Runecasters must have a Wisdom of 15, Intelligence of 14, and Strength of 11.  Intelligence and Wisdom are the class' prime requisites.  In addition to using any weapons and armor (although initially limited to those available in the viking milieu), they carve mystic "runes" which perform magic abilities, and are regarded a sub-class of the cleric.  They fight and save as clerics.  (Because of the disparity between the power of runes and that of other magic-using classes, the referee may wish to consider making them a fighter sub-class, allowing them multiple attacks but not weapon specialization.  This would create a character class comparable to a ranger at most levels.)

  To cast a rune, the character must carve it on a specific object, and then activate it.  A few of these runes may be carved to give magical properties to objects over a long term, such as the shield rune which causes a wood shield to bonus saving throws.  Some may be carved in advance and carried for activation as needed, such as the strength rune which is activated by driving the enspelled stake into the ground and activating to grant increased strength to a pre-determined individual for several hours.  Still others must be carved to order, such as the shout rune which opens locks into which the rune is etched.  The process of creating the rune requires 16 to 35 minutes (d20+15), of which the first ten minutes are spent contemplating the rune and the surface into which it is to be carved; activation is generally immediate or at least quickly accomplished--in most cases, the caster carves the rune and activates it immediately, but many runes may be activated at need later.  Each rune is unique, designed by its caster to include various factors such as the specific person or thing to be affected, sometimes the time or place, and the magic to be worked.  Runes generally work only once, and thereafter appear as a fancy carving on the object previously enspelled.  Only runecasters may cast runes, and a rune may only be activated by the one who cast it.

  Unlike other spells, runes are not forgotten once cast.  The caster may cast the rune many times each day.  (Our runecaster used to spend his off days carving strength runes for the party and storing them in a sack.  Once they reached the entrance to the dungeon, he would match the stakes to their intended people, and activate each in turn before continuing.  Note that in this case, the success roll for the rune is made at the time the activation is attempted.)  If the caster makes a successful wisdom check, the rune is activated.  Many times this roll will be made by the referee, as the runecaster does not intrinsically know whether it worked but must determine that by observing the results; however, the player may make the roll in any situation in which success would be immediately obvious.  The specific means of activating the rune is not always defined, and in such cases the referee may either define it in a way consistent with the character and the rune or allow that the character knows how to do it and may do so freely at will.  In either case, the caster always knows how to activate his own runes, and each rune type is always activated the same way.

  The character begins with two runes, selected by the referee.  With each level, the runecaster will have the chance to learn one new rune introduced to the game by the referee.  Unlike magic users, the character cannot automatically try to learn a rune from seeing it written.  He will normally be taught by another runecaster.  On occasion he will have a sudden insight into how a rune is created.  Rarely a god or other supernatural power will give him a rune.  In short, it is up to the referee to determine which rune a character might learn.  However, once introduced to a rune, the character will have to make a check identical to the chance to know each listed spell for magic users to determine whether he understands it.  If he does, he may include that rune among those he may cast; if he fails this check, he may not learn this rune at any time unless either his intelligence increases (in which case he is allowed another check immediately) or he advances to a high enough level that he has tested for every rune in the game (in which case the referee may re-introduce the rune for another attempt).  It is recommended that the DM consider the needs of the campaign and the wishes of the player as well as the power of the rune in selecting runes to add to the game.

  Upon reaching level 9, the runecaster attracts followers.  However, because they have ominous reputations, they only draw half as many followers as fighters.  Using the norse followers tables, make the same rolls as for fighters, but divide all quantities by two and round up.

  The cleric advancement table is used by runecasters.  Although the second edition tables are slightly different from the first edition version, the first edition table is suitable:

  225000 xp/level above the 11th.

Viking humans and Trollborn may be runecasters.

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