I join Paizo's public playtests by including playtest characters in my ongoing campaign. I wrote a Discord message on December 5 alerting my players to the upcoming Necromancer and Rune Smith playtests, but no-one took the bait yet. Thus, this time I might run a playtest character as an NPC.
My current campaign is the Strength of Thousands adventure path and we just started the 2nd module, Spoken on the Song Wind. That module describes that Nantambu Chime-Ringers and provides the Nantambu Chime-Ringer archetype, but no individual Chime-Ringer NPCs appear. I was already considering adding a recurring Chime-Ringer character, so that Chime-Ringer will be a Rune Smith.
Virgil Tibbs, Rune Smith 4
Medium Human Humanoid
Background Detective
Heritage Skilled
Perception +7
Languages Common(Mwangi), Amurrun, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Iruxi
Skills Acrobatics +7, Arcana +10, Athletics +11 (expert), Crafting +12 (expert), Diplomacy +7, Intimidation +7, Nature +6, Medicine +6, Occultism +10, Performance +7, Society +10, Stealth +7, Underworld Lore +10
Str +3, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +0, Cha +1
Items breastplate, minor sturdy shield (Hardness 8, HP 64) with +1 striking shield boss, +1 mambele, artisan's tools, healer's tools, 2 minor elixirs of life, lesser cheetah's elixir, rope, 5 gp for prescient planning
Shield Block, Magical Crafting, Trace Rune, Invocation
AC 21 (23 or 24 with shield); Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +8
HP 40
Speed 25 feet
Melee +1 striking shield boss +10 (Attached to Shield) Damage 2d6+3 bludgeoning
Melee +1 mambele +10 (Deadly d8, Disarm, Thrown 20 ft.) Damage 1d6+3 slashing
Arcane Innate Spells DC 20, attack +10;
2nd (1/day) runic body or runic weapon
Cantrips (2nd) message, sigil
Runes 4th level, maximum 2 etched, Runesmith Class DC 20; attack +10;
ATRYL, RUNE OF FIRE
HOLTRIK, RUNE OF DWARVEN RAMPARTS
PLUUNA, RUNE OF ILLUMINATION
ZOHK, RUNE OF HOMECOMING
Ancestry Feat 1 Natural Ambition (Rune-Singer)
Background Feat Streetwise
Class Feat 1 Backup Runic Enhancement
Class Feat 2 Nantambu Chime-Ringer Dedication (Message chosen as arcane cantrip)
Class Feat 4 Terrifying Invocation
General Feat 3 Prescient Planner
Skill Feat 2 Combat Climber
Skill Feat 4 Quick Repair
Virgil Tibbs had enrolled in the Magaambya Academy in Nantambu ten years ago to study wizardry and magic item crafting. He also joined the Tempest-Sun Mages academic branch that emphasized protecting people. Unfortunately, despite his intelligence he had almost no talent is spellcasting. He did excel in a special class in Rune Smithing taught by a visiting scholar. A Tempest-Sun-Mage service project teamed him up with the Nantambu Chime-Ringers, the local police department, to solve a crime. He discovered a calling for police detective work, and left the academy to join the Chime-Ringers. Recently, another group of students was appointed by the Magaambya Academy to help the Chime-Ringers during a crime spree. Virgil was assigned as their liaison.
As for Virgil's selection of runes:
ATRYL, RUNE OF FIRE is his basic offensive rune. I avoided ESVADIR, RUNE OF WHETSTONES because that deals persistent bleed damage, which would reduce his chance of taking a suspect in alive.
HOLTRIK, RUNE OF DWARVEN RAMPARTS enhances his defenses. I plan on Virgil fighting with bossed shield etched with holtrik in one hand and the other hand free for tracing runes.
PLUUNA, RUNE OF ILLUMINATION is because Virgil is human and often needs a light source.
ZOHK, RUNE OF HOMECOMING offers an interesting possibility for apprehending criminals. Trace zohk on them with Rune-Singer, teleport them adjacent to Virgil in a Terrifying Invocation, and then grapple them.
He gets a fifth rune in his repertoire at 3rd level, so you're one short.
He gets a fifth rune in his repertoire at 3rd level, so you're one short.
Thank you for the correction. I will add OLJINEX, RUNE OF COWARDS’ BANE, since it relates to shields.
This week's game session began at Oda's Wondrous Creatures in Nantambu. In the previous game session the party had visited to investigate how Oda's captive wyverns had been released into the city two days ago. Oda was hostile to the Magaambya Academy and its students, so the party was pretending to be customers interested in buying a golden elephant bird. Upon checking the animal compound they discovered that all her other exotic animals had been released just hours before. Oda hired them to recapture her animals and they had caught all except the basilisk.
Before the game session began, we altered the past to that Virgil Tibbs had met the party before and he knew that they were students that the Magaambya Academy sent out to investigate the release of the wyverns.
Once the session began, the party retreated to Treat Wounds and talk with the owner Oda before facing the basilisk, which had hidden. During this break, Virgil Tibbs showed up. The kineticist Cara signaled (natural 20 on his innuendo check) to Virgil to pretend not to know them. Instead, Virgil volunteered to help the party of adventurers capture the basilisk.
This would pit eight 4th-level characters against a single 5th-level creature, a Trivial-Threat encounter. However, the encounter still had the risk of petrifying a character, so they were very careful.
They split the party into two groups: those that could attack the basilisk from well outside its 30-foot Petrifying Glance aura and those who would close in. The kineticist Cara had a +12 Fortitude save, much better than Virgil's +8 and champion Wilfred's +9 Fortitude saves, so Cara would be the primary distraction for the basilisk with the other two as secondary distractions. However, when Virgil explained how his Zohk, Rune Of Homecoming, could teleport a pre-petrification slowed person out of the basilisk's range, they instead decided that Virgil would stay out of the aura ready for an emergency Zohk pullout.
The magus Zandre claimed a tree and the bard Jinx sent her heron animal companion aloft (the companion was from her druid free archetype) to safely spot the basilisk from the air. The heron succeeded first, spotting the basilisk lying behind a bush. Then we went into Encounter Mode, initiative order Cara'sseth, Zandre, Jinx Fuun, Roshan, Stargazer, Idris, Basilisk, Virgil Tibbs, and Wilfred. Cara delayed until after Jinx's turn, so that she could benefit from Jinx's Triple Time bard song.
Thus, Zandre was first to act. She knew the hidden location of the basilisk, so she Seeked to observe it and succeeded. Then she shot an arrow with Ray of Frost spellstrike and hit for 10 damage.
After Jinx started Triple Time bard song, Cara moved with the extra speed to where she could see the basilisk. She missed with a fire blast. The long-distance spellcasters also had to move to get a line of sight, due to buildings in the way, and either hid or Averted Gaze. The bard Stargazer instead moved closer into a building, began Courageous Anthem, and then hid.
The basilisk on its turn Strode once toward Zandre, but stopped to stare at Cara with Petrifying Gaze. Cara made her save.
Virigl Tibbs was next. He Strode (with extra distance from Triple Time) to 35 feet from the basilisk but only 15 feet from Cara, and traced a Zohk rune of homecoming on Cara.
Wilfred Strode twice to adjacent to the basilisk, between it and Zandre, and raised his shield.
Zandre on his 2nd turn managed a critical hit on an arrow with Ignition spellstrike for 24 damage and 4 persistent fire damage (our houserule is that we roll once for persistent damage and use that number each round). Jinx and Stargazer kept up their bard songs. Cara, holding the canvas tarp in one hand, Strode to adjacent to the basilisk and Wilfred, Interacted to hand a corner of the tarp to Wilfred, and Strode again to circle the basilisk, cuting off its line of sight to anyone.
Roshan and Idris cast Ray of Frost, using their 3rd actions for Avert Gaze in case the basilisk moved closer. I ruled that the basilisk was hidden by the tarp, but they both succeeded at their flat checks to target the hidden basilisk. Roshan missed and Idris hit for 8 damage.
The basilisk attacked the canvas tarp. It rolled a natural 1 on its 1st Strike, so we joked about how confused it was by the material. The next two Strikes shredded the tarp. But it had not put out the persistent fire damage and took 4 damage from that.
Roshan had suggested that someone should frighten the basilisk, and this felt like a call for Virgil to use Terrifying Invocation. The difficulty was that he was 35 feet away from the basilisk, out of range of Trace Rune at a distance. Thanks to Triple Time, he Strode adjacent to the basilisk, traced an atryl rume of fire on the basilisk directly, and used Terrifying Invocation. He rolled only (13)+7 = 20 for the Demoralize against the basilisk's will DC 21, so barely failed to frighten it. He rolled 16 damage for the fire rune going off, but the basilisk saved for half damage. Virgil was left adjacent to the basilisk with no actions for Raise Shield or Avert Gaze.
Wilfred stabbed at the basilisk three times and hit twice. Zandre shot the basilisk with Ignition spellstrike again and hit to reduce it to dying.
Jinx ran in and cast Stabilize because they were trying to capture the basilisk rather than kill it. The party dragged the basilisk to its cage, bandaged it and its eyes during Treat Wounds, and ran out and locked the cage before it awoke.
The rest of the game session did not involve any Runesmith abilities. The party did buy a golden elephant bird from Oda as a mount for Wilfred. Later, the party and Virgil met with teacher Janatimo who was supervising the team-up between the students and the Chime-Ringers. Virgil complemented them on their resourcefulness and bravery, and Janatimo went ahead with his plan to promote the PCs to conversant status.
Doesn't sound like you got to flex your muscles too much this session, but I'm looking forward to the next installment!
I am rearranging the events in the module to schedule a bigger fight next week. They will track down a group of four humanoid thieves: creature 3, creature 5, creature 6, and creature 7. This fight is supposed to happen at 5th level, treated as a 60-xp Low Threat with the first two, then another 60-xp Low Threat against the third, and a 80-xp Moderate Threat against the fourth. In my game the party and Virgil will still be 4th level (changing the 3 XPs to 90, 80, and 120) but the party is double size (halving the 3 XPs to 45, 40, and 60), so I plan to merge some combats.
I asked my wife about this, and she is willing to try a 145-xp Very Serious Threat encounter.
We will have no game sessions in the weeks of Christmas and New Years, so that will be the only new session for a while.
I did not manage any significant playtesting of Runesmith Virgil Tibbs in my game session today, Tuesday, December 17. Virgil suggested catching some thieves. My player made an elaborate plan to capture the thieves that left little work for Virgil himself.
Four thieves had been robbing minstrels busking in the marketplaces of Nantambu. Since the seven-member party had two bards, my players had mention last week that they would probably conduct a sting operation to trap the thieves. Thus, I found on the Internet a 235-foot by 165-foot map of a medieval market for this adventure. The PCs interviewed two musicians, one who had been robbed, and after the interview they directed the party to a group of three minstrels, the Dandy Girls, who regularly played at the market I prepared. The leader of the Dandy Girls, a halfling named Dandelion, had been gathering information herself about the four thieves. The Dandy Girls agreed to work with the party to set up a trap.
I had pulled pictures of the three Dandy Girls from the Internet, and my players had fun identifying the traditional instruments they held, such as a bodhran and a djembe. My wife is a musician. They were shocked to discover the thieves were stealing musical instruments, because that robbed the musicians of their livelihood.
Meanwhile, Virgil made two Gather Information checks himself. He rolled a natural 1 on checking with his fellow Chime-Ringers. They complained that he was investigating petty theft when rumors held that a gang war was brewing. His roll for Gathering Information from his informants was (15)+6 = 22, so his informants told him that Reth and three henchmen were running capers independent of their gang boss. When Virgil compared notes with the party, the descriptions of the four thieves matched.
We could have jumped directly to combat at Reth's Shack, which would have playtested Virgils's runesmith combat abilities, but the sting operation sounded like a boatload of fun, so I passed up on playtesting today. Sorry.
The Dandy Girls spread word that they and another band would give a joint performance at the market the next day. Two bands meant two donation bowls, so please give to both. Meanwhile, the player of the wizard Idris was overjoyed because many illusion spells that Idris had studied for his theater class would be useful in setting up the sting operation. For example, Idris cast Item Facade on an ordinary drum to make it look very valuable. Furthermore, Idris had invested heavily in a mask familiar for the Magaambya Attendant archetype, and the familiar Ayele could turn invisible and move quickly. It would follow the thieves if they escaped. The bat familiar of the bard Stargazer and the heron animal companion of the bard Jinx Fuun would try to do likewise.
Idris considered putting invisible sigils on the donation bowls, but I mentioned that Virgil had the sigil spell, too (via Backup Runic Enhancement feat), so the party decided the Virgil's sigils would be better evidence to prove that the ordinary-looking donation bowls were stolen.
I asked the PCs for Sense Motive checks when the 5th-level human thief Mashkudu walked past the performance to case the items worth stealing. Some succeeded. When Mashkudu departed the east side of the market to meet up with his colleagues, the party messaged Zandre, watching from eastern rooftops but failed his Sense Motive, to watch the suspicious character. And Idris turned Ayele invisible and used Share Senses to listen in.
The thieves used their snatch-and-run tactics described by their other victims. Three ran through and grabbed the donation bowls and the expensive-looking drum while their leader Reth stood along their exit path to block any pursuit. But Athletics-expert rogue Roshan tripped Mashkudu, and bard Stargazer cast Tangle Vine on Mashkuda. Zandre hit the 3rd-level elf thief with a Sleep Arrow and the thief failed his save and fell asleep. The 6th-level iruxi thief resisted the spells and the grapple that would have stopped him.
Next turn, the familiars began secretly following the escape iruxi thief. Mashkuda failed to escape the Tangle Vine and needed an action to rise from prone, so he managed only 15 feet of movement. Roshan grabbed him. Zandre had jumped down from the roof and, aided my Jinx Fuun's Triple Time bardsong, caught up to Mashkudu.
I had placed Virgil on the opposite side of the marketplace map so that the presence of a Chime-Ringer would not scare away the thieves. He needed three turns to reach grappled, web-tangled Mashkudu. And then the game session ended, so I declared that the elf thief was tied up while asleep, the iruxi thief was secured by Roshan, Zandre, and Virgil, and the other two thieves escaped. The familiars would successfully follow them home, so our next game session on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, would pick up at Reth's Shack.
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My weekly game sessions resumed on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. On the following Wednesday I tired myself out with snow removal and needed a few days of rest. I no longer remember enough details of the game session to give a turn by turn account, but I remember how the runesmith and necromancer performed.
And yes, I said necromancer even though this is a runesmith playtest. I decided to add a necromancer as an opponent. The encounter with the 6th-level robber Loakan and the 7th-level robber Reth would be just short of a Severe-Threat encounter against an 8-member 4th-level party, and adding a 4th-level opponent would make the XP Budget exactly 240 xp, Severe Threat for a double-size party. I decided that the robbers had left one of their members at Reth's Shack to guard their loot.
Sobe, Iruxi Necromancer, Creature 4
Medium Humanoid Lizardfolk
Heritage Wetlander
Background Criminal
Perception +7
Languages Common (Mwangi), Draconic, Dwarven, Gnoll, Iruxi
Skills Deception(expert) +8, Iruxi Lore +9, Occultism +9, Stealth +8, Survival +7, Thievery +8, Underworld Lore +9; Untrained Improvisation
Str +2, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +0
Items studded leather armor, handwraps of mighty blows (+1), thieves' tools
Breath Control
Bone Shaper Bone shapers, also known as osteomancers, craft what they desire from the skeletons of the dead or simply create new skeletons by expanding and shaping small bone pieces.
Class Feat Bone Spear
General Feat Fleet (Player Core 256)
Thrall Enhancement Your thralls are well constructed and nimble. Whenever one or more of your thralls would take damage from an effect requiring a Reflex save, you can attempt a DC 15 flat check. If you succeed, you choose one thrall to take no damage, and on a critical success none of the thralls take the damage.
Consume Thrall, Inevitable Return
Ancestry Feats: Iruxi Armaments (tail)
Background Feat: Experienced Smuggler
General Feat: Untrained Improvisation
Class Feats: Life Tap, Reach of the Dead
AC 18; Fort(expert) +9, Ref(trained) +8, Will(expert) +9 grim wards
HP 44
Speed 30 feet, Swim 15 feet
Melee [one-action] tail +9 (unarmed, sweep), Damage 1d6+2 bludgeoning
Melee [one-action] claws +9 (agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 slashing
Occult Prepared Spells DC 19, attack +9;
2nd soothe, invisibility
1st charm, runic body
Cantrips (2nd) daze, guidance, know the way, light, shield
Grave Cantrip Create Thrall
Grave Spells (2 focus points) Bone Spear, Life Tap
To build Sobe, I started with the stats of a Lizardfolk Stargazer, and then moved 3 points from Wisdom to Intelligence to give her Int +3. That is not optimal, but iruxi have an Intelligence flaw and I decided to stay true to her ancestry. Lizardfolk have a Bone Magic ancestry feat, so her origin is that her bone magic became exceptionally strong. The actual Bone Magic feat would be redundant for her class; instead, Iruxi Armaments for a tail Strike seemed more versatile. She is a criminal, but mostly worked in smuggling stolen goods rather than robbery.
The resumed scenario is that the player characters' familiars and animal companions had secretly tracked the two fleeing robbers to their house. The game session began there. However, I made to changes to the encounter. First, the module provided a map of the interior of reth's Shack, but I dropped that map onto Paizo's Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: Village Square in case the fight extended to the exterior.
Having an exterior meant that the party first scouted the exterior. The players were confused that Reth's Shack had no back door, windows, or other escape route. I had told the two bards that their bard songs would reach the full 60 feet despite walls, so they volunteered to guard the back.
Most of the party sneaked toward the front door. Non-stealthy wizard Idris rolled a 2, so Sobe spotted him as she kept lookout. The party was a little worried that the only resident they saw was not one of the robbers, but their familiars assured them that this was the right house (just roieplaying, since that was the only house with an interior on the map). Sobe called out in iruxi that she had spotted a Magaambya student. Among the good guys only Virgil Tibbs spoke iruxi, so he warned the PCs near him and we rolled initiative. The turn order was:
Jinx Fuun (bard/druid 4),
Zandre (magus/dragon disciple 4),
Roshan (rogue/gelid shard 4),
Stargazer (bard/druid 4),
Reth (evil rogue 7),
Wilfred (champion/magus 4),
Cara'sseth (kineticist/wizard 4),
Sobe (enemy necromancer 4),
Virgil Tibbs (runesmith 4),
Loakan (enemy rogue 6),
Idris (wizard/magaambyan attendent 4).
Zandre climbed to a roof of an adjacent house for line of sight for archery, but she lacked line of sight into Reth's Shack. Wilfred was the first to enter Reth's Shack. He tried to bluff instead of Raising his Shield, but none of the bad guys belived the bluff. Sobe moved to Wilfred and created a thrall behind him so that he was flanked. The thrall hit with its unarmed Strike and then Sobe hit with her tail Strike.
Virgil Tibbs was the next to enter the house, but had only one action remaining which he used to Strike and destroy the thrall. Loakan entered the front room and beat up Wilfred with his two-action Battering Tail activity consisting of a greatsword strike and two tail strikes. The attack dice favored Loakan, rolling high consistently, so Wilfred lost most of his hit points.
The spellcasters outside moved to line of sight through the open doorway on Sobe or Loakan. Some spell attacks against 4th-level Sobe hit but Loakan's monster-level AC and saves repelled the attacks against him. The bards began their songs, Courageous Anthem from Stargazer and Triple Time from JInx. They were still searching for secret exits from the house, so to discourage further searching I had Jinx find one: a section of wall had been partially cut so that a strong iruxi could break through.
Roshan and Cara, two of the tougher party members but not as tough as Wilfred, entered the house to protect Wilfred. Roshan had a successful Strike against Loakan but Cara missed. Reth arrived from the far back of the house, and hit Roshan with a tail strike.
Wilfred laid hands on himself, retreated to the doorway, and Raised his Shield.
Sobe created two more thralls, which successfully attacked Roshan and Wilfred. She moved away from the combatants.
Virgil moved to Wilfred and traced Holtrik, rune of dwarven ramparts, on Wilfred's shield. Then Virgil raised his own shield due to the danger presented by Loakan. Loakan directed his next Battering Tail activity against Virgil, and he still hit, but did not critically hit as much. And Wilfred reduced the damage to Virgil by 6hp with Glimpse of Redemption champion reaction.
Zandre climbed down from the adjacent room and joined the spellcasters, She and the spellcasters outside targetted Reth and Sobe and could not hit Reth. Sobe was taken down to 6 hit points, so Roshan attacked her and sent her to dying 1. Roshan also took out a thrall. Cara tried the Flying Flame area-of-effect against Reth, Loakan, and the last thrall, but Reth and Loakan critically succeeded on their saves. Since Sobe was unconscious, I did not know whether her Bone Shaper ability still granted a Reflex save to her thralls, so for convenience I had it destroyed without rolling the save.
Virgil tried Trace an Atryl rune on Loakan, Invoked it, and Raised his Shield. Loakan saved against the Atryl for half damage. Idris got a hit on Reth with a Ray of Frost.
Jinx showed up to cast Heal on Wilfred. Stargazer moved into line of sight through the doorway and rolled a natural 20 on a Needle Darts attack against Loakan, finally dealing some serious damage to him. Others, such as Roshan, missed. Sobe stabilized on her recovery check.
Reth pulled out his crossbow to be able to use his Deadly Bolts stance that adds 3d8 precision damage to his crossbow's damage. He shot somebody, but I forget who. We had Roshan, Cara, and Virgil inside, Wilfred and Jinx at the doorway, and Zandre, Stargazer, and Idris taking potshots from outside with most missing. Virgil cast Runic Weapon on Wilfred's weapon so that he could deal more damage, and then raised his shield because Loakan was targeting him.
On the next round, Reth used running reload to reload his crossbow and decided to go outside to pick of the spellcasters (and escape if necessary). He shot Idris and made another running reload outside. That led Virgil to follow Reth and trace Zohk, rune of homecoming, on Reth. Virgil was down to 4 hit points, and Jinx had used up her healing spells on Wilfred, so she cast Rousing Splash on Virgil to give him 6 temporary hit points.
Cara and Roshan flanked Loakan, so Roshan got a sneak attack on him.
Virgil moved toward Reth to get within 30 feet and Invoked the Zohk. Reth failed the Will save, so he teleported 35 feet to behind Virgil (the rune said any unoccupied adjacent square). Virgil raised his shield.
Loakan pulled a Battering Tail on Roshan, leaving her with very few hit points. Idris got the last turn, trying a cantrip against Reth, and then we quit for the night.
We resumed combat on Tuesday, January 14. I was tired (probably due to a new medication) and not playing well. And we suffered a 45-minute delay due to technical difficulties with one player's Discord sound.
Reth took his revenge on Virgil. The crossbow bolt dealt only 7 hit points, but Virgil was a 4 hp, so he dropped to Dying 1. You can see that I made two errors here: Virgil still had 6 temporary hit points from Jinx's Rousing Splash and I forgot to Shield Block. I later remembered the temporary hit points, but I had skipped Virgil's turn. He ended up with a new turn order just after Jinx after I remembered.
Roshan, down to only around 5 hp, departed the house to avoid Loakan. This left only Cara and Wilfred (and the unconscious Sobe) in the room with Loakan. Cara missed his fire blast against Loakan. But Loakan, seeing Reth ready to run away, decided on that course himself. He was more greedy, so first he ran into a side room and stuffed the money there into his belt purse. Wilfred stationed himself to guard the door, preparing an attack if Loakan moved into range.
Zandre and the spellcasers outside focused their attacks on Reth. This includes Roshan, who knew Ray of Frost from her archetype. Most rolled well and hit him.
On the next turn, Jinx resumed her Triple Time bard song and commanded her heron to watch the secret exit to the house. Virgil also went inside for safety while he pulled out and drank one of his minor elixirs of life. Reth targeted Idris and hit, but since this was the first time anyone had damaged Idris, his relatively low hit points were enough. Zandre and the spellcasters targeted Reth again and they rolled barely enough to hit and took him down.
Loakan ran toward the back room with the secret exit. Wilfred, Cara, and Virgil followed. Stargazer, moving at Triple Time, soon followed far behind. Jinx, on the other hand, cast Stabilize on Reth to capture him alive. The others placed themselves to ambush Loakan if he used the secret exit.
Loakan closed and barred the door to the back room, leaving him with no more actions to try a Force Open on the secret exit. Virgil made his own Force Open check and broke down the barred door. Then Stargazer used Glad-Hand diplomacy and persuaded Loakan to surrender.
The rest of the game session was searching the house for the stolen musical instruments and any other robbery loot, which they turned over to the Chime Ringers. The PCs are students, so they do not loot. Instead, Magaambya's supply center belatedly lent them 4th-level gear for free to aid them in their collaboration with the Chime Ringers. They were each given a 3rd-level lesser Healing Potion, but stockpiled them with Jinx and Wilfred rather than distributing them evenly.
I had jumped ahead to Chapter 2 of Spoken on the Song Wind for this encounter with robbers, but next game session on January 21 I will return to Chapter 1 for a mission that has nothing to do with Virgil Tibbs. I plan another Virigl Tibbs adventure on Tuesday, January 28.
My combat accounts of the sessions are short on the emotional impact of the playtest classes, so let me highlight those feelings.
The necromancer Sobe was scary! Sobe never got to use her Bone Spear or other feats; nevertheless, the players viewed her as a serious threat. Part of the reason their characters took her down first is that they could hit her (her AC was 18 versus Loakan's AC 23 and Reth AC 25), but they also feared what she might dish out later. The players never learned that thralls were mostly inert; on the other hand, they never learned how Sobe could supercharge her magic by sacrificing those thralls.
Runesmith Virgil Tibbs, in contrast, was clumsy! This encounter revealed a dysfunction in his action economy for Invoking Runes. Due to the massive damage that Loakan and Reth could deal, Virgil needed to Raise his Shield every turn--it prevented several hits from critically hitting and permitted Shield Block. However, he also needed to move in the dynamic combat environment, despite the close indoors space. This left one action per turn for Trace a Rune and Invoke Runes. With the Zohk rune he successfully Traced a Rune on one turn and Invoked it for good use on the following turn, but that is not fast enough to use runes for offense. For a martial character limited to one Strike per turn, that is their best Strike because it lacks multiple attack penalties. Limited to one Strike per turn martials deal 63% of their two-Strike damage. For a runesmith who deals damage by invoking runes such as Atryl, Tracing on one turn and Invoking on the next would be 50% of single-turn Trace-and-Invoke damage.
Thanks for continuing the posts! 8 PCs and 3 enemies looks to be chaotic...and long.
Using a rune to teleport an enemy to somewhere they don't want to be sounded like an excellent and cool use of runes. Though maybe next time don't use it on a crossbow-wielder looking to escape....
My players thrive on chaos.
As for Virgil pulling the high-damage crossbow master Reth to himself, Reth could have attacked him from range. Pulling the high-damage melee Tail Barrage expert Loakan would have been more suicidal.
Reth still had half his hit points, so he had not yet decided to escape. He mostly wanted to be out in the open to take full advantage of his Running Reload against a bunch of squishy wizards. But the outdoors party was not as squishy as he expected.
The player characters earned 5th level during our January 21 gaming session, which is partially chronicled at Common Sense Versus The Plot. I leveled up Virgil Tibbs to keep up with them, and to playtest him at another level. At 4th level, Virgil showed strong signs of multiple attribute dependency, because I devoted most of his attribute boosts to Strength and Intelligence. At 5th level, his stats are more even. I skipped the hidden boost to Int +4 in favor of boosts that improved numbers.
Virgil Tibbs, Rune Smith 5
Medium Human Humanoid
Background Detective
Heritage Skilled
Perception +8
Languages Common(Mwangi), Amurrun, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Iruxi
Skills Acrobatics +9, Arcana +11, Athletics +13 (expert), Crafting +14 (expert), Diplomacy +9, Intimidation +11 (expert), Nature +8, Medicine +8, Occultism +11, Performance +9, Society +11, Stealth +9, Underworld Lore +11
Str +4, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +1, Cha +2
Items +1 breastplate, minor sturdy shield (Hardness 8, HP 64) with +1 striking shield boss, +1 mambele, artisan's tools, healer's tools, 1 minor elixirs of life, lesser cheetah's elixir, rope, 5 gp for prescient planning
Shield Block, Magical Crafting, Trace Rune, Invocation
AC 23 (25 or 26 with shield); Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +9
HP 48
Speed 25 feet, Swim 15 feet
Melee +1 striking shield boss +14 (Attached to Shield) Damage 2d6+3 bludgeoning
Melee +1 mambele +14 (Deadly d8, Disarm, Thrown 20 ft.) Damage 1d6+3 slashing
Arcane Innate Spells DC 21, attack +11;
2nd (1/day) runic body or runic weapon
Cantrips (3rd) message, sigil
Runes 5th level, maximum 3 etched, Runesmith Class DC 21; attack +11;
ATRYL, RUNE OF FIRE
HOLTRIK, RUNE OF DWARVEN RAMPARTS
OLJINEX, RUNE OF COWARDS’ BANE
PLUUNA, RUNE OF ILLUMINATION
UR-, DIACRITIC RUNE OF INTENSITY
ZOHK, RUNE OF HOMECOMING
Ancestry Feat 1 Natural Ambition (Rune-Singer)
Ancestry Feat 5 Wavetouched Paragon
Background Feat Streetwise
Class Feat 1 Backup Runic Enhancement
Class Feat 2 Nantambu Chime-Ringer Dedication (Message chosen as arcane cantrip)
Class Feat 4 Terrifying Invocation
General Feat 3 Prescient Planner
Skill Feat 2 Combat Climber
Skill Feat 4 Quick Repair
Another change is that I had argued for easier opportunities to invoke runes in my thread The Pacing of Invocation and I wanted to test my variant rules. Virgil can now invoke a single rune during some basic actions. In the January 28 playtest session he most frequently invoked during Raise a Shield and he once invoked during a Stride. Trace, Trace, Raise a Shield with Invoke was a common rotation during his turn. Because he could trace two runes but invoke only one, the diacritic rune Ur- became useful for him, so he learned that as his new 5th-level rune.
Virgil Tibbs approached the party to ask for help in returning the musical instruments to the buskers who had been robbed. One busker, Picku the Piper, lived in a rough neighborhood. (One player responded that he was glad to see that Nantambu was not entirely fancy neighborhoods.) I found a map of a ramshackle town with docks to serve as the North Docks. It said "1 square = 10 feet" but I scaled it as 1 square = 5 feet so that the map's dimensions were 250 feet by 300 feet, its alleyways were only 2 and a half feet wide, but its main roads were still 10 feet wide. I spread 30 stick-figure tokens around the map to represent the populace.
Virgil needed help to find Picku, since many people there would not speak to a Chime Ringer, and going into the North Docks neighborhood alone was not wise. Six party members (Wilfred's player missed the session) went to the North Docks and split into two parties around the two charismatic bards Jinx and Stargazer. After several Gather Information checks they found Picku, returned his pipes, and went to a sailor's tavern to celebrate and play music.
Then a person ran into the tavern to announce that five Giant Hermit Crabs were entering the neighborhood from the beach. They had sent a messenger to fetch the minotaurs who usually dealt with monsters, but they would require 20 minutes for the round trip. The party leapt into action. Before they left the tavern, wizard Idris cast Thermal Remedy to give everyone 5 temporary hit points. They had to cross town, but bard Stargazer took the time to sing Courageous Anthem and Jinx sang Triple Time. Then we rolled for initiative, the order was: Idris, Stargazer, Compass Crab #1, Zandre, Rose Crab #2, Cara, Roshan, Jinx, Logbook Crab #3, Navigator Crab #4, Sextant Crab #5, and Virgil.
Wizard Idris cast Haste on Zandre, who was adjacent. Magus Zandre opened with a Fireball for 24 full damage that covered crabs #2 (failed save), #4 (critically failed), and #5 (critically succeeded). Kineticist Cara Recalled Knowledge and learned about the crabs' Fort +15, Reflex +9, and Will +9, so rogue Roshan changed her Grapple plans to a Trip and tripped crab #3. That crab righten itself and made a Big Claw Strike on Roshan for 13 damage. Then Crab #4 moved in and also Big Clawed Roshan for 19 damage. They had failed to grab Roshan.
Virgil ran to Raise his Shield beside Roshan to let Roshan retreat. Roshan did retreat, but she tripped crab #3 again first.
Crabs #1 and #2 moved further south but were held back from entering town by Stargazer casting Cyclone Rondo. Stargazer had to drop her Courageous Anthem in order to cast the 3-action spell, so Jinx dropped Triple Time to take over the Courageous Anthem. Unfortunately, crab #2 Strode more southward and Big Clawed a yellow stick figure that I had placed hidden around a corner rather than running away. The attack rolled was 33, so I declared it a critical hit on the unstatted figure and Yellow went to Dying 2. Stargazer was able to resume the Courageous Anthem while Sustaining the Cyclone Rondo, so Jinx resumed the Triple Time, moved south, and sent her heron companion to try to distract the crab from Yellow.
Cara had learned during her Recall Knowledge that the crabs were weak to bludgeoning (I give more information than recommended by the rulebooks). She had multiclassed into wizard and cast the Scatter Scree cantrip on the crabs, followed by a fire blast. Idris also cast Scatter Scree. Zandre, on the other hand, shoot arrows enhanced by cantrip spellstrike.
Virgil Traced an Atryl rune on crab #4, Traced an Ur- rune on the Atryl rune, and then invoked the Atryl while Raising his Shield, using my experimental rule. I had also reduced the Atryl damge to 3d8, which became 3d8+4 with Ur-. Virgil rolled 16 fire damge; unfortunately, the crab saved for half damage due to its high Fortitude. But my players cheered because this was the first time in all the playtesting that Virgil had dealt damage with a rune.
Crab #4 later responded with a Big Claw Strike on Virgil, rolling 27 against Virgil's AC 26, and also succeeded with the Grab. Virgil on his next turn decided to try to take down the crab, which was heavily injured by the fireball and other attacks. He managed the two flat checks to use two manipulate actions while Grabbed, and did the same Trace, Trace, Raise a Shield with Invoke. He rolled low on damage, the crab saved, and it took only 5 damage. Fortunately, Idris, Zandre, and Roshan finished off the crab that round.
Meanwhile, crab #2 finished off Yellow and began eating the body, taking it out of the fight for several turns. Jinx had gotten halfway to Yellow when her heron companion reported the bad news. Crab #5 had moved into town, with Cara chasing it and occasionally taking a Big Claw hit. The crab spotted Jinx as it Strode, so it made a Big Claw attack on her and Grabbed her. Cara said, "Don't worry Jinx, I'll save you!" Then Cara moved away through the narrow alleyways and cast Friendfetch on Jinx to teleport her out of the crab's claw.
Crab #1 had finally gotten past Stargazer's Cyclone Rondo by climbing over buildings, so Stargazer stopped Sustaining it. The crab made a beeline on a main road toward Stargazer, so she moved to beside Zandre.
Roshan had devised a tactic of Trip, Strike with Sneak Attack, and Stride away against crabs #3 and #4. This meant that the crab had to Stand and Stride before its Big Claw attack, leaving no action for the Grab. She was taking the heaviest damage of anyone in the party and another hit would take her to dying.
Virgil was taking damage, too, but he had Shield Block. He Traced, Traced, Raised Shield with Invoke on crab #3. This time the crab rolled a natural 1 on its save and took double damage, 31 fire damage. That crab made a Big Claw Strike against Virgil and grabbed him. But his Traced Trace, Raise Shield with Invoke with two successful flat checks was saved against for half damage again.
Then I pulled my deus ex machina. The minotaurs Dexter and Aberdeen arrived, each making a Powerful Charge against crab #3. They hit for 21 and 15 damage, taking down crab #3.
Crab #1 had followed Stargazer, but attacked Zandre instead. The attacks from just every ranged attacker in the north and a Powerful Charge from Dexter took it down (it had been injured by Stargazer repeatedly nudging it with Cyclone Rondo). Aberdeen went into town to chase down crab #5. The two minotaurs expressed surprise at the number of Giant Hermit Crabs. They had previously fought only one at a time.
Jinx returned to the north to cast Soothe on Roshan and Virgil.
Zandre moved for a line of sight on crab #2. Her longbow attack with Spellstrike distracted it from eating the body of Yellow and it made three Strides to get closer to Zandre. Dexter Strode toward it and hit it with his greataxe. That did not take it down, but Idris and Zandre finished it off.
Crab #5 was so damaged that it ripped open a building, crawled inside and Retracted into its shell. Aberdeen warned that it could make a Reactive Strike called Protective Pinch while Retracted, and then he ignored his own advice and made a Powerful Charge against it. He took damage from the Protective Pinch, but finished the last crab.
We ended there. The party plans to celebrate and to mourn Yellow at the tavern with the minotaurs.
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I had a conversation with my players afterwards about the runesmith class. My younger daughter, AKA Idris's player, described Virgil as suicidal, running into damage and making little effort to get away from it. She suggested that most runesmith should be more careful and cast support runes.
I thought about the support runes, ones to cast on allies, and realized that they had a major psychological flaw: I did not want to explain to the recipients what the rune did. The runes are too complicated.
Let's compare the two bardic compositions used by the two bards: Courageous Anthem and Triple Time.
You and all allies in the area gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and saves against fear effects.
You and all allies in the area gain a +10-foot status bonus to all Speeds for 1 round.
Zohk, rune of homecoming, gives higher Speed like Triple Time, but it has an extra clause that makes it twice as complicated at Triple Time.
The target gains a +15-foot status bonus to their Speeds, but only when their movement would end closer to you than they started their turn.
The runesmith player would have to explain that the rune-bearer can move away from the runesmith as part of the movement, but has to loop back so that the final square is closer than the initial square.
I presume the closer-to-you requirement is to make it thematic. It is not about speed, it is about going home, and for some reason, the runesmith represents home. The runes are supposed to be more fundamental than spells. So why is a fundamental building block of spells more complicated than spells like Tailwind and Triple Time?
I also object to the name "Zohk." It has no meaning. Maybe it represents a secret language of runes, their true names. But my runesmith saying, "I trace Zohk," does not reveal his intention to other players. If the rune were named "Home, rune of returning" then "I trace Home" would have meaning.
The use case of Zohk is rather iffy. Police officer Virgil uses it to pull civilians out of danger and to stop criminals from fleeing. Its etched form would let a few party assemble around the runesmith quickly, but tracing it is possible only on allies already withing 30 feet who likely don't need extra movement to cover 30 feet. While Virgil was grabbed by a giant crab claw, I considered Virgil tracing a Zohk rune on himself to teleport himself adjacent to his current position in order to escape the claw. This looks allowed in the effect as written, but it breaks the theme of moving closer to the runesmith, so I did not do so.
I image rewriting all the support runes wholesale to make them simpler. The uses of simpler runes ought to be clearer, too.
HOLTRIK, RUNE OF DWARVEN RAMPARTS would become:
Wall, rune of sturdiness Rune 1
MAGICAL RUNE RUNESMITH
Usage drawn on a shield
This angular rune is the Dwarven symbol for “wall,” magically used to shore up tunnel walls. A shield bearing this rune increases its circumstance bonus to AC by 1.
Invocation Immediately repair the shield and restore 10 hit points to it. If you are an expert in Crafting, you restore 15 hp instead, if you you are a master 20 hp, and if you are legendary 25 hp.
PLUUNA, RUNE OF ILLUMINATION would become:
Glow, rune of illunimation Rune 1
LIGHT MAGICAL RUNE RUNESMITH
Usage drawn on a creature or armor
While many runes glow, this rune radiates illumination. The rune sheds bright light in a 20-foot emanation (and dim light to 40 feet).
Invocation The rune detaches from the armor or creature and becomes a floating ball of light that remains steady for one hour.
The part about Stealth was a complication. Furthermore, Light is a cantrip, so Pluuna/Glow should be at least as good as Light.
Pluuna was written says nothing about the armor being worn. Could the runesmith etch Pluuna on a helmet and carry the helmet as a light source?
SUN-, DIACRITIC RUNE OF PRESERVATION looks fine to me, except that the name implies it is a light source. How about calling it "Echo-"?
UR-, DIACRITIC RUNE OF INTENSITY is also okay, but maybe rename it "Fervor-."
ZOHK, RUNE OF HOMECOMING would become:
Zip, rune of speed Rune 1
MAGICAL RUNE RUNESMITH
Usage drawn on a creature
This swirling mark represents currents and winds. The target gains a +10-foot status bonus to their Speeds.
Invocation (teleportation) You call the rune-bearer to your side. You teleport the target to any unoccupied square adjacent to you. If the bearer is unwilling, they can attempt a Will save to negate the effect.
That list covers walls, light, preservation, intensity, and speed in simple ways. They feel more like the building blocks of spells.
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I filled out the Survey and Open Response for both the necromancer and the runesmith. Here are my runesmith answers.
Survey
* 1. What was the highest character level your runesmith reached? Five
1. What adventure or adventures did you play with this character? Pathfinder Adventure Path
2. What ancestry did you choose? Human
3. Did you choose a versatile heritage? No
4. Did you choose to wear light, medium, or heavy armor? Medium
5. Check the box for each level 1–6 class feat you selected. Backup Runic Enhancement, Rune-Singer, Terrifying Invocation
6. Did your character take an archetype? Yes, Another archetype
7. When choosing your class feats, how did you prioritize the following options? Rank 1 is your highest priority. #1 was Gaining new ways to invoke runes.
8. How satisfied were you with the mechanics of your character? Not so satisfied
9. Rate your satisfaction with playing this class at low levels of play (levels 1–6). Not so satisfied
1. How satisfied were you with this class's basic statistics?
Key ability - very satisfied
Hit Points - somewhat satisfied
Perception proficiency - very satisfied
Saving throw proficiencies - very satisfied
Number of trained skills - not so satisfied
Weapon proficiencies - very satisfied
Armor proficiencies - somewhat satisfied
2. How interesting were these different mechanical options used by the runesmith class?
Runes (non-diacritic runes) - somewhat interesting
Runes (diacritic runes) - somewhat interesting
Tracing abilities - not so interesting
Invocation abilities - not at all interesting
Martial abilities - not so interesting
3. How powerful were these different mechanical options used by the runesmith class?
Runes (non-diacritic runes) - not so powerful
Runes (diacritic runes) - not so powerful
Tracing abilities - not so powerful
Invocation abilities - not so powerful
Martial abilities - not so powerful
4. How easy to understand were these different mechanical options used by the runesmith class?
Runes (non-diacritic runes) - somewhat easy
Runes (diacritic runes) - somewhat easy
Tracing abilities - somewhat easy
Invocation abilities - somewhat easy
Martial abilities - extremely easy
5. Select the level 1–6 class feat you think is most powerful. Backup Runic Enhancement
8. The playtest runesmith splits its runes between a relatively low number (at first) of etched runes, which are applied out of combat but last indefinitely, and traced runes, which are applied in combat but fleeting. This was to ensure that the runesmith has decisions they can make in the heat of combat. Which of the following do you most prefer? - I would prefer a version of the runesmith that focused more on applying runes in combat, reducing the ability to prepare runes pre-encounter accordingly.
9. Rate your overall enjoyment of the runesmith class. 2 stars
Open Response
6. Did you play or GM for a runesmith during the playtest? - Yes, I played a runesmith.
7. What was your favorite aspect of playing the runesmith class? - in roleplaying Virgil Tibbs as a Chime-Ringer (police officer) the runesmith class made him seem a martial familiar with magic.
8. Were there any aspects of playing the runesmith class that didn't live up to your expectations? - There were lots of problems. How can he use a shield, a weapon, and draw runes with a free hand? The Trace, Trace, Invoke routine left him without an action to Raise a Shield, but Trace, Invoke, Raise a Shield had half the damage. He faced a Giant Hermit Crab with high Fortitude bonus and had no alternative to using damage runes with a Fort save.
9. Are there any runic abilities that you think should be present in the runesmith's feats or their runic repertoire that aren't currently presented? - Virgil wanted to catch criminals alive, so a diacritic rune of nonlethality would be nice.
10. Do you have any comments, feedback, or concerns relating to the runesmith class? - Sadly, runesmith is the most imbalanced class I have ever playtested in PF2. The class is awkward in combat, but the feats and runes add complexity instead of smoothing out the awkwardness. Runesmith would be a great class if redesigned for simplicity and smooth gameplay. I kept a chronicle of my playtest at https://paizo.com/threads/rzs5k5gy?Virgil-Tibbs-Playtest-Rune-Smith#1
11. Do you have any other comments, feedback, or concerns relating to either of the classes? I put them in Paizo's Impossible Playtest forums.
I have to perform some work for my campaign. Spoken on the Song Wind has more need for a representative of the Chime Ringers, so Virgil Tibbs won't disappear. A playtest character remains in my campaign as long as the story requires. For example, our playtest kineticist Collin joined the party at the beginning of Prisoners of the Blight and remained until after the first chapter of Vault of the Onyx Citadel.
But I want Virgil to function better than the playtest version. Thus, I am going to rewrite the runesmith abilities up to 5th level. Ironically, I have rewritten playtest characters before, because when one re-appears after the final version of the class has been published, I convert the charater to the final version.
One question in the Impossible Playtest Survey asked, "8. The playtest runesmith splits its runes between a relatively low number (at first) of etched runes, which are applied out of combat but last indefinitely, and traced runes, which are applied in combat but fleeting. This was to ensure that the runesmith has decisions they can make in the heat of combat. Which of the following do you most prefer?" I selected the answer, "I would prefer a version of the runesmith that focused more on applying runes in combat, reducing the ability to prepare runes pre-encounter accordingly." This seemed like a more balanced approach. Trip.H summarized the imbalance of prepared runes well in Playtest of both classes at level 10 and 20, comment #43.
In addition, the playtest runes had some flavorful lore that does not match the reality of the runes. For example, Atryl, rune of fire, said, "This rune is often placed on a stone in a hearth to ensure a fire does not go out in the night," and Holtrik, rune of dwarven ramparts, said, "Similarity in the Dwarven words for “wall” and “shield” ensure that this angular rune, once used to shore up tunnels, ..." Yet the playtest did not introduce any runes that keep fires lit or shore up tunnel walls. I am going to replace the etched runes with permanent runes that can do that. Virgil had an etched Holtrik rune on his shield; now, he will have a permanent Holtrik rune on his shield that braces it. Except that I am renaming Holtrik as "Wall."
On the other hand, we do have some existing runes that do fit the runesmith's runes. Perhaps Marssyl, rune of impact, relates to the Crushing weapon property rune. Or Ur-, diacritic rune of perservation, relates to the Preserving accessory rune. I went on a matching spree and found some interesting possibilities. Will anyone mind the runesmith bringing along Accessory Runes into Remastered PF2?
Mathmuse's Runesmith
KEY ATTRIBUTE Intelligence
HIT POINTS 8 plus your Constitution modifier
INITIAL PROFICIENCIES
Perception Trained in Perception
Saving Throws Expert in Fortitude; Trained in Reflex; Expert in Will
Skills Trained in Crafting; Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 3 plus your Intelligence
modifier (this is the only change in Initial Proficiencies)
Attacks Trained in simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks
Defenses Trained in light armor, medium armor, and unarmored defense
Class DC Trained in runesmith class DC
KEY TERMS
The following new key terms appear in many runesmith class features and feats.
Runes: A runesmith doesn’t cast spells, but they can apply various magical effects through runes. Runes can be applied via etching or tracing. Etched runes are the permanent runes that are a familiar piece of equipment, such as the runes in the GM Core. They are etched onto appropriate objects. Traced runes are temporary effects rather than equipment. They are traced in actions onto appropriate objects or creatures and last only until the end of your next turn. Several abilities of traced runes refer to creatures bearing one of your runes, known as rune-bearers—this is any creature who has one of your runes applied to its body or to any gear it wears or holds.
Invocation: An invocation action allows a runesmith to surge power through traced runes by uttering its true name. The target rune then fades away immediately after the invoked action resolves.
Diacritic: A diacritic is a special type of traced rune that is not applied directly to a creature or object, but rather to another rune, modifying or empowering that base rune. Any effect that would remove or invoke the base rune always also removes or activates the diacritic rune. A rune can have only one diacritic on it.
THe definition of runes has one major change: the runes that were etched over ten minutes and exist only for eight hours are gone.
CLASS FEATURES
Ancestry and Background as normal
Attribute Boosts as normal with Intelligence as Key Attribute
Initial Proficiencies as above
Runes and their Creation
Through meticulous study, you have mastered the knowledge of fundamental runes and the art of shaping them. You can apply runesmiths' traced runes onto objects and creatures, which grant the bearer magical effects. You must know a rune to use it, and you learn traced runes via the runic repertoire class feature.
Applying Traced Runes
A traced rune is drawn in paint, light, or a similar fleeting medium. You can trace runes with the below action.
TRACE RUNE [one-action] OR [two-actions]
CONCENTRATE MAGICAL MANIPULATE RUNESMITH
Requirements You are holding an artisan’s toolkit, holding an artisan's weapon, or have a hand free and are wearing an artisan's toolkit
Your fingers dance while smudged in paint, coated with powder, or glowing light, and leave behind the image of a rune. In one action you apply one rune to an adjacent target matching the rune’s Usage description. You could draw with the paint or light or prepared slip of paper flying through the air to a target within 30 feet, but that requires two actions. The rune remains until the end of your next turn. You can have any number of runes applied in this way.
The change here is artisan's weapons explained below. A shield-and-weapon runesmith needs a way to trace runes without special feats.
Artisan's Weapons
A few weapons can also double as tools for making artwork. A runesmith can draw runeswith while wielding such a weapon without aid of other artisan's tools. The artisan's weapons are Giant Paintbrush, Rapier, Shears, Stiletto Pen, and Throwing Knife. A runesmith has access to uncommon artisan's weapons.
GIANT PAINTBRUSH
Uncommon, Sweep, Two-Hand d10
Price 1 gp; Damage 1d6 B; Bulk 1
Hands 1
Type Melee; Category Martial; Group Club
This weapon consists of a hefty wooden haft adorned with paint-laden brush bristles on one end.
Invoking Runes
Magic on your lips, you speak the true name of a rune, calling it to power as you engage in other tasks. During an Avert Gaze, Fly, Interact, Leap, Raise a Shield, Stand, Step, Stride, or Take Cover action you may invoke one traced rune that you applied. You can invoke only runes within 30 feet. If you move during that action, you invoke from your choice of square in that movement. If the action gains the attack, auditory, concentrate, or linquistic trait, you cannot invoke during it. Invoking a rune is auditory and subject to the limitations of auditory actions, but it does not grant the auditory trait to the containing action.
The invoked rune blazes with power, applying the effect in its Invocation entry. The rune fades away afterwards, its task completed.
You also gain the Invoke Runes action for invoking multiple runes at once.
INVOKE RUNES [one-action]
INVOCATION MAGICAL RUNESMITH
You utter the name of one or more of your runes. You invoke any number of your runes, Creatures that would be affected by multiple copies of the same specific rune are affected only once, as normal for duplicate effects.
This major change to Invoking Runes is covered in The Pacing of Invocation.
I completely dropped the section Runic Magic due to my reasons in Runes with Traditions are Not Traditional.
Runic Repertoire
The collection of traced runes that you know is called your runic repertoire. At 1st level, you learn 4 runes of your choice. You choose these from the common runes on the rune list as well as uncommon or rarer runes you have access to.
As you increase in level, you add more runes to your repertoire. The number of runes in your repertoire is 3 plus half your level, rounded up. You can add any rune to your repertoire as long as it is common (or you have access to it) and its level is equal to or less than your own. Upon reaching an even level you may swap out any one rune in your repertoire to replace it with another allowed rune.
The playtest version left out rules for changing your repertoire.
Runic Crafter
Your study of traced runes leaves you well practiced in crafting their more permanent cousins. You gain the Magical Crafting skill feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites. You automatically gain the formulas for the fundamental armor runes (armor potency and resilient), fundamental shield rune (bracing* and reinforcing), and fundamental weapon runes (weapon potency and striking) as soon as your level equals each item’s. You practice your runes so thoroughly you can draw them by heart, and so do not need a formula book to record the formula of any runes you learn how to create.
I moved this to 1st level to harmonize better with the next feature, Free Permanent Runes. The bracing shield rune is new, created by me.)
Free Permanent Runes
At 1st level you begin with two permanent runes. You select them from Free Rune that are labeled "1st" listed in the entries for the traced runes in your repertoire. They represent the shared knowledge between traced runes and permanent runes. You can select the same permanent rune more than once. You cannot sell these free runes, but you can share them with your allies. If a free rune is lost or destroyed, you can recreate it in one day of downtime. You can transfer these runes by the normal rules for transferring runes, but when first selected you can engrave them onto appropriate gear immediately without cost.
Free runes that are property runes ignore the rule about needing appropriate fundamental runes first and do not count against the number of property runes. Nor do any free runes make their gear become invested.
When you level up, you can swap out a free permanent rune for another one from your repertoire labeled at your level or below. If you swap the traced rune out, you must swap out the related free permanent runes. The labels on the free rune entries are not their levels; instead, that are the earliest level at which you can select runes, often two levels below the level of the rune.
At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain an additional free permanent rune labeled at your level or below, leading to a total of 6 free permanent runes at 17th level.
This feature provides some interesting runes to attach to gear despite my removal of the ten-minute etched runes. I have to allow runes of higher level and that ignore property-rune restrictions because the runesmith would have no workable free runes at 1st-level and not enough at higher levels otherwise.
Shield Block
You gain the Shield Block general feat, a reaction that lets you reduce damage with your shield.
Runesmith Feats
At 1st level and every even-numbered level thereafter, you gain a runesmith class feat.
Skill Feats 2nd
At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill feat. You must be trained or better in the corresponding skill to select a skill feat.
General Feats 3rd
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a general feat.
Skill Increases 3rd
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill increase. You can use this increase to either become trained in one skill you’re untrained in, or become an expert in one skill in which you’re already trained.
At 7th level, you can use skill increases to become a master in a skill in which you’re already an expert, and at 15th level, you can use them to become legendary in a skill in which you’re already a master.
Ancestry Feats 5th
In addition to the ancestry feat you started with, you gain an ancestry feat at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Smith’s Weapon Expertise 5th
You’ve dedicated yourself to learning the intricacies of your weapons. Your proficiency ranks for simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks increase to expert.
And I am stopping here because I playtested only up to 5th level. I am uncertain what to do with the 7th-level Runic Optimization feature.
TRACED RUNES
Bolt, rune of lightning Rune 1
Electricity, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Inspired by Ranshu
Usage drawn on a creature or object
This vertical rune is often carved atop tall buildings to shield the building from lightning strikes. Lightning emerges from above and forms a raised shield around the rune-bearer. This shield does not give a bonus to AC, but a rune-bearer who knows Shield Block can block with it. The shield has hardness 3 and can reduce damage from both physical and magical attacks.
Invocation The lightning weaves into as a powerful bolt. The rune-bearer takes 2d10 electricity damage with a basic Reflex save.
Level (+3) The hardness of the shield increases by 1, and the damage of the invocation increases by 1d10.
Free Runes 1st Grounding, 6th Shock, 13th Greater Shock
Burn, rune of fire Rune 1
Inspired by Atryl
Fire, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a fire recepticle or creature
This rune is often placed on a hearth so that the fire never goes out. If applied to a a fire recepticle, such as a torch, fire in it cannot be extinguished. If applied to a creature or if a creature carries the fire recepticle, the rune-bearer's Speed increases by 5 feet.
Invocation The rune-bearer takes 2d10 fire damage, with a basic Fortitude save.
Level (+3) The Speed of the rune-bearer increases by 5 more feet and the damage of the invocation increases by 1d10.
Free Runes 1st Hearthfire, 6th Flaming, 13th Greater Flaming
Crush, rune of impact Rune 1
Inspired by Esvadir and Marssyl
Earth, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on bludgeoning weapon
This rune draws the weight of stone into the weapon. A creature hit with this weapon makes a Fortitude save against your runesmith DC. On failure it becomes clumsy 1 and enfeebled 1 until the end of your next turn and is pushed 10 feet in a straight line backwards. Creatures in the air are knocked diagonally downward and stand on the ground if they reach it.
Invocation The impact of stone is released outwards from the rune. Each creature on solid ground in a 15-foot cone takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage with a basic Fortitude saving throw. A creature that critically fails its save also falls prone.
Level (+3) The damage of the invocation increases by 1d8.
Free Runes 1st Crushing, 7th Greater Crushing
Fang, rune of transformation Rune 1
inspired by Fanged weapon property rune
Polymorph, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a creature
The rune-bearer can activate this rune.
Activate [one-action] Interact (magical, polymorph); Effect You transform into a Tiny land animal that you are most closely associated with (a lizardfolk would turn into a lizard, a kitsune into a fox, a deer instinct barbarian into a fawn deer, etc.) or a cat if no specific animal is applicable.
While in this form, you gain the animal trait, and the following statistics and abilities:
• You can still speak your languages.
• AC = 15 + your level. Ignore your armor's check penalty and Speed reduction.
• Speed 20 feet.
• Weakness 5 to physical damage. (If you take physical damage in this form, you take 5 additional damage.)
• Low-light vision and imprecise scent 30 feet.
• Acrobatics and Stealth modifiers of +10, unless your own is higher; Athletics modifier –4 (+10 for climbing)
• An unarmed attack that deals 1d6 piercing damage. You cannot Strike with any other attack.
You can Dismiss this effect, and it ends automatically if the rune expires.
Invocation The Fang rune disappears, If the rune-bearer already polymorphed, the effect lasts for 1 minute or until Dismissed.
Level 5th The duration of the invocation increases to 10 minutes.
Free Runes 1st Fanged, 6th Greater Fanged, 13th Major Fanged
Fix, diacritic rune of preservation Rune 1
Copied from Sun-
Diacritic, Rune, Runesmith, Time, Traced
Usage drawn on a rune
This spiraling diacritic channels the magic of a rune outwards, then back to the same location, allowing a rune to reconstitute itself. After the base rune is invoked, the rune automatically Traces itself back upon the same target.
Free Runes 1st Preserving, 6th Greater Preserving
Glow, rune of light Rune 1
Inspired by Pluuna
Light, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a creature or object
While many runes glow, this rune radiates illumination. The rune sheds bright light in a 20-foot emanation (and dim light to 40 feet).
Invocation The rune detaches from the object or creature and becomes a floating ball of light that remains in position for one hour.
Level 3rd The light no longer attracts attention; instead, the illumination directs attention away from the source. The rune-bearer gains a +1 item bonus to Stealth that increases to +2 at 7th level.
Free Runes 1st Glowing, 3rd Shadow, 7th Greater Shadow, 15th Major Shadow
Hone, rune of refinement Rune 1
Inspired by Weapon Potency fundamental rune
Metal, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a weapon
This diagonal rune resembles a sword, Attack rolls with this weapon gain a +1 item bonus,
Invocation You can use your Intelligence modifier instead of your Dexterity or Strength modifier on attack rolls using this weapon this turn.
Level (+6) The item bonus to attacks increases by 1.
Free Runes 1st +1 Weapon Potency, 8th +2 Weapon Potency, 14th +3 Weapon Potency
More, diacritic rune of intensity Rune 1
Inspired by Ur-
Rune, Runesmith, Traced, Vitality, Void
Usage drawn on a rune that deals damage or grants temporary hit points
This diacritic accentuates the base rune with bolder lines to give greater weight to its effects. When the base rune is invoked, its invocation gains a status bonus to damage or temporary hit points equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Level (+3) The status bonuse increases by 1.
Free Runes 2nd Striking, 10th Greater Striking, 17th Major Striking
Scare, rune of fear Rune 1
Inspirced by Menacing weapon property rune
Emotion, Fear, Mental, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a creature
This rune resembles the jaws of beast. The rune-bearer makes a Will save when the rune is drawn and at the beginning of their turns. Upon failure, the rune-bearer is frightened 1.
Invocation The rune-bearer makes a Will save.
Success The rune-bearer is unaffected.
Failure The rune-bearer is frightened 1.
Critical Failure The rune-bearer is frightened 2 and fleeing for 1 round.
Free Runes 1st Menacing, 3rd Fearsome, 8th Greater Menacing, 10th Greater Fearsome
Soft, diarcritic rune of nonlethality Rune 1
Inspired by Merciful weapon property rune
Nonlethal, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a rune
This rune feels soft to the touch. All damage dealt by the base rune is nonlethal.
Free Runes 1st Soft-Landing, 2nd Merciful, 5th Deathless
Snap, rune of telekinesis Rune 1
Inspired by Zohk
Force, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on a creature
This rune is an outline of a hand. The rune-bearer can cast telekinetic hand as an innate occult spell.
Invocation (teleportation) You call the rune-bearer to your side. You teleport the target to any unoccupied square adjacent to you. If the bearer is unwilling, they can attempt a Will save to negate the effect. if you are the rune-bearer, you teleport to an unoccupied square adjacent to your original square.
Free Runes 1st Returning, 1st Called (Accessory Rune), 8th Impactful, 15th Greater Impactful
Threads, rune of illusion Rune 1
Illusion, une, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on armor of clothing
This square rune features a sparkling clean interior surface and makes the clothing look higher quality. The rune itself can be placed where it is not visible to others. The rune-bearer gains a +1 item bonus to Impersonate and Make an Impression.
Invocation The rune-bearer can disguise their clothes. The rune-bearer gains a +3 item bonus to Impersonate and Make an Impression. The rune disappears but illusion lasts for 1 hour or until Dismissed.
Free Runes 1st Presentable, 3rd rainment, 8th Greater Presentable
Waft, rune of accommodation Rune 1
Inspired by Snagging accessory rune
Air, Rune, Runesmith, Traced
Usage drawn on an object
This rune resembles a drawing of a cloud and it lets items float in the air momentarily when released. The rune-bearer's hand that holds this object counts as a free hand. You cannot use this hand to hold other objects.
Invocation If the object is a weapon, then it gains reach until end of turn.
Free Runes 1st Snagging, 4th Ready, 9th Greater Ready
Wall, rune of bracing Rune 1
Rune, Runesmith, Traced, Wood
Usage drawn on a shield
This angular rune is so often used to magically shore up tunnel walls of dwarven mines that it became the Dwarven symbol for “wall.” A shield bearing this rune increases its circumstance bonus to AC by 1.
Invocation Immediately repair the shield and restore 10 hit points to it. If you are an expert in Crafting, you restore 15 hp instead, if you you are a master 20 hp, and if you are legendary 25 hp.
Free Runes 1st Bracing, 2nd Minor Reinforcing, 3td Lesser Reinforcing, 8th Moderate Reinforcing, 11rh Greater Reinforcing, 14th Major Reinforcing, 17th Supreme Reinforcing
I had to invent some new accessory runes to provide a Free Permanent Rune at 1st level for some Traced Runes. The More rune lacks a Free Permanent Rune at 1st level, but is other free runes make up for that.
Bracing Accessory Rune 2
Wood, Rune
Price 30 gp
Usage applied to a wooden object that can be opened or broken through.
The DC to Force Open or to break through the object increases by 2.
Glowing Accessory Rune 2
Light, Rune
Price 30 gp
Usage applied to an object
While many runes glow, this rune radiates illumination. The rune sheds bright light in a 20-foot emanation (and dim light to 40 feet). It cannot be put out, but it can be covered up or darkened by higher-level magic.
Grounding Accessory Rune 2
Electricity, Rune
Price 30 gp
Usage applied to an object
This vertical rune is often carved atop tall buildings to shield the building from lightning strikes. The object gains Resistance electricity 5. If applied to armor, it becomes an Armor Property Rune and the wearer of the armor gains Resistance electricity 3. If applied to a shield, it becomes a Shield RUne and the shield can block attacks with the Electricity trait.
Hearthfire Accessory Rune 3
Fire, Rune
Price 45 gp
Usage applied to a fueled receptacle for fire, such as a torch, fireplace, or campfire stone; Bulk —
Hearthfire runes are common in the fireplaces and cooking stoves of wealthy mansions, to svoid dealing with logs and ashes. The fire in the runed receptacle consume the fuel nor air, creates no smoke or ash, and does not spread. A Hearthfire fire can burn underwater but cannot be lit there.
Yesterday, Tuesday February 4, I rushed ahead to rebuilding Virgil Tibbs before the game session that evening.
Virgil Tibbs, Rune Smith 5
Medium Human Humanoid
Background Detective
Heritage Skilled
Perception +8
Languages Common(Mwangi), Amurrun, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Iruxi
Skills Acrobatics +9, Arcana +11, Athletics +13 (expert), Crafting +14 (expert), Diplomacy +9, Intimidation +11 (expert), Nature +8, Medicine +8, Occultism +11, Performance +9, Society +11, Stealth +9, Underworld Lore +11
Str +4, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +1, Cha +2
Items +1 breastplate, minor sturdy shield with (free) lesser reinforcing rune (Hardness 11, HP 116), +1 striking artisan's throwing knife with (free) returning rune, boots with (free) soft-landing rune, artisan's tools, healer's tools, 1 minor elixirs of life, lesser cheetah's elixir, rope, 5 gp for prescient planning
Shield Block, Battle Medicine, Magical Crafting, Trace Rune, Invocation
AC 23 (25 with shield); Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +9
HP 48
Speed 25 feet, Swim 15 feet
Melee +1 striking throwing knife +14 (Agile, Finesse, Thrown 20 ft.) Damage 2d4+4 piercing
Ranged +1 striking throwing knife +12 (Agile, Finesse, Thrown 20 ft.) Damage 2d4+4 piercing
Arcane Innate Spells DC 21, attack +11;
Cantrips (3rd) message
Runes 5th level, Runesmith Class DC 21; attack +11;
BURN, RUNE OF FIRE
GLOW, RUNE OF LIGHT
MORE, DIACRITIC RUNE OF INTENSITY
SNAP, RUNE OF TELEKINESIS
SOFT, DIACRITIC RUNE OF NONLETHALITY
WALL, RUNE OF BRACING
Ancestry Feat 1 Natural Ambition (Rune-Singer)
Ancestry Feat 5 Wavetouched Paragon
Background Feat Streetwise
Class Feat 1 Sustain Runes
Class Feat 2 Nantambu Chime-Ringer Dedication (Message chosen as arcane cantrip)
Class Feat 4 Terrifying Invocation
General Feat 3 Prescient Planner
Skill Feat 2 Combat Climber
Skill Feat 4 Battle Medicine
The free runes and artisan's weapons led to some changes in his equipment. Five of his current runes Burn, Glow, More, Snap, and Wall match to his original runes Atryl, Pluuna, Ur-, Zohk, and Holtrik, but I dropped Oljinex, which Virgil had never used, for Soft, Diacritic Rune of Nonlethality. He got some boots of soft-landing out of that swap.
The additional hit points on his shield from his free Reinforcing rune made me decide that Battle Medicine was more useful than Quick Repair. Lacking a durable Holtrik/Wall rune on his shield, his Raising-a-Shield bonus to AC might drop. I will see if he has time to repeatedly cast Wall to keep that bonus to +3.
In Subclasses Again, commen #8 Castilliano suggested that a way to sustain runes would be great. I decided to make it a feat. And I replaced Backup Runic Enhancement with that new feat. Backup Runic Enhancement seems one of the more useful feats, except that I forgot to use it. I think the backwards flavor of a runesmith having to cast a spell to create a temporary runic effect makes it slip my mind.
SUSTAIN RUNES Feat 1
Runesmith
Whenever you could invoke a rune, you may sustain the rune instead. Sustaining a rune resets its duration to endure until the end of your next turn. The Invoke Runes action can be used to invoke some runes and sustain some other runes.
As for that game session yesterday, Virgil, the party, and the minotaurs went to the local tavern to celebrate their victory and mourn the death of one citizen. Casual conversation with the minotaurs advanced the plot, because I had borrowed them from the "Fiery Debt" event in the future. The small changes to Virgil did not matter.
The next day, the party, slightly hungover, was called in for the "Oozing into Trouble" event, which does not involve Virgil. That will continue next week.
@Mathmuse: I must admit I completely don’t understand the point of playing a runesmith thematically. I’ve always loved runes, but the tracing magic runes to get “effects in combat stuff” just feels super…weird, and the medium armor makes me think of an armored runescrawler who does…what? Scrawls…runes. Feels like a strange type of caster who just likes to deal out damage by drawing on things. How did playing Virgil Tibbs feel thematically? Was Virgil very runic in terms of his personality or interests, or did he just happen to know how to trace funny script in the midst of combat?
I really disliked the faux-runic “names” of the runes, they felt like ersatz Nordic affectations, with absolutely no direct connection to what they did, and moreover, why would such words be universal across all languages? So I definitely support your changes at least as far as aesthetics go.
@Mathmuse: I must admit I completely don’t understand the point of playing a runesmith thematically. I’ve always loved runes, but the tracing magic runes to get “effects in combat stuff” just feels super…weird, and the medium armor makes me think of an armored runescrawler who does…what? Scrawls…runes. Feels like a strange type of caster who just likes to deal out damage by drawing on things. How did playing Virgil Tibbs feel thematically? Was Virgil very runic in terms of his personality or interests, or did he just happen to know how to trace funny script in the midst of combat?
In my campaign, Virgil Tibbs was more a Chime-Ringer (local police officer) than a Runesmith. The Magamabya Academy assigns service projects to its students, and this semester the group of heroes who had demonstrated that they could handle combat were assigned to aid the police.
Half the PCs are on the squishy side. I needed a Chime-Ringer who could take a few hits protecting the students. Thus, a Chime-Ringer in medium or heavy armor with a raised shield seemed good. A Chime-Ringer who understood magic would make a better liaison with the students from a school of magic. The best class would have been magus, but runesmith was close enough to the requirements that Virgil Tibbs was workable, provided that we ignored that Virgil was the only known runesmith in my game world.
Tracing Runes rather than casting spells feels like a shortcut to magic, just like tapping in an elemental plane feels like a shortcut to magic for a kineticist. It works for a mixed martial-magical class. And it worked for Virgil who started as a student of magic and cut his magical studies short to become a police officer.
That is all I need out of a theme. A player character named Cara'sseth is a fire kineticst who accidentally became a kineticist while trying to learn to cast spells. Now he studies at the Magaambya to become a real wizard in addition to manipulating planar fire magic.
Let's compare the opening theme paragraphs of kineticist, wizard, magus, and runesmith.
KINETICIST
The power of the elements flows from within you. Roaring fire, pure water, fleeting air, steadfast earth, twisting wood, slicing metal. A kinetic gate inextricably tied to your body channels power directly from the elemental planes, causing elements to leap to your hand, whirl around your body, and blast foes at your whim. As your connection to the planes grows, you attain true mastery over your chosen elements.
MAGUS
Combining the physicality and technique of a warrior with the ability to cast arcane magic, you seek to perfect the art of fusing spell and strike. While the hefty tome you carry reflects hours conducting arcane research, your enemies need no reminder of your training. They recognize it as you take them down.
WIZARD
You are an eternal student of the secrets of the universe, using your mastery of magic to cast powerful spells. You treat magic like a science, cross-referencing the latest texts on practical spellcraft with ancient tomes to discover and understand arcane magic. Yet magical theory is vast, and there's no way you can study it all. Most wizards learn through formal schooling, with their curriculum informing a specific rubric, although particularly driven researchers sometimes piece together their own theories.
RUNESMITH
At the heart of all communication is the word, and at the heart of all magic is the rune. Equal parts scholar and artist, you devote yourself to the study of these mystic symbols, learning to carve, etch, brand, and paint the building blocks of magic to channel powers greater than yourself.
Sigh, the theme of runesmith is not combat nor magical power. It is the artistry of symbols. And the runesmith does not feel like an artist. I married a musician and raised artistic daughters who claim that I treat mathematics as an art. That has some truth to it, which lead to my account name Mathmuse.
Maybe I should revise the runesmith again.
I really disliked the faux-runic “names” of the runes, they felt like ersatz Nordic affectations, with absolutely no direct connection to what they did, and moreover, why would such words be universal across all languages? So I definitely support your changes at least as far as aesthetics go.
While roleplaying Virgil, I wanted quick descriptions, such as "I trace Holtrik on the champion's shield." But Holtrik is a nonsense word, so saying that was not descriptive. I hope that "I trace Wall on the champion's shield," will be a better reminder that it gives an additional +1 to AC.
Thanks for the response. I can definitely see the martial “cop on campus” and Chime Ringer in medium armor working well for Virgil Tibbs. But yes, the flavor text for Runesmith is well short of a medium armored war-caster - “scholar and artist” doesn’t scream “combat magic” - there is a slight nod in “channel powers greater than yourself” but no mention of martial prowess or capability.
It isn’t really a complaint, as I don’t really like Pathfinder (and legacy DnD in general)’s concept of “cloth casters”. These are folk (“adventurers”) who engage in bloody, gruesome violence - in my campaign I give all classes (except Monk) Trained in Light armor at least at 1st level to reflect that these are folk, no matter their expertise can be caparisoned for war, and have at least the training for it.
(I always imagine mathematics and music as akin, able to describe each other beautifully, so mathematics has always seemed like an art to me. Though such distinctions likely do more to hinder creativity than to foster it!)
Thanks for the response. I can definitely see the martial “cop on campus” and Chime Ringer in medium armor working well for Virgil Tibbs. But yes, the flavor text for Runesmith is well short of a medium armored war-caster - “scholar and artist” doesn’t scream “combat magic” - there is a slight nod in “channel powers greater than yourself” but no mention of martial prowess or capability.
I imagine that a "scholar and artist" runesmith would resemble the mutant Gambit from Marvel Comics. Gambit is a professional thief who has the mutant power to charge objects with so-called kinetic energy that makes them pack a superhero-sized wallop. He typically fights with a bo staff (a martial weapon in PF2) or by throwing kinetically-charged playing cards. With the runesmith, those playing cards would be scribed with runes. The build of a "scholar and artist" runesmith would be based on a rogue as a skill monkey who specializes in arts and crafts, but would have etched runes on hand for attacking with rune cards or amplifying weapons for Strikes. The runesmith would be trained in light armor but not medium armor.
It isn’t really a complaint, as I don’t really like Pathfinder (and legacy DnD in general)’s concept of “cloth casters”. These are folk (“adventurers”) who engage in bloody, gruesome violence - in my campaign I give all classes (except Monk) Trained in Light armor at least at 1st level to reflect that these are folk, no matter their expertise can be caparisoned for war, and have at least the training for it.
If a character's item bonus and Dexterity bonus to AC do not sum to +5 or +6, then the character needs to stay away from melee combat. With light armor the highest item bonus is +2 from Studded Leather Armor and would pair with Dex +3. A spellcaster ought to have +4 in their spellcasting attribute, so a low-level spellcaster with effective armor would have Str +1, Dex +3, Spellcasting Attribute +4, and a +1 somewhere else. That is a clear case of Multiple Attribute Dependence, which Pathfinder 2nd Edition tries to avoid. And that is a difficulty with current runesmith design.
In my college days of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the cleric was expected to stand on the front line to help protect the rogue and wizard (called "Magic-user"). The cleric typically wore heavy armor to protect themselves and divine spells were immune to spell failure from wearing armor.
In contrast, today I run Strength of Thousands and the players decided to emphasize that their characters are not deliberate adventurers. They are students. However, in the 1st module, Kindled Magic, they demonstrated that they can handle combat, so in the 2nd module, Spoken on the Song Wind, faculty leader Janatimo said that the Magaambya promised support to the Chime-Ringers and the PCs were the best students to handle that dangerous duty. They ended up stuck on adventuring duty, nyah nyah, despite five out of seven preferring to stay out of melee range (the rogue Roshan and champion Wilfred are okay with melee).
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The Impossible Playtest Debrief has been published. Most respondents to the survey said they were satisfied with having both traced runes and etched runes. I find this ironic, because my conversation with OceanshieldwolPF 2.5 about the runesmith as an artist had me thinking about how to exemplify that theme in the runesmith's abilities. I realized that the etched runes were much stronger is showing artistry than the traced runes, so I imagined what the runesmith would be like with only etched runes and without traced runes. And the result was much cleaner in design. For example, we would not have to worry about the runesmith having hands full during combat.
In Impossible Playtest Debrief comment #26 Arborerivus said,
Will you address the naming problem of "runes" for upgrading equipment and the "runes" of the runesmith?
From this point on, I will refer to the runesmith's etched runes as painted runes to avoid confusion with the etched runes that are permanent equipment. To emphasize that the runesmith is an artist, the terminology should borrow words from art and beauty.
The difference between the runesmith's traced runes and the runesmith's painted runes are time for creation and time of duration. The traced runes are created in a single action (two actions for creation at range) and they endure to the end of the runesmith's next turn if not invoked. The painted runes are created during daily preparations or a 10-minute exploration activity (both can create multiple painted runes) and they last until deliberately removed to free space under the maximum painted runes limit if not invoked.
The two durations of runesmith runes serve two different niches. The traced runes are the unlimited resource. They take time to create in the middle of combat, but the runesmith won't run out of them. They can also be applied directly to enemies, unlike painted runes that are applied before combat. The painted runes are the durable runes. They are great to apply to the gear of the runesmith and their allies to be ready for combat at any time. Traced runes are limited by time constraints, and painted runes are limited by a maximum number.
I guess most playtesters who answered the survey like both niches. Having traced runes alone would make combat a Red Queen's Race, always have to replace expired runes. Having painted runes alone would mean that invoking runes would destroy the long-term rune resources of the party and maybe they won't have ten minutes between encounters to replenish those painted runes. A mixture is more balanced.
I think the designers intended for the invocation of traced runes to be the runesmith's method of damaging opponents. I had more to say about this at The Pacing of Invocation. However, an issue with the difference between traced runes and painted runes is that if a painted rune can deal damage directly to opponents, such as Esvadir the Rune of Whetstones, then the runesmith can save time during combat by invoking painted runes rather than tracing and invoking traced runes. This throws off the balanced timing of damage runes and breaks the runesmith.
I dislike having two types of runesmith runes. Since the player has to track where each rune is, adding extra details such as a difference between traced and painted further complicates a complicated mechanic. Therefore, I wonder whether the two types of runesmith runes can be merged into one type that fulfills both niches and does not break the runesmith class.
Let me combine both niches into one rune, the best of both worlds. An illustrated rune can be created on equipment or a creature within reach in one action, and within 30 feet with two actions. It endures indefinitely. The runesmith has a maximum of three on the number of illustrated runes, and that maximum increases by 1 at 5th level and at every four levels after that. If the runesmith draws an illustrated rune beyond the maximum, then one existing illustrated rune of the runesmith's choice disappears. During exploration mode and downtime mode, the runesmith can trace any number of illustrated runes in one minute.
A well-prepared team would travel with the maximum number of illustrated runes on their gear of the runesmith. Then to deal damage, the runesmith would trace an illustrated rune on an enemy and invoke it. The runesmith might also have an Esvadir rune ready and invoke it at the same time.
The only significant advantage during combat is that one ally would be have use of an illustrated rune on the first turn before the runesmith traces a rune during combat. "Sorry, Karsk, you are losing your rune of speed so that I can throw a fire rune on this troll." On the other hand, I decreased the exploration-mode time for rune scribing to one minute in order to match the speed during encounter mode, so the runesmith could restore the runes more quickly and maybe have time to Treat Wounds or Refocus after combat.
With traced and painted runes the runesmith could create lots of traced runes on allies at the beginning of combat in addition to the painted runes already on them, "One for you, one for you too, and one for me." I don't know whether anyone did that during the playtest. My playtest runesmith Virgil Tibbs did not, because he was too busy getting into position and raising his shield. Nevertheless, such quick proliferation of runes won't be possible with illustrated runes alone.
I don't see a problem with combining traced runes and painted runes into best-of-both-worlds illustrated runes. Runes disappearing because the runesmith wanted to trace an illustrated rune on an enemy or an ally in need would make for extra bookkeeping, but I think that would be no more bookkeeping than having traced runes disappear at their time limit.
The party will be reuniting with Virgil Tibbs for further police work in Spoken on the Song Wind. They are now 6th level, and they asked me to level up Virgil, too.
I am keeping my homebrew rule about invoking runes, because it worked well in the battle against the Giant Hermit Crabs. Virgil felt like he could use his 3rd action as freely as a martial character and not act like a Pathfinder 1st Edition martial character who had to stand still as he dealt damage.
Invoking Runes
Magic on your lips, you speak the true name of a rune, calling it to power as you engage in other tasks. During an Avert Gaze, Fly, Interact, Leap, Raise a Shield, Stand, Step, Stride, or Take Cover action you may invoke one traced rune that you applied. You can invoke only runes within 30 feet. If you move during that action, you invoke from your choice of square in that movement. If the action gains the attack, auditory, concentrate, or linguistic trait, you cannot invoke during it. Invoking a rune is auditory and subject to the limitations of auditory actions, but it does not grant the auditory trait to the containing action. The invoked rune blazes with power, applying the effect in its Invocation entry. The rune fades away afterwards, its task completed.
You also gain the Invoke Runes action for invoking multiple runes at once.
INVOKE RUNES [one-action]
INVOCATION MAGICAL RUNESMITH
You utter the name of one or more of your runes. You invoke any number of your runes, Creatures that would be affected by multiple copies of the same specific rune are affected only once, as normal for duplicate effects.
I am also keeping my revised, renamed runes from comment #21. I have had only a single adventure to chance to play with my revised runes, and I has still curious about them. The rest of the change in that comment #21 and the preceding comment #20 were based on switching to traced runes alone, and I dropped that switched based on the Impossible Playtest Debrief results. Instead, I will try my illustrated runes idea from comment #27 above, about dropping the difference between temporary traced runes and long-term etched runes.
And finally, I am inventing a new feat based on little thrown scrolls named Ofuda. I have seen them in Japanese anime and I wonder why the runesmith does not have them.
TOSS OFUDA [one-action] FEAT 2
MANIPULATE RUNESMITH
Requirement You have an empty hand.
You store many slips of paper (or cards of thin wood, tags of metal, or clay tiles) with inactive pictures of your runes among your artisan's tools. They are called ofuda. You toss an ofuda of your choice at a suitable target for the rune within 10 feet. The picture departs the ofuda to Trace a Rune on the target.
This is a minor feat that merely lets the runesmith manage a one-action Trace a Rune at 10 feet away, but it could serve as a prerequisite for more colorful feats about ofuda.
Virgil Tibbs, Runesmith 6
Medium Human Humanoid
Background Detective
Heritage Skilled
Perception +9
Languages Common(Mwangi), Amurrun, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll, Iruxi
Skills Acrobatics +10, Arcana +12, Athletics +14 (expert), Crafting +14 (expert), Diplomacy +10, Intimidation +12 (expert), Nature +9, Medicine +9, Occultism +12, Performance +10, Society +12, Stealth +10, Underworld Lore +12
Str +4, Dex +2, Con +0, Int +4, Wis +1, Cha +2
Items +1 breastplate, minor sturdy shield (Hardness 8, HP 64) with +1 striking shield boss, +1 mambele, artisan's tools, healer's tools, 1 minor elixirs of life, lesser cheetah's elixir, rope, 7 gp for prescient planning
Shield Block, Magical Crafting, Trace Rune, Invocation
AC 24 (26 or 27 with shield); Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +10
HP 56
Speed 25 feet, Swim 15 feet
Melee +1 striking shield boss +15 (Attached to Shield) Damage 2d6+3 bludgeoning
Melee +1 mambele +15 (Deadly d8, Disarm, Thrown 20 ft.) Damage 1d6+3 slashing
Arcane Innate Spells DC 22, attack +12;
3rd (1/day) runic body or runic weapon
Cantrips (3rd) message, sigil
Runes 6th level, maximum 4 illustrated runes, Runesmith Class DC 22; attack +12;
BURN, RUNE OF FIRE
GLOW, RUNE OF LIGHT
MORE, DIACRITIC RUNE OF INTENSITY
SNAP, RUNE OF TELEKINESIS
SOFT, DIACRITIC RUNE OF NONLETHALITY
WALL, RUNE OF BRACING
Ancestry Feat 1 Natural Ambition (Rune-Singer)
Ancestry Feat 5 Wavetouched Paragon
Background Feat Streetwise
Class Feat 1 Backup Runic Enhancement
Class Feat 2 Nantambu Chime-Ringer Dedication (message chosen as arcane cantrip)
Class Feat 4 Terrifying Invocation
Class Feat 6 Toss Ofuda (homebrew)
General Feat 3 Prescient Planner
Skill Feat 2 Combat Climber
Skill Feat 4 Quick Repair
Skill Feat 6 Intimidating Prowess