The following list of twelve runes are less common than those presented in the Runecasting supplement and are not available to starting characters:

Additional Runes Table

Rune Descriptions

Bane-Rune: This rune must be shaped for a particular target race or type (e.g., goblinbane, elfbane, giantbane). When inscribed on a melee or thrown weapon, it provides a +1 enchantment bonus to attack and damage rolls. The rune’s power is lost if the warrior attacks a kind of creature. Note that the effects of this rune stack with the bonus from the Triumph-Rune.

Charm-Rune: Typically carved upon a wood or stone talisman, this rune improves reaction rolls for the character by one step. When shaping the rune, the runecaster must include the recipient’s name. Once activated, this rune is effective for 1d6 turns.

Darkvision-Rune: Typically carved upon a wood or stone talisman, the bearer of this rune gains darkvision with 6” range. When shaping the rune, the runecaster must include the recipient’s name.

Detect-Magic-Rune: This rune must be carved onto a dowsing wand or similar device. When activated, the bearer can perceive the presence of magical enchantment in places, people, or things within a 90 ft radius. The duration of this rune is 1 turn.

Fire-Rune: This rune must be carved onto a wand, staff, or similar device. To activate this rune, the caster must indicate his target and shout out a curse, who then makes a saving throw vs. reflexes. If this save fails, the target suffers 1d6 damage as he is briefly immolated by fire. Flammable materials may burn if the flames touch them. A character can extinguish burning items as a full-round action.

Frost-Rune: This rune must be carved onto a wand, staff, or similar device. To activate this rune, the caster must indicate his target and shout out a curse, who then makes a saving throw vs. fortitude. If this save fails, the target suffers 1d6 cold damage. If the target takes damage and is wearing metal armour, he must make an additional save the following round or else suffer a further 1d3 points of damage due to frozen armour.

Light-Rune: When activated, the rune glows like a torch, shedding bright light in a 20-foot radius (and dim light for an additional 20 feet).

Stun-Rune: This rune must be carved onto a wand, staff, or similar device. To activate this rune, the caster must indicate his target and shout out a curse, who then makes a saving throw vs. willpower. If this save fails, the target is stunned and incapable of movement or other actions (but is not helpless). The target can make a new save each round to break free. Opponents gain a +2 bonus to hit a stunned target.

Track-Rune: This rune allows the bearer to track a creature, regardless of terrain or weather conditions. When shaped, the rune must name the target to be tracked; an exact identification must be provided (not “a troll” but “the troll that lives beneath the Månljus bridge”). This rune is effective for 6 turns (1 hour).

Treasure-Rune: This rune – popular amongst prospectors and dungeon-divers – must be carved onto a dowsing wand or similar device. When activated, the bearer can detect the presence of precious metal (such as gold, silver, and copper) and gemstones within a 90 ft radius. The duration of this rune is 1 turn.

Water-Breathing: When activated, this rune allows the bearer to breathe underwater for up to 1 turn.

Waystone-Rune: This rune is unique in that it is typically left behind or planted on a target. Once activated, the runecaster can determine the distance and direction to the rune for its full duration of 1 day. This function requires concentration for one full round.

Variant class options and sub-classes are a time-honoured tradition in fantasy role-playing games. Collected here is a selection of variant classes for potential use as PCs and NPCs: Berzerkers, Scouts, Skalds, and Staves.

The rules presented here supersede the previous posts. As with all house rules, use of these class options are subject to referee approval.

Berzerkers (Fighter Variant)

Berzerkers are ferocious warriors who use fury and instinct to bring down foes. They are able to tap into powerful but dangerously unpredictable rage which enables them to fight more savagely than others. This furious state of mind borders on insanity, and a berzerker in a rage is unable to retreat from battle.

Berzerkers are also famous for dying young and fast.

Unless stated below, a berzerker is identical to a fighter in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 4th level as berzerkers, elves to 3rd level, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Berzerk: The character can enter a berzerk rage in combat. He must first succeed an Athletics check to initiate the berzerk state; each attempt requires one full round.
  While berzerk, the character can make two melee attacks per round, but cannot flee from battle. Afterwards, he must rest two full turns or be exhausted (–2 to hit and damage, cannot run, cannot berzerk until rested).
• Melee Attacker: Berzerkers favour melee combat. A berzerker adds only ½ his lvl (rounded down) when making ranged attacks (including both projectile and thrown weapons).
• Armour Restriction: Although trained to fight while armoured, a berzerker loses the ability to rage while wearing medium or heavy armour.
• Skill Penalties: Berzerkers are not particularly quiet or scholarly. They take a -2 penalty to Subterfuge and Lore checks.

(Note that the key ability for this class is replicated by the berzerk rune.)

Scouts (Thief Variant)

Scouts are fast-moving, lightly-armoured skirmishers. The scout is a hunter and a ranger who lives by his wits, and his abilities make him particularly good at tracking, woodcraft, infiltration, and spying.

Unless stated below, a scout is identical to a thief in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 6th level as scouts, elves to 8th level, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Increased Movement: Starting at 1st level, scouts add +3” MV if wearing light or no armour.
• Tracking: It is possible for scouts to track both outdoors and underground in dungeons and like settings – even under conditions that would prevent most characters from following a trail.
  This replaces the thief’s ability to open locks, remove traps, and disable mechanical devices.
• Foraging: Starting at 2nd level, scouts gain an improved chance to forage. Foraging reduces movement to ⅔ normal, and the scout provides a 3-in-6 chance of finding sustenance (instead of the regular 2-in-6 chance).
• Sneak Attack: This ability is the same as the thief’s backstab ability, but with a more ‘politically correct’ title and is gained at 4th level instead of 2nd.
  This replaces the Power Runes ability of the standard thief.

Skalds (Thief Variant)

Skalds are wanderers, musicians, tale-tellers, and jacks-of-all-trades. Skalds make a living using their wits and charming personalities. They are talented musicians and walking storehouses of gossip, tall tales, and lore. While many skalds are scoundrels, their stories and songs are welcome almost everywhere.

Unless stated below, a skald is identical to a thief in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 6th level as skalds, elves may advance to 8th level, and humans have unlimited advancement.
• Influence Reactions: A skald may make a special Subterfuge check to improve (or worsen) an NPC’s reaction. The target(s) must be able to see, hear, and understand the skald. This cannot be attempted once hostilities have begun.
  Alternately, the skald can use this ability during combat to inspire courage in his allies and invoke despair in foes. This requires 1 full round to initiate and improves the morale checks for the skald’s allies by +1 and creates a -1 penalty to opponents’ morale.
  This skill replaces the thief’s ability to open locks, remove traps, and disable mechanical devices of various sorts.
• Legend Lore: Starting at 2nd level, a skald gains the chance of knowing something about a legendary person, place, or thing; or of knowing what a particular magic item is. A special Lore check is required, and the amount of information provided is at the discretion of the referee.
  This replaces the thief’s Backstab ability.

Staves (Fighter Variant)

Staves are a kind of Norse ‘monk’. Staves regard the quarterstaff as a symbol of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. They train their bodies to be both a tool and a weapon, like the quarterstaffs they revere.

(This is based on an actual martial art and philosophical system, which uses runes and Norse Mythology in its teaching. Check out Stav International for more details.)

Unless stated below, a stave is identical to a fighter in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: This is a human tradition. Dwarves and elves are limited to 3rd level as staves, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Martial Artist: In the hands of a stave, a quarterstaff inflicts 1d8 damage when used two-handed and 1d6 damage when used one-handed. This damage increases to 1d10 2H / 1d8 1H at 2nd level, and to 1d12 2H / 1d10 1H at 4th level.
  A stave can can also inflict 1d4 damage with bare-hand attacks. This increases to 1d6 damage at 3rd level. Unarmed strikes are treated as light, fast weapons.
  Martial Artist replaces the fighter’s Cleave ability. (Note that a stave may still use other weapons normally without restriction.)
• Power Runes: A stave of 3rd level or above can attempt to trigger power runes in the same manner as a high-level thief (except that the stave must be unarmoured).
• Saving Throws: A stave gains an additional +2 bonus to saving throws. (This is in addition to the fighter’s standard +4 bonus to saves.)
• Armour Restriction: A stave loses all of his special class abilities while wearing armour or using a shield.

I’ve decided to adopt the Alternate Core Rules which were proposed earlier. I’ve already updated the files on Google Docs.

Now I’m going through the various posts and revising any rules which are affected. After I’m done, there will still be a few places (like the Boneyard) which will reference the old, superseded rules.

Major changes include the following:

• Adventuring Skills have been revamped; characters now receive a +3 bonus to their class skill.
• The three save categories have been condensed into a single Saving Throw value. Saves are still typically divided into fortitude, reflex, or willpower categories, but these are dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
  Each class has its own modifier to saving throws, but loses the bonus to one specific save type. In most cases, it’s easier to make a saving throw now.

Also, I’ve given dwarves what used to be the ‘Goblin Foe’ quirk by default. The revised combat modifiers are as follows:

• Gargun are the racial enemies of dwarves. Dwarves gain a +1 on attack rolls vs. goblins.
• Due to their small size, dwarves gain defensive bonuses against trolls and giants. Trolls have a -1 penalty on attack rolls vs. dwarves, and giants have a -2 penalty.

The old ‘Goblin Foe’ quirk is now replaced by ‘Giant Foe’; dwarves with this quirk get +1 Atk vs. trolls and giants instead of vs. goblins.

It gives a good idea of the relative sizes of dwarves and men.

(They’re called dwarves for a reason.)

(UPDATE 24-Jan-12: I’ve collected all these class options into a single post and revised several of them.)

Scouts are fast-moving, lightly-armoured skirmishers. The scout is a hunter and a ranger who lives by his wits, and his abilities make him particularly good at tracking, woodcraft, infiltration, and spying.

Unless stated below, a scout is identical to a thief in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 6th level as scouts, elves to 8th level, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Increased Movement: Scouts add +3” MV if wearing light or no armour.
  This replaces the thief’s backstab ability (but is available at 1st level instead of 2nd).
• Foraging: Starting at 2nd level, scouts gain an improved chance to forage. Foraging reduces movement to ⅔ normal, and the scout provides a 3-in-6 chance of finding sustenance (instead of the regular 2-in-6 chance).
• Tracking: It is possible for scouts to track both outdoors and underground in dungeons and like settings – even under conditions that would prevent most characters from following a trail.
  This replaces the thief’s ability to open locks, remove traps, and disable mechanical devices.

So here are some choice quotes relating specifically to dwarf women:

Gimli: It’s true you don’t see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for dwarf men.

Aragorn (whispering): It’s the beards.

Gimli: And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women, and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!

…and perhaps one of the strangest lines from the movies:

It’s the Dwarves that go swimming with little, hairy woman.

It’s been a while since I’ve made a Bearded Beauties post. I can’t find a picture of a LotR dwarf woman, so here’s a a female dwarf fighter:

It’s entitled Morgana as a Dwarf by Nephilim Phoenix (swiped without permission).

A starting runecaster may choose to master runes in exchange for initial equipment. The Runecasting supplement is a little bit vague about how runecasters can master additional runes, however, and says nothing about restrictions on the number of runes known.

Here is the actual text:

Additional runes must be gained through adventuring. Although runes are a written type of magic, a character cannot learn how to use a rune just by studying one. There is much more to mastering a rune than simply writing it. The runecaster must have a living example of the rune – either insight, instructor, or divine intervention. Learning runes from an instructor requires a teacher of higher level than the character and typically involve a high cost and/or some form of service.

So as per the rules, you can’t study a ‘normal’ rune to master it. I’m debating allowing runecasters a chance to master power runes, however, like magic-users learning spells from scrolls in AD&D.

A character must study a power rune for a full day, then make a Lore check. If successful, the rune is mastered. If the check fails, then the runecaster cannot attempt to learn this rune until he attains an additional level of experience. Either way, the power rune is destroyed when used in this manner.

The Runecasting supplement also mentions that an instructor can teach a student new runes. Without constraints, this would mean that every apprentice runecaster would simply teach his fellow students the secrets of the runes he has mastered until every rune was known by all.

However, teaching somebody the secrets of rune magic has its costs. Like a power rune, it requires one day, 100 gp, and 50 XP from the instructor. Learning from an instructor still requires a successful Lore check by the student, with failure meaning that he cannot master the rune at this level (and the instructor still loses XP).

In addition, I am thinking of limiting a runecaster to a number of known runes equal his level +3. (This is equal to a runecaster’s base Lore modifier under the Alternate Rules). No take-backs, either – once you master a rune, you can’t forget it.

These rulse prevents rampant copying of runes by apprentices and acquisition of an excessive number of runes at low levels, while allowing runecasters to gain runes more easily by adventuring (via power runes).

I hadn’t noticed it before, and I quite like it.

I’ve used a website called Print Friendly to convert some of the posts here into printable PDF format.

Here are links to the resulting documents:

• Download: Character Races
• Download: Character Classes
• Download: Class Option – Berzerker
• Download: Class Options – Staves & Skalds

• Download: Expanded Armour Rules
• Download: Expanded Weapon Rules

• Download: Secondary Skills
• Download: Dwarven Quirks

I’ve formatted each to be two pages at most, so that they can be printed (double-sided) on a single sheet of paper.

(UPDATE 24-Jan-12: I’ve collected all these class options into a single post and revised several of them.)

Berzerkers are ferocious warriors who use fury and instinct to bring down foes. They are able to tap into powerful but dangerously unpredictable rage which enables them to fight more savagely than others. This furious state of mind borders on insanity, and a berzerker in a rage is unable to retreat from battle.

Berzerkers are also famous for dying young and fast.

Unless stated below, a berzerker is identical to a fighter in terms of rule effects:

• Level Limits: Dwarves are limited to 4th level as berzerkers, elves to 3rd level, while humans have unlimited advancement.
• Berzerk: The character can enter a berzerk rage in combat. He must first succeed an Athletics check to initiate the berzerk state; each attempt requires one full round.
  While berzerk, the character can make two melee attacks per round, but cannot flee from battle. Afterwards, he must rest two full turns or be exhausted (–2 to hit and damage, cannot run, cannot berzerk until rested).
• Melee Attacker: Berzerkers favour melee combat. A berzerker adds only ½ his lvl (rounded down) when making ranged attacks (including both projectile and thrown weapons).
• Armour Restriction: Although trained to fight while armoured, a berzerker loses the ability to rage while wearing medium or heavy armour.
• Skill Penalties: Berzerkers are not particularly quiet or scholarly. They take a -2 penalty to Subterfuge and Lore checks.

(Note that the key ability for this class is replicated by the berzerk rune.)