Is it possible to Counterfeit the appearance of a mark? Of course, a high enough bluff check with a disguise kit would be enough to counterfeit the mark for a cursory glance or with some work and exotic materials even make a tattoo of it.
Is it possible to Counterfeit the abilities of a mark? A little more difficult- but not impossible. Player Characters are better than everyone else around them: nobody should be able to say "Oh- he can only teleport 25ft! A marked scion of Orion can teleport 30!". Especially when you consider that in previous editions of Eberron the marks came in a variety of strengths. As long as you could theoretically perform the ability of the mark: it should not be difficult to fake having it from a power standpoint (again with a successful bluff check).
Is it possible to Counterfeit the Rituals of a Mark? At a glance: yes. The mark rituals are no different than normal.
So my answer: Yes. You can Counterfeit a mark that would fool most of the people all of the time. Taking Ritual Caster, A high Bluff, and powers that fit in with that marks "theme" and any other feats that work with it. (Such as Linguist, Restful Healing, Alchemist etc.) The difficult part wouldn't be fooling people who have the mark, but fooling the people who run the houses. You might be able to duplicate many of the abilities, or even all of them, but you still can't activate Dragonmark specific items: and that would probably come up eventually.
It would spawn an interesting character though: a person desperate to get into a Dragonmark house (for many possible reasons) to the point where they dedicate their entire existence into counterfeiting the abilities of those people: possibly even convincing themselves that they have the mark.
Of course, a dragonmark is not something that can be faked with mundane tatoos, but fitting interpretation would be that it was faked with a magical ritual made specifically to create the appearance of false dragonmarks.
As to where one ould go for such things, The Tyrants (The Dopplegangsters of Sharn) have expertise in changing people's appearance, so they may have developed a ritual for this purpose.
The large scale cloak and dagger organisations may also be capable of such a ritual, such as The Chamber, The Lords of Dust and possibly The Trust.
(In terms of fluff, I'd say the result of such a ritual would be a mark that shimmers like the real thing, but can be identified with a Perception or Arcana check that beats the Ritual Skill role made to perform the ritual.)
Spoilers for Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark trilogy
Lei's Mark of Making is a fake; her talent as an artificer was enough to supply the power, and, coupled with some careful work by her "parents," the end result was a sufficiently realistic forgery to fool everyone, Lei included.
There was some minor uproar a while ago about a Denieth Heir who had "Tatooed" a dragonmark on himself to boost his prospects within the house. I'm not sure where he shows up.
He showed up in the 'Mournland Express' article from Expeditionary Dispatches. According to the article, he met the people in charge of the Express while adventuring in an effort to force his family's mark to manifest. It never did, so he faked one. While the article never mentions how he went about doing this, it does say that one of the reasons he stays with the Express is to avoid Deneith enclaves and people who might be able to examine his fake mark more closely. One of the hooks was about someone blackmailing him about it.
Now, if she happens to reveal that thing around some mid- to high-level Canniths, I'd expect them to take one look at her and give her the ol', "Why don't you come with me" treatment. But, at level 1, I doubt that's the intent... just make it clear that this probably won't fool someone familiar with the higher-up house members.
It seems that ShiftyKitty's question isn't how to get into Meric D'Cannith's secret lab. Sounds to me like her artificer wants to get into places where flashing a Cannith dragonmark would more than suffice for a speedy entry. Very little scrutiny involved.
Yes, but I was questioning the reasoning behind that question. As far as I can see, simply having a dragonmark is not going to make it easier or more difficult to enter a particular location. Having a mark does not guarantee you are a member of the house (although it is likely), let alone, a member with the right clearence. In those areas that are limited to members of the House, you still need those papers to proof you are a member. At best, having that mark is going to make it easier to bluff of intimidate your way past not having those papers. I know it is not exactly the answer to the OP's question, but dealing with forged papers is a LOT easier then contemplating how you forge a dragonmark both for the DM and the PC. After all, if there is no need to forge a mark (except to earn respect, or to make it easier to gain rank in a house you are already a member off), you do not need to spend much time on what exactly is required to forge a mark.
Having a mark does not guarantee you are a member of the house (although it is likely), let alone, a member with the right clearence.
Exactly right. I think that it's something like half of all house members have a mark (I don't recall exactly). ECG 208 notes that a dragonmarked member of Cannith might end up at the bottom of a forge while an unmarked heir rises to the heights of power.
It makes sense too. If it's about the same number of people who have the mark in the family as don't, people are going to have learned to respect either type of family member. If you have a mark, maybe your older brother doesn't, or you mother does, but your father doesn't.
It's also important to remember that the marks make you good at a job, not at social climbing. I'd bet that most marked members of a family end up as part of the working middle of the family. If you have the Mark of Sentinel, you don't have time for the politicking to be the big boss, but you're also too good at what you do to end up at the bottom of the barrel.
Anyway, a mark certainly isn't going to be a go-anywhere, do-anything pass. Officials in important places probably won't let someone bluster in somewhere just for being marked, even if that means they get to have the honorary title of lord or lady. It might be helpful for someone trying to impress people in a small town, though.
As far as I can see, simply having a dragonmark is not going to make it easier or more difficult to enter a particular location.
See, I would disagree. Having a dragonmark, combined with the right attitude, can easily paint you as the creme de la creme of a dragonmarked house... someone important. For a real world comparison, it'd be like trying to get into a trendy LA nightclub alone... and then trying to get in with Paris Hilton beside you. Obviously you need some other things, but the mark can seal the deal in many cases. For another example... in one of the Beverly Hills Cop movies, Axel walks into an open warehouse, flashes a badge, and starts ordering people around, claiming he's from the DEA and they'd better do what he says because the warehouse is out of complaince (which he proved by just walking in) and that there would be hell to pay with the big boss if he had to call back to the home office. Sure, the ruse wouldn't have stood a chance if he were dealing with higher ups in the criminal organization, but a step or two down the ladder and you've have people just not wanting to get in trouble.
In other words, while just POSSESSING a dragonmark wouldn't get you anywhere, possessing one AND a certain set a skills (bluff, of course... also intimidate and diplomacy) can be a powerful tool.
Makes me wonder what the punishment for counterfeiting a mark is... is it worse or less compared to forged papers?
But hey, this is Eberron...
Makes me wonder what the punishment for counterfeiting a mark is... is it worse or less compared to forged papers?
It would depend on the house humor (and what you've done). The Ghallanda halflings wouldn't do much to a guy that's trying to sneak hear a private conversation, but stealing a Cannith artifact or a Tharashk cargo of dragonshards would probably cost much much more than whatever punishment there is for forging papers.
Makes me wonder what the punishment for counterfeiting a mark is... is it worse or less compared to forged papers?
I'm sure it's less severe. A mark doesn't automatically grant status in the House. It doesn't even grant membership in the House. A human with no blood connection to Vadalis can manifest the Mark of Handling, for instance. Simply having the right tattoo doesn't mean anything to the Houses, especially since they've surely been dealing with these kind of simple scams for thousands of years. The consequence of forging a mark is minor, so the punishment probably isn't severe.
Now the papers are a big deal. First, if you're forging paperwork, you are already deeply irritating and embarrassing one house (Sivis). Because Sivis is the best, and because they're been notarizing documents for centuries, they've surely lobbied for harsh laws on forgery, as it would further deter the crime (and support their monopoly).
Second, that which matters most in Khorvaire is who your king is, not who your father is. If you're forging identity papers, you're tampering with documents that establish your national identity. In Eberron, it's must worse to be from Thrane but having papers that say you're Brelish than it is to be a a human wearing a tattoo that duplicates someone else's birthmark.
A human with no blood connection to Vadalis can manifest the Mark of Handling, for instance.
The ONLY exception to the "mark is in your blood" rule is in 4e if a PC takes the feat. If anyone other than a PC manifests a Mark of Handling, then somewhere (even if they don't know about it) in their lineage was a Vadalis.