Tattoo, Viper

Price 18,000 gp; Slot none; CL 5th; Weight —; Aura faint conjuration

DESCRIPTION

This tattoo typically takes the form of a coiled snake, and once per day the bearer can activate it as a standard action. A viper tattoo must be visible to the bearer and must be touched as part of its activation. The tattoo is not normally placed on the head, neck, or back as a result, since most creatures would require mirrors to activate them.

When activated, the snake tattoo animates and becomes a viper. It appears in the bearer’s space and acts immediately, on the bearer’s turn, and obeys the bearer’s spoken commands for up to 5 rounds.

The viper uses the bearer’s base attack bonus when it attacks, and the DC to resist and cure its poison is equal to 10 + the 1/2 bearer’s level + the bearer’s Constitution modifier. If the bearer has a class feature or an ability that grants it precision damage (such as sneak attack), the viper’s attack deals 1 additional point of damage per die of that precision damage.

At the end of the 5 rounds, the viper vanishes and reverts to its tattoo form. If the viper is killed, the tattoo vanishes. As a swift action, the bearer can command the viper to withdraw from an opponent, and in this case, the viper returns to its tattoo form once it reaches the bearer’s space.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

Cost 9,000 gp; Feats Inscribe Magical Tattoo; Spells summon nature’s ally I