Runemagic Variant.

[WarWizard]

The DM in a campaign (Pathfinder Edition) I'm playing in has an interesting alternate for people in a particular area of his homebrew world. This country has women known as Runeguards, who utilize an old magic known as Runeology. Their bodies are patterned with runes that they can use to cast special spells. It's a template he charges a feat for at the beginning of creation. A rune-guard must be a woman, and ostensibly compatibility is rare. There's a fair amount of pretty good fluff, but I'll save you the entire printed text. The inherited or acquired template does the following:

-All spellcasting of the character is based off Charisma.
-+2 to Charisma.
-At every odd level the recipient acquires one spell of any class they can case. 1 is 1st level, 3 is 2nd level, 3 is 3rd level, ect. Those spells can be cast 3 times a day.

I want to disclaimer that yes, even considering the feat cost, this is a very powerful alternative. Our roleplaying group is comprised of all good friends, and we're pretty good about not getting out of hand even with powerful characters.

So here's the part I need help with. The story of Runeology is that this is one small form of the magic, and that while powerful, the rest has been lost. I am playing a character I'd like to be the subject of magical experimentation to expand this magic type. The DM is interested in this, and has decided that one of the lost lines of this magic was compatible with men only. He's asked me to work out a system. Here's what we're aiming for, a physical version of the above runeology. Women get casting powers with the magic, and are powerful in said abilities. The male version should increase physical abilities in some interesting and scaling way.

This forum seems like it's always been good for original and inventive approaches to systems like this, so I'm reaching out to get some help. All ideas are welcome and appreciated, and once I've got something nailed down I'll make sure to post the final version.

[WarWizard]

Self-bump. Is that polite?

[Major]

four hours is a pretty ridiculous time to self bump a thread...

Anyways, let me see if I understand you right. The male version boost physical stuff do you mean you want them to be more tankish? As in, not really casters, but fighters with magical boost?

If so I'd think change charisma with strength or con and give them access only to self-buffing spells. (seems powerful, but you said your party can handle it)

But I'm not sure I understand what you mean. So clarify that and I'll see if I can think of anything.

[WarWizard]

Fair enough, I'll make sure to wait in the future. As to your question, sorry if I was unclear, but you nailed it. I'm looking for a physically enhanced abilities. So increased stats, DR, increased speed, Regen, basically anything like that is on the table.

I do like your idea about self-buffing spells. My only concern is that a rune-guard (the female version) would be just as capable of doing this. Ideally, we're looking to have a separate system for it, even if it uses spells in some way. Thank you for the response though, I'll bring this one up with him.

[Major]

Hmmmm, well the issue I see is that the female can cast any spell if I'm correct in the reading. Meaning you have one of two options:
1) The male cast only buffing spells, but the female does this just as good (only advantage is the male only has to worry about strength or con because of it becoming his primary casting stat)
2) Make up new spells

Now then, the question is do you want the men to be more boosted as in how much physical strength they have (think like arms) or how built they become (think body). Because that would make you decide if you use a str or con.

If you want to make up spells then its like you said. Come up with spells that provide DR, con boost, str boost (most of those actually already exist sadly) maybe SR.

The problem is that in D&D magic can do anything. It seems to me that limiting what spells the female can use is a better choice than trying to come up with spells the man can use.

Another option is to have maybe a health boost, a con boost, str boost, DR boost, or something whenever they use a spell.

Thus they get the spell, but also a boost to something in exchange for having access to less spells. This means the women have more variety to what spells they can cast, but the men get more physical boost for their spells.


Note: The main problem arises in the fact that the women can get any spell they want...which makes it hard to give the men anything special when the women get everything. It's hard to say "Here is something they don't have" when the "they" has everything.

[WarWizard]

I see what you mean. It's hard to compare something to what the women get in this case, essentially everything. They do only get 1 spell per level known, though. Perhaps a slightly wider list of spells that buff would be appropriate.

I'll post something a person on another forum mentioned, see what you guys think.

Runic Force: At 1st level, Male Rune Knight gains a pool of energy that can be shaped in a number of ways. This pool is equal to 1/2 his level + his Charisma modifier. This pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. At every odd level, the Rune Knight may choose one of the following abilities. Activating an ability costs 1 point and lasts for a number of rounds equal to his level, when appropriate. These Runic Powers take a Standard action to activate and are considered spell like abilities.
Runic Powers:
# Skills: The Rune Knight can add 1/2 his level to acrobatics, climb, and swim (minimum of +1)
# Physical Ability Scores: The Rune Knight can add 1/2 his level to Str, Dex, of Con (Minimum of +1). The Rune Knight must be at least 5th level before choosing this ability.
# DR/Cold Iron: The Rune Knight gains DR/Cold Iron equal to 1/2 his level, minimum 0f DR 1/Cold Iron.
# Energy Resistance: The Rune Knight gains energy resistance to one type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. This resistance is 5, +5 per 6 levels. The Rune Knight must be at least 5th level before choosing this ability.
# Healing: The rune knight gains fast healing 1, +1 per 5 class levels. The Rune Knight must be at least 3rd level before choosing this ability.
# Haste: The Rune Knight gains the benefits of Haste. The Rune Knight must be at least 7th level before choosing this ability.
# Natural Armor: The Rune Knight gains an enhancement bonus to his natural armor equal to 1/2 his level, minimum of +1.
# Recovery: The Rune Knight can cure himself of fatigue and sickened condition. If he is of at least 11th level, he can also cure Exhaustion, poison, and Disease. He must have Healing activated to use this ability. The Rune Knight must have Healing before ha can choose this ability.

I like this because it's different, though I'm not yet sure how it compares to the feminine version.

[Major]

If you like it that is what matters. Honestly it is an interesting system and I'd enjoy having it. It kinda reminds me of the inspiration a factotum gets but much more.

The only issue I see with that one is that if they are meant to be physical its a bit odd to require charisma (then again, it is runemagic which is charisma based so fair enough). Also compared to the female it seems much weaker due to the limit on how you get it.

I'd consider making it where you get the abilities and can have one on at a time (maybe let you get more on as you level or so). Mainly because spells can give you most of those things that the abilities give you and having to spend points to access them seems a bit off...


Hmmmm I don't know. Either works. I'd say use that system or make it where you get those abilities every few levels but rather than spend points to activate them you can use an action (swift, immediate, standard, move? unsure which) to switch abilities, but the abilities are always on.

Example: Let's say at level 1 you can only have one power on at once, level 5 two, level 10 three (note: I'm giving an example so unsure the balance at the moment) So at level ten you know five abilities, and can have three on at once.

You are about to go into combat so you turn on
-Haste
-Natural Armor
-DR

Later you decide instead of DR you need skills. You might want to make it where you can only change a certain amount of times per day or something.

I don't know, right now I'm shooting ideas for you to listen to and try to form something with.

[WarWizard]

I'm still fine tuning. This is where I'm currently at, if anyone is interested. Thanks again for the help.

Runic Powers:

Runic Force: At 1st Level, and every odd level thereafter, the Runeknight can choose one Runic Power from the list below. Each choice is permanent and cannot be reversed.

Runes of Talent: The Runeknight can add his 1/2 level to acrobatics, climb, and swim checks. This effect is passive and always on.

Runes of Skill: The Runeknight adds his character level to his acrobatics checks, and gains a swim and climb speed equal to his base movement speed. The Runeknight must have Runes of Talent to take this ability. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 5th level.

Runes of Body: The Runeknight can add 1/2 his level to Str, Dex, and Con (Minimum of +1). This effect is considered an inherent bonus and lasts for 1 round per level, activation is a standard action. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.

Runes of Might:The Runeknight can add 1/2 his level to Str, Dex, and Con (Minimum of +1). This effect is considered an inherent bonus and lasts for 1 round per level, activation is a swift action. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 11th level, and the Runeknight must have the Rune Power Runes of Body.

Runes of Speed: Whenever the Runeknight takes the run action, he receives +50 feet to his based speed for purposes of the distance traveled. This effect is passive and always occurs when the Runeknight takes the run action.

Hasted Runes: The Runeknight can activate these runes as a swift action, triggering a Haste effect with himself as the only target. The Runeknight gets a total number of rounds per day equal to his character level, and these rounds need not be concurrent. The Runeknight must be 7th level to choose this Rune Power, and must have already selected the Rune Power Runes of Speed.

Fey Runes: The Runeknight can gain DR/Cold Iron equal to ½ his level, when activating these runes as a swift action. The duration of this effect is 1 round per level, and can be done 1/day for every 5 character levels. This power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.

Reactive Runes: If the Runeknight is targeted by an effect with an energy descriptor, the next round he gains a resistance to that energy equal to his character level, lasting for 1 round per 2 levels. These runes are passive and require not activation to occur.

Wholeness Runes: When the Runeknight suffers damage, he can activate these runes as an immediate action, providing him fast healing 1 per 3 levels, lasting for 1 round per level. This healing cannot bring the Runeknight over his maximum hit points, and the Runeknight cannot heal more than his total number of hit points in a 24 hour period. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.

Rune Skin: The Runeknight's runes react to physical damage. Each successive round the Runeknight is injured, he receives a base natural armor bonus of +1, to a maximum of ½ his character level. Each round he suffers no physical damage, the bonus decreases by 1, to a minimum of 0.

[Major]

Glad it is working out for you. Sounds like fun getting to help make a rule system for your game. Has the DM for it said anything or seen it yet?

[LeshLush]

Thought: Rune is an ancient word of clear Germanic origin, while the suffix -logy is derived from the Greek word logos. Also, the o before the -logy comes about because of the way that ancient Greek declined the noun stems, and isn't part of the suffix. If you like the word Runeology and think it sounds cool, by all means use it milk it for all its homebrew worth, but be aware that if you have any linguistics nerds in your group, it might make them twitch a little the first few times they hear it.

Coincidentally, the Old English has two different words that translate to -ology, one masculine, one feminine. If you wanted to add a little more flavor to the male/female split of Runeology, you could use them. They would be runleornungcraeft and runlar.

The weird thing is, in my campaign, I have a culture that's a mixture of ancient Germanic and ancient Greek influences. I may steal some of your ideas and try to implement some them myself. Keep us posted on how it turns out.