Rune Caster question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Rune Caster question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Crom2112
06-12-07, 12:33 PM Hi all,

I have what me be a dumb question. When a person triggers a rune on an object is it something like casting a spell from a scroll?

I have a rune of cure light on a metal disk. I give it to a fighter who ties it to his belt. He touches the run thus triggering it and is cured like the spell.
Or now he can cast the spell. and cure him self or some one else?

How would this work for an offensive spell like moon bolt.

I am in the process of creating a rune casting dwarf. And wasnt sure of this from the text on rune casters.

Here is an excerpt from the text on rune casters.

"You can cast any divine spell you have prepared as a rune. A rune is a temporary magical writing similar to a scroll. A rune can be triggered once before it loses its magical power, but it lasts indefinitely until triggered. A rune written or painted on a surface fades away when expended, erased, or dispelled, but a rune carved into a surface remains behind as a bit of nonmagical writing even after its magic has been expended."

Thanks in advance for any insite.
Gray Richardson
06-13-07, 02:38 AM The triggerer becomes the target of the spell.

The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool).

Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do.

However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge. But if you were to stab or touch the sword to your opponent it would not discharge.

If you have levels in the Runecaster prestige class, you can get the Improved Runecasting feat at 3rd level. This allows you to craft runes that can be discharged merely by passing or reading. You could inscribe such a rune in a doorway or arch and have it discharge against whoever walks through. Or you could inscribe it on a billboard and have it discharge against whoever reads it first.

Runes are very cool in a lot of ways. :mage:
captaincarot
06-13-07, 04:52 AM The triggerer becomes the target of the spell.

The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool).

Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do.

However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge.

hmm wonder how this would effect monks trying to disarm you?
Crom2112
06-13-07, 08:45 AM Ok, so from this I gather that offensive spells wouldnt work very well as runes. Like flamestrike and searing light(scorching ray which ever the cleric spell). Unless you could trick the openents into touching the runes.

Thanks for the input.

The triggerer becomes the target of the spell.

The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool).

Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do.

However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge. But if you were to stab or touch the sword to your opponent it would not discharge.

If you have levels in the Runecaster prestige class, you can get the Improved Runecasting feat at 3rd level. This allows you to craft runes that can be discharged merely by passing or reading. You could inscribe such a rune in a doorway or arch and have it discharge against whoever walks through. Or you could inscribe it on a billboard and have it discharge against whoever reads it first.

Runes are very cool in a lot of ways. :mage:
Gray Richardson
06-13-07, 07:22 PM They have limited offensive capability, but a clever runecaster could work around this. They make for good traps and tricks.

Especially if one has the Improved Runecasting ability, the enemy only has to pass or read the rune. For instance, he could inscribe runes in a doorway, at a crossroads, on a drawbridge, etc. He could also make a big sign that says "I cast magic missile at you" and if the enemy reads the sign he becomes the target of the spell.

I imagine the enemy would still have to be within the range listed in the spell description to be able to trigger it, but with a little thinking outside-of-the-box, a runecaster could find some pretty darn offensive ways to use his runes.

One of my favorite applications of this would be to cast a rune of Greater Magic Weapon on a scabbard or belt, give the rune a number of charges per day or make it permanent, and then whenever you touch an ordinary weapon to your scabbard, the weapon becomes a +2 magic weapon for 8 hours or more. It doesn't even have to be the same weapon every time. In fact, everyone in the party could touch their weapon to your scabbard and have a magic weapon for 8 hours. If the rune was inscribed by a 12th level caster it makes +3 magic weapons that last for 12 hours each.

If you could just find 12th or higher level runecaster and pay him to do this for you, it would be a lot cheaper than buying a real magic weapon.

The only disadvantage is that runes can be dispelled, whereas real magic weapons cannot. So if you abuse runecasting, a sneaky DM may just toss a dispel at your rune. But otherwise, it is a pretty nifty discipline.
Crom2112
06-14-07, 02:47 PM Gray,
Thanks for the clarification. Thats the way I was interpreting the implementation of runes. It was just nice to see that others felt this way.

Off to work on my dwerf :) ..... well after work.

thanks again.
captaincarot
06-19-07, 10:58 AM Gray,

Off to work on my dwerf :)
.

oi cheepskate buy a horse or a car or a bike or somethin, riding dwarves aint allowed.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Crom2112 06-12-07, 12:33 PM	Hi all, I have what me be a dumb question. When a person triggers a rune on an object is it something like casting a spell from a scroll? I have a rune of cure light on a metal disk. I give it to a fighter who ties it to his belt. He touches the run thus triggering it and is cured like the spell. Or now he can cast the spell. and cure him self or some one else? How would this work for an offensive spell like moon bolt. I am in the process of creating a rune casting dwarf. And wasnt sure of this from the text on rune casters. Here is an excerpt from the text on rune casters. "You can cast any divine spell you have prepared as a rune. A rune is a temporary magical writing similar to a scroll. A rune can be triggered once before it loses its magical power, but it lasts indefinitely until triggered. A rune written or painted on a surface fades away when expended, erased, or dispelled, but a rune carved into a surface remains behind as a bit of nonmagical writing even after its magic has been expended." Thanks in advance for any insite.
Gray Richardson 06-13-07, 02:38 AM	The triggerer becomes the target of the spell. The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool). Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do. However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge. But if you were to stab or touch the sword to your opponent it would not discharge. If you have levels in the Runecaster prestige class, you can get the Improved Runecasting feat at 3rd level. This allows you to craft runes that can be discharged merely by passing or reading. You could inscribe such a rune in a doorway or arch and have it discharge against whoever walks through. Or you could inscribe it on a billboard and have it discharge against whoever reads it first. Runes are very cool in a lot of ways. :mage:
captaincarot 06-13-07, 04:52 AM	The triggerer becomes the target of the spell. The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool). Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do. However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge. hmm wonder how this would effect monks trying to disarm you?
Crom2112 06-13-07, 08:45 AM	Ok, so from this I gather that offensive spells wouldnt work very well as runes. Like flamestrike and searing light(scorching ray which ever the cleric spell). Unless you could trick the openents into touching the runes. Thanks for the input. The triggerer becomes the target of the spell. The cool thing is, the spell does not have to be on the triggerer's casting list. Anyone can trigger it (unless the caster limits the triggering conditions, which makes it even more cool). Runes have to be touched by the triggerer. It doesn't have to be intentional, but it does require the triggerer to initiate the touch. Even a brush against it will do. However, you cannot touch the rune to the target in order to trigger it. The target has to do the touching. Placing runes on a weapon to discharge against your opponent will not work. If your enemy reaches out and grabs your sword and touches the rune, it would discharge. But if you were to stab or touch the sword to your opponent it would not discharge. If you have levels in the Runecaster prestige class, you can get the Improved Runecasting feat at 3rd level. This allows you to craft runes that can be discharged merely by passing or reading. You could inscribe such a rune in a doorway or arch and have it discharge against whoever walks through. Or you could inscribe it on a billboard and have it discharge against whoever reads it first. Runes are very cool in a lot of ways. :mage:
Gray Richardson 06-13-07, 07:22 PM	They have limited offensive capability, but a clever runecaster could work around this. They make for good traps and tricks. Especially if one has the Improved Runecasting ability, the enemy only has to pass or read the rune. For instance, he could inscribe runes in a doorway, at a crossroads, on a drawbridge, etc. He could also make a big sign that says "I cast magic missile at you" and if the enemy reads the sign he becomes the target of the spell. I imagine the enemy would still have to be within the range listed in the spell description to be able to trigger it, but with a little thinking outside-of-the-box, a runecaster could find some pretty darn offensive ways to use his runes. One of my favorite applications of this would be to cast a rune of Greater Magic Weapon on a scabbard or belt, give the rune a number of charges per day or make it permanent, and then whenever you touch an ordinary weapon to your scabbard, the weapon becomes a +2 magic weapon for 8 hours or more. It doesn't even have to be the same weapon every time. In fact, everyone in the party could touch their weapon to your scabbard and have a magic weapon for 8 hours. If the rune was inscribed by a 12th level caster it makes +3 magic weapons that last for 12 hours each. If you could just find 12th or higher level runecaster and pay him to do this for you, it would be a lot cheaper than buying a real magic weapon. The only disadvantage is that runes can be dispelled, whereas real magic weapons cannot. So if you abuse runecasting, a sneaky DM may just toss a dispel at your rune. But otherwise, it is a pretty nifty discipline.
Crom2112 06-14-07, 02:47 PM	Gray, Thanks for the clarification. Thats the way I was interpreting the implementation of runes. It was just nice to see that others felt this way. Off to work on my dwerf :) ..... well after work. thanks again.
captaincarot 06-19-07, 10:58 AM	Gray, Off to work on my dwerf :) . oi cheepskate buy a horse or a car or a bike or somethin, riding dwarves aint allowed.