When the worlds were young, before mortals could read or write languages of their own, the scripts of the gods and primordials were used to unlock deep magical potential. You have managed an impressive collection of knowledge about these power-infused calligarphies, and you now carry an amalgamation of powers not utilized together since the dawn of language and mortal magic. Armed as such, you use your assortment of runes to protect yourself and your allies, and inflict pain upon and otherwise hinder your enemies.
This free 15-page pdf contains all of the class features and runes of the rune soldier, as well as the entire heroic tier's worth of powers. It's currently in development, so download and play, then let us know how it works out! We want your feedback to help make the finished rune soldier the best it can be.
The rune soldier is a defender, but easily falls away to delve into other roles, depending on the individual's rune choice. Choose either rune of frost or rune of inferno as your elemental rune; either rune of vigor or rune of decay as your astral rune; and either rune of mystery or rune of telekinesis as your mental rune.
~ fissionessence
Silent7Seven Games
Sounds cool, but I'm kinda bummed this isn't about Rune Soldier Louie.
Twinkle Trick, Like Magic! :D
When first looking at it, I didn't like the idea of spending my standard action to make a basic attack that marks. The marking options are both interesting, although the Mystery seems like a waste of time against any creature that can attack from range. And doing 1w damage plus marking doesn't seem like an efficient use of my time, nor does applying a rune that could potentially end the very next turn.
In my untested opinion, it needs to be touched up a bit. A minor action may make it a bit broken, but allowing it to be used as a basic melee attack would be a great defender improvement, as it would make other creatures think twice about running past him.
If there's a balance issue as to why it's designed that way, I'd be very interested to hear it. Other than that, I am very willing to allow my players to use this in my campaign, as it seems to use a depth that no other defender seems to possess.
Sounds cool, but I'm kinda bummed this isn't about Rune Soldier Louie.
I'll admit that I've watched that series and I ruthlessly stole the title for the name of this class
While I overall enjoyed the show, I was pretty disappointed with the complete lack of runes throughout it. I figured this class name would be kind of (but not really) an homage for anyone who's seen the show, plus fully utilize actual runes!I tried downloading the .pdf, but the entire document was blank. Not sure why that is.
I don't know why that is either. Is it a single blank pdf page, or 15 blank pages? If it's 15 blank pages, chances are it's some kind of issue with your pdf viewer, meaning you should try using a different one or updating the one you have. Otherwise, it could also have been some kind of Internet error when you downloaded, and you could clear your cache and try again. I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem :\
I've read over everything up to level one, and I have to say that it's looking like the funnest defender I've seen. However, there is one thing that makes me wary without playtesting it... Rune Strike.
When first looking at it, I didn't like the idea of spending my standard action to make a basic attack that marks. The marking options are both interesting, although the Mystery seems like a waste of time against any creature that can attack from range. And doing 1w damage plus marking doesn't seem like an efficient use of my time, nor does applying a rune that could potentially end the very next turn.
In my untested opinion, it needs to be touched up a bit. A minor action may make it a bit broken, but allowing it to be used as a basic melee attack would be a great defender improvement, as it would make other creatures think twice about running past him.
If there's a balance issue as to why it's designed that way, I'd be very interested to hear it. Other than that, I am very willing to allow my players to use this in my campaign, as it seems to use a depth that no other defender seems to possess.
Interesting point of view; I'll definitely keep that in mind. The feedback I've gotten so far is that the rune soldier's runes are too powerful, and that the class needs to be tone down. What you're asking for is a slight buff. One thing to consider when thinking that the runes are too powerful, is that the rune soldier doesn't really have class features other than the runes, so rune strike and his activation abilities are basically his class features. However, making it a basic melee attack might be too far in the other direction. In any case, the document was just released a couple days ago, so I'll keep tabs on how it's playing out for everyone.
On another note, I hadn't considered the rune of mystery's inefficiency against ranged creatures. I think it just encourages the rune soldier to focus more on melee, but I'll keep an eye on it.
Thanks!
~
I'm going to be starting a home campaign soon (possibly next month) and would like to have the class available to my players. But there is the concern we'll level up before we get the paragon abilities.
Also how do we get added to the mailing list for updates? Is it automated by RPGNow?
As for the class I like the customisability. And I think the house rule to create runic weapons is a good one. Although I'm also about Emblazon Magic Item. Is it identical to Enchant Magic Item (except runic items instead of magic items)?
I think Rune of Mystery might be overpowered. Its Drawn Effects are fine and losing the ability to mark creatures to give an ally +2 to Will is a good trade-off. However having a dazed save ends as an encounter could by itself be a bit overpowered. However having that turn into dominated after the first round is way overpowered. No other defender has a dazed (save ends) as a level 1 encounter. Fighters have the closest ability which is Bell Ringer, and even that is only until the end of their next turn.
Having said all that, I think you've done a good job at balancing the class with only Rune of Mystery giving me pause.
The rules as included here allow a rune soldier to draw
her rune of vigor on an ally out of combat, essentially
allowing a party to fully heal between combats
without the expenditure of healing surges or any
other resources. Please help us by sending in elegant
solutions to this problem, or explanations as to why you
don’t feel this is a problem.
I'd include something like this:
The Rune of Vigor can stay on you indefinitely in its dormant state. You don't get any benefits of it while its dormant. The rune becomes active when your adrenaline gets pumping as you have to fight your way through a battle. However this requires a saving throw to be able to maintain the rune as its expending quite a bit of the rune's energy. The second all enemies are gone, the rune enters a dormant state so it can charge up its energy for the next encounter.
I also disagree on being able to draw runes as anything but a standard. The cost in imparting the rune on other characters is a big reason why I'm willing to let the class in my game at all. I think that helps balance most of the runes which would otherwise seem overpowered.
Sounds cool, but I'm kinda bummed this isn't about Rune Soldier Louie.
If it was, I'd also revel in a wizard paragon path or new class feature that had everything to do with bludgeoning things into submission with your wand. Louie is the best caster ever.
How long do you believe it will be until you have paragon abilities available (either to buy or playtest)?
I'm going to be starting a home campaign soon (possibly next month) and would like to have the class available to my players. But there is the concern we'll level up before we get the paragon abilities.
I really can't say. "It's ready when it's ready," I guess. I've been working on the paragon and heroic powers in addition to digesting feedback for the heroic tier, but I really wouldn't feel comfortable putting any kind of time frame on it.
Also how do we get added to the mailing list for updates? Is it automated by RPGNow?
It should be. As long as you haven't set up your account to ignore publisher emails, I think it will happen automatically.
As for the class I like the customisability. And I think the house rule to create runic weapons is a good one. Although I'm also about Emblazon Magic Item. Is it identical to Enchant Magic Item (except runic items instead of magic items)?
Yep, identical to Enchant Magic Item, except for the items the two can create. I'll probably add an aspect to Emblazon Magic Item that allows the rune soldier to turn a normal magic weapon into a rune weapon (so it can be used as an implement as well) for a small cost.
I think Rune of Mystery might be overpowered. Its Drawn Effects are fine and losing the ability to mark creatures to give an ally +2 to Will is a good trade-off. However having a dazed save ends as an encounter could by itself be a bit overpowered. However having that turn into dominated after the first round is way overpowered. No other defender has a dazed (save ends) as a level 1 encounter. Fighters have the closest ability which is Bell Ringer, and even that is only until the end of their next turn.
Yeah, this looks like the current problem child.
Having said all that, I think you've done a good job at balancing the class with only Rune of Mystery giving me pause.
Thanks, and thanks for the comments! As for your rune of vigor solution, that's the best solution I've seen, but it's still kind of the clunkiness I was trying to avoid. "This rune only works in combat," just seems awkward. Still, it looks like it might be the only/best solution.
Thanks again.
~
If it was, I'd also revel in a wizard paragon path or new class feature that had everything to do with bludgeoning things into submission with your wand. Louie is the best caster ever.
Battle Mage is the best you're going to get in that regard. Or whatever the first Wizard PP is that's listed in the PHB.