Runeblades

I'm 45 soon. I don't know if it's my age, or all the talk about OSR nostalgia and stuff, but I've been re-reading old issues of the White Dwarf magazine (the original one, not the minis catalogue).

Those old issues would often feature RuneQuest articles. In issue 39, p16-17, there is an article titled Runeblades by Dave Morris [Q: is he the same Dave Morris who wrote the Fabled Lands series?] that presents a list of magic blades for rune-level characters for a selection of runic cults.

Those were the times...

Here's a short, summarised selection from the article, without too many rules-mechanics details, since the idea is to adapt the 'Runeblades' to your favourite rules system.

Volcanic Sword
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Fire/Sky rune. Whenever needed, the blade will rise in temperature to red-heat within seconds. Any damage that penetrates armour is doubled. This would definitely look dandy in the hands of an Olodo chieftain!

Severblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Death rune. The sword does normal damage, but it is so sharp that it cuts easily through armour, thus halving its protective value.

Blurblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Mobility rune.The sword moves with dazzling speed, allowing its wielder to always gain initiative (or strike first).

Stormblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Air rune. The sword allows its user to summon storms once a day. The storm will muster within ne minute and then last for up to fifteen minutes. Within this zone, all movement is halved, flying creatures must make a successful agility roll (or similar test) to continue flying, communication is impossible, and visibility is restricted to but a few metres.

Nightblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Death rune. Nightblades give their user the equivalent of the Troll's Darksense, and a bonus to any stealth-related talent.

Spellblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Magic rune. This sword increases the amount of spells its user is able to cast, or adds spell-casting ability to a non-magic-using wielder.

Fortress Sword
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Stasis rune. It enhances to chance to parry.

Chillblade
This sword is the rune blade of cults tied to the Cold rune. Whenever it crits, the sword may inoculate a kind of icy poison into the location that has been hit.

Have fun in bestowing these lethal weapons upon your NPCs. Moreover, since their powers are linked to the rune-level-ness of their wielder, your PCs won't be able to re-use them, should they manage to kill the original wielder!