A few runesmith prc questions

[silverwolfer]

So doing a sort of maybe slightly half assed gish build. Dream dwarf runesmith ala races of stone.

rune magic (ex): Does that provide any benefits besides not waving your hands around in the air? I can see some odd moments, like if your bound up and you have a rune hidden under your palm or something, you can cast a spell without moving, but in the heat of combat, is their something am not seeing as a benefit?


Shared runes and perm runes are pretty clear on what they do and why they are useful.
Is the Perm runes, WAI to be a free SLA for the rest of your life, or does RAW over step it?


Final question and maybe not the most important, is dream dwarf the best race or dwarf race option for this?

[Piggy Knowles]

Rune Magic ignores somatic components, meaning you can cast in full armor with a weapon and/or shield, with no chance of failure.

EDIT: Also, my favorite use of the permanent rune is to get extra castings out of Arcane Disciple. I could use Arcane Disciple for a spell I wouldn't ordinarily get, such as Magic Vestment or Divine Power, and then turn it into a permanent rune, effectively giving me three castings a day instead of one.

[silverwolfer]

@piggy

in your mind what is a good gesalt with this, besides the usual Incantrix/thurges?

[Piggy Knowles]

In gestalt? Probably a mix of Warblade or Crusader. Maybe Crusader 16/Warblade 4 on one side, with all casting levels on the other.

In non-gestalt, I'd probably just do a simple Fighter 1/Wizard 5/Runesmith 5/Abjurant Champion 5, and close out the last few levels with maybe Archmage.

If multiclassing penalties were removed, I'd replace the level of fighter with one of cleric.

[docnessuno]

Runesmit is a quite good 1 level dip, after that the PRC loses much of it's appeal (but if you like the fluff, by all means go for it).

I'd gestalt it with either Warblade or Duskblade, getting something among the lines of:
[War/Dusk]blade 20 // Wizard 5 / Runesmith 1-5 / Abjurant champion 5 / something 5-9

[Madara]

Runesmit is a quite good 1 level dip, after that the PRC loses much of it's appeal (but if you like the fluff, by all means go for it).

I'd gestalt it with either Warblade or Duskblade, getting something among the lines of:
[War/Dusk]blade 20 // Wizard 5 / Runesmith 1-5 / Abjurant champion 5 / something 5-9

The capstone is really nice, since it doesn't require material components. It has full casting, so if you already meet the requirements, you might as well go for all five levels.

[Coidzor]

I can't recall the details, but there's some fun necromancy-related sub-trick that can be done with Runesmith....

[silverwolfer]

Hmm crusader does seem a fun thing to build up



Wiz/RuneSmith/Abjurct Champion

Saint/Paliden 2/Crusader

Hmm this is Mad hell......hmm... maybe just Saint/Crusader instead of paliden

[silverwolfer]

I can't recall the details, but there's some fun necromancy-related sub-trick that can be done with Runesmith....



Would that you do a necro spell on a rune, you plant in the ground and it comes up like a chia pet of death?


*sidenote*

can the runes be set off by a timer or anything or such?

[Madara]

I can't recall the details, but there's some fun necromancy-related sub-trick that can be done with Runesmith....

Animate Dead, which normally costs alot, can be made free(Likely what you're thinking of). Or create undead/greater undead might be fun.

[silverwolfer]

How can it be free, you still have to pay XP/Matrials cost on creations?

[Madara]

How can it be free, you still have to pay XP/Matrials cost on creations?

Because you get it as a spell-like ability.

A spell-like ability has no verbal, somatic, or material component, nor does it require a focus or have an XP cost. The user activates it mentally. Armor never affects a spell-like ability’s use, even if the ability resembles an arcane spell with a somatic component.

The exception being when it specifies "They still have to pay the material component" which this class doesn't mention.

[Piggy Knowles]

Because you get it as a spell-like ability.


The exception being when it specifies "They still have to pay the material component" which this class doesn't mention.

Actually, it does. The permanent rune says that if there is an expensive material component, you must pay 20 times that amount when you create your permanent rune:


If the spell has a costly material component, he must expend resources equal to 20 times the gp cost of the material component. If it has a costly focus, he must expend resources equal to the cost of the focus. If the spell has an XP cost, he must spend XP as if he had cast the spell normally.

Of course, that leaves a weird question about how it works with something like Animate Dead, which has a variable material cost, but since that's pretty clearly a grey area.

I could maybe see some abuse with Animate Dread Warrior, since you only pay the XP cost once and then can cast it repeatedly, but then you still have issues with the variable cost.

[Madara]

Actually, it does. The permanent rune says that if there is an expensive material component, you must pay 20 times that amount when you create your permanent rune:



Of course, that leaves a weird question about how it works with something like Animate Dead, which has a variable material cost, but since that's pretty clearly a grey area.

I could maybe see some abuse with Animate Dread Warrior, since you only pay the XP cost once and then can cast it repeatedly, but then you still have issues with the variable cost.

For Certain Necromancers, that's pretty cheap compared to the constant bill they have to pay.

[silverwolfer]

True that is the only part of the class that is broken, and well, an agreement with the DM to prevent that sort of abuse I think is good. Then again, summon undeadI think is a better spell anyways than animate undead.

[eggs]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that Rules Compendium states that SLAs are standard actions unless explicitly otherwise stated, or unless their casting times are normally shorter than standard actions. This is a silly rule, but I'm sure you can come up with some fun uses without too much trouble. (Planar Bindings as standard actions, for instance, can be fun.)