Explosive Runes: Language?

[TripleD]

These runes explode when "read". Do we get to choose what language the runes are in? It says in one of the books (can't remember) that "Dwarven Runes" are used for writing Dwarven, Giant, Undercommon, and a few other languages. Or are these a completely different set of runes?

Also, is this "read" in the sense of reading it "aloud" or "to yourself"?

[Lightlawbliss]

These runes explode when "read". Do we get to choose what language the runes are in? It says in one of the books (can't remember) that "Dwarven Runes" are used for writing Dwarven, Giant, Undercommon, and a few other languages. Or are these a completely different set of runes?

Also, is this "read" in the sense of reading it "aloud" or "to yourself"?

Ask your DM. RAW doesn't say iirc.

[TripleD]

Ask your DM. RAW doesn't say iirc.

I was afraid of that. I'm actually the DM; just doing some preemptive research in case one of my players tries to abuse it e.g. Write a few dozen giant runes on the side of a castle wall, ride half a mile away, then hand another character a spyglass to detonate them.

[Lightlawbliss]

I was afraid of that. I'm actually the DM; just doing some preemptive research in case one of my players tries to abuse it e.g. Write a few dozen giant runes on the side of a castle wall, ride half a mile away, then hand another character a spyglass to detonate them.

I hope that spyglass is magical, cause the non-magical thing in the ph...could use alteration.

on a side note, think of how many runes it would take to take out a wall. average of 21 Force damage per rune, 8 hardness, 15 hp/inch. IF they all affected the same "section" (however you define that), they would need over 1rune per inch they plan on breaking...and stone wall thickness in dnd tends to be measured in feet.

as another reference: a lone rune couldn't break a 2 by 4 without assistance.

[Duke of Urrel]

If I were you, I'd do some pre-emptive house-ruling, just so that nobody is disappointed later. My own house rules are as follows:

1. Explosive Runes are limited in size, so that they can't be triggered by anyone from farther than five feet away. Of course, when they detonate, they can harm bystanders up to 10 feet away, as the spell's description says.

2. Explosive Runes always number 13. This is how clever rogues manage to recognize them from a safe distance while they're searching.

3. You don't have to understand the language in which Explosive Runes are written in in order to read them. Simply trying to read them from anywhere within five feet of them counts as reading them. Compare it to Illusory Script. This is a read-triggered spell, too, but it creates absolutely incomprehensible gibberish, so comprehension can't be what makes the spell work.

4. I don't think it makes any difference what you write in Explosive Runes, because your intention isn't to deliver a message; it's to blow somebody up. Probably the most usual message is a private joke, like what Vaarsuvius of the OOTS is fond of writing: "Guess which spell I prepared this morning."

Those are my rules.

[Galvin]

Explosive Runes can be written in any language, though as stated above, they only do 6d6 damage per rune, so a couple of them could not take out a castle wall.