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So, I had this idea for an albino orc, who was thrown out of his clan for being different, and ended up being raised by some elves. These elves taught him the way of magic, and thus, there was Vajor Galailo, the albino orc wizard.

I usually mess around with HeroForge to create a visual for my character, and came across the option to embed a gem in his forehead.

So I came up with this idea: Vajor, still being an orc with a low wisdom score, keeps losing his arcane focus, a gem. After encoutering this problem multiple times, he decides to make sure he never loses it again, and embeds the gem in his own forehead.

Would this be allowed?

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This would have some mechanical benefits for your character

If your arcane focus is physically attached to your body, this gives several potential advantages, the most obvious of which is that you cannot be forced to drop it. This would mean that, for example, a fighter's Disarming Attack would not be able to deprive you of your focus. Perhaps more importantly, if your party is captured and has all their items confiscated, it won't be possible for them to confiscate your focus (either that, or they will confiscate it very painfully).

In addition, you will be able to "drop" your arcane focus in order to grab something else without fear of losing it. For example, normally you wouldn't be able to stow your focus, pull out a weapon, and attack all on the same turn. Any character can do this by dropping their focus on the ground (a free action) instead of stowing it, but then they risk losing the focus if they aren't able to return to pick it back up later. With your focus embedded in your forehead, you will not run this risk, which gives you a little more flexibility in battle. Essentially, the hand with which you manipulate your focus will always be free to do other things in between casting spells. (I'm assuming you would still need to touch the focus with your hand in order to cast spells with it.)

All in all, these are minor advantages that probably won't come up very often, unless you specifically design your character around them by intentionally taking advantage of the ability to quickly switch what you're holding. If your DM finds these minor effecs acceptable, they could certainly allow you do run with this character concept. However, be prepared for them to say no if they feel it would be unfair.

In official Adventurer's League play, I'm pretty sure this would not be allowed.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It’s worth noting that a character could get these benefits by wearing their Arcane Focus (e.g. embedding the crystal into a crown or the back of a glove they’re wearing). \$\endgroup\$
    – nick012000
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 1:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ @nick012000 wearing a focus is not sufficient, you would have hold the crown or glove in your hand to cast a spell with it. "A spellcaster must have a hand free to access a spell's material components—or to hold a spellcasting focus —but it can be the same hand that he or she uses to perform somatic components." \$\endgroup\$
    – Ruse
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 5:03
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Ruse You can hold an arcane focus while still wearing it- for instance, you could hold a hand to to crown that’s holding your Crystal Arcane Focus. Additionally, there’s some official support for worn Arcane Foci in the form of the Izzet Guild from GGtR and their unnamed type of mechanical Arcane Foci. \$\endgroup\$
    – nick012000
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think @nick012000 is on to something here and this should really be part of this answer (or maybe an answer on its own). \$\endgroup\$
    – John Hamilton
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ Now that I think about it, a wearable focus would be mechanically pretty similar to a component pouch, in the sense that it would not occupy the caster's hand except when they're actually casting a spell. I'll try to find something about wearing a focus in the rules, but to my knowledge there isn't anything. Maybe the best answer is "use a component pouch and just call it a wearable focus". \$\endgroup\$
    – Ryan C. Thompson
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 15:08
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No and yes

No, if you want it to be permanently affixed so that it grants mechanical advantages such that it couldn't be removed.

Yes, if this is just how you imagine and describe your character but that the mechanical sitation is no different than if you stored it in a pouch or on a string around your neck.

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    \$\begingroup\$ You should support your answer by citing the relevant rules - or by pointing out that this is left ambiguous in the rules, and that you are explaining how you would rule as DM. (If you're doing the latter, you should support your suggested resolution of the issue by citing relevant experience.) \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 8:15

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