Introducing Runes
If you’ve ever played League of Legends, you know the importance of taking the right runes on your champion. Similarly, choosing runes in Runarcana is also important. Runes are the powerful manifestation of your character’s connection with the magics of Runeterra. They grant impressive passive and active abilities, and they can be customized and enhanced as you level up.
When and how do I get Runes?
The table to the right indicates when you gain access to different runic features throughout your adventuring journey. In total, you will have access to your Runic Nature (which includes a Pulse) and three Runes, each with two masteries. Pulse is a passive feature, Runes are generally actives, and masteries are improvements to the runes themselves. All of this is described below.
The table to the left shows “Pulse Dice.” These only really make sense in context, so we’ll look at an example later. Just note that it’s a number and scale of dice that increases with your proficiency bonus.
Runic Pulse
The video below introduces runes as a concept and explains the five Runic Pulses, which is the first decision you get to make on your runic journey.
The Pulse is chosen at level 1. It is a passive feature that can also enhance your runes if your rune is of the same “Runic Nature” as your pulse. You will choose from the following:
- Emerald: Provides damage reduction
- Ruby: Provides damage amplification
- Diamond: Provides healing amplification
- Amethyst: Provides resource recovery
- Sapphire: Provides adaptive usage
Runes
There are dozens of runes to choose from. From massive beams of energy to decimate your enemies to empowering your attacks to restore your health, there is a rune for just about every playstyle.
Let’s do an Example!
We’ll pretend we’re a level 3 character, meaning we have our Runic Nature, a Runic Pulse, our first Rune, and one Mastery. That means we have a Proficiency Bonus of 2 and a Pulse Die of 1d4. Our Nature and Pulse will be Emerald, because I am afraid of getting hurt, and that will help is with our defenses.
The image below shows an average rune. This one is called “Shield” Now let’s break this rune down in simple terms. The explanation is longer than the text because we’re also explaining what is going on.
NOTE: WAITING ON ARDDHU TO CLARIFY SHIELD FUNCTIONALITY GIVEN LACK OF USE OF DICE
Pulse & Synergy: Is connected to the Emerald and Diamond Pulses, so if you have them (which we do), you get the Synergy effect of adding half your proficiency bonus to the duration of Shield and to the Pulse Dice result. If you don’t have Emerald or Diamond as your Pulse, you can still use Shield, you just don’t get the Synergy effect. As shown in the Pulse Dice table earlier, since we’re level 3, we have a Proficiency Bonus of 2 and a Pulse Die of 1d4. We’ll have to look at the actual effect before we know what this means.
Use: You can use it a number of times equal to half of your proficiency bonus… but how do I use it? Well, I like to think of each rune as having a few parts. A trigger that enables us to use it; an activation, which is essentially what kind of action it is; what it does; how long it lasts; and sometimes if it stacks with itself. For Shield…
- The Trigger: When targetted by an attack or when making a saving throw to avoid damage
- Activating It: You can use your reaction
- What it does: A LOT
- Gain a bonus to your AC or the Saving Throw equal to half your Proficiency bonus.
- Gain 10 feet of speed.
- Gain resistance to the damage type of the attack or effect (except True Damage)
- How long does it last: Rounds equal to Proficiency Bonus
- Does it stack?: No.
You choose three runes during your adventuring career, once at level 1, 8, and 15. You also get to choose enhancements for them every alternating level. The video below walks through the specifics of using runes as well as several examples of them.
Runessences
A Runessence is essentially a string of runes that one can take as a special combination to achieve a certain narrative and mechanical “flavor.” Typically you need to work these out in advance between the player and the GM, as they are not selectable by everyone by default. I listed all of them with a description from the wiki below or a paraphrase, and I dig deeper into all of this in the video below that.
Aquavitist: Enhances attacks and resistances based on the consumption of alcohol
Vastaya Awakening: For Vastaya, better control of your Vastayashai’rei ancestry, increasing your connection to the Spiritual Realm and Sho’ma
Cosmic Balance: Essentially turns Bard into runes. Bard nurtures in its wielders the need to protect powerful artifacts and lost knowledge across Runeterra.
Golden Essence: The Golden Essence Runessence is a manifestation of the celestial entity known as the Golden Sister.
Silver Essence: The Silver Essence Runessence is a manifestation of the celestial entity known as the Silver Sister.
Immortal Fury: Blessed by Ildhaurg, the Boar God, an essence capable of healing wounds and is said to even provide the curse of Immortality.
Frost Mystic: The Frost Mystic connects to the mysteries of the ice that never melts, the True Ice, through learning about the properties of this material considered divine in some tribes of Freljord. Lissandra is an example.
Brood Mystic: Contact with a Brood entity, these entities connect to creatures with this type of organization, such as snakes, spiders, and others. To develop this essence, it is necessary to have contact with a Mystical Patron, under its instruction it is possible to become a channel of power for that entity.
Mystic of Pact: The Pact Mystic’s Runessence connects you to a powerful spiritual, celestial or mystical entity that cannot function directly in the physical world. That essence binds your runic powers to that creature, linking the development of your runic essence to that mystical essence. Each pact has its own characteristics, even two pacts made with the same entity can be extremely different.
Azakana’s Stalker: Spiritual creatures that prey on the living by feeding on their negative feelings, Azakanas Stalkers dedicate their body and soul to hunting these creatures, a process that alters even their very essence.
Trickster: The Trickster’s Runessence is a unique manifestation that breaks the rules of magic. It is linked to the Celestial known as the Trickster and is extremely unusual. Usually, people who manifest it are skilful and slippery people who embrace change and disruption of the status quo as a necessity for the dynamism of the universe.
In Closing
The rune system is fantastic, both broad and deep, and it is absolutely worth taking the time to learn about your options before making your choices. These aren’t just more features for the sake of being features. They connect even the most martial character to the magical world, and are also the best way to connect with some of your favorite League of Legends champions like Gragas, Lissandra, and Bard.
Champions of Runeterra 
Leave a comment