Runic Settlements

[Aprewett]

Do Runes impart some form of innate power in the setting? So does a tattoo or carving help in any way? 
Very green to the setting so sorry if I missed something, juggling a few balls to get a handle on the setting.

But if Runes do more than aesthetic, could you shape your settlement in a Runic shape? For an example a Rune of healing and health. Or defence.

Reading between the line and maps it appears like there is no benefit. But was just wondering.

[Joerg]

Things decorated with appropriate runes or built in such shapes will giveyou a circumstantial bonus on ritual rolls or spell-casting rolls (mainly sorcery, some rune magic). Sorcerers take any advatage they can since their spells are separately learned skills. Rune masters wear the runes of their cults by devotion and don't usually gain any additional benefits, but then they usually have above average scores in their cults' runes anyway.

Typically the runes need to get invoked to give these benefits. Enhancing a skill by ritual covers this, as do augments using runic inspiration.

[soltakss]

8 hours ago, Aprewett said:

But if Runes do more than aesthetic, could you shape your settlement in a Runic shape? For an example a Rune of healing and health. Or defence.

Sure. Dara Happan cities are shaped in the Fire Rune and some Lunar cities take the shape of the Moon Rune, I think but could be wrong. Orlanth temples might be in the form of an Air Rune. Ernaldan temples are in the shape of an Earth Rune. Lhankor Mhy Temples are in the shape of a Truth Rune. Humakt Temples are in the shape of a Death Rune.

8 hours ago, Aprewett said:

Reading between the line and maps it appears like there is no benefit. But was just wondering.

Being in the shape of a Rune might add +10 to use of that Rune. I am not sure if that is official but it makes sense.

There was a short story, maybe by a SciFi author (Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, someone like that perhaps) where two opposing towns formed their walls into different shapes to combat the shape of the other town, like Feng Shui gone mad, hopefully someone can point me to the story in question. The same principles might apply to Runic Settlements.

[French Desperate WindChild]

the physical rune ( a paint, a tatoo, a stone, a wood) has no property in my opinion.

the main reason you find this physical rune is more a claim from those who wear (or build) the rune that they follow the way of this rune (or a deity who has this rune)

for me building a temple of Orlanth, for example, with the air rune gives you no benefit (during ceremony, etc..) because an Orlanth Temple should have this rune. But if you build your temple without this rune that should give you some penalty..

Same for a rune lord, rune priest, etc... If you don't wear the symbols (runes) of your god, that may question their devotion and, why not, reduce it if the character don't show them  the most of the time (of course some exception for hidden cults, lambril, chaos, etc...)

the real power of the rune is what you have in you -the stats- not what you wear/where you worship. And this power has two forms

1) capacity to augment some skills

2) capacity to cast rune spell / ask your god to cast rune spell.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 09:57 PM by French Desperate WindChild