I have been reading through some of the earlier supplements to gather information on areas outside of Logress, and general story ideas. My reading of the the Beyond the Wall supplement has left me with one Rules Question and a more general secondary question where I will solicit the advice, and opinions of the forum in general.

In Beyond the Wall I was interested in and a little confused by the contacting of spirits and the related bonuses. For example the Ysbryos frequently appear to provide a bonus and a negative. For example the fog/mist gives a +1 DEX, but also a -1d6 to damage, Rain gives a +1 DEX, but -1 STR, and Ash gives +2 STR, -2 DEX. Are both the bonus and the negative applied to the player character? If not does the player character apply the negative to an enemy?

Additionally, while I certainly can exclude these spirits from my game entirely (especially considering this is a 4th edition supplement) I am considering including them because I find them interesting and think they could add flavor. What bothers me isn't the clan Samhladhs whose benefits replace the religious bonus, and the family trait but that access to Ysbryos on top of the clan spirit can hypothetically shift the mechanical balance a little too far in the favor of the Picts (even if the negative modifiers are applied to the PK). While PK followers of a pagan or heathen faith could theoretically during a journey north of the wall get access to a spirit tattoo regardless of their cultural background (I am at a loss to find a reason that would absolutely prohibit it) I have difficulty seeing most Christian PKs of other cultures who pay more then lip service to their faith willingly getting a spirit tattoo(there may be some give on this for British Christians but there would be little or none for most other flavors of Christianity).

The tattoo's could gift a Pict PK with allot of flexibility realistically unavailable to the other PKs accept under unique circumstances (especially the Christian ones). I won't go so far as to say it would break the game (unless a Pict PK is allowed to gather an obscene number of tattoos) but as someone who is both a player and a GM I can see how it might be viewed as unbalanced. Am I wrong in this? If I am not wrong but would still like to include this is my game anyway does anyone have any recommendation on how to restore the balance?

I would be interested in anyone's opinions and thoughts on this.

By my reading, both the bonus and the penalty apply to the person who has been tattooed, when the Spirit's help is invoked. The rules earlier about this are a bit confusing, but I take them to mean that it is +1 to Statistics or +3 to Skill, unless the Invocation line says something different. Thus a Hare Samhladh would give +1 Move, +1 DEX or +3 Awareness (default) while a Blackbird Samhladh gives +10 to Singing or +5 to Hunting, not +3. In the case of Ysbryds, which are weaker spirits, there is a bonus and a penalty, which balances it out more or less. I wouldn't get bent out of shape if a Pict character gets tattooed with, say, an Oak Ysbryd tattoo (+3 CON, -3 DEX): it balances out. Also, if you take into account that the Pict has to succeed in the trait roll or lose 1d6 points from the trait, it becomes even less of a free lunch. It is a gamble. Note that the Meeting an Ysbryd - solo's Spirit Test Outcomes -table neglects to mention this additional 1d6 points lost on a failure (see p. 39).

Another small criticism of the solo is the preparation modifiers. Given that you need a critical to succeed, and success or failure doesn't seem to matter, the preparation modifiers are essentially meaningless. I would much rather reverse them (that is, going there alone is +1 rather than -1) and use them as modifiers for the Otherworld Encounter roll. Thus, if you have a Fiosaiche to accompany you, you won't get lost and likely find the spirit you seek, whereas if you are out there alone, your chances of getting Lost are increased.

In summary, yes, it gives a Pict character a bit more of an edge over Christian characters. But if you are running a Pictish campaign, then likely all the PKs are Picts and it doesn't matter. If you are running a non-Pict campaign in Logres, then this Pict character suffers from the Culture modifiers:
Pict: –3 SIZ, +3 DEX,–3 APP
This is a total of -3 stat points compared to Cymric +3 CON, a difference of 6 stat points! Not only that, but Picts are losing 3 valuable SIZ points. Picts need all the help they can get to make up for this penalty, and the Clan Samhladh bonus helps, but they are still behind the Cymric characters.

In short, I would not worry too much about it, but it is your game. If you are happier leaving the Picts with just their Clan Samhladh or even making away with that too, it is your choice as the GM. I'd be tempted to give the Clan Samhladh but not allow for more tattoos, simply because I wouldn't want to deal with the Otherworld so much in a mixed game.