Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Dimension Books & nothing but..

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

Drachenwulf
D-Bee
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:03 pm

Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by Drachenwulf »

I apologize if this has been asked before, but I searched and couldn't find anything.

I am Confused regarding Enhancement tattoos that can enhance animal, monster, and weapon tattoos. there doesn't seem to be a consistent explanation of the following

-do enhancements added at the same time as the tattoo being enhanced does it count as 1 or 2 on the body
-do enhancements added at the time of getting the tattoo count as more than 1 when the base tattoo is activated

under animal and monster enhancements it says each enhancement counts as an additional activated tattoo, but also says that is like the weapon enhancements yet the weapon enhancments say that the up to 2 enhancements you can add to a weapon count as a single tattoo activation if added at the time the weapon is added. Also in World book 2, and secrets of the atlanteans, there is the implication that the Bow and 4 arrows tattoo that undead slayers get counts as a single tattoo even though the arrows are flaming and have wings (the wings being an enhancement)
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

I think I skimmed over the m&a mods when I looked through that book.

1) "does a weapon with a mod count as more then one tattoo?" This is a question that has examples both ways in the text. I count one tattoo as one tattoo, no matter how many mods are incorporated into it.

In other words, the mod (in my PoV) is incorporated into the design before the tattoo is applied to the individual. As such it is integral to the tat as a whole.

What the change was (page 148), from the org. and splyn is that if the tats has mods it counts towards the number of active tats just like in the example.

No, having a tattoo with a mod incorporated into a tattoo when that tattoo is gained does not count toward the 6 tattoo "Not a T-Man" limit. The page 148 text is very specific in what it said.
-----
looking over the m&a mods I find one that I find stupid, the mounted weapon mod. as things are this mod is out of step with concept of monsters and animals. now if there was a vehicle tattoo then it might be within concept. but there isn't any. as such it is so much m.p. and would not be allowed in any game I gm'ed.
-----
:P animal w/mods.... :P

Ferret with the wings mod. :evil:
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
Drachenwulf
D-Bee
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:03 pm

Re: Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by Drachenwulf »

drewkitty ~..~ wrote: :P animal w/mods.... :P

Ferret with the wings mod. :evil:


Sharks with "Lasers"?
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

Drachenwulf wrote:
drewkitty ~..~ wrote: :P animal w/mods.... :P

Ferret with the wings mod. :evil:


Sharks with "Lasers"?

the movies already did that.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
User avatar
Mlp7029
Dungeon Crawler
Posts: 354
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:11 am

Re: Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by Mlp7029 »

drewkitty ~..~ wrote:I think I skimmed over the m&a mods when I looked through that book.

1) "does a weapon with a mod count as more then one tattoo?" This is a question that has examples both ways in the text. I count one tattoo as one tattoo, no matter how many mods are incorporated into it.

In other words, the mod (in my PoV) is incorporated into the design before the tattoo is applied to the individual. As such it is integral to the tat as a whole.

What the change was (page 148), from the org. and splyn is that if the tats has mods it counts towards the number of active tats just like in the example.

No, having a tattoo with a mod incorporated into a tattoo when that tattoo is gained does not count toward the 6 tattoo "Not a T-Man" limit. The page 148 text is very specific in what it said.
-----
looking over the m&a mods I find one that I find stupid, the mounted weapon mod. as things are this mod is out of step with concept of monsters and animals. now if there was a vehicle tattoo then it might be within concept. but there isn't any. as such it is so much m.p. and would not be allowed in any game I gm'ed.
-----
:P animal w/mods.... :P

Ferret with the wings mod. :evil:


Just like everything Palladium has published there are contradictory rules within the same book. Page 153 seems to contradict page 148. Page 153 says a Magic Weapon Enhancement added to the tattoo when it is initially created counts as part of the ONE tattoo even if there are two enhancements. There is more text on page 153 that seems pretty clear if the tattoo and its enhancements are applied at the same time it is only one tattoo. If the enhancements are applied later it counts as multiple tattoos. I understand the two enhancements per weapon max for game balance. I agree for the purposes of additional SDC/MDC and PPE with the applied together is one tattoo, applied separate counts as multiple tattoos. however I do not agree that a weapon with enhancements counts as multiple tattoos when activated. This just makes no sense. For instance Flaming Weapon Dripping Blood is Magic Weapon tattoo but Simple Weapon Dripping Blood is an enhancement? Makes no sense at all. IMHO whether a weapon tattoo with enhancements counts as more than one active tattoo depends on an individual game's power level. If its a low powered game and you want the T-Men to be less powerful counts as multiple tattoos. If you play a higher powered game have it count as one tattoo. As always its the GM's call but my GM actually laughed when he read page 148 and is not going to change the way tattoos have worked in his game for the past 25 years I have been playing with him. Of course his game is an Avengers or Thor Ragnarok level game.
User avatar
drewkitty ~..~
Monk
Posts: 17782
Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2000 1:01 am
Location: Eastvale, calif
Contact:

Re: Enhancement tattoos from Secrets of the Atlanteans

Unread post by drewkitty ~..~ »

SotA Page 148 , in the M&A tattoo text is about activation counts, not Number of total tattoos. So does not in consideration towards the '# of Tattoos' limits rules. So It does not contradict any text outside of itself.

SotA Page 153 magic weapon tattoos text 1st paragraph, in the activation cost. This says that when tattoo mod's activation cost is combined with the magic weapon's activation cost to end up with the activation cost for the tattoo's activation cost. This was broken down to the fundumentel bits so any player could see that the Mods add to the total activation cost.
There is no option mentioned about having options to selectively activate just parts of the tattoo.

Same page "Enhancements over time:", says what it means.
There is no option for selective activation mentioned there ether.
commentarty: Though this might account for the disceptencies in Tattoo counts found in NPCs.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
Post Reply

Return to “Rifts®: Dimension Books”