Runecraft Core

This mod is the core infrastructure for the Runecraft modpack. It patches bugs in third-party mods, rebalances loot progression, adds skill gate tooltips, and makes armor trims gameplay-relevant. If you install it outside of the Runecraft modpack, most features will have no effect --- they target specific mods, items, and loot tables from that pack's load order.

Minecraft 1.20.1 | Forge 47.3.0+

What It Does

Runecraft Core is a behind-the-scenes mod that fixes problems and adds systems the modpack depends on. Everything is automatic --- install it and it works.

Compatibility Patches

64 fixes across 12 mods, applied automatically at load time.

Broken models fixed --- 45 block and item models across Goblin's Tyranny, Nichirin Dynasty, Samurai Dynasty, Stalwart Dungeons, and Simply Traps had invalid references causing invisible blocks and missing textures. All corrected.
Loot modifier syntax --- Miner's Delight and Nether's Delight ship loot modifiers with incorrect namespaces. Fixed so mob drops work as intended.
Missing loot tables --- Dynamic Trees for Ars Nouveau, Ars Nouveau (Wilden Chimera), and Aquaculture (Lava/Nether fishing) had empty or missing loot tables. Runecraft Core provides working replacements.
Boss loot balance --- Cataclysm's Harbinger and Coralssus boss drop tables are rebalanced.
Iron's Spellbooks crash fix --- A Mixin redirects a Gson method call that crashes on Forge 1.20.1's bundled Gson version.
Patchouli guidebook --- Dynamic Trees for Ars Nouveau's guidebook is missing a required metadata field on 1.20+. Added.

Patches for mods that aren't installed are silently skipped.

Damage Balancing

Many modded damage types (from spells, bosses, custom weapons) ship with zero hunger cost, creating an imbalance where magic damage feels "free" compared to melee combat.

Exhaustion safety net --- Automatically applies a small hunger cost to modded damage types that would otherwise drain no hunger at all
Damage audit --- Logs a summary of all damage types and tag memberships at server start so you can verify everything loaded correctly
Both features are toggleable in the config

Loot Progression

Prevents players from skipping progression by finding endgame items in early-game structure chests.

Apex items removed from structures --- Elytra, Nether Stars, Legendary Spell Books, Archmage Spell Books, and Dragonsteel Ingots are stripped from 23 vanilla structure loot tables (dungeons, temples, mineshafts, strongholds, mansions, bastions, and more)
Netherite gated to the Nether --- Netherite scrap and ingots are removed from Overworld structure chests so players must reach the Nether to access netherite

Skill Gates & Item Tiers

Adds tooltip overlays to 200+ items showing progression information at a glance.

Skill gates --- Items gated behind RealmRPG skills show a gold tooltip with the requirement (e.g. "Requires: Building 5", "Requires: Magic 30, Building 24")
Tier indicators --- Progression-relevant items show a colored tier label (e.g. "T2 Mid-game", "T4 Apex")
Covers crafting stations, brewing stands, enchanting tables, beacons, shulker boxes, magic equipment, and more
Both tooltip types can be toggled independently in the config

Armor Trim Effects

Vanilla armor trims are purely cosmetic. Runecraft Core makes them matter.

Each trim pattern grants specific gameplay effects --- attribute bonuses (health, armor, speed, etc.) or potion effects (strength, resistance, etc.)
Each trim material has a multiplier that scales the effect strength --- copper is weakest, exotic materials like Ignitium are strongest
Wear 4 matching pieces of the same pattern to activate a set bonus with additional effects
Effects update instantly when you swap armor
Potion effects are reapplied automatically so they don't wear off while you're wearing the armor
Armor tooltips show exactly what effects each trim provides
Fully configurable --- every pattern, material, multiplier, and set bonus can be edited in config/runecraftcore/trim_effects.json

Configuration

A config file is generated at config/runecraftcore-common.toml on first launch with these options:

Strict mode --- Elevates version-mismatch warnings in the log so you can spot stale patches after updating mods
Disabled patches --- Turn off individual patches by ID if an upstream mod has fixed the issue
Exhaustion safety net --- Toggle the modded damage hunger cost fix
Damage audit --- Toggle the startup damage type summary
Skill tooltips --- Toggle skill gate requirement tooltips
Tier tooltips --- Toggle tier indicator tooltips
Trim effects --- Master toggle for the entire armor trim effect system

Detailed trim configuration (patterns, materials, multipliers, effects, set bonuses) is in a separate file at config/runecraftcore/trim_effects.json.

Requirements

Minecraft 1.20.1
Forge 47.3.0 or later

No other mod dependencies required.

For Modpack Authors

Runecraft Core includes a machine-readable patch manifest (patch-manifest.json) and a startup validator that checks installed mod versions against expected ranges. Enable strict mode to surface compatibility drift after pack updates.

A validatePatches Gradle task can verify that all patch target paths still exist in upstream mod jars before you ship a build:

./gradlew validatePatches -PmodsDir=/path/to/your/mods

Source, full patch matrix, and documentation are available on the project's repository.