Would anyone be willing to post the outcome of an encounter with the wight barrow where they successfully REMOVE the runes? Inquiring minds want to know…
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Hmm, since no one is in a sharing mood, I guess I’ll answer my own question…
Encounter for XXXXX at YYYY
Try as he might, the enchantments on the door seemed beyond his skill to break. He had almost given up when a heart-stopping hollow laughter filled the air around him. A spectral form flowed from the door as a shining sword appeared in its upheld hand. The Barrow Wight moved quickly and its sword hacked with a solid precision at his body. He moved as quickly as possible and brought his weapons to bear as fast as he could. The Wight was elusive and very hard to hit, but it seemed to have little difficulty in hitting him. Suddenly, he looked directly into those glowing eyes and the will to fight seemed to flee from his body. With a shriek, the Wight drove toward him for the kill. He went down under a flurry of blows as he tried to take cover beneath some of the overhanging rock in the area. The trick worked and the Wight’s sword clanged harmlessly on the rock above. Taking full advantage of the Wight’s confusion, he struck at the Wight from beneath the protecting rock and scored! The Wight emitted a soulful cry and vanished into the air. After the battle, a small chest was found. Inside was a scroll which burst into flames. As it burned, he found a new spell in his memory! Gems and jewels were also found. They valued about 24000 gold pieces and were sent to the capital!
There - you needn’t have bothered the real people 
We just wanted to see if the wight would eat you
Hmm, I just left that encounter alone with a medium emmissary, expecting nothing good to come from it. Can you tell us what CR that char of yours had?
Gorillas aren’t people. Isn’t there a banana lying around that you’re supposed to be sticking up your down under?
~70. I haven’t gotten this encounter before despite the number of games played, so I don’t have any other point of reference. The reward was certainly worth it.
It helps to refer to the encounter section on this HP 
the question is which CR makes it “safe” to risk fighting the wight. I guess you were a bit lucky to win with CR 70.
so this encounter seems to be winnable with either a high mage rank or a good CR.
If your character has mage skill, you can remove the runes (in this case, he had only mage 20!) Note the text refer to a non-existing battle
“Though the mage who placed the runes was powerful, his skill did not surpass his. As the enchantments upon the door faded, a soul-chilling shriek split the air and slowly faded into the gathering gloom. The door fell to dust and he was free to enter and claim any prize that lay within. After the battle, a small chest was found. Inside was a scroll which burst into flames. As it burned, he found a new spell in his memory!”
My character had mage skill… in fact, a lot more than yours did. Yet I still ended up in a battle with the wight. Seems like there are a number of random factors associated with this encounter.
My enconter happened in a 4th age game. Maybe it works diferent in 1650.