Runes and Rune Words

Diablo II is a masterpiece. 

I'm not much for "gearporn," and in fact, I mostly hate that wretched term. That said, if one game got the idea of nigh-limitless equipment options right, it was Diablo II. The vanilla game was stacked with all sorts of axes, boots, wands, gems, helms, belts, and potions... but when the expansion, Lord of Destruction, was released along with some battle.net patches, the scope of the game's equipment list became truly staggering. I won't go into undue detail here, but one item type introduced in the expansion content is the focus of this post: runes.

In your game, highly-skilled blacksmiths could socket items which would otherwise break during the process, or rare and valuable standard loot could be discovered already socketed. If an item has a socket in it, you can fill the socket with gems of various qualities, such as sapphires, rubies, diamonds, and even fancy skulls. These provide specific bonuses which increase as the gem quality increases. But the other items you can insert into slots are runes, which come in varying rarities and all have some static bonus (such as extra damage or a resistance to an element etc), but the real magic is when you procure a specific type of item with a specific number of slots and insert into it a specific set of runes in a specific sequence. Thus, the rune word.

Oops, someone forgot they weren't playing on ladder. Sometimes you just need to shove things into swords.

Here's how the video game concept is translated to old school RPG format: there are twelve types of known runes split across three rarities, which can either be placed deliberately by a referee as treasure or rolled into typical loot tables. All runes are effectively priceless insofar as they are either quite amazing and could be potent barter items or simply determined by the referee as having tangible market value. That said, besides selling/trading/questing for runes, they are useless to player characters unless slotted into equipment. Well, I suppose you could hit someone on the head with one, or perhaps use it as a hammer. But you get the idea. The following attibutes apply when the runes are actually slotted into socketed gear:

Uncommon

01. Rask - All treasure rolls are +5 (on a typical d100 loot table).

02. Melj - All reaction rolls are +1 (on a typical 2d6 reaction table).

03. Kor - All morale rolls are +1 (on a typical 2d6 morale table).

04. Lesh - All level-up HP rolls are +2 (on a typical 1d4-1d12 hit die).

Rare

05. Phur - Gain +1d6 elemental damage of your choice on weapon strikes.

06. Het - Gain +1d6 elemental resistance of your choice when defending.

07. Var - Gain infravision up to 20'. If already present, gain normal vision in the dark up to 10'.
08. Ilm - Gain a single reroll of a single die once per day.

Very Rare

09. Qnos - Poison has no effect on you.

10. Biht - Cold has no effect on you.

11. Gol - Heat has no effect on you.

12. Auv - Curses have no effect on you.

Given the free barbarian shouts, it's more like Call to Bare Arms.

And now, some sample rune words. These should reflect all of the qualities granted by the standard runes inserted, as well as a suite of benefits unique to the combination. While it was very important in Diablo II, the specific order of rune insertion is less important in a pen & paper RPG.

Splendor
HetRaskKor

• Gain +1d6 elemental resistance of your choice when defending.
• All treasure rolls are +5 (on a typical d100 loot table).
• All morale rolls are +1 (on a typical 2d6 morale table).
• You glow with bright light up to a 15' radius.
• You recover 150% value of all treasure value (eg. 3 gold looted for every 2 gold found).

Alacrity
KorMeljKor

• All morale rolls are +2 (on a typical 2d6 morale table).
• All reaction rolls are +1 (on a typical 2d6 reaction table).
• You may attack twice when normally able to attack once only.
• You can run and jump twice your normal speed and distance.

Magus
IlmVarGol

• Gain a single reroll of a single die once per day.
• Gain infravision up to 20'. If already present, gain normal vision in the dark up to 10'.
• Heat has no effect on you.
• You can levitate 2' off of the ground at will.
• You understand all spoken languages.

Hunter
PhurPhurQnos

• Gain +2d6 elemental damage of your choice on weapon strikes.
• Poison has no effect on you.
• Your weapons do not degrade, and your ammunition never runs out.
• Your chance to surprise NPCs increases by 50% (on a typical X-in-6 chance).

Undying
VarBihtAuvLesh

• Gain infravision up to 20'. If already present, gain normal vision in the dark up to 10'.
• Cold has no effect on you.
• Curses have no effect on you.
• All level-up HP rolls are +2 (on a typical 1d4-1d12 hit die).
• Flesh you touch cannot decompose or become corrupted.
• You do not age.

Obviously, this is brain fuel. Diablo II has thirty-four unique runes, and nearly 100 different rune words. Of course, that's a video game and has video game sensibilities, but the sky is the limit when it comes to enhancing and adapting this concept for use at your table. Perhaps all of the legendary artifacts in your world are rune words? Or runes themselves? Maybe you fuse this idea with more traditional ideas of, say, dwarven rune magic or shamanic totems and rituals? I always admired the customization afforded by Diablo II's socketed item system, and especially when it was expanded to include runes. There is just so much creative fodder here, even in your world of broke dirt farmers and their meager adventuring aspirations.

And now, if you'll pardon me, I'll leave now so I can go do some Countess runs.