Do the spell runes names have any meaning?

[Simon]

Pondering if there are other abbreviations or similar.

I figure this:

LO being the LOwest power
VI being VItality
DES being the DESert
VEN being VENom
RA being the sun god

But how about the others?

BRO could be BROther? It looks like co-operation

[slickrcbd]

It's explained in the manual, starting on page 42, although page 46 is where it goes through each symbol, you get the whole lore if you start on page 42.
There are scanned images and a PDF here:
dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/412

The reciprocal arms of the symbol BRO represent the mutual support and honesty of true friendship. However, recent usage of this construct has drawn upon its power for the creation of beneficial potions.

RTFM!

[MasterWuuf]

Saw the RTFM! at the bottom of your post, slickrcbd. Now, how did you get so much info in such a small place? I purchased DM in (I think) 1987. Still can't believe I lost the coin. I believe I still have the box, along with the manual, tucked away in a box in the attic.

[Simon]

I completely forgot the manual went into so much detail.

Although it doesn't explain what all the actual names are, just what the symbols mean.

[Ameena]

It gives the rune names, if that's what you mean. What it doesn't do is provide any spell recipes. Any scrolls you find in-game detailing recipes only give the spell name and rune symbols, I think, not the rune names. So the first one you find is "Invoke Ful for a magic torch", wherein the word "Ful" is not given, only the rune.

[Simon]

Yeah, but I mean like, BRO for example, it doesn't suggest what BRO might stand for, or if it even stands for anything. Since VEN is obviously VENom and VI is VItality, I wondered if the others had *some* connection to what they represented, or if it was just a mixture of pure randomness.

[slickrcbd]

It was part copy-protection. If you did not have the manual, you would not know what FUL was as the runes are not identified in the game. If you did have the manual, you presumably would have read it cover-to-cover and would know the rune names.
Of course, because of how spells are implemented with a lack of documentation, I wound up just trying all the rune combos in the "Kid's Dungeon".

Saw the RTFM! at the bottom of your post, slickrcbd. Now, how did you get so much info in such a small place? I purchased DM in (I think) 1987. Still can't believe I lost the coin. I believe I still have the box, along with the manual, tucked away in a box in the attic.

I used the [ u r l=http://link.goes.here]URL text goes here[ / u r l ] tags. Looks like I screwed up because it did not make an active link to the other URL on the DM wikipedia like I intended, and I can no longer edit that post.
Read the guide:
app.php/help/bbcode

[Ameena]

If you mean "Why are the runes named specifically those things?", maybe Bro is named such from "brother", since it's suppose to be about arms protecting and enfolding, like a familial protector or communal bond (a "brotherhood" sort of thing, if not a literal brother). Or maybe it's just a random word and has no specific meaning - while runes such as Ven and Vi seem fairly obviously based on existing words, maybe not all the runes are done like that. Kath, for example, is the rune of basically "explosions" or at least "expanding/growing" but I'm not sure what in the rune's name implies such. Maybe somewhere out there someone has analysed it and worked it out, or Wayne Holder and friends have put out an explanation for where all the ideas came from. There's one somewhere on the origins of all the hero names, after all, so why not the runes?

[JETENGINE]

In real life, the word "VI" is French for "water" or "life". It seems appropriate in it's usage in creating healing potions to me.

Just a fun fact I had to share.

[Ameena]

Yeah, and from the word vital/vitality, relating to life. That was what I figured.

[terkio]

In real life, the word "VI" is French for "water" or "life". It seems appropriate in it's usage in creating healing potions to me.

Just a fun fact I had to share.

"La vie" is life in french, "vivre" is to live, "il vit" is he lives in french, but I see no relationship with water, "eau" in French.
Water is a most important element for life, the VI rune shows the usual icon for water, however it would make more sense to name it BIO.
I thought we had the 4 elements in DM:
VI KATH OH FUL for water, earth, air, fire, as we are reminded in the tomb of the fire-staff.

[Ameena]

Ya is Earth, not Kath.
The first row of runes are the Power Runes - Lo, Um, On, Ee, Pal, Mon
The second row are the elements - Ya, Vi, Oh, Ful, Des, Zo (earth, water, air, fire, emptiness/the void, magic)
The third row are apparenly "form" runes (I suppose specific "shapes"/manifestations of the aforementioned elements) - Ven, Ew, Kath, Ir, Bro, Gor (poison/venom, beasts, explosiveness, flight, support/friendship, harm/enemies)
And the fourth row is alignment - Ku, Ros, Dain, Neta, Ra, Sar (Fighter, Ninja, Wizard, Priest, light/good, dark/evil)

[terkio]

Thanks, this makes it clear to me.
Wasn't it explained in the original game booklet ?

[Ameena]

Yep - I actually referred to that when writing the above post as I couldn't remember the category name nor some of the meanings for the "Form" runes .