ScotchSunrise's page

I don't know if this is necessarily true or not, but I have always thought of glyphs as more complex symbols, while runes are almost a proto-alphabet.

If this were the case then it would seem Glyph magic is the name for any number of unrelated spells across a variety of schools that happen to centre around a magical glyph as the focal point of the spell. That glyph may or may not contain specific runes but would only be Rune magic if the specific spell it was used in happened to fall into that category. If that's so then the term "glyph magic" is about as descriptive as calling something "wand magic" or "implement magic"

ScotchSunrise wrote:

So I have been scrounging through information related to Earthfall, the Aboleths and {...}

I think this was gone over in one of the runelords articles, or a panel recorded by Know Direction at a con.... I seem to remember that it was refered to as Glyph magic when Xin and the other Thassilonians worshiped the virtues. When they were corrupted to the sins, the magic was also corrupted, turning it to rune magic.

If there is already a thread on this topic I could not find it, but it seems like the kind of general knowledge question that was bound to have come up before now, especially with how long RotRL has been around. If this is the case then it would suggest that Glyph magic and Rune magic are different expressions of the same magical source. The thing is, the Aboleths are at times said to have used Rune magic and at other times to have used Glyph magic. Since they were not subject to the same cultural shift in magic doctrine that Thassilon went through after the death of Xin, it is unlikely that their magic underwent any significant change during that time. Is it then fair to assume that the magic of the Aboleths spans the breadth of both what is considered Rune magic and what is considered Glyph magic?

So I have been scrounging through information related to Earthfall, the Aboleths and the Star Stone and I have noticed that some sources refer to Rune Magic while others refer to Glyph Magic. Are they meant to be used interchangeably? Is one a subset of the other? Are they distnct forms of magic? Is there a specific syntax for what is a Glyph and what is a Rune? The dictionary distinction is basically, both are symbols with agreed upon meaning but runes are specific sets from mostly Germanic roots and depending on which definition you use for glyphs the may or may not specify being inset or etched. I don't think those definitions fit the context of how the terms are used in the game so I would love to have more clarity on this.