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So I did a search for the topic on the boards to see if there was anything recent and to no surprise the last time this was brought up was back in 2006. So here it goes.
Who thinks it would be possible as well as worth while to make a setting that has the flavor, setting, and story of one of MTGs (Magic: The Gathering) most beloved sets?
I think that would be pretty neat if you can work out how to convert it. Ravnica has a very solid and well-developed setting. Lots of detail.
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Another thing that I think would really help with the flavor of it all is create a "color" affinity system. Some how make it so that everything in the game is associated with at least one color, somethings like "artifacts" (like equipment) would be "colorless".
This would probably require a creation of "color" schools for Wizards, "color" bloodlines for Sorcerers, etc.
But of course you could always just completely throw out the ties to MTG and just make the guild into factions and make and play characters like normal from there on out. With maybe some custom races to keep the populace the same.
TO THE POINT
Overall this is something that I am really interested in and would actually like to know if there is anyone else as interested and maybe we could work together to make something coherent.
I just have no words for how cool that would be, to see the mana colors integrated into the system and setting.
I would help if my own homebrewed setting (and its conversion to L5R 4e system) wasn't devouring my time, but I will really keep my eyes on this topic.
I just have no words for how cool that would be, to see the mana colors integrated into the system and setting.
I would help if my own homebrewed setting (and its conversion to L5R 4e system) wasn't devouring my time, but I will really keep my eyes on this topic.
Don't we already have
blue/water/transmutation+divination+illusion
green/wood/conjuration+transmutation+abjuration
white/air/abjuration+conjuration+evocation
black/earth/necromancy+transmutation+conjuration
red/fire/evocation+illusion+conjuration
schools for wizards and I guess you can find your matches among sorcerer bloodlines, divine domains and oracle mysteries.
Magic could be incorporated IMO...
But Ravnica? *drool* I'm all in :D
EDIT: forgot enchantment, duh!
Magic's spells are themed more on effect than how they function. An ice spell that causes harm is red while an ice spell that slows and freezes things is blue. An enchantment that controls the mind is blue (or sometimes red) and one that bolsters morale is white. You could recategorise the spell lists into colour instead of their usual school. Throw out school completely. Have 'colour focus' as a feat instead of spell focus giving a bonus to schools. Spell subtypes can remain.
The classic connections to elements are water and air to blue, while fire and earth are red. Wood/nature would be for green, and white and black correspond to good and evil, respectively. Note that this deals with good/evil descriptors, not the actual alignments of the casters, it is quite possible to be an evil white mage. Further, red and black are chaotic, white and blue are lawful, and green deals in balance.
You could also take a look at what has been written regarding magic and the various colours already, there is a surprising mass of material available for this.
The classic connections to elements are water and air to blue, while fire and earth are red. Wood/nature would be for green, and white and black correspond to good and evil, respectively. Note that this deals with good/evil descriptors, not the actual alignments of the casters, it is quite possible to be an evil white mage. Further, red and black are chaotic, white and blue are lawful, and green deals in balance.
You could also take a look at what has been written regarding magic and the various colours already, there is a surprising mass of material available for this.
White/black haven't been good/evil in over a decade. They're more accurately morality vs pragmatism. Acting according to a higher code (whether it's a good code or an evil one) vs acting according to whatever's best for you.
Which is why I specifically stated it was about descriptors. When you summon a fiendish dog, that's an Evil spell. A celestial dire ape, that's a Good spell. But if you prefer the Morality and Pragmatism descriptors, feel free.
Stuf about Color Pie
The thing about most denizens in the multivers of Magic: the Gatherin - They are left mostly unnaware of the color system of Magic. On the varius planes, even prominent magic academies are left unaware of the actual underlying structure of mana, and thus build up their discipline around their current underlying assumptions. In fact, it is normally the case that the only people who actually know how Magic, and the color system work are planeswalkers. (Who are inherently epic level characters not bound by Vancian Magic.) In places like Domineria, where entire Planeswalker Academies were made, more regular Wizards and Sorcerers are also told how the color system works.
Converting Ravnica however would be reletivly simple. Barring wanting to incorporate MTG's system of magic, Ravnica itself would just be a huge City Plane. A place where the entire world (or at least, enough of the known world) is covered by Metropolis (I'm not 100% on time insparation, one might have to look into flavor articles that detail Ravnica's insparation.)
The political system would be dominated by the Ten (One Hidden) Guilds. To be quite Honest, each quild would most likely be associated with an alignment, That way, you could more easily set up antagonizing factions (For Example: Boros as LG, would be opposed to Rakdos CE).
There might be some other things about Ravnica that I don't remember, but that would be the jist of it.
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Most work would probably involve converting flavor to rules. Such as making a Vedalkan and Viashino race, creating some creatures such as the Nephalim, creating a guild system, etc.
We could associate each guild with an alignment but which alignments? Boros are definitely LG, Rakdos are CE, but would the Golgari be NE, CN, N, ect.
Most work would probably involve converting flavor to rules.
That, would be difficult, and may be even a more problematic trip up than necessary.
One suggestion would be to just reskin current PC races. For example Vedalken could be either Sylph or Undine. Viashino could be covered by Lizardfolk, or Giant Simple Template Kobolds.
On the Guilds, I'll leave that up to you. Each Guild has it own personalities and quirks, and while they clearly get along better with some (Boros is OK with Selesnya, Azorious) and not with others (They're not on friendly terms with Rakdos, and the Gruul and Golgari might be perceived as more problems than their worth). There might be some potential overlap. (Azorious is LN, but Selesnya could be either NG or LG).
There might be actual Nephelim in one of the Bestiaries. If not, I wouldn't be suprised if they were just some sort of Abberant Creatures, or a Reskinned Qlipoth.
Also, not all flavor has to have mechanical implications. Certain things obviously do. (For example, Dwarves do not exist in this world) But not everything has to fit perfectly.
Personally I've always loved the idea of converting some of the M:TG settings for games (I actually had this Planescape type campaign idea back during Torment (the MTG one, although the pc game is the bees knees) that involved setting them all up as individual settings for mini campaigns and then an epic setting spanning campaign that inflicted some disaster... then they released sets that pretty much did that as well as time travel and I was awed by the complexity it would require). Having said that I would still love to do this and one day could yet. I would definately leave things in D&D/Pathfinder terms using the alignment system over the color system, but maybe at a deeper level tie the alignments to colors or some such. That way at epic level the characters would learn that the universe wasn't as wired the way they knew or that anyone knows, only to discover it themselves when they learn of the mana flows and the colors, etc. This would be when the universe was in trouble due to whatever plane spanning madness was happening.