"A wielder who is considered sinful or virtuous (see page 416) with the same type of sin/virtue as a runeforged weapon he wields becomes more aware of danger around him—gaining a +2 insight bonus on Initiative checks and a +1 dodge bonus to AC."
This should be straight forward, except that each type of weapon has 3 different sins/virtues "associated with it. The 2 that are combined, and 1 that is opposed. And the names on the Runeforged weapons don't really clue you in as much I'd like. I think what I'm seeing is that the name of the weapon corresponds to the first of the listed schools of magic, and I'm guessing that this is supposed the be the sin/virtue that resonates in the wielder. So for example:
Dominant/Commanding (opposes transmutation): A union of enchantment and illusion magic, a dominant weapon functions as a bane weapon against transmuters.Enchanment is listed first in the union, and Dominate and Command are both functions of enchantment, so it seems to be the primary school here. So I'd guess that a wielder who embodies the sin of Lust or the virtue of Love gains the initiative/AC bonus.
This system can be applied to almost all of the sins-- except for:
Covetous/Charitable (opposes evocation): A union of conjuration and abjuration magic, a covetous weapon functions as a bane weapon against evokers. Following the formula, conjuration is the primary school, so Sloth/Zeal should be the sins/virtues for the wielder. But the weapon's name clearly refers to principles of envy/charity, as do Jealous/Trusting Weapons. There's nothing among them that actually feels associated with Sloth/Zeal.
Also, it isn't consistent if the names correspond to schools or sins/virtues. For example, Dominant/Commanding feels pretty linked to Enchantment, but not to Lust/Love. One could dominate in a lustful interaction, but Commanding doesn't feel like it would be part of love. Meanwhile, Sadistic/Compassion feels like a clear reference to Wrath/Kindness, but it doesn't actually invoke evocation in anyway.
So yeah, what do?
I decided to count it if either of the opposed virtues was the character's primary sin/virtue. Nothing in the writing really led me there, just a gut feeling about flavor.
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I can't recall how I ran this (or if I even used that portion of the runeforged weapon trait), but I agree with JavaMan. If you create a dominant weapon (and you should, given what's going on in the campaign!), then you are infusing the weapon with enchantment and illusory magic. If your sin is either Lust or Pride, or if your virtue is either Love or Humility, then the insight bonus to initiative and dodge bonus to AC unlocks.
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I decided to count it if either of the opposed virtues was the character's primary sin/virtue. Nothing in the writing really led me there, just a gut feeling about flavor.
Ditto on this. I really take the sin magic 'opposed schools' to be gaps in the Runelords' (and their servants') expertise, a weakness. This is also why divination is excluded from any school's opposition - every Runelord needed divination magic for their nation to run and for them to be successful. As such, a match to either sin/virtue will do.
Also, as a side-note, it'd be a little frustrating for your PCs to be weaker than they could be because they didn't emphasize being lustful or loving during the game, seeing as plenty of parties don't want to engage with either topic. Pride/Humility, though, plenty of PCs can get behind.
+1 on going with either of the two opposed sins. E.g., Pride or Lust when wielding a Dominant weapon.
... Only one of my groups has finished Runeforge so far. I didn't let them know beforehand what the weapon enchantments would do (their only clue was in Vraxeris' journal). Two of the party chose to make Dominant weapons as per the journal's suggestion, but the druid ended up with a Miserly weapon, and the barbarian (who was Wrath-focused) made an anti-Wrath Covetous weapon. Go figure.