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[wearerunecaster]

Mpiyake, one more member of my party’s African themed campaign.  Mpiyake studies ancient giant’s runes, picking up the research of his father before him. He tattoo’s the runes all over his body himself ; magic channels through them enhancing his physical performance. Mpiyake’s design is based off of Senegalese Wrestlers.

[wearerunecaster]

The Rune Rager. The closest to a caster a Barbarian subclass will ever get when made by me. This subclass uses elements of the Rune Scribe Unearthed Arcana, you will need that PDF.

Homebrewed for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition by me. 

PDF

[wearerunecaster]

Runes: Fact But Mostly Fiction

This week on “Runes: Fact But Mostly Fiction” we have the Rune Scribe and Rune Knight of Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition.  While the Rune Scribe Prestige Class never made it’s way into proper publication, I feel it worth looking at because it accomplishes something other rune systems don’t. The Rune Knight on the other hand was published in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and so is canon material. Now, in 5e the runes come from Giants. They were the first to master the art, and those who learned of the runes learned them from either the Giants themselves or from others who did. The Runes of 5e are very different, depending on which class you look at.

The Rune Knight’s powers are fairly limited. Each Rune has one passive benefit and one active benefit. A Rune is applied to your equipment and each piece of equipment you have is limited in the number of runes it can have applied. A Rune Knight is also limited in the number of Runes they can know, but they can use their Runes to accomplish different things like shielding their allies and increasing their own size. The Rune Scribe on the other hand treats runes as separate entities from the characters usual equipment. A Rune Scribe must attune to a Master Rune, which allows them to understand the Rune on a deeper level. Without Attunement the Rune cannot be used, but what makes them interesting is that any character can attune to a rune. The Rune has simple properties and complex properties. While any character attuned to a rune can use it’s simple properties, only a properly trained Rune Scribe can utilize it’s complex properties. The Rune Scribe’s powers mostly surround utilizing those complex properties, though they also learn how to utilize the Rune’s connection with the living world to complement their own usual abilities. The things that make the Rune Scribe’s Runes interesting are that: A) They are not considered arcane or divine magic, and can in fact work well with both. Often, runes are assigned to either path depending on the game they work in. The Rune Knight actually gets this right as well. B) Anyone can learn a basic understanding of the Runes. While most wouldn’t necessarily need the Runes, they can still utilize them if they choose to. This also extends to the Rune Scribe’s usage of them, because the Rune Scribe can put Runes onto other character’s equipment. C) They can be drawn into the air or on enemies to cause different effects. The Rune Scribe can draw the fire Rune onto an enemy to cause fire damage, for example.

Personally, I really like the Rune Scribe. I’m not as much of a fan of the Rune Knight. The Giant’s Might and associated features of the Rune Knight ruin the subclass for me. I understand the idea that the Giants first mastered the Runes and so using them makes you more like a Giant. But at the same time, the Runes aren’t inherently linked to the Giants themselves. After all, if the Giants first mastered them, surely they came from somewhere else? What I really like about the Rune Scribe is that they work with spell slots. While a character does need an understanding of Arcana to become a Rune Scribe, the Runes are never expressly stated to be arcane in nature. This means that a Cleric could be a Rune Scribe, or a Wizard could, or even a Fighter can. This makes them very versatile, and perfectly fits the real world origins of the Runes. The Rune Scribe isn’t perfect. It’s Runes can’t be used together, they have the same idea of complexity that I criticized in the Warcraft RPG, and while a Rune Scribe can understand all the Runes they have to attune to them to utilize them, which limits how many they can use at a time. But I still really like the Rune Scribe as a class. In fact, my favorite thing about it is that their Runes were never actually limited. There were suggested Runes that were added to the class, but they were also templates for people to create more. After all, an alphabet needs quite a few letters to cover the different sounds a language uses.

The last thing I want to say is that I completely understand why the Rune Scribe was never implemented into the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. A Prestige Class flew in the face of the overall idea behind the edition. That being said, I would rather have seen a finalized version of the Rune Scribe than the Rune Knight. I just found the Rune Knight to be underwhelming after I read it. And that’s just my personal opinion.

[wearerunecaster]

Fire Sigil

Fire is capable of making molecules that are bound closely together to loosen up and turn into gas. It requires of only three things: fuel, oxygen and heat. Embrace this element in your craft by always keeping in mind the three bases to create such a powerful reaction. 

This sigil is inspired by the chemical symbol for heat and Oxygen. 

Find Air, Water, and Earth.

[wearerunecaster]

Hᚨᛁᛚ ᛞᚹᚨᚱᚠ

ᚺᚨᛁᛚ᛫ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾ᛫ᚠᚱᛁᛖᚾᛞ

[wearerunecaster]

This is hilarious.

The runes be like: we are the surface of the glacier that is magic, granted to you foolish and diminutive mannish by the Allfather. The greatest secrets of the universe are what we represent and you picked playing cards bought from Barnes and Noble to predict the future.

This is TOO fuckin real fuck

[wearerunecaster]

David LaRocca

[wearerunecaster]

As Hjal finishes his mailing, he sees a note on the ground:

"The good thing about having a wand of explosive runes is that you don't have to prepare it!"

Later the same day, Hjal is seen with a broad smile on his face. His clothing is singed and he has no eyebrows, but he is otherwise unharmed. After all, sewing defensive wards into your robes is standard practice when you work with explosive texts.

[wearerunecaster]

I just wanna second Powered by the Apocolypse. There's a version of that system for literally any game. It's great.

Also while i'm here; go play something besides 5e. Broaden your horizons. Try something new. Hell, even older editions of D&D would be good. Try Basic/Expert, try AD&D- learn about THAC0 and exploration turns. Just do something besides 5e and see what other games have to offer, you might find a new favorite system.

[wearerunecaster]

The Iconic Runecaster

Name - Hjalthrun Thunderhammer AKA Hjal

Race - Dwarf

Age - 67

Class - Fighter 4/Rune Scribe 5/Wizard 4

Subclasses - Eldritch Knight/Divination

Alignment - Chaotic Good, Hjalthrun believes in no codes, no laws. When it comes to ethics, he wants to do whatever will create more happiness in the world, and woe to those who stand in his way.

History - By all accounts, Hjalthrun was an ordinary dwarf. Growing up he had a love of craft and a love of reading. He was the son of a stone-worker and he became a stone-worker. After a normal apprenticeship he became a journeyman and chose to go out into the world to find a home for himself. As he traveled, he read many books and he learned many things. Eventually he heard of a magical power his people had once possessed. The magic of the runes. Falling in a deep love with the concept, he decided to search the world and find the keys to understanding this magical force. He closed up the shop he had opened and began wandering. With few leads, he started his search in the greatest libraries he could find. After a time, he met a woman and the two fell in love with each other. They traveled together for a long time, and Hjalthrun learned the ways of a warrior and began delving into the widely known magics of wizards.

Then one day, while exploring an ancient dwarven ruin, Hjal found a book containing writings on the very mystery Hjal had been searching for the answer of. He spent the next day committing the book to memory, and now he had leads. He tracked down each lead, learning more and more, until he realized he had learned all there was to know of the runes. Finally, he had delved the depths and become the first Runecaster in an age. Now, with knowledge he sacrificed much to attain, Hjalthrun Thunderhammer has devoted himself to the practice of his art. He believes that there are few things in life more important than helping where he can. Even with all the time he spent learning, Hjal is still a young dwarf, and he has decided he can make the world a better place. One step at a time.

Signature Rune - Vind

Signature Weapon - Maul

[wearerunecaster]

Odin 

[wearerunecaster]

To make this war fair, the Iconic Runecaster debuts today!

Meow receives a letter. As they open it, it reads "I prepare Explosive Runes EVERY day."

Fortunately for Meow, being a cat involves being extremely lucky; being an immortal cat means being both lucky and properly paranoid, like reading one's mail in the middle of several wards while wearing protective gear.

Unfortunately for Meow, the explosion was strong enough to fling the fastidious feline into the next room.

While airborne, the cat raises a sign:

[wearerunecaster]

Tyr by Jordan Zaz

[wearerunecaster]

'XOTH - DEATH

The Sul'voth rune Xo, meaning change, fear, decay, and mortality.

The runes continue to become more "alive" with each passing year. Personified, they become Deific in nature, shown here as an abstract rune-headed god of death.

[wearerunecaster]

So there was this little thing floating around twitter where people would tell you what kind of vibe/types you would be!

So I made some based on what people tought my vibe was.XD

[wearerunecaster]

Sorry for the double ask, but flavoring your spells as runes stones would make the spells per day feel more natural too. Might do it myself now actually. Lol

I actually really like this suggestion. I do want to say, I'm thinking about it and I like your other suggestion too. After all, most of the stories I know of men who used the runes were great heroes. Usually adept as both warriors and mages.

[wearerunecaster]

My thoughts would be to not go wizard unless you are wanting to focus on magic. In most stories runes are powerful but tend to be more limited in the number of different types. Users get their versatility in knowing the runes and using them creatively. To me having a smaller number of spells (flavored as runes) and using those to make yourself more than you started fits the flavor.

I'm curious what stories you're referring to. I'm most familiar with the Norse Runes, which when combined in different ways could accomplish almost anything.