The Runist
Welcome to the official wiki for The Runist!
The Runist is an RPG that involves discovering the secrets of the world by learning new "runes," words of power that can influence the world around us. As one of the few remaining Runic Poets, the Queen has asked for your aid in defeating the tyrannical Demon King. Explore the world, try out different combination of runes to suit your play style as you defeat demons on your quest, and uncover the lore of the world around you.
Disclaimer*
The Runist is still in very early development, so things are subject to change as development continues
Roadmap
The Runist began production in May of 2023, and after a year long hiatus, began again in April of 2024. The dev logs can be found in the official Olli's Café Discord server, where weekly updates are given on the current progress of the game. The roadmaps down below will be divided into yearly and quarterly updates that are planned, with the current year being at the top. As of right now, there is no expected release date, however it is expected to take at least a year for the full release of The Runist to come out.
Q1 is January, February, and March
Q2 is April, May, and June
Q3 is July, August, and September
Q4 is October, November, and December
2024
Q1
- N/A development was in hiatus
Q2
- Finish battle scene system
- Enemy AI
- Item usage
- Temporary shields
- Runic poem system
- Finish main menu screen
Q3
- Create animations for battle scene
- Add in save system
- Add in the basic starting runes
- Aa
- Create a fully fightable enemy
- Create first early access demo (Battle scene only)
Q4
- Add in level scene
- Create interactable NPCs
- Rebalance the runes according to early access demo
Starting the game
The game starts in the Queen's Farm, in the outer region of the territories. The player will be given the choice to enter a tutorial, should they choose to do so, they will be sent to a mock battle with a Queen's guard. The tutorial will consists of demonstrating putting together a runic poem, blocking attacks, and using items.
After the tutorial, or should the player skip it, the player will start in their house the Queen gave them, where they can store items, rest, and decorate as they want. As the player progresses, they will unlock more things that they can decorate their house with. They will find a note in the house telling them to check out the village to the west, and to acquaint themselves with the townsfolk. The note then says that the field to the north has become infested since the last owner of the house lived there, and selling the rat meat could be a good way to get quick money. The note ends with saying that once the player is ready, they can make their way east to head to forest.
It is recommended that the player first heads to the village, and accept some of the tasks there to earn some more gold and upgrade their equipment. The fields to the north are a good way to practice the battle system and level up as well.
Runes
What are Runes?
Runes are words that hold power, calling onto the names of the elements personified. These personifications of the world are the "gods" of The Runist. As you progress in the game, you can level up the power of the rune by making offerings and completing tasks. There are a total of 15 runes that can be discovered and used by the player. As of now, 6 are in the game.
List of Runes
Below will be a list of the planned runes and what they will embody. After the game has been play-tested and balanced, their description will be expanded upon.
| Image | Rune | Traits Embodied |
 |
Aa |
Knowledge, revelation, self-reflection |
 |
Ai | Magic, wonder, chaos |
 |
Ow |
Water, turbulent, forceful |
 |
Bo | War, strength, vigor |
 |
Pli | Protection, defense, determination |
 |
Zho | Stone, unmoving, unyielding |
| Thi | Time, Delay, Slow |
The Story
The following pages are all detailing the world and story the precedes and follows The Runist. Knowing the story is not required for enjoying The Runist, however, for those that enjoy learning more about the world and the lore of a game, that's who this is for. Spoiler content will be avoided in here, and any story will be told as if an NPC from the Queen's Realm narrates it to the player.
The Demon-Human War
Abstract
100 years ago, the old Demon King waged war on the humans. He sought to demonstrate his militaristic might and expand into the human territories. At this time, the humans were not unified, and lived in disconnected villages. Quickly, the villages to the east fell to the demons, they're superior might and physical prowess to strong for the humans to resist. Soon, a brigade formed with the quest to defeat this Demon King, consisting of three heroes: Knight, Ranger, and the Runist, along with 100 foot soldiers they collected as they made their way from the west to the east.
This brigade, named The Hero's Brigade, went from village to village to slay the demons who occupied them, as well as recruiting more soldiers to join them. The Knight would take the front lines, equipped with a enchanted sword, leading the army to the battles and use battle strategies to overtake the stronger demons. Ranger would do scouting missions, as well as supporting from the flanks to help take down the demons. The runic poet would organize the brigade and secure logistics for ensuring everyone is fed and moral is up. The runic poet would also help against the greater demons, where normal humans would stand no chance, by reciting powerful runic poems to weaken the greater demon to be defeated by the Knight.
After a year long journey, the Hero's Brigade made it to the Demon King's Castle. By this point, the demon forces have dwindled after being stretched out and defeated by the brigade, and left the castle largely undefended. This did not mean the the Demon King was helpless however, as the Demon King was an ancient runist, a runic poet that knew the forbidden secrets of the runes. After a heavy casualty, leaving the runic poet crippled in the legs, the Knight's arm crippled, and the Ranger dead, along with 80% of the brigade facing fatality, the Demon King was defeated. This ushered an era of peace for the humans, and soon, an era of prosperity under The Queen.
Upon the defeat of the Demon King, the runic poet went on to diplomacy, and established The Queen's Territories. Here, the humans united under one front, so that no future threat can come to them. Having a united front meant safer passage between villages, and encouraged trade and commerce. Further details about this era of prosperity is under the next page of this chapter.
Introduction
The demons were a powerful race found in the forest, looking similar to humans but with pointed ears and horns similar to goats. The soldiers averaged 7 feet in height, with the Demon King being 9 foot tall. However, demons were not farmers, and could not sustain themselves off of hunting the just the forest, and so began pillaging the nearby villages. This was the start of the Demon-Human War, when the Demon King began organizing pillages for his demon army.
The Human Forces
The humans, being physically weaker, quickly fell to the invading forces. The villages to the east would come under demon occupation, forced to pay heavy taxes of grain and livestock to the demons, leaving little for themselves. Any resistance would be met with death, and so the humans quickly fell under demon subordination.
Three champions of humanity arose, the first was Knight, who was sworn to a lord from the west and wielded an enchanted sword that can cleave through stone like a scythe through grass. He began the brigade with a force of ten men, who would make their way to the east while visiting villages, hoping to recruit more people. The second champion to join was Ranger, a skilled archer that could fire an arrow through a demon's heart from 100 meters away. They were rescued from ... To be continued.
Trivia
Although unnamed heroes, their title becoming their proper nouns, a lot is known about the champions of humanity.
Knight (He/Him) - Sworn to a lord who ruled over a small territory in the west, Knight grew up constantly training his sword skills and strength, being able to fell a tree in one swing of an axe and throw men as if they were bags of rice. At the age of 14, he was knighted by the lord, and gifted an enchanted sword that could slice through nearly any material. Some fun facts about Knight:
- After the battle with the Demon King, he was left with only 1 arm, meaning he could no longer fight and serve his lord. This led to him retiring in a small estate to the east.
- Knight never had biological kids of his own, but did adopt an orphaned child that was left near the forest one evening.
Ranger (He/They) - Running off to the forest after being excommunicated by their family with nothing but a bow and some rations, they quickly learned the ways of survival. A quiet lad, they were unassuming in appearance, being 5'8" (172cm) and having a rugged but well patched tunic, none could guess that this person could kill a greater demon with nothing but a bow and a few arrows. Some fun facts about Ranger:
- Ranger has gone through 3 different bows in their life, the first being a 40 lb draw weight recurve short bow. The second was a 100 lb recurve bow they used to slay most of the demons. By the time they reached the Demon King's castle, he was using a 200 lb recurve war bow.
- Ranger is buried in Knight's estate, with his bow being a family heirloom passed on by Knight.
Runist (She/Her) - A prodigy in the way of weaving runic poems, Runist was found herself joining the adults in her village in town meetings and councils. She quickly learned ways of diplomacy, and how to make herself heard in a crowd. Her village was heavily religious, believing the best way to honor the Runic Gods was to study the runes and create elaborate poems. Some fun facts about Runist:
- After the Demon King died, Runist used her charisma to unite the villages as establish herself as the first queen. She is the ancestor to The Queen that the player meets
The Age of Prosperity
Upon the victory for the humans in the Demon-Human War, Runist, of the three heroes, became the First Queen, and united the humans under her rule. In her domain, the trade routes and roads were all kept safe with the Queen's Army, who would regularly patrol the territories, ensuring that no demon threat would occur, as well as defending villages from bandits and rogues. Due to this security, commerce flourished, and brought upon a golden age for the humans.
Trivia
- The Queen's Castle is built at the village where Knight swore allegiance to his lord.
- The Queen's Realm is a matriarchy, with the Queen as the head. The first king was the same lord as the one Knight swore to.
Trivia
Some miscellaneous fun facts about The Runist:
- Aa was the first rune to come up in brainstorming, but Mji, Schik, and Dhra were the first runes to be coded into the game
- The game mechanic of combining runes was inspired by Magicka
- The game icon and the R in the title is made up of a decorated Aa rune, due to it being the first rune made and the first rune the player can use.
Controls
A quick cheat sheet to what keybinds exist by default:
| Keybind | Default | Description |
| Pause |
P |
Opens the option screen |
| Quick cast | C | Casts the currently queued runes |
| Escape | Esc | Returns to previous menu in battle |