Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 62.142.248.1

Toni Sihvonen (order #92780) 6
Read (Runes)
Critical: Double the caster’s Personal Life Force and Magic
Limit.
Success: Find Life Force and Limit normally.
Failure: The spell fails - or it works, with 1/4 its words
rewritten by the GM.
Fumble: The spell fails - or it works, with half its words
rewritten by the GM.
Modifiers: besides the usual modifiers for Hasty Ritual or
Inspiration, Read (Runes) is -1 per full two words, numbers,
or runes placed in the spell.
A ritual that fails, or that does not generate enough Life
Force for the target effect, does nothing and may not be
attempted again that month. If a rune ritual works, its Life
Force becomes a permanent negative modifier to the
runere’s Magic Limit. Thus a runere who has cast three
50-point rune rituals during his life has a -150 Magic Limit
modifier.
Targets: Normally, enchanted objects benefit any person
who uses them, in the same fashion as normal objects. A
runere can spend words to exclude certain persons from
the benefits of a beruned item (“only my family,” “not for
Picts”), but may earn Selfish, Arbitrary, and/or
Love/Loyalty checks for doing so. Magic that works
against or upon rather than for the item’s user must be
specified as such (“Damage to wielder”).
Enchanted objects directly benefit only one user, though
by boosting one man’s Battle or Stewardship they may
indirectly affect thousands of others. This also applies to
an item shared by many people, like a hall or a boat:
“Boost Hospitality” or “Boost Boating” normally apply
just to the hall’s lord or the boat’s captain. If you want
rune magic to affect more people, use the Multiple
Targets modifier.
Runes placed in nature - traced on a wind or in a
spring’s water - are trickier. As a rule, such spells affect
one target per year, usually the first person who contacts
them (breathes the wind, drinks from the well) after the
casting’s anniversary that year. Unless permanent (like
damage) the effects on that target last until the casting’s
next anniversary. The Multiple Targets modifier can
extend these effects. Example: On Ceol, a runere traces
30 Life Force of Ur into a well, boosted by +60 to affect
six targets (Spell: “Ur Boost the Constitution of Six
Drinkers”). Every year, the first six people who drink
from the well after Ceol gain +I CON until next Ceol.
Permanence: Like other Permanent items, be runed
things can be Dispelled with a Permanent Dispel of equal
value. Alternatively, new rune enchantments of equal
strength to an old one can add runes, numbers, or words
to it, but cannot delete or rearrange the existing spell.
Rune effects suffer from Attrition (see page 137).
Wording and Interpreting Spells: Four principles for
the GM are --
Interpret the spell as literally as possible using the
runes and Life Force available to it, and the nature
of the beruned item.
The spell should be one complete sentence, not
counting the runes. Spelling and grammar both
“count,” and poetic effects like alliteration or
rhyme may earn bonus Life Force.
A runere unsure how his spell will “work” should
consult an experienced nonplayer magician (a
mouthpiece for the gamemaster), who can suggest
likely outcomes.
Runes, like all magic, are elusive and fickle and may
not work the same way twice.
Saxon Spellbook
Here are some common Saxon magical effects. Some of
them are preceded by a Rune Magic sentence and its
(parenthesized) Read (Runes) modifier, but these can also
be cast by Talented magicians, using the runes for color or
extra Life Force.
Bless
Sword Sharpener: 30
“Tir makes the sword bite harder” (-3). For each 30
points invested in the magic, the weapon does +1 damage.
120 Life points can imbue the item with +4 or +ld6
(caster’s choice).
Shield Strengthener: 30
“Ur armors the shield” (-2). For every 30 points invested
in the item, the shield will resist an additional 1 point of
damage.
Guide the Arrow: 60
“Yr guide my aim” (-2). Adds +2 to the user’s appropriate
Bow or Thrown Weapon skill. Placed on a single
arrow, javelin, or other missile weapon.