Hey everyone! It’s modding time again. I wanted to touch up on some older mods this week and will be doing so as well in the next weeks, but Ruigi surprised us with a new masterwork that deserved immediate mention. And that is…

Runecaster

“You’re very scholarly, you also make runes.”

Runecaster is a wizard skill that combines crafting with spell casting. You create runes out of mana, which you then combine with the n-Dimensional lathe to create runewords. These runewords are throwing weapons that cast a spell when hitting enemies/the ground.

With each level in the skill, you unlock more powerful runes and rune words, up to a total of 20. They have a variety of effects, from buffs or healing when you stand on them, to elemental AoEs, teleports, even up to Mass Destruction.

There’s enough utility to get through just about any situation, though you’ll likely always be crafting new ones every couple minutes.
Ruigi has even drawn new sprites for each rune, rune word and spell effect.

Strangely, this is a skill that doesn’t merge well with others, but at the same time can work with pretty much any build due to its usefulness. I might suggest trying this with either a melee build or throwing/crossbows. Blood magic helps immensely as well. However: do not pick this with crafting skills. Your inventory will be almost full with just these runes.

Essentially, this is a very unique mod, worth a try at least once (though you may not want to put it down once you have.)

NOTE: This mod requires Realm of the Diggle Gods due to the mechanics it uses.

Since this post is getting big, I’ll briefly touch up on two interesting mods to try out as well.

Jaybud4’s Mega Phoneme Mod

This mod adds 1,111 phonemes to the random name generator, so if you thought there wasn’t enough variety in artifact or monster names, this is the mod for you!

Interior Dredmorating by r_b_bergstrom

Pretty much a small expansion by itself, this mod adds (from the description,)

• 45 new rooms. You should find something new on nearly every floor of the typical play-through. Some of the rooms have scripts, levers, and/or new custom blockers you haven’t seen before.
• 25 variant rooms. These are either a tweaked version of a room from the main game, or a tweaked version of one of my new rooms, adjusted to better fit specific floors.
• 20+ new items, including armor, weapons, special booze, and even a gorgon’s head.
• Lots and lots of flavor-text. Several dozen new words for the monster, artifact, and room name generators. Some of the new room names generate new statues or paintings, as well. New phonemes, and new qualities and materials, too!
• New insults for monsters to hurl, and new ichors for them to collapse into when you squish them in retaliation for insulting you.

I recommend it mostly for the diversity it brings to the dungeon layout and I think most people will enjoy it.
This mod also requires Realm of the Diggle Gods.

On a final note, Dredmorpedia received an update, refining the monster list and adding a stats list. I recommend checking it out if you haven’t before.

As always, I’m inviting you to come hang out with us on the forums and IRC.
Happy adventuring and see you next week!