Rune Masters - PDF

Strong NPCs and Their use in RuneQuest

This book contains 45 RuneMasters for use as non-player characters (NPCs) in RuneQuest adventures. There is a Rune Lord, a Rune Priest, and a Rune Lord-Priest for each of the 15 cults examined in Cults of Prax, a separate publication. They form a valuable collection for referees who need Rune-level characters as NPCs. This is much more than just a collection of statistics. It also discusses how Runemasters are created, and about the logic of their growth, how each type of Runemaster should be played, what their retinue (if any) should be, how a referee can organize his NPCs with coherent melee tactics and team strategy, etc. They are the most informative notes of their kind ever published about the rational play of strong Runequest characters. 

The Priest is a fairly skilled adventurer with an allied spirit, bound spirits, and a number of Rune spells. The Lord is a tough adventurer with mastery of a number of skills, an allied spirit, and bound spirits. The Lord-Priest is a truly formidable foe, questing toward Hero status, who has mastered many skills and Rune spells, and who has an allied spirit and bound spirits. This book provides for the first time a large selection of Rune level NPCs fully filled out and equipped, ready to use in a scenario as a set encounter or as a wandering encounter. Included is a new RuneMaster character sheet and a ‘familiar’ character sheet. The statistics for each RuneMaster are given in a straight-forward manner so that most of the sheet can be filled just by copying. Notes are included describing each personality and other individual details, and a brief description of the peculiarities of the cult.

ADDED Bonus: This updated edition of the book restores material previously cut from the original, specifically each of the 45 character backgrounds. Bill Keyes published them in his Azmadian Tales #11, in Alarums and Excursions #67 in 1981.

Note: This is a fully-remastered PDF true to the original printing.