Unlike spells, magical runes do not have levels. Most can be learned by any runecaster, no matter what his level. However, some runes can only be attempted after mastering simpler ones. In these cases, the rune or runes that must be known are listed in the description of the particular rune.
Ale-Rune[]
This rune detects the presence of poison and protects against poisoning, after a fashion. Once shaped, the rune must also be carved on the rim of a cup or horn. The two runes must then be touched to each other. The effectiveness of the rune is not permanent; it is only useful for a single drinking session, although the cup may be refilled many times. If during this time the drink contained is poisoned, the cup shatters when the runecaster touches it. Once the cup is broken, the ale-rune is obviously cancelled.
Beast-Rune[]
This rune allows the runecaster to understand the speech of a particular animal. When shaped, the rune must name the particular animal it is intended to affect. A type of animal ("any bear") is not sufficient; an exact identification must be provided ("the bear that lives in the big cave at the mouth of Flossi's stream"). Once the rune is carved, the caster can converse with that animal as if by normal speech, both man and animal understanding each other. Speaking animals are typically friendly, even helpful; perhaps the novelty of speaking humans intrigues them.
Berserk-Rune[]
This rune, carved onto the haft of an axe or shaft of a spear, can be used to incite berserk warlike frenzy. Since the name of the person and the instance of battle must be included in the shaping of the rune, the berserk-rune is generally only effective in set-piece battles or duels where the runecaster has time to prepare. Once the rune is shaped, the owner of the weapon gains +2 to his hit points and +1 to his damage and THAC0. The berserk-rune does not convey all the powers allowed the berserker character. The state lasts until the character is slain, uses another weapon, retreats, or is out of combat for more than two rounds.
Catch-Rune[]
This rune must be tooled onto the palms of a pair of leather gloves. When the rune is shaped, the wearer, place, and time must be specified (i.e. "these gloves are for Halfdan the Seal-Hunter in the battle against the English we are about to fight"). The gloves are effective for one day. When worn, the named character can try to catch any weapon thrown at him—spears, axes, knives, etc.—by making a saving throw vs. death. If successful, he catches the weapon and suffers no damage from that attack. If the attempt fails but the attack succeeds, the character suffers one extra point of damage from the attempt. The rune is not effective against arrows or thrown boulders and the like.
Change-Rune[]
This rune allows the runecaster to assume the form of a natural animal. When shaping the rune, the runecaster must specify what creature he will become. The rune is then carved on a bone, feather, or hide of that creature. Upon completion, the character assumes the form of the animal. His clothing and equipment do not transform with him. The character has the armor class, movement, attacks and damage of the creature but retains his own hit points, THAC0, and saving throws. He does not gain any special abilities the creature might possesses (poisons, bear hugs, etc.). The change lasts for Id6 hours or until the character sleeps or goes unconscious, although the caster can end it earlier if he wishes.
Charm-Rune[]
This rune, when correctly shaped, functions as a powerful love charm. It is, however, dangerous to use. Each charm rune must be shaped with a particular pair of lovers in mind and then carved onto a plank. The plank must then be placed underneath the mattress of the victim. After each night spent sleeping over the rune, the victim must make a saving throw vs. petrification. If the saving throw is successful, the rune has no effect that day. If the saving throw is failed, the victim is charmed. He or she views the runecaster (or whomever the runecaster has designated) most favorably. Indeed, the victim behaves if in love. (Note that this does not give the runecaster or any other absolute control over the charmed person!) The charm effect only remains in effect so long as the plank with the rune remains in place beneath the mattress.
Charm-runes are dangerous to use for a variety of reasons. First, unlike many other runes, a misshapen or poorly carved charmrune is not just ineffective; it gains the power to harm, assuming the properties of a diseaserune. Second, unless natural instincts overrule it, the charm-rune is only effective so long as it remains in place. It is reasonable to assume that sooner or later the rune will be discovered. The charmed person (and his or her kin) is apt to take a dim view of such a magical seduction. Finally, unquestioning love may not always be the bliss the character imagined; it can easily yield to other emotions, particularly jealousy.
Dead-Rune[]
This dark and potent rune allows the runecaster to converse with those departed. When shaping the rune, the runecaster must know the name of the specific individual he seeks. The rune is then carved on a pole and driven into the earth of the grave mound or cast into the sea for those unburied. The mound then opens (or a hall appears in the waters) revealing the dead spirit seated at his high seat. The runecaster can pose up to three questions to the spirit. Although the summoned spirit cannot lie, it typically answers in riddles and poems (frequently loaded with kennings). The spirit will invite the character to enter, but anyone foolish enough to do so is lost forever.
The dead-rune has a significant risk in that not all spirits are cooperative or helpless. Each time it is used to summon a new spirit, there is a 10% chance the runecaster has contacted one of the uneasy dead. The summoning frees such spirits from their mounds and they take on physical form. Spirits released in this manner are equal in all respects to wights.
Disease-Rune[]
This rune is very similar to the charm-rune. When shaped, the victim must be named and the rune carved on a plank. This is then placed beneath the mattress of the victim. Each morning thereafter, the victim must make a saving throw vs. death. If successful, the rune has no effect. If failed, the victim weakens, losing a point of Constitution per day. This process continues until the victim's Constitution reaches 0 and the character dies. Constitution lost in this fashion cannot be regained until the rune is discovered and destroyed.
Fortune-Rune[]
Used by seers, the fortune-rune allows the caster to predict the fate of others. Each rune must be fashioned for a particular person and carved into wood. It is then typically cast on the floor, burnt, or handled by the seeker. If the rune is shaped successfully, a general indication of the character's fate in life is given. This can be as broad or precise as the DM desires. Of course, once a prediction is made the DM should make efforts to see that what has been foretold comes true.
The Vikings strongly believed that the fate of a person was fixed from his birth and there was little he could do to change it. (Arrow- Odd, who was fated to be killed at home by the skull of his own horse, killed and buried the animal, then sailed away vowing never to return. Although he lived for three hundred years, Arrow-Odd finally did meet the fate the seer had described for him.)
Fortune-runes are useful in describing the general life of the character, his luck in a coming battle, the dangers of undertaking a long voyage, and other large-scale events. They are useless for determining the outcome of small details and events, such as whether a monster lurks behind the door. Such hazards of life are left for the characters to face on their own.
Help-Rune[]
This valuable rune can be fashioned to cure diseases, including most of those caused by magical means (unless otherwise specified). It has no effect on illness caused by diseaserunes. When shaped the caster must know the name and symptoms of the sufferer. The rune is then carved on a plank and placed under the ailing person's pillow. Each morning the patient makes a saving throw vs. death. If successful, the disease lessens and one of the symptoms vanishes. (Fevers abate, pox heal, aches depart, etc.) When all symptoms are gone, the person is cured. The rune is then ineffective.
Iron-Can't-Bite-Rune[]
This potent rune is much valued by warriors of all types and is frequently used by raiders and berserkers. The rune is shaped for a particular person and carved onto a wooden amulet. The charm must be donned as soon as it is carved. (It is not possible to stockpile prepared amulets.)This must be worn around the neck at all times. Thereafter, the wearer suffers one point less damage from all attacks made with weapons. (An axe blow that does six points of damage would only cause five to a character so protected.) The rune is effective as long as the character wears the amulet or until the character's hit points are reduced to 0. If the rune is removed for any reason, its power is broken. Certain magical devices may also negate the effectiveness of the rune. A character can only use one of these runes at a time.
Limb-Rune[]
This useful rune can be used to heal injuries, particularly those suffered in battle. To be effective, the rune is shaped with the injured person's name and then carved onto the branch of a living tree. Blood from the wounded person must be touched to the carved letters. If the runecasting is successful, the injured person heals ldlO points of damage.
Alternately, limb-runes can be used to speed the process of natural healing. The process for shaping the rune is the same as above, but the rune is carved on the inside of a piece of bark stripped from a living tree and placed against the wounded character's skin. Thereafter, the character heals at twice his normal rate. When used in this fashion, the rune remains effective until the character has made a complete recovery. Only one limbrune per character can be used at a time.
Lore-Rune[]
This is a potent and dangerous rune, great in both its rewards and its risks. It allows the runecaster to seek the answer to a single question. The runecaster formulates his question in the form of magical runes and carves these on a stone. If the rune is successfully shaped, an answer to the question will come to the character in a dream in Id6 nights. Like most prophetic answers, the vision will be couched in strange and mysterious terms for the runecaster to puzzle out.
The risk comes if the rune is fashioned wrong. Then, instead of a prophetic dream, the runecaster suffers six visits by a gast (see Monsters), appearing once each night.
Luck-Rune[]
This rune, carved on a stick or other wooden object, gives a single person luck for one day. The shaping of the rune requires the name particular person to be protected. He must then carry the rune with him for it to be effective. If the rune is successfully shaped, the recipient gains the benefits of Good Luck as described in the "Gifts"section of Chapter 2. If the rune is badly formed, the Bad Luck effect is instead triggered. The runecaster decides the type of die to be affected at the time of shaping the rune.
Good luck remains in effect from sunrise to sunset, provided the character keeps the rune on his person all that time. Bad luck has the same duration, but remains in effect even if the rune is discarded. A character can have no more than one luck-rune in operation at a single time. All others he might try to carry are instantly negated.
Niδ-Rune[]
A niδ-rune (pronounced roughly nith) is a highly charged and emotional rune to use, since it is a grave insult to the person named in the rune. (Ni6 implies shaming and disgrace and among the Vikings is associated with traitors, particularly a man who kills his own blood-kin. Such criminals are named ni5ingr and can be killed on sight by any man.) A niδ-rune delivers a powerful curse.
To fashion this rune, the runecaster must name a particular person to be affected and fashion with the runes the wrongs that person has committed against the runecaster to justify the curse. A niδ-rune carved without good cause automatically fails (with the consequences given below). The rune is carved on a pole, set in the ground, and topped with an animal's skull. The pole must be on the property of the person being cursed.
The type of curse delivered depends on the imagination and desires of the runecaster. Typical curses inflict madness, misfortune, bad luck, illness, poor harvests, harsh winters, bad hunting, or evil weather. The curse can never directly cause the death of the victim. For example, the runecaster cannot will a fatal illness on the victim or cause his ship to sink in mid-ocean. However, he could reduce the victim to feeble weakness (making him easy to kill) or request a terrible storm (that might sink the ship of anyone foolish enough to sail).
If the rune is fashioned successfully, the victim is allowed a saving throw vs. death to resist the effects of the curse. If the save is failed, the curse takes hold. If the save is successful, the curse is negated.
There are several risks involved in using this spell. First, it is difficult to fashion, so the shaping check is made with a -1 . Second, for the niδ-rune to have effect it must be placed where it can be found. Since the runes clearly identify the runecaster and his intended victim, either the victim or his relatives might discover the pole and then take vengeance on the character. A niδ-rune is a grave insult and will not be dismissed lightly, unless the target is a coward. Finally, a poorly fashioned rune will rebound on the runecaster. If the character errs in shaping the rune, the curse (or something similar to it) effects the runecaster. Like the potential victim, the player character is allowed a saving throw to avoid the effect.
The curse remains in effect until either the conditions of the curse are fulfilled, the niδ-rune is negated, or the two parties arrive at some kind of reconciliation. This last can be done by arbitrating a settlement at the local thing (a law-assembly, see Chapter 7).
Quench-Rune[]
This rune allows the caster to extinguish any single fire. When shaped, the name of the place to be affected must be worked into the rune, which can then be carved on any available piece of wood. The wood is thrown into the fire and consumed to activate the rune. If the rune is shaped successfully, a conflagration up to the size of a single building can be extinguished. Only one fire can be extinguished per rune.
Sea-Rune[]
For the Vikings, the sea-rune is one of the most prized and practical of all runes. With it, the chances of a safe voyage are improved greatly, no small thing for sailors of the stormy northern seas. Since the rune is most effective if shaped and carved when the ship is built, wise shipwrights seek out the most skillful runecaster they can find. The runecaster shapes the rune and then carves it on the prow, rudder, and oars of the ship. The rune remains in effect until any of these items are broken or lost. A rune shaped during the building of the ship gains a +5% bonus to later seaworthiness checks.
Once the sea-rune is carved (assuming it was successful), the ship has better chances of surviving any storm. In dangerous seas, the vessel handles as if the wind and waves were one category less. (Strong winds are treated as favorable, storms as strong winds, gales as storms, and the northern equivalent of hurricane is a gale.) The ship gains a +10% bonus to all seaworthiness checks (possibly 15% if the rune was fashioned when the ship was built). Multiple sets of sea-runes on a single ship are not allowed.
If a sea-rune is negated because of a broken or lost oar, the rune can be repaired by any runecaster who knows how to shape a searune. He can examine the runes already on the ship and carve a new one. A check for the work must still be made. The bonus for the initial carving of the rune is lost, however, since the replacement oar was not fashioned when the ship was built. If the prow or rudder is broken, the sea-rune is permanently destroyed. The ship is then considered ill-fated and cannot have another rune placed on it.
Shield-Rune[]
Like the sea-rune, this rune is highly desired by all warriors. To be used, the rune must be shaped for a particular warrior and then carved on the inside of his shield. Thereafter, the warrior gains a +1 to all his saving throws when carrying the shield. The shield-rune is only effective for the named warrior; should another use his shield, it functions as a normal shield with no special bonus.
The shield-rune remains in effect until the character is defeated in a duel or runs from a battle. If either event occurs, the rune is immediately negated.
Shout-Rune[]
This peculiar rune can be used to free others, or sometimes oneself, from bonds and fetters. It can also open locks. To use, the runecaster names the person to be freed or the item to be opened and carves the rune on the bonds themselves. He then shouts to activate the rune. This unties knots, opens locks, breaks fetters, and undoes any other restraints.
Sight-Rune[]
This rune is carved on a piece of wood and must be shaped for a particular individual. Once activated, the runecaster can look at the named person with the power of second sight (see Second Sight in this chapter). Because second sight allows one to see many things hidden or from the other world, this rune is often used to help predict the fortunes of others. A single sight rune is effective for one reading.
Speech-Rune[]
This rune is shaped for a particular person, then carved on an amulet for the person to wear. The rune is effective for twelve hours after the carving. During that time, the rune prevents enemies of the wearer from speaking evil of him. Those attempting to defame, denigrate, or spread lies about the protected person must make a saving throw vs. magic to do so. Furthermore, the spell prevents others from casting runes (particularly the nib-rune on the protected person unless, again, a saving throw vs. magic is made.
While it at first seems inconsequential, this rune is of great importantance. The honor of one's reputation was of no small significance among the Vikings. A man's standing could easily be destroyed by slander and innuendo, particularly in the court or at the thing (the assembly). The speech-rune, wisely used, could prevent such a downfall.
Strength-Rune[]
The strength-rune does just as its name implies: it increases the strength of the recipient. When shaping the rune, the runecaster must include the name of the strengthened person and then carve the rune on a piece of wood or stone. This is driven into the earth and touched by the named person. Thereafter, for Id4 hours, that character's Strength is increased by Id3 points (or 10% if over 18). The character receives all appropriate adjustments to THAC0 and damage for his enhanced Strength.
Triumph-Rune[]
This is a powerful and much desired rune, because it improves a warrior's skill in battle. The rune must be shaped for a particular warrior and a particular battle or setting. ("Give victory to Sigurd Hairy-Cheek today against the Wends.") It is then scratched onto the warrior's sword hilt and blade (spear shaft and blade, or any other appropriate combination). The warrior gains a +1 to his THAC0 and damage rolls. The rune lasts until the warrior loses the weapon or changes to another weapon, retreats or is defeated in the battle, or the battle ends. The rune-carved blade is the equivalent of a magical weapon for fighting creatures that can only be hit with +1 weapons. The triumph-rune cannot be combined with other runes that increase the THAC0 or damage rolls of the character, nor can it be applied to magical weapons.
Water-Rune[]
This practical rune is often used by sailors to protect against the risk of drowning. The rune is shaped with the person's name and then carved onto a piece of wood. This is set adrift on the ocean. Thereafter, the person has limited protection against drowning in the following ways: He can hold his breath for twice as long as normal. The character is automatically considered proficient in swimming. When swimming long distances (such as to shore after a shipwreck), the character gains a + 1 to all required Constitution checks. The character does not suffer from exposure to icy waters and suffers - 1 point of damage that might be caused by drowning or similar water- based attacks (although these are very, very infrequent in the Viking world).
Creating Other Runes[]
Unlike magical spells, which are formulae that can be researched and created by player characters, runes are secrets with divine powers. The powers of runes have existed since the beginning of the world. Runecasters do not create runes, they simply discover what has always been. A runecaster cannot choose to research a new type of rune and add it to his collection; this is simply not possible.
This does not mean new runes cannot be added to the campaign, however. The DM can create new runes as he desires, perhaps in response to the wishes of the players. He can then introduce these runes into his game however he sees fit. An old hermit in the mountains, through hardship and deprivation, may have seen a vision of the new rune. An animal (who, since they are part of the earth, are often wiser in these things than humans) may know the secret. Likewise dwarves, whose knowledge of the old magic is far greater, could know the rune. The only limitation is the DM's imagination.
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