Runemaster



Runemasters are monk-like arcane spellcaster and melee fighters who empower themselves with magical energies by inscribing runes onto their bodies. The runemaster is a free spirit, more at home in the wild than in the city. The runemaster is a mystic who sees the power of ley lines. Moreover, those who study runes understand that these are not simply symbols of power - they are the power. The runemaster seeks to become one with the land, but not in the fashion of druids. Rather, the runemaster desires to become a microcosm of the land, seeking to overlay his body with runes in the same fashion that the land itself is overlaid with patterns of ley lines.

He merges brute strength with arcane magic, covering his body with mystic tattoos and often imbuing them with magical energies to increase his skill in hand-to-hand combat. While a runemaster shuns armor, this is more to prevent hindrances to inscribing his runes than to demonstrate his subtlety and finesse with unarmed strikes. Quite to the contrary, a runemaster prefers to get in the face of his enemies. Using little trickery or subterfuge, the runemaster takes down foes with toe-to-toe, all-out assaults, hammering them with tattooed fists and feet brimming with arcane power. Runic magic is considered primitive yet complex by most other races. The dwarves have taken to it with deft skill, while the tauren study it more slowly.

Most runemasters are heavily tattooed with runic patterns - not simply the unique ones that form the basis for rune families, but the so-called "simple runes" as well. Simple runes mimic patterns of ley energy that appear, again and again, in the environment. These patterns occur in nature and are responsible for things such as the strength of a given type of stone, the ferocity of a given windstorm and the coolness of a given stream; when a runemaster uses these patterns, he learns to channel his power into them at all times, attaining similar traits.

Runemasters are proficient with simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a runemaster’s movements, which can cause his empowerments with somatic components to fail.

A whole lot more information about Runemasters can be found at:

http://www.wowwiki.com/Runemaster