Hoorary for new UA! Boo that the Circle of Stars and the Fey Wanderer are listed for survey, as that means they probably aren’t in the Theros book. Alas.
Magic and Tattoos seem to be the theme here. So let’s take a look.
Summoning Spells
Summon Fey Spirt, Summon bestial spirit, summon elemental spirit, summon celestial spirit, summon shadow spirit, summon aberrant spirit, summon undead spirit, summon fiendish spirit
Oh hey look, they figured out how to make summoning sane and future proof. Took them 5 years, but whatever.
Everything Else
Spirit Shroud– a 3rd level spell for a 1d8 on attacks doesn’t sound great for most people who can cast it. Expect every blade to have this, as it’s a tad bit better than hex, especially if you fight HP restoring monsters. It’s a bit pricey for paladins, and I don’t know why a wizard would take it (unless they were secretly an eldritch knight or something)
Melee Clerics are who this spell is for. As far as I read it, if your spiritual weapon is close enough, it would gain this benefit. But this spell feels pricey.
Otherworldly Form– Basically do a He-man transformation (although that’s a Tenser’s transformation), or some anime power up. It’s… okay. I can’t imagine having a character use this. I mean, it’d be nice to have in the back pocket, but this isn’t going to be a game winning assault. I can’t think of what to do to make this an actual build. It’d be handy to have, but at level 11, anyone in melee is probably already doing this better.
Acid stream– It’s Agahazzr’s Scorcher, but in acid form. And it does it’s damage every turn until an action is spent. Wow. Not a great spell for killing goblins, but a must have for ogres. Very much not party friendly, though. This will keep eating an unconscious teammate until dead. Amazing spell for level 1.
Spells Overview
Eh? they’re okay? Nothing super special that calls to me. The summons fix a broken aspect of 5e, everything else is meh.
Tattoos
Basically magic items. It’s weird that you have the option to unattuned and for someone else to take your tattoo. Multiple tats count as 1 attunement, though, so that’s neat.
I’d love some straight up guidance on these mixing with wildshape. I think they ca, but some of this gets powerful.
Absorbing Tattoo– Resistance isn’t bad. Being able to become temporarily immune is kinda neat. Gaining some HP as part of a planned combo when the wizard drops a fireball on the melee team sounds awesome.
Barrier Tattoo– Gives you high end light/medium armor, or plate, no proficiency needed. Stacks with bracers of defense and a bunch of monk stuff.
Coiling grasp– sounds like I’m going to have to adjudicate a LOT of player use attempts. I don’t like it, probably wouldn’t let it at my table. Not as an Uncommon.
Eldritch Claw– Insignia of claws, with a melee as range power which is neat.
Blood Fury– Expanded crit range, brutal crits, an attack as a reacation. This is stupid powerful.
Illuminator’s– Roleplay heavy. Good for spies, I guess.
Lifewell– Relentless Endurance. Nice.
Ghost Step– Guys, we found an easy way to let people by Kitty Pride. And actually, the wording of this item is unique, meaning that a lot of normal magical protections won’t work on it.
Masquerade– Disguise self. Yay.
Spellwrought– This lets you use your skin as a scroll. This text is really oddly written. It is not a tattoo of spell storing, you buy a needle of Spell X and spend an hour implanting it. Great way to have feather fall on tap all the time. Really good for back ups, really. Not great for main item use.
Shadowfell brand– Advantage on stealth’s. Not shabby and a 1/day cut damage from source in half. nice.
Tattoos Overview
I wish there was more guidance on making our own, but whatev. These are going to be power adds to the game.