“Steel remembers. Bone remembers. Wood remembers. Carve the right symbols into something long
enough and eventually reality starts listening.” —Delianna
Runes are magical enhancements permanently attached to equipment through carving, binding,
engraving, and ritual forgecraft.
Every item may contain:
Once attached, a Rune becomes part of the item permanently and cannot be removed, transferred, or
replaced except by upgrading that Rune.
Rune Types Effect
Rune Type Add bonus dice to skills or Magic fields
Multiply weapon, Armor, Shield, or Shell base dice
Glyphs Add energy damage to weapons
Sigils Add energy resistance
Etchings Add weapon Properties
Wards Increase Move
Rune Restrictions
Glyphs reinforce knowledge, instinct, and technique.
A Glyph grants bonus dice to:
Example:
You may only benefit from the highest Glyph affecting a check.
Glyph bonuses do not stack.
Sigils amplify an item’s natural strength.
Weapon Sigils multiply the weapon’s base damage dice.
Defensive Sigils multiply Armor, Shield, or Shell dice
Sigils only multiply an item’s base dice.
Additional dice granted by etchings, abilities, spells, or other effects are not multiplied.
Defensive Sigils
You may only benefit from 1 defensive Sigil at a time.
If multiple equipped items possess defensive Sigils:
Etchings bind destructive energies into weapons. Etchings add additional damage dice of a specific
energy type. A weapon may possess multiple Etchings. Each Etching applies its damage separately.
Wards reinforce equipment against harmful energies. Wards grant resistance dice against specific
damage types. Wards may be attached to equipment, structures, vehicles, containers, or other objects.
Ward bonuses of the same type do not stack.
Fleet Runes
Fleet Runes increase mobility and movement speed. Fleet Runes may be attached to any appropriate
equipment unless stated otherwise. Fleet bonuses do not stack.
Glyphs Sigils Etchings Wards Fleet DC
+1d4 — +1d4 +1d4 — 3/1★
+1d6 ×2 +1d6 +1d6 +1 4/2★
+1d8 ×3 +2d4 +2d4 +2 6/3★
+1d10 ×4 +2d6 +2d6 +3 8/4★
+1d12 ×5 +3d6 +3d6 +4 10/5★
Standard Property Runes
| Rune | DC |
|---|---|
| Driving | 3/1★ |
| Binding | 3/1★ |
| Cleaving | 3/1★ |
| Dazing | 3/1★ |
| Linked | 3/1★ |
| Staggering | 3/1★ |
| Toppling | 3/1★ |
Advanced Property Runes
| Deadly | 4/2★ |
|---|---|
| Rending | 4/2★ |
| Savage | 4/2★ |
Etching Runes
Rune Effect DC
Acid +1d4 Acid damage 3/1★
Fire +1d4 Fire damage 3/1★
Ice +1d4 Cold damage 3/1★
Lightning +1d4 Electric damage 3/1★
Thunder +1d4 Sonic damage 3/1★
Force +1d4 Force damage 3/1★
Radiant +1d4 Radiant damage 3/1★
Decay +1d4 Decay damage 3/1★
Madness +1d4 Madness damage 3/1★
Toxic +1d4 Toxic damage 3/1★
Throwing Weapon gains Thrown 3/1★
and a range 5
Returning Weapon returns after 3/1★
Creating a Rune requires:
Crafting does not consume WP.
Failing a Crafting check simply fails the attempt unless a Fate Die causes a catastrophic result.
Acquiring Materials
To acquire crafting materials:
Applying Runes
Applying a Rune requires:
Rune Slot DCs
The more Runes attached to an item, the harder it becomes to modify or repair.
Runes
| on Item | DC |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3/1★ |
| 2 | 4/2★ |
| 3 | 6/3★ |
| 4 | 8/4★ |
| 5 | 10/5★ |
Use whichever DC is highest:
Upgrading Runes
Runes may be upgraded into stronger versions of themselves.
Upgrading a Rune:
o still uses the same Rune slot.
If the upgraded Rune is already available:
Runes cannot be downgraded or changed into different Rune types once attached.
Damaged Equipment
Weapons, Armor, and Shields may become damaged.
When damaged, reduce the item’s base die by 1 size:
1d12 → 1d10 → 1d8 → 1d6 → 1d4 → destroyed.
If reduced below 1d4:
the item is destroyed.
Runes attached to destroyed equipment are also destroyed.
Shell and Natural Weapons instead recover after:
Returning to full HP
Completing a Rest.
Crafting Time
Crafting and repairing items generally takes:
2 days per Bulk of the item.
The GM may increase or decrease this time depending on:
Item complexity
Available tools
Workspace
Materials
Narrative circumstances.
Grimhowl intentionally uses broad crafting guidelines rather than strict realism. These rules prioritize
simplicity and playability over detailed simulation.
Delianna’s Note
“Anyone can buy steel. Knowing how to rebuild it after the blood dries? That’s the difference between
survivors and corpses.”