Sharing my magic system: Runescribing!

[NiightLiight]

The Runescribing magic system revolves around the use of runes to command objects. Each rune represents a distinct command or effect that, when inscribed, imbues objects with temporary sentience and purpose. This magic system is based on the abstract and conceptual power of symbols and words (the runes or glyphs), tapping into the inherent potential within the Runes of Creation and the universe’s acceptance of these symbols as commands. Sort of like programming an object. I got this idea from Awakening in Warbreaker and also when I was learning programming (XD what if objects can be programmed, etc...)
Here are the mechanics:

Types of Runes

• Motion Runes: Enable objects to move autonomously (e.g., a broom that sweeps the floor)
• Cognition Runes: Grant basic decision-making capabilities (e.g., a guard statue that can distinguish between friend and foe)
• Transformation Runes: Allow objects to change shape or form
• Enhancement Runes: Strengthen the properties of an object, making it stronger, sharper, or more durable
• The rarest and most advanced form of Glyphbinding involves creating Sentient Glyphs that imbue objects with a form of artificial intelligence. These objects can learn, adapt, and perform complex tasks independently, but their creation is tightly regulated and often considered dangerous. (Inspired by AI)

Rune Application

• On Objects: Runes inscribed on objects can animate them or give them specific properties
• On People: Runes inscribed on people can enhance abilities. However, not many practice this because the risk of something going wrong is much higher and with grave consequences. Humans are already sentient so usually runes don't work
• In Air: Temporary runes drawn in the air create quick and temperory effects like a gust of wind or a flash of light
• Rune Sequences: By combining multiple runes in a sequence, Scribes can create complex commands and effects. For example, a "move" rune followed by a "protect" rune could instruct a shield to fly to the user and guard them. This allows for cool things like a golem with motion, cognition, and utility runes performing guard duties
• Runes can be activated with specific command phrases in an ancient language (Idk what yet, maybe Primordial or something like that. I have a friend who makes languages so I'll ask him for help... I'm no linguist lol)

Limitations

• The effectiveness of a rune is tied to the conceptual clarity and clear intent of the Runescribe. Vague or contradictory intent can cause the rune to fail or produce unintended result. Therefore Runescribes must have a disciplined mind without distractions or doubts which can weaken or distort the rune’s effect
• Failure to activate and Runescribe may also be caused by someone acting against their own moral values. Someone who never killed or isn't violent by nature will have difficulty scribing a rune that harm others
• Runes require specific tools or materials to create (I am not sure yet). These tools or materials are either hard to obtain, or are expensive which can allow for interesting worldbuilding especially on how the economy is influenced. 
• Too many runes on an object can cause some sort of magical interference
• Runes degrade over time, especially the more it is used, the faster it degrades 

Other Info

• Scripts are like magical algorithms (like programs) that can achieve complex outcomes from the interaction of multiple runes in a precise sequence
  • Runes that provide opposite effects like telling a object to both move and stop will cause the effects to cancel each other out. The rune will basically not work. 
• Runebound objects are part of everyday life in my world, and objects like self-sweeping brooms (or flying ones if you think carefully about it XD), automations powered by runes, like golems and animated statues. It allows for many cool things to happen, and I can't wait to tie all of these ideas into a story world 

That's all I have for now. I have some things that I am not sure about yet, and if people can help me brainstorm some ideas that would be great: 

1. What are some possible limitations for Runescribing? I can't think of anything except maybe magical ink. 
2. What other types of runes can there be?
3. What are some ways that runes can be used for besides automations? 

Please let me know if you have any questions, disagreements, agreements, or something like that. I would answer all of them  

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

16 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

The Runescribing magic system revolves around the use of runes to command objects. Each rune represents a distinct command or effect that, when inscribed, imbues objects with temporary sentience and purpose. This magic system is based on the abstract and conceptual power of symbols and words (the runes or glyphs), tapping into the inherent potential within the Runes of Creation and the universe’s acceptance of these symbols as commands. Sort of like programming an object. I got this idea from Awakening in Warbreaker and also when I was learning programming (XD what if objects can be programmed, etc...)
Here are the mechanics:

Types of Runes

• Motion Runes: Enable objects to move autonomously (e.g., a broom that sweeps the floor)
• Cognition Runes: Grant basic decision-making capabilities (e.g., a guard statue that can distinguish between friend and foe)
• Transformation Runes: Allow objects to change shape or form
• Enhancement Runes: Strengthen the properties of an object, making it stronger, sharper, or more durable
• The rarest and most advanced form of Glyphbinding involves creating Sentient Glyphs that imbue objects with a form of artificial intelligence. These objects can learn, adapt, and perform complex tasks independently, but their creation is tightly regulated and often considered dangerous. (Inspired by AI)

Rune Application

• On Objects: Runes inscribed on objects can animate them or give them specific properties
• On People: Runes inscribed on people can enhance abilities. However, not many practice this because the risk of something going wrong is much higher and with grave consequences. Humans are already sentient so usually runes don't work
• In Air: Temporary runes drawn in the air create quick and temperory effects like a gust of wind or a flash of light
• Rune Sequences: By combining multiple runes in a sequence, Scribes can create complex commands and effects. For example, a "move" rune followed by a "protect" rune could instruct a shield to fly to the user and guard them. This allows for cool things like a golem with motion, cognition, and utility runes performing guard duties
• Runes can be activated with specific command phrases in an ancient language (Idk what yet, maybe Primordial or something like that. I have a friend who makes languages so I'll ask him for help... I'm no linguist lol)

Limitations

• The effectiveness of a rune is tied to the conceptual clarity and clear intent of the Runescribe. Vague or contradictory intent can cause the rune to fail or produce unintended result. Therefore Runescribes must have a disciplined mind without distractions or doubts which can weaken or distort the rune’s effect
• Failure to activate and Runescribe may also be caused by someone acting against their own moral values. Someone who never killed or isn't violent by nature will have difficulty scribing a rune that harm others
• Runes require specific tools or materials to create (I am not sure yet). These tools or materials are either hard to obtain, or are expensive which can allow for interesting worldbuilding especially on how the economy is influenced. 
• Too many runes on an object can cause some sort of magical interference
• Runes degrade over time, especially the more it is used, the faster it degrades 

Other Info

• Scripts are like magical algorithms (like programs) that can achieve complex outcomes from the interaction of multiple runes in a precise sequence
  • Runes that provide opposite effects like telling a object to both move and stop will cause the effects to cancel each other out. The rune will basically not work. 
• Runebound objects are part of everyday life in my world, and objects like self-sweeping brooms (or flying ones if you think carefully about it XD), automations powered by runes, like golems and animated statues. It allows for many cool things to happen, and I can't wait to tie all of these ideas into a story world 

That's all I have for now. I have some things that I am not sure about yet, and if people can help me brainstorm some ideas that would be great: 

1. What are some possible limitations for Runescribing? I can't think of anything except maybe magical ink. 
2. What other types of runes can there be?
3. What are some ways that runes can be used for besides automations? 

Please let me know if you have any questions, disagreements, agreements, or something like that. I would answer all of them  

Well magical ink doesn’t really work as a limitation, since most Runescribing is done by carving or can be drawn in the air. You could require a magical stylus constructed from special material, as that’s a good basic limitation. Your practical limitations are well thought out, I see no real issues there. There can be runes for an infinite number of things, such as production runes that make matter of some sort, nature runes that produce or manipulate natural phenomena, mental runes that interact with and manipulate sentient minds, and more. That’s all up to you to push the bounds of your creativity and practical magic writing. Runes can be used for many things, such as possible food production and such. Again, entirely up to what you can come up with and put into practice.

[NiightLiight]

5 minutes ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

Well magical ink doesn’t really work as a limitation, since most Runescribing is done by carving or can be drawn in the air. You could require a magical stylus constructed from special material, as that’s a good basic limitation. Your practical limitations are well thought out, I see no real issues there. There can be runes for an infinite number of things, such as production runes that make matter of some sort, nature runes that produce or manipulate natural phenomena, mental runes that interact with and manipulate sentient minds, and more. That’s all up to you to push the bounds of your creativity and practical magic writing. Runes can be used for many things, such as possible food production and such. Again, entirely up to what you can come up with and put into practice.

Alright thanks for the suggestions! For whether the runes are carved or drawn, I am still deciding that, but yeah a good limitation would be to make the carving tools (or drawing tools) be expensive or hard to obtain. Maybe the magic can even be genetic based, so that only certain people can gain the ability to Runescribe. 

Perhaps simple runes that are drawn in the air do not require things to create, but to create a runebound object there must be specific materials used to create them. These specific materials can range from ink, tools, and even to magical materials from the natural world. I'm not sure what it can be yet so i'll have to think about it. 

[Dragonheir he/him]

A limitation other than materials could be that you must discover runes for yourself, limiting the utility. This could be caused by a cultural reason (perhaps runecarvers refuse to tell others about their process, similar to real-life alchemists) or a magical reason (maybe you cannot write a rune down without it activating, which causes a potentially dangerous effect and cause it to run out of power and deactivate, or maybe each person’s runes and syntax is different, or at least non-standardized, so in order to learn multi-rune constructions or more advanced single runes, you need to find someone who does them the same as you. Apprentices typically match their masters, but as they get better and begin to experiment, their style tends to change to the point that even other apprentices of the same master cannot understand it.) If this is the case, perhaps a method to get around this has been recently discovered, drastically altering runecarver culture and capabilities. 
The system acts like programming; are there syntax errors that could bring the rune’s effect wildly off course? 
Other than that, I don’t have much to add. I think this can be executed either very well or very poorly, depending on what sort of story you’re writing. Any magic, especially an open ended one, can cause confusion and deus ex machina scenarios, so be careful of that. Good luck! 

[NiightLiight]

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

A limitation other than materials could be that you must discover runes for yourself, limiting the utility. This could be caused by a cultural reason (perhaps runecarvers refuse to tell others about their process, similar to real-life alchemists) or a magical reason (maybe you cannot write a rune down without it activating, which causes a potentially dangerous effect and cause it to run out of power and deactivate, or maybe each person’s runes and syntax is different, or at least non-standardized, so in order to learn multi-rune constructions or more advanced single runes, you need to find someone who does them the same as you. Apprentices typically match their masters, but as they get better and begin to experiment, their style tends to change to the point that even other apprentices of the same master cannot understand it.) If this is the case, perhaps a method to get around this has been recently discovered, drastically altering runecarver culture and capabilities. 
The system acts like programming; are there syntax errors that could bring the rune’s effect wildly off course? 

These are great ideas for limitations, and I think I can make all of these work except making the runes different for each person because I was originally thinking that the runes were the primordial language before any other language came in my world. However, maybe different people that have different intent may end up causing the same rune to have slightly different effects. That means usually a Runescribe and their apprentice could have a similar style of scribing, because the master would teach their apprentice to picture or imagine a similar thing as them when they are scribing. Also, since this system acts like programming, having too much runes on an object, having conflicting runes, or unclear intentions would cause the runebound object to behave unexpectedly. 

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

I think this can be executed either very well or very poorly, depending on what sort of story you’re writing. Any magic, especially an open ended one, can cause confusion and deus ex machina scenarios, so be careful of that. Good luck! 

Yeah.. The problem of confusion and dues ex machina scenarios are what is currently making me hesitant on writing. That and me stuck trying to think of a plot and compelling characters... However, I am writing a lot of drafts just to see which ones feel right. Maybe i'll figure it out if i keep going XD

[NiightLiight]

Also is this a hard or soft magic system? Im not sure what it is lol

[Dragonheir he/him]

1 minute ago, NiightLiight said:

These are great ideas for limitations, and I think I can make all of these work except making the runes different for each person because I was originally thinking that the runes were the primordial language before any other language came in my world. However, maybe different people that have different intent may end up causing the same rune to have slightly different effects. That means usually a Runescribe and their apprentice could have a similar style of scribing, because the master would teach their apprentice to picture or imagine a similar thing as them when they are scribing. Also, since this system acts like programming, having too much runes on an object, having conflicting runes, or unclear intentions would cause the runebound object to behave unexpectedly. 

I’d been thinking closer to programming languages, where different syntax of runes causes the combined runes to do different things. Maybe one carver uses a “to” rune to combine effects, while another nests and overlaps runes. If the carver doesn’t know what they’re trying to do, it would be difficult to copy someone else’s program without understanding it. Like programming languages, different rune syntax allows different capabilities to be easier or harder, for instance a flowchart-like instruction system would have difficulty expressing concepts that would force arrows to overlap. 

6 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

Yeah.. The problem of confusion and dues ex machina scenarios are what is currently making me hesitant on writing. That and me stuck trying to think of a plot and compelling characters... However, I am writing a lot of drafts just to see which ones feel right. Maybe i'll figure it out if i keep going XD

Yeah, trying and editing is the best way to fix narrative problems. I’d be willing to read your drafts and give feedback, if you want. I’d definitely recommend finding someone to read them, even if it’s not me. 
I’d put a plot idea, or at least a plot element, in the middle of a bunch of parentheses. If the rune writing difficulties were suddenly resolved, how would that affect the runecarvers and society? Perhaps the villain did this and is hoarding the technique, or maybe they oppose it and try to bury the knowledge again. 

2 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

Also is this a hard or soft magic system? Im not sure what it is lol

It could be either. If you make a list of all the runes, what they do, how long they take to create, and how they interact, it’s hard magic. If you don’t know or explain those things, only narrating the results, it’s a softer magic system. Hard and soft magic isn’t a binary, there can be magic systems in the middle. 

[NiightLiight]

36 minutes ago, Dragonheir said:

I’d been thinking closer to programming languages, where different syntax of runes causes the combined runes to do different things. Maybe one carver uses a “to” rune to combine effects, while another nests and overlaps runes. If the carver doesn’t know what they’re trying to do, it would be difficult to copy someone else’s program without understanding it. Like programming languages, different rune syntax allows different capabilities to be easier or harder, for instance a flowchart-like instruction system would have difficulty expressing concepts that would force arrows to overlap. 

ohh, so like how two programs may do the same things but use different runes? So the difficulty lies in basically learning others' style of runescripting?

 

39 minutes ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, trying and editing is the best way to fix narrative problems. I’d be willing to read your drafts and give feedback, if you want. I’d definitely recommend finding someone to read them, even if it’s not me. 
I’d put a plot idea, or at least a plot element, in the middle of a bunch of parentheses. If the rune writing difficulties were suddenly resolved, how would that affect the runecarvers and society? Perhaps the villain did this and is hoarding the technique, or maybe they oppose it and try to bury the knowledge again. 

Yay thank you so much. I need to work on this a bit first since I literally just changed and started a new magic system in my world, but yeah thanks for your offer. 
Also, it would be an interesting plot line if someone manage to make the rune writing difficulties resolved, but I think I don't really understand what you mean by the differences yet... could you explain a little more on it plz?

44 minutes ago, Dragonheir said:

It could be either. If you make a list of all the runes, what they do, how long they take to create, and how they interact, it’s hard magic. If you don’t know or explain those things, only narrating the results, it’s a softer magic system. Hard and soft magic isn’t a binary, there can be magic systems in the middle. 

I think I might make a list of runes, because personally i love hard magic systems. Sadly that will definately take a lot of time lol

[Dragonheir he/him]

3 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

ohh, so like how two programs may do the same things but use different runes? So the difficulty lies in basically learning others' style of runescripting?

Yeah, like that. For instance, I can (or at least could) code in Python, but I’d have no idea what a program written in another programming language would do, much less be able to modify it. 

[NiightLiight]

15 minutes ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, like that. For instance, I can (or at least could) code in Python, but I’d have no idea what a program written in another programming language would do, much less be able to modify it. 

does that mean I need different runes lists if I want to create an actually runic alphebet? Or do the people use the same alphebet, but just combine it differently? 

[Dragonheir he/him]

18 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

does that mean I need different runes lists if I want to create an actually runic alphebet? Or do the people use the same alphebet, but just combine it differently? 

I was thinking combine it differently, perhaps with a couple different versions of a few runes that do mostly the same thing but not quite. For example, one person may uses the heat rune where someone else would use the fire rune. In many cases it’s the same, but try to get yourself an AC system that activates something (magic or mundane) when it gets to hot, and you end up having it only turn on when something is on fire. 
Really close programming languages are extra annoying to figure out, cause most things are the same but there’s a couple small changes that can mess up your entire program. Lots of parentheses syntax issues, like putting more or fewer things than intended in a conditional function. 

Edited Wednesday at 04:19 PM by Dragonheir
Added example

[NiightLiight]

Just now, Dragonheir said:

I was thinking combine it differently, perhaps with a couple different versions of a few runes that do mostly the same thing but not quite. 
Really close programming languages are extra annoying to figure out, cause most things are the same but there’s a couple small changes that can mess up your entire program. Lots of parentheses syntax issues, like putting more or fewer things than intended in a conditional function. 

alright thanks I think I got it now. This could be an interesting plot idea. Btw I think my world might be a post apocalyptic world, so maybe that can also support why people have different types of the same language, because of different locations, etc. Runescribes are supposed to be very rare, but that means I need a good limitation of why they are rare since Runescribing is kinda powerful. However, I really want to avoid using birth as the way to gain Runescribing, but i also cant think of other ways to limit the number of Runescribes...

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

28 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

alright thanks I think I got it now. This could be an interesting plot idea. Btw I think my world might be a post apocalyptic world, so maybe that can also support why people have different types of the same language, because of different locations, etc. Runescribes are supposed to be very rare, but that means I need a good limitation of why they are rare since Runescribing is kinda powerful. However, I really want to avoid using birth as the way to gain Runescribing, but i also cant think of other ways to limit the number of Runescribes...

You can limit it by language or general location. Someone from certain areas can develop the power as long as they learn the language properly. Or, there’s temples or monuments from the people who spoke the primordial language, which are infused with power that can make someone a Runescribe.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with and I’m also open to reading your drafts as you develop your story.

[Dragonheir he/him]

1 minute ago, NiightLiight said:

However, I really want to avoid using birth as the way to gain Runescribing, but i also cant think of other ways to limit the number of Runescribes...

Here are the most common magic sources, which can be combined or made more difficult to limit the number of mages: 

Birth/ancestry: you need specific ancestors to get power. It may unlock later or require other steps to use. 

Random event: something you have no control over, but could happen to anyone gives you powers. For instance, purely random with no noticeable cause, struck by lightning in a magic storm, or based on the constellations when you are born. 
 

Not random event: you or someone else must do something to grant you magic. Examples: a wizard must choose you to pass on their power, you need to meditate on top of a certain mountain, or you need to win a contest you can only ever enter once. 
 

These magic causes can be combined to form a more complex magic source, for instance you are randomly able to learn magic but you still must study under a magic user to access it. 
 

(Huh, I sound like ChatGPT, don’t I.) 

[NiightLiight]

9 hours ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

You can limit it by language or general location. Someone from certain areas can develop the power as long as they learn the language properly. Or, there’s temples or monuments from the people who spoke the primordial language, which are infused with power that can make someone a Runescribe.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with and I’m also open to reading your drafts as you develop your story.

That could be interesting if I made it so that people gain powers by learning it, like the wizard class in D&D. The temples also gave me a cool idea where just like warlocks in D&D, maybe Runescribing becomes something religious and people must have a patron before they can actually draw runes with power. 

[NiightLiight]

9 hours ago, Dragonheir said:

Birth/ancestry: you need specific ancestors to get power. It may unlock later or require other steps to use. 

Random event: something you have no control over, but could happen to anyone gives you powers. For instance, purely random with no noticeable cause, struck by lightning in a magic storm, or based on the constellations when you are born. 
 

Not random event: you or someone else must do something to grant you magic. Examples: a wizard must choose you to pass on their power, you need to meditate on top of a certain mountain, or you need to win a contest you can only ever enter once. 

These are great! Thanks,

There is a realm called the cognitive realm in my world, similar to shadesmar but not exactly. I wanna make it so that power is derived from there, from the meaning of the runes. Maybe similar to the feywild in D&D, a random event where people become aware in the cognitive realm is how they gain the potential to use Runescribing. The difference between shadesmar and my cognitive realm is that people cannot physically travel there; rather, its more similar to the cognitive or ethereal realm in Magium, where ethereals are people who are basically aware in the cognitive realm and can travel on there. However, their physical bodies are still at the material realm, so its like they travel in the cognitive realm using their mind. Honestly this is a little confusing so im not exactly sure how to explain it, but it is basically like people gain the ability to move and be self-aware on the cognitive realm. On that realm, since it is the realm of the mind, anything can happen, but i also have to think about exactly how that realm works. So yeah more like a random event, but some people may also be Aware at birth. 

9 hours ago, Dragonheir said:

(Huh, I sound like ChatGPT, don’t I.) 

Lol, honestly I used ChatGPT a lot to help me organize information, so I probably sound a lot like it. Its such a great tool to help with turning a page of info into a outline, but the issue is that if I told it to help me make a magic system its very... default. Its going to be like elemental magic with exhaustion as the limitation and source being birth. I use it to generate ideas, but prompts might take hours to get it to finally output something interesting. Just needs preserverance

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

20 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

That could be interesting if I made it so that people gain powers by learning it, like the wizard class in D&D. The temples also gave me a cool idea where just like warlocks in D&D, maybe Runescribing becomes something religious and people must have a patron before they can actually draw runes with power. 

Now if you had a pantheon of deities, you could have each deity be a patron for different kinds of runes. Each god would have dominion over a category of Runescribing, and you could then learn progressively more runes and better “handwriting” for scribing them, enhancing what you can do and how powerfully you can do it. This would mean that, logically, Runescribing should be more powerful, since it literally comes from the gods. Just an idea.

[NiightLiight]

1 minute ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

Now if you had a pantheon of deities, you could have each deity be a patron for different kinds of runes. Each god would have dominion over a category of Runescribing, and you could then learn progressively more runes and better “handwriting” for scribing them, enhancing what you can do and how powerfully you can do it. This would mean that, logically, Runescribing should be more powerful, since it literally comes from the gods. Just an idea.

Yeah, thats a great idea. Since in the cognitive realm, strong belief can become tangible (thats why there is gravity, air, etc in the realm), thats how the gods came to be. And this means I can furthur catagorize runes based on the gods that they are from, and also give it different styles since I plan on actually making the runes (but that would be a pain yet also fun). 

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

56 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

Yeah, thats a great idea. Since in the cognitive realm, strong belief can become tangible (thats why there is gravity, air, etc in the realm), thats how the gods came to be. And this means I can furthur catagorize runes based on the gods that they are from, and also give it different styles since I plan on actually making the runes (but that would be a pain yet also fun). 

Great idea. Do you have a pantheon already or do you need to come up with one? And making runes is definitely going to be a pain but could be fun.

[NiightLiight]

1 hour ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

Great idea. Do you have a pantheon already or do you need to come up with one? And making runes is definitely going to be a pain but could be fun.

I dont have a pantheon yet... so any ideas would be great. And yea I love drawing so runes should be alright. The problem is making a different yet simple pattern for every rune, and maybe making a unique alphebet for it. 

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

3 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

I dont have a pantheon yet... so any ideas would be great. And yea I love drawing so runes should be alright. The problem is making a different yet simple pattern for every rune, and maybe making a unique alphebet for it. 

What kind of world do you have in mind? What things are important to the people? Things like that help determine pantheons. Either that or make up the pantheon and base beliefs off of that. Whatever works. I can help with specific deities if you provide a baseline. How many deities are you thinking of having?

Also, if you want the runes to have a language I’d go more with meanings of runes than an alphabetical deal, not letters but whole words or concepts like eastern languages.

[NiightLiight]

2 minutes ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

What kind of world do you have in mind? What things are important to the people? Things like that help determine pantheons. Either that or make up the pantheon and base beliefs off of that. Whatever works. I can help with specific deities if you provide a baseline. How many deities are you thinking of having?

Also, if you want the runes to have a language I’d go more with meanings of runes than an alphabetical deal, not letters but whole words or concepts like eastern languages.

I still haven't thought of all of these things lol, I'm not very good at worldbuilding, especially on culture and politics and religion... I think I will try to imagine how the runic language is divided first before I decide how many gods are there, but so far I thought maybe gods like the greek gods would be cool, or even like Norse mythology. 

And yeah I was thinking of basing my runes off the idea of japanese and chinese characters, since mandarin is actually my first language, but I don't want my runes to be too complex to draw, so its probably going to be like chinese characters but a lot more simple. 

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

7 minutes ago, NiightLiight said:

I still haven't thought of all of these things lol, I'm not very good at worldbuilding, especially on culture and politics and religion... I think I will try to imagine how the runic language is divided first before I decide how many gods are there, but so far I thought maybe gods like the greek gods would be cool, or even like Norse mythology. 

And yeah I was thinking of basing my runes off the idea of japanese and chinese characters, since mandarin is actually my first language, but I don't want my runes to be too complex to draw, so its probably going to be like chinese characters but a lot more simple. 

Yeah world building can be tough. Dividing your language is a good step, as that’ll help us determine the categories of runes we’re working with, and we can work deities from there. Simplified Chinese style characters is definitely a good move for runes, though you might want to incorporate some Nordic rune elements if that’s the kind of pantheon you want to work with. 

[Dragonheir he/him]

11 hours ago, NiightLiight said:

That could be interesting if I made it so that people gain powers by learning it, like the wizard class in D&D. The temples also gave me a cool idea where just like warlocks in D&D, maybe Runescribing becomes something religious and people must have a patron before they can actually draw runes with power. 

If I’d known you play D&D, my explanation could have been so much simpler… Maybe each runescribe can take on an apprentice, or maybe two, but it takes long enough that most cannot mentor two. So random accidents drop the number of runescribes about as fast a new ones are trained. 

10 hours ago, NiightLiight said:

Honestly this is a little confusing so im not exactly sure how to explain it, but it is basically like people gain the ability to move and be self-aware on the cognitive realm. 

So like the astral projection spell? 

10 hours ago, NiightLiight said:

Lol, honestly I used ChatGPT a lot to help me organize information, so I probably sound a lot like it. It’s such a great tool to help with turning a page of info into an outline, but the issue is that if I told it to help me make a magic system its very... default. Its going to be like elemental magic with exhaustion as the limitation and source being birth. I use it to generate ideas, but prompts might take hours to get it to finally output something interesting. Just needs preserverance

Yeah, I do the same thing and have the same problem. Real people tend to think of more interesting ideas, but they also tend to not care about my writing. ChatGPT tends to open its statements with a rephrasing of the question, makes bullet points, then wishes you luck and compliments your question, which is what I had done. 

8 hours ago, TheSurvivorofDeath said:

Also, if you want the runes to have a language I’d go more with meanings of runes than an alphabetical deal, not letters but whole words or concepts like eastern languages.

8 hours ago, NiightLiight said:

I still haven't thought of all of these things lol, I'm not very good at worldbuilding, especially on culture and politics and religion... I think I will try to imagine how the runic language is divided first before I decide how many gods are there, but so far I thought maybe gods like the greek gods would be cool, or even like Norse mythology. 

And yeah I was thinking of basing my runes off the idea of japanese and chinese characters, since mandarin is actually my first language, but I don't want my runes to be too complex to draw, so its probably going to be like chinese characters but a lot more simple. 

I’ll see if I can think of some concept for you. (I’ve tried to make a rune system, but making designs was hard. You don’t necessarily need to draw all the runes. You can just describe them vaguely.) 

These examples could all be the same rune or be several different ones. You could even have a way to modify the runes to change the meaning (for instance, adding two diagonal lines on the fire rune might turn it to the light rune.) 

• Home/protection/safety 
• Movement/energy/excitement 
• Fire/heat/light 
• Ice/cool/dark
• Attack/anger/dangerous 
• Life/plants/health/food 
• Friendship/love 
• Think/wonder/know 

Those are what I can think of off the top of my head. I can probably get others later, once you decide how you want to organize them. 

[NiightLiight]

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

If I’d known you play D&D, my explanation could have been so much simpler… Maybe each runescribe can take on an apprentice, or maybe two, but it takes long enough that most cannot mentor two. So random accidents drop the number of runescribes about as fast a new ones are trained. 

Yea, runescribes are difficult to train and not everyone has the ability to runescribe while some may be talented. 

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

So like the astral projection spell? 

Yeah exactly, but these people do it intuitively. The realm is kinda like the astral realm in D&D. 

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

I’ll see if I can think of some concept for you. (I’ve tried to make a rune system, but making designs was hard. You don’t necessarily need to draw all the runes. You can just describe them vaguely.) 

These examples could all be the same rune or be several different ones. You could even have a way to modify the runes to change the meaning (for instance, adding two diagonal lines on the fire rune might turn it to the light rune.) 

• Home/protection/safety 
• Movement/energy/excitement 
• Fire/heat/light 
• Ice/cool/dark
• Attack/anger/dangerous 
• Life/plants/health/food 
• Friendship/love 
• Think/wonder/know 

Those are what I can think of off the top of my head. I can probably get others later, once you decide how you want to organize them. 

Ohh that's very smart, I was thinking instead of alphabets the runes are catagorized as concepts just like these you said, and these concepts can also create a pantheon, which becomes a religion. I also realized that all the symbols in mistborn seem to have hemuturgic spikes through a moon-like symbol, so maybe runes of the same catagory could have a similar general shape, so like every "god" has a particular pattern. This could be really fun. 

1 hour ago, Dragonheir said:

Yeah, I do the same thing and have the same problem. Real people tend to think of more interesting ideas, but they also tend to not care about my writing. ChatGPT tends to open its statements with a rephrasing of the question, makes bullet points, then wishes you luck and compliments your question, which is what I had done.

Yeah this is so true. It takes hours just getting it to output some interesting ideas. Especially if you don't have the paid version. 3.5 likes to rephrase and it often forgets what it said before. It is good if you want something rephrased in a different way though. Also, ChatGPT is terrible at character development. I will probably use Character.ai for that. I can literally make my character into an AI on there myself.