Elden Ring, like the FromSoftware games before it, is known for being notoriously difficult. Elden Ring bosses are incredibly challenging, and even the weaker enemies roaming the open world can put up a serious fight. Death is around every corner in Elden Ring, and so it's necessary for players to level up their character as much as possible. Elden Ring players can level up their characters by spending runes, but if they happen to die before reaching a Site of Grace to spend them, they risk losing those runes forever.
Like the Dark Souls games, dying in Elden Ring means players have to progress back to where they died if they want to recover their runes. If players are successful, they will get all their runes back. However, dying again means losing those runes. There's a twist in Elden Ring, however, in that sometimes players will notice their runes decreasing when they go to retrieve them, particularly in Stormveil Castle.
Elden Ring's Stormveil Castle is one of the first major areas of the game, and players will need all the runes they can get if they hope to stand a chance against its bosses like Godrick the Grafted and Margit the Fell Omen. Because of this, some may be getting frustrated when they make it back to the spot they died only to find that they have less runes to collect before, with the number going down upon each death.
Why Your Elden Ring Runes Are Decreasing
The reason this is happening is because of an NPC in Stormveil Castle named Gatekeeper Gostoc. Gatekeeper Gostoc is encountered early when Elden Ring players first enter Stormveil Castle, giving players the choice to go through the main gate or the secret side path. It seems if players go through the side path, Gatekeeper Gostoc will follow them and steal some of their runes upon death. This is why some Elden Ring players have noticed their runes decreasing when they go to retrieve them, but there's a way to fix it.
Any Elden Ring players that want their stolen runes back simply need to kill Gatekeeper Gostoc to claim them. However, Gatekeepr Gostoc is one of the merchants in Elden Ring, and so some players may want to buy things off him before they decide to kill him. In any case, killing Gatekeeper Gostoc in Stormveil Castle will get players their lost runes back, so at least they're not gone forever.
It's been reported that this happens in other areas of Elden Ring's massive open world as well, so players should stay vigilant and keep an eye out for any NPCs that may be stealing their runes.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.