Frostgrave: The Rune Stone Race

Hello again from the Vault, and thanks for stopping by to read my latest hobby scribblings! Some time ago I ran a Frostgrave demo session at my local club (First Founding in Chessington, SW London), and the idea of running a Frostgrave campaign has resurfaced on the club Facebook group.

We've had a number of successful campaigns recently (Dropzone Commander, Blood Bowl), and an Infinity campaign is about to kick off so I offered to knock up some rules for the Frostgrave fun and games.

First Founding; the regular venue for a Friday night fire fight!

Rather than using a hard Victory Points based system I've come up with something of a more narrative theme I think is in keeping with the Frostgrave spirit; I hope my fellow club members agree!  This is the first version; I will post any changes or modifications in a follow up posting.

The Rune Stone Race
The Rune Stone Race is a set of rules for running a narrative Frostgrave “mini-campaign”. Rather than following the more traditional set up of a series of linked scenarios, the Rune Stone Race is designed to fit alongside whatever scenarios the players care to play among themselves.

Campaign Background
The Word Binders were an order of Sigilists who resided within ancient Felstad. These word mages developed a unique form of Rune magic which overcame the limitations of working with traditional parchment and ink; they carved runes into magical stones and crystals which could then be used by their owners to enhance other spell casting without being consumed like traditional scrolls.

As the frozen city is slowly thawing out and its secrets are being revealed examples of these Rune Stones are being found within the ruins, and their powers utilised by the wizards and mages who explore the ancient halls and squares. More recently a tome has been discovered which describes how these Rune Stones can be combined to form more complex and powerful enchantments.

This news has travelled fast and now the Wizards are racing to gather these stones for themselves and unlock the powerful magic these runic devices contain.

Elementalist Rune Stone

Campaign Objective
As the Wizards and their war bands explore Felstad they will come across various types of Rune Stones, either hidden as part of treasure troves, or as loot from defeated enemies.  The Wizards are also seeking the “Tome of Transformation” which explains how one Rune Stone can be converted into another, and how a complete set of Rune Stones can be formed into the Tablet of Power. The first Wizard to acquire a Tablet of Power will win the campaign.

Campaign Rules: Rune Stones
The primary method of acquiring Rune Stones is from Treasure Tokens.  When a player is rolling for the contents of his first treasure token at the end of a game (assuming he has achieved some success in his adventures in Felstad), he must also roll (d20) on the following table to see which Rune Stone he has acquired:

• 1-2: Chronomancer
• 3-4: Elementalist
• 5-6: Enchanter
• 7-8: Illusionist
• 9-10: Necromancer
• 11-12: Sigilist
• 13-14: Soothsayer
• 15-16: Summoner
• 17-18: Thaumaturge
• 19-20: Witch

A spell caster who carries a Rune Stone is granted a +1 bonus when casting any spell from the Rune Stone’s school.
Rune Stones may not be left in a treasure vault during a game; they must be carried by a model; however Rune Stones are small and do not take up an item slot. Any Rune Stones carried by a model slain during a game (see the Injury and Death section of the campaign rules) are lost (unless they are looted by another war band).

The secondary method of acquiring Rune Stones is by looting; if a model carrying a Rune Stone is reduced to 0 Health in combat with a model from another war band, then the victor may loot (acquire) one Rune Stone from the fallen model. If the hapless victim is carrying more than one Rune Stone, only one (determined at random) can be looted.

Witch Rune Stone

Campaign Rules: Tome of Transformation
As well as the myriad of Rune Stones, the Wizards are also looking for a copy of the Tome of Transformation as this spell book provides the arcane knowledge necessary to craft the Tablet of Power.

If a player finds a Grimoire when determining the contents of a Treasure Token he may decline to roll on the random Grimoire table and acquire the Tome of Transformation instead. This option may only be taken once.  Once in possession of the Tome of Transformation, the Wizard may learn the Alter Rune Stone spell (as per any learning any other spell).

Alter Rune Stone

Sigilist / 14 / Out of Game

A Wizard may attempt to cast this spell before any game. If successful he chooses any Rune Stone in his possession which is immediately transformed into a different Rune Stone (e.g. a Wizard successfully casts Alter Rune Stone, and as he already owns two Witch Rune Stones he uses the spell to transform one of the two Witch Rune Stones into an Illusionist Rune Stone).

In addition to the Alter Rune Stone spell, the Tome of Transformation also contains the ritual to combine the 10 unique Rune Stones into the Tablet of Power and thus win the campaign. In order to utilise this ritual the Wizard must be in possession of the 10 Rune Stones and the Tome of Transformation at the end of a game. No casting roll is required; the ritual will automatically succeed.

Summoner Rune Stone

Campaign Rule: By my name shall you know me!
A player who provides a written description of his Wizard and Warband will receive a bonus of 50 XP at the end of a game. This bonus XP may only be claimed once during the campaign.

Campaign Rule: Raise the banners!
A player whose war band models are all painted and based will receive a bonus of 50 XP at the end of a game. This bonus XP may only be claimed once during the campaign.

Thanks for taking the time to read the article; any (constructive!) feedback is certainly appreciated! I'll leave you all with a Tablet of Power, long coveted by the Spellcasters of Felstad.

The Tablet of Power. Sparkly!