Scribe Rune

Sidebar Dark Ages This spell allows a Runemaster to scribe runes onto one item. See the kit description for the different types and proper usage of this spell. The material component for the spell is the item receiving the rune, which must be of good quality and in an undamaged state.

Rune Magic: Runemasters enjoy the same spell progression as standard AD&D Wizards, even though they cast the spells differently and in advance of the spell's actual use. All Divination school spells must be memorized normally before they are used.

To prepare runes on an item, the Runemaster must first memorize the spells he wishes to cast onto the item. The item must then be prepared with a scribe rune spell (described above), after which the desired spells are cast (using standard casting times) as the runes are etched onto the object.

There are two different types of rune: bonus runes and spell runes. Bonus runes require no further spells beyond the scribe rune spell, but each rune requires a separate casting of that spell. Spell runes require a single casting of the scribe rune spell, for which the Runemaster may etch any number of spell runes onto an item by "casting" the relevant spell. All spells to be cast onto the rune must be cast within a single hour of the initial scribe rune spell.

Either type of rune remains active for a number of days equal to the Runecaster's number of additional languages for Intelligence (see Table 4 in the Player's Handbook). After this time, the power of the rune fades completely. When one rune on an item fades, there is a 10% chance that each of any other runes on the same item spontaneously fades, even if its duration has not expired.

: Example: A Runecaster with an Intelligence of 16 places a bonus rune on his dagger. Two days later, he places a sleep spell rune on the same dagger. On the sixth day after he cast the bonus rune, that one fades, and there is a 10% chance that the spell rune fades too, even though it would normally last three more days.

A bonus rune bestows certain bonuses to the item in question or the wielder of the item. Possible bonus runes include: +1 to hit, +1 damage, +1 to a specific category of saving throw, or +1 bonus to Armor Class. For example, a Runemaster could enrun a short sword to provide a +2 to hit bonus and a +1 damage bonus by casting three separate scribe rune spells within the space of one hour—two attack bonus runes and one damage bonus rune. Being magical spells in nature, bonus runes are subject to magic resistance, dispel magic, and similar effects. Dispel magic effectively removes the runes from the item. In such cases, each bonus rune must be dispelled (or resisted against) individually. Bonus to hit runes can provide a weapon with the magical bonus required to hit certain creatures. True magical items that confer a bonus (such as a properly enchanted short sword +2) are not open to runic scribing—their magical nature prevents the runes from being etched upon them.

Spell runes provide a single casting of the spell so enruned. A 5th-level Runemaster could, for example, enrun a single fireball spell upon his staff. When the spell is cast from the rune, the rune vanishes. Of course, a Runemaster may place multiple runes of the same type (two fireball runes, for example) on the same object provided there is enough room. Only one spell rune may be released ("cast") in a single round, but the initiative modifier of a rune is always 1. Spell runes may only be released by the Runemaster who scribed them (with the exception of accidental release—see below), and their effects are determined by the casting level of the Runemaster when he originally scribed them.

As with bonus runes, spell runes cannot be etched onto true magical items. The number of runes that may be scribed onto a specific item depends on the size of the item. As a rule of thumb, a dagger-sized item may hold up to two runes, a short sword four, a staff eight, and a medium shield up to ten. No item may hold more than ten runes, regardless of its size.

Both types of rune are subject to accidentally release. Any time an enruned item is subject to violence (this includes hitting an opponent with an enruned weapon), and any time the item needs to make a saving throw, there is a flat 10% chance for bonus runes (rolled separately for each rune) and a 10% chance per spell level for spell runes that a rune is released. Bonus runes are rendered ineffective. Spell runes release their spells, centered on the item to which they are attached.