UsefulRunestones

UsefulRunestones

UsefulRunestones turns Valheim's RuneStones and Vegvisirs into configurable exploration rewards.

Runestones have a chance to pin configured locations just like vegvisirs!

Vegvisirs can give players shorttime buff according to biome.
So vegvisir is still a little useful even though you already know boss locations.

Highlights

• Let pinless RuneStones reveal configured world locations as saved map pins.
• Give custom pin names and pin icons per target location.
• Use weighted chances so a RuneStone can reveal one target or reveal nothing.
• Resolve global pins on the dedicated server, then send only the result to the interacting client.
• Restrict or expand valid RuneStone source biomes per target.
• Grant weighted Vegvisir status-effect rewards by biome.
• Combine biome-specific reward tables with an All table.
• Keep one selected reward and per-player cooldown state per loaded Vegvisir.
• Play optional shared vfx_, sfx_, or fx_ prefabs when a reward is granted.
• Sync YAML to clients with ServerSync and reload while the game is running.
• Support custom biome names through Expand World Data when it is installed.

Why Use UsefulRunestones

UsefulRunestones focuses on small world-interaction rewards that make exploration more useful:

• Existing RuneStones can point players toward configured landmarks without editing location prefabs.
• Server owners can tune target weights and the chance of revealing no pin.
• Vegvisirs can become biome-flavored reward points instead of one-time boss pointers only.
• Cooldowns are tracked per loaded Vegvisir and per player, so shared servers can reward exploration without giving unlimited buffs.
• The YAML stays compact enough to maintain by hand.

Generated Files

The mod creates:

BepInEx/config/UsefulRunestones.yml
BepInEx/config/sighsorry.UsefulRunestones.cfg

Server admins should edit the YAML on the server or host. The full YAML text is synced to clients automatically.

RuneStone Global Pins

runestoneGlobalPins rows use this shorthand:

runestoneGlobalPins:
  - Vendor_BlackForest, 0.5, Haldor, Icon3
  - SunkenCrypt4, 0.25, Sunken Crypt, Icon3, [Swamp]

Fields:

locationName, chance, pinName, pinType, sourceBiomes

Field behavior:

• locationName: target ZoneSystem location prefab/name.
• chance: final weighted chance for this target. Omitted value defaults to 1.
• pinName: saved map pin name. Omitted value uses the target location discover label, then child teleport enter text, then locationName.
• pinType: Valheim Minimap.PinType. Omitted value defaults to Icon3.
• sourceBiomes: extra RuneStone source biomes that can reveal this target.

If filtered target chances add up to 1 or less, the remaining chance means no pin. If the total is over 1, UsefulRunestones normalizes the target weights so exactly one target can be selected.

When sourceBiomes is omitted or empty, a RuneStone can reveal the target only from the target location's own biome. Add source biomes when you want a RuneStone in one biome to reveal a target in another biome.

Selection lifetime

• Single-player and the host's own interactions keep one result per loaded RuneStone object. Recreating that object (for example, after zone unloading) allows a new roll. Changing the pin definition also allows a new roll.
• Remote clients ask the server. The server derives a repeatable roll from the RuneStone's 16m XZ cell, the pin definition, and a secret that lasts while the plugin remains loaded. Height is not part of the cell. This is not a world-seed-based or saved-world result.
• Nearby RuneStones in one cell share a roll percentile, not necessarily the same target: the server resolves eligible candidates and the nearest location for each request. Changes to available locations can therefore affect the result.
• Pin definition order, names, icons, chances, and source biomes participate in the selection key. Editing display fields can change the roll too. Restarting the game/server creates a new secret; changing worlds without unloading the plugin does not.

Consequently, unloading a zone does not reroll a remote client's percentile while the server plugin remains loaded, but this does not promise a permanent pin or no-pin result at that world position. The local and remote policies are intentionally unchanged.

Vegvisir Global Effects

vegvisirGlobalEffects rows are grouped by biome:

vegvisirGlobalEffects:
  - All:
    - Rested, 240, 480, 1, vfx_HealthUpgrade
  - BlackForest:
    - GP_Eikthyr, 120, 600, 0.5

Reward fields:

StatusEffect, durationSeconds, cooldownSeconds, weight, effectPrefab

Field behavior:

• StatusEffect: status effect prefab name.
• durationSeconds: optional override. Omitted value uses the prefab duration.
• cooldownSeconds: optional cooldown. Omitted value uses the prefab cooldown.
• weight: optional selection weight. Omitted value defaults to 1.
• effectPrefab: optional shared visual/audio effect. Must start with vfx_, sfx_, or fx_.

Cooldown values:

• 0: no cooldown
• below 0: once per loaded Vegvisir per player
• above 0: per-player cooldown in seconds

VRS_ClearStatus is a built-in miss reward that clears current status effects and shows the configured clear-status message.

Rewards and per-player cooldowns belong to each loaded Vegvisir object on the local player's client. Recreating the object allows a new reward selection and fresh cooldowns; rewards are not saved by world position. Changing the ordered candidate keys, weights, effective cooldowns, duration overrides, or FX also resets selection and cooldowns on the next interaction. Localization-only changes do not reset them.

Localization

Optional localization fields: