Editing Setting:Mosaic/Mechanics (section)

==Use of Runes==

Runes are used, either on their own or in combination with a skill, to create powerful mystical effects, beyond the power of mundane humanity.

To use your Runes in a task, select Runes which you think create a symbolic description of what you want to achieve. An important note is that the same combination of Runes can describe multiple different effects, at different times and in different contexts. The meaning of each Rune can and should be twisted, applied metaphorically, literally, et cetera, in order to create interesting and unique spells. The GM can veto any Rune if they feel its use is excessive or not properly justified.

For example, Lightning, Body and Wounds might describe a lightning based attack, specifically targeting the foe's body with intention to wound, but not kill, while Rain and Banishment might be used to dispel a storm.

For each Rune in a spell beyond the first, you must pay one power point, and you must pay one additional power point for every Major Rune, and three for every Greater Rune.

[Advanced rule- for each Rune beyond the Third, and Fifth, you must pay an additional power point. A spell may have a maximum of seven Runes]

Then, for each Rune you use in the description of the spell, add a die

For each Minor Rune (The outer circle on the chart), take a d4 and add it to your Runes pool.

For each Major Rune (The middle circle on the chart), take a d6 and add it to your Rune pool.

For each Greater Rune (the inner circle on the chart), take a d8 and add it to your Rune pool.

It is useful if you assign a unique dice to each Rune beforehand, as to keep distinct which dice is for which Rune, as this may be important later.

[If you are playing in a format where this is impossible, for example over IRC or do not have distinct dice, have the order of dice correspond to the order of your description. i.e. if you were using Lightning, Body, Wounds, the first dice you roll is Lighting, the second Body and the third Wounds]

Roll this pool, and then look at each die. Any dice which have rolled a one have failed, and that Rune is lost to the spell. Depending on the Rune, and the spell, this can have serious consequences.

Using the above example, if in a Lightning, Body, Wounds spell, the Lightning failed, the spell would be virtually worthless, as the main power of the attack is gone. However, if the Wounds Rune failed, the lightning bolt might be unintentionally fatal to its target.

After removing any Runes which have been lost, take the highest value showing in the Rune pool, and add one to it for each successful Minor Rune, two for each successful Major Rune, and three for each successful Greater Rune. This is the spells total, and is compared against the difficulty of the task.

[Possible variant- you Must take the value from the highest rank Rune in the pool, even if a lower ranked Rune has rolled higher, i.e. if you have only one Major in a pool of Minors, or one Greater in a pool of Majors and Minors, the value that dice rolls will be the base value, for good or ill]

[Advanced Rule- If a spell needs a numerical value for another factor, such as duration, area or otherwise, simply take a relevant value from the pool. In the future, a scaling chart of values should be provided, but for now, simply try and be reasonable]