I personally don't like the elemental systems, because they are too simplified to me I tried using them long ago, but always ended up in a situation when I found/came up with something nice I wanted in my story, but it didn't really fit into the elemental purview and I had to either give up, make exceptions, or try come up with another element. I think elements are good up to a certain point, but if we want realism, they are too limiting.
My personal favorite is origin element, and I don't like if someone tries to simplify it into a combination of all elements.
Fair, that's part of why I don't use
just an elemental magic system, but rather, have multiple magic systems, with elemental magic just being the most common and easy to use.
Out of creativity, I just now decided to create an elements list that is unconventional.
Life and Death
Natural and Superntural
Creation and Entropy
Light and Material
Free or Bound
I tried to pair the elements with their counterpart.
Everything that exists would be composed of one of each level (or rung of the wheel).
I put a little bit of thought into it but have not fully thought through everything yet.
I think the opposite of Creation would be Void, and Entropy's would be Enthalpy (could also be called into Chaos and Order)
This is my 'element' system that I shamelessly adapt from my favorite novel, Reverend Insanity.
In my works, everything is split into four group of 'paths': Race, Element, Weapon, and Concept.
A race 'path' would be specific abilities developed by the entire race or a specific member of said race that was inherited by their descendant.
An example of this is dragon-path. Due to the racial traits of being apex predator, dragon races produces 'dragon particles' that are extremely corrosive to non-dragon. Dragon-path methods include Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Dragon Presence. etc etc.
'Element' path would refer to the nine elemental paths of fire, water, earth, wind, metal, wood, lightning, light and dark. Each are self-explanatory so I won't elaborate.
'Weapon' path is the culmination of certain weapon, such as sword-path, spear-path, bow-path, hammer-path, etc.
And the last, 'concept' path refer to everything else that is not considered the three above. This include:
- blood-path (the usage of blood)
- wisdom-path (revolve around thoughts, will, and emotion)
- rule-path (the operation of the laws of heavens)
- sound-path (vibration, music, and waves)
- soul-path (soul, death, and undeath)
- dream-path (dreams and illusions)
- strength-path (raw, unadulterated violence)
- transformation-path (transformation and evolution of biological self)
- refinement-path (refining base materials to more useful objects or artifacts)
- time-path, space-path, etc etc. Do note that these are the things I want to reveal, there are others that would spoil my stories if I reveal them.
The 'element' that resonate with me the most is sound-path. To be perfectly honest, I have trouble hearing due to my idiot younger self being stabbed with a chopstick into my earhole (it's not lethal, but left a permanent hearing damage). Sound has been an important portion in my life because my shitty music taste is the only thing that kept me from breaking down, so I have a complex regarding hearing, sound, and waves throughout my whole life.
Also, I love sound-path because Feng Jiu Ge (Reverend Insanity) is a fucking chad. If there's a chance of being impregnated by a fictional character, I would have Feng Jiu Ge's child.
That's really interesting, and actually pretty close to the system I use. There's Mana, which is the elemental magics used by mages. Vita, which governs the body and its connection to the soul, which is used by martial artists. And the Ryt, which can guide or alter either using Concepts. And a couple other energies, that influence different races in different ways. And they all have interplay.
And, to answer the question myself, I use 12 elements, which also are associated with colors, just for funsies.
White - Light
Infrared - Force (Technically, Kinetic Energy, it's just called Force)
Red - Fire
Orange - Earth
Yellow - Lightning (Technically, Electricity)
Green - Life (Biological, rather than esoteric. Plant and Flesh magic.)
Aqua - Air
Blue - Water
Purple - Space
Ultraviolet - Time
Black - Dark (A bit more esoteric than the others, tbf)
Grey - Soul
And if I were to judge my affinities for them, Space would probably be number one, but I'd be good with both water and dark, and decent at air, lightning, fire. Maybe time, life, or soul. I'd be no good at light, probably not force or earth, either.
Oh, and they also have groupings based on their nature. Elements in the same group tend to have overlap in their broader use, and synergize well when used together.
Air, Water, and Earth are the Physical Elements
Fire, Lightning, and Force are the Energetic Elements
Dark, Space, and Soul are the Mystic Elements
Light, Time, and Life are the Ethereal Elements
