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We are assured by the elves that the world that they lived in was more incredible even than the one we live in today.
The High Elves say that their technology was unparelled, and that they had created magnificent artifacts that could do everything our "magic" could do and more, all at the press of a button. Any who seek to verify this only have to read about the Conquest of Steel and Lightning in the annals of history, or poke about the wreckage of one of the High Elven Behemoths that stand their silent vigil at the gates of their ancient refuge.
The Dark Elves claim that they were once the greatest scientists of the arcane that the universe had ever seen. The spells they wove were powerful beyond belief. It was their mages and sorcerers that opened the gates that allowed the gnomes to cross into Terah. And it was they that taught the dwarves the secret of the runes, the runes which the children of the stone forge into their automatons and work into their gardens of iron.
Ah, indeed. The runes. They are what makes our world wondrous, I would argue more wondrous than the world of the Elves, no matter what they say. After all, our world was not torn asunder by the conflict between the arcane and the technological. We have not raped the earth in search of tar and gold. We have not torn the fabric of reality with our meddling. No, indeed. In Terah, steam and spells come together to create something truly magnificent.
Ladies and gentleman, I stand before you today to talk about that powerful synergy. I wish to talk to you about the runes: the bridge between the arcane and the technological.
One of the great secrets of magic that was brought over by the Dark Elves was the idea that a single word can have a great deal of power. Runes are the realization of that idea, the power of a single spell streamlined and concentrated into a single sigil. In our society, runes are an important part of the bond between technology and magic. Although some steam engines still use primitive coal-fueled boilers, most simply have a water tank with a rune of heating engraved onto their surface. Our weapons often have runes of force etched into the barrel, and zeppelins use powerful runes of flight to help reduce the size of the envelope.
But the usefulness of runes does not end outside the purview of craft and industry. For the discerning adventurer, runes also offer a degree of flexibility in planning and strategy. Cautious scientists of the arcane often use them to prepare the field of conflict. Protective wardens of divine mystery may use holy sigils as safeguards or contingencies.
I have compiled here a list of the many rune techniques that can be used “in the field,” so to speak. Please, look over them. You are all fellows of taste and refinement, knowledgeable in your professions and skilled in adventuring. Examine them. Experiment with them. Push them to their very limit and come back to me with your results!
Also, if you like what you see there, please consider donating to support my research! I hope to someday soon release a compiled compendium of my experiments and histories. Even the smallest amount of money you can donate will be a great step forward for the publication of my notes and the spread of knowledge in general.
Thank you for your time, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Antion Dreggleworth and this is the Terah Project.
Some thoughts as I read through it. I may have missed some things.
Rune Domain clerics should have the option to replace Scribe Scroll with Runeworker.
How do you disarm a rune if it activates when you get within 5' of it? The DC to find it is either too low, or two high. The Blast Rune domain power has a DC 26 at level one! You should consider smoothing it out some, since DC 16 (realistically the max at level 1) is still pretty easy to see, and not very hidden.
You might wish to add a line about not needing line of effect or line of sight to activate the rune. It's implied, but being specific is nice.
Rune of Protection is slightly weaker Contingency at level 3 without any expensive focus. How would Haste work, or any other spell that doesn't have an area, but has multiple targets?
Rune Mastery: Seems like it should affect enscribed runes from Runeworker. But for balance reasons, it probably shouldn't. Also needs to be changed to "Spells that have the words rune, sigil, symbol, or Powerword in their name receive a +2 bonus to their DC."
Rune of Immediate Protection is Contingency, without the expensive Focus (and without the days duration). And two levels earlier than a wizard could get. This one needs to be rethought.
Rune of Retaliation could use some clarification on what an offensive spell is. Yes, it's usually obvious. But corner cases will always show up. Like Reduce Person. What about spells that have multiple ranged touch attacks? Like scorching ray. Or if you use Reach Metamagic on Elemental Touch, or any other spell that grants multiple touch attacks over a number of rounds.
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Thank you for your input, Cheapy! I found it immensely helpful. Here's a modified set with proposed changes in yellow:
Playtest 0.2
Also, a PDF of the original file, with a list of corrections and questions in the order that Cheapy addressed them:
1) At the top I think I do mention that the Rune domain replaces Scribe Scroll with Runeworker. Do you think I should reword it so that the player can choose to replace Scribe Scroll with Runeworker?
2) Put in a line under the Runeworker feat that states that a character that has detected a hidden rune knows whether the rune is proximity or remote. A detected proximity rune can be approached safely with a move action. I changed the DC's for both finding and disarming runes to 20 + caster level + casting stat, making it more in - line for the starting DC for the blast rune. Does this seem reasonable for higher level spells?
3) Added a line to the effect of "Line of Sight doesn't matter," to the Runeworker feat.
4) Restricted the spell schools that can be used as Runes of Protection to Abjuration, Divination, Illusion and Transmutation. Removed the ability to use area of affect spells or spells that target more than one character. Does this and the fact that it must be activated with a move action make it better balanced with contingency?
5) Changed Rune Mastery's text to read "Spells that have the words Rune, Sigil, Symbol, Glyph or Powerword in their name receive a +2 to their DC."
6) Added an Exhaust effect to Rune of Immediate Protection. In addition, it now prevents exhausted or fatigued character from activating runes of protection as an immediate action. In addition, it only works for 3rd level spells or below. I also increased the number of ranks in linguistics required to take Rune of Immediate protection by 4. To match this, I also increased the number of ranks in linguistics required for Rune Science and Rune Weapon by 2, which nicely smooths out the 5 rank hiccup there was with Rune Science and Rune Mastery. Do those factors, combined with the shorter duration and the restrictions imposed on Rune of Protection, balance out better with Contingency? Should I increase or decrease the level cap? Are there any changes in the order of the feats that you feel should be made?
7) Got rid of the "offensive" modifier in Rune of Retaliation. Any spell that meets the regular criteria can be used as a Rune of Retaliation, whether or not it is harmful. This actually makes Rune of Retaliation more versatile and interesting to use. Also added the following to the description: "Should the spell have multiple touch attacks the second touch attack uses the second attack roll of the person wielding the rune weapon, the third attack uses the third roll and so on. If a spell has more touch attacks than the person wielding the weapon can make in the turn of activation, then the excess attacks are lost at the end of that character’s turn."
Once again, thank you Cleary for pointing out the close resemblance to Contingency. Hopefully the Runes of Protection are now lot more focused on defense as I originally intended them to be, keeping Contingency as the premier Utility Emergency Spell.
No problem! The concept of the setting intrigues me.
I can't comment on the contingency fixes now (too tired), but yes, I did mean that when taking the rune domain, you had the option of either.
You need to give access to others for that document :)
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I'm glad that you're interested, ShadowcatX! Hopefully you will get an opportunity to play test it soon!
Here is version 0.3 of the feat track, with changes from 0.2 marked in red. For the PDF, here are the changes in the order that they were brought up.
1) Noticed that what Cheapy said about spells like Haste applied for Runeworker, Rune Weapon, and Rune of Retaliation as well. Added a clause forbidding spells that have multiple targets without having an area of affect for all these feats.
2) Bumped the DC down to 15 + caster level + casting attribute. Hopefully this is a good compromise between the original base 10 and the second base 20.
3) Added Runeworker as a prerequisite for Rune Science. Added phrases to all the runes forbidding the inscription of meta-magic spells without Rune Science. I'm thinking of bumping the number of times Rune science can be used up to 3, or even a number derived from the caster's casting stat. Any thoughts?
4) While working on Rune Science, noticed that Rune of Retaliation still had Rune of Immediate Protection as a prerequisite, despite Rune of Immediate Protection being higher level now. Removed both Rune of Immediate Protection and Rune of Protection as prerequisites to make the feat more flexible.
5) As much as it pained me to do so, I simplified the prerequisites for all Runeworking feats to minimize word count. My paycheck weeps, but now the feats look much more elegant. ;)
I suppose the rune's from the rune domain are more special, so a higher DC would be necessary. I like this DC better, although you should try to figure out what the average perception at each level is, and what chance you'd like for a normal non-rogue to spot it.
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New update:Runeworking 0.4 is up, with changes marked in blue.
Added a section to Runeworking, Rune of Protection, Rune Weapon and Rune of Retaliation that says that Runes can be counterspelled normally and are affected by spells like Dispel Magic.