Rules Update - Items & Sockets

The following is the fully realized rules for Items, including sockets, runes, and Bonded Items. Note that the actual creation of sockets is in the Smithing rules.

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Runes and Sockets
Special items within the world of Knight Realms are highly customizable and can be enhanced by mystical rituals, ceremonies, and techniques possessed by heroic individuals. While the individual enhancements and the professions that can craft them are listed in the Advanced Rulebook, they all follow the same basic rules, which are listed here.

Runes
When a Sorcerer, Ceremonialist, Elder, Artificer, or other crafter creates an enhancement, they do so by imbuing an object with Runic Energy. This Runic Energy can be placed in a Rune, an object that is imbued with the intent and power of the enhancement and bestows it upon the person that carries said object. Runes take the form of small tokens that have ancient marks of power on them. The power of a rune is temporary, and will fade after a few months (as listed in the description of that ability). A rune is represented by an item card (available in Logistics), and does not require a physrep, although good RP is encouraged.

Sockets
In order to preserve the power of runes, Artificers (a Smith of Heroic ability) can create a socket in an item by making intricate designs that can hold runic power. The socket is a receptacle for a rune, and helps channel and maintain its power.

Sockets are extremely difficult to craft; some Artificers can add sockets to items, however it is a long and difficult process, each socket needing to be more intricate than the last. Of those Artificers who can craft Sockets into items, most have only the skill for 4 Sockets, though there are a few that can surpass that limit. For the full rules on creating and installing Sockets, please see the Smithing rules.

Each socket can have but one rune placed in it at a time, although extremely powerful crafters may be able to bend this limitation by adding additional sockets, or additional runes into existing sockets.

Runes placed in sockets will have their duration increased by 6 months. After a rune expires it crumbles into dust, freeing up the socket.

Items with sockets are not mystical in and of themselves, and may be broken, stolen, etc. as any normal item. When a rune is placed into a socket, the item cards for the runes should be attached by a paperclip or binder to the item card for the socketed item. (Remember that the runes will fade and the old cards will need to be removed!) There is no limit to the number of items with sockets someone may carry.

Placing Runes in Sockets
Each Socket may normally hold up to one Rune. Anyone may place a Rune in an empty Socket. The player need only to bring the Rune and the item with the empty Socket to Logistics to be signed off by the Logistics Marshal.

Runes may not be removed from sockets once placed, without a skill that specifically allows for this.

Buildings, Runes, and Sockets
Some enhancements target a building, instead of a character or item. Smiths have developed a special way to hold these enchantments for buildings, using sockets - a Smith can construct a “Mantel” as a basic item (at a cost of 5 Units), which is then affixed to a building, and may contain sockets as per a normal item. Mantels may also be placed outside at significant locations with approval from the Director. Each building or location may have only one Mantel, which cannot be neither removed from the building or location nor destroyed once placed. Mantels, and any Runes placed in them, are listed on the Area Notes for that building or location. Mantels may not be bonded to a character.

Runes with Skills and Casted Effects
Some runes give the bearer the ability to invoke skills or casted effects (Mage spells, Prayers, Druid spells, etc.). However, the ability to invoke these is limited. The following rules apply:

-You may only invoke an ability that your character knows (i.e. - is on their card).
-Skills may only be periodic or per event. Continuous skills may never be placed into a rune.
-Superior, Master, Heroic or Promotional skills may never be placed into a rune.
-You may only invoke a periodic skill as many times per period as you have that ability on your card.
-Casted effects may be invoked as periodic skills, provided you have the ability to cast that effect on your character card. You may not invoke more casting points worth of abilities during a period than you have career points on your character card.
-All uses of a specific ability must be contained on one item. Any additional items that contain uses of the skill will not allow the bearer to invoke that skill if they had previously invoked it from another item earlier in the same period. -Individual runes count as individual items (i.e. - you can not use more than one unsocketed rune of a given effect per period, or use them in combination with runes that are socketed in an item).

For example, Hunter has sword with 3 Parries and 2 Windwalkers in it. In order to use that item to its fullest potential, he must do the following:

-Have Parry on his card, preferably up to 3. If he has less than 3, he can only use as many as he has on his card.
-Have Windwalker on his card, and a total MP score high enough to cast it twice (Even if he has spent the points casting other spells). If he has Parry, but not Windwalker, he could still use Parry without being able to invoke Windwalker from the item.
-Hunter later finds a dagger with 3 Windwalkers in it. If he has Windwalker on his card (and a total MP score high enough to cast it 3 times), he could use either the dagger OR the sword to cast Windwalker, but not both in the same period. He could use the dagger to cast Windwalker, and the sword to invoke Parry.

Artifacts
Artifacts are items with special or unique abilities that are outside the normal scope of runic items. They allow the bearer to do things that normal items would not allow them to do, but have their own sets of limitations.

An item designated as an Artifact may never be bound to a character.

A character may only ever use one artifact per event. The artifact that a character uses must be written on their card before they can use any of it’s properties, including mundane properties. For exampled, if the Artifact is a weapon, the wielder may not swing for damage with it until the Artifact is noted on their card. Similarly, if the Artifact is a shield the wielder may not defend themselves with it until the Artifact is noted on their card. A character may have several Artifacts on them, but no Artifacts other than the declared one can be used for any purpose.

Once used, an artifact may not be used by another character. It can only be used by the original user for the rest of the event. It can still be carried, possessed, or stolen by others, however.

Bonded Items
With the dawning of the Fourth Age, heroes around the world have found that they can take items, and bind with them, making them “Bound” to their person. A bound item has two primary benefits: 1) It may never be stolen, and 2) Any runes with the trait “Rune (Permanent)” placed into its sockets become permanent, and never expire. (Runes without the Permanent subtrait are not made permanent, instead they get the 6 month extension from being in a socket, as normal.)

The act of binding or un-binding an item is not easy - you may only bind one item per game, and un-bind one item per game. Un-binding an item completely depowers it, stripping any runes that were upon it, and any Sockets above the third. The base item and first three sockets remain intact, and may be passed on to someone else if desired, or re-used.

Items that are bound may not be modified by a Smith (Heroic or otherwise), unless the item is Exalted in nature (i.e. - you cannot hone, gird, balance, temper, or reinforce a bound item, unless it is also Exalted). A bound item may have sockets added to it without needing to be Exalted.

Bonded items cannot be used or moved by anyone other than the person that they are bound to. This means that another character cannot lift or use an item, although they may move items it is resting on (the bound item will remain in place). In the event the bound item is placed in a container, the container can be moved with the bound item, but the item cannot be removed from it.

Bound armaments (Weapons and Shields) must be marked with a black ribbon on the handle. The ribbon should be large enough that it is easily noticeable when the weapon is not equipped, to prevent theft. In order to prevent confusion, items may not be decorated with ribbon or cloth of any color unless they are bound items.

The abilities granted by a Bound Item may only be used while the item is in contact with the character - either worn, equipped, or in hand. An armament that is sheathed or slung counts as equipped.

Bound items remain bound until the character takes their final death. At this time, the items become unbound as if the bearer willingly unbound them.