secrets of the anvil - wfrp 3rd ed

8/18/2019 Secrets of the Anvil - wfrp 3rd ed

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Secrets of the Anvil

Extended rules for Runesmithing

A word on the aim and purpose of this work

The rules for crafting runic items are nicely covered inBook of Grudges: a guide to Dwarfs & the EverlastingRealm chapter six . What I intended to do here is totranslate to the WFRPG 3rd edition the runesappearing in WFRPG 1st and 2nd editions, and thoseof the three different Dwarf Army books editions of WFB. Particularly, I covered the runes named in page38 of the Book of Grudges , plus I added a few moreappearing in WFRPG 1sr edition.

I rather choose an approach where fidelity intranslation is favoured instead of playability. Thismeans that some runes, especially master runes, can bevery powerful and not suitable for player characters;but indeed, I think that this is how it must be. It isnot because WFRPG is a low fantasy RPG that GhalMaraz, a runic hammer, does not exist. I think it isthe Game Master’s job to bring balance to game (ifneeded) through other mechanisms than just limitingthe power of runes, magic items, spells etc... If a

certain spell, rune or item is too powerful, I wouldrather do not make it available for PC’s, than nerf itto suit PC’s. That is of course, a matter of taste.

How the new rune card looks like

The anatomy of the rune cards I created is very similarto the official ones.

Title: The name of the rune.

Runic Symbol: The shape of the rune as it appearson the runic item.

Effect: Details the special rules and effects of therune in play.

Trait: Either weapon, armour , talisman, or talisman /protection rune in play. To account for the wearinglimitation of runes (see The Rule of Form In-Game inpg. 39 of the Book of Grudges ), talisman /protectionrunes count as talismanic runes. Additionally,

talisman /protection runes, in order to be able to use

them must be inscribed on an object capable of

drawing some attention. Examples might be a crown,a battle standard, a ceremonial staff...

Flavour Text: A brief description of the role of theSet Icon. Each card is marked with a set icon toquickly identify which product the card is from.

Rune Rank: This determines the rank of the rune.Much like to the rank of action cards, this is alimitation to the rank the player character needs tohave in order to be able to learn a particular rune.

Runes can be of rank 1 (R1), 2 (R2), 3 (R3), orMaster Runes (MR).

Effect Title Trait

Runic Symbol Flavour text Rank

Master runes, can only be inscribed by a MasterRunesmith or a Runelord (see career card). While aMaster Runesmith can inscribe items with one masterrune or with up to three runes; only Runelords cancombine runes and a master runes in a single item,

although they still must restrict to the Rule of Three

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(see The Rule of Three In-Game in pg. 39 of the Bookof Grudges ), and the rule of Jealous Runes (see JealousRunes in pg. 41 of the Book of Grudges ).

Obtaining a Master Rune

The Book of Grudges already provides an idea of howdifficult and important on the life of the Runesmith is

to learn a Master Rune. I think is up to each GM todecide the exact degree.

In the case of that a PC has access to a Master Rune,he can learn it by using experience points. A masterrune costs, though, 2 talent advances instead of one. Ifacquired as non-career advances, master runes cost 4advances to learn.

Inscribing a Master Rune

The Book of Grudges already cover the rules on howto inscribe an item with runes. The rules theredescribe how to create runic magic items with one,two or three runes.

A Master Runesmith can inscribe items with a singleMaster Rune. Only to obtain the required materialscan be a challenge by itself, and each GM can do it as

Gromril Armour

Following the idea of WFRPG 2 nd edition,the Gromril armour is considered a runic item with the rune of Stone and the rune of Health. This also implies it is a superior quality item.

relevant as for the party as he desires . If one preferssimplicity, the guidelines appearing in the Book ofGrudges for the time and gold costs can be applied.The materials to inscribe a single Master Rune, shouldnot cost less than 10g, while the time a runesmithmust spend in privacy to strike it should not be lessthan a week of uninterrupted work.

Additionally, runesmiths are so jealous of theirknowledge of master runes that no runesmith will everinscribe a master rune in an item he has not createdhimself.

A Runelord, the pinnacle of runecrafting, is the onlycharacter capable of striking a combination of runesand master runes in a single item. The process isextremely challenging and although the runes areknown by the runesmith, the process is never sure.Each time a runelord crafts a runic item with acombination of runes and master rune he has toexpend 1 experience point do so. Additionally, themaster rune is always the first rune to be stroke intothe item. The second rune can be then a normal rune which can be inscribed following the guidelines of theBook of Grudges; the materials will cost 2g and theamount of time needed for inscription will be 2 days. A third rune can be inscribed, following the samerules (10g and 3 days).

The

rd

edition official runes

To avoid copyright problems I have not included thecards of the official runes released with thesupplement Black Fire Pass. According to this set ofrules their ranks are as follow:Weapon Runes

Rune of Cleaving: Rank 2Rune of Fury: Rank 1Rune of Might: Rank 2Rune of Striking: Rank 1

Armour Runes

Rune of Stone: Rank 1Rune of Iron: Rank 2Rune of Fortitude: Rank 2Rune of Shielding: Rank 2

Talisman Runes

Rune of Luck: Rank 1Rune of Warding: Rank 1Rune of Guarding: Rank 1

Rune of Courage: Rank 1

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Bane runes

There are two different types of runes of Bane, MinorBane and Lesser Bane. The runesmith must only learneach rune once. Upon inscribing the rune into a weapon, the runesmith must decide against whichgroup of creatures it will be effective e.g. monstrous,demons, humanoids, beast...

Contrary, corresponding master runes, known asSlaying runes, are so complex and different, that theymust be learned separately. A few examples have beenincluded (Dragon Slaying, Demon Slaying andBanishment master runes).

Armour runes

Some armour runes boost the defence or the soak of

an armour. Following the 2nd edition of the game, it isadvisable not to allow to increase the soak of acharacter above 7 or 8 (taking into account the shield)or his defence above 5 or 6 (included shield). If you want to create epic items skip this rule, but make sureyou also use the High Lethality optional rule presentedin the Game Master’s Toolkit.

The Master Runesmith and Runelord careers

I have designed these careers having in mind theDwarf Runesmiths of the first Dwarf Army book of WFB. If they do not suit you, just change the primarycharacteristic advancement scheme, read Intelligence where it states Strength and Willpower where it statesToughness.

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New and Old Dwarf Careers

The Ironbreaker path

For the sake of game balance, I suggest theIronbreaker and the Ironbeard career abilities to beswapped.

The Slayer path

Due to the lack of an elite career I introduced theDaemon Slayer career for those lucky enough tosurvive so long and able to slay a Dragon!. While thecareer ability may look a bit bland or unsavoury, bearin mind that having a further career in the slayer pathmeans also an increase benefit of the Troll Slayer andDragon Slayer career abilities.

The Dwarf Champion and the Longbeard

These are two similar but excluding careers. Whileboth represent the pinnacle of Dwarf warriors, theChampion represents an elite fighter who stands byhis one, while the Longbeard is a leader of Dwarfs anda Dwarf which strong bounds and respect for the Ancestors.

The Dwarf Lord and the Dwarf Prince

These two careers have been introduced to give a bitof continuity to the Thane career. Much in the sameline as the Elf careers with the noble trait I introduced

in The Book of the Asur . They give the opportunity toexpand the experience of playing the role of a DwarfNoble in the foreign lands of men.

Two give credit of the more warrior like Dwarfculture, where nobles are typically also the best warriors, Dwarf Lord and Prince career abilities arethose of the Human Noble Lord and Magistrate justtransferred to the combat environment. Note that forparties and GMs running a campaign heavily combatoriented, these abilities are very powerful. Just in the

same way as those of the Human (and elf) Noble Lordand the Magistrate are very powerful career abilities ina campaign where the stress sits in social interactionand investigation rather than on combat.

secrets of the anvil - wfrp 3rd ed

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