From the Introduction to Mystic Secrets: The Lore of Word and Rune

By Mike Mearls

If there's magic, it's fantasy. That's one of the simplest ways to describe fantasy in terms of games and fiction.

Magic plays a key role in almost every fantasy setting, and the world of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed is no different. If magic is rare, when it does appear, it's an important event. If magic is common, then the race for power becomes a competition to see who can master the mightiest spells and artifacts. Beyond those simple descriptions, magic is different for every fantasy world.

In the Lands of the Diamond Throne, magic plays an important but sometimes subtle part in daily life. The sibeccai farmer who performs a ritual to learn when to plant his crops uses magic in much the same way as the magister who hurls mighty bolts of energy at his foes. They might operate on a different scale, but at the end of the day they both need a touch of magic to make their way through the world.

Mystic Secrets: The Lore of Word and Rune focuses on how magic is different in the Lands of the Diamond Throne. It looks at rituals, runes, and other factors that separate Arcana Unearthed from other settings you may have gamed in. Whether you are a doughty warmain or a cunning magister, there's something in this book for you to use. The chapters cover the following topics:

How Will This Book Improve My Game?

All too often in games, magic becomes a mundane part of the background. A spellcaster who can send explosive balls of flame at his enemies has all the wonder and mystery of a loaded pistol. Mystic Secrets: The Lore of Word and Rune tries to counter that tendency by focusing on the unique aspects of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed and emphasizing the everyday magic that can touch a character's life.

Runes and ceremonies are vital to the folk of the Diamond Throne. Barely a day goes by when they do not see a rune or complete a minor ritual. By investing magical power in such things, these rules emphasize runes and rituals. Characters might complete a helpful ceremony before heading out on an adventure and should recognize the power and importance of runes. Whenever possible, the new rules given here are grounded and justified within the setting's context. Nothing exists in a vacuum—you won't see any floating bonuses, modifiers, or special abilities that mean little beyond the numbers and rules on a character sheet.

This emphasis makes Mystic Secrets useful to all characters, not just spellcasters. While the new spells and items are slanted toward such magic-using PCs, the rituals, rune manifests, and bonds are potent tools for any heroic character.

Using This Book

Mystic Secrets: The Lore of Word and Rune is designed in segments, allowing you to pick and choose the parts of the rules to use in your campaign. As a DM, it is best to read through this entire book and find the parts that appeal to you. Over time, you may find the opportunity to introduce rituals or new runes to the characters. Don't forget that nonplayer characters (NPCs) and villains are just as likely to use these new abilities as the player characters themselves. If the players don't take rituals seriously, they may do so after their enemies turn ceremonial magic against them.

With its emphasis on bringing out some of the unique aspects of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, this book fits effortlessly with games that use material from The Diamond Throne campaign sourcebook. Even if you use a homebrewed setting based on Arcana Unearthed, the rules here draw logical conclusions from the tone and feel of the core book. The introduction of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed covers the themes and ideas explored here, along with some insight into the design process.

Finally, even if you don't play or run an Arcana Unearthed game, it's fine to use the material here in any fantasy campaign. The ceremonies and rituals are balanced against character level, as are the rune manifests (see Chapter Two). Since ceremonies and rituals cost money to complete, you can use the standard guidelines for character wealth or simply limit the amount of treasure you make available in the game to control their use. The spells in Chapter Four can be ported over without change, as can the mystic sites in Chapter Three.

Breaking it Down

As mentioned earlier, this book is of use to spellcasters and nonspellcasters alike. The new rituals in Chapter One can benefit any class, as they present flexible new abilities that characters can gain simply by paying a gold piece cost. Warmains, champions, totem warriors, and mage blades in particular find the new rules for item bonds useful, because they allow these characters to forge a greater attachment to their favorite items. Since mage blades can take Knowledge (ceremony) as a class skill, they can quickly master the various rituals needed to establish a bond with a weapon, such as their athame. Greenbonds, runethanes, witches, akashics, and magisters can use Knowledge (ceremony) to master a broad range of rites to aid the party or even establish a bond of friendship among the characters.

The new rules for runes in Chapter Two obviously benefit runethanes, as they broaden their selection of abilities. The minor rune manifests—spirits you can summon and bind to perform a minor service—can prove useful to any character with ranks in Knowledge (runes) or Knowledge (ceremony). As your characters gain ranks in those skills, you can learn more ceremonies from Chapter One and/or the rituals needed to bind rune manifests. The expanded rules for runechildren give you options for joining the ranks of these heroes, while the dreaded heralds of annihilation give the DM new options for villains.

Chapter Three's mystic sites present a set of rules DMs can use to show how the land can affect and alter magical effects. The three sample sites provide a launching pad for adventures and serve as examples of highly magical locales.

The new spells in Chapter Four are useful to any character with a talent for magic. Chapter Five's new magic items—rune weapons—are primarily helpful for combatants, but the rune templates give you a method to increase any magical item's utility.