I just discovered that you can use Norse Runes in Google Docs.

To use them, go to "Insert > Special Character" then select "Other European Scrips" and "Historic - Runic".

The great thing is that these runes will show up on FF.Net:

 

Shouldn't pretty much all of Unicode work on FF.Net?
So Khmer (ឈ ញ ដ ឋ ឌ ឍ ណ ត), Ugaritic (), Cham (ꨐꨑꨒꨓꨔ) and the like should work to.

//Apparently DLP doesn't support all, but it does support Runic as well: ᛝᛞᛟ
--- Post automerged ---
Come to think of it, it's probably more my browsers fault than DLPs.

On a more useful note: Unicode has also Egyptian Hieroglyphsand Alchemical Symbols.

 

Like with everything else it depends on the execution. I agree with you that throwing runes into a fic just because you can will probably make it far worse. But there are also instances where it could make the fic better.

If, for example, you have a mystery surrounding a bunch of runes or some hieroglyphs on a pyramid wall, it can be of benefit to directly show them to the reader. That way when characters later on get more information and start to figure things out, the reader can follow along more easily. It will also be easier for them to figure things out on their own before the answer is given within the text.

The other use I can come up with easily is a more meta one. A lot of fics use dashes, XxXxXxX, or the abbreviated title of the fic as act breaks. But if your fic already involves runes somehow using them as act breaks makes the whole thing look much cleaner.