Outward rune magic is a form of rune magic that is focused on creating effects and influencing the external world. Unlike inward rune magic, which is more centered on personal growth and internal transformation, outward rune magic is concerned with utilizing the power of runes to manifest desired outcomes and shape the external reality. Rune magic has been practiced for centuries by various cultures, with origins believed to be rooted in ancient Germanic and Norse traditions. The runic alphabet, known as the Elder Futhark, is a system of symbols and sounds that each carry a unique energetic vibration. These symbols can be combined and inscribed to form runic spells or sigils, which are imbued with intent and used in outward rune magic rituals. The practice of outward rune magic involves harnessing the energy of specific runes for specific purposes.

Outward rune magic

Starting at 3rd level when you choose this archetype, you learn the essence of runic magic and its four runes.

At 3rd level you gain access to a Lexicon. A Lexicon is a book of magical secrets that allows you to wield the powers of runic magic. You must be holding an open Lexicon to cast runes. Casting a rune requires expending a bonus action or an action to cast two runes. Casting runes also requires expending one Mana per rune cast. A cast rune will stay in effect until the end of your next turn or until another rune is cast that completes a runic combination.

You have a reserve of Mana equal to two times your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). You regain all expended Mana at the end of a short or long rest.

You have a Runic Magic DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1).

Runic Combinations

Runes in of themselves do not have much power, in fact a single rune is useless. However, when specific runes are cast in certain orders the effects can be quite powerful. Starting at 3rd level you gain the ability to perform runic combinations.

Runic Protection - Dez + Egoth: For the next minute, all damage you take is reduced by your proficiency bonus + half your Intelligence modifier (rounded up, minimum of 1) as tiny glowing runes float around your body in a protective aura.
Runic Blade - Shim + Egoth: A purple spectral blade of pure runic magic appears in your hands. This blade is a melee weapon that has the finesse and light properties and deals 2d4 force damage on a hit. The blade vanishes after 10 minutes or if it leaves your grasp. You may only have one blade summoned at a time. The blade gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls at 5th level that increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 17th level.
Runic Lantern - Fal + Dez: A fist-sized ball of blue light appears 1 foot above your head and floats there, following you, for 1 hour. The lantern sheds bright blue light in a range of 30ft. and dim light for an additional 30ft.
Runic Trap - Shim + Fal: A red glowing X 5ft. across appears below your feet then fades from view. When you form this runic combination you may declare any number of creatures that will not set off the trap. A creature sets off the trap when they come into contact with it. A creature may notice the trap if they make an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your Runic Magic DC. When a trap is set off all creatures within 10ft. of it must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Runic Magic DC taking 5d6 force damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful save. The trap disappears after 8 hours.

Runic Scribe

At 7th level, your extensive time spent reading runes has changed you. You gain the ability to read and write, but not speak, two languages of your choice as studying Runic Magic has given you an innate understanding of linguistics. You also gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, or if you already have proficiency then you may add your proficiency bonus twice to Arcana skill checks.

Arcane Syntax

Starting at 10th level you gain access to more advanced runic combinations. These combinations build off of and require a prior basic combination.

Runic Heal - Runic Protection + Egoth + Dez: Upon completing this runic combination your Runic Protection aura ends as the magic is absorbed into you to heal your wounds. You regain hit points equal to your Fighter level.
Great Runic Blade - Runic Blade + Shim + Egoth: Upon completing this runic combination your Runic Blade expands as you draw more power into it. Your blade loses the light property and gains the two-handed property. The damage dealt by it increases to 4d4 force damage. A Great Runic Blade also functions as a Lexicon as its increased strength allows you to channel Runic Magic through it.
Runic Lightning - Runic Lantern + Fal + Shim: Your Runic Lantern crackles with electrical energy as a ball of lightning shoots from it. Choose a point within 90ft. of you that has an uninterrupted flight path from your lantern. All creatures within 15ft. of that point must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Runic Magic DC as lightning erupts in an explosion, creatures take 7d6 lightning damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful save.
Runic Detonation - Runic Trap + Shim + Shim: Completing this combination causes your Runic Trap to detonate early. The extra magic that is used to detonate the trap also increases its destructive capabilities, the explosive radius of your trap doubles and the damage done increases to 8d6 force damage.

Runic Specialization

At 15th level you have become a fully realized Rune Sage and have discovered a way to enhance your Runic Magic. Choose one of the options below:

Internalized Lexicon: You have discovered the means with which to cast runes without needing to wield your Lexicon. You must still have your Lexicon on your person in able to channel your Runic Magic but do not need to wield it in one of your hands. In addition, you may now cast up to two runes as a bonus action and up to four runes as an action as you have fully incorporated the magic of your Lexicon into your body and do not need to refer to it during casting anymore.

Runic Prefix: You have learned how to enhance the efficacy of your Runic Magic.

Runic Protection: Your Runic Protection aura increases so that you use your entire Intelligence modifier in calculating your damage reduction.
Runic Blade and Great Runic Blade: Your Runic Blade now sheds bright light for 5ft. and dim light for an additional 5ft as electricity arcs along its surface. Also, your blade deals an additional 1 lightning damage on hit.
Runic Lantern: Your Runic Lantern lasts for an additional hour before expiring and sheds 5ft. of extra light in both categories.
Runic Trap and Runic Detonation: Creatures that fail the Dexterity saving throw against your Runic Trap are now considered under the effects of a Faerie Fire spell. This effect lasts for one minute and does not require concentration.
Runic Heal: You now also regain hit points equal to your proficiency bonus at the end of your next two turns.
Runic Lightning: Your Runic Lightning now has lasting effects to those that are hit by it. A creature that fails its Dexterity saving throw against the effects of your Runic Lightning has its movement speed reduced to half until the end of its next turn as the electricity violently contracts their muscles.

Runic Mastery

At 18th level your Runic Magic has reached its height. Select two of the Runes available to you, casting these Runes no longer requires Mana.

Credit where credit is due

All content in this homebrew document is copied from and/or inspired by the video game Outward developed by Nine Dots Studio and published by Deep Silver. The artwork for the four runes comes from The Outward Wiki and is owned by Nine Dots Studio. I am not attempting to state or imply that I own any of the intellectual property referenced in the creation of this document or in the document itself. I just made this for fun because I think the game is really cool.

Changelog

4/15/19 - Clarified Runic Blade (thanks to KingKleb).
4/17/19 - Changed Great Runic Blade to act like a Lexicon. General grammar and clarification changes.
4/21/19 - Removed immediate +1 bonus to Runic Blade and changed the scaling of it (thanks to Thysten).
5/24/21 - Changed Runic Mastery, makes more sense and is a better capstone now.

Rune Magic

Hold back the rain, command the earth, and calm the seas! This mod adds powerful magic runes that can be cast or engraved on standing stones for a variety of unique non-combat effects.

By hyleanlegend

Last updated	2 months ago
Total downloads	71126
Total rating	24
Categories	Mods Utility Server-side Client-side Hildir's Request Update Mistlands Update
Dependency string	hyleanlegend-Rune_Magic-1.1.26
Dependants	217 other packages depend on this package

README

Rune Magic

Rune Magic adds a variety of unique non-combat spells and effects, balanced around collecting runic energy from the Runestones scattered across the map. It also includes an optional (but recommended!) rune discovery mechanic to align with standard game progression.

Features

22 different runes to cast or engrave on standing stones
Subtle and powerful visual effects
Progression system that rewards exploration
Works seamlessly with pre-existing worlds
Usable out of the box, but configuration allows tweaking balance as desired
Server authoritative configuration, so players can't cheat by changing their local config

The practice of outward rune magic involves harnessing the energy of specific runes for specific purposes. Each rune possesses its own set of properties and associations, making it suitable for particular intentions. For example, the rune Algiz represents protection and defense, while Fehu symbolizes abundance and wealth.

Getting Started

Crafting a Rune Focus

The rune focus is how you extract and shape runic energy, so the first thing you'll want to do is craft one. To do this, you'll need a workbench of level 2 or higher, along with a few stones and some rubies.

Extracting Runic Energy

Next, you'll need to find a Runestone out in the world. Put your rune focus in the top row of your inventory, then press the key associated with that slot to use the rune focus on the Runestone and extract its energy. The amount of runic energy stored in your focus is indicated by its durability.

Unlocking Runes

Each Runestone has a particular rune associated with it, which you can unlock by extracting runic energy from it. However, which runes a Runestone has the potential to unlock depends on its biome. As you progress to more dangerous areas, you'll be able to unlock more useful and interesting effects.

Using Runes

The rune focus behaves similarly to the hammer, with a table of possible effects and a single one you can select at any given time. With it equipped, right click to see all of the runes you currently have unlocked.
Runes in the Casting/Creation tabs are instantanous effects. Click on a valid location (the ground or breakable rock, depending on the rune), and the effect will happen. Some of these can also be resized, by scrolling the mouse wheel. The cost to cast is shown at the bottom of the screen, where the required resources would normally display.
Runes in the Augments tab are passive effects. So long as you have one of them selected, and the rune focus equipped, its effect will be active. Rather than a one-time cost, these will continuously drain runic energy while active.
Runes in the Engraving tab are persistent effects. They can be placed on certain rock formations (waystones and menhirs) or on the constructible standing stone (found in the Misc tab of the hammer's build menu). They have a one-time cost to place, and can be removed (middle click with the rune focus) to refund their cost. Note that if the structure they're placed on is destroyed, they'll disappear without refunding their cost.

Detailed Rune Descriptions

Spoiler

Casting/Creation (instant effects)

Restoration Rune: This will revert any changes to the terrain in the affected area, leaving it in its original state. This includes elevation changes (e.g. from mining) and cultivation/paving. It won't move anything placed on the terrain, so be careful if you raised the ground and then built on it.
Foundation Rune: This will flatten the terrain in the affected area. The final height is the ground height at the point clicked (by default), but this can be changed to use the ground height under the player using the mod config.
Shattering Rune: This allows players to precisely break pieces of stone. Mouse over breakable stone, and it'll highlight which chunk will be broken on-click.
Blasting Rune: When placed, this will destroy stone in a small radius after a short delay, also dealing a small amount of damage to anyone standing too close. It can only be placed on breakable stone.
Rune of the Stonecaller (various): These summon rock formations from the ground, varying from small boulders to the towering stone pillars of the plains. Be careful before casting these, since once summoned the boulders are ordinary stone and will have to be mined away the old fashioned way if you want to remove them.

Augments (passive effects)

Rune of Alertness: While selected (and the rune focus is equipped), you'll be able to detect nearby enemies and their direction/distance, indicated by the size/angle of the phantom heads floating around you. Any alerted enemies will have a glowing yellow indicator above their heads, which turns orange if they aggro another player, and red if they're aggroed on you.
Rune of Ocean Currents: While selected and controlling a ship, this will apply a small force in the direction you're looking. Wind is still the major factor in boat speed, but this makes maneuvering in tight spaces much easier.
Rune of Frozen Footfalls: While selected and standing near water, icebergs will form beneath your feet, allowing you to walk on the surface of the water. This only costs runic energy if you're actually close enough to water to cause the icebergs to form.
Rune of Decumberance: While selected (and the rune focus is equipped), this prevents you from being encumbered. However, the cost to maintain the effect scales with the amount you're carrying above your normal maximum.

Engraving (persistent effects)

Canopy Rune: When placed on an appropriate surface (a summoned waystone or menhir, or a constructed standing stone), this will shield the nearby area from the weather, preventing rain from getting things wet or causing water damage. However, this does not block wind, so while rain won't put out fires, the wind still might.
Rune of Dry Land: When placed on an appropriate surface, this will lower the water level in an area around it.
Rune of Calm Waters: When placed on an appropriate surface, water in the nearby vicinity will be calm regardless of how strong the wind is blowing. The rune will glow brighter the more wave activity it's compensating for.
Rune of Repair: When placed on an appropriate surface, nearby buildings and ships will very slowly regenerate. While nothing in the area is damaged, it will remain quiescent.

By understanding the meanings and characteristics of different runes, practitioners of outward rune magic can choose the appropriate runes to invoke and channel their desired outcomes. To perform outward rune magic, practitioners can create runic talismans or amulets by inscribing the relevant runes onto stones, wood, or metal. These objects then act as conduits for the runic energy and are used in rituals, ceremonies, or spellwork. The runes can also be drawn or carved onto surfaces, or even visualized in the mind during meditation or visualization exercises. The power of outward rune magic lies in its ability to align the intentions and desires of the practitioner with the natural forces and energies of the universe. By working with runes, practitioners tap into an ancient system of symbols that have a deep connection to the natural world and the collective consciousness. In essence, outward rune magic serves as a means for individuals to co-create their reality and manifest their desires by harnessing the power of these ancient symbols. Like any form of magic or energetic work, outward rune magic requires intention, focus, and dedication. It is a practice that requires understanding and respect for the runes and their origins, as well as a willingness to work with the forces of the universe in a responsible and ethical manner. Some practitioners may choose to incorporate other elements, such as herbs, crystals, or rituals, into their rune magic practices to enhance the potency of their intentions. In conclusion, outward rune magic is a powerful practice that allows individuals to tap into the energy of ancient symbols and co-create their reality. By harnessing the power of runes, practitioners can manifest desired outcomes, influence external circumstances, and shape their lives according to their intentions. It is a practice rooted in ancient traditions and beliefs, yet continues to be a relevant and potent form of magic in the modern world..

Reviews for "The Role of Outward Rune Magic in Traditional Shamanic Practices"

1. Jane - 2/5 stars - I was really excited to try out the rune magic in "Outward", but I was ultimately left disappointed. The mechanics were confusing and poorly explained, making it difficult for me to really understand how to use the runes effectively. Additionally, it felt like the rune magic was too weak compared to other magic systems in the game, and it didn't feel satisfying to use. Overall, I found it to be a frustrating and underwhelming aspect of the game that didn't live up to its potential.

2. Mark - 1/5 stars - I found the rune magic in "Outward" to be incredibly useless and ineffective. The spells were weak, and it was difficult to even hit enemies with them, let alone do any significant damage. The cooldown times for the spells were also way too long, making it impractical to rely on rune magic in combat. In the end, I gave up on using rune magic altogether and stuck with other magical abilities that were far more effective. It's a shame that such a potentially interesting aspect of the game turned out to be so lackluster.

3. Sarah - 2/5 stars - I struggled to enjoy the rune magic in "Outward". The limited number of available runes made it feel very repetitive and limited in terms of strategy and variety. Additionally, the rune magic didn't seem to have as much impact on gameplay as I had hoped. It felt like a missed opportunity to incorporate rune magic in a more dynamic and engaging way. Overall, I found it to be a forgettable aspect of the game that I didn't feel compelled to invest much time in.