ATLAS GAMES PRESENTS

RUNE
Jump-Start Rules
A FREE REFERENCE GUIDE
FOR BEGINNING RUNE PLAYERS

Welcome, young one. You stand

on the threshold of a grim but heroic
world, one made for mighty warriors. Against
Loki you will battle, and against his demonic brood,
who have declared grim and blood-spattered war upon
us. As you do this, you will rise from your present sta-
tion as a scrawny youngling into the ranks of our
mightiest heroes. As you prove yourself in battle, you
will win the favor of the gods, who will gift you with
ever-greater abilities. So step forward, young warrior.
Seize this sword by the hilt. Place this helm upon your
head. Ready yourself for your hallowed destiny. For in
mere moments, you will be smiting our foes!

© 2001 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games

 RUNE RPG

Overview A Hero is Made

Anyone with any lengthy experience of roleplay- As an experienced roleplayer, you may be expect-
ing games knows that gamers display a wide variety ing the typical arrangement whereby each player
of different tastes. Some people like to carefully sim- chooses from an array of very different, but comple-
ulate real forces in an imaginary world, to coopera- mentary, character types. Forget that errant non-
tively create thrilling adventures, or use roleplaying sense! Here we will all play stout and well-armored
as a vehicle for detailed psychological exploration of warriors, our abilities all honed in the forge of
the characters they create. And a whole lot of play- bloody combat! Warriors, we say! Warriors, warriors,
ers just like to tromp through mazes filled with dan- warriors!
gerous creatures and hack down anything that
moves. You don’t have to be one of the all-seeing The hero creation process is as follows:
Norns of Viking mythology to have guessed by now
that Rune caters to this last group. STEP 1: NAME YOUR HERO

The problem you face as a hack & slash player in Your hero needs a suitably Norse name. Odin
a conventional roleplaying game is that your Game will not smile upon a Fred or Jimbo. He must be a
Master will eventually get bored with the style before Thorleik or Ansgar to earn the favor of the gods.
you do. Rune solves that problem for you by dis-
tributing the GMing duties to multiple runners STEP 2: BUY CHARACTERISTICS
throughout the course of an evening. Each player, In this step, you’ll juggle the numbers to give
called a pillager in Rune, comes to a session with your hero his basic talents. There are eight of them:
an encounter created ahead of time that he plans to Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Quickness,
GM. The biggest part of the Rune rulebook is our Perception, Intelligence, Communication and
“Encounters” section, which provides a long list of Presence. Characteristics can range from -3, the
elements you can build into encounters, from piles absolute worst possible score for any living human
of treasure to fanatical opponents to nasty traps. being, to +3 as the apex of mortal possibility. You
Each element comes with a specific encounter start with 60 creation points, and the following chart
point cost or gain, and designers balance these in shows you what it costs to buy each possible rating
creating an encounter. The idea of encounters con- in each Characteristic. The negative ratings for
stituting a story is one we Vikings accept only grudg- Characteristics below zero mean that you actually
ingly, with narrowed and suspicious eyes. Although gain creation points by picking a lower than normal
advanced Rune adventures have set-ups, develop- rating.
ments, and climaxes, individual scenes are better
seen as an obstacle course through which your Char. -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
heroes must barrel, bloody axes held aloft. Strength -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
Stamina -16 -10 -6 0 4 8 16
As an encounter progresses, you may do some- Dexterity -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
thing that qualifies you for victory points. This is
Quickness -12 -8 -4 0 4 8 16
true whether you’re running the encounter or act-
Intelligence -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 8
ing as a member of the Horde. For instance, it’s in
Perception -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 8
the runner’s best interests for pillagers to fail rolls
Presence -2 -2 -2 0 2 4 8
and take a lot of damage, since runners get victory
Communication -2 -2 -2 0 2 4 8
points when this happens. Of course, the pillagers
also get victory points for rolls they succeed at, dam-
age dealt to foes, and loot they give to their com-
munity, among others. At the end of a session,
everyone counts up their victory points and a win-
ner is declared, making Rune a truly competitive
game guaranteed to stir Loki-like bloodlust.

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 Jump-Start
Rules

STEP 3: BUY ABILITIES

You are limited to a rating of 3 in any single Ability Category Gov. Char. Load
Ability, which are the skills your hero has learned. Awareness Primary Perception NA
Abilities divide into two categories: primary and sec- Brawling Primary Dexterity NA
ondary. These categories determine the cost of the Divine Awareness Primary Presence NA
various possible ratings in each Ability; since primary Dodge Primary Quickness NA
Abilities come up in play much more often than sec- Jump Secondary Strength NA
ondary ones, each point of a primary Ability costs 2 Sprint Secondary Strength NA
creation points while each point of a secondary Stealth Primary Dexterity NA
Ability costs only 1 point. Your roll to try to accom- Traps Primary Dexterity 0.5
plish an action faces a substantial -3 penalty if you
don’t have the relevant Ability, so don’t short your- STEP 4: CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS
self on Abilities when designing your character.
Outfit yourself with as many weapons as you can
Listed to the right are the Abilities that tend to crop
carry. On second thought, you should perhaps leave
up repeatedly in basic encounters. The Rune rule-
some space in your pack for other useful items. Still,
book has a more extensive list of Abilities for you to
it is good to have a great many weapons, so pick up
choose from.
to three of the following common weapons.

Init Atk Dfn Dam

Weapon Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability Availability
Dagger +2 +1 +2 +3 0.25 Single Common
Fist/Kick +1 +0 +0 +0 NA Brawling —
Flail (2 handed) +2 +7 +1 +7 0.5 Chain Common
Hand Axe +3 +1 +2 +6 0.5] Single Common
Mace +3 +2 +3 +5 0.5 Single Common
Net +0 +4 +2 +0 0.5 Chain Common
Puny Knife +1 +0 +1 +2 0.15 Single Common
Quarterstaff +6 +4 +8 +3 1 Great Common
Rock +4 +0 n/a +2 0.0 Thrown Common
Sap +1 +0 +1 +2 0.15 Single Common
Short Bow +0 +0 n/a +6 0.5 Bows Common
Shortspear +5 +1 +2 +3 0.5 Single Common
Shortsword +4 +2 +3 +3 0.5 Single Common
Shortsword + Dagger +6 +5 +6 +5 0.75 Two Weapons Common
Sling +2 +2 n/a +3 0.1 Thrown Common
Spear (thrown) +0 +2 +0 +6 1 Thrown Common
Spear/Lance +5 +6 +4 +6 1 Longshaft Common
Throwing Axe +1 +1 +0 +4 0.5 Thrown Common
Throwing Knife +1 +1 n/a +3 0.2 Thrown Common
Two Hand Axes +4 +5 +3 +7 1 Two Weapons Common
Two Short Swords +6 +3 +5 +7 1 Two Weapons Common
Viking Axe +5 +3 +4 +10 1.5 Great Common
Viking Broadsword +5 +3 +4 +6 1 Single Common
War Maul +5 +2 +5 +10 1.5 Great Common
Whip +0 +6 +0 +2 0.5 Chain Common

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 RUNE RPG

As shown on the chart, you must also have the cor- STEP 5: OTHER IMPORTANT NUMBERS
rect Ability in order to wield a weapon, so hopefully
A fight where a Viking warrior does not get
you have a few points left. Single Weapon, Chain
bloodied is hardly a fight at all. Your hero begins the
Weapon, Great Weapon, Two Weapons, and
game with a number of hit points, which are deter-
Longshaft Weapon are all primary Abilities with
mined by your combined Strength and Stamina
Dexterity as their Governing Characteristic.
Characteristics, as per the chart below.
Thrown Weapon and Bows are primary Abilities
with Perception as their Governing Characteristic. Strength + Starting
None of these have a Load value. Stamina Hit Points
-4 or less 37
Although you, as an eager warrior yet to be -3 to -1 40
blooded, may have visions of running shrieking into 0 44
combat, protected only by your screaming blades 1 to 3 48
and the valor of your heart, veteran Vikings will tell 4 52
you that there is no substitute for good armor pro- 5 56
tection. Someday a treacherous foe will jab past your 6 60
parrying sword or blocking shield, and on that day
you will be glad you wrapped your hide in as much You can buy additional hit points by spending
protective gear as you could muster. creation points; these vary according to your
Stamina, as shown below.
You can start the game with any one type of com-
Extra
mon armor, and one common shield of your choice Stamina Hit Points
(listed below). Shields add their Init, Atk, Dfn, -3 +1 hit point
Dam, and Load ratings to the ratings of the single -2 +2 hit points
weapon with which they are paired. Again, be sure -1 +3 hit points
you take the Single Weapons Ability to be able to use 0 +4 hit points
your shield! 1 +5 hit points
Prot Init 2 +6 hit points
Armor Rating Rating Load
Quilted/Fur 1 -0 1.0 3 +7 hit points
Heavy Leather 3 -1 1.5 Especially nasty hits are called Wounds. You suf-
Studded Leather 5 -3 2.0 fer a Wound when the damage you take from a sin-
Chain Mail 7 -5 2.5 gle blow, after your Soak has been taken into
account, equals or exceeds your Wound Threshold.
Init Atk Dfn Dam The value of your Wound Threshold depends on
Shield Rating Rating Rating Rating Load Ability
your Stamina, as per the chart below.
Buckler +0 +0 +2 +0 0.25 Single
Round Shield +0 +0 +3 +0 0.5 Single Wound
Stamina Threshold
Kite Shield -1 -1 +4 +0 2 Single
-3 2 hit points
-2 4 hit points
-1 6 hit points
0 9 hit points
1 12 hit points
2 15 hit points
3 18 hit points
Encumbrance measures the degree to which the
weight and bulk of the things you carry slows you
down. There are five degrees of Encumbrance. From
best to worst, they are: Light, Loaded, Overloaded,

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 Jump-Start
Rules

INITIATIVE SCORE (ARMED):

Qik Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapon’s Init Rating + Init Ratings of Armor & Shield - ENC Decrease
INITIATIVE SCORE (UNARMED):
Qik Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Init Rating + Init Rating of Armor & Shield - ENC Decrease
INITIATIVE SCORE (NON-COMBAT):
Qik Characteristic + Sprint Ability + Init Ratings of Armor& Shield - Your ENC Decrease
ATK SCORE (MELEE WEAPONS):
Dex Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapon’s Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease
ATK SCORE (MISSILE WEAPONS):
Per Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapon’s Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease
ATK SCORE (UNARMED):
Dex Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Atk Rating + Atk Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease
DFN SCORE (ARMED):
Qik Characteristic + Weapon Ability + Weapon’s Dfn Rating + Dfn Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease
DFN SCORE (UNARMED):
Qik Characteristic + Brawling Ability + Fist/Kick Dfn Rating + Dfn Rating of Shield - ENC Decrease
DAM SCORE (MELEE WEAPONS ONLY):
Your Str + Your Weapon’s Dam Rating
SOAK SCORE:
Your Sta + Your Arnor’s Prot Rating

Better Put Something Down, and No One Will Your Move is derived from your Sprint Ability (or
Take This Much Encumbrance. To determine lack thereof). Use the chart below to find yours.
your level of Encumbrance, use the chart below to
Your Sprint Ability Full Move
compare your Strength with the total Load of every-
0 15 paces
thing you’re carrying.
1 20 paces
Over- Put No One 2 25 paces
Strength Light Loaded loaded Down Will...
3 30 paces
-3 < 0.5 0.5 1 2 4
-2 <1 1 2 4 6 Your Response score is used by runners in creat-
-1 <2 2 4 6 8 ing game statistics for your foes. You’ll need to write
it down for the runner at the beginning of each
0 <4 4 6 8 10
encounter. It is your highest overall modifier (that is,
1 <6 6 8 10 12
both governing Characteristic and Ability rating) of
2 <8 8 10 12 14
any of the following: Awareness, Balance, Bravery,
3 < 10 10 12 14 16
Dodge, Sprint, or Engagement. For this purpose,
4+ — Add 2 per additional point —
Engagement is your Str + best melee weapon Ability.
When you are Loaded or worse, you suffer an
Encumbrance Decrease to all rolls in which Now figure out the rest of your stats according to
Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, or Quickness are com- the formulae listed in the box above.
ponents. The decreases are as follows:
STEP 6: START PLAYING!
Degree of Encumbrance Decrease
Light 0 To restate our point, character differentiation in
Loaded 1 Rune happens in play, when you spend your victo-
Overloaded 3 ry points on special powers and such, not at the
Better Put Something Down 5 start. The sooner your character gets out into the
No One Will Take... 8 world of adventure, the sooner you can make him
the envy of all of your opponents!

5
 RUNE RPG

ceeds — or they can be Rush rolls — only one hero

Rules Basics need make the roll, and only he enjoys the gain or
The most important element of a combat-orient- suffers the pain.
ed RPG is, of course, rolling dice. In some cases, the hero might try to exceed a sup-
You are one of the pillagers. Your hero is deep in the porting character’s roll instead of rolling against a
underground, in a strange cavern that seems to swallow flat Difficulty. For this kind of Opposed roll, the
up and feed upon the light from his torch. He steps care- formula is as follows:
fully forward. Suddenly, a net falls upon him! Can he OPPOSED ROLLS
avoid the net, or will he be trapped? Ability + Governing Char. + Gifts + 1d10 vs
Of course he can avoid the net! He is a hero, and Opponent’s Ability + Governing Char. + Gifts + 1d10
heroes make their own luck by the strength of their Various circumstances set out in the rules may
backs, the speed of their feet, and the quickness of change your die roll either upwards or downwards.
their wit. A number added to your die roll is called an
increase. A number subtracted from your die roll is
NON-COMBAT ROLLS a decrease.

When you try to do something in the game, and Sometimes something bad will happen to your
the outcome of your attempt is uncertain, you roll a hero and he will suffer a decrease to every roll he
ten-sided die and add it to your bonus, a number makes until the problem is rectified, either by your
derived from some combination of your hero’s actions or through the simple passage of time. This
Characteristics, Abilities, and Gifts (the special pow- state is known as Impairment. Each point of
ers from the gods that you can buy with victory decrease is called an Impairment point. The oppo-
points; these are listed in the Rune rulebook). The site of this is Invigoration, which gives your hero
runner then compares it to a Difficulty number an increase for a certain amount of time.
listed in his encounter notes. The tougher the task,
the higher this number will be. For example, a EARNING (& LOSING) VICTORY POINTS
Difficulty of 5 would be very easy, while one of 16+
The goal of all this rolling of dice is, of coure, to
is superhuman. A Difficulty of 6 is the average. If the
earn the most victory points and win the game.
total of your roll beats the Difficulty, you succeed at
Some ways a pillager can earn victory points include:
whatever you’re trying to do. Again, for Standard
rolls the formula is as follows: •One victory point for every point of damage his
hero deals to a foe.
STANDARD & SINGULAR ROLLS
Ability + Governing Char. + Gifts + 1d10 vs Difficulty •50% of the foe’s Might rating when his hero
In Standard rolls each hero rolls once; successful deals the final death blow.
heroes gain a benefit (like a bonus to their next roll) •Every time a hero succeeds at a roll specified in
or avoid a negative consequence (like a trap); unsuc- the encounter notes, his pillager gains victory
cessful heroes lose the benefit or suffer a negative points equal to three times the difference
consequence. However, as you probably deduced between the Difficulty and the result of the roll.
from the above formula’s title, the designer can also
pay for a Singular roll, in which only one hero •One victory point for every ounce of silver the
rolls; if he succeeds, all the heroes enjoy the benefit heroes return to their families or communities.
or suffer the negative consequence. The formula is
•If you play the runner’s hero for him, you get
the same for Singular rolls as for Standard ones.
50% of the victory points for the things he did.
Singular rolls can also be No-Fault rolls — all the
But pillagers can also lose victory points just as
characters can roll and they all gain a benefit or
quickly as they rack them up. They can lose points
avoid a negative consequence if even one hero suc-
in the following ways:

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 Jump-Start
Rules

•One victory point for each point of damage GLORIOUS COMBAT!

their heroes suffer.
Of course, in order to earn all of these victory
•If a pillager’s hero dies, his score is automati- points you’ve got to know how to bash Loki’s min-
cally 0. ions! Each pillager rolls to see who goes first, applying
his hero’s Initiative score for the weapon he plans
•Sometimes encounters penalize heroes for dis- to use (or his unarmed INIT score if the pillager
honorable behavior, subtracting victory points wants to just beat someone to a pulp) to this roll as a
as a loss of status. bonus. Pillagers who intend to engage in activity
•If a pillager deliberately chooses to have his other than combat roll their heroes’ non-combat
hero attack another, he deducts five victory Initiative score to determine the order of action.
points for every point of actual damage dealt to Each hero gets to act in the order of his Initiative
his victim. If the hero he attacks dies, the total, from highest to lowest. When your turn comes
aggressor’s score is automatically 0. in the Initiative order, the runner asks what you
•Pillagers suffer a penalty for each hero, other than want your hero to do. You can answer by
their own, who died in the course of the using the flowchart below. If
encounter; 75 points from the winner, 45 from the your hero is within 2
runner-up, and 30 from the second runner-up. paces of an enemy,
he is considered
•50% of your victory points for not running an Engaged with
encounter when it’s your turn, as well as 50% of him.
all victory points you earn until you actually do it.

COMBAT FLOWCHART D. HOLD GROUND OR If the distance between hero and tar-
DUCK & WEAVE? get is equal to or less than the number
of paces he can move, go to Question
A. TO HIT, OR NOT TO HIT? If your hero started his action already F. If not, your proposed attack is
in range of the target, and with an impossible. Select a new opponent, or
If your hero is trying to hit a target, appropriate weapon already in hand, forego an action this round.
you must specify who or what the tar- you can choose between two advanta-
get is, and which weapon will be geous maneuvers. By holding F. ONCE WITHIN RANGE,
employed in the smiting. Go to ground, you add 1 to your ATK score IS YOUR WEAPON READY?
Question B. If you want your hero to for the duration of the round. By
do something other that hit a target ducking and weaving, you add 1 to If you must move your hero to get
with a weapon, you must specify what your DFN score for the duration. within range of an enemy, you must
this other action might be. Skip to The higher your INIT, the more have an appropriate weapon already at
Question G. advantageous it is to duck and weave. hand. Otherwise, you can’t hit him
and must either select an opponent
Once you’ve gained an advantage from already within range, or forgo your
B. IS YOUR TARGET IN RANGE? either option, your hero can’t switch to action this round.
If your target is already within range of an incompatible maneuver or attack
your hero, he has some extra time in form later in the round. He’s stuck
G. WHAT IS YOUR
which he can make other choices. Go to with your previous declaration.
NON-COMBAT ACTION?
Question C. If your target is not within
range, go to Question E. E. CAN YOU MOVE WITHIN RANGE? If you choose not to have your hero
hit something, you have a number of
With the runner’s assistance, you choices available. You can Seize
C. IS YOUR WEAPON READY? must determine whether it is possible Ground, Seek Cover, Withdraw,
If your hero’s weapon is not ready, he to move within range as part of your Flee, perform a Reckless Move,
has no choice but to ready it. Then he hero’s action. The number of paces he Administer Healing, Change
hits as normal. If his weapon is ready, can move and still attempt to attack Weapons, Wait for Opportunity, or
he has more options available to him. someone depends on your Sprint some other action. See the Rune rule-
Go to Question D. Ability rating. Heroes never have a book for more on each of these.
move lower than a Sprint rating of 0.

7
 RUNE RPG

DAMAGE AND HEALING A Wound is an injury too horrible to recover

from by merely sitting up against a tree for a while
Often the difference between your roll total and
and giving voice to the occasional manly grunt. If
the Difficulty (or the roll of your foe) becomes
your hero is wounded, a character with the Healing
important. This is also true when figuring damage.
Ability must get to work on him with his kit of
MELEE ATTACKS splints, bandages, medicines, and poultices. Bleeding
{[(Attacker’s Roll + ATK Score) characters can also benefit from a healer, but can, if
- (Defender’s Roll + DFN Score)] + DAM Score} needed, heal up purely via the aforementioned
- Soak = Hit Points Lost manly grunt method.
MISSILE ATTACKS:
{[(Attacker’s Roll + ATK Score)
- (6 + Attack Modifiers)] + DAM Score}
- Soak = Hit Points Lost
When your hero suffers damage over and above his
Soak, temporarily reduce his hit points by that num-
RUNE
BY ROBIN D. LAWS
ber. When that damage is also equal to or greater than
his Wound Threshold, he not only temporarily loses Stock Number: AG3600 • ISBN 1-877801-91-X
that number of hit points, but also gains a Wound. Description: 256 pages, hardcover

He can take more than one Wound in a single Ava i l a b l e f ro m At l a s G a m e s

hit. If the damage is equal to or greater than twice
his Wound Threshold, he takes two Wounds. Unless, voice 651-638-0077 • fax 651-638-0084
email [email protected]
that is, it also is equal to or greater than three times free support material at www.atlas-games.com!
his Wound Threshold, in which case he takes three
Wounds, and so on. Ask for Rune at your local
For each Wound he suffers, he takes 1 point of game or book store!
Impairment. When his Wound total reaches 4, he
becomes Incapacitated. He’s still conscious, but in
so much pain that he can’t move (except to writhe
in pain), think (except about the incredible agony
he’s experiencing), or speak (although horrifying LEGALESE
groans are permissible). The Rune computer game is © 2000 Human Head Studios,
Inc. All rights reserved. Rune, the Rune logo, Human Head
The instant that his hit points reach 0, or his Studios, Inc. and the Human Head Studios logo are trade-
Wound total reaches 5, the character is in danger of marks of Human Head Studios, Inc., and are used under
immediate death. Unless healed instantly (see license.
below), you cough up some blood, utter a final curse The Rune RPG Jump-Start Rules were compiled by
against your foes, loll your tongue out of your head, Michelle Nephew from the original Rune RPG rules by
Robin Laws. This publication is © 2001 Trident, Inc. d/b/a
collapse like a sack of rocks, and die. Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Atlas Games is a trade-
mark of John Nephew and Trident, Inc. Permission is grant-
Luckily, heroes heal up between every encounter; ed to reproduce this document for personal use.
they also shed any Impairment points they’ve
gained due to circumstances arising from the previ-
ous encounter. However, sometimes heroes will find
themselves sufficiently injured in mid-encounter PO Box 131233
that they’ll want to crawl off somewhere and heal Roseville, MN 55113
before continuing. Unwounded heroes return to [email protected]
maximum hit points after eight hours of sleep and www.atlas-games.com
eight hours of rest.