Re: Making mages colorful
 

I'd borrow a page from Exalted. Allow 'color' to influence die roll provided it's interesting. So using a normal staff gives no bonus, but one that was sculpted from the femur of a demon, and topped with an ice shard from the Eternal Glacier... may give a +1. You'll need to flesh it out a little.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

You can also pretend that there's colour in spite of it being absent from the game mechanics. If you are so inclined.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

The other thing is that the example in the OP does not spell out what their imaginary mage can do. So of course it is colourful, since it is almost all colour and no effects!

I think you know that this is inevitable. For an obvious example, no playable game developed by half a dozen amateurs with a reasonably consistent level of abstraction can have more than four or five types of hilt (eg. GURPS' none/basic/partial basket/basket model). So it is up to whoever brings it into play to decide whether their Thrusting Broadsword with a Partial Basket Hilt looks like this or more like this. Or in your economic model, someone can invent flavour for their food X raw materials Y processed goods Z estate.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

Not just easier in game, but very realistic. We all do many things for purely aesthetic reasons.
There could be an odd reaction from other wizards if yours doesn't present an appropriately majestic visage.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

This article is specifically for D and D, but I think it offers some great advice as well

Re: Making mages colorful
 

Fun article, Fwibos.

To the OP - you know, I've always been a fan of letting mages buy advantages to represent small magical abilities regardless of whether there's already another magic system in use. You don't have to go the full magic-as-powers route just to add a little flair. Snapping your fingers to create a spark capable of lighting your pipe (as in the article) could easily be a Perk.

And as others have noted, the reason that description seems so colorful is because it really is almost all color with almost no mechanics. Like, take the demon pact that grants him power; what power is that? For all we know, it could be as simple as extra levels of Magery or FP for spellcasting with a Pact limitation, which you would just buy at character creation anyway. And the secret name he invoked to contact the demon? Background fluff, nothing more.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

I might start by making a list, just in ordinary English, of what the mage can do and what their limitations are.

Then I would see if I could find powers to match the abilities, and would eyeball a Power discount for all the limitations.

I also find that it works well to allow PCs bonuses to their magic for going to flavorful trouble to set up the spell. You don't have to lay out every possible bonus if your players trust you to just make a call and keep the game going.

Re: Making mages colorful
 

GURPS Cabal with its ingredients lists and such might be an inspiration.

Gumshoe (the CSI rpg more or less) has something like this. Its pool based and appropriate use of say gun pron ala Tom Clancy can refresh points in the pool once per session (to keep it in check) . You can do this with fluff, say allowing a pool of points ala GURPS Impulse Buys
and giving a refresh point once per session for cool fluff

alternately you might try giving a bonus for cool fluff as a bad solution.

Start with low magic and use Cabal rules. Throw a bonus for cool gear, role-playing the awesome invocation (make this the only way you can get a time bonus) and another point or two for neat-o and there you go.