Namaste Mother Nuggets!
Runes are one of the things people ask me about most when it comes to Mystic Times. In my world, magic doesn’t only live in wizards’ towers. It lives in the little carved stones a blacksmith slots into your sword hilt, and the gemstone a farmer’s daughter keeps in her boot for luck. Runes are folk magic: cheap(ish), single use, and absolutely everywhere.
You’ll find the full rules in the Mystic Times Campaign Guide, along with a whole world to use them in.
So here’s my question to kick us off: if you could carve one rune into your character’s gear, which would it be, and why? Tell me in the comments.
How Runes Work
Here’s the system in a nutshell. It works in any game.
- Every rune comes in two flavours. A shield rune is defensive: it goes in armour, shields or jewellery and protects you. A strike rune is offensive: it goes in a weapon and adds something nasty to a hit.
- One use, then it’s spent. Each rune can be activated once. After that the magic is gone until someone re-inscribes it.
- Re-inscribing takes a ritual and someone with a bit of skill in spellcraft or arcane lore. Most adventuring parties have one. The others have to pay someone.
- Gear comes with sockets. It’s common for ordinary weapons, armour and gear to come with empty sockets, ready for a rune or gemstone. Almost any smith can socket an item, and the practice is common across every culture.
- Real magic wins. Enchanted items overpower the low-level folk magic of runes. You can socket a rune into a magic sword, but when you activate it, nothing happens. The sword’s own magic drowns it out.
That last rule is important for game balance. Runes are the poor adventurer’s magic item. Once your party starts carrying real enchanted gear, runes become backup tools rather than the main event.
Runes of the Body and Mind
These runes boost the person using them. As a shield rune they strengthen you; as a strike rune they sharpen you for one big moment.
| Rune | Old meaning | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Ansuz | A god, or the voice of one | Increases wisdom. |
| Algiz | The elk, protection | Increases armour or spell resistance. |
| Berkano | The birch tree | Increases health. |
| Dagaz | Day, dawn | Increases intelligence. |
| Ehwaz | The horse | Increases dexterity. |
| Eihwaz | The yew tree | Increases strength. |
| Fehu | Cattle, wealth | Increases luck: a reroll, or advantage on a roll. |
| Kenaz | The torch | Increases magical ability, like a bonus spell slot. |
| Thurisaz | The thorn, the giant | Increases constitution. |
Runes of the Elements
These runes deal with forces of nature and magic. As a shield rune, they protect you from that element. As a strike rune, they add it to your attack.
| Rune | Old meaning | Element |
|---|---|---|
| Hagalaz | Hail | Nature |
| Isa | Ice | Ice and cold |
| Laguz | Water, the lake | Water and drowning |
| Mannaz | Mankind | Corruption and necrotic energy |
| Nauthiz | Need | Burning and fire |
| Othala | Heritage, the homeland | Psionic, psychic and mind-influencing effects |
| Perthro | Fate, the lot-cup | Arcane and force |
| Sowilo | The sun | Holy |
| Tiwaz | Tyr, the war god | Unholy |
Runes of State
These are the sneaky ones. They don’t hurt you; they change you. As a shield rune they protect you from the state. As a strike rune they try to inflict it.
| Rune | Old meaning | State |
|---|---|---|
| Gebo | The gift | Fascination and charm |
| Ingwaz | Ing, the seed | Confusion |
| Jera | The year, the harvest | Rage |
| Raidho | The ride, the journey | Stun or petrify |
| Uruz | The wild ox | Poison |
| Wunjo | Joy | Sleep |
A fun one to watch for: Jera. A strike rune of rage turns a disciplined enemy into a reckless one. That’s great when it’s the bandit captain. It’s less great when the bandit captain has the same idea and your paladin starts swinging at the furniture.
If you’re finding this useful, share it with the GM in your group chat. They’ll thank you, and so will I.
Spellstones and Gateway Stones
Runestones can also hold other kinds of magic.
- Spellstones store a single, specific spell, much like a low-level scroll. Snap the stone and the spell goes off.
- Gateway stones are keyed to one place. In Mystic Times, the Rangers carry Gateway Stones that take the user straight to a specific Ranger Tower.
Both follow the same rule as every other runestone: single use, and only very basic magic. A spellstone is a cantrip or a first-level trick, not a fireball in your pocket.
Prices and Rarity
As with my herbalism post, prices assume 0.1 gold is one day’s work for a farmer or labourer. Runes are magic, so they aren’t cheap. A single runestone costs about what a gemstone does in Mystic Times: around 20 gold for the simplest, or most of a year’s wages for a labourer. That’s why most people only own one or two, and why the ones they own are precious.
| Item | Rarity | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Blank runestone (uninscribed) | Common | 1 gp |
| Socketing a rune or gem into gear (smith’s fee) | Common | 1 gp |
| Re-inscribing a spent rune (materials, plus a ritual) | Uncommon | 2 gp |
| Body and Mind rune (Ansuz, Algiz, Berkano, Dagaz, Ehwaz, Eihwaz, Thurisaz) | Uncommon | 20 gp |
| Element rune (Hagalaz, Isa, Laguz, Mannaz, Nauthiz, Othala, Perthro, Sowilo, Tiwaz) | Uncommon | 25 gp |
| State rune (Gebo, Ingwaz, Jera, Raidho, Uruz, Wunjo) | Rare | 30 gp |
| Fehu or Kenaz | Rare | 50 gp |
| Spellstone | Rare | 50 gp |
| Gateway stone | Very rare | Not for sale. Ask a Ranger. |
The economics are where it gets interesting. A new rune costs 20 gold or more, but re-inscribing a spent one only costs 2 gold and a ritual. So the smart adventurer keeps their spent runes, and the party member who can re-inscribe them is suddenly the most valuable person in the group.
At the Table
Here’s how I’d run runes in a few systems. As always, these are my quick conversions, so tweak them to suit your table.
At the Table
OpenD6
- Body and Mind runes: +1D to one roll with the matching attribute.
- Fehu: acts as a free Character Point, without spending one of your own.
- Kenaz: +2D to one spellcasting roll.
- Strike runes: +1D damage of that element, or the target resists the state at Moderate difficulty (11–15) or suffers it for a round.
- Shield runes: +1D to your resistance total against that element or state for one round.
At the Table
4 Against Darkness
Use a rune at any point during a fight. It’s spent once used.
| Rune | Effect |
|---|---|
| Any strike rune (element) | +1 on one Attack roll. Against a foe your GM rules is weak to that element, the hit also deals +1 damage. |
| Any shield rune (element) | +1 on one Defence roll against that kind of attack. |
| Eihwaz or Ehwaz | +1 on one Attack roll. |
| Algiz or Thurisaz | +1 on one Defence roll. |
| Berkano | One character regains 1 Life. |
| Fehu | Reroll any one die. |
| Kenaz | A spellcaster regains one spent spell. |
| Raidho, Wunjo or Gebo (strike) | One minion in the current group skips its next attack. |
At the Table
Warrior Heroes: Adventures in Talomir
Runes work perfectly as Single Use (S) magic items.
- Body and Mind runes: the user counts as having the matching Attribute for one Encounter: Eihwaz Strong, Ehwaz Agile, Thurisaz or Berkano Resilient.
- Algiz: counts as Magic Resistant for one Encounter.
- Fehu: one free Star Power d6, even for a Grunt.
- Kenaz: a Caster recovers 1 + 1/2d6 Magic Power.
- Strike runes (element): +1d6 in one melee, or +1 to the score on the Shooting Damage Table for one shot.
- Shield runes (element): treat your armour as one level higher on the Damage Table for the next hit of that kind.
- State runes (strike): Gebo, Raidho and Wunjo make the target halt in place, forfeiting its current or next Activation, like a Dazzle. Jera gives the target the Rage Attribute (careful what you wish for), and Uruz Poisons it.
- Value: each rune is worth (1) Increasing Rep d6 when bartering, or (2) for Fehu and Kenaz. And because it’s still a magic item, roll 2d6 the first time you use it: on a 12 it’s cursed and does the opposite, and on a 3 it’s a worthless forgery.
At the Table
D&D 5e
- Body and Mind runes: activate as a bonus action. Add 1d4 to one ability check or saving throw with that ability before the end of your next turn.
- Algiz: +2 AC until the start of your next turn, or advantage on one saving throw against a spell.
- Fehu: as a reaction, reroll one d20 and use either result.
- Kenaz: regain one expended 1st-level spell slot.
- Element runes: as a strike rune, add 1d6 damage of that type to one hit (fire for Nauthiz, cold for Isa, radiant for Sowilo, necrotic for Mannaz or Tiwaz, psychic for Othala, force for Perthro, and so on). As a shield rune, gain resistance to that type until the start of your next turn.
- State runes: as a strike rune, the target makes a DC 13 save or suffers the state until the end of its next turn. As a shield rune, you have advantage on saves against it for 1 minute.
Over to You
Runes are one of my favourite bits of Mystic Times because they make magic feel lived-in. Every scratch on a socket and every spent stone in a pocket tells a little story. If you use these at your table, I want to hear how it goes. And if you want the gemstones, the rest of the magic system and the world they belong to, it’s all in the Mystic Times Campaign Guide.
Which rune would your party fight over first? And which system should I convert next time? Let me know in the comments.
Ciao for now.
Use it at your table: The game rules and mechanics in this post are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence. Use them, tweak them and share them for your own games.
Product Identity: The names of characters, places, factions and deities (everything that makes it Mystic Times) are Product Identity of Arjade Productions and aren’t covered by that licence. They’re yours to use at your table, but not to publish.
(Note: This post was created adapting my published books using tools which may include elements of artificial intelligence.)