three charges of Ghostly Form daily. As a bonus action, they can expend a charge to become incorporeal.
Illuminator's Tattoo	Common	Appearing as writing on a character's skin, the Illuminator's tattoo allows them to spout an unlimited quantity of ink from their fingertips, effectively turning them into an unlimited pen. They can also touch a piece of writing to make it invisible to everyone other than themselves and one other creature.
Lifewell Tattoo	Very Rare	The Lifewell Tattoo grants resistance to necrotic damage. Also, once per day, if the bearer drops to zero hit points, they instantly regain one HP.
Masquerade Tattoo	Common	The Masquerade Tattoo can shift into any shape, and move about the body at its bearer's discretion. It also allows them to cast disguise self once per day.
Shadowfell Brand Tattoo	Rare	The Shadowfell Brand Tattoo grants darkvision and advantage on Stealth checks, along with the Shadowy Defense action. Once per day, the bearer can become insubstantial when taking damage, halving the HP they lose.
Spellwrought Tattoo	Varies	The bearer of a Spellwrought Tattoo chooses a spell, and can cast it once per day without material components. For a cantrip or first-level spell, it's considered common; for a second- or third-level spell, it's uncommon; and for a fourth- or fifth-level spell, it's rare.

Note that the tattoos' rarity also affects their level requirements as outlined above; a first-level character can't get a Blood Fury tattoo, for example. With such a wide variety of effects, magic tattoos are great for all kinds of different characters, and can even round out a non-magical DnD build.

When & Why You Should Get Magic Tattoos In D&D

At Times, Tattoos May Make More Narrative Sense Than Items

D&D: Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything Magic Tattoos Explained (9)

Knowing when and why a character should get a magic tattoo depends on a multitude of factors. Players can already have an inclination to get inked as opposed to actually finding items and, discussing this with the DM, as previously mentioned, can help that occur more naturally in the story of the campaign. A character with a pirate or sailor background, for instance, can choose to enhance their abilities or unlock new ones by visiting an artist with a needle rather than delving underwater to locate a special rapier, for instance.

DMs in DnD can even subtly suggest this type of bonus to their players by bringing in NPCs who are specialists in tattooing. Instead of sending the party on a dangerous venture, for instance, the DM can make a tattoo artist cross paths with the adventuring party – even if expensive, this type of activity can be something of a beneficial cooldown to the adventure’s pacing, especially for parties that have been facing several difficulties back-to-back with no magical rewards due to poor choices.

Instead of giving a regular magical item to attune to, the DM could instead direct the party to find a loot stash with tons of gold pieces and perhaps even the needle needed to craft these magic tattoos – or even just a sketch, hinting at the existence of magic tattoos. Ultimately, it comes down to a player’s inclination of getting their character tattooed alongside the DM’s intentions on how they wish to reward their table.

That's just about everything a player or DM needs to know about magic tattoos. While it may take a lot of work to get one, thankfully, exploiting the benefits of a magic tattoo is incredibly easy. Much like a real tattoo, players should always consider the design, placement, and price before applying one – but there's less risk of regret when it comes to magic tattoos in Dungeons & Dragons.

D&D: Tasha's Cauldron Of Everything Magic Tattoos Explained (10)

Franchise
Original Release Date: 1974-00-00
Publisher: TSR Inc. , Wizards of the Coast
Designer: E. Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson

Gaming
Game Features
Dungeons and Dragons