SC - Runesmith

Overview

SC - Runesmith has two main jobs:

• it lets you build rune artwork inside Foundry with layered images and rune fonts
• it lets players use an Inscription Chamber where they trace a symbol and try to earn a reward item

In practice, a GM prepares the rune recipes, chooses which players know them, defines the reward tiers, and decides how hard the tracing should be. Players then drop a valid base item into the chamber, trace the rune, and click Forge.

If you only want the art tool, you can use the editor by itself. If you want gameplay, use the recipe and chamber features.

Installation

This module is premium.

Install access is handled through the Shattered Codex Download Hub.

See How to Download Premium Modules from the Download Hub for the full install flow.

Compatibility summary:

• Foundry VTT v13 and v14
• the rune editor works in any world
• advanced item generation from the editor depends on a compatible adapter
• the main supported advanced workflow is dnd5e with SC - Simple Sockets

First-Time Setup

After enabling the module, open Configure Settings > Module Settings > SC - Runesmith.

This is the main control panel for the editor, the Inscription Chamber, recipe management, unlock items, and global difficulty.

The most important buttons are:

• Open Editor: opens the rune art editor
• Open Inscription Chamber: opens the player tracing window
• Open Recipe Manager: creates and edits recipes
• Manage Recipe Items: defines which items unlock the character sheet shortcut
• Open Difficulty Settings: changes the global scoring behavior

The three folder settings matter immediately:

• Output Directory: where generated rune images are saved
• Rune Library Directory: where the editor looks for image assets you want to use as layers
• Font Library Directory: where custom uploaded fonts are stored

Further down in the same settings page:

These two settings affect the player experience:

• Show Live Chamber Accuracy: if enabled, players can see their current score update while drawing
• Show Open Inscription Chamber For Players: if enabled, non-GM users can open the chamber from module settings, and from the character sheet header when they meet the unlock conditions

Editor Workflow

The editor is the rune-building side of the module.

Layers

Use image layers or glyph layers, then move, duplicate, reorder, hide, recolor, mask, and blend them.

1 / 3

Layers

Runes and fonts

Glyph styling

Typical editor workflow:

1. Open Open Editor.
2. Add one or more image layers.
3. Add one or more glyph layers for the rune symbol itself.
4. Adjust position, scale, rotation, color, opacity, masks, and blend modes.
5. Refresh the preview if needed.
6. Click Generate Img to save the final image.
7. Click Generate Item only if your world supports the advanced item-generation adapter.

Important editor notes:

• Scroll on the preview changes scale
• Ctrl + Scroll changes rotation
• Generate Img is the safe default if you only want art output
• Generate Item is for worlds that support the item-building integration

Recipe Setup

Recipes control the Inscription Chamber.

Each recipe defines:

• the recipe name
• the symbol text the player must trace
• the font used to render that symbol
• whether the ghost guide uses a countdown
• how long the ghost stays visible
• which players already know the recipe
• which base items are allowed
• which reward item is granted for each score range

How to create a recipe:

1. Open Open Recipe Manager.
2. Click Add Recipe.
3. Set the Recipe Name.
4. Choose a Font.
5. Enter the Symbol Text.
6. Decide whether to enable Use countdown.
7. Set Ghost Timer (seconds) if the countdown is enabled.
8. Mark which players know the recipe.
9. Drop allowed base items into Allowed Base Items if the recipe should require specific items.
10. Create one or more Tolerance Tiers and drop a reward item into each tier.
11. Save.

Important recipe rules:

• if Allowed Base Items is empty, any actor item can be used as the base item
• tier ranges must not overlap
• shared borders also count as overlap, so 70-89 and 89-100 is invalid
• the reward item is granted only when the final score lands inside that tier

Example of valid tiers:

• 90-100 = best reward
• 70-89 = normal reward
• 50-69 = flawed reward

If the score does not match any tier, the attempt fails.

Player Workflow

The player-facing window is the Inscription Chamber.

Tracing

Players select a known recipe, drop a valid inventory item into the chamber, and trace the visible guide.

1 / 2

Tracing

Live score

Player flow:

1. Open the Inscription Chamber.
2. Select a recipe from the left sidebar.
3. Drop a valid item from an actor inventory into Base Item.
4. Trace the symbol on the canvas.
5. Click Forge.

What happens on Forge:

• the module calculates a score from 0 to 100
• the base item is consumed
• if the score matches a configured tier, the player receives that tier's reward item
• if no tier matches, the attempt fails

Useful controls inside the chamber:

• the slider changes brush size
• the color picker changes the ghost guide color
• Ctrl + Mouse Wheel also changes brush size
• right-click erases while drawing
• Clear Drawing resets the canvas and the ghost countdown

Difficulty Settings

The difficulty screen controls how strict the scoring system should be for every recipe in the world.

Plain-language summary:

• a better trace covers more of the symbol
• a worse trace misses the symbol, draws too much outside it, or scribbles far beyond the intended shape
• the difficulty profile then applies global adjustments before reward tiers are checked

Preset behavior:

What each parameter does:

• Score Bias: a flat bonus or penalty added after the normal score is calculated. Example: if the trace scores 72 and the bias is +8, the final score becomes 80.
• Outside Penalty: multiplies the punishment for strokes drawn outside the target rune. Higher values make messy tracing fail more often.
• Max Outside Penalty: limits how much the outside-stroke punishment can subtract from the score. Lower values are more forgiving because the deduction stops earlier.
• Tier Offset: shifts every recipe tier up or down without editing the recipe itself. Example: a tier of 70-89 becomes 64-83 with -6, or 76-95 with +6.

How to think about the presets:

• Easy gives players a small bonus, softens the penalty for messy drawing, and lowers the effective reward thresholds
• Default uses the standard scoring profile
• Hard applies a penalty, punishes extra strokes more strongly, and raises the effective reward thresholds
• Custom is for manual tuning

If you want a simple recommendation:

• use Easy for casual crafting or first-time players
• use Default for most campaigns
• use Hard for rare or high-value recipes

Player Access

The module includes two separate player-access systems: unlock items and shared forge windows.

Manage Recipe Items does not define rewards. It defines which items unlock the Inscription Chamber Recipes entry in a character sheet header.

For the character sheet shortcut to appear, all of this must be true:

• player access is enabled in module settings
• the character owns one of the configured unlock items
• the user knows at least one recipe

GMs can also push the chamber directly to players:

Watch prompt

When a forging session is shared, players can receive a chat prompt with a Watch button.

1 / 2

Watch prompt

Spectator preview

Compatibility and Limits

• the editor is the safest system-agnostic part of the module
• advanced item generation from the editor depends on the supported adapter workflow
• the main advanced integration is dnd5e with SC - Simple Sockets
• if a reward tier points to a missing or invalid item, the trace can succeed without producing the intended reward
• if Show Live Chamber Accuracy is disabled, players only see the result after clicking Forge
• the chamber expects the base item to come from an actor inventory, not from a world-item directory drop

The module also posts result feedback to chat after the forge resolves:

This chat card shows the final score, the tier reached, and whether a reward item was created.