# Dungeons and Dragons tattoo: ideas?



## Summer-Knight925 (May 24, 2013)

I'm turning 20 in July, I have been playing since I was 6 years old. 14 years of gaming means it has seen me through the best of times and the worst of times, it gave me strength when I was weak and gave me direction when I was lost.

Dungeons and Dragons has saved my life. A few times.
And it is something I will do my entire life, something I will teach my theoretical children. I want to write tabletop RPGs, whether adventures in a current system, a setting for a game, or an entire game, any. I want to own a game store, do I really need to go on?

Above should be enough for you to understand why I want to get a tattoo to explain my love for this incredible game. I have thought about getting a full back tattoo of the AD&D Player's Handbook, the one with the two men stealing the gems from the idol's eyes and the rest of the party dealing with the dead lizardmen. 

I am asking if any of you either think this is a good idea or think there is a better piece or artwork to do. 


I did think about a d20 before, but I feel it wouldn't represent my love of it as much as dedicating my entire back. 


--thanks for reading.
-Summer Knight


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## GX.Sigma (May 24, 2013)

If it were me, I'd get this bad boy on a shoulder: 






You can google "D&D tattoo" for some ideas. My favorite is this: http://bijlefeld.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/jared.jpg


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## was (May 24, 2013)

One of the red dragons from the original books or boxes.


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## Jester David (May 24, 2013)

If you want something simple, like a logo, one of the dragon ampersands would be the way to go. The 2e one is pretty distinct. Or you could go with the 4e one (or pair the two).

A d20 might also work. There's a fun image of a hand holding a d20 that might look nice. Or you could do a full set of dice.
(Suddenly I want a d20 on each wrist, one with a 1 and the other with a 20)

If you want a larger scene, something more artistic, you might go with the Red Box. Or maybe Gygax's face.


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## Li Shenron (May 24, 2013)

Summer-Knight925 said:


> I have thought about getting a full back tattoo of the AD&D Player's Handbook




This might become uncomfortable or painful when people turn the pages.


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## Unwise (May 24, 2013)

[MENTION=1465]Li Shenron[/MENTION] - Hehe I got a chuckle.

If I might offer an opinion, here are a few points to consider:

1) Remember that you are deciding now something that your future partner is going to have to look at every day for the rest of their life. Sure, you might love it until the day you die, but you are making them look at it all the time too. Most women (and men if that is your thing) won't be thrilled at the prospect of a huge D&D tattoo on their loved one.

2) I personally would avoid any tattoo of a persons face. I have just seen way too many horrible tattoos where one wrong line makes somebody have an odd expression or look deformed. This goes doubly for any picture of a particular persons face.

3) Life takes strange turns, you might picture yourself running a gaming store, but you may end up anywhere, even in the corporate world. I wouldn't want to have to have a conversation about my hobby every time somebody sees my tattoo. This is not even taking into account the prejudice against roleplayers and D&D in particular, which is alive and well in many places.

4) You might think that your future partner must be somebody that loves RPGs too, but that is most likely not the case. A lot of non-gamers would be turned off when seeing a huge billboard to a hobby on your skin and first impressions count. Would you be a bit put off by a woman (or man) with a huge back tattoo of their favorite Country and Western album  There is nothing wrong with it, but if it is not something you are into, it makes an incompatible first impression.

5) Your hobby can't see or care about any act of dedication to it. I sometimes feel that I owe a great deal to my hobbies, but in fact I don't owe them anything as they are not an entity.

6) Excuse me if I am out of line here, but the tone of the OP sounded like you might have battled with depression. If that is the case, please be very sure that when you make the decision about the tattoo it is when you are feeling OK. Neither low nor high. Speaking from some experience here.

Sorry to sound like a downer, I'm not saying you shouldn't do what you want, just some food for thought.


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## Dwimmerlied (May 24, 2013)

Li Shenron said:


> This might become uncomfortable or painful when people turn the pages.




muahahahaha!


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## Dwimmerlied (May 24, 2013)

I want to second pretty much everything that Unwise has posted, I don't think I could express this any more clearly or succinctly.

The one thing I will add; I'd suggest, even if it was the best tattoo ever, please think about it for at least a year, if not longer. If you can't do that, it may be an indication that its a bad idea. If you still feel the same in a year or two about the tattoo, well at least a lot of thought will have gone into it!

I hope this is good to reflect on!


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## Ramaster (May 24, 2013)

Dwimmerlied said:


> I want to second pretty much everything that Unwise has posted, I don't think I could express this any more clearly or succinctly.
> 
> The one thing I will add; I'd suggest, even if it was the best tattoo ever, please think about it for at least a year, if not longer. If you can't do that, it may be an indication that its a bad idea. If you still feel the same in a year or two about the tattoo, well at least a lot of thought will have gone into it!
> 
> I hope this is good to reflect on!





I did this exact same thing (think about it for a full year) with my Magic: The Gathering tattoo. I got the 5 mana symbols tattooed on my right shoulder.

When the year was through, I wanted the tattoo EVEN more! My significant other, who is not into MTG by the way, loves it too since it's quite colorful and artistic.

I would actually advice against the full-on back tattoo for reasons stated earlier on the discussion... but the dragon ampersand? I might just get that myself! I would wait until 5ed comes out, so as to check out it's logo and make the decision.


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## Jester David (May 24, 2013)

Dwimmerlied said:


> I want to second pretty much everything that Unwise has posted, I don't think I could express this any more clearly or succinctly.
> 
> The one thing I will add; I'd suggest, even if it was the best tattoo ever, please think about it for at least a year, if not longer. If you can't do that, it may be an indication that its a bad idea. If you still feel the same in a year or two about the tattoo, well at least a lot of thought will have gone into it!
> 
> I hope this is good to reflect on!



This almost goes without saying.

Think about the tattoo. Get it drawn and designed. Find out where you want it on your body. Then wait a year. One full year. 
Which also gives you time to save and make an appointment at a _good_ tattoo parlour, which often have long waiting lists.


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## Summer-Knight925 (May 25, 2013)

1. someone mentioned a 'future partner' having to see this tattoo. That makes me laugh.
2. I thought about a logo or a d20, however, my personal disdain for 4e and the current direction of the brand name has me leaning against a straight up "D&D" on my body. I'd rather have an iconic piece of artwork to say "yeah, I've been down in dungeons and I've fought my share of dragons".
I'm not a fan of dragon tattoos, they come off as tacky to me and so just getting a red dragon wouldn't really do the trick, I'm looking for something incredible, not some little dinky d20 on my arm. 

As for the whole "don't get a tattoo without thinking about it for awhile" segment of responses, that's why I want something big and not just a d20 or a logo, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to commit to it, not just give it a 2-square-inch part of my shoulder. 

This thread wasn't asking the question "SHOULD I get one" but "what should I get?", I'm asking for artistic opinion.


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## hbarsquared (May 25, 2013)

If you're into Eberron, I'd totally suggest any one of the Marks.  They're cool, they're artistic, and they're completely recognized as D&D while also being great designs for those who may not recognize it.


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## Libramarian (May 25, 2013)

I don't think that the 1e PHB cover is such a good choice for a tattoo. There's not enough detail to the image. I think something by Russ Nicholson from the Fiend Folio would work better.

[sblock]
















[/sblock]
That githyanki tattoo came out rather well.

A friend of mine has a giant Yoda down the right side of his torso done in scarification. It was hilarious at first but it's truly ugly and I don't think he likes showing it off anymore.

Try to get something that looks cool even to people who know nothing about D&D.


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## Jester David (May 25, 2013)

A reworking of the cover of the first PHB might work. Check out the reprinted 1e PHB or the 3e PHB II.


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## Dwimmerlied (May 25, 2013)

Summer-Knight925 said:


> I am asking if any of you either think this is a good idea




I read this literally and responded as I thought


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## Dannyalcatraz (May 25, 2013)

Not the biggest fan of tattoos, but I do appreciate a well done one.  You've made it abundantly clear that this is not about whether or not, but about what image.

And you want something iconic and artistic.  Possibly big.

Here you go:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4smu9OYh3kU/UQ7b6pjBc7I/AAAAAAAAG-A/f3nyh4-vEiU/s1600/paladin-in-hell.jpg


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## steeldragons (May 25, 2013)

For your back...the symmetry and all, I would go for this instead of the 1e original phb:


ya know, minus the actual title and print, just the guy opening the doors.

Now, if you want to be REALLY ambitious, and tell the "whole D&D experience" story...



It would take up top to bottom, side to side, but I can only imagine how long it would take (and painful. yikes!)

Or something like this could work too...[last suggestion, I promise.  ]


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## Unwise (May 27, 2013)

What about an iconic D&D specific monster? Like and ithillid or beholder? You can find some pretty sweet artwork for those online.

The reason I mention it is that most D&D books, especially some of the earlier ones have had very shoddy artwork imo. It also gets around the issue of having to have realistic faces as I mentioned earlier.


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## Tequila Sunrise (May 27, 2013)

Agreed with Unwise; most pre-DiTerlizzi D&D art makes me think of children's art books. Though somewhere on the blogosphere I saw a black-and-white of Orcus that was very evocative -- due to its massive concentration of black ink and lack of detail.

If I was going to get a D&D tattoo, it'd be an actual icon (like my Lady of Pain avatar) or a monster. Maybe a very large tattoo, but not square. The human body isn't square, and doesn't look good imprinted with square images.


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## mythago (May 28, 2013)

Summer-Knight925 said:


> 1. someone mentioned a 'future partner' having to see this tattoo. That makes me laugh.
> 2. I thought about a logo or a d20, however, my personal disdain for 4e and the current direction of the brand name has me leaning against a straight up "D&D" on my body. I'd rather have an iconic piece of artwork to say "yeah, I've been down in dungeons and I've fought my share of dragons".
> I'm not a fan of dragon tattoos, they come off as tacky to me and so just getting a red dragon wouldn't really do the trick, I'm looking for something incredible, not some little dinky d20 on my arm.
> 
> ...




Speaking as someone who does have a huge honking tattoo and is still very happy with it:

1) Your choices are not limited to "dinky" or "full back tattoo". You can get a pretty hefty-sized tattoo on a shoulder, an arm, part of your back, your leg, etc.

2) People are going to want to see your tattoo. Trust me, it is going to be pretty inconvenient to take off your shirt every time you would like to show it to someone.

3) You're going to "commit to it" regardless of where and how large the tattoo is, because it will be part of you; it's a little silly to say that anything less than a full back tat is not a "commitment". 

And yeah, 'should I get a tattoo?' is in fact an artistic opinion. You're in effect making yourself into a piece of art. That better be art that you plan to take care of for life and that you can see yourself enjoying _even if your life changes in ways you can't guess_. You may very well be a happy gamer in 20 years. You have no idea if you're going to have a partner, have a job, etc., and assuming you'll be just like you are now - except with more gray hair and wrinkles - is a one-way ticket to making a bad artistic decision.


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## HardcoreDandDGirl (May 28, 2013)

try this one on...

http://www.creativemountaingames.com/2013/02/live-action-style-dungeons-dragons.html

I have a few times thought of a D&D tattoo, but I think I would get a zelda one first...


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