Magic Tattoo Weapons against vampires.

[(SHIFTY)]

Can't seem to find this. Do Magic Tattoo Weapons do full or half damage to vampires?

[darthauthor]

I don't know the answer to that one.

I thought the Atlantis books said that they did S.D.C. damage and are considered simple weapons.

But, IF you think about it,the simple weapon is made from magic. It is indestructible.
Not made of wood or silver, BUT IF I were the GM I would allow it to do FULL damage to a vampire.

[ShadowLogan]

Vampires are vulnerable to Magic Weapons, which even Simple Tattoo Weapons would qualify as.

I don't know if WB1r altered things, but the original WB1 (pg33) establishes that even MD Magic Weapons would see their damage converted 1:1 to HP damage. Though it also states that damaging SDC Spells don't do damage, and MD spells do 1/2 damage as SDC . There isn't any note about SDC magic weapons though at that time (I don't know about WB1r), but it does have TW Water Blasters (pg31) with damage dealing direct to Vamp HP (what damage would look like to others isn't explored at the time, this damage might be a combination of factors not present in the simple weapons like water vulnerability being modified by the magic). Additionally, magic weapons still do SDC in PF, which leads me to think that in Rifts SDC weapons should be able to damage vampires 1:1.

EDIT:
Vampire Arrows (WB21 pg106, and somewhere in the BoM) create x4 arrows that deal SDC to most creatures, and they still do damage to Vampires direct to HP (at x2 the dice used for non-vamps). The extra damage might not be applicable to other STWs as the arrows can function as if they are made of real wood (for immobilization strike to the heart), but it is a canon example of SDC STW doing damage to Vampires.

[Devjannz]

Vampires are vulnerable to Magic Weapons, which even Simple Tattoo Weapons would qualify as.

I don't know if WB1r altered things, but the original WB1 (pg33) establishes that even MD Magic Weapons would see their damage converted 1:1 to HP damage. Though it also states that damaging SDC Spells don't do damage, and MD spells do 1/2 damage as SDC . There isn't any note about SDC magic weapons though at that time (I don't know about WB1r), but it does have TW Water Blasters (pg31) with damage dealing direct to Vamp HP (what damage would look like to others isn't explored at the time, this damage might be a combination of factors not present in the simple weapons like water vulnerability being modified by the magic). Additionally, magic weapons still do SDC in PF, which leads me to think that in Rifts SDC weapons should be able to damage vampires 1:1.

EDIT:
Vampire Arrows (WB21 pg106, and somewhere in the BoM) create x4 arrows that deal SDC to most creatures, and they still do damage to Vampires direct to HP (at x2 the dice used for non-vamps). The extra damage might not be applicable to other STWs as the arrows can function as if they are made of real wood (for immobilization strike to the heart), but it is a canon example of SDC STW doing damage to Vampires.

I agree, Tattoo Weapons are created by magic and so I would class them as Magic Weapons for this purpose. If they were not then Undead Slayers would be pretty useless against them.

[narcissus]

Weapon tattoos are divided into Simple Weapons and Magic Weapons. Magic Weapons will definitely do full damage. The canon answer for Simple Weapons can be found in the England World Book, where both Prrcyvel and Galahad have "Simple Weapon: Silver knife". So you can have a Simple Weapon be made of silver, in which case it would do *double* damage per Vampire Kingdoms Revised:

Any weapon can be plated in silver. Most weapons of silver, whether they be blade, club, spear tip or arrowhead, and whether made entirely of silver or just coated/plated in silver, inflict double damage direct to Hit Points.

Otherwise I'd say that a Simple Weapon wouldn't affect them. My $0.02.

[Marcethus]

I agree with narcisuss.

The way I have always run it is that simple weapon tattoos do no damage to vampires, unless it is a silver weapon. Magic weapon tauoos vary depending on their specific description. Example being the Flaming Weapon tattoo, iirc, it specifically says that it deals full damage to those immune to normal weapons.

That's how I run it.

[Grazzik]

Yes, agree with narcissus. Unless there is some characteristic added, I see simple weapons as a physical manifestation made with tattoo magic but are not magic themselves. The tattoo magic is focused on creating the weapon, not on the target struck by the weapon - no damage to vampires. When the tattoo magic expires, the physical manifestation dissipates as there is nothing left to hold it together.

Sometimes a battle-worthy frying pan is just a battle-worthy frying pan.

[Devjannz]

I disagree with narcissus. The only thing that the designation of Simple and Magic affects is if it does MD or not. Both are still created from magic energy and magic energy can affect vampires, they would both do the same amount of HP damage to them. That is my bottom line.

[Marcethus]

I disagree with narcissus. The only thing that the designation of Simple and Magic affects is if it does MD or not. Both are still created from magic energy and magic energy can affect vampires, they would both do the same amount of HP damage to them. That is my bottom line.

That might be how you run it, but while it is magic that creates the simple weapon the end result is not itself a magic item. I do not have access to my books atm, but I've seen it somewhere (iirc it was in one of the early faqs that was published in one of the early books intro).

A simple weapon tattoo creates an ectoplasmic facsimilie of a weapon. Unless it is a silver weapon tatoo then it deals standard silver damage.

The Flaming Weapon tattoo specifically states that it deals damage to creatures normally immune to weapons.