Domriso
2011-07-07, 12:12 PM
This is something I've been contemplating for a very long time, but only recently figured out a viable way to accomplish with how I have in mind. In essence, I love the idea of runic magic, of there being certain sigils that can just be drawn to bring forth power. However, I've never liked how it was accomplished in game. Any time I tried to find a variant, or tried to come up with my own, I failed.
Then I found some that actually worked. This was Alternate Realities Runic Weapons system. Now, the system itself was not for d20, so I've essentially had to create it myself from the ground up, using the ideas I culled from that sourcebook. It's also not entirely finished, hence why I'm throwing it up here, so I could get some help.
Without further ado, here are the runes:
Actually, wait, there is some more ado. I should probably mention, I do not use a lot of standard D&D 3.5 rules. While I love the d20 system, I have homebrewed my game so much, I think I need to call it something else other than D&D.
In particular, I use the True Sorcery system of magic from Green Ronin rather than the standard Vancian system. Because of that, standard magical items don't exist. It's very hard to make, and thus very rare, to find a permanently enchanted magical item. Thus, runes serve a special place in my games. Making a good system is therefore somewhat important to me.
RUNIC MAGIC
Runes are the most common way to enchant an object. Simply by carving a sigil, a person is capable of drawing magic into the world, and commanding that magic to work for them. It is by no means a simple art, but it is powerful and useful.
There are three ways of invoking runic magic: ofuda, runes and symbols. Runes are the common way of producing runic magic, by carefully inscribing detailed and intricate designs into the sides of other objects. Symbols are something of a down and dirty rune, capable of being drawn quickly to draw out the power, but usually not to the same degree as a rune. Ofuda are a variant of the runes, typically inscribed on easily destroyed objects, such as slips of paper. These objects are carefully detailed like runes, but expected to be destroyed, and therefore not as complicated as runes.
Runes are also customizable. Most runes have certain key features that can be altered to produce varied effects. This makes the art of recognizing runes incredibly important, as what appears to be a simple fire protection rune might actually have been altered to be a fire weakness rune.
When making a rune (or symbol) a certain Craft check (based on the material being carved) must be made; the DC is based on the difficulty of the rune. A rune is typically inscribed on a flat surface that is 12 inches by 12 inches (144 square inches) wide. It takes 1d3 days to inscribe such a rune, and the entire surface is taken up. For each halved size the time it takes to inscribe the rune increases, as detailed below:
Common NameSize of Area (in Square Inches/Inch x Inch)Time to InscribeIncrease to DC
Shield Rune144/12 x 122d3 days+0
Cartographer's Rune100/10 x 105d3 days+2
Blacksmith's Rune64/8 x 88d3 days+4
Scribe's Rune36/6 x 612d3 days+6
Lover's Rune16/4 x 416d3 days+8
Warrior's Rune4/2 x 221d3 days+10
Assassin's Rune1/1 x 126d3 days+12
Hidden Rune.25/.5 x .532d3 days+14
Pixie Rune.0625/.25 x .2538d3 days+16
Some runes can be blended together, which allows their powers to interact symbiotically. For the most part, powerful runes are more difficult, but simple runes can be made even by laypeople.
Most runes have either limited uses per day or constant, weaker effects.
Runes are most often carved into stone or metal. Wood can be carved into, but it easily warps, and therefore does not usually hold a rune for long (unless a Yew rune is applied first, but that is a special case). Crystal is also sometimes used, but the ease in which crystal can be destroyed pushes most to avoid doing so.
Common Names: The common names of runes vary from place to place, but in general follow these conventions. The names refer to traits of the runes, based on their relative size and use.
This convention was mostly to make it easier to reference the size of the runes, without having to actually write out the details every time. I tried to make the common name reference a common use of the runes, but I'm sure there are better uses. If anyone has a better name, I'll be glad to hear it.
Size of Area: Runes can be decreased in size, so as to fit them on smaller objects. The process is much the same, though the time it takes increases.
This is one of the advantages of the system. Runes are naturally made fairly large, at 12 by 12 inches. That's not huge, but significant enough that you can't go putting them on everything. You can make them smaller, but that increases the time it takes to inscribe them, as well as the difficulty.
In general, I made this go by even squares. It made the area easier to calculate, and not as odd measurements. The original system had the base be 100 square inches, and every 50% decrease in area increased the DC, but I decided this would be easier to understand and serve the same purpose.
Time to Detail: As always, the most difficult part of making a rune is the detailing. It takes an enormous amount of time to craft a rune, and that time only increases as the size of the rune decreases. For every week that a rune takes to make, another Craft check must be made, at the same DC. Failure means the rune is ruined and must be scrapped.
A days worth of work is eight hours of detailing. These need not be done on consecutive days, but skipping a day requires an Intelligence check to remember exactly where in the rune the crafter stopped. The DC for this check is 10. For every additional day that goes by without working on the Rune, the check increases by 1. If the crafter fails this check, they waste that day’s work. If they critical fail this check, they completely misremember, and they ruin the rune in the process.
The major balancing act of the system is the time it takes for a rune to be crafted. This was also present in the sourcebook I borrowed the idea from, but it was much harsher (to get one of the smaller sized runes, it would take between six months and two years to inscribe). I opted to make this less, choosing instead to make the runes themselves not as powerful, but which have the capability of being joined together to make them more useful.
Increase to DC: Working with smaller space makes a rune more difficult to correctly detail. The smaller the rune gets, the more difficult it is to get all the intricacies right. As such, each smaller rune becomes more and more difficult to detail. The smallest of runes are nearly impossible to detail successfully without special tools.
The reasoning for making the skill checks higher for smaller runes is simple: most of the runes would be exceedingly powerful if they were made to be easily inscribed small. A hundred of the same runes might not have cumulative effects, but they would be more powerful. Hence, smaller runes take longer to inscribe, but are also more difficult to inscribe.
Size: Being smaller makes detailing smaller runes more easily. As the rules are, the DCs of runes are written with the assumption that it is a Medium creature detailing a rune that is 144 square inches (a shield rune) in size. If the detailer is smaller than this, then the runes become easier to correctly detail.
For every size category smaller than Medium, the creature receives a bonus to their Craft checks. Likewise, for every size category larger than Medium, the creature takes a penalty on their Craft checks for making runes.The exact bonus is detailed on the following table.
Creature's SizeModifier to Craft Checks
Colossal-20
Gargantuan-12
Huge-6
Large-2
Medium+0
Small+2
Tiny+6
Diminutive+12
Fine+20
It makes sense to me that a creature who was smaller would innately see the world on a smaller scale, and thus be better able to inscribe smaller runes. It makes no sense that very small creatures still need to inscribe runes that are larger than them, so smaller creatures can inscribe smaller runes more easily. Note, this also makes it so that certain races that practice runecrafting will be sought out because of their superior skill.
Dexterity: Finally, a high Dexterity can aid in making well-crafted runes. When crafting runes, a creature adds his Dexterity modifier to the check as well as his Intelligence modifier. Clumsy people tend to find it more difficult to inscribe runes.
I struggled with this one, but eventually I decided to include it. Certain people are just better able to craft things, especially small details, even if they aren't smart enough to envision it. I suppose it could be changed to "Use the higher of your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier," but I like this one better, especially since there's a lot that would make it more difficult to make the runes in the first place.
Symbols: Symbols are simply the sloppy, rushed versions of runes. Whereas runes are usually painstakingly etched into different surfaces, symbols can be painted, drawn, even smudged, onto another surface. While it is technically possible to create a symbol that is of the same power as a rune, doing so is extraordinarily difficult. More commonly, a symbol is quickly made so as to take advantage of their power immediately.
A symbol requires 1d8 rounds to create. During that time, the creator needs to make a Craft check (of whatever the creator is using) against the DC of the rune. If they succeed, the symbol is created and can be used like a rune. If they fail, the symbol does not work. On a critical failure, the symbol appears to be crafted correctly, but is actually terribly mislaid, and has a 100% chance misfire rate.
Symbols take exactly the same form as runes, so any rune can be made into a symbol. However, symbols also have a certain percent chance to fail, whether it be because of mis-inscription, or wear on the inscription. A symbol can last for one minute, plus an additional number of minutes equal to the amount the creator exceeded the DC of the check, divided by 2. So, Don the Bold is making a symbol of the Rune of Weakness. This normally has a DC of 28. He gets a +13 to his check, and he rolled a 17, for a total of 30. 30 minus 28 is 2, and that divide by 2 is 1, so the symbol lasts for 2 minutes.
Further, there is always a chance of failure by a symbol. Whenever activated (which might be every round, for a continuous effect rune), the symbol has a 15% chance of misfiring, which results in a random effect occurring instead (see accompanying Misfire Table). In addition, the misfire chance increases by an amount equal to the total DC of the rune divided by 5, rounded up. So, a rune with a DC of 34 would have a total misfire chance of 22% (15 + [34/5 = 6.8, rounded up to 7] yields 22). Finally, every time that a symbol is used, the misfire chance increases by 2%.
By spending additional time crafting the symbol, the creator can lessen the misfire chance. For every additional round they spend crafting the symbol, the misfire chance is reduced by 1%, to a minimum of 0%. However, this will not prevent the symbol from accruing a misfire chance as it is used.
Symbols are an interesting idea, and a way to make simple, if rather unreliable, runes on the fly. It could be the difference between life or death, if the crafter is smart.
Special Inlays: Runes are usually simply etched into a surface, or perhaps woven into a piece of clothing, or the like, but sometimes a whitesmith goes the extra mile. Certain materials naturally carry mystical energies better than others, and using the right materials can sometimes mean the difference between successfully creating a rune and not.
Each rune has its own special requirements of materials which can increase their chance of success. Using the materials decreases the DC required to successfully create the rune.
This is an idea I had from reading too much fiction. It would make sense that certain substances, like maybe gem powder or blood, could empower the basic magic of a rune if used to fill the rune. I have yet to fully extend this, mostly because I need to finish making the runes and then think of symbolic substances, but I do want to do this.
COMBINING WORK
The most common way to make a rune is to start work one day and move onto working on it the next day. One person, making one rune, and spending the time to do it right. However, that’s not the only way to do it.
A growing trend amongst runecrafters is that of mass production. In this style, a rune is worked on for eight hours by one worker, then for eight hours by another worker, then for eight hours by another worker, and so on. Doing the runecrafting in this way cuts down on the time significantly, but also quality. When multiple crafters work on a rune, it can be difficult to organize the work. When starting work on a rune that someone else was working on, the crafter must make an Intelligence check, with a DC of 10 + 1 per number of workers who have worked on the rune since the crafter last worked. Failure means that the crafter misinterprets where the last crafter left off, and they lose that days work. A critical failure means that the crafter completely misunderstood and ruined the rune.
However, logistically, this is a good way to work. Having three workers on a single rune cuts the time down by a third; most full runes can be done in a day or two using this method. Even the most complicated pixie runes take far less time using this method. Some of the most impressive runes have involved many crafters collaborating on a single rune, cutting the time down by phenomenal amounts.
This gives the DM a way to make runes faster, if somewhat less reliably. It really doesn't have any additional benefit for having more than three individuals working on one rune, since it takes eight hours of work to accomplish one day of work, and the more people working on it makes the Intelligence check more difficult.
MATERIALS
The type of material that a rune is placed on determines a lot about the nature of the rune. Runes can only be effective if they stay pristine; oftentimes, a rune is kept protected, so as to make sure nothing happens to it.
Bone: Another lesser-often used material, bone is most often used by races lacking access to smelting, especially if bones are used as weapon materials or decorations. Bone is an odd material because it rarely is uniform in shape; in addition to the +4 penalty to the rune’s DC for having a rounded surface, most bones also suffer a -2 penalty for its lack of uniform shape.
Cloth: Another unusual choice, cloth has the advantage of being easier to store. Runes can be sown into cloth, or even crafted to incorporate runes on purpose, and the process allows for blankets, clothing, cloaks, and more to possess runes. Unfortunately, they are also much easier to distort, since a single thread being pulled out can ruin the rune.
Crystal: An uncommon choice to inscribe upon, for many reasons, crystal nonetheless does occasionally bear runes. Crystal ranges widely in durability and brittleness, but generally they can be expected to be easier to break apart than other materials. That alone makes it a less desirable choice to inscribe runes upon. However, they do allow the possibility of hiding runes in jewelry, of which is the most common application.
Flesh: Possibly the least often used material, living flesh is about as far from ideal as can be had. Flesh constantly grows, warps, and changes, and even flexing ones muscles can warp a rune enough to cause it to misfire. Still, especially amongst the more martial races, scarring runes into flesh is a practice, albeit a dangerous one.
The bizarre medium of flesh carries with it the difficulties of inscribing. All attempts to inscribe a rune in flesh is made at a -8 penalty. This includes the penalty for inscribing on a rounded surface.
All flesh runes innately carry a 15% misfire chance. There is little that can be done to mitigate this.
Leather: Leather is not an easy material to work with in the process of making runes. Leather is stiffer than cloth, but it bends and is rarely straight. Worse, leather can crack if untreated, making it a less useful material in a variety of ways.
Metal: Metal is an obvious choice for placing a rune on. It’s durable, protective, and can be used in a variety of ways. Warriors who wear armor anyway favor these runes. The downside is, of course, that metal is very durable. It is a difficult medium to work with, especially the harder types. But, metal is used in so many different applications, from weapons to armor to battlements to simple tools, so they are one of the most common surfaces to find runes upon.
Stone: Stone is a favored material for many peoples, since so many castles are made of stone. Less durable than metal, stone is easier to work with, but still protective, which is helpful in multiple ways.
Natural Armor: In a similar vein to inscribing on flesh, some creatures which naturally possess thick skin or bony plates will inscribe runes upon their surfaces. This is an easier task than the scarification of flesh, and only imposes a -2 penalty upon the check. Sometimes the natural armor can be flat enough to not count as round, such as a Quarz Bjord.
Wood: Wood is a common material for protective runes to be inscribed upon, mostly because they are a common building material. While they are easier to inscribe upon, being softer than metal or stone, they also deteriorate more quickly.
I'm sure there are other possibilities than this, but this was all I could think of when I was writing the materials section. If anyone has a suggestion, feel free to send it my way.
THE CHECK
When crafting a rune, the first thing to do is to determine what rune is being crafted. Each rune has a specific DC, and adding any additions to the rune will increase this (and possibly the time to craft). After that, the number of days required is determined. This also determines the number of checks which must be made. For every week that the crafter must work, another check must be made, against the same DC.
Certain factors can increase or decrease the difficulty of inscribing a rune. These are described below.
Round: Most runes are made upon the flattest surface possible, to minimize possible distortions in the rune. When inscribing on a round surface, such as on a cylindrical wand, the check to inscribe the rune increases by +4.
Spherical: While round surfaces are difficult, purely spherical ones are even more so. A spherical surface carries a DC that is +8 higher.
Irregular: Even surfaces that are spherical are easier to work on that irregular surfaces. To inscribe a rune on an irregular surface, the DC increases by +12. Furthermore, all irregular runes carry a 15% misfire chance. This can be reduced by increasing the DC of the check. For every point that the misfire chance is reduced by, the DC increases by 2.
Another thing to note about the check is that, depending on the medium, the rune crafting is made via different skills. A rune carved into a stone will take a much different skill than that of weaving into cloth. As such, consult the following table to determine which skills govern which materials:
Material|Skill
Bone|Craft (Scrimshaw)
Cloth|Craft (Weaving)
Crystal|Craft (Gemcutting)
Flesh|Craft (Tattooing)
Leather|Craft (Leatherworking)
Metal|Craft (Blacksmith or Whitesmith)
Natural Armor|Not sure yet
Stone|Craft (Sculpture)
Wood|Craft (Whittling)
Now, this is another balancing factor of runes. If you don't have a heck of a lot of skills, you can probably only inscribe runes of a particular type, making it much harder to branch out. It also makes runecrafting something more reserved to NPCs than PCs, without making it absurd for a PC to want to be able to accomplish it.
COMBINING RUNES
Many runes possess minor, weaker effects. A common thought is that, if one were to carve multiple of the same rune, it would result in a more powerful rune. The thought is not entirely misplaced, but neither is it completely correct.
Runes cannot simply be doubled up. Instead, multiple runes of the same type inscribed on a single surface must be inscribed together. What this means is that, instead of just inscribing two of the same rune, the two runes must be inscribed in such a way as to connect the two of them. This results in a magnification of the power inherent within the rune. Runes made of multiple runes tied together are referred to as complex runes, and after having been inscribed, they function as a single rune.
The two (or more) runes need not be inscribed at the exact same time; in fact, it is impossible to inscribe both runes at exactly the same time. Instead, the process is exactly the same as inscribing multiple runes, except that, when connecting a rune to another, the DC increases. When inscribing an additional rune, the DC increases by +2 for each previous rune that was a part of the complex rune.
For instance, if Moifae were to inscribe a Rune of Sparks on her sword, the DC would be 18 (+10 for being a Warrior rune). If she then wanted to inscribe a second Rune of Sparks on her sword, she would have to tie the two together, which would increase the second Rune of Sparks’ DC by +2 (resulting in the DC being 20). If she were to attempt to inscribe a third Rune of Sparks, the DC would be 22 (+10 for the Warrior rune size, +4 for being the third rune being tied to the complex rune).
This is probably one of the more difficult aspects of runes. Since each rune is different, they each need to have the combinations explained. While time-consuming, it also allows runes to become more powerful through the use of complex runes. I find it very helpful, since this means true works of art can be made, but they're more difficult.
Now, as you can probably see, this isn't completely finished. I'm looking for things I may have missed, and other ways to fix up the system. Next post will have what runes I have created thus far.
Then I found some that actually worked. This was Alternate Realities Runic Weapons system. Now, the system itself was not for d20, so I've essentially had to create it myself from the ground up, using the ideas I culled from that sourcebook. It's also not entirely finished, hence why I'm throwing it up here, so I could get some help.
Without further ado, here are the runes:
Actually, wait, there is some more ado. I should probably mention, I do not use a lot of standard D&D 3.5 rules. While I love the d20 system, I have homebrewed my game so much, I think I need to call it something else other than D&D.
In particular, I use the True Sorcery system of magic from Green Ronin rather than the standard Vancian system. Because of that, standard magical items don't exist. It's very hard to make, and thus very rare, to find a permanently enchanted magical item. Thus, runes serve a special place in my games. Making a good system is therefore somewhat important to me.
RUNIC MAGIC
Runes are the most common way to enchant an object. Simply by carving a sigil, a person is capable of drawing magic into the world, and commanding that magic to work for them. It is by no means a simple art, but it is powerful and useful.
There are three ways of invoking runic magic: ofuda, runes and symbols. Runes are the common way of producing runic magic, by carefully inscribing detailed and intricate designs into the sides of other objects. Symbols are something of a down and dirty rune, capable of being drawn quickly to draw out the power, but usually not to the same degree as a rune. Ofuda are a variant of the runes, typically inscribed on easily destroyed objects, such as slips of paper. These objects are carefully detailed like runes, but expected to be destroyed, and therefore not as complicated as runes.
Runes are also customizable. Most runes have certain key features that can be altered to produce varied effects. This makes the art of recognizing runes incredibly important, as what appears to be a simple fire protection rune might actually have been altered to be a fire weakness rune.
When making a rune (or symbol) a certain Craft check (based on the material being carved) must be made; the DC is based on the difficulty of the rune. A rune is typically inscribed on a flat surface that is 12 inches by 12 inches (144 square inches) wide. It takes 1d3 days to inscribe such a rune, and the entire surface is taken up. For each halved size the time it takes to inscribe the rune increases, as detailed below:
Common NameSize of Area (in Square Inches/Inch x Inch)Time to InscribeIncrease to DC
Shield Rune144/12 x 122d3 days+0
Cartographer's Rune100/10 x 105d3 days+2
Blacksmith's Rune64/8 x 88d3 days+4
Scribe's Rune36/6 x 612d3 days+6
Lover's Rune16/4 x 416d3 days+8
Warrior's Rune4/2 x 221d3 days+10
Assassin's Rune1/1 x 126d3 days+12
Hidden Rune.25/.5 x .532d3 days+14
Pixie Rune.0625/.25 x .2538d3 days+16
Some runes can be blended together, which allows their powers to interact symbiotically. For the most part, powerful runes are more difficult, but simple runes can be made even by laypeople.
Most runes have either limited uses per day or constant, weaker effects.
Runes are most often carved into stone or metal. Wood can be carved into, but it easily warps, and therefore does not usually hold a rune for long (unless a Yew rune is applied first, but that is a special case). Crystal is also sometimes used, but the ease in which crystal can be destroyed pushes most to avoid doing so.
Common Names: The common names of runes vary from place to place, but in general follow these conventions. The names refer to traits of the runes, based on their relative size and use.
This convention was mostly to make it easier to reference the size of the runes, without having to actually write out the details every time. I tried to make the common name reference a common use of the runes, but I'm sure there are better uses. If anyone has a better name, I'll be glad to hear it.
Size of Area: Runes can be decreased in size, so as to fit them on smaller objects. The process is much the same, though the time it takes increases.
This is one of the advantages of the system. Runes are naturally made fairly large, at 12 by 12 inches. That's not huge, but significant enough that you can't go putting them on everything. You can make them smaller, but that increases the time it takes to inscribe them, as well as the difficulty.
In general, I made this go by even squares. It made the area easier to calculate, and not as odd measurements. The original system had the base be 100 square inches, and every 50% decrease in area increased the DC, but I decided this would be easier to understand and serve the same purpose.
Time to Detail: As always, the most difficult part of making a rune is the detailing. It takes an enormous amount of time to craft a rune, and that time only increases as the size of the rune decreases. For every week that a rune takes to make, another Craft check must be made, at the same DC. Failure means the rune is ruined and must be scrapped.
A days worth of work is eight hours of detailing. These need not be done on consecutive days, but skipping a day requires an Intelligence check to remember exactly where in the rune the crafter stopped. The DC for this check is 10. For every additional day that goes by without working on the Rune, the check increases by 1. If the crafter fails this check, they waste that day’s work. If they critical fail this check, they completely misremember, and they ruin the rune in the process.
The major balancing act of the system is the time it takes for a rune to be crafted. This was also present in the sourcebook I borrowed the idea from, but it was much harsher (to get one of the smaller sized runes, it would take between six months and two years to inscribe). I opted to make this less, choosing instead to make the runes themselves not as powerful, but which have the capability of being joined together to make them more useful.
Increase to DC: Working with smaller space makes a rune more difficult to correctly detail. The smaller the rune gets, the more difficult it is to get all the intricacies right. As such, each smaller rune becomes more and more difficult to detail. The smallest of runes are nearly impossible to detail successfully without special tools.
The reasoning for making the skill checks higher for smaller runes is simple: most of the runes would be exceedingly powerful if they were made to be easily inscribed small. A hundred of the same runes might not have cumulative effects, but they would be more powerful. Hence, smaller runes take longer to inscribe, but are also more difficult to inscribe.
Size: Being smaller makes detailing smaller runes more easily. As the rules are, the DCs of runes are written with the assumption that it is a Medium creature detailing a rune that is 144 square inches (a shield rune) in size. If the detailer is smaller than this, then the runes become easier to correctly detail.
For every size category smaller than Medium, the creature receives a bonus to their Craft checks. Likewise, for every size category larger than Medium, the creature takes a penalty on their Craft checks for making runes.The exact bonus is detailed on the following table.
Creature's SizeModifier to Craft Checks
Colossal-20
Gargantuan-12
Huge-6
Large-2
Medium+0
Small+2
Tiny+6
Diminutive+12
Fine+20
It makes sense to me that a creature who was smaller would innately see the world on a smaller scale, and thus be better able to inscribe smaller runes. It makes no sense that very small creatures still need to inscribe runes that are larger than them, so smaller creatures can inscribe smaller runes more easily. Note, this also makes it so that certain races that practice runecrafting will be sought out because of their superior skill.
Dexterity: Finally, a high Dexterity can aid in making well-crafted runes. When crafting runes, a creature adds his Dexterity modifier to the check as well as his Intelligence modifier. Clumsy people tend to find it more difficult to inscribe runes.
I struggled with this one, but eventually I decided to include it. Certain people are just better able to craft things, especially small details, even if they aren't smart enough to envision it. I suppose it could be changed to "Use the higher of your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier," but I like this one better, especially since there's a lot that would make it more difficult to make the runes in the first place.
Symbols: Symbols are simply the sloppy, rushed versions of runes. Whereas runes are usually painstakingly etched into different surfaces, symbols can be painted, drawn, even smudged, onto another surface. While it is technically possible to create a symbol that is of the same power as a rune, doing so is extraordinarily difficult. More commonly, a symbol is quickly made so as to take advantage of their power immediately.
A symbol requires 1d8 rounds to create. During that time, the creator needs to make a Craft check (of whatever the creator is using) against the DC of the rune. If they succeed, the symbol is created and can be used like a rune. If they fail, the symbol does not work. On a critical failure, the symbol appears to be crafted correctly, but is actually terribly mislaid, and has a 100% chance misfire rate.
Symbols take exactly the same form as runes, so any rune can be made into a symbol. However, symbols also have a certain percent chance to fail, whether it be because of mis-inscription, or wear on the inscription. A symbol can last for one minute, plus an additional number of minutes equal to the amount the creator exceeded the DC of the check, divided by 2. So, Don the Bold is making a symbol of the Rune of Weakness. This normally has a DC of 28. He gets a +13 to his check, and he rolled a 17, for a total of 30. 30 minus 28 is 2, and that divide by 2 is 1, so the symbol lasts for 2 minutes.
Further, there is always a chance of failure by a symbol. Whenever activated (which might be every round, for a continuous effect rune), the symbol has a 15% chance of misfiring, which results in a random effect occurring instead (see accompanying Misfire Table). In addition, the misfire chance increases by an amount equal to the total DC of the rune divided by 5, rounded up. So, a rune with a DC of 34 would have a total misfire chance of 22% (15 + [34/5 = 6.8, rounded up to 7] yields 22). Finally, every time that a symbol is used, the misfire chance increases by 2%.
By spending additional time crafting the symbol, the creator can lessen the misfire chance. For every additional round they spend crafting the symbol, the misfire chance is reduced by 1%, to a minimum of 0%. However, this will not prevent the symbol from accruing a misfire chance as it is used.
Symbols are an interesting idea, and a way to make simple, if rather unreliable, runes on the fly. It could be the difference between life or death, if the crafter is smart.
Special Inlays: Runes are usually simply etched into a surface, or perhaps woven into a piece of clothing, or the like, but sometimes a whitesmith goes the extra mile. Certain materials naturally carry mystical energies better than others, and using the right materials can sometimes mean the difference between successfully creating a rune and not.
Each rune has its own special requirements of materials which can increase their chance of success. Using the materials decreases the DC required to successfully create the rune.
This is an idea I had from reading too much fiction. It would make sense that certain substances, like maybe gem powder or blood, could empower the basic magic of a rune if used to fill the rune. I have yet to fully extend this, mostly because I need to finish making the runes and then think of symbolic substances, but I do want to do this.
COMBINING WORK
The most common way to make a rune is to start work one day and move onto working on it the next day. One person, making one rune, and spending the time to do it right. However, that’s not the only way to do it.
A growing trend amongst runecrafters is that of mass production. In this style, a rune is worked on for eight hours by one worker, then for eight hours by another worker, then for eight hours by another worker, and so on. Doing the runecrafting in this way cuts down on the time significantly, but also quality. When multiple crafters work on a rune, it can be difficult to organize the work. When starting work on a rune that someone else was working on, the crafter must make an Intelligence check, with a DC of 10 + 1 per number of workers who have worked on the rune since the crafter last worked. Failure means that the crafter misinterprets where the last crafter left off, and they lose that days work. A critical failure means that the crafter completely misunderstood and ruined the rune.
However, logistically, this is a good way to work. Having three workers on a single rune cuts the time down by a third; most full runes can be done in a day or two using this method. Even the most complicated pixie runes take far less time using this method. Some of the most impressive runes have involved many crafters collaborating on a single rune, cutting the time down by phenomenal amounts.
This gives the DM a way to make runes faster, if somewhat less reliably. It really doesn't have any additional benefit for having more than three individuals working on one rune, since it takes eight hours of work to accomplish one day of work, and the more people working on it makes the Intelligence check more difficult.
MATERIALS
The type of material that a rune is placed on determines a lot about the nature of the rune. Runes can only be effective if they stay pristine; oftentimes, a rune is kept protected, so as to make sure nothing happens to it.
Bone: Another lesser-often used material, bone is most often used by races lacking access to smelting, especially if bones are used as weapon materials or decorations. Bone is an odd material because it rarely is uniform in shape; in addition to the +4 penalty to the rune’s DC for having a rounded surface, most bones also suffer a -2 penalty for its lack of uniform shape.
Cloth: Another unusual choice, cloth has the advantage of being easier to store. Runes can be sown into cloth, or even crafted to incorporate runes on purpose, and the process allows for blankets, clothing, cloaks, and more to possess runes. Unfortunately, they are also much easier to distort, since a single thread being pulled out can ruin the rune.
Crystal: An uncommon choice to inscribe upon, for many reasons, crystal nonetheless does occasionally bear runes. Crystal ranges widely in durability and brittleness, but generally they can be expected to be easier to break apart than other materials. That alone makes it a less desirable choice to inscribe runes upon. However, they do allow the possibility of hiding runes in jewelry, of which is the most common application.
Flesh: Possibly the least often used material, living flesh is about as far from ideal as can be had. Flesh constantly grows, warps, and changes, and even flexing ones muscles can warp a rune enough to cause it to misfire. Still, especially amongst the more martial races, scarring runes into flesh is a practice, albeit a dangerous one.
The bizarre medium of flesh carries with it the difficulties of inscribing. All attempts to inscribe a rune in flesh is made at a -8 penalty. This includes the penalty for inscribing on a rounded surface.
All flesh runes innately carry a 15% misfire chance. There is little that can be done to mitigate this.
Leather: Leather is not an easy material to work with in the process of making runes. Leather is stiffer than cloth, but it bends and is rarely straight. Worse, leather can crack if untreated, making it a less useful material in a variety of ways.
Metal: Metal is an obvious choice for placing a rune on. It’s durable, protective, and can be used in a variety of ways. Warriors who wear armor anyway favor these runes. The downside is, of course, that metal is very durable. It is a difficult medium to work with, especially the harder types. But, metal is used in so many different applications, from weapons to armor to battlements to simple tools, so they are one of the most common surfaces to find runes upon.
Stone: Stone is a favored material for many peoples, since so many castles are made of stone. Less durable than metal, stone is easier to work with, but still protective, which is helpful in multiple ways.
Natural Armor: In a similar vein to inscribing on flesh, some creatures which naturally possess thick skin or bony plates will inscribe runes upon their surfaces. This is an easier task than the scarification of flesh, and only imposes a -2 penalty upon the check. Sometimes the natural armor can be flat enough to not count as round, such as a Quarz Bjord.
Wood: Wood is a common material for protective runes to be inscribed upon, mostly because they are a common building material. While they are easier to inscribe upon, being softer than metal or stone, they also deteriorate more quickly.
I'm sure there are other possibilities than this, but this was all I could think of when I was writing the materials section. If anyone has a suggestion, feel free to send it my way.
THE CHECK
When crafting a rune, the first thing to do is to determine what rune is being crafted. Each rune has a specific DC, and adding any additions to the rune will increase this (and possibly the time to craft). After that, the number of days required is determined. This also determines the number of checks which must be made. For every week that the crafter must work, another check must be made, against the same DC.
Certain factors can increase or decrease the difficulty of inscribing a rune. These are described below.
Round: Most runes are made upon the flattest surface possible, to minimize possible distortions in the rune. When inscribing on a round surface, such as on a cylindrical wand, the check to inscribe the rune increases by +4.
Spherical: While round surfaces are difficult, purely spherical ones are even more so. A spherical surface carries a DC that is +8 higher.
Irregular: Even surfaces that are spherical are easier to work on that irregular surfaces. To inscribe a rune on an irregular surface, the DC increases by +12. Furthermore, all irregular runes carry a 15% misfire chance. This can be reduced by increasing the DC of the check. For every point that the misfire chance is reduced by, the DC increases by 2.
Another thing to note about the check is that, depending on the medium, the rune crafting is made via different skills. A rune carved into a stone will take a much different skill than that of weaving into cloth. As such, consult the following table to determine which skills govern which materials:
Material|Skill
Bone|Craft (Scrimshaw)
Cloth|Craft (Weaving)
Crystal|Craft (Gemcutting)
Flesh|Craft (Tattooing)
Leather|Craft (Leatherworking)
Metal|Craft (Blacksmith or Whitesmith)
Natural Armor|Not sure yet
Stone|Craft (Sculpture)
Wood|Craft (Whittling)
Now, this is another balancing factor of runes. If you don't have a heck of a lot of skills, you can probably only inscribe runes of a particular type, making it much harder to branch out. It also makes runecrafting something more reserved to NPCs than PCs, without making it absurd for a PC to want to be able to accomplish it.
COMBINING RUNES
Many runes possess minor, weaker effects. A common thought is that, if one were to carve multiple of the same rune, it would result in a more powerful rune. The thought is not entirely misplaced, but neither is it completely correct.
Runes cannot simply be doubled up. Instead, multiple runes of the same type inscribed on a single surface must be inscribed together. What this means is that, instead of just inscribing two of the same rune, the two runes must be inscribed in such a way as to connect the two of them. This results in a magnification of the power inherent within the rune. Runes made of multiple runes tied together are referred to as complex runes, and after having been inscribed, they function as a single rune.
The two (or more) runes need not be inscribed at the exact same time; in fact, it is impossible to inscribe both runes at exactly the same time. Instead, the process is exactly the same as inscribing multiple runes, except that, when connecting a rune to another, the DC increases. When inscribing an additional rune, the DC increases by +2 for each previous rune that was a part of the complex rune.
For instance, if Moifae were to inscribe a Rune of Sparks on her sword, the DC would be 18 (+10 for being a Warrior rune). If she then wanted to inscribe a second Rune of Sparks on her sword, she would have to tie the two together, which would increase the second Rune of Sparks’ DC by +2 (resulting in the DC being 20). If she were to attempt to inscribe a third Rune of Sparks, the DC would be 22 (+10 for the Warrior rune size, +4 for being the third rune being tied to the complex rune).
This is probably one of the more difficult aspects of runes. Since each rune is different, they each need to have the combinations explained. While time-consuming, it also allows runes to become more powerful through the use of complex runes. I find it very helpful, since this means true works of art can be made, but they're more difficult.
Now, as you can probably see, this isn't completely finished. I'm looking for things I may have missed, and other ways to fix up the system. Next post will have what runes I have created thus far.