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View Full Version : Looking for inspiration for Runes, spells and uses



lolcat
2021-05-27, 12:18 PM
Greetings Playground!

I am looking for inspiration on what kind of interesting items i could have Runcasters or characters with the Inscribe Rune feat make (both are from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting).
For context, i am looking for rune-ideas for all character-levels and levels of optimization. Both combat but also utility and just sheer fun uses are interesting, if you can think of them :)


For those that don't know Rune-magic just yet, here's the bare bones of it:

The feat Inscribe Rune works similarly to Inscribe Scroll, like this:
You can cast any divine spell you have access to as a rune. You must have prepared the spell to be scribed and must provide any material components or focuses the spell requires. .... A single object of Medium size or smaller can hold only one rune. A larger object can hold one rune per 25 square feet of surface area. Runes cannot be placed on creatures, although they can be drawn on equipment a creature carried

In general, the rules around Rune-magic are:


You need to pass a skill check to create a rune, the skill depends on the material it is inscribed upon.
Creating a rune is MUCH faster than scrolls or other items, 10 minutes plus casting time of the spell
When creating a rune, ALL decisions that need to be made when casting a spell are fixed within the rune. That includes i.e. what kind of summon, directions, areas, if one is a GP millionaire even things like the exact formulation of the wish or miracle.
A rune can regularly be triggered by touching it (except if one has the runecaster prestige class)
Triggering a rune as its own action is a standard action, but creative uses such as when drawing a weapon with a rune on the hilt are doable.
The creature who triggers the rune is the target of the spell it holds.
A rune can not be made to trigger by inscribing it on a weapon or ammunition so that it triggers if it strikes a foe (inscribing it on the hilt and triggering it when a weapon is drawn is fair game however).
Runes are one-use, unless one has the runecaster prestige class and enough levels in it
Most cost-reduction shenanigans that apply to other magic item creation processes also apply to runes.
With said prestige class, the rules get more complex. One can create multi-charge and even permanent runes, the runes can trigger when read or when "passed", whatever exactly that means. Their spell-DC slightly increases and at lvl 8 of the prestige class the spell within is even maximized free of charge.


I already know this handbook, just in case: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?296106-Runeblaster-A-Handbook-for-the-D-amp-D-3-5-Runecaster

So if you can think of anything that would allow for creative, effective, party-friendly or apocalyptic use of runes and Rune-magic, i would love to hear your ideas :)

unseenmage
2021-05-27, 02:43 PM
My favorite use of Runes is a) quickly deploying pre-cast spells with a usually long casting time and b) putting personal range spells on others.

Having a stockpile of Awaken Construct/Undead runes for use in turning mindless enemy minions into intelligent friends is great.

Saintheart
2021-05-27, 09:20 PM
Over in this thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?618017-hacking-the-target-line-of-spells&highlight=Runecaster+ocular+spell) it was speculated that:


The above (i.e. how runes create a target for the spell cast in the rune) is also a way to get Persistent Spell on spells such as Summon Monster (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterI.htm). Normally, Summon Monster isn't persistable, because it has variable range. Unfortunately, the standard optimization trick around this (i.e. Ocular Spell metamagic) doesn't work on Summon Monster, because Ocular Spell only works on Rays or spells with a non-Personal target, and Summon Monster has no "Target" field.

Instead, put Summon Monster inside a rune, and then trigger it. Summon Monster gets cast with a target here, so Incantatrix can use Metamagic Effect to apply Ocular Spell to this casting after it's cast. Better yet, just apply Persistent Spell to begin with, since the rune gave it a fixed 30 foot range. Enjoy your 24 hour summons (although at the cost of crafting a rune). :smalltongue:

More generally, if your DM accepts that a spell cast as a rune means that the spell acquires a target field when it ordinarily doesn't have one, these sorts of tricks might allow you more variety with your spells.

My favourite trick, which is already in the Runecaster handbook, is scribing lots of low-level read-activated runes on pieces of paper, set to a condition of "target the guy who triggers a rune that reads me", binding those pages into a book, and then putting a rune of Scholar's Touch on the front. This fires all the runes at once because Scholar's Touch triggers any magic-based traps in a book, and runes are described as useable as simple magic traps. This gets you around the "one rune per standard action per round" which is implied but is not RAW. Don't have to make the rune a healing one, make a bunch of Summon Monster runes and put them in the one book. Bang, instant army in one round or less.