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Runebound - Thoughts on the Pipe (Patreon)

Published:
2023-06-11 13:46:52
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hey guys!

Minor spoilers btw- read ahead at your own risk. (Nothing too important though).

Hope you’re doing well. I’ve been thinking about this for a bit, but I’m still flip flopping on what I want to do.

Noah is currently using a pipe to generate smoke for his abilities. While I do think it’s an effective way for him to actually have smoke to work with, im also not sure if having him portraying smoke as cool is a great idea, hahaha. Granted, he can control where it goes etc, but im still thinking on it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Comments

Alexander Smith

I'm don't mind the idea of him smoking a pipe, but would welcome a more interesting method of smoke generation. Not that I can think of one besides carrying some sort of magical match or torch he can light his supply of smoke weed stuff alight.

quiscon

I honestly dont think it matters, you can have him smoke just fine and it will be just another part of his characters. It's not like you need to go out of your way to make smoking be a "cool dude thing".

Actus

Yeah that’s kind of my thing as well. I think Noah did make it clear he didn’t like smoking, but I haven’t been able to land on anything that’s actually more effective than the pipe at generating it while keeping his hands free hahaha

Mike Baker

I think it's fine, there is the statement earlier about how smoking is bad for you and it kinda fits (what we have seen so far) of his character arc where he has less fear/reverence of death and more willing to act upon his wishes and live in the moment compared to his previous life or his time in the queue.

Actus

Yeah, good point. I do think it would be fun if I could think of a cooler way for him to generate it, but since nothing has struck yet, probably not worth reworking anything. Thanks for the thoughts!

Matt

Anyone old enough to pay for a patreon subscription is also old enough to figure out for themselves if smoking is cool or just deadly

Alexander Smith

Smoking belt buckle that sets his trousers alight? Or just a box full of smoking tinder on his belt but those don't seem that safe or practical perhaps. I say just leave as is

Dax

A pipe is probably unnecessary for him to generate and control smoke. Pipes are just a means to safely control combustion, and manipulate the resulting smoke. His runes can already completely replace the need for one.

Actus

LMAO imagine he’s just running around with his pants on fire, that’s hilarious.

quiscon

plus its not like anything would need reworking if ya do find another way. If you do decide to change it, it could just be he found a better way later and was like "mah tried smoking but did not really catch" or something like that

Actus

Yeah, but the main ‘issue’ is he needs something to actually generate it consistently. Like the pipe is just basically a holder for the burning Flashgrass, but the main benefit is that his hands are free.

Toknightly

Smoking is only bad for you if you smoke the wrong stuff. Pure tobacco is about as bad as a candy bar

SquiddlyWinks

Is your concern promoting smoking? I can see that as a valid concern. He’d still have the taste of ash in his mouth right? That absolutely sucks, please believe me. On par with soap. Or fumble the pipe? Break it somehow, then he’s caught out? Also, maybe he can collect the spent ash along the way, or pull it from their nightly fire, and store it for later use. That’s already been established as possible.

Actus

Yeah, mixture of that (although he does basically say it’s bad and being rash with his own health does technically fit his character) and also just trying to think if I can find a cooler way for him to generate smoke.

自由

I don't mind it, it just doesn't seem effective compared to a large cannister with compressed ash?

quiscon

now that I think about it could he not just carry ash in his gourd?, he dosent use it for anything and that would give him a excellent excuse to carry it around.

Actus

Honestly, the idea of having basically a gara gourd is pretty badass. Maybe that’s the long term solution - just have him carry a canister around on his belt/back and leave the ash there

Actus

Yeah I just came to that exact same thought like 5 seconds ago in another comment! Hahaha. That might be the best strategy honestly.

自由

Yea, maybe look into how much you can compress ash (differences in volume/density) surprisingly much ash might fit in there. Also, maybe he can create some diamonds ;).

Actus

Compression could be something to work toward for sure - he can start by just having the Flashgrass in a container rather than the pipe which would function exactly the same but also leave his mouth open while fighting. Great for shit-talking.

Sean

I figured the pipe would be gone by the time he removed his ash runes entirely from his t2 rune. I get that ash goes well with his combustion master rune, but I fully expected him to sunder combustion once he had a chance to not be so distracted. If I'm wrong and you mainly just want to know about how the pipe may present a bad image. I think it's very dumb to worry about when the professor is literally committing suicide at some points. There are some novels where sticking to your reader's upbringing helps the story flow, but this honestly doesn't feel like it would help. If he actually was using this pipe for a few chapters before setting it down because "smoking's bad mkay." I think it would completely break character.

Jana

If you are looking for replacements, there are things like Finger Smoke. A Trick in Magic that produces smoke by rubbing your fingers together. However the pipe is also a source of ash, a small one but who knows one day a little bit of Ash will come in clutch. I don’t mind the pipe itself and would keep it as a fail safe in any case, I just wanted to throw in a pretty little alternative.

Actus

Spoilers so read at your own risk- . . . At least right now, he’s mainly kept the Ash because it’s all he had to combine, and since he doesn’t have to worry about what combinations he makes there was no point in waiting to get a stronger rune. Combustion is indeed likely to get Sundered though - just not yet, as we don’t know what happens to Master runes when they’re Sundered. Noah will likely try to research info in master runes first.

ggpavi

I think it is will be problematic if you think of this from a health point of view and how it is perceived. A good story in my opinion should be about the story, not the message. You put a message you want to convey, it becomes propaganda. You make a good story it should deliver variety of messages to variety of people. That said, he got wind, ash, vibration and combustion powers. You are looking at an eighties type of mysterious stranger protag. Maybe lean into it. A bit of Constantine(comic book slyness with Keanu stoicness). Add in the smoke as obstruction with a hint of volience of life and death fight where no none is ready for, but he is. He is friendly and open, but that underlying fatalistic (but not really) way of going at problems could be the key to an interesting story. Anyway, keep it up. Curious what you have else in store.

Actus

Great thoughts!

Sean

Yeah I don't see it as an issue then. It's a cheap prop for an incompatible rune that's he's using because he has it. If anything I think it'd make more sense for Noah to drop the rune and keep the pipe for shits and giggles. Like he's using it 50 chapters from now and Moxie says something like "didn't you drop your ash rune? Why are you still using that." And he'd flippantly reply, "It makes me feel like Gandalf."

TheLunaticCo

I would prefer that, Not really comfortable with smoking being seen as anything but awful and dangerous due to family history.

Actus

Yeah, it’s not something I want to glorify at all. Noah isn’t a fan of it either, so I think he’ll be upgrading to a gourd very soon.

A P

I don't think it matters. It was a problem when every other show was portraying smoking as cool but nowadays it's usually portrayed more accurately in media. A couple characters with pipes or cigars aren't going to make smoking seem cool again. I do feel like relying on an external source for his ash might be a tactical problem long term though.

Conor kelly

Nah, I think it's a fun mental image for him in a fight. Plus him having a thing that can be taken away as core to his fighting style has possibilities for future events.

Conor kelly

Nah, I think it's a fun mental image for him in a fight. Plus him having a thing that can be taken away as core to his fighting style has possibilities for future events.

Actus

I was considering this, but I also wanted to make sure his hands were free. Could hang from his belt or the like though.

Jana

Some Add on that came to my mind later on. An incense burner can be used as both a source of ash and smoke. I think there are portable ones. I don’t know how smart Noah’s gonna be but a quick starter with a magnesium fire addition, or pyropaper or a mechanical QuickStart are doable/ purchaseable in our world. I have a replica of an elaborate incense burner in ball form used to carry around burning incense for scent. These look pretty nice am the insides rotate around each other to keep the incense up and not burn the owner, the are not bigger than a small fist.

Leander

If you don‘t portray it as something to strive for, and instead use it as a physical representation of his fatalism, it could become a great prop for his character arc. To that end maybe have him inhale a bit of smoke each time he uses it but brush it of as it resets with every death. And during his character arc when he learns to value life more, he discards the pipe and finds a different method.

Silver

An important aspect of making something seem cool is how it is used. Noah uses it like a tool and not in scenes to seem suave or aloof. In fact He seems excessively wary of the smoke like it's asbestos.

The Frumpled Rabbit

It is cool, and it's not evil, so I don't see a problem. Even if he used it normally it wouldn't bother me. Some people smoke pipes and cigars, that doesn't make them bad or amoral people.

Nathaniel Jacob moore

Honestly the pipe just seemed kinda... tossed in there for a funny image to begin with? So whilst I don't have particularly strong feelings on it, I'd say it really doesn't need to be there and the flash grass on it's own just being tossed out and combusted mid air makes a great smoke screen, gives him a wall of ash to use offensively or defensively so would be significantly more effective than current and he could reasonably grow quite a bit with emily and moxie as they're both nature users and could spin a yarn about it being great imbuing practice for emily and who knows what reason he could come up with for moxie. In regards to the master rune, wouldn't combustion basically just be, heat + vibration + wind and maybe + ash and/or water but for the variant we see him have it seems likely to just be a combo of the first 3, all the abilities of the hellreaver are pretty easily explained by the first 3 runes and just fancied up by being a master rune (which honestly just seem like supercharged runes of a higher rank that for whatever reason can be used by lower ranked people.), dao mastery nonsense of the laws of the concept yadda yadda being so high it feeds back into the opposite (cool concept btw) being the sole determining factor currently, which would theoretically mean you could have all your runes be master runes :P Also no mention of imbuing the master rune to just give away, never explained on why that can't be done as far as I remember, seems like the kind of thing noble houses would pass down to the heir to the family if possible.

Dragonkinn

Could get a custom made cane sword. Packs more, gives him a standard weapon, could be bad ass, could use it as a blow pipe/dart or recorder/flute for the sound effect. You have him being a music teacher, so there's a lot of directions you could go right there. His sword doesn't have a scabbard. Flint lock to add for fire in case he drops pyroclastic

Kimberly

My concern is the amount of smoke he is getting doesn't seem viable for the amount of ash he would need to really take on a foe. Ash is such a hard thing, it would make sense if each time he used the pipe he willed the ash into a jar or container that he could take it from later if he needed more material. I am still curious where he is going to take his powers, cause I will be honest I thought it might eventually run into a "Elemental Resonance" or something rune where he could use a bit of everything. Back to your question, I don't have an issue with the pipe, we all know he isn't actually smoking and nothing is getting into his lungs because of his power. If you are concerned, just bring it up periodically that he didn't want to damage his lungs, he was advised again how bad te smoke could be, he used his power to ensure no smoke got inside his body, etc and I think you are fine. 🙂

Actus

Hahaha, the cane sword/flintlock is the exact outfit of Knell, the MC of my other story.

Dragonkinn

Apologies, have not read yet so did not know that

Actus

You’re totally fine man, we both clearly think the same stuff is cool hahaha

Alan Ben Sen Clem

The pipe didn't seem as effective as a gourd in the first place, and I did find it difficult to imagine him produce enough ash to use with his skills. In fact while the first ash rune seemed very powerful and effective (gathering ash from burned trees, turning them into 5cm-large rotating spikes to impale enemies with) I still have trouble imagining what the pipe spell looks like. Is it like a massive burning smoke fog snaking around Noah and turning into burning spikes or is it something else entirely?

Actus

He can still do that first bit, and yeah you’ve gotten the 2nd one exactly. He basically just keeps generating ash from the pipe, so it takes a little more time to kick into gear than just ripping it from dead trees. If he still had trees like that to work with, he’d be using them instead of the pipe.

Actus

Thanks for the thoughts! Everyone's had some great feedback and I've got some good ideas on where to take things from here now :) and yeah, I'm intentionally keeping his future open since I like seeing people theorycraft.

Hamfist

"I smoked it but I didn't inhale" is kinda weak. Might be better to occasionally have him choking and nauseas because he accidentally did inhale some of it.

Actus

Technically he catches the smoke with his Ash Rune and keeps it from entering his lungs, but I agree.

Kuratenshi

I like what you've done with the pipe. It's a bit of a take on an old school professor look. He's worried about what it will do to his health. He's worried about what it does to the health of those around him. As others have said, it is also something that he can lose, which raises interesting possibilities.

ScottDR

the pipe doesn't bother me too much, but since you're open to ideas - a magical item such as never-ending incense, or an ever-burning censer that he could relight with combustion, perhaps? you could even have the incense provide different effects, depending on the type of incense he's burning: it could provide him with some non-lethal options - ways to incapacitate enemies, etc.

ScottDR

though on second thought these suggestions focus more on the smoke than the ash, which may not be viable depending on the constraints you have on his ash runes

1FantasyFanatic

The information that smoking is bad for you is so prevalent these days that even if you had the MC praise smoking, I don’t think it would influence kids’ opinions much. Plus the whole magical world setting helps disassociate what goes on in the story vs. real life. Anyway I think it’s a cool prop. My vote is to keep it. Also congrats on writing full time your stories are fun to read!

Chrysdt

I believe it might be better not to call it smoke at all. Smoke usually is a product of combustion nd not it´s fuel (this tripped me up already a couple of times in the story). Wood Gas might be a bit unwieldy though...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas. What might be even better would be wood dust or an aerosol like in vacuum bombs/ flour explosions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion Pyroclastic Vibrations turns a liquid/solid into a superheated Aerosol which ignites when in contact with Oxygen or not when the inverse of Combustion is triggered

Bob

Wouldn't an old fashioned torch staff work better? It could smell like vanilla or something. Also, it would be a weapon.

Actus

That would definitely work, but I’m also trying to keep his hands open for the time being

Chillitsagame

You can still show Noah is against smoking. Someone sees his pipe and asks for tobacco (or your version of smoking leaves). Noah says "I don't smoke, it's bad for you" to everyone's confusion

Joel Ruiz

The smoke has plenty of gimmicks possible, it can shape into any form, and using the vibration you should be able to create many exotic effects. I think the sound can be used for mind control and stuff. Go a bit wacky, let loose.

Wizardion

Could try a censer?

Actus

Yeah, that’s what it’s looking like I’ll go with, a mixture between a gourd and a censer on his belt/back.

Naepoleon

you could even go with a censer flail. 2 for 1 deal. mostly because I'm a d&d nerd

Moon Winchester

My friend this is a magic world and while people may not want to admit it, while smoking is bad for you, it looks dope. Then again he can just set himself on fire and using the ash generated from burning himself he can become a literal human torch combine that with combustion and looking his soul to his body with sunder imbumment. You have a literal Undying Torch Zombie

Yvng Dante

I think the issue he has is that it could be seen as him somewhat glorifying the concept, while smoking isn't evil it is a health hazard, and portraying it as a cool gimmick for a character may not be something he wants associated with his novel.

The Frumpled Rabbit

I understand the sentiment, I just don't necessarily agree with it. It doesn't really bother me. personally I strongly dislike when people shove their values my throat, but ultimately he can do what he wants. Plus I think to glorify it Noah would have to enjoy it use it leisurely. The Character has made it pretty clear that he is not a fan of smoking... so maybe he can find something else to work with, like a small hip lantern filled with that grass or something. He could just open it and release all the ashh build up from the lantern.

Actus

Yeah, that latter part is what I’m leaning toward doing. I won’t be changing his current usage of stuff, but it’s logical to eventually upgrade it to something larger scale so he can use more faster when he needs to.

The Frumpled Rabbit

Plus I imagine it's kinda hard to suck on a pipe, and whistle, and sprint around and fight too. Haha Also just a thought why does he need to suck it in at all? You can just blow out a pipe and create a lot of smoke. It's the airflow through the leaf that generates the smoke. At least in my experience with few times I have tried it.

charles

i dont mind the morality of smoking but maybe smthing cooler and less limiting (he has to pull out pipe from somwhere and blow on it to fight), like mr moon's idea of torching himself very cool very rad. but smoking still pretty cool anyone who cares about the image it portrays morally is weird when there are worse in the novel

Scrigast

I like the pipe - it gives Tolkien vibes, which is a nice flavor to mix in a little

Thousand Odysseys

Also. I thought it was a stop gap measure until he could afford something better anyway. It serves its narrative purpose, and you’re not actually having him smoke. You very clearly stated that he doesn’t inhale it. 🤷‍♀️ It’s important for an author to think about what message they’re sending yes, but after a certain point you just gotta let a story be a story.

Jason

I was expecting the pipe to be a temporary thing actually.

M. Lebedev

"im also not sure if having him portraying smoke as cool is a great idea" I don't think this concern should be a factor. Maybe a publisher might ask you to change it, but I doubt you'll be affecting the psyche of your RR audience much XD

Umut Numanoglu

I mean Lee is eating human corpses, I don't think smoking is something you need to worry about. I'd nit give his book to children either way and for adults (no matter how young they are) it should not be a concern

Fraser

Don't worry, this is also a world with potions that can heal lost limbs, and the main character can get a new body as well