Runic Enhancement (5e Variant Rule)

Runic Enhancement

Runic Enhancement is an optional variant rule in The Hollowed Lands current campaign setting but is freely welcomed to be used in any setting.

Runic inscription is an artform practiced by those familiar in the art of rune crafting and inscription that do not pursue a life of fighting. They usually have ties to giant or goliath culture and often practice their craft in solitude. Runic inscriptions are carefully carved into weapons, armors and shields that slowly gather the small amounts raw weave floating loosely in the environment until it fills up like a magical battery. Once fully charged, the rune glows vibrantly, letting you know that it is ready for use. For most runes, unless specified otherwise can be activated by a verbal command. Some experienced users mix and match weaker runes to quickly change their tactics mid battle. You can call upon three runes maximum per round, and only as long as you do not speak anything else in that round, as each two seconds is a verbal component to activating each rune. In the case that a person is silenced or cannot speak, there is also a somatic component that can be used but takes almost six seconds to perform, only allowing one activation of a rune per round. You are not able to use different runes of the same type, for instance, three separate lesser runes of Element on a weapon on the same attack regardless of if they are the same element or not.

Runic Enhancement

A regular weapon can hold up to one runic slot. To go beyond this limit, a weapon, armor or shield would need to be Master-Worked referenced in this variant rule. Master-Worked Items (5e Variant Rule)

Runic Slots Cap for master-worked status of item:

Un-upgraded Weapon, Armor and Shield: 1 Lesser Master-Worked Weapon, Armor and Shield: 4 Master-Worked Weapon, Armor and Shield: 8 Greater Master-Worked Weapon, Armor and Shield: 16 Legendary Material Weapon, Armor and Shield: 32

Runic Cost per tier and slot cost

Common- ~100 Gold, 1 Slot Uncommon- ~200 Gold, 4 Slots Rare- ~1000 Gold, 8 Slots Very Rare- ~10000, 16 Slots Legendary- ~100000, 32 Slots

Weapon Runes

Common Rune of Element: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 1 Slot- adds 1d4 points of damage of type to one attack, resets every dawn Uncommon Rune of Element: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 4 Slots- adds 2d4 point of damage of type to one attack, resets every dawn Rare Rune of Element: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 8 Slots- adds 4d4 point of damage of type to one attack, resets every dawn Very Rare Rune of Element: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 16 Slots- adds 8d4 point of damage of type to one attack, resets every dawn Legendary Rune of Element: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 32 Slots- adds 16d4 point of damage of type to one attack, resets every dawn

Common Rune of Accuracy 1 Slots- adds +2 to one attack, resets at dawn Uncommon Rune of Accuracy 4 Slots- adds +4 to one attack, resets at dawn Rare Rune of Accuracy 8 Slots- adds +8 to one attack, resets at dawn Very Rare Rune of Accuracy 16 Slots- adds +16 to one attack, resets at dawn Legendary Rune of Accuracy 32 Slots- adds +32 to one attack, resets at dawn

Armor Runes

Common Runes of Vitality 1 slot- heals 1d4 points of hp Uncommon Rune of Vitality 4 slots- heals 2d4 points of hp Rare Rune of Vitality 8 slots- heals 4d4 points of hp Very Rare Rune of Vitality 16 slots- heals 8d4 points of hp Legendary Rune of Vitality 32 slots- heals 16d4 points of hp

Common Rune of Elemental Resistance: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 1 Slot- gain resistance to elemental damage of rune type for one attack, resets at dawn Uncommon Rune of Elemental Resistance: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 4 Slots- gain resistance to elemental damage of rune type for four attacks, resets at dawn Rare Rune of Elemental Resistance: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 8 Slots- gain resistance to elemental damage of rune type for eight attacks, resets at dawn Very Rare Rune of Elemental Resistance: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 16 Slots- gain resistance to elemental damage of rune type indefinitely. Legendary Rune of Elemental Resistance: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Acid, Poison, Necrotic, Radiant, etc 32 Slots- gain immunity to elemental damage of rune type for one hour, otherwise, resistance indefinitely.

Shield Runes

Common rune of Protection 1 slot- use reaction to add 1d4 to AC until start of next turn, resets at dawn Uncommon rune of Protection 4 slots- use reaction to add 2d4 to AC until start of next turn, resets at dawn Rare rune of Protection 8 slots- use reaction to add 3d4 to AC until start of next turn, resets at dawn Very Rare rune of Protection 16 slots- use reaction to add 4d4 to AC until start of next turn, resets at dawn Rare rune of Protection 32 slots- use reaction to add 5d4 to AC until start of next turn, resets at dawn

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