Potency Rune

Applies to: any Masterwork item. A Potency rune doesn't use rune capacity; it raises it.

• Lesser: Potency 1: weapons +1 to attack and damage; armor +1 Soak and MD (Maximum Dex); shields +1 shield bonus and Hardness. Rune capacity 2; Lesser effect runes allowed; item level at least 5.
• Greater: Potency 2: the bonus becomes +2. Rune capacity 3; Greater effect runes allowed; item level at least 11.
• Major: Potency 3: the bonus becomes +3. Rune capacity 4; Major effect runes allowed; item level at least 17.

Wondrous and other items get no number from Potency, but their effect runes scale with it and it still raises capacity and level. Potency stacks with Masterwork bonuses.

Crafting: a Potency rune takes no essence. It is the Masterwork craft carried further: the item's own base material, refined by magic to a quality no ordinary craft can reach, so it can hold stronger essences. Its cost is TBD (the GM sets it).