I am about to complete my final preparations for running D&D as a DM for the first time. Due to the theme of the setting, I have developed a Fighter subclass around the theme of rune magic. It enables the fighter to discover secret runes to enchant their weapons, and produce other magical effects, but it relies on them travelling the land and uncovering them first. When they find a site containing runes during their travels, I will make them roll on a table to determine what rune they learn. I have inserted the tables below. This gives me a bit of control, and adds an element of discovery - hopefully :)
Anyhow, what I am worried about, is whether this subclass is actually fun, boring, overpowered or weak. I would love to hear some thoughts from you guys. Here's the details:
Martial Archetype: Rune Knight The Rune Knight visit ancient sites of rune magic and use their latent powers to produce great magical effects in combat. Similar to clerics seeking to understand the mysteries of runes, the Rune Knight seek the runes for the power to destroy their enemies in combat.
Carving of Stone: Starting at level 3, you gain proficiency with the Arcana skill and with Smith’s Tools.
Runecasting Ability: Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for rune magic, since you use your knowledge and memory to produce magical effects.
Spell save DC = 8 + proficiency + int. mod.
Spell attack = proficiency + int. mod.
Runestones and Rune Points: Starting at level 3 when you learn this archetype, you gain 3 rune points to spend every day. At level 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you add another point to your total. In order to spend rune points to activate runestones, you must have imbued a runestone first with an effect you have learned. The runestones are literally stones that the Rune Knight keeps with him, that are imbued with the arcane magic he has learned during his travels. If the Rune Knight does not have access to his stones, he is unable to use his abilities. To find various runestones is a journey on its own, and the effects of the stones may wary considerably, depending on the DM.
Crafting Stones: You may craft a single runestone by spending one hour imbuing the stone by using your Smith’s Tools. You can craft a total amount of runestones equal to your amount of rune points. Any non-magical stone of appropriate size can be used. You can imbue the stone with any rune you have attuned yourself to during your travels. Once the magic is used, the stone disappears, and a new stone must be crafted. The magic in the rune lasts for up to 10 days.
Runeforging: Starting at level 6, you may use your Smith’s Tools to spend one hour to imbue your weapon with a permanent rune producing one of the following 2 magical effects learned automatically at level 6;
Smite: Increase damage by an additional 1d6 of the weapons inherent damage type. Increase to 2d6 at level 12 and 3d6 at level 18
Speed: Increases the movement speed of the wielding Rune Knight by 5 feet.
Additional Effects can be found by locating runestones throughout the land.
You can only imbue weapons used by the Rune Knight, and any imbued weapon will lose its magical effect if wielded by another character. The rune will remain on the weapon until replaced by another rune by the Rune Knight. The rune can be dispelled by normal magical means by enemies.
Recall Magic: At level 10, you may roll an intelligence check (DC15) to attempt to restore a runestone you just used. You may only attempt this once for each runestone.
Rune of Transformation: At level 15, you may use a bonus action to perform a spell attack using one of your runestones, regardless of what effect it has stored. You choose an elemental damage type to hurl at your foe, and with a successful spell attack, you deal a number of d6 damage dice equal to your proficiency bonus. At level 15 for example, you deal 5d6 damage, having a proficiency bonus of +5. There is no save for the damage done.
Inscribe Body: At level 18, you can spend 1d12 hours to permanently inscribe your body with a rune you have learned, replacing the need for crafting runestones completely. You may activate any of these runes at will, using one of your rune points. You can store a number of runes in this manner equal to your constitution modifier.
Rune tables Depending on the site a Rune Knight finds, he might only find one rune or several he can learn. It might be a mix between regular runes and weapon runes, or it might just be either type.
General Runes
These runes produce a temporary effect, and consumes runestones when used.
d
Name
Effect
1
Rune of Resistance
You spend a runestone and gain resistance to any damage type of your choosing for 1d4 hours.
2
Rune of Luck
You may choose any type of saving throw, and gain advantage when saving for the next 1d4 hours.
3
Rune of Antimagic
You may spend a runestone as a reaction to nullify a spell being cast by an enemy. If the creature is casting a spell of 3rd level or lower, its spell fails and has no effect. If it's a spell of 4th level or higher, make a check using your spellcasting ability. The DC is 10 + the spell's level. On a success, the spell is interrupted.
4
Rune of Fate
You spend a runestone to protect yourself from death for 1d4 hours. Whenever an attack would bring you to 0 hit points or lower, you will instead be reduced to 1 hit point. Once the effect has taken place, the magic of the runestone will be spent. You can only carry 1 runestone at a time with this effect.
5
Rune of Dispel
You may spend an action to throw a runestone towards a target within 60 feet of you. Use your spell attack to determine whether you hit. On a succesfull hit, the target suffers the effect of a Dispel Magic spell. If the stone misses, it can be picked up by the Rune Knight and used again.
6
Rune of Stone
You spend a runestone to give your body the resistance of stone. For 1d4 hours, you cannot be affected by the poison or disease conditions, and you suffer no damage from poison damage. Poison or disease already in your system is suspended, not neutralized.
7
Rune of Prisms
You spend a runestone, and surround yourself with magical glowing symbols for 1d10 minutes. Any enemy entering an area of 10 feet, or ending its turn within the same range of you, must succeed a dexterity saving throw or suffer 1d4+your class level of radiant damage.
8
Rune of Awareness
You spend a runestone to magically increase your AC by 2 for 1d4 hours.
9
Rune of Eyes
You spend an action to transform your runestone into a magical eye that flows in the air at your command for 1d4 hours. You become mentally locked with the eye, and may view the world through the eye. You are unable to communicate or interact with the world when you use the eye. You can spend an action to move the eye 30 feet in any direction. The eye is considered invisible. The eye dispels when it moves more than 300 feet away from you, or when you choose to end the effect.
10
Rune of Stone Sight
You spend a runestone, and gain the ability to discover any hidden doors or messages on a stone surface for 1d4 hours. In addition, you gain a bonus of +5 to all perception checks made that relies on sight.
11
Rune of Ghostly Vision
You spend a runestone to enhance your sight, gaining the effects of the See Invisibility spell for 1d10 minutes.
12
Rune of Speed
You spend a runestone to increase your movement speed by an additional 10 feet for 1d10 minutes.
13
Rune of Ice
You spend a runestone to cover a cirkular area of 30 feet with thick ice, making it difficult terrain for anyone but yourself for up to 10 minutes. In addition, any weapon attack you make against another creature caught in the effect is made with advantage.
14
Rune of Tremor
You may spend an action to throw a runestone towards a target within 60 feet of you. Use your spell attack to determine whether you hit. On a succesfull hit, the creature begins to tremble with internal tremor, causing them to fall prone immediately on the ground. At the start of the turn for the creature, it must succeed a constitution saving throw, or remain in this state for up to 1 minute. In addition, any creature with the biological ability to vommit, will begin to do so, and loose all movement. Other creatures are under the standard prone effect with no additional effects.
15
Rune of Obscurity
You spend an action to transform your runestone into either lingering darkness, or bright light. If you choose darkness, you may cast the Darkness spell. However, the effect requires no concentration and lasts up to 10 minutes. In addition, you can see normally in the darkness it produces. If you choose bright light, all creatures within 30 feet of you must succeed a dexterity saving throw, or become blinded for 3 rounds.
16
Rune of Smite
You spend a runestone to produce a magical weapon usable in combat for 1 minute. When you produce the weapon, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of the weapon. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 force damage + your spellcasting ability modifier. You can also choose to wield the weapon yourself, in which case you are considered proficient. The weapon does 1d8 force damage + your strength modifier.
17
Rune of the Beast
You spend a runestone to produce a magical beast, assisting you for 1d4 hours. This runestone produce an effect similar to the Conjure Animals spell, however, you may only choose 1 beast of a challenge rating up to 1. At level 12 and beyond, you may summon a beast of challenge rating 2 or lower.
18
Rune of Immunity
You spend an action to activate a runestone to gain complete damage immunity for a single turn. In addition, your movement speed becomes 0, and you become unable to interact with your surroudings until the beginning of your next turn. You can only carry 1 runestone at a time with this effect.
19
Rune of Purpose
You spend a runestone to gain 1d8+2 temporary hit points for up to 1d4 hours. At level 12, you gain an additional 1d8 hit points. At level 18, you gain an additional 1d8 hit points, bringing the toal to 3d8+2 hit points.
20
Rune of Transparency
You spend a runestone to become invisible for 1 minute. If you drop an item or remove it, the item is no longer invisible, and if you try to attack or cast a spell, the invisibility ends early. In additional ,you gain a bonus of +10 to stealth checks made for the next 1d4 hours, regardless of whether you are invisible or not.
Weapon Runes
These runes produce permanent effects to a weapon.
d
Name
Effect
1
Rune of Elemental Power
At the start of each of your attacks, you choose an element of your choice, and add 1d6 damage of that type to a succesful hit with your weapon. You can choose between fire, cold, lightning or thunder damage. This damage is increased to 2d6 at level 12, and 3d6 at level 18.
2
Rune of Divine Power
At the start of each of your attacks, you choose an element of your choice, and add 1d6 damage of that type to a succesful hit with your weapon. You can choose between radiant or necrotic damage. This damage is increased to 2d6 at level 12, and 3d6 at level 18.
3
Rune of Absorbtion
When you succesfully hit an opponent with your weapon, you deal an extra 1d4 necrotic damage and regain hit points equal to the amount of damage dealt. This increases to 2d4 at level 12, and 3d4 at level 18. You can only produce this effect once per turn.
4
Rune of Chains
When you succesfully hit an opponent, magical chains sprout from the weapon. The creature must succed a dexterity saving throw or be grappled until the end of its next turn. There is no effect on a succesful save.
5
Rune of Light
You can spend 1 action to activate this weapon on your rune, making it shine a bright light of a color you choose in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. You can spend a bonus action to disable this effect again. At level 12, any creature you succesfully hit with the weapon must succeed a wisdom saving throw or become blinded until the end of its next turn.
6
Rune of Spirits
When you succesfully hit with your weapon, you may produce an ethereal duplicate of yourself, attacking your enemy once before disappearing again. You must spend a bonus action to produce this effect, and regain it's use after a short or long rest.
7
Rune of Binding
When you enchant your weapon with this rune, you may summon and dismiss your weapon at will. In combat, you cannot be disarmed, unless you will it.
8
Rune of Precision
When you roll to attack with your weapon, you add an additional 1d4 to your attack roll. This bonus increases to 2d4 at level 12 and 3d4 at level 18.
Hi everyone!
I am about to complete my final preparations for running D&D as a DM for the first time. Due to the theme of the setting, I have developed a Fighter subclass around the theme of rune magic. It enables the fighter to discover secret runes to enchant their weapons, and produce other magical effects, but it relies on them travelling the land and uncovering them first. When they find a site containing runes during their travels, I will make them roll on a table to determine what rune they learn. I have inserted the tables below. This gives me a bit of control, and adds an element of discovery - hopefully :)
Anyhow, what I am worried about, is whether this subclass is actually fun, boring, overpowered or weak. I would love to hear some thoughts from you guys. Here's the details:
Martial Archetype: Rune Knight
The Rune Knight visit ancient sites of rune magic and use their latent powers to produce great magical effects in combat. Similar to clerics seeking to understand the mysteries of runes, the Rune Knight seek the runes for the power to destroy their enemies in combat.
Carving of Stone: Starting at level 3, you gain proficiency with the Arcana skill and with Smith’s Tools.
Runecasting Ability: Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for rune magic, since you use your knowledge and memory to produce magical effects.
Spell save DC = 8 + proficiency + int. mod.
Spell attack = proficiency + int. mod.
Runestones and Rune Points: Starting at level 3 when you learn this archetype, you gain 3 rune points to spend every day. At level 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you add another point to your total. In order to spend rune points to activate runestones, you must have imbued a runestone first with an effect you have learned. The runestones are literally stones that the Rune Knight keeps with him, that are imbued with the arcane magic he has learned during his travels. If the Rune Knight does not have access to his stones, he is unable to use his abilities. To find various runestones is a journey on its own, and the effects of the stones may wary considerably, depending on the DM.
Crafting Stones: You may craft a single runestone by spending one hour imbuing the stone by using your Smith’s Tools. You can craft a total amount of runestones equal to your amount of rune points. Any non-magical stone of appropriate size can be used. You can imbue the stone with any rune you have attuned yourself to during your travels. Once the magic is used, the stone disappears, and a new stone must be crafted. The magic in the rune lasts for up to 10 days.
Runeforging: Starting at level 6, you may use your Smith’s Tools to spend one hour to imbue your weapon with a permanent rune producing one of the following 2 magical effects learned automatically at level 6;
You can only imbue weapons used by the Rune Knight, and any imbued weapon will lose its magical effect if wielded by another character. The rune will remain on the weapon until replaced by another rune by the Rune Knight. The rune can be dispelled by normal magical means by enemies.
Recall Magic: At level 10, you may roll an intelligence check (DC15) to attempt to restore a runestone you just used. You may only attempt this once for each runestone.
Rune of Transformation: At level 15, you may use a bonus action to perform a spell attack using one of your runestones, regardless of what effect it has stored. You choose an elemental damage type to hurl at your foe, and with a successful spell attack, you deal a number of d6 damage dice equal to your proficiency bonus. At level 15 for example, you deal 5d6 damage, having a proficiency bonus of +5. There is no save for the damage done.
Inscribe Body: At level 18, you can spend 1d12 hours to permanently inscribe your body with a rune you have learned, replacing the need for crafting runestones completely. You may activate any of these runes at will, using one of your rune points. You can store a number of runes in this manner equal to your constitution modifier.
Rune tables
Depending on the site a Rune Knight finds, he might only find one rune or several he can learn. It might be a mix between regular runes and weapon runes, or it might just be either type.
Thanks for reading!
This is unironically better than the official Rune Knight
Squids? Squids!
Oh thank you! Didn't think I would ever get a reply to this one :D
I literally just found this, and honestly I'm gonna use it at my table.
Squids? Squids!