This was first published on GameWyrd on 30 May 2002 and later overhauled in September 2026.
GameWyrd published a custom keyboard-character rune language for Ratkin in a Shifter Sphere MUSH in May 2002 to create a claw-mark cypher that players could transmit strictly through text. Built entirely from standard ASCII characters, this two-stroke system allowed roleplaying game participants to “carve” hidden messages into digital environments using nothing but a standard keyboard.
The design brief required the runes to look like physical scratches on stone or wood while remaining typeable in a primitive text-based chat interface. By limiting each character to two straight-line strokes and using plus signs, pipes, hyphens, crosses, and angle brackets, the system forms a crude but highly functional alphabet for GameWyrd archives.
The Ratkin Keyboard Cypher
This mapping assigns two characters to every letter, plus four common phonetic blends to speed up typing and complicate brute-force translations.
| Letter | Rune | Letter | Rune |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ++ | P | +- |
| B | +< | Q | X- |
| C | |> | R | |< |
| D | V+ | S | >< |
| E | -- | T | V| |
| F | -| | U | VV |
| G | >V | V | XV |
| H | >X | W | <| |
| I | || | X | <V |
| J | |X | Y | <> |
| K | +> | Z | X| |
| L | |- | ING | +X |
| M | X< | TH | X> |
| N | -V | LX | V- |
| O | XX | ST | -+ |
Modern VTT and Discord Applications
Originally coded for a 2000s-era MUSH (Multi-User Shared Hallucination), this text-based approach serves as a highly accessible, zero-budget asset for modern RPG tools. Distributing puzzle clues via a custom image requires graphic design software, slows down pacing, and often locks out players using screen readers.
