Rune World

ALPHA. This is an early alpha of what Rune World is meant to become. Nothing is final: it still runs without limits or balance restrictions (the default "test mode" unlocks every rune with no material costs, and the Book of Runes is given to you on spawn), numbers will change, and bugs may occur. Please back up your world and character before playing.

Rune World is a rune-magic overhaul for Valheim: 24 Elder Futhark runes cast from a Book of Runes, powered by a personal magical Flow, plus rune structures, enchanting and a few new world events.

Mod features

An overview of everything Rune World adds to the game. Details, numbers and controls of every rune are on its card in the Runes tab of the Book of Runes. The same overview is in the game: Book of Runes → Features tab (Polish and English).

Flow – the foundation of every rune

Runes have no mana bar. They run on Flow, measured in Y per second (Y/s). You start with 1 Y/s; boss trophies hung on the sacrificial stones at the spawn raise it: Eikthyr 3, The Elder 5, Bonemass 8, Moder 11, Yagluth 14, The Queen 17 Y/s (set by the server). In test mode you always have at least 11 Y/s.

Load is anything that keeps drawing on your Flow while it exists: a circle, a sign, a summon, an Ansuz shape, a Raidho anchor, a Pertho mark, a Sowilo light orb, a Thurisaz wall, an enchanted item that is switched on. Free Flow = Flow − Load. Every cast is paid from Free Flow: while you hold the button you gather the cost, and the spell happens only at 100%; releasing early disperses what you gathered.

Saturation: on some runes you can keep holding past the cost – the surplus makes the effect stronger (Uruz Frenzy up to three times the cost, Mannaz detection accuracy, Pertho luck, Raidho flight). Stock: circles, pillars, the Gebo store and enchanted items have their own energy stock that you top up (E on the sign, the U panel).

When Load grows beyond Flow, after a short grace something drops (for example the newest summon or Uruz). The Flow orb in the bottom-right corner shows Free Flow against total Flow, with Load drawn dark; the Flow tab of the Book lists what loads you. The older eitr mode is a server option.

Basic controls

All keys are the defaults and can be changed in the config file.

The runes

Runes have no levels: an unlocked rune works at full power. Its full description, numbers and controls are inside the Book of Runes.

Book of Runes and controls

You craft the Book at a workbench (5 wood, 2 leather scraps, 2 resin); in test mode you get it at once. The tilde key (BackQuote) opens the Book. You unlock a rune on its card for materials (Raidho at a level 2 forge); in test mode all runes are unlocked. Runes have no levels – an unlocked rune works at full power.

You cast with the Book in hand. Left Alt + mouse wheel switches the rune, Left Alt + drawing with the left button picks a rune by its shape. Left mouse button (hold and release) casts; E while charging places a circle or sign, the wheel sets its size (for summoners – the creature). E on a circle tops it up, holding the right button for 1.5 s breaks a circle, sign or portal or dismisses a summon. The bar at the bottom of the screen always shows the keys of the current rune.

With the Book in hand E belongs to magic: stations, beds, portals and the helm do not react, while doors, chests and picking up work with the normal E. The U key opens the enchanted items panel, Delete removes all your Raidho portals. Tabs: Runes, Bindrunes, Flow, World (events, PL/EN language), Graphics (effect profiles), Help (tutorial) and this one.

Circles, signs, pillars and enchanted objects

A rune circle or sign stands in the world and works within its range, using its own stock and loading your Flow. Placed on a wall, ceiling or steep slope it lies flat on that surface. The Book has a “My circles in this world” button with a list and removal. Limits per player (one table): 1 – Wunjo, Othala, Pertho; 2 – Berkano, Fehu, Ingwaz, Dagaz, Gebo; 3 – Sowilo, Raidho; 4 – Kenaz, Tiwaz, Thurisaz, Laguz; 6 – Jera. Each such object (including a Sowilo light orb and a Thurisaz wall) loads your Flow by 0.5 Y/s.

The Rune Pillar (a building) keeps a rune's circle standing permanently from its own stock: a short E opens the pillar's rune panel, holding E pours energy in. An Othala circle raises a sphere that no enemy or wild animal can enter (you and your allies pass); a Berkano circle gives +30 max health. A pillar with Ansuz scouts: every 10 s it marks enemies and points of interest within 60 m on the map, for all players. A pillar with Raidho is a permanent portal anchor: it is on the portal and Jump lists and does not count towards the anchor limit.

Enchanted objects: cast a rune with the crosshair on a supported object (up to 10 m) – it sticks as a sign for 5 min (at most 5 at once, 0.5 Y/s). E.g. Kenaz on a campfire – fuel lasts 2× longer, on a smelter smelting +25%; Fehu on a smelter, sap extractor or fermenter +25%; Wunjo on a bed – Rested +3 min; Tiwaz on a ballista +20%; Thurisaz on stakes – damage ×1.5; Algiz on a building – no wild creatures spawn within 20 m; Eihwaz on a ship or cart −30% damage; Pertho on a table or forge – 10% for +1 quality (together with a Pertho pillar and amulet at most 25%).

Drawn glyphs

Left Alt + drawing: a triangle hangs over your head for 15 s, a circle goes on any surface for 2 min, a square stays permanently (at most 10), a pentagram stands for 10 min. Draw something inside and only the drawing stays – everyone sees it. The pentagram also starts Odin's Network and the star ritual.

Bindrunes

Two unlocked runes on a shared stem give a strong spell chosen only by drawing (Left Alt + the sign), with a long cooldown: Wildfire (Pożoga; Kenaz and Thurisaz) – a ring of fire and a fire wave; Calm Sky (Wunjo and Dagaz) – a zone without rain, snow or high waves; Mist Shroud (Laguz and Kenaz) – fog in which creatures lose players; Roots of the Old Man (Eihwaz and Jeran) – a volley of roots that holds enemies; Gate of Heaven (Dagaz and Sowilo) – world time moves 12 hours; Radiant Emblem (Uruz and Tiwaz) – a permanent glowing sign (decoration). Descriptions in the Bindrunes tab.

Rune circle, jewellery and enchanting

The Rune Circle (a building) crafts amulets, rings (bronze, black metal) and an iron necklace with one rune, and enchants items. An amulet goes in the belt slot (or an extra slot) and works on its own.

Enchanting puts a rune on a weapon, armour, an amulet or a tool (Isaz pickaxe, Ingwaz axe and pickaxe, Jera scythe and cultivator). Each rune has one effect in each slot – e.g. Ehwaz weapon: Confusion, Algiz armour: familiar strength, Hagalaz amulet: longer summons. Armour pays only while its condition holds; the same rune on several pieces works once. The U panel: charging, switching on and off. Old enchanted items switch to the current effect on their own.

The Essence converter (a building) turns spare items into Essence (100 points = 1 Essence). Essence fuels the star ritual.

Travel and ships

Raidho: holding E places a named portal (the anchor is a Load), a short E inside a portal circle opens the destination list; portals show on the map. The left button is a bound or a flight from saturated Flow. With Raidho in hand you walk on deep water, and a second Space in the air lifts you 4 m for 6 s. Raidho amulet: the “Jump” button in the U panel takes you to one of your own anchors for the amulet's whole charge.

The Flight Altar (20 stone, 10 fine wood, 6 silver) with a Rune Heart placed on a ship lets it fly: at the helm with the Book in hand Insert – up, End – down. A Laguz sign on water pushes the boat and calms the sea.

Shapes and summons

Ansuz: eight shapes – Raven, Wolf, Serpent, Dragon, Seeker, Troll, Seal and Bonemaw – each with its own abilities. Holding a shape loads your Flow more and more; overloading drops the shape and blocks your Flow for 30 s. In a shape the Book acts as Ansuz: Alt + wheel does not switch the rune, and the left and right buttons are only the shape's abilities.

Hagalaz summons the undead (skeleton, archer, draugr, wraith, ghost, Ulv), and a quick click throws a bone. Algiz summons nature familiars (boar, nyx, wolf, wyvern, golem) and a bat swarm. Ehwaz binds a creature for a while. Every living summon is a Load; E on an enemy sends them to attack, holding the right button for 1.5 s on a summon dismisses it.

Map and detection

Mannaz detects, as you choose (mouse wheel): game and enemies, ores, places (crypts, caves, towers, ruins, traders) or rune stones within 50–100 m for 2 minutes; the marks show in the world and on the map, for other players too. The more saturation, the more precise – from “Something is here” to “Exactly here”.

Map trails: a “Trails” button on the large map. The left button draws (solid, dashed, dotted or arrow line, 6 colours, width), the right button erases, Ctrl+Z undoes; ending at the start closes an area you can fill and name, and the length shows live. Trails are saved with the world and everyone sees them; each player erases their own (the administrator – all). The map also shows pins of Raidho portals, pentagrams and the Odin's Network task.

Odin's Network and the star ritual

After defeating Eikthyr, draw a pentagram at a rune stone and connect it with 150 Y of Flow to join Odin's Network (Sieć Odyna). Hugin the raven offers two hidden challenges (e.g. catch a pike, eat three dishes of a biome, sail a boat, kill a troll with a torch) – one at a time for the whole world, shared by players. The reward is an Odin's scroll (e.g. water walking, gear repair, Odin's Eye – map revealed for 300 m, fair wind, Ymir's Breath, an allied serpent, Leviathan or creature, a summoned storm, Freyja's Gift, scout ravens) or an item: Odin's weapon, shield or arrows of the world's tier.

Star ritual: draw a pentagram, place five ritual torches at its points (hammer, Misc), drop 100 Essence in the middle and press E with the Book in hand. A star chunk falls 300–500 m away; you mine 10 star metal from it (bronze pickaxe or better). The torches point toward the chunk.

World events

Wild Hunt of the Dead (Upiorny Gon): on calm nights a green light rises at sea and a fog rolls in; skeletons, draugr and wraiths walk across the water and attack players and creatures. A boss follows the big wave and reinforcements keep coming until it is defeated; loot is left on the shore.

Apparitions: Ulv – a huge werewolf watching from a ridge at dusk and night in the mountains, the Sea Giant – in storms far from shore; both are harmless and vanish when you come close. Man-eating bear – in a dense forest a blood-red bear comes out behind you, stronger with every defeated boss, and hunts you; it drops good loot. Toggles and chances are in the World tab.

Multiplayer and settings

The mod works in single player, on a hosted world and on a dedicated server – install it on the server too: world state (Odin's Network, Wild Hunt, trails, circles) is kept by the server. Most balance numbers are synchronised from the server and only the administrator changes them.

Worth knowing: test mode (KsiegaTrybTestowyV1, on by default) unlocks all runes without material costs and gives the Book at once; EnergiaZakresV1 chooses Flow or the old eitr; the server sets the Flow gains for trophies; the administrator switches world events in the World tab; KsiegaPrzejmujeEV1 turns off the Book taking over E; language and graphics profile are each player's local settings.

Requirements

• BepInExPack Valheim
• Jötunn

Known issues

This is an alpha. Expect rough edges, untranslated (Polish) texts in places, and changes between versions. Bug reports are welcome.