Runesmithing primarily deals with the etching of runes into items, typically weapons and armor, to produce temporary, conditional buffs that are consumed upon use.
Runesmithing Progression
For every rank you gain in Runesmithing, the chain of runes you can create may increase. The potency of the runes you create also may increase. The number of times the chain of runes can activate before needing reapplication - referred to as Charges - also increases. Lastly, the number of turns you must wait before the effect occurs again decreases, to a limit of once per turn, unless otherwise stated by the Rune.
Runes can be applied to weapons and armor. Runes in the middle of a chain can be removed or replaced without affecting the other runes in the chain.
When applying runes in a chain, you may only choose one rune from each group, but you may choose the same rune from a group multiple times, adding the effects together.
The Potency of a Rune gets applied to any numerical effect of the rune, rounded up after the calculation. For example: a Rune that gives +4 to your Attack at Twilight, at rank 5, would give +6 instead.
| Rank | Chain | Potency | Charges | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -1 | 1 | 100% | 2 | 5 |
| 0 | 1 | 100% | 5 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 | 100% | 9 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 100% | 13 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | 100% | 17 | 2 |
| 4 | 1 | 100% | 21 | 2 |
| 5 | 1 | 150% | 25 | 2 |
| 6 | 1 | 150% | 29 | 2 |
| 7 | 2 | 150% | 33 | 1 |
| 8 | 2 | 150% | 37 | 1 |
| 9 | 2 | 150% | 41 | 1 |
| 10 | 2 | 200% | 45 | 1 |
| 11 | 2 | 200% | 49 | 1 |
| 12 | 2 | 200% | 53 | 1 |
| 13 | 2 | 200% | 57 | 1 |
| 14 | 3 | 200% | 61 | 0 |
| 15 | 3 | 250% | 65 | 0 |
| 16 | 3 | 250% | 69 | 0 |
| 17 | 3 | 250% | 73 | 0 |
| 18 | 3 | 250% | 77 | 0 |
| 19 | 3 | 250% | 81 | 0 |
| 20 | 3 | 300% | 85 | 0 |
| 21 | 3 | 300% | 100 | 0 |
Types of Runes
There are 4 different groupings of runes: attack, defense, utility, skills, saves
Runes may have different effects depending on whether it is applied to a weapon or armor.
Etching a Rune
Etching a rune takes time to get correct. Etching a rune takes 1 hour for each rune. Removing a rune takes 1 Minute for each rune. Attempting to etch more than 8 runes in one day results in one level of Exhaustion.
Roll a Runesmithing Check (1d20 + Dexterity modifier + Wisdom modifier + Runesmithing rank). If there are any helpers, add their Runesmithing rank.
This is checked against the DC of the rune to be etched:
DC 14, plus the desired Rune rank.
Results
If you roll below the DC, you still successfully create the rune, but at a rank lower than what you desired. For every 5 below the DC, the rune's effective rank drops by one.
If you roll no more than 4 above the DC, you create your rune at the desired rank.
If you roll 5 or more above the DC, you create your rune at an elevated rank. For every 5 above the DC, the resultant rune's effective rank increases by one, to a maximum of 2 ranks above desired.