That's for the party to deal with in the distribution of loot. The same thing applies to any loot. If your 4 person party finds 2 healing potions, or a Cloak of Elvenkind, or a Ring of the Ram, you're always going to have to decide who gets what.
In the APs, you usually find 3-4 Striking runes over the course of a single character level, so it's only an issue for a couple of fights.
For example, in AoA, the party finds 3 Striking Runes within 2 combats of each other. So it's not like 1 PC is substantially better than the others for an extended period of time.
If your party is really worried about it, someone with Magical Crafting could disassemble it to learn the formula, and then Craft one for everyone.
A rune of striking is great, and it's a big deal when you find your first one, but saying that barbarians damage is doubling is not going to be remotely true in any but the strangest circumstances. STR and Rage are a pretty important part of the damage formula.
Yeah, that is one of many reasons I've been using Automatic Bonus Progression on Striking Runes. Really not a fan of the impact they have on the game. But you can go with a less extreme solution if this is your only issue with them, like the ones previously mentioned.
I agree with Malk and dmerceless here, it sounds like Automatic Bonus Progression would suite your group pretty well.
The Automatic Bonus Progression System available in the Gamemastery Guide
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I have a question, coming from a group that player PF1 for a long time, à long with many other RPGs.
I have trouble understanding Rune of Striking. For now, Ive décider to roll with RAW and not house rule something I haven't playtested enough yet, but here's the problem.
When the first PC getsthat rune on a weapon, his damage output gets way better than his teammates until they catch up.
I.e. if the barbarian gets a Rune of Striking on a greataxe and deals 2d12, while the ranger still deals only 1d8... Hé outshines pretty much everyone for some time!
Aside from making sure everyone gets Rune of Striking at the same time, how do you deal with that? On fact, am I getting something wrong? Do other people have a problem with that?
You're correct that that one PC will be ahead of the rest - for a while. And they they catch back up.
But don't think of that as a downside. It's a feature. Let me explain by drawing your attention to Table 10-9 on page 509.
This table shows when the party should be finding items of a given level. The table assumes a four-player party. Notice how you consistently find about two items of the next level. So a level 3 party can expect, over the course of level 3, to find two level 4 items. And then when they're level 4, they can expect to find two more level 4 items as well as two level 5 items.
This shows a pattern: you get next-level-items for half the party every level. When you actually reach that level (say, level 4), you should be able to buy those items, but items you find will always be just a little bit ahead of what you can get in the shop. So adventuring feels rewarding.
It also shows that the striking rune isn't the only time someone in the party is going to get a shiny new thing before anyone else. That should happen, basically, once every level, namely, the first next-level item the party finds during a given level.
So when the ranger is looking enviously at the ranger's cool axe, make a note to yourself that when you're assembling the loot for next level, you may want to make sure the first cool item is more a ranger item. Rotate who gets to find the cool shiny.
Other posters are contrasting this with Automatic Bonus Progression. The thing with ABP is that everyone moves in lockstep. You don't get that feeling of having something really powerful (because you got it a level earlier, and before anyone else). I think the standard loot system is pretty good for having those moments where you drool a little over your new item, but it doesn't create a permanent imbalance because the rest will catch up soon enough.