Magic is learned in many forms. From the lengthy incantations of a wizard to the pious chants of a cleric, the method by which magic is cast can be just as important as its result. However, typical spellcasting is employed in the same manner regardless of its source: a sorcerer whose power comes from his draconic ancestry still uses the same words and motions that a studied wizard will, and produces the same effect. However, this is not true for a caster that learns rune magic, for its magic synthesizes and builds upon itself in ways that current magic cannot hope to accomplish.
In many ways the basics of casting a runic script are similar to casting an arcane or divine spell, such as with needing concentration or interacting with an antimagic field, and most of their effects replicate familiar arcane and divine magics. However, there are some notable differences. This section will go into detail on each of these differences, and how to incorporate runic magic alongside existing spellcasters in your games.
In any place that these rules do not explicitly differ from the core rules for spells (see Chapter 9 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook), assume that the rules are identical to casting or affecting an arcane spell.
WHO CAN USE RUNE MAGIC?[]
Rune magic is an esoteric art that takes dedicated study and practice to master. As such, only a character with the rune magic class feature can cast it.
The new archivist class found here is the primary user of rune magic, and can use any and all of its powers. However, you can also find a handful of archetypes for some existing classes, such as cleric and magus. These pages also detail ways to give other spellcasting classes access to rune magic, along with rules tailored to each class and general guidelines to adapt the rules to any other spellcaster in your games.
USING RUNE MAGIC[]
For easier reading and referencing, the rune magic rules from Paths of Magic have been split into several pages. You can find those (with a brief description of each) listed below, in order of appearance within the book:
- Casting Rune Magic - How to choose, prepare, and cast a runic script.
- Scribe Types - How many runic scripts you can use, based on your level and class.
- Runic Charge - Rules on the "runic charge" system, which allows you to build energy across multiple castings to boost another runic script.
- Script Format - How to read a runic script entry.
- Integrating Rune Magic - How to run runic magic alongside arcane, divine, and psychic casters.
RUNE MAGIC OPTIONS[]
Similar to above, this section is a short-hand reference list for all of the options available in the rune magic system from Paths of Magic. Those options are as follows:
- The Archivist - A new 20-level base class that uses rune magic. They fulfill a similar role that a wizard or cleric does for arcane and divine magics, being largely defined by their use of runic scripts.
- Scripts - The list of "spells" for this system, this list of 180 runic "scripts" are what you cast as a runic scribe.
- Rune Magic Options - Tailored archetypes for specific classes to use rune magic, along with generic rules for replacing arcane/divine/psychic casting from existing classes with rune magic.
- Feats for Rune Magic - A selection of 35 feats for practitioners of rune magic.
- Runic Magic Items - A collection of weapon/armor properties, staves, wondrous items, and more for the rune magic system.