Runeweaver

Runeweavers are perhaps the most exotic practitioners of the Spiritual arts. They believe that by spending time in meditation and reflection the Soul can attune itself to the Spirit, becoming a harmonious and potentially deadly force. That force is then channeled through the body by means of a network of runic tattoos inscribed on their skin.

By activating their tattoos and tracing runes with their fingers, wands, knives, or even the fluid movements of their entire body, they can weave together complex Spiritual powers. As they grow in power they use the canvas of their skin to record an ever-increasing number of tattoos. Thus it becomes very easy to identify the most powerful Runeweavers from among their peers.

This method of spell casting is more akin to martial arts than the academic approach of most other Spirit users. Runeweavers do not spend their time in dusty libraries studying ancient tomes, instead preferring intense sessions of martial training followed by deep meditation. Not only does this make them extremely focused and adept at hand-to-hand combat, it also means they can cast spells that would normally take academics years to master simply by channeling the harmony of Body, Soul, and Spirit.

Class Overview

Typical Roles: Support/Utility, Melee Damage, Ranged Damage
Damage Types: Physical, Spirit (Arcane, Elemental, Natural)
Class Mechanic: Spirit and Focus

Default Stats: During Character Creation you may choose to use the default stat line shown below, before racial modifiers. This can be instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results.

During Character Creation you may choose to use the Default Stat Line, before racial modifiers, instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results

Proficiencies

Natural Armor Proficiency: Cloth
Trainable Armor Proficiency: None
Natural Weapon Proficiency: None
Trainable Weapon Proficiency: Knives, Staves, Wands

See Equipment section for details. When using a weapon that your class is not proficient with, see Combat Penalties. There is no level or title prerequisite to train in a new proficiency, however you must receive the appropriate Training.

Class Skills

Class Passive Skill: Arcane, Elemental, or Natural Focus (choose one Domain)
Class Secondary Skill: Runecraft, Martial Arts, or Performer (choose one)

Primary Skills

Spirit

Runic Tattoos

Runeweavers have their own unique system for wielding the spiritual powers of magic, known as Runic Tattoos. For these mysterious practitioners of the spiritual arts, each new power that is learned is first recorded on the canvas of their skin, in the form of a spiritually charged Runic Tattoo. Each Runic Tattoo corresponds to a single Spirit Power. On its own a Runic Tattoo has no power, but when it is connected with a Root Tattoo, representing one the many Schools of Magic, the runic tattoos can be activated to cast the power that it represents. 

To learn new powers Runeweavers must physically tattoo them on their skin. Once marked upon their flesh the Runic Tattoo is permanent and can never be modified or replaced. This means the Runeweaver will forever have access to that power. In some rare cases a Runic Tattoo can be severed or shattered, preventing it from being used, but still counting towards the total allowable allotment of tattoos. When adding new Runic Tattoos, there must be an example or template to follow, either from a text, scroll or the canvas of another Runeweaver’s skin. They must also use a special Enchanted Ink, created by combining normal tattooing inks with enchanting components. This can be purchased or created by the Runeweavers or their mentor with the Enchanting Secondary Skill. Higher tier Tattoos require more Ink, where the amount of Ink required is equal to 1 dose per Tier of the power. 

Even with the correct materials and an example to follow, the tattooing process is far from simple and there is a chance it will not take, with the ink either evaporating right off the skin or sinking into it and disappearing. This failure rate is equal to 10% per Tier of the power.

• Tier1 = 10% failure
• Tier2 = 20% failure
• Tier3 = 30% failure
• Tier4 = 40% failure
• Tier5 = 50% failure
• Tier6 = 60% failure
• Tier7 = 70% failure

If a elder or mentor Runeweaver (i.e. a Spirit Teacher possessing the tattoos in question) does the tattooing, then the failure rate is cut in half. Either way, if failing a tattooing attempt the ink is lost and the Runeweaver does not gain the new power. After which, the Runeweaver must wait 1 week for the skin to heal before trying again. In very rare cases, and when dealing with more complex runic tattoos, there can be unforeseen and unusual side effects.

Some cultures forgo the traditional tattooing process and instead carve or brand the runes into their flesh. This removes the ink requirements however failure results in a permanent and useless scar.

Root Tattoos

There are no Schools of Magic that are restricted for Runeweavers and in some ways their unique casting methods allow them to circumvent the Laws of Magic. However before a Runeweaver can access a particular School of Magic they must possess a Root Tattoo for that School. This is typically a larger and more elaborate tattoo, which all subsequent powers are recorded under, arranged alongside the Root Tattoo as Runic Tattoos.

Root Tattoos count towards the total allowable allotment of Tattoos per level but cannot fail and cost 3 doses of ink (1 bottle).

Tiers awarded through the Runeweaver Title System of Rites and are independent of Schools of Magic. As they gain Tiers, some Runeweavers may add on to their Root Tattoos to represent their relative knowledge and power level in that School. This is purely cosmetic however, and does not effect the total allowable allotment of tattoos.

Runeweavers can use any power that is tattooed on their skin up to the highest Tier allowable for their current title, provided they are currently attuned to the School of Magic.

Spiritual Attunement

The mystical runic tattoos of the Runeweavers have set them apart from all other systems of retaining spirit powers. Because any new power that they learn is physically tattooed onto their skin, it becomes a part of them. Runeweavers have no need to memorize powers in the traditional sense, and as such they also have no need for Spirit Books. For a Runeweaver, their skin is quite literally a canvas upon which their powers are recorded. Successfully adding a new tattoo to learn a new power does not over-write any previous powers, as they are not stored in memory, nor can a tattoo be removed in the conventional sense.

However this does not necessarily mean that Runeweavers can use all of the powers etched on their skin in tattoo form at all times. The runic tattoos representing each power available to the Runeweaver are organized under a Root Tattoo representing a specific School of Magic, and this Root Tattoo must be activated in order for the Runeweavers to use the powers associated with it. This activation is known as Spiritual Attunement (which causes the activated tattoos to glow the appropriate color). Runeweavers can only be attuned to a single school of magic at any time, meaning the caster can only use powers from that school of magic, regardless of any root tattoos from other schools of magic. Being attuned to a specific school of magic allows access to all runic tattoos present on the Runeweavers skin, regardless of the Tier. To switch which school of magic they are attuned to, Runeweavers can use a special Tier 0 power called Spiritual Attunement, which costs an instant and a small amount of Spirit. When Runeweavers meditate to gain back Focus (which costs one round in combat or a 1/2 rest outside of combat) they may activate Spiritual Attunement at the same time, see the section on ‘Focus‘ for details of meditation.

Example: A Tier4 Runeweaver has Root Tattoos for Air Magic and Dark Magic. She was meditating on her Dark magic powers the previous night, and finds herself in combat against several Earth Elementals the next day. She begins the battle attuned to Dark magic, meaning she can use any Dark Magic Runic Tattoos on her body, up to Tier4. After a couple rounds of combat she realizes that her Air magic would be more beneficial against these Earth Elementals. Before she can access them however, she must use an instant to cast Spiritual Attunement, effectively switching off her Dark magic, and activating her Air powers up to Tier 4.

Runeweaving

Runeweaver casting methods require the use of both a verbal/vocalized component and a physical component (see Methods of Casting). This method of casting is called Runeweaving, and engages both the voice and body to weave runes of power. First the Runeweaver must construct or trace runes in the air or on a surface of some kind. These runes correspond to the runic tattoos etched on their bodies. The exact method varies by culture, but typically runes are traced using their fingers, hands, arms, legs, feet, or sometimes even their whole body, though other cultures may use inanimate instruments such as wands or ceremonial weapons. Once the rune is traced, it remains visible to all, glowing with spirit energy in a color that matches the School of Magic it belongs to. However , the runes are not fully activated until a vocalized command is given, usually a short yell, shout, or sharp exhaling of breath, sometimes known as Kiai or Kihap. This activates the rune for the caster or sends it surging towards its intended target. A well practiced Runeweaver can effectively do these two components simultaneously therefore they do not take up separate portions of the casters turn.

Focus

A Runeweavers martial arts style is focused heavily upon unarmed combat, using the body as  physical and spiritual weapon. Formalized Runeweaver Colleges or Dojo’s are rare, and as such most Runeweavers are self taught, or study one-on-one under an mentor. Alternately, many Runeweavers hone their martial arts skills alongside other martial artists and can belong to any Dojo that will have them. Runeweavers follow the standard methods for Learning New Focus Skills.

The maximum number of skill points that can be allotted to each focus discipline are as follows:

• Fist: 30 skill points
• Kick: 30 skill points
• Armed: 5 skill points
• Ranged: unavailable
• Defense: 10 skill points

A unique attribute of Runeweavers is that when meditating to regain focus, they may simultaneously activate Spiritual Attunement

Level Ups

Runeweavers use the following chart for leveling up:

HP Dice (Slight): Small Race (1d6), Medium Race (1d8), Large Race (1d10)