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Old 01-08-2020, 11:05 PM   #19
Prince Charon
 
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Default Re: [Thaumatology] Alternate Spell/Ritual Categories: Colours of Magic

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Western ceremonial magical practice divides magic into three colors: white (information magics), yellow (beneficial or defensive magics), and black (malevolent or offensive magics). Offensive spells that would deal direct damage to human beings would be seen as the blackest of the black, as the intent is to use magic to kill rather than to hinder

Such a perspective is sadly lacking in most RPG systems. I think that it would be interesting to have white magic cost FP, yellow magic cost FP or give Corruption (depending on the intent of the spell), and black magic give Corruption. If a 9d fireball ended up giving 9 Corruption rather costing 9 FP, players might be a little careful it using magic for combat. In that case though, I would give missile spells a comparable range to information spells, just to make things fair.
An alternative would be to have all magic cause Corruption as the price, but different types cause different forms of Corruption, which balance each other out (see below).

Quote:
Originally Posted by dataweaver View Post
Conversely, Black and White don't necessarily have to mean Evil and Good. In the Final Fantasy franchise, White Mages are healers and Black Mages are attack mages; but there's nothing saying that White Mages are good and Black Mages are evil.
True. Magic could be divided into Yin magic (Black, IIRC) and Yang magic (White, I think), neither of which is evil (and neither of which is good, either). Yin magic could cause Corruption that makes stereotypical Yin traits stronger and Yang traits weaker, and Yang magic could cause Corruption that makes stereotypical Yang traits stronger and Yin traits weaker. Thus, using both in equal measure allows you to live your life in harmony with the Way.

Doing this with the Colours system above would be possible, but complicated, and enough of a headache that I really don't think I'm going to try it on my own.
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