ToME WikiBy the time you get the explosive runes special ability, that ability is kinda useless since meaningful threats are all capable of disarming it or surviving the damage.
The only real use is to make roomfuls of runes before hounds chase after you; but if you are playing a Half-Ogre it's more likely you're gonna melee them one by one as soon as they pass a certain door or a corner anyway; that's more efficient.
Explosive runes can also serve as markers of places you've been before, you've searched before, or detected danger before(but then dropping junk has the same effect). This gets useful in some of the special levels featuring lots of false walls when you didn't bring enough junk to drop.
You might be better off with playing a Troll, with the berserk ability and all that, unless you value wisdom, intelligence, or some theme or personal fantasy.
For pure warrior types, adding the zombie subrace for extra HP and warriorness is recommended; but if you're more of a warrior-mage, you might want to try vampire to avoid mana penalities.