Runecaster (Into his sandbox)

1. Runecaster (Into his sandbox)

   #1

   Always wanted a runecaster, a dwarven runecaster. As dwarves have problems with magic as we know it (maybe cannot cast spells at all), I wanted something that would be clearly dwarven and magical. Most runecasters I have seen are only wizards in the dwarven cloak. I want something better.

2. Dwarven Runecaster

   #2

   Knowing runes and symbols is something more than to be a painter. It is about the way magic flows, the way the world flows. If you concentrate deeply while creating a symbol of power, you may capture a tiny part of the worlds' power, for your own purpose.
   
   Runecasters come mostly in the guise of a warrior, and rarely look interesting to other races. Dwarves but know and respect them. While certainly not priests, they all revere dwarven gods and dwarven ways. Runecasters are often solitary, which is not unusual, but like to travel and learn about the world, which is not so usual. Surprisingly, they may enjoy the Sea, what few dwarves do. Not necessarily sailing it, but watch they can, for hours and hours. All kind of shapes may capture the interest of a Runecaster.

3. A few runes to begin with

   #3

   Runes are mostly painted on the target surface, which takes about 10 minutes. While the result may not look much interesting (incomprehensible is a better word) it requires intense concentration, quite similar to known spellcasting. Sadly, every rune produced must be unique and made specially for a known person or object. All runes have a duration, or defined moments when they loose their magic.
   
   
   Shield Rune - gives a +1 bonus to your saves and defense, until you loose a fight or run away from one. Painted on a shield.
   
   Strength rune- carved on a wooden twig, increases the target Str score at +1d3 for 10d6 minutes. The target must break it to activate its power.
   
   Fire Rune - carved into a torch, it is brighter, but burns a lot faster. The wearer becomes partially immune to normal fire.
   
   Blood Rune- one useful in battle, much quicker to create. Painted with own blood after being hit, may give a +1 bonus against that oponent, or make the weapon magical against given oponent, if it needs such a weapon to be hit.
   
   Rune of Guard/Detect Enemy- requires solid stonework and weeks to create. Guards in the area have a +1 bonus against sleeping and concealing magics. No matter the protection, guards have always at least a 1% chance of waking up or noticing something, even if IT is invisible or whatever.

4. Runecaster

   #4

   How about these few more examples (help/mischief in the community):
   
   Milking Rune - Two versions: one makes a barren cow provide more milk, the other makes a fruitful cow barren. The runes must be tatooed onto the udder.
   
   Wheat Rune - Like a crop circle these runes are cut into the crop. They help to improve harvest.
   
   Or these:
   
   Rune of Lockdoor - Carved/drawn onto a door. It increases the door's strength (reduces chance of door being barged down or opened). This can be carved quickly in the heat of an escape.

5. Runecaster

   #5

   Oh, did not think about THAT... may make a dwarven witch, sort of... Someone cursed my cow, it gives no milk anymore!
   
   On the other hand, the Rune of Opendoor/Brittlestone: may be painted on (silently) on a door to make it fragile and much easier to break... a stone door could be treated like a wooden one. If painted on regular, solid rock, it allows much quicker digging in the duration.
   
   The Thiefs Mark- if stolen, the thief gets a minor allergy with this item, gets faster weary, -1 to all saves, etc.
   
   Condense Water- not painted, must be carved or something, collects small amounts of aerial water, it usually leads to some kind of container where it is collected. To supply people with enough water, much time must be spent and vast areas covered with this rune. Good in deserts, but also in other locations with little water.
   
   Rune of Awaiting- is carved into the weapon of an aspiring young dwarf. About 1% chance in a day of the weapon gaining some minor magical powers, the dwarf must perform heroic deeds for this to work. As the gods more often than not watch this young one, he better not fails in his ways...

6. Runecaster

   #6

   I'm involved in a local archaeology project in our area and we've been finding these strange cup-and-ring-marked stones and other more zoomorphic carvings. We're not sure what they were for so who knows...
   
   Here's a few more for the runic spellbook:
   
   Rune of Light: A glowing glyph whose brightness and duration depends on how long the caster spends carving it and also on the sharpness of the chisel used.
   
   Rune of Iron: Similar to your "condense water" rune: when carved into iron-rich rocks this rune gradually fills up with liquid iron which seeps from the surrounding rock and then solidifies. The process takes a minimum of 6 hours but depends on the caster's level and the complexity of the shape required. Useful for when a set of replacement arrowheads are needed and a skilled caster can simply carve the arrowheads into the rock.

7. Runecaster

   #7

   If we ever get to drawing of some runes, you (and those ancient people) get a chance. But beware, those symbols might be made just for fun, to fool those poor archeologists! :twisted:

8. Some abilities

   #8

   You spend your life with symbols, creating and getting a feeling for all kind of symbols. If concentrating on symbols of any kind, some information can be felt out of them, from their shape, from the pressure applied to various parts of the letters, even something of the attitude of the symbols' creators may stay behind.
   
   So you may concentrate on a letter from a friend and discover fear between the words saying all is well. Even if the hieroglyphs in the wall cannot be deciphered, you may suddenly feel confident it is a warning. You may get a very bad feeling too, when that scribble is a death curse.
   
   Beware, for in the symbols and shapes much is hidden. Some symbols you should not seek, lest you find what they mean.

9. Runecaster

   #9

   I did this in Aros and thought it was pretty cool. (I think original too but who knows)
   
   I used runes in combination with the Sand Magic of my world. Two runes would be carved in stone, written on paper, whatever...but they had to be exact duplicates, and no more then two of the same.
   
   The caster could put these two runes wherever he/she wants and use them to teleport from one to another. Sort of like "beam me up scotty" but with definate starting and ending points. If somebody found them and made another rune (a third), the likelyhood of the caster being torn in two when trying to teleport was very great.
   
   Very useful if it remains a secret...very dangerous if somebody finds it. They could always move it, create a third, destroy the user, then destroy one of the symbols and use it themselves.
   
   This is turning into an item submission. Will do that tomorrow :twisted:

10. Runecaster

    #10

    The Eye Rune
    
    Close your eyes. Paint bigger eyes over/around your own eyes. Open them. You will see much better than you did before. (let's say 2-5 times better)
    
    The rune's effect lasts for as long as you can keep your eyes open. (No blinking!)
    
    Notes: Do not forget that dwarwes are said to see better in the dark. If the rune is too often used, and the eyes are forced open for too long, it may have its effects...

11. Runecaster

    #11

    The Air rune
    
    In deep caves this would come in handy. Traced in the air either with light or smoke it becomes flickering, almost solid, and a gentle breeze blows outwards in all directions for a few minutes.

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