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Is this a thing? I remember that in Fallen Angels (HH), Luther was using Runes that protected him from Witchfire (among other Psychic things), but that seems to be the only place that I've heard of Warp Runes outside of Space Wolves. Are there any similar examples in modern 40k? Did the 1k Sons use Runes to bind their pet daemons to them during the GC?

Rune priests and warp runes are two entirely different things. Rune priests are "not-psykers" from the legion that was iffy on the psyker thing. Warp runes are forms of spells.

Rune Priests are separate from warp runes as Brennon said. "Rune Priest" is the term for a space wolf librarian, "Warp Runes" refer to runes.

Eldar also like to use Runes.

Note, using Runes doesn't make one a Rune Priest.

Though Rune Priests do use runes, most of which are various warp-arcana in written form. Rune Priests are either psykers or sorcerers, if we're being honest.

So, hypothetically, I could write a Rogue Trader who has Runes on his custom Void Ship that repel Daemons? Like, say he's a Telepath, and he likes to just leave himself open and read everyone around him, but he can't do that unless he has some special Runic protection from Daemons (anti-posession, and all that), would that work?

It would work, but he'd probably swiftly find that his runes are not as effective as hoped - warp stuff is never reliable in 40k. That's why the Eldar tend to seal off their group telepathy and use voice.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
It would work, but he'd probably swiftly find that his runes are not as effective as hoped - warp stuff is never reliable in 40k. That's why the Eldar tend to seal off their group telepathy and use voice.

So, complete overkill on the runes would be ineffectual, then? Say he has the Runes inscribed on the skeleton of the ship during construction, then on the outer hull, then on the armour plating, then on the floors (which are subsequently covered up by carpets; no one likes a cold space ship ), then he has a tatoo of a protective Rune. That way, there is endless redundancies, and therefore more safety.

I like to view 40k as a setting that is the starting point for my imagination. I think looking at the setting and viewing it as a broad range of 'rules' that must to be adhered to is the wrong perspective.

If you have an idea you like, run with it. You can always magic/handwave any contradictions with existing canon. It's what the studio staff do!

nareik wrote:
I like to view 40k as a setting that is the starting point for my imagination. I think looking at the setting and viewing it as a broad range of 'rules' that must to be adhered to is the wrong perspective.

If you have an idea you like, run with it. You can always magic/handwave any contradictions with existing canon. It's what the studio staff do!

I'd rather not use the magical substance of handwavium in any piece of writing that I create. That is one thing that is pure anathema to me; idiocy always bugs the hell outta me.

 dusara217 wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
It would work, but he'd probably swiftly find that his runes are not as effective as hoped - warp stuff is never reliable in 40k. That's why the Eldar tend to seal off their group telepathy and use voice.

So, complete overkill on the runes would be ineffectual, then? Say he has the Runes inscribed on the skeleton of the ship during construction, then on the outer hull, then on the armour plating, then on the floors (which are subsequently covered up by carpets; no one likes a cold space ship ), then he has a tatoo of a protective Rune. That way, there is endless redundancies, and therefore more safety.

It could work for a while. At that point you can just say: "It hasn't happened yet so he thinks he's safe". Not everyone in world knows how screwed up Warp Stuff is.

OP: Are you meaning Librarians who tend towards more shamanistic tendencies?

If so, then the White Scars are definitely a contender.

As Kanluwen said, if you mean more shamnistic style for Librarians than White Scars fit the bill relatively well. If not then the only real "Rune Priests" are in the Space Wolves. To an extent I suppose Farseers of the Eldar could be considered Rune Priests, but they're not Space Marines.

The Silver Skulls Adeptus Astartes have their Prognosticators, Librarians that use the Emperor's Tarot and runes to see the future and divine the correct course of action.

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 dusara217 wrote:

 Furyou Miko wrote:
It would work, but he'd probably swiftly find that his runes are not as effective as hoped - warp stuff is never reliable in 40k. That's why the Eldar tend to seal off their group telepathy and use voice.

So, complete overkill on the runes would be ineffectual, then? Say he has the Runes inscribed on the skeleton of the ship during construction, then on the outer hull, then on the armour plating, then on the floors (which are subsequently covered up by carpets; no one likes a cold space ship ), then he has a tatoo of a protective Rune. That way, there is endless redundancies, and therefore more safety.

It could work for a while. At that point you can just say: "It hasn't happened yet so he thinks he's safe". Not everyone in world knows how screwed up Warp Stuff is.

Not a rogue trader, but a cadre of Chaos Sorcerors. I can't remember the novel, but a traitor legion cruiser pointedly didn't have a Gellar field and instead had runes of binding etched in gold along the flanks of the ship - essentially an open invitation to daemons to come and have a go if they though themselves hard enough.....

It didn't get destroyed in the time period of the novel, but I would imagine something like that would ultimately go wrong. But it's workable at least for a while, and - if you're genuinely That Good is probably better than a Gellar field.

 dusara217 wrote:
So, hypothetically, I could write a Rogue Trader who has Runes on his custom Void Ship that repel Daemons? Like, say he's a Telepath, and he likes to just leave himself open and read everyone around him, but he can't do that unless he has some special Runic protection from Daemons (anti-posession, and all that), would that work?

There is such an upgrade in the RT RPG, called a Warpsbane Hull. It improves your chances of avoiding an incursion when making a Warp Jump. It doesn't make you immune to them, however. Runes, being magical reservoirs, can get overloaded and burn out/explode/whatever.

 dusara217 wrote:
So, hypothetically, I could write a Rogue Trader who has Runes on his custom Void Ship that repel Daemons? Like, say he's a Telepath, and he likes to just leave himself open and read everyone around him, but he can't do that unless he has some special Runic protection from Daemons (anti-posession, and all that), would that work?

Special protection vs deamons on ships for rogue traders
Gellar field http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Gellar_Field
Warpsbane hull -> The entire hull of the vessel is covered with silver, handinscribed hexagramic wards. These reinforce a Geller Field
There is an Item called a "rune caster" in the rogue trader RPG it is basicly a set of looted eldar runes that helps the ship navigate more smoothly and repels daemons / warp accidents.

There are also things like the agis armour
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Aegis_Armour

oldzoggy wrote:

 dusara217 wrote:
So, hypothetically, I could write a Rogue Trader who has Runes on his custom Void Ship that repel Daemons? Like, say he's a Telepath, and he likes to just leave himself open and read everyone around him, but he can't do that unless he has some special Runic protection from Daemons (anti-posession, and all that), would that work?

Special protection vs deamons on ships for rogue traders
Gellar field http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Gellar_Field
Warpsbane hull -> The entire hull of the vessel is covered with silver, handinscribed hexagramic wards. These reinforce a Geller Field
There is an Item called a "rune caster" in the rogue trader RPG it is basicly a set of looted eldar runes that helps the ship navigate more smoothly and repels daemons / warp accidents.

There are also things like the agis armour
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Aegis_Armour

This is more for when in Realspace. Psykers getting possessed was one of the major catalysts behind the Age of Strife, after all, and remains an issue for the Imperium. I was thinking something along the lines of the Psyker recognizing the danger of possession, but wanting to be able sort of do the same thing that Eragon does in the Inheritance trilogy (basically just blanket your mind across an area; reading everyone's thoughts at the same time but sort of like peripherally, so that you only really register something if your subconscious marks it as a danger to you) or maybe communing with his Void Ship psychically (it's directly stated in fluff that every object has a Psychic reflection in the Warp; even something as simple as a scalpel).
Also, yeah, something akin to Aegis Armour or Runic Armour would definitely be something worth looking into.

Reading the 40k rule book box, a large part of the imperium's existence is purely as a psyker processing system.

Destroying all the unfit psykers and giving the proper training/safeguards to the ones with decent potential so the Emperor can guide mankind's evolution into a psychic race that is unthreatened by daemons.

Like what most people said, White Scars Storm Callers are the next closest thing.
Their both just more shamany versions of librarians who believe their powers are more elemental than psychic.

Mantis Warriors also have shamanistic Librarians, probably since they're a White Scars successor.