Runic Skills

Turn Minecraft XP into a full RPG character progression system.

Credit to TheWiggleDuck for the awesome Curseforge project icon!

Runic Skills adds a deep but flexible skill system to Minecraft. Instead of XP being useful only for enchanting and repairs, you can spend it to improve your character across 10 different skills, unlock hundreds of perks, invest in permanent passive bonuses, equip powerful abilities, earn titles, and qualify for better equipment.

The system is designed for both normal survival worlds and heavily modded RPG packs. Runic Skills works on its own, but also includes extensive optional compatibility with magic, combat, equipment, questing, food, firearm, and interface mods.

How It Works

Earn experience normally by playing Minecraft, then open the Skills screen with Y and decide where to spend it.

Each skill becomes progressively more expensive to level, encouraging players to specialize instead of automatically becoming good at everything.

Your choices can unlock:

• 445 perks with combat, utility, crafting, exploration, magic, survival, and mod-specific effects
• 38 passives that provide permanent attribute improvements
• 75 Powers with their own loadout and progression system
• Titles earned through achievements and major milestones
• Equipment requirements that can make stronger gear require appropriate skill levels

A configurable global level cap can also limit how far one character can progress across all ten skills.

Skills

Perks

Perks are the heart of building your character.

Each skill contains its own selection of unlockable abilities, ranging from straightforward bonuses to mechanics that can significantly change how you play.

Examples include:

• Mine entire ore veins more efficiently
• Access your Ender Chest remotely
• Improve villager prices
• Cleave through groups of enemies
• Improve tools and repaired equipment
• Gain specialized critical-hit effects
• Enhance cooking, fishing, farming, enchanting, or crafting
• Improve spellcasting from supported magic mods
• Unlock specialized effects for weapons, firearms, gems, summons, and other modded systems

Perks can be enabled, disabled, ranked, and limited according to the server or modpack's configuration.

Passives

Passives let you invest in permanent character statistics such as:

• Maximum Health
• Attack Damage
• Movement Speed
• Armor and Armor Toughness
• Projectile Damage
• Critical Damage
• Knockback Resistance
• Magic Resistance
• Mana and Mana Regeneration
• Additional attributes provided by compatible mods

They use Minecraft's attribute system wherever possible, allowing them to interact naturally with equipment and other mods.

Powers

Runic Skills also includes a separate Power system with 75 abilities.

Powers use their own loadout instead of occupying perk slots and are divided into progressively stronger tiers:

• Marks
• Seals
• Crowns

Thirty Powers are designed around broader combat and utility concepts such as projectiles, mobility, summoning, channeling, weapon casting, and general spell behavior.

Another forty-five are tied to the nine magical schools from Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks, with five Powers available for each school when that mod is installed.

Powers have their own icons, HUD feedback, effects, sounds, accessibility settings, and configurable visual quality. The system also distinguishes between exact implementations and the small number of Powers that use documented alternative behavior when an upstream mod does not expose the mechanic needed for the original design.

Titles

Players can earn titles for meaningful accomplishments such as defeating major bosses, reaching progression milestones, or completing difficult challenges.

An earned title can be displayed as a prefix to the player's name.

Titles do not replace or modify the player's actual Minecraft name, making the system much friendlier with nickname, chat, team, and tab-list mods.

Title definitions and requirements are also datapack-driven, allowing modpack authors to customize them.

Skill-Based Equipment

Runic Skills can require players to reach certain skill levels before using powerful equipment.

For example, acquiring an endgame weapon from a chest no longer necessarily means a brand-new character can immediately use it at full effectiveness.

Requirements appear directly in item tooltips so players can see what they need.

This system supports both vanilla and large amounts of modded equipment.

Do not want equipment restrictions? The entire system can be disabled with the enableItemLocks configuration option.

Individual items and individual integrations can also be excluded without disabling the whole feature.

Mod Compatibility

All integrations are optional. You do not need any of these mods to use Runic Skills.

When supported mods are installed, Runic Skills can automatically add appropriate perks, passives, Powers, item requirements, events, or interface support.

Major integrations include:

• Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks
  • Nine magic schools
  • Spell progression
  • Mana and spellcasting perks
  • Summoning interactions
  • School-specific abilities
  • The full magic-school Power system
• Ars Nouveau
  • Spell damage and mana interactions
  • Glyph and form specialization
  • School-focused perks
  • Cross-mod magic synergies
• Apotheosis and Apothic Attributes
  • Gem and socket progression
  • Affix interactions
  • Enchanting improvements
  • Additional passive attributes
  • Gem rarity requirements
• FTB Quests
  • Native quest tasks for skill levels
  • Global level requirements
  • Perk ranks
  • Passive levels
  • Unlocked titles
  • Currently selected titles 
• KubeJS
  • Server scripts can react to skill progression
  • Skill level-ups can be allowed or denied through scripts
  • Advancement-based progression rules are supported
• Farmer's Delight and supported addons
  • Cooking and food-related progression
• Let's Do series
  • Compatibility with supported food and farming content
• Tinkers Construct
• Tinkers Jewelry
• Tinkers' Thinking
• TCIntegrations
• Tinkers' Leveling
• Tinkers' Delight
• Tinkers' Advanced
• Simply Swords
• Simply More
• T.O. Magic
• Tide
• Ice and Fire
• Cataclysm
• Mowzie's Mobs
• MineColonies
• Overgeared
• Starcatcher
• Spartan equipment mods
• Samurai Dynasty
• Jewelcraft
• Locks Reforged
• TacZ
• Scorched Guns 2
• Point Blank
• MrCrayfish's Gun Mod compatible versions
• Various additional equipment and content mods

Runic Skills also includes compatibility with inventory-tab mods and interfaces such as:

• Legendary Tabs
• L2Tabs
• CustomNPCs

Unsupported or missing optional mods are simply ignored.

Built for Modpacks

Runic Skills provides extensive control for pack authors and server owners.

You can configure:

• Maximum skill levels
• XP costs
• Global level caps
• Perk limits
• Disabled perks
• Disabled passives
• Disabled Powers
• Whether disabled content remains visible
• Equipment requirements
• Automatic modded-equipment requirements
• Individual item exemptions
• Integration-specific features
• Power behavior and presentation
• UI and HUD options

The server is authoritative for gameplay configuration and synchronizes its rules to connected players.

Configuration files are stored primarily under:

config/RunicSkills/

Most gameplay settings are contained in:

config/RunicSkills/runicskills.common.json5

Equipment requirements use:

config/RunicSkills/runicskills.lockItems.json5

Client-side display options use:

config/runicskills-client.toml

Many settings can be reloaded without restarting the server using:

/skillsreload

Datapack Support

Pack authors can customize several systems through datapacks, including:

• Titles
• Title requirements
• Perk groups
• Power overrides
• Power values
• Custom skill artwork and backgrounds

Skill visuals can be replaced individually, allowing resource packs and modpacks to give the interface their own theme without modifying Runic Skills itself.

FTB Quests Support

With FTB Quests installed, quest authors receive native Runic Skills task types for checking:

• A specific skill level
• Total character level
• Perk rank
• Passive level
• Whether a title has been unlocked
• Whether a title is currently equipped

This allows progression packs to directly connect Runic Skills to quests without relying on scoreboard workarounds or manual commands.

Multiplayer

Runic Skills supports:

• Singleplayer
• LAN
• Dedicated servers

The mod must be installed on both the server and connecting clients.

Gameplay rules are controlled by the server, including skill caps, disabled content, equipment requirements, and progression settings.

Player progression is stored with the player's world data.

Configuration Menu

YetAnotherConfigLib, or YACL, is optional.

Installing YACL provides an in-game configuration interface through:

Mods > Runic Skills > Config

Without YACL, Runic Skills still functions normally and its configuration files can be edited manually.

YACL is not required on dedicated servers.

Controls

• Y: Opens the Skills screen by default and can be rebound
• Skills inventory tab: Provides quick access from the player inventory
• Powers screen: Accessible from the Skills interface, with an optional configurable keybind
• Shift while hovering perks: Displays additional perk information

Inventory tabs automatically try to avoid overlapping the recipe book, potion effects, and interface elements added by other mods. Their position can also be adjusted by the player.

Administration

Runic Skills includes commands for server operators to manage progression, including:

/skills
/listskills
/respec
/titles
/registeritem
/globallimit
/skillsreload
/powers

Players can also use:

/respec

to reset their own character progression.

Requirements

• Minecraft: 1.20.1
• Loader: Forge
• Forge: 47.3.0 or newer
• Java: 17
• Client and server installation: Required for multiplayer
• YACL: Optional
• Other supported mods: Optional

Runic Skills does not require a magic mod, quest mod, or other content mod to function.

Accessibility

Power presentation includes configurable accessibility options such as:

• Power visual quality
• Reduced or disabled particles
• HUD feedback
• Proc sounds
• High-contrast rune presentation
• Particle intensity
• Screen shake
• Flash effects

Screen shake and flash effects are disabled by default.

Open Source

Runic Skills is open source under the Apache License 2.0.

It was originally forked from JustLevelingFork and has since been extensively reworked and expanded with new progression systems, UI, integrations, configuration, Powers, titles, content, and modpack support.

Source Code and Issue Tracker

Bug reports, compatibility reports, suggestions, and contributions are welcome.

Runic Skills

Turn your XP bar into a character build. Runic Skills adds a full RPG progression layer to Minecraft: spend the experience you already earn on ten skills, then cash those skills in for abilities, permanent stat upgrades and titles that other players can see.

Minecraft 1.20.1 · Forge 47.3.0+ Free and open source (Apache-2.0). Forked from JustLevelingFork and heavily reworked.

How it works

You collect XP the normal way — mining, fighting, smelting, whatever you were doing anyway. Then you press Y, open the Skills screen, and spend that XP on whichever skill you choose.

That's the whole loop, and the choice is the point: XP spent on Strength is XP not spent on Magic. Each skill costs more as it rises, so nobody maxes everything, and two players who did exactly the same things end up with completely different characters.

There's no second XP bar to grind and nothing to babysit. Your experience finally has a long-term use beyond enchanting.

Ten skills to invest in

Each skill unlocks its own branch of abilities and stat upgrades:

What you spend it on

Perks — 471 abilities you pick. Perks unlock at skill breakpoints and you toggle them on and off freely from the Skills screen. Vein Miner cascades an ore vein in one break. Wormhole Storage opens your ender chest from anywhere. Haggler talks villagers down. Cleave splashes damage into the crowd around your target. You have a limited number of active slots, so a build is about what you leave off as much as what you take.

Passives — 39 permanent stat upgrades. Pour levels into +Max Health, +Attack Damage, +Movement Speed, +Armour Toughness, +Projectile Damage and more. These use Minecraft's real attribute system, so they stack correctly with your gear and with other mods.

Powers — 75 deep magic specialisations. (needs Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks) A second, separate loadout for spellcasters: 5 Marks, 3 Seals and 1 Crown, escalating in strength, covering all nine magic schools plus cross-cutting effects. Equip them from the Powers panel.

Titles — 77 badges for real milestones. Kill the Ender Dragon, beat the Warden, max out a skill. Earn one and you can wear it above your name, where everyone on the server sees it.

Item locking — gear gated by skill. (on by default) Powerful weapons, tools and armour require a matching skill level. Hand a new player a netherite sword too early and they simply can't swing it — which makes progression mean something instead of being handed over by one lucky chest. Locked items say so in their tooltip, so nobody is left guessing. Not for your world? A single toggle (enableItemLocks) switches the whole system off.

Screenshots

Placeholder — add before publishing: Skills overview · perk detail page · Powers panel · title selection · a locked-item warning

Getting started

1. Install Minecraft Forge 47.3.0+ for 1.20.1.
2. Drop the Runic Skills jar into your mods folder.
3. Launch and press Y.

That's the whole setup. No other mods are required.

Controls

• Y — open and close the Skills screen (rebindable).
• Powers panel — unbound by default so it can't clash with your pack; assign a key under Options → Controls.
• Skills tab — sits next to your inventory tab. If you use L2Tabs or Legendary Tabs (2.0 or newer), it slots into their strip instead of drawing over it.
• Hover a perk and hold Shift for its full description and level requirement.

Want the in-game settings menu? Add YACL — it's optional, client-side only, and just gives you a graphical config screen. Without it everything still works; you'd edit the config file by hand instead.

Multiplayer

Works in single-player, LAN and on dedicated servers, using the same jar everywhere.

• Install it on the server and on every client — clients and servers must be on the same version.
• The server decides the rules. Skill caps, disabled perks and item locks are enforced server-side and pushed to clients on join, so one player's config can't give them an advantage.
• Your progress is stored per-world in your player data and survives death and dimension changes.

Works with your modpack

Runic Skills integrates with around 40 mods. Every one is optional — it detects what you actually have installed and quietly skips the rest. Nothing crashes because a mod is missing.

Magic — Ars Nouveau (spell damage, mana regen, glyph mastery) · Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks (all nine schools, spell gating, and the entire Powers system)

Gear & stats — Apotheosis and Apothic Attributes (affix, gem and socket awareness, plus a much wider stat pool for passives)

Quests & scripting — FTB Quests (six task types, so quests can require skill levels, perks or titles) · KubeJS (script your own skills, perks, passives and titles)

UI — L2Tabs · Legendary Tabs (2.0+)

Combat & content — Better Combat, Ice and Fire, Cataclysm, Mowzie's Mobs, Bosses of Mass Destruction, Stalwart Dungeons, Siege Machines, Saints Dragons, Samurai Dynasty, Nichirin Dynasty, Farmer's Delight and the Let's Do series, Nature's Aura, Jewelcraft, and more — mostly automatic level-gating for their gear.

Guns — TacZ, Scorched Guns 2, PointBlank (Vic's), Crayfish Gun Mod

Configuring it

Every number is adjustable: skill caps, XP costs, how many perks you can run at once, which perks exist at all, and every item lock. Edit them in-game via the config screen, or directly in config/RunicSkills/.

Pack authors also get datapack support for titles, perk groups and custom skill artwork, plus KubeJS hooks for adding your own content. Full details are in the README.

To turn a perk off entirely, add its name to disabledPerks. To switch off item locking, set enableItemLocks to false — note that deleting the lock file regenerates the defaults rather than removing them. Apply changes live with /skillsreload.

Commands

Operator commands (permission level 2):

Available to everyone:

What's new in 1.8.0

The client crash on Legendary Tabs 2.0 is fixed.

• Opening your inventory no longer crashes the game when Legendary Tabs 2.0 is installed. Legendary Tabs reshaped the API its tabs are built on; the Runic Skills tab was still written for the 1.x version of it, so the client died the moment the tab strip drew — which is every time you opened your inventory. The tab is now built on the 2.0 API.
• Legendary Tabs 2.0 or newer is now required if you use it. It stays entirely optional, but Runic Skills now declares the version, so an older Legendary Tabs is refused during mod loading with a clear message instead of letting you into a world that crashes.
• The Skills tab icon looks slightly different. Legendary Tabs 2.0 draws the button chrome itself and asks each tab only for an icon, so the tab now uses Legendary Tabs' own skills icon and picks up its per-screen button skins automatically.

Nothing else changed — no config, world data or network changes. Protocol is unchanged from 1.7.0, so a 1.8.0 client still connects to a 1.7.0 server, though running the same version everywhere is still the recommendation.

Coming from 1.6.x or earlier? 1.7.0 was a large correctness and security pass: four item and XP duplication exploits closed, configs no longer wiped by a single bad value, the global level cap enforced server-side, and the Powers panel made reachable. It bumped the network version, so ⚠️ clients and servers must both be on 1.7.0 or newer. Existing worlds and configs carry over automatically.

Full details for this and every previous release are in the changelog.

Bugs and suggestions

GitHub issues is the fastest way to reach us.

For a crash, please attach logs/latest.log and your mod list. For anything config-related, add config/RunicSkills/runicskills.common.json5 too.

Translated into 17 languages. Pull requests welcome — including translation fixes.

Credits

Otectus — current maintainer. JustLevelingFork — the original fork base.

Every mod we integrate with belongs to its own author; Runic Skills bundles none of their code and only adds thin optional compatibility layers.