Substituting one's body for a spellbook...

[ThreeDSix]

Hello Playground

I have been reading up on Alternative spellcasting methods over the past few days - specifically with scribing spells onto one's body.

Now I don't know if I made this up at some point in the past, but I specifically remember reading a feat or a class feature allowing a character to substitute his own body for a spellbook.

It's not Scarification from the Blood Magus PrC, because I specifically remember the book mentioning the need to use a mirror to be able to read spells scribed onto less visible areas of the caster's body...

Please help me out! Not being able to find this reference is bothering the heck out of me! :smalleek:

And as always, thanks for the help!

[Phelix-Mu]

It seems to me that this was part of the premise of Runescarred Berserker FR prestige class. Seems to me that it is from Unapproachable East. Barbarian that scribes spells into their flesh for later use.

By the by, I think one of the new casting classes in Book of Erotic Fantasy was along these lines. Tantrist? Pretty cool class, though it did not seem terribly balanced. Used Con as the stat tied to casting. Not sure about what kind of spell list it had, but it was certainly an interesting idea. I believe they tattooed or scarified the spells into their flesh, thus somehow fluff-justifying tying casting to a physical stat. That book was chock full of good ideas that had questionable execution.

[TaiLiu]

I think it's shown as an option in either the Complete Mage or Complete Arcane.

I don't think it's a class feature, but rather an alternate to scribing spells onto spellbooks.

[Flickerdart]

Complete Arcane has rules for tattooing spells on yourself instead of a spellbook. The cost in inks is doubled, and the available space is sharply limited.

[sleepyphoenixx]

There's also the Eidetic Spellcaster ACF from Dragon Mag that trades Scribe Scroll and Familiar for the ability to "write" spells directly into your mind.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Perhaps you're thinking of the alternate spellbook section in the back of complete arcane?

One of the options presented there is having your spells tattooed on your body instead of scribed in a book. It costs double what a normal spellbook does and has limited space but is otherwise equivalent to the normal method and available to any wizard.

Alternately, you may be thinking of the eidetic spellcaster option from dragon magazine that allows you to simply memorize all of your spells and prepare them from memory.

[Getsugaru]

There's also the Eidetic Spellcaster ACF from Dragon Mag that trades Scribe Scroll and Familiar for the ability to "write" spells directly into your mind.

On the topic of Dragon Magazine, Dragons get a psychosis called spellhoarding, which lets them replace their natural sorcerer with wizard, with, among its other great abilities, is the fact that they scribe their spells on to their scales. And the only prerequisite is being a dragon...:smallamused:

[Flickerdart]

On the topic of Dragon Magazine, Dragons get a psychosis called spellhoarding, which lets them replace their natural sorcerer with wizard, with, among its other great abilities, is the fact that they scribe their spells on to their scales. And the only prerequisite is being a dragon...:smallamused:
Well, being a true dragon with a caster level; slightly harder to acquire.

[ThreeDSix]

Thankyou people. :smallsmile:

The sought after sentence was right there at the bottom of the page.

This little search actually concerns the Runescarred Beserker, which Phelix mentioned. I'm trying to marry the Runescarred Beserker with a Bone Knight, but that's a topic for an entirely different thread.


On the topic of tattoos, I found the
-Tattoo Spell, which confers bonuses to touched creature for 24 hours. (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting)
-Tattoo Focus Feat, which increases the DC of your specialist school and allows you to enter a Red Wizard circle
-Scarification from Blood Magus, which seems redundant now that I have found this Alternate Spellbook feature...




Anyways, thankyou again everyone for the help!

[Flickerdart]

If you're into tattoos, there's a magic tattoo spell in SpC that bestows a couple of benefits, and psionic tattoos, which are like potions but way cooler.

[ThreeDSix]

If you're into tattoos, there's a magic tattoo spell in SpC that bestows a couple of benefits, and psionic tattoos, which are like potions but way cooler.

Hehe, I had noticed that spell, which seems perfect for the character concept.
The whole tattoo research started when I tried to justify the char getting into Runescarred in the first place.

As I already mentioned, this is all for a pet project: Trying to get a Bone Knight to advance Runescarred Beserker spellcasting.
I find the idea of an armoured hulk scraping runes into his bone plate (Which now counts as his body, since he can never take it off) then having the runes glow and smoke as he casts them absolutely awesome.

If I'm making a character concept I like to be thorough, even with the underpowered thought experiments.:smallsmile:

[Flickerdart]

If he's scratching runes into bone then another option from CArc is perfect - the same section that allows you to tattoo spells also describes the process of engraving them into bone, which is a lot cheaper.

[Asheram]

If he's scratching runes into bone then another option from CArc is perfect - the same section that allows you to tattoo spells also describes the process of engraving them into bone, which is a lot cheaper.

That would be interesting for a necromancer... a skeleton being his spellbook.