Runemaster gone death knight

[Kira13]

So what would happen if a traditional tauren Runemaster would've gone to Icecrown, be captured and/or killed, then turned into a death knight? Would his body runes still be working?
Discuss.

[Aphetoros]

Probably, considering there's a felsworn runemaster.

[Kira13]

'xactly.

[Arrillion]

I wouldn't really now Death Knights don't retain skills from their former lives so I don't think it would have any effects other than the runes that still are on his body. Which might have been broken when the body was ressurected.

[Loxmardin]

I'm personally not positive that runes actually take effect on dead bodies, either.

Since DKs are, for all intents and purposes, "dead".

[Kira13]

But the runes don't depend on the body/thing they are on, be it alive, dead, or neither.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Since when? Sure, there are some runes you can put on rocks and stuff, or on living people, but I never knew there could be Undead Runemasters

[Beltharean]

Well, Dark Inscribers (a notable example being the forsken in the drawing that defines them) use the same runic magic as Runemasters (albeit with different designs) so it can be done... I'd personally think that, bring magic in origin and an enchantment of sorts, they might fade upon death. Being a DK, they'd likely apply their former knowledge to build on their DK runes, and become more proficient with the rune magic they use.

[Kira13]

That is correct, due to what WoWPedia's definition on dark inscribers is.

From http://www.wowpedia.org/Dark_inscriber
"A dark inscriber has access to arcanist spells and to rune patterns, and as he grows in understanding he can blend the two to create runes of his spells."
"Some inscribers see runes as another possible conduit through which to channel necromantic or demonic energy. They forsake the standard arcanist spells to focus instead on dark magic."

And we all know that runemasters are arcanists.

[FlyingSquirrel]

So, Death Knights would be allowed to be Arcanists?

[Kira13]

No, no, no. Dark inscribers were inscribers/runemasters (basically arcanists), that turned to necromancy or demon magic, hence the name "dark inscriber".

[Beltharean]

So, Death Knights would be allowed to be Arcanists?

Death Knights -are- arcanists.

[Kira13]

Which now use necromancy. Which is also a school of arcane. So yeah, death knights are arcanists.

[Kenshiro]

The runes wouldn't function. After all, the runes that a runemaster has in life, don't function the same way as the Dark Inscribers runes do. They would not be the necrotic runes that the dark inscribers use, therefore wouldn't work. (If I've read properly)

But, Death Knights already use runes, just not on their body.

[Aphetoros]

They would work because they're not being powered by the runemaster but by the ley-lines themselves. It comes down to arguing how long they were dead (otherwise the runes would fade if dead too long.) They wouldn't be able to make new ones, likely, but the ones on their bodies would still act to enhance their combative skills.

Either way, DKs are already ICly over-powered, do they really need more? (Interesting character concept though.)