Khardic Runecasting¶
Rules system: homebrew Sancturi system (December 2018 drafts). Legacy design material, not canon for play.
Lore page: Khardic Runecasting.
Contested
This page is named in the open question Khardic Runepriest forms.
The core construction rules for Khardic runes, the rune tradition of the Dwarves: how runes combine into runewords, how many may be active at once, how a drawn rune's Quality is rolled, and the outline of the four runecaster paths and their forms. The form lists themselves are on Runepriest Forms, Runesmith Forms - Weapon and Armor and Runesmith Forms - Foundry and Power. Ink quality is set by the shared Runic Inks rules; the 2014 d20 design that preceded this one is Runecaster.
S233 opens with a line of lore, kept here for context: "Khardic runes have been the dominant form of Runecasting for most of recorded history. The dwarves have jealously guarded its secrets as they are unable to practice other forms of magic and Khardic Runes are the core to their reputation for finely crafted magical items and objects."
Rune construction¶
Runewords¶
The unit of activation is the Runeword. A runeword is made of one or more runic forms, always including at least one Primary Form.
Primary forms¶
A Primary Form is a grouping of runes that have effects; a sub-form is a specific instance of a primary form with specific effects. The Armor Form, for instance, is a Primary Form with many sub-forms, including the Rune of Resistance and the Rune of Blocking.
Master and Sovereign runes¶
A Master Rune or Sovereign Rune is a special Primary Form required whenever a runeword holds more than one Primary Form. A Master Rune supports up to 2 other Primary Forms; a Sovereign supports 3. Sovereign Runes require a Sovereign Anvil (an anvil bearing a Sovereign Rune of Runestriking, see Runesmith Forms - Foundry and Power) and must be forged in metal.
Secondary forms: Aspects and Caps¶
Aspects are a Secondary Form that can modify every rune in the runeword. There are seven: Grudge, Anvil, Shield, Elements, Honor, Stone and Valor. Every rune is modified by 3-4 of them. A runeword may carry no more than one aspect.
Cap Runes are optional secondary forms written at the far left or far right of a runeword. Caps modify the whole runeword: they provide energy, change its trigger, or alter the medium it is written on.
Rules for writing runewords¶
- A Primary Form can stand alone, or with up to 2 others plus a Master Rune (3), up to 3 plus a Sovereign Rune (4), or up to 4 plus a Master and a Sovereign (5).
- A Primary Form will not work alongside a sub-form of the same Primary Form; every Primary Form in the runeword must be unique. Master and Sovereign Runes are the exception: they may overlap with the other Primary Forms, but not with each other.
- All Primary Forms must share the same activation, or a Cap Rune may alter some runes so that they do.
- Links require a Primary Form (Master and Sovereign included) on both sides.
Activation limits¶
Only one runeword may be active on an object at a time. An object is a single distinct object or area of effect, so a Living runeword on a person conflicts with an Armor runeword on that person's armor, since both affect the person. The runewords on a sword may not conflict with a Living runeword if their effects are directed at the sword's target rather than its holder. Every rune is therefore categorized as defensive (it affects what it is bound to) or offensive (it affects the target or the area around the rune).
For simplicity, a single individual and all their equipment may have only one Defensive rune and one Offensive rune active at any moment.
Writing runes¶
Each form is written independently, both for deciding which forms the runecaster can write and for the time the runeword takes. A runeword must be written in sequence with no more than 4 hours between forms; after that the "connections" seal and nothing more can be added.
Gap
The writing-time calculation is marked "TODO" in S233 and was never written.
Rune Quality (Q)¶
For Primary and Secondary runes, Quality only decides whether the rune was drawn successfully; the runecaster does not know until they try to empower it. Quality has no effect on these runes' effects. Master and Sovereign runes also roll Quality for success, and in addition Q amplifies their effects.
Quality = Ink Base Q + (Rune Form Skill − Rune Form Order × 2) + 1d4. The drawing succeeds if Q ≥ 0. Q can never exceed 10.
| Ink | Base Q |
|---|---|
| Poor | −10 |
| Fair | −7 |
| Normal | −4 |
| Good | −2 |
| Ideal | 0 |
Empowerment¶
The whole runeword must be empowered at once. A partially powered runeword loses all its energy within a few minutes.
Common forms¶
Common forms are available to every Khardic runecaster and are learned with the Khardic - Common Form skill (S232). Each rune is named in the Khardic tongue.
Aspect runes¶
Every runeword with a Master Rune can carry an aspect adjacent to the Master Rune.
| Aspect | Khardic | Skill order | Emphasis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anvil | AMBOLT | 6 | creation, shaping and repair |
| Elements | MENTER | 6 | the four elements and primal energies |
| Grudge | HAEVN | 7 | grudges and retribution |
| Honor | AERE | 4 | honor and loyalty |
| Shield | SKJOLD | 5 | defense and protection |
| Stone | STEN | 4 | the earth, home and steadfastness |
| Valor | MOD | 5 | strength and courage |
On the Oath Form page HAEVN reappears as a Link rune of skill order 5.
Cap runes¶
These secondary forms go on the ends of runewords and provide power or change the activation or medium of the runeword.
| Cap | Khardic | Kind | Skill order | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer | BEDE | Trigger Cap | 4 | Changes a rune from Empowered to Ritual activation, so the runecaster chooses when to enable it and can disable it. The Prayer is a Minor Action and the runecaster must be in direct contact with the inscribed object, so only a runecaster with the right skill can activate the rune. |
| Runeblade | NIV | Trigger Cap | 3 | Lets the runeword be toggled on and off by Runeblades as part of their Bladesong (Minor Action). In practice a Runeblade can switch active Empowered runewords on their weapon as a Minor Action; Bladesong-activated runes can override this one by suppressing it. |
| ? | ? | Cap | 5 | "T??e." |
| ? | ? | Cap | 3 | "This ?" |
| ? | ? | Cap | 4 | "This ?" |
The Power Form adds a further cap, Draw Energy (RYK), on Runesmith Forms - Foundry and Power; the Armor Form has an unnamed Trigger Cap on Runesmith Forms - Weapon and Armor.
Runecaster paths¶
S233 outlines four paths and their forms. Only the Runepriest and Runesmith forms received documents.
| Path | Forms (S233) |
|---|---|
| Runemage | Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Light, Dark |
| Runepriest | Spirit (spirit runes); Oathkeeper; Building; Earth & Stone; Ministration (healing, ordination, etc.) |
| Runewarden | Abjuration (dispels); Warding (shields); Guardian (protection and reactive); Banner (heraldic banners, group and area buffs); Reckoning (conditional offensive runes, "also known as Slayer Runes?", with the author asking how it differs from Oathkeeper and Weapon runes); Runestones?; Watching / Warning? |
| Runesmith | Foundry (changes the properties of metals: mass, flexibility, hardness); Machine (engines, machines, golems and automatons, built from many runes not listed singly); Logic (complex logic circuits, required for golems and automatons; needs a Namakan Runebinder or Khardic Runepriest for the soul binding that makes them autonomous; also used for magic items that need no Runecraft to use); Weapon (non-elemental); Armor (also non-elemental); Power (trapped energy sources) |
The Runepriest forms in the later Runepriest overview (S235, the same day) are different: Ancestor, Earth & Stone, Force, Healing and Oath. The form documents follow S235; see Runepriest Forms.
Gap
S233 ends with a "Famous Rune Examples" heading and a single unfinished line ("Rune on ??? Battle Axe (he is not a runeblade, this is a perm enchantment)").
Earlier accounts¶
An older brainstorm, titled "Runes OLD" (S234, December 2018), sorts runes by element and by mounting rather than by form. Its categories (Tactical/Bullet, Action/Consecration, Cincture and Skin runes) do not appear in the later rules.
| Rune | Mounting | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Frost rune | Escape opportunity / Cincture Rune | Ice Shell: encases the target in ice. Interrupts their actions but absorbs damage and injuries; must be destroyed to move again. |
| Magma rune | Tactical/Bullet Rune | Molten Bullet |
| Flame rune | Tactical/Bullet Rune or Action/Consecration Rune | Ignition: ignites the area around the target, creating a fiery area. |
| Beast rune | Tactical/Cincture Rune | Thick Hide: magnifies natural armor. |
| Beast rune | Action, Cincture Rune | Aspect of the Wolf: increases ferocity. |
| Rot rune | Tactical, Bullet Rune or Action, Consecration Rune | Woodrot Aura: rapid decay of wood. Wooden weapons must save or be destroyed; living plants take damage. |
| Ruin rune | Tactical, Bullet Rune or Action, Consecration Rune | Ring of Spite: a nova wave of necrotic energy. |
| Wind rune | Tactical, Bullet Rune or Action, Consecration Rune | Windwall Rune: the hex becomes impassable to missiles and difficult to move through. |
| Rune of Silver Moonlight | Moon rune, Action, Cincture Rune | Reveals hidden stonework and invisible creatures in a small area. |
Any cincture rune can be a skin rune instead. Consecration runes need less maintenance, being in constant contact with the earth. The Rune of Silver Moonlight survives into the later Runepriest Force Form.