In Runes of Magic players explore and discover a magical realm full of wonders and ancient riddles. On their way from simple novice to famous hero, they will always be accompanied by magical runes and potent oracles which are fragments of the divine book Taborea. In Runes of Magic players should use the rune stone wisely, for they might also lure them to a path of destruction. But legend has it, that he, who embraces the oracle and acquires its might, will gain absolute power over the future. It is now up to the player, to write on the history of the world.

To do that, players have access to a dual class system which allows them to freely combine their main and secondary classes, in order to freely build a character the way they want. On their way through Taborea, they learn professions and special skills to forge mighty armor and weaponry or to enhance them. After a hard day of labor players can relax in their own homes, which they can arrange any way they want. In addition they have access to a dynamic item and rune system, as well as three gathering and eight crafting professions. Dangerous dungeons, raids and an extensive PVP system challenge PC heros in the long run. The Taiwanese developers of Runewaker Entertainment Ltd. grew up in the USA and were enthusiastic “Ultima Online” and “World of Warcraft” players. Runes of Magic was developed in a time frame of three years according to western MMO standards. Runemaker will provide new challenges for players every three to four months with free add-ons and updates.

Even at the beginning Runes of Magic conveys its absorbing story in over 600 quests embedded in an atmospheric world.

All characters possess unique skills with impressive combo attacks and can use mounts in the later stages of game play. A particularly attractive feature for guilds and even players is the possibility to arrange their own virtual homes with individual furnishing. Thanks to an extensive crafting and reputation system, thrilling PVP as well as demanding dungeons and boss-monsters no wishes remain unsatisfied.

Basically, players can choose from six main classes when starting into a new online career. According to individual preferences, they can select to play a warrior, ranger, cleric, knight, mage or a rogue. New classes will follow with future updates. All classes in Runes of Magic dispose of an individual skill set that allow impressive combo attacks in cooperation with other players. When a character reaches level 10, the player can select a secondary class, which augments the possible class combinations up to 30 individual combination types. Hence the dual class system of Runes of Magic functions like two characters in one and offers a lot of interesting tactical choices about how to approach the multiple challenges waiting in the game world Taborea.

Generally, all classes in Runes of Magic can serve as a primary or secondary class. To switch between them, players have to visit a special class trainer e.g. in the town of Varanas located in the starting region. At any time players have full access to the complete level-based skill set of their active primary class. Simultaneously only the "non-specific" skills of their secondary class are available. But the character attributes of the secondary class add up to those of their primary class with 10 percent of their actual value. Contrary, all experience, attribute and talent points gathered from the online adventures accumulate exclusively to the active primary class. Therefore, only the primary skills of the main class can be upgraded by distribution of talent points. In any case, the level of the secondary class can not surmount the level of the primary profession. To level up their secondary class, players have to register it as their primary class with any class trainer. To start a new apprenticeship, they can use a scroll they get from their first visit at the beginning of the game to teleport to the region where they can level up their second class.

Using the dual class system of Runes of Magic wisely, players can build up their characters as multi-functional all-rounders. With a scout as secondary class, characters can use bows for example. With rogues as secondary they can use projectile weapons, warriors will give you axes. Combinations like melee fighters enhanced with several range combat skills as well as clerics that fight with axes become possible. The range of possibilities gives solo and group players many interesting tactical choices for PvE. RPG players will love the broad spectrum for character interpretation.

The skills of the six main classes make use of different energy types. Warriors use rage, scouts use focus, rogues need energy and mages, clerics and knights are fighting with mana. Players can apply those energy types independently from each other. Therefore, they can use the dual class system of Runes of Magic to build up dangerous specialists perfectly suited for group play also. For example, smart PC adventurers could create a mighty bombardier with the combination of scout and mage. If for example the character runs out of focus, he simply switches to mana and can immediately launch the skills of his secondary mage class. In contrast to that, a combined knight-warrior class will be the ultimate melee fighter. But players need to be careful with some combinations: mages and clerics use the same mana pool which can quickly dry out your resources.

In the launch version, the primary and secondary classes will have an initial maximum level of 50. But in the course of the game new special classes, different class ranks and special skill decks are to be explored. Advanced players are heading for "master", "legendary" and "epic" classes that can be acquired after substantial progress in Runes of Magic.

And that's not all concerning character development. Every character has its own set of skills that distinguishes between general skills like crafting or attack, and class-based primary and secondary skills.

Features:

• Free2play, no monthly fees, free download
• Dual class system with switchable primary and secondary classes
• Enthralling background story
• Already over 600 quests and level comprehensive quest series on launch
• Instanced and persistent dungeons
• Individually developed skills and spells
• Armor sets with special bonuses
• Dynamic item system: Upgrades with hundreds of runes
• Activatable PvP system (Player vs. Player duels)
• Epic crafting system with the possibility to improve existing items
• Individual coloring of clothes and armor
• Housing: personalization with individual furniture for players and guilds
• Special zones for guild houses
• Reputation system
• Scalable user interface based on the users flavor (development of own add-ons possible)
• In-game map and radar system to find dealers, resources and quests easily
• Auction house: auction and purchase items
• Teleporting possibilities per runes
• Different and unique mounts
• Controlling with mouse (point & click) and keyboard (WASD or arrow keys) possible

MMO fans can find a registration form for the newsletter on the official teaser site.

The German version will come to light even before Christmas 2008, shortly there after an English version will be released.

Frogster Interactive Pictures AG strives to release both the European-English version and the American version at the same time. Concerning the US version Frogster currently looking for a qualified US-Publisher.