What if there were a chance to loot an ancient rune in the artifact chests so...
There were some runes, that may give some unique enchant to a certain type of item, a bit above the standards of enchanting.
Like: (Just samples, may be anything a bit stronger than standard enchantments)
Minor Rune of Health. Attach to any equipable item to give it a permanent +3 bonus in your saving throws against poisons and diseases. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Ancient rune of Holy Glory. Attach to a weapon to give it the permanent quality of the spell Bless Weapon: One melee weapon gains a +1 enhancement bonus and a 2d6 damage bonus vs. undead. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Ancient Rune of Glooms. Attach into any equiped item, to give the permanent property to cast Darkness twice per day. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Master Rune of Titans. Attach into any equipable ietm, to give a permanent +2 STR bonus. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
NOTES:
1. There may be runes of damage. Those will apply as if were enchanting dmg, won't overwrite current damage enchancement on the item, but will be erplaced by any dmg essence if used later on the said item.
2. There may be a master rune for every ability (STR, INT, DEX, WIS...), giving a permanent +2 bonus in the attached gear. This won't stack with current bonus as will overlap. (applying a rune of +2 DEX on elven boots that already have +2 DEX won't result on +4 DEX, but in +2, so wasting the rune).
3. While as the runes are powerful charms of ancient days, the odds to be successful attaching them are a lot better than with the enchanting tries... But there will be always a 5% chance to fail, ruining the item that you was going to try enhanced by the rune.
4. While you attach a rune, succesfuly or ending in the destruction of both: the item and the rune, you won't lose experience nor gold...Just the items.
5. The runes, once used to be attached into an item, cannot be rescued to use in a diferent item.
6. No more than an ancient, master or minor rune can be placed in an item. They won't ever replace a previous rune. Just won't be selectable to be enhanced again. (To keep balance)
or... optionally: A new rune will replace the previous one, no matter if the new one is a Minor Rune and the previous one was an Ancient or Master Rune.
7. These runes cannot be applied on Artifacts. (To keep balance)
8. There may be the following rune qualities:
- Master Runes. The most powerful powers.
- Ancient Runes. As major bonus.
- Minor Runes. Lesser than the other runes.
....
This, may give a lot of colour and a chance to create some special and flavoured items, to be count among true artifacts, but made by characters, adding more charm to that side...
If this may be considered OP, then use to give only tool bonus (like Light spells, and RP spells, or to give some VFX effect on use...)
There were some runes, that may give some unique enchant to a certain type of item, a bit above the standards of enchanting.
Like: (Just samples, may be anything a bit stronger than standard enchantments)
Minor Rune of Health. Attach to any equipable item to give it a permanent +3 bonus in your saving throws against poisons and diseases. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Ancient rune of Holy Glory. Attach to a weapon to give it the permanent quality of the spell Bless Weapon: One melee weapon gains a +1 enhancement bonus and a 2d6 damage bonus vs. undead. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Ancient Rune of Glooms. Attach into any equiped item, to give the permanent property to cast Darkness twice per day. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
Master Rune of Titans. Attach into any equipable ietm, to give a permanent +2 STR bonus. (There is a chance to destroy the target item of this rune in the process of 5%)
NOTES:
1. There may be runes of damage. Those will apply as if were enchanting dmg, won't overwrite current damage enchancement on the item, but will be erplaced by any dmg essence if used later on the said item.
2. There may be a master rune for every ability (STR, INT, DEX, WIS...), giving a permanent +2 bonus in the attached gear. This won't stack with current bonus as will overlap. (applying a rune of +2 DEX on elven boots that already have +2 DEX won't result on +4 DEX, but in +2, so wasting the rune).
3. While as the runes are powerful charms of ancient days, the odds to be successful attaching them are a lot better than with the enchanting tries... But there will be always a 5% chance to fail, ruining the item that you was going to try enhanced by the rune.
4. While you attach a rune, succesfuly or ending in the destruction of both: the item and the rune, you won't lose experience nor gold...Just the items.
5. The runes, once used to be attached into an item, cannot be rescued to use in a diferent item.
6. No more than an ancient, master or minor rune can be placed in an item. They won't ever replace a previous rune. Just won't be selectable to be enhanced again. (To keep balance)
or... optionally: A new rune will replace the previous one, no matter if the new one is a Minor Rune and the previous one was an Ancient or Master Rune.
7. These runes cannot be applied on Artifacts. (To keep balance)
8. There may be the following rune qualities:
- Master Runes. The most powerful powers.
- Ancient Runes. As major bonus.
- Minor Runes. Lesser than the other runes.
....
This, may give a lot of colour and a chance to create some special and flavoured items, to be count among true artifacts, but made by characters, adding more charm to that side...
If this may be considered OP, then use to give only tool bonus (like Light spells, and RP spells, or to give some VFX effect on use...)