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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Core Rulebook / Chapter 11: Crafting & Treasure / Runes

Fundamental Runes

Source Core Rulebook pg. 580 4.0
Four fundamental runes produce the most essential magic of protection and destruction: armor potency and resilient runes for armor, and weapon potency and striking runes for weapons. A potency rune is what makes a weapon a magic weapon or armor magic armor.

An item can have only one fundamental rune of each type, though etching a stronger rune can upgrade an existing rune to the more powerful version (as described in each rune’s entry). As you level up, you typically alternate between increasing an item’s potency rune and its striking or resilient rune when you can afford to.

Fundamental Runes

Fundamental RuneEtched OntoBenefit
Armor potencyArmorIncrease item bonus to AC and determine maximum number of property runes
ResilientArmorGrant item bonus to saves
Weapon potencyWeaponGrant an item bonus to attack rolls and determine maximum number of property runes
StrikingWeaponIncrease weapon damage dice

Upgrading Armor and Weapon Runes

You’ll often want to upgrade the fundamental runes of magic armor or a magic weapon you already have. This requires upgrading each rune separately. Tables 11–5 and 11–6 summarize the Price of each step, with a number in parentheses indicating the item’s level for the Craft activity. This also indicates the typical progression for an adventurer to follow when upgrading their armor and weapons. The tables here don’t include progressions that aren’t as likely to come up, like turning a +1 weapon directly into a +1 greater striking weapon.

Table 11-6: Armor Upgrade Prices

Starting ArmorImproved ArmorPrice and Process
+1 armor+1 resilient armor340 gp to etch resilient (8th level)
+1 resilient armor+2 resilient armor900 gp to etch +2 armor potency (11th level)
+2 resilient armor+2 greater resilient armor3,100 gp to etch greater resilient (14th level)
+2 greater resilient armor+3 greater resilient armor19,500 gp to etch +3 armor potency (18th level)
+3 greater resilient armor+3 major resilient armor46,000 gp to etch major resilient (20th level)


Table 11-7: Weapon Upgrade Prices

Starting WeaponImproved WeaponPrice and Process
+1 weapon+1 striking weapon65 gp to etch striking (4th level)
+1 striking weapon+2 striking weapon 900 gp to etch +2 weapon potency (10th level)
+2 striking weapon+2 greater striking weapon 1,000 gp to etch greater striking (12th level)
+2 greater striking weapon+3 greater striking weapon 8,000 gp to etch +3 weapon potency (16th level)
+3 greater striking weapon+3 major striking weapon 30,000 gp to etch major striking (19th level)