magical elements system.
existing systems:
four-element system:
Magical elements system.
four-element system:
- earth, fire, wind, water
- fire, aqua, wood, elec
- fire, water, sky, + shadow
- metal, wood, water, fire, earth
- earth, air, fire, water, aether
- red/Ruby, white/Weiss, black/Blake, yellow/Yang
- red/mountain, green/forest, white/plains, blue/island, black/swamp
- black/steel, red/fire, green/forest, blue/water, yellow/stone
- red/Keith, blue/Lance, green/Pidge, pink/Allura, yellow/Hunk, black/Sven
- or, like, any color-coded protagonist team ever (see: every set of Power Rangers)
- normal, fire, water, electric, grass, ice, fighting, poison, ground, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dragon, dark, steel, fairy
- acid, cold, electricity, fire, sonic
- bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
- sacred, profane, axiomatic, anarchic
- dessication(?)
- lethal, non-lethal
- force, positive, negative
- abjuration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, evocation, illusion, necromancy, transmutation, universalist
- physical: slash, strike
- magical: flame, ice, thunder, light, darkness, earth, wind, plants, stone, poison, curse
some stuff from final fantasy
- fire, ice, lightning/bolt, water, wind, poison (status effect?), stone (instant death?), gravity? (calculated damage), air (some weird nonsense from ff4 for affecting birds)
- white magic (mostly healing), grey magic (status or time/dimensional), black magic (mostly attacking)
Magical elements system.
- non-elemental magic. generic magical energy, basically. not particularly efficient, but not much tends to be weak to it. not actually all that common; you tend to get this if you intentionally study magic, as opposed to coming up with it from other sources of inspiration and life experiences.
- fire. magic that infuses things with thermal energy, heating and burning them.
- water. magic that imparts properties of watery flow and affinity to water. some movement spells, a handful of magical damaging spells, and also water-breathing spells. the last kind is differentiated from underwater air pocket spells from the air element.
- electricity. magic that causes the flow of electrons. can jumpstart circuits and has other unusual effects; may cause burns without starting fires, for example.
- plant. tends to be more enhancement spells and physical spells that deal lesser damage while controlling the battlefield. wood-based defensive spells as well.
- ice. magic that removes thermal energy, chilling and freezing things.
- force. this magic manifests as a physical force, but one capable of affecting supernatural creatures. (in other words: ghosts not immune to fighting when it's magical fighting.)
- poison. magic that disrupts the life-force, often by initially weak but lasting effects. includes radioactivity.
- ground. magic that is normally confined to the ground but allows manipulation of dirt, stone, mud, and other natural ground features. generally deals physical damage.
- sky. magic of flight and flotation, defiance of gravity. largely movement magic, including magic that allows high-speed attacks from above.
- psychic. magic of the mind. has attack spells that notably ignore magical defenses. also, enchantments and illusions, and some telekinesis.
- arthropod. magic of primitive, hard-shelled creatures with a knack of survival. an odd set of spells, including exploration/surveillance, injury reduction, status effects, battlefield control, and more. weak at directly attacking, though some spells may be able to do more damage when cast in succession. these spells tend to be more useful when used cooperatively.
- (unused) *
- spirit. the magic of spiritual energy and incorporeal creatures. may include psychopomp-like abilities, as well as ways to cross the divide between the living and the dead.
- draconid. magic related to fearsome creatures of legend, such as dragons and dinosaurs (though some might say it's more like humanity's understanding and imagination of them). there is some debate to how common this is, but it seems that humans with a particularly strong sense of imagination may be able to recreate spells of this element on their own, suggesting that this element pertains more to fantasy in general rather than a specific type of creature. may be opposed to star. *
- darkness. magic of shadow, concealment, and trickery. often though not necessarily associated with evil, and "profane" or "unholy" magic is often of this form. some spells are enchantments that cause despair. naturally opposed to light.
- metal. magic with defensive and reflective properties. attack spells have an unusually effective ability to draw blood.
- air. movement, flow, and physical manipulation magic. can be used to breathe in another fluid, by creating a bubble. includes wind magic that can move others, resulting in a physics-based telekinesis.
- sound. magic of pressure waves, as well as of music. enchantment spells, as well as area-of-effect damaging spells that deal physical damage ignoring physical defenses.
- light. magic that produces light and revelation, uncovering secrets and discovering truth. often but not necessarily associated with good, and "holy" or "sacred" magic is often of this form. some spells are enchantments that provide hope. naturally opposed to darkness.
- star. an unusual and rare element. seems to be a specialized form of magic (mainly without elemental interactions), but with some connection to cosmic forces. also may be associated with legendary creatures that inspire positive emotions, and as such may be opposed to draconid.
* alternative formulation interpretations:
13. fortune. magic of manipulating luck. little ability to directly affect things, but seems to work by channeling emotions of hope and dread. some divinational abilities as well.
15. herpetile. magic that relates to the abilities of reptiles and amphibians, including legendary creatures of this sort, such as dinosaurs and dragons. abilities include manifestation of multiple forms of energy from other elements, as well as gaining physical/movement abilities such as flight and clinging to surfaces by means of enhancing one's bodily capabilities.
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Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
there's a possibility i could split herpetile from draconid.
and then add other elements like fungus.
SwarmCast: an arthropod-elemental spell that allows one to stock several castings of one (other) spell together to take effect at the same time. Does not shorten casting time.
The way we as humans typically imagine the world has frequently, throughout history, been shown to be different from the scientific principles that actually govern it. This is why we have myths that get debunked. The world isn't structured and doesn't act on the basis of what things mean to us humans. But what if that "mythological" understanding of the world actually had real meaning?
What if you actually could literally burn with passion? What if you could speak to the dead? What if you could learn to fly by thinking hard enough about it? What if you could rip through steel if you just willed it strongly enough? What if shiny crystals weren't just pretty decorations, but had actual wondrous properties? What if you could shoot laser beams from your eyes? What if you could will projectiles into hitting your intended targets?
Well there are 118 and counting in real life. :P
This list is basically like, different "categories" of magic, that are all on the same level as each other.
Magic, as I would like to envision it, is like, "what would science be like, if humans got to say how the world works, from our perspective". Rather than taking any specific few-elements system from any existing mythos, which can easily lead increasing levels of complexity trying to figure out the right combination of elements that "explains" any given phenomenon or desired effect, I instead took inspiration from the Pokémon series and tweaked it in the direction of "identity definers".
Like, you'd use my elemental system in order to say "this is what my life is about", rather than trying to boil it too far down to "fundamentals" that need tons of secondary qualifiers to further connect to things.
I've been a bit of a fan of those things where people develop, use, and specialize in things based on where they grew up or where they live, or what they do as a job, or what they study, or what they really like, or something like that. It's both a sense of identity and a sense of one's place in the world (geographically and otherwise).
These ideas are often explored in fiction. Often they are done somewhat ham-handedly -- such as proposing that eskimos play basketball with a snowball. Furthermore, just as in this very example, this stuff doesn't work in real life because the laws of physics and chemistry don't work along the lines of how we humans would like to understand them. (Which is why they're often ham-handed.) Sometimes it's less ham-handed, such as that sushi-selling guy in MMBN using Sharkman.exe as his navi.
But what if magic actually followed those lines of human understanding? What if the guy who makes sushi could actually summon sharks? What if the girl who studies robots can create automatons from thin air? What if someone who really likes volcanoes can actually magically produce lava, and becomes more tolerant of high heat? What if someone who grew up blind instead developed a limited ability to discern the future? What if someone who really admires how geckos can walk over everything one day discovers the ability to conjure gecko pads on their hands and feet? What if an airplane pilot, from years of experience with flying machines, actually develops the ability to fly on their own? And to use my earlier example, what if those eskimos could actually magically fashion a bounceable ball made of ice?
I'm a little disinclined to keep that arrangement. It feels a bit arbitrary and dependent on predetermined notions of how the world should or shouldn't work.
Instead, how about we tie them back to the notion of meaning to humans, and redefine them as subtypes of each element?
So positive energy is defined as something that builds, constructs, repairs, or heals.
Negative energy is defined as something that destroys, deconstructs, takes apart, or harms.
Each subtype can be used for good or evil purposes.
Incidentally this means that so-called "necromancy" would be positive energy, since it would be infusing some sort of presence into bodily remains.
1 generic magic
2 fire
3 water
4 electricity
5 plant
6 cold
7 force
8 alchemy
9 ground
10 avian
11 psychic
12 arthropod
13 fortune
14 spirit
15 herpetile
16 darkness
17 metal
18 air
19 sound
20 light
21 cosmic
i should reorder these a bit
physical elements: fire, water, electricity, cold, ground, air, sound, light, cosmic
biological elements: plant, avian, arthropod, herpetile
created elements: generic, force, alchemy, psychic, fortune, spirit, darkness, metal
If there is a "legend" or "fairy" element then it'd go in the "created" category.
Meanwhile, acids and bases fit into the "alchemy" element. As does pretty much all of modern chemistry lol
non-magical
physical elements: fire, water, electricity, cold, ground, air, sound, light, cosmic
biological elements: botanical, avian, arthropod, herpetile
created elements: generic, force, alchemy, psychic, fortune, spirit, darkness, metal
Always found it funny that some of them had suit colors associated with their lions but others didn't.
the original season was a golion adaptation
it has robots
pidge
Red Lion's pilot, who wears, blue, is Lance, whose Japanese name is Isamu Kurogane.
Green Lion's pilot, who wears green, is Pidge, whose Japanese name is Hiroshi Suzuishi.
Blue Lion's first pilot, who wears black, is Sven, whose Japanese name is Takashi Shirogane.
Blue Lion's second pilot, who wears pink, is Allura, whose Japanese name is (Princess) Fala.
Yellow Lion's pilot, who wears orange, is Hunk, whose Japanese name is Tsuyoshi Seido.
Meantime, @Crystal, how would you do this differently? Just curious.
Magical elements, in this system, are not so much some set of fundamental forces of the cosmos (as it often is in the case of classical elements). Rather, they are classifications of understanding as it relates to the imagination. Magic, in this system, is imagination given manifestation by force of will. The more you dream, and the stronger you believe in your dream, the more magical capability you have.
FWIW this is sorta my attempt at something like a "universal" system to accommodate magical abilities (though not elemental understandings) from other works I've seen/read.
Your hands and feet become coated with a material that allows you to adhere to any surface (with some possible exceptions). Each single extremity's pad can support half your weight, so you can climb a surface with just two pads, as easily as you can walk/run. Using more pads increases your traction and makes it more difficult to throw you off balance.
Hover [Arthropod]
You gain the ability to become airborne. While airborne, you can move freely, through not (typically) exceeding your walking speed. However, you retain very fine and precise control over your movement, and have increased ability to ride out strong winds, compared to avian flight.
Fly [Avian]
You gain the ability to fly. Your airspeed can greatly exceed your ground speed, up to being three times as fast.
Breeze-riding [Air]
You become entrained in the flow of air and can direct the pocket of air that surrounds you to move around. The ease of doing so depends on what winds, if any, are present, and feels similar to swimming, but with much less viscosity. In still air, you can move as fast as your running speed (given the same amount of effort).
Fire Blast [Fire]
Emit a wall of fire, roughly the size of your body but shaped however you wish, in a given direction. If it hits nothing, it dissipates after some distance.
Regeneration [Botanical]
Your body's natural rate of repairing physical injuries is greatly enhanced. Light wounds close up as soon as they form, and heavy wounds take on the order of minutes to hours, without medical attention. A severed limb can potentially be reconnected if done so while this spell is in effect; if not, a stump will form in its place. This spell does not prevent being outright killed, such as by dismemberment, crushing, suffocation, or magical disintegration effects.
Comforting Shade [Darkness]
When you cast this spell on an anxious, fearful, or otherwise agitated person, they feel a sense of comfort, as light dims around them and they get a feeling that someone is gently enveloping them, such as in a hug. This usually has the effect of destressing and calming the person, at least for a little while.
Stone Spire [Ground]
You direct a column of stone, a little wider than yourself, to rise from the ground, up to about 30 feet away from you, in an attempt to disrupt and throw off and/or impale anyone who is in the location where that column arises (and does so pretty fast). You can choose the shape of the spire, though more complex shapes may take more concentration and time to visualize and create than simple shapes such as a cone or cylinder.
Burrow [Ground]
Dig into the ground for a limited time. Move up to about half your running speed (again, given the same amount of effort), to swim through dirt. Cannot drill into bedrock using this spell; BYOD. You have a limited ability to see ahead of you in the ground, seeing about five feet around you as if you can see through dirt and as if you are carrying a small light source such as a flashlight.
Water Walking [Water]
You can walk on water for the duration of this spell; the water's surface feels to you like a similarly-textured solid ground surface. At will and effortlessly, you can treat any interaction with the surface as normal water, so you can scoop some up and splash it on yourself, or even dive into it; if you choose to do so, the surface around that interaction behaves as normal water for as long as you are intersecting with it. Turbulent water may be difficult to walk on without losing your balance, but you will not be submerged if you fall, unless you let yourself be submerged. This spell does not provide underwater breathing means.
☭
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⚢
Also I don't think I know you well enough to assign elements to you. Well, hmm. I dunno. Maybe darkness for one element, and possibly a second? What would you pick?
Maybe it could be possible to organize elements by a sort of "energy format".
Thermal - heat and cold
Mechanical - movement, kinetics, physical impact
Electromagnetic - electricity, magnetism, light
Chemical - acids, bases, other chemical reactions
Psychic - thoughts, telepathy, enchantments
Sonic - sounds and music
Spiritual - beliefs, morality, divinity
there are probably others