Thursday, December 31, 2009

Dungeons and Dragons: Colors Of Magic

    Some time ago, Akrasia posted his swords & sorcery house rules for Dungeons and Dragons. One of the things I like about those house rules is the classification of spells into three different magic colors (white, gray and black) to simulate a swords & sorcery magic system.

    Have I previously mentioned my fondness for Avalon Hill’s Magic Realm? In that game, all magic is separated into five colors: White (boons granted from on high), Gray (manipulation of natural laws), Gold (elvish magic), Purple (command of raw elemental energies) and Black (powers bestowed by infernal agents). I have been giving some thought to applying those “Magic Realm” colors to the D&D spell lists. Here is my take on how the first level D&D spell-lists might look, using the Magic Realm color classification system.

    White Magic

    Protection From Evil
    Bless
    Command
    Create Water
    Cure Light Wounds
    Purify Food & Drink
    Remove Fear
    Resist Cold
    Sanctuary

    Gray Magic

    Comprehend Languages
    Enlarge
    Feather Fall
    Friends
    Hold Portal
    Identify
    Jump
    Mending
    Message
    Push
    Ventriloquism
    Wall of Fog

    Gold Magic

    Charm Person
    Dancing Lights
    Magic Aura
    Sleep
    Animal Friendship
    Entangle
    Fairie Fire
    Pass Without Trace
    Predict Weather
    Purify Water
    Shillelagh
    Speak With Animals

    Purple Magic

    Affect Normal Fires
    Burning Hands
    Light
    Color Spray
    Shocking Grasp
    Shield
    Audible Glamer

    Black Magic

    Curse
    Find Familiar
    Magic Missile
    Cause Wounds
    Cause Fear
    Change Self
    Darkness
    Hypnotism

    In Magic Realm, there are 10 magic-using characters: Druid, Elf, Magician, Pilgrim, Sorcerer, White Knight, Witch, Warlock, Wizard and Woodsgirl. None of the characters has access to all five colors of magic (some have access to two or three colors, and the Magician has access to four, but his control over any of those colors is tenuous). I like the idea of restricting characters to certain colors of magic, as the choice of magic-user class then affects what spells they can access. That is the reason I liked the 2E Specialist Mages approach.

    The above re-classification of spells (into colors) puts the typical first level “combat spells” into the following categories:

    White – Command
    Grey – Friends
    Gold – Charm Person, Sleep
    Purple – Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp
    Black – Cause Fear, Cause Wounds, Magic Missile

    Playing with Magic Realm colors (and characters) would certainly change the way first level combat spells were selected.Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/2009/12/dungeons-and-dragons-colors-of-magic.html
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