Tattoo Gadgets

OVERVIEW

A special type of gadget uses a living person as hardware. Normally, this is impossible - standard Installation relies on immutable hardware as a way of sealing the Symphonic effect into reality. Living organisms change constantly, and as such they are too unstable for Installation. Some spells can bypass this limitation, but only temporarily - gadgets created in this manner only last a month before naturally fading.

Tattoo gadgets approach the challenge in a manner similar to Implants. An Implant replaces a part of the recipient's physical body with an object, acting as an unchanging anchor point for the Installed effect without risking the gadget's erosion. Likewise, Tattoo gadgets must provide a static anchor for the effect, meaning that the gadgeteer must lock portions of the recipient's body in stasis (or something close enough). Due to the limitations of human technology and how fragile human anatomy is, this process is done entirely from a Symphonic angle.

During the Installation for a Tattoo, the gadgeteer isolates portions of the recipient's physical body, metaphysical self (a soul for most humans, Primum for the Unchained, or even simply raw existence for others), and Symphonic signature, not dissimilar to isolating an effect from the Symphony itself. The gadgeteer arranges them into a metaphysically sound system that can support a gadget's effect. Done properly, this causes no particular health issues to the recipient - outside of the Installation itself.

APPEARANCE

Tattoo gadgets are named for their visual similarities to mundane tattoos, as they manifest as markings on the recipient's body. Note that Tattoo gadgets are not actual tattoos, and therefore do not follow any concerns that mundane tattoos may bring. Needles and pigment are not a necessary part of Installation - and even if they were, they would not be used in traditional manners. Gadgeteers may use strange tools during Installation that are not normally suitable for human bodies, and some use no tools at all to direct their process. Perhaps fortunately, the gadgeteer requires no artistic skill - the visual design of the Tattoo is shaped by the Installation itself.

As in other types of Installation, the gadget's appearance generally reflect the gadgeteer (or the recipient, if the template is sourced from them). Some gadgeteers may choose to obscure their own aesthetics for anonymity, while others feel that it's a point of pride to have their work to stand as is... or simply find it's too much work to bother with.

The Tattoo's Key also affects its appearance. Minor Tattoos are the most similar to regular tattoos as unmoving designs. Major and Signature Tattoos tend to have minor supernatural qualities, such as shifting or blinking patterns, that become more pronounced when activated.

Though Tattoo gadgets are traditionally Installed on a human form, the gadget will also appear on the recipient's alternate forms if they exist. For demons, Tattoo gadgets appear across all of their Covers. If an alternate form lacks the body part that the Tattoo gadget is Installed on, the Tattoo is temporarily repressed - though some Tattoos have been known to shift to the closest approximation of a limb on stranger demonic forms.

LAW OF SYSTEM STASIS PROPORTIONALITY

The size of a Tattoo gadget is determined by its Key., with stronger Keys requiring more of the bearer's body to sustain the Installed effect. Gadgeteers call this principle the Law of System Stasis Proportionality. There is no set of numbers that define Minor, Major, and Signature gadgets; even two of the same Key on the same individual may vary in exact coverage. Rather, they fall into approximate ranges in proportion to the bearer's body.

Different gadgeteers may have their own ways of quantifying these ratios, though among the most common of definitions uses "limbs" as a measurement of coverage:

Minor Tattoos: half a limb
Major Tattoos: one limb
Signature Tattoos: two limbs

Under this system, a "limb" is defined as an arm or a leg. The torso constitutes as four limbs - two for the front, two for the back. The head and neck count as half a limb each.

Proponents of this system claim that it's an easy and straightforward conceptualization, with the obvious caveat that it should not be considered as a hard rule. Detractors say that the abstraction is misleading, as the inexperienced tend to believe that each Tattoo must be contained to its own area of the body. In reality, a well-designed Tattoo does not have to be strictly placed, and some can even "share" space, such as having two Tattoos woven together on one arm. There are still limitations - the more Tattoos concentrated in one area, the riskier the Installation. Not only that, but a single injury could stand to disable or even destroy multiple Tattoos at once. Still, some gadgeteers (and their clients) enjoy the artistic merits of such designs.

The main takeaway from the limb system, as well as the Law of System Stasis Proportionality itself, is that a person has a limited amount of space to Install gadgets. A person can have up to 9 limbs worth of Tattoo gadgets Installed, regardless of how the gadgets are positioned.

MECHANICS

Tattoo gadgets must source their templates from either the gadgeteer or the recipient. With as intimate as the procedure is, gadgeteers find that it's impossible to introduce a template not known to either individual - the recipient's body invariably rejects the gadget.
All Tattoo gadgets activate as a reflexive action, requiring a roll but no triggers. Some may have parameters, but only as a byproduct of the effect itself - for example, a Haunted House Tattoo requires the user to touch an object.
Unlike other gadgets, Tattoo gadgets do not have Structure nor stockpiles. However, this also means they do not register on Aetheric resonance, allowing them to go undetected more easily than their counterparts. In addition, Tattooed gadgets cannot be Overclocked.
Tattoo gadgets cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed in the same way as gadgets with object hardware. If a Tattoo is forcibly removed (such as by amputation), the Tattoo immediately fades from existence without the usual destructive rebound. If the gadgeteer severs their creator's connection to the Tattoo, it also fades.
Tattoo gadgets are vulnerable to injury. Though they do not require touch-ups like normal tattoos nor maintenance like other gadgets, Lethal damage dealt to a Tattoo gadget will temporarily disable it until the injury is healed. In addition, directed Special damage will often rend a Tattoo gadget from existence (usually along with the person's limb). Attacking a Tattoo gadget requires a Called Shot. Note that taking any damage to a Tattoo while it is healing from Installation will also destroy the gadget.
Tattoo gadgets cannot be reverse-engineered nor investigated. Additionally, they cannot be used as components for Higher-Order arrangements.
Similar to their Implant counterparts, having a Major or Signature Tattoo gadget causes the Tattooed Condition. Unlike Implants, however, this Condition cannot be avoided - as it is impossible to precision-tune a Tattoo. This Compromise is caused by the obvious visual effects of an active or recently activated Major/Signature Tattoo -markings fill with color, pictured creatures writhe and breathe flame, skin glows with impossible starlight, etc.

TATTOOED (PERSISTENT)

Your character has a Major or Signature Tattoo gadget bound to their body. Normally, it lays dormant, shifting so slowly that it's unlikely that anyone would notice. Once activated, however, it is undeniable that the marking is supernatural as it comes to life, persisting even after the effect ends.

For 1 scene after the Tattoo has been activated, being seen with it causes a Compromise with a -2 penalty (other modifiers still apply).

Per Storyteller discretion, being seen with a dormant Tattoo may rarely cause Compromise with a +2 bonus, depending on the witness.

A character with multiple Tattoos can individually resolve this Condition - but the Persistent Beat can only be earned once per setting.

Resolution: Remove the Tattoo gadget. Other than self-mutilation, this requires the gadgeteer to willingly sever their connection to the gadget, or have someone diffuse the gadget.

Beat: Roll Compromise from the Tattoo being seen.

INSTALLATION SUMMARY

Extended Action
- - Intelligence + Crafts + Resonance
  - 1 hour/roll (while in a workshop)
  - Requires 15 Successes
  - Penalized by spell unfamiliarity
  - Existing Tattoos in the same area inflicts -5 per Tattoo
Requires 1 Aether to prime and 1 dot of Willpower to anchor.
Can only use a spell that either the gadgeteer or the recipient knows - no third-party donations.
Each roll deals 1 Lethal to the recipient, and an additional 1 Lethal on completion. This cannot be mitigated supernaturally.
Human recipients lose 1 Integrity. Demons lose 1 Cover from all Covers.
Recipient gains Arm Wrack, Leg Wrack, or Torso Wrack depending on the location of the injury. This Tilt remains until the Tattoo fully heals.
Recipient gains the Tattooed Condition, if the Tattoo is Major or Signature.

WORKSHOP

Tattoo gadgets must be Installed in a workshop.

The process of locking down an effect in a living person's body requires a high degree of control and ability from the gadgeteer, which is only achievable when utilizing the particular Aetheric conductivity of a workshop.

Some daring gadgeteers have attempted the process without a workshop. However, this invariably ends up significant injury, if not worse. Even if the gadgeteer somehow manages to complete the Installation, the resulting gadget is impossible to anchor - often leading to the death of the recipient.

Note that the duration per roll for the Installation already takes the workshop's innate time-halving into account. Hypothetically, rolls to Install a Tattoo gadget outside of a workshop take two hours each.

STABILITY DEGRADATION

Upon completing a Tattoo Installation, the recipient's Stability Stat degrades.

Having a Tattoo gadget Installed in one's body is a deeply unnatural occurrence (with, of course, no implications on its namesake). When a Tattoo is completed and anchored, the recipient's Stability Stat suffers.

For Unchained, they lose a dot of Cover across all of their Covers, as the presence of the Tattoo risks revealing their Symphonic nature.

Humans, stigmatics, and pactholders all have their souls weakened by the Installation. For humans and stigmatics, this is represented by the loss of a dot of Integrity, a shaken world view, and sometimes an unsettled mind. For pactholders, they gain a dot of Corruption instead as their Symphonic half threatens to overwhelm their human body.

INJURY

Installing a Tattoo causes lingering injury to the recipient.

Not unlike getting a mundane tattoo or surgery, Tattoo Installation necessitates controlled injury of the recipient. Every Installation roll deals 1 Lethal to the recipient that cannot be supernaturally mitigated. This damage occurs at the end of the roll duration. On completion, the recipient takes an additional 1 Lethal.

Additionally, regardless of the amount of damage taken, the recipient is afflicted by a Tilt representing the injury, such as Arm, Leg, or Torso Wrack.

RECOVERY PERIOD

The recipient must heal Installation damage naturally.

While the recipient has Installation damage, the gadget is in a fragile state. Further injury to the Tattooed area will destroy the gadget, and any magical healing will interfere with the Symphonic underpinnings still settling within the recipient's body. Thus, the injury must be allowed to heal naturally.

Recipients can benefit from mundane healing and healing Merits, following the usual limitations. Wrack Tilts are removed when the recipient is fully healed.

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