Tattoos, Scars, Brands, Chaos Grotesqueries, Glyphs, Marks and Sigils
issueid=562 11-10-2011 12:34 AM
Junior Member
Number of reported issues by Efed: 28
Tattoos, Scars, Brands, Chaos Grotesqueries, Glyphs, Marks and Sigils
Glyphs, Marks and Sigils for flavor and some with magical or social effects would be really interesting.
I imagine a "Skin" Screen system that would work similar to the current inventory screen in that it shows the parts of the body and what if any "contents" each body slot "contains". It should also note which if any are visible (not covered by armor, clothing, etc), and any KNOWN effects from the contents. The benefits to such a system as I see them are:

-A whole new type of reward for quests.
For example, you pass an arduous trial through a trap filled corridor to join the local Thieves' Guild. As a Member they place the Guild Mark somewhere on your body. Now
whenever it is visible, fellow guild members are more likely to be non-hostile, Guild affiliated shops give better prices, and unfortunately local constables want to arrest you.

-Scars could add flavor and have effects on a character's social interactions as well.

For example:
Your body bears the following:
Location: Visible: Description: Synergies:
<Chest> [X] A jagged, lurid scar marks where a young red dragon mauled you. -2 to App, +1 to Chr, +1 to Intimidate

-Glyphs, Sigils and Tattoos could be either magical or non-magical. Magical specimens could have passive or activated powers (Using Imbue with Power to activate them).

For example:
Your body bears the following:
Location: Visible: Description: Synergies:
<Head> [X] A tattoo of a glowing third eye. -1 to App, Activate (10 pp) to See Invisible for 1d6 rounds
<Left Arm> [ ] A glyph of Stone's Hardiness. +1 to Toughness, +1 PV versus Blunt


-These kinds of marks are non-transferable under normal circumstances. So, enemies could benefit from them without fear of the Player looting them (although there could be a small chance for a Magical mark to "hop" to the slayer of it's bearer or the eater of it's previous owner's corpse perhaps).

-Chaos Grotesqueries could be like corruptions in ADOM. They cover also slot and cannot be easily removed. They also would have passive and activated effects (Imbue with Power). Using any of the activated abilities would hasten overall Corruption I assume. Just part of the price of dealing with Chaos.

-Massive opportunity for flavor.

-New Shop type possible for more unsavory towns: Tattoo Parlor. The shopkeeper sells "Scrolls" there which are "patterns" for making various tattoos, marks, etc.

-New Items to remove or repair unsightly or unwanted marks (Vanishing Cream?)

Anyone else have ideas?
Issue Details
Issue Number 562
Issue Type Feature
Project ADOM II (formerly known as JADE)
Category Gameplay
Status Suggested
Priority Unknown
Suggested Version JADE 0.2.0
Implemented Version (none)
Votes for this feature 3
Votes against this feature 1
Attachments 0
Assigned Users (none)
Tags (none)




11-25-2011 11:37 PM
Member
you are correct about the potential for tattoos and scars to add flavor
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11-27-2011 03:52 AM
Member
I like the idea (it's highly reminiscent of "Planescape --- Torment"), but I'm not sure that parts of it (specifically: the tatoos; even though I did some research on them due to this thread and have found that they've been around for several millenia in the real world) fit in with the world of JADE. However, 1000+ years have passed since ADoM (so there must have been some advancements, technological or otherwise), and it's really Mr. Biskup's decision on whether or not it fits in with his world.

Regardless, a few suggestions:

-Inks and Dyes: Magical glyphs, sigils, and tatoos need to be inscribed with something, so why not have magical inks and dyes to go with the patterns? To take it further, said inks and dyes should somehow correlate with the effect you wish to gain from the glyph/sigil/tatoo you inscribed with them.

Example: If you plan on inscribing a tatoo that will grant fire resistance when imbued, said tatoo will need to be inscribed with, say, ink that has been mixed with ground red dragon scales. Another use for item processing?

-Priority: Priority should be given to different things.

Examples: Tatoos can be used to cover up scars, and maybe brands.
Scars should disrupt glyphs, sigils, and tatoos--if the scar was gained last.
Brands should disrupt everything short of a chaos grotesqueries if the brand was gained last.
Chaos Grotesqueries should be special--glyphs, sigils, and tatoos should be warped into a Chaos Glyph/Sigil/Tatoo, each with a power horribly warped from what was originally granted.
Glyphs, Marks, and Sigils should require a patch of clear skin to work, so they shouldn't work if there is anything else on the same part of the body as the they are.

-Time-dependant Effects: Glyphs, Sigils, and Tatoos should distort with time--as the PC grows older, they should warp and provide lesser and lesser effects, eventually ceasing to provide any effect at all (except for maybe a negative effect of appearance).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the idea for magical inks and dyes came from a friend of mine--not from me. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
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11-27-2011 06:00 PM
Junior Member
Wow, MITZE! Those are some great ideas! I especially like the idea of magic inks being needed and the chaos corruption of magical sigils and glyphs. I don't know if these ideas will mesh with Mr. Biskup's vision for JADE obviously, and even if he does like some of these ideas, I doubt he could even consider implementing them until magic has been implemented which is a ways out ATM as far as I know. Either way thank you for such a great reply! Any more thoughts out there, fellow JADE junkies? Lol
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11-27-2011 06:22 PM
Junior Member
Another idea I had is that players might be able to flay the magical tatooes, sigils and glyphs off the corpse of a vanquished foe. This would require that they have a high score in certain skills for a reasonable chance of success. Food preservation to recieve a corpse, literacy perhaps and maybe first aid or healing, whichever is higher for skill at "surgery". Also the success rate would be modified by the weapon or tool they were wielding, with a scalpel or small bladed weapon being the best and most other types of weapon causing an automatic failure (no clubs used for skinning. LOL). If the player is successful, they would receive a "bloody roll of <foo> skin with a <bar> inscribed". At this point the skin will rot fairly quickly if the player doesn't process it with something to cure it, salt perhaps or ash or lye. Now that the player has a preserved roll of skin, what they are able to do with it varies by what type of mark it was originally. If it was a tattoo, then they should be able to attempt to copy the tattoo onto their skin, with varying levels of success. If the roll contains a sigil or glyph, the player could attempt to release the magic by reading the roll as if it were a normal scroll, although since the mark wasn't designed for this, success should be far from certain. Finally if they have a magical tattoo set, they could attempt to inscribe the sigil or glyph onto their own skin.
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