The DM in a campaign I'm playing in has an interesting alternate for people in a particular area of his homebrew world. This country has women known as Runeguards, who utilize an old magic known as Runeology. Their bodies are patterned with runes that they can use to cast special spells. It's a template he charges a feat for at the beginning of creation. A rune-guard must be a woman, and ostensibly compatibility is rare. The inherited or acquired template does the following:
-All spellcasting of the character is based off Charisma.
-+2 to Charisma.
-At every odd level the recipient acquires one spell of any class they can case. 1 is 1st level, 3 is 2nd level, 3 is 3rd level, ect. Those spells can be cast 3 times a day.
I want to disclaimer that yes, even considering the feat cost, this is a very powerful alternative. Our roleplaying group is comprised of all good friends, and we're pretty good about not getting out of hand even with powerful characters.
So here's the part I need help with. The story of Runeology is that this is one small form of the magic, and that while powerful, the rest has been lost. I am playing a character I'd like to be the subject of magical experimentation to expand this magic type. The DM is interested in this, and has decided that one of the lost lines of this magic was compatible with men only. He's asked me to work out a system. Here's what we're aiming for, a physical version of the above runeology. Women get casting powers with the magic, and are powerful in said abilities. The male version should increase physical abilities in some interesting and scaling way.
This forum seems like it's always been good for original and inventive approaches to systems like this, so I'm reaching out to get some help. All ideas are welcome and appreciated, and once I've got something nailed down I'll make sure to post the final version.
Self-bump. Is that polite?
It is okay to self bump, but it is better to wait a day or 2.
Define physical, what exactly are you looking for? Physical can be interpreted a few ways.
Thank you for the response, I'll make sure to wait a while to bump again if it's needed. I've read forums quite a bit but don't normally post on them.
Good question, sorry if I wasn't clear. The male version of the magic is to augment physical abilities, instead of magical ones the the runeguards (female) get. So, any scaling system that involves physical stats is game. Increased speed, physical stats, regen, DR, ect.
Needs at least 2 more abilities, but it is a start.
Runic Force: At 1st level, Male Rune Knight gains a pool of energy that can be shaped in a number of ways. This pool is equal to 1/2 his level + his Charisma modifier. This pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive. At every odd level, the Rune Knight may choose one of the following abilities. Activating an ability costs 1 point and lasts for a number of rounds equal to his level, when appropriate. These Runic Powers take a Standard action to activate and are considered spell like abilities.
Runic Powers:
EDIT: Also see my spell fire feat chain.
Thanks for the help Kierato, you knocked that out pretty quick. I like it, it feels similar to the female system but definitely works differently. Couple points, tell me what you think.
Given the duration, is the amount of points roughly comparable with the casting ability of the feminine version. At most I think perhaps 1/lvl +Cha.
Do you think any method of making the duration longer, or changing the activation to swift would be inappropriate?
Physical Ability Scores, do you mean Str or Dex or Con, or all 3 with the one use of the ability?
Thanks for the help Kierato, you knocked that out pretty quick. I like it, it feels similar to the female system but definitely works differently. Couple points, tell me what you think.
Given the duration, is the amount of points roughly comparable with the casting ability of the feminine version. At most I think perhaps 1/lvl +Cha.
Do you think any method of making the duration longer, or changing the activation to swift would be inappropriate?
Physical Ability Scores, do you mean Str or Dex or Con, or all 3 with the one use of the ability?
You can change it to one point per level, but be careful in doing so. I try to balance things, but this has little counter balance so it is hard for me.
I would allow a feat for each, but make it so that you can only activate 1 ability per round.
Choose one when you activate the ability. It should also be an enhancement bonus.
I'm still fine tuning. This is where I'm currently at, if anyone is interested. Still pretty rough. Thanks again for the help.
Runic Powers:
Runic Force: At 1st Level, and every odd level thereafter, the Runeknight can choose one Runic Power from the list below. Each choice is permanent and cannot be reversed.
Runes of Talent: The Runeknight can add his 1/2 level to acrobatics, climb, and swim checks. This effect is passive and always on.
Runes of Skill: The Runeknight adds his character level to his acrobatics checks, and gains a swim and climb speed equal to his base movement speed. The Runeknight must have Runes of Talent to take this ability. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 5th level.
Runes of Body: The Runeknight can add 1/2 his level to Str, Dex, and Con (Minimum of +1). This effect is considered an inherent bonus and lasts for 1 round per level, activation is a standard action. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.
Runes of Might:The Runeknight can add 1/2 his level to Str, Dex, and Con (Minimum of +1). This effect is considered an inherent bonus and lasts for 1 round per level, activation is a swift action. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 11th level, and the Runeknight must have the Rune Power Runes of Body.
Runes of Speed: Whenever the Runeknight takes the run action, he receives +50 feet to his based speed for purposes of the distance traveled. This effect is passive and always occurs when the Runeknight takes the run action.
Hasted Runes: The Runeknight can activate these runes as a swift action, triggering a Haste effect with himself as the only target. The Runeknight gets a total number of rounds per day equal to his character level, and these rounds need not be concurrent. The Runeknight must be 7th level to choose this Rune Power, and must have already selected the Rune Power Runes of Speed.
Fey Runes: The Runeknight can gain DR/Cold Iron equal to ½ his level, when activating these runes as a swift action. The duration of this effect is 1 round per level, and can be done 1/day for every 5 character levels. This power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.
Reactive Runes: If the Runeknight is targeted by an effect with an energy descriptor, the next round he gains a resistance to that energy equal to his character level, lasting for 1 round per 2 levels. These runes are passive and require not activation to occur.
Wholeness Runes: When the Runeknight suffers damage, he can activate these runes as an immediate action, providing him fast healing 1 per 3 levels, lasting for 1 round per level. This healing cannot bring the Runeknight over his maximum hit points, and the Runeknight cannot heal more than his total number of hit points in a 24 hour period. This Rune Power cannot be chosen before 3rd level.
Rune Skin: The Runeknight's runes react to physical damage. Each successive round the Runeknight is injured, he receives a base natural armor bonus of +1, to a maximum of ½ his character level. Each round he suffers no physical damage, the bonus decreases by 1, to a minimum of 0.
Runes of body (and by extension, Runes of Might) are way over powered, a bonus to all three physical attribute score for 1 round per level that stacks with everything else.
Runes of body (and by extension, Runes of Might) are way over powered, a bonus to all three physical attribute score for 1 round per level that stacks with everything else.
Good call. Hmm enhancement bonus might be better. I'm not a big fan of abilities that simply replace magical item bonuses. Perhaps 1 per 5 levels.