Picts can increase their skills and gain special powers by placing animal designs on or in their skin. There are specific restrictions that must be obeyed to pay the animal spirit for its help, but the first question is how you get its attention.

The "Lucky Socks" method

Association is the key here; if you're wearing your "lucky socks" socks and luck is with you, it must be the socks, right? In this case, it's true.

Use your Pictish Design skill to paint an evocative animal design on your body. You can also have someone else with Pictish Design skill make designs on you, but it does NOT work using other artistry skills.

1. Make it a design, not a picture! Ignore the stupid drawings of Picts with random spot illustrations on them; remember you are trying to integrate the animal into your flesh.
2. Design must evoke an animal with the qualities you want.
3. Must be on the part of the body that you want to enhance.
4. Design must look good there.

During the time that the design stays on your skin (anywhere from 5 minutes to a few days depending on weather, sweat, etc), the animal spirit may give you a bonus to your skill roll. This depends on how well you suceeded artistically.

Pictish Design roll:
Succeeed by 5 = +1 to skill you want to enhance
Succeeed by 10 = +2 to skill you want to enhance
Succeeed by 15 = +3 to skill you want to enhance

This bonus goes away when the design washes or wears off.

Shortly after that time (as soon as possible), you MUST perform a ten-minute ritual thanking the animal spirit for its help, EVEN IF it did little or no good. If you don't do this, or if you treat the spirit or the process with less than reverence, then the spirit wil repay your ill manners in kind, and snarf your roll at a critical time!

Permanency
If a particular design gives you a really good bonus, and you are very pleased with it, you may want to think about tattooing it into your skin for keeps. The following warnings should be noted:

1. You have to roll your Pictich Designs skill again when tatooing, BUT you get +2 to THAT roll if the woad design is still clearly there for you to follow.
2. Every day (what time depends on the animal) you have to perform a half-hour ritual to the animal, thanking it for its continued help and renewing your bond with it; it's family now.
3. Your real estate is limited. Choose your designs wisely.
4. Keeping them temporary does allow you to customize your enhancements for a given situation.

The medical crutch

Actual herbal and phsician skills, bed rest, and good food are needed to heal properly. But if you really need to, you can attempt to use the above method as a temporary crutch to get you to help.

Paint the design on the afflicted body part, or, if necessary, on the banages. The animal association must especially strong, so that the way it will help your injury or illness is very clear.

Pictish Design roll:
Succeeed by 5 = avoids 1 level of penalty on Thrash- or Angst-o-meter
Succeeed by 10 = avoids 2 levels of penalty Thrash- or Angst-o-meter
Succeeed by 15 = avoids 3 levels of penalty Thrash- or Angst-o-meter