[Thaumatology] Alternate Spell/Ritual Categories: Colours of Magic

[AlexanderHowl]

According to Chinese magical systems, the color associations tend to be the following: Earth (Yellow), Fire (Red), Metal (White), Water (Black), and Wood (Green). Yin would be either Black or White, depending on if it was associated with either Metal or Water while Yang would be either Green or Red, depending on if it was associated with either Wood or Metal.

If I was going to use the Chinese magical system, I would further divide each element into External and Internal, and then use RPM. External applications would effect the external environment, such as machines and the weather. Internal applications would effect the internal environment, such as the body and the mind.

[Prince Charon]

Was thinking about this again, and had an idea for what 'black magic' might consist of in this system: Black is the absence of light. Thus, to 'use back magic' is magician's slang for accomplishing a task using no magic at all.

[Prince Charon]

Sort of wondering if I should replace the list in the OP with this. I've added some summaries, and examples below the list:

Red is the magic of the body, of animals and healing.
Animals, healing (including dealing with microbes), body manipulation, and shapeshifting.
(Colleges of Animals, Body Control, and Healing; Paths of Health and Form, and animal aspects of Path of Nature; RPM Path of Body)

Orange is the power of Fire and Smoke, of Light and Shadows.
Conceptual Fire magics, light & darkness, and illusions.
(Colleges of Fire and Light & Darkness, illusion spells from College of Illusion and Creation; Path of Cunning, Fire and Light/Shadow aspects of Path of Elements; Light and Fire aspects of RPM Path of Energy)

Yellow covers spells of Air and the Mind, and of fortelling the future and observing the past and present.
Conceptual Air magics, weather, mind magics (telepathy, empathy, mental enhancements, et cetra), mental technology (many skills), and divination.
(Colleges of Air, Communication & Empathy, Knowledge, Mind Control, Sound, and Weather, Warning spells from Protection & Warning; Paths of Dreams and Knowledge, Air aspects of Path of Elements, Weather aspects of Path of Nature; RPM Path of Mind, Electricity and Sound aspects of RPM Path of Energy)

Green sings of the magics of the Earth, of plants and the works of Man.
Conceptual Earth magics, plants, fungi, and material technology (e.g. machines & buildings).
(Colleges of Earth, Food, Making & Breaking, Plant Control, and Technology, creation spells from College of Illusion and Creation, and Protection aspects of Protection & Warning; Paths of Gadgets and Protection, Earth aspects of Path of Elements, Plant aspects of Path of Nature; RPM Path of Matter)

Blue is the magic of Water and motion, and of other planes.
Conceptual Water magics, movement (kinetic energy), distance manipulation, travel (and trade or logistics, if it's over some distance), and dimensional magic.
(Colleges of Gate, Movement, and Water; Kinetic (if any) and Water aspects of Path of Elements; RPM Path of Crossroads, Kinetic aspects of RPM Path of Energy)

Indigo, more than any other colour, speaks to the Spirits, and to Magic, itself.
Spirits of all types (including demons and incorporeal undead like ghosts), making (and altering) magic items, and sensing & manipulating magic in general.
(Colleges of Enchantment and Meta-Spells, Spirit and Demon spells from the College of Necromancy; Path of Spirits; RPM Paths of Magic and Spirit)

Purple is a matter of Fate and Destiny, but also of Death and the Undead.
Probability (luck, up to some forms of wish-granting or cursing), death magics, and dealing with all forms of corporeal undead (zombies, liches, some types of vampire or mummy, and so on).
(Bless and Curse from College of Meta-Spells, Wish spells from College of Enchantment, Undead spells from the College of Necromancy; Path of Luck, Embody from Path of Spirits; RPM Paths of Chance and the Undead)


Some magical effects are best done using multiple colours, or can only be done that way. For example, while someone who has been dead for a very short time (a few minutes) might be brought fully to life using Red magic alone, those who have been dead longer would require a combined Red-Purple effect (to transform a dead body into a living one), along with Indigo if the soul that had previously inhabited that body is not present (and to keep other spirits from entering). Turning men to stone (or reversing that) or transforming plants into animals are Red-Green effects. Making an illusion real would combine Orange with one or more other colours, depending on the illusion - making a phantom that's only 'real' enough to move things around or cause damage by physical impact (but has no substance) would be Orange with a minor Blue effect for kinetic energy. Indigo magic can be used to make an effect stronger (or more precise, or a range of other changes).

The colours can overlap in places. A few examples:
*Being able to perceive 'Fate and Destiny' (probability) does allow you to forecast how likely specific events that you ask about are to occur, but will generally not give you information about something that you don't ask about, or ask about happening at the wrong time (e.g. asking about something that you think might happen in three days, but due to things you don't know, it's much more likely to happen in four or five days). Using Yellow magic for divination, you tend to get more details about the future that would have been if you hadn't asked/will be if no-one interferes, including things you didn't know to ask, but the visions you gain can be highly metaphorical, especially if you're new at this or very out-of-practice.
*Purple magic can increase the probability of specific weather occurring, and Blue magic can create a small fog or move clouds together across significant distances, but Yellow magic is more efficient for weather magic, requiring less time, effort, and skill from the caster for the same or very similar effects.
*Yellow magic can create illusions in specific minds, but requires more effort the greater the number of minds affected, while Orange magic is limited by the size and complexity of the illusion, not the number of minds observing, and is able to fool cameras and other mindless observers. Yellow magic can also affect the simple minds of animals, though this is often easier with Red magic (as long as you aren't just trying to make the beast smarter and/or better able to communicate with humans), or by combining Red and Yellow.
*Indigo magic can have a very wide range of effects by asking spirits to do them, but you can't always be sure that the spirits really understood what you wanted, nor that they aren't interpreting the letter of the contract maliciously (if you use demons, they certainly are); using Indigo magic to amplify another effect by asking the spirits of that Colour of Magic for help is usually safer, as is using it to add more power to an effect.
*Major social changes can be guided into being by manipulating the minds of influential people (Yellow magic again), altering the fate of the society (Purple magic writ large), negotiating with and convincing the genius loci (Indigo magic), or by some combination thereof; less controllable changes can be brought by high levels of any colour. The greater the change and the larger the population of the society, the harder this would be.


Thoughts?

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Indigo, more than any other colour, speaks to the Spirits, and to Magic, itself.
Spirits of all types (including demons and incorporeal undead like ghosts), making (and altering) magic items, and sensing & manipulating magic in general.
(Colleges of Enchantment and Meta-Spells, Spirit and Demon spells from the College of Necromancy; Path of Spirits; RPM Paths of Magic and Spirit)

If black magic is code for no magic, wouldn't that mean that meta-magic fit better with white magic (being all the colors mixed together)?

Also, if you're having a system like this, shouldn't there be something about complementary colors (red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple)?

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by TGLS

If black magic is code for no magic, wouldn't that mean that meta-magic fit better with white magic (being all the colors mixed together)?

White magic is an effect that requires all the colours. This is generally theoretical, though some say that the spell that birthed the world was the first and greatest act of white magic (though none who were alive at the time have spoken up to agree or disagree about that, if there are any still in contact with this plane who were at all).

Originally Posted by TGLS

Also, if you're having a system like this, shouldn't there be something about complementary colors (red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple)?

Maybe, but I'm thinking more in terms of light than of paint.

[Prince Charon]

Something else that I've been thinking about (too many ideas), based on the Power Stunts as Spells idea:
Necromancer's Staff (Elemental Contact: Purple Elemental; Skill 12; Constantly available; Completely Reliable; Special Abilities, +50%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Magic, -10%; Breakable: DR 10, -10%; SM 0, -25%; Can be stolen by ST (Will not immediately work for thief), -15%) [10]

In appearance, this tool is an ebony staff shod in bronze and topped by a silver knob shaped like a human skull, with eyes of an unknown purple stone that gleams eerily in moonlight or firelight. In combat, unless the user makes a specific request, the spirit will default to making the user luckier and opponents unlucky (roll the elemental's skill of 12, and either add MoS to the user's Staff/Polearm skill or subtract it from the opponent's defense rolls as the GM thinks that the spirit feels is appropriate) - though even without magic, you can still give someone a good thwacking (sw+3) with six feet of metal-shod hardwood. The core skill for dealing with Chromatic Elementals (at least in this case) is Ritual Magic (Chromaturgy).

The current owner of this staff goes by 'Jozef the Necromancer.' I haven't does a full write-up on him, but he's a fairly intelligent and curious man who is in better health and fitness than his loose robes and eccentric behavior would have you believe. Skillwise, he has a high skills in Ritual Magic (Chromaturgy), Traps, and various other mental skills; he has only a few good physical skills: Escape, Running, Staff, and Stealth.

He also has a few spirit-Contacts that are not directly connected to the staff (though he did meet them as a result of knowledge the spirit gave him):
Elemental Contact (Red Elemental; Skill 15; 9 or less; Completely Reliable; Special Abilities, +50%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Magic, -10%) [11]
Elemental Contact (Yellow Elemental; Skill 19; 6 or less; Unreliable (speaks in riddles); Special Abilities, +50%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Magic, -10%) [2]
Elemental Contact (Indigo Elemental; Skill 15; 12 or less; Somewhat Reliable; Special Abilities, +50%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Magic, -10%) [8]
Elemental Contact (Purple Elemental; Skill 18; 15 or less; Usually Reliable; Special Abilities, +50%; Highly Accessible, +50%; Magic, -10%) [34]

As you might guess, 'Unreliable (speaks in riddles)' means that this spirit of Yellow Magic is not treacherous like most Unreliable Contacts, but requires more effort to understand, usually involving various IQ-based skills.


Thoughts?

[ajardoor]

One of my vague idea sketches had nine colours - the rainbow's seven plus white and black. Nine's a good thematic number.

Each colour corresponded to a culture, and each colour had its own magic rituals (I used the system from Chapter 5 of Thauamtology).

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

It also ties into something I've been thinking about lately; universal magic systems where everything and anything can be accomplished by the magic are good and all, but I'm finding myself more intrigued by limited magic, where some things simply aren't possible in magic - whether that's an ironclad law of the universe or just a lack of knowledge among the magical community. If some colors are impossible for humans to use, or using them carries a heavy price, I think it makes for some fun gameplay.

I dont very much like the "oh, sorry, that is the one thing magic CANT do". I like the idea that you can do ANYTHING with magic... IN THEORY.

What I mean is: how can X be done? NO ONE has ever managed to do X... YET.

Yes, X can be done... However, you may have to spend years, decades or a life time (or several!) researching the issue, maybe you'll have to do some digging related to the topic, uncovering secrets and mysteries buried by ancient mages/beings/civilizations that had the answer, or perhaps didnt have the final answer but came close, and now you have acquired the missing piece of the puzzle, so you just need to steal those summerian stone tablets at the London museum in order to finish what the old Annunnaki summerians began...

I like hard, even insanely hard, I also like dangerous and heavy costly (like having to sacrificed your most beloved one), but I dont like the word "impossible" when we are dealing with "magic"

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by TGLS

If black magic is code for no magic, wouldn't that mean that meta-magic fit better with white magic (being all the colors mixed together)?

Also, if you're having a system like this, shouldn't there be something about complementary colors (red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple)?

I like this, White magic is "meta magic".
I dont like "Black Magic" being "no magic" thou.
I think Black Magic would be better for qlippothic magic (I hope I wrote that right), the "anti-existance" magic described in Thaumatology for.. RPM if Im not mistaken? Im taking from memory, but I guess it is that

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

I
I think Black Magic would be better for qlippothic magic (I hope I wrote that right), the "anti-existance" magic described in Thaumatology for.. RPM if Im not mistaken? at

No RPM in the main Thaumatology book. RPM is too recent for that.

Qlippothic is a general concept. It was first introduced to Gurps in the 3e Cabal book. That puts in a simialr area to the "Decanic" moidifiers in Thaumatology but thsoe can be used with more than standard Magic.