I propose a big change: consider tailoring tattoos to class or builds.

To preface, class design on CF largely conforms to the rule that a character can have two of the three: high damage, high defense, or a means to keep people in combat such as lag.

It might be said that the point of a tattoo is that it should give its religious adherents something that they could not otherwise have. What I have noticed is that certain tattoos will have a synergy with some builds rather than others, and this leads to powergaming when it comes to religions.

For instance, there are at least two tattoos that occasionally cast a weak-powered blind that can be dodged or saved against, and one that that does a weak blind/poison/energydrain. These offer relatively little to a necromancer or shaman. Many tattoos have very little to no impact in pk--Padwei's tattoo comes to mind, as its effects were seasonal and things like +morale were not game-changers.

By comparison, another tattoo circumvents class design balance by giving classes a means to keep people in combat. Forceduel may be considered OP, but pounce on a dodgy, ambushing, offensive shifters with wands or on a paladin that can "commune wrath;lightningstrike" is almost as bad.

On one hand, we removed dice rollers at creation and are secretive about game mechanics because we ostensibly want people to play the game and not the numbers, but we reward and celebrate players who repeatedly find and take advantage of every in-game edge available to them.

Tattoos are such an edge, and although I do not intend to create any hard feelings, not all tattoos are equal, and players will exploit those differences.

I don't think it's part of the CF philosophy for all things to be the equal for all characters at all times. I know you're trying to be legitimately constructive, but it sounds to me like you have a particular issue with a particular tattoo's power and its synergy with certain builds, rather than a problem with how tattoos are set up in general.

There are generally between 0-3 people with any given tattoo at any given time. Occasionally a few more during a hayday period for a particularly active imm, but more often than not, that number is zero. It's hardly worth the effort it would take to customize tattoos to be variable for every foreseeable recipient.

Rare gear, quest abilities, cabal abilities, etc, are all things that might have greater synergy (or just be more interesting) with with one build moreso than another, and that's just part of CF. Tattoos in the grand scheme of all other variables are pretty minor. Like anything else, if a tattoo power's synergy with a particular build ends up being game-breakingly bad, it's open for re-evaluation - but this kind of thing is addressed the same way it is addressed with quest powers, items or anything that might introduce a significant instability to game balance.

It also takes all possible skills from one single player to make
something what would really look like unfair:

- the abilities to pk as well as anybody else you meet, or at least 80% as well;
- the abilities to rp to get something like an unique-stronger-than-usual form or a lich quest, to get good cabal powers as well, maybe something else too;
- the abilities to travel into the darkest corners of Thera to get that exactly one super-special piece of eq what will really increase exactly your combo and maybe will even make your combo look too good in the right situations;
- the social abilities to group with other people for the really important things for your character;
- any other abilities you can imagine.


Now the point is that someone needs to have _all_ those abilities together on the same character to make something what will be _really_ overpowered. Though those are such rare situations that they only make CF better.


For example there few liches who couldn't really PK a lot of people often. At the same time it would be really silly of me to _even plan to get and then complete_ the quest for a lich, even though i'm pretty sure i would do fine PK-wise as lich.


But overall everything except the RP/IMM rewards is somewhat standartized, fair and anybody can potentially do the same. And at least people can have their own personal goals to do the same as anybody else in any area of CF where they are still weak at.

But it is totally different with RP/IMM rewards and potentially it makes the sense of unfairness because of the inability to repeat it.



How often does that pounce on that tattoo really fires? Is it really good not to say the exact number for years so all the "victims of the tattoo" keep blaming it instead of themselves?




...
To preface, class design on CF largely conforms to the rule that a character can have two of the three: high damage, high defense, or a means to keep people in combat such as lag.
...

Overall there is also such thing as "utility" and many surprising things can fall into this category. For example outlander's powers beastcall + windwalk + insect swarms work well together for some classes. Even though there are few different little tactics together here and the called beast also needs the help to stay alive for a longer period of time.