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Hello my lovely forum goers, I'm GMing a new pathfinder campaign in which all magic in the settings is drawn from ley-lines, each of which correspond to a different type of energy that have a different color (Based on Magic the Gathering).
I plan on giving each player unique bonuses depending on their personality and actions that would tie them to one or two colors.
I don't really have any ideas what I could do for this system, maybe:
Slighty Attuned to Red: Fire Resistance 5
Thoughts, comments, ideas and concerns?
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You could use the Sphere of Power 3PP system as it kind of gives you the colour feel, with a few tweaks.
Different type of spellcasting altogether. Allows one to specialize and really make a themed mage (even from traditional non-casters).
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You could forego Pathfinder's alignment system for Magic's color system (which I consider generally superior), although you then have the issue that "good" and "evil" are no longer strictly covered under alignments (although that's a plus in my book).
I definitely consider the D&D alignment system to be superior to the Magic color system - the former allows for far, far more possibilities, and makes more sense in the context of what we actually know about how people behave.
However, I don't mean to discourage OP's idea. I'd suggest having both.
Here's how I might apportion the alignments to the colors:
Black: LE, NE, CE, NN
Blue: LN, NN, CN, CE
White: LG, LN, NG, LE
Green: NN, NG, CG, NE
Red: CN, CE, CG, NN
So there'd be some overlap, but not universally even, and your choice of colors would depend on your alignment (for example, LG characters can only be White, whereas a CN character could be Blue or Red, and a NN character could be any color but white, and note that I gave all 5 colors the opportunity to be the bad guy - or in Black's case, and opportunity not to be).
Love the spheres of power suggestions! The only issue I have with it is my group is super new, and I'd like to keep things a bit simpler for the time being. Spheres will come into play later, though! I just want to give them some flavorful abilities that will hint at what can truly come.
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Another thought I had is that you could associate the skills with 3 colors each that have a particular connection to them. This would NOT restrict the skills to those colors, but characters of those colors might have advantages regarding them:
Acrobatics - Red/Green/Blue
Appraise - Black/Blue/White
Bluff - Blue/Black/Red
Climb - Red/Green/White
Craft - Blue/Red/White
Diplomacy - Green/White/Blue
Disable Device - Red/Blue/Green
Disguise - Blue/White/Black
Escape Artist - Green/Black/Blue
Fly - Blue/Red/White
Handle Animal - Green/White/Red
Heal - White/Green/Black
Intimidate - Green/Black/White
Knowledge (Arcana) - Blue/Red/Black
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) - Black/Red/Green
Knowledge (Engineering) - White/Red/Blue
Knowledge (Geography) - Green/Blue/White
Knowledge (History) - Blue/Black/White
Knowledge (Local) - Green/White/Blue
Knowledge (Nature) - Green/Red/Blue
Knowledge (Nobility) - White/Black/Green
Knowledge (Planes) - Red/Blue/White
Knowledge (Religion) - White/Black/Green
Linguistics - Blue/Green/Black
Perception - Blue/White/Red
Perform - Blue/Red/White
Profession - White/Black/Blue
Ride - White/Green/Black
Sense Motive - Green/White/Blue
Sleight of Hand - Blue/Red/Black
Spellcraft - Black/Blue/Red
Stealth - Green/Blue/Black
Survival - Green/Red/Black
Swim - Blue/Green/Black
Use Magic Device - Red/Blue/White
Put another way, that's:
Black skills: Appraise, Bluff, Disguise, Escape Artist, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Nobility, Religion), Linguistics, Profession, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Stealth, Survival, Swim
Blue skills: Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Fly, Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, Geography, History, Local, Nature, Planes), Linguistics, Perception, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Stealth, Swim, Use Magic Device
White skills: Appraise, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Fly, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Engineering, Geography, History, Local, Nobility, Planes, Religion), Perception, Perform, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device
Green skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Geography, Local, Nature, Nobility, Religion), Linguistics, Ride, Sense Motive, Stealth, Survival, Swim
Red skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Fly, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Engineering, Nature, Planes), Perception, Perform, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Survival, Use Magic Device
Okay, that'll need some work for balance.
I really like IHIYC's idea with the skills. I feel it can easily replace the Trait system and make the diving into things a little less exhausting.
In addition, you can always hijack stuff from other classes (that your players won't be using). Don't be afraid to grab material from Prestige Classes you know no one will use, or 3PP books.
You can also do a system where you gain a certain amount of Colour Influence (Say 2 for example), and you can spend it on pre-approved bonuses or Feats.
For instance, you can choose Red/Red with your 2 Affinity at the start and gain stronger Red themed abilities than someone who chose Red/Blue. As they level up, they can gain more Affinity and such and spend it how they like.
Example:
Red Tier 1 (Requires 1 Affinity in Red): Spell Focus (Evocation), Fleet, Dodge, Improved Initiative, etc.
Red Tier 2 (Requires 2 Affinity in Red): Greater Spell Focus (Evocation), Mobility, Intensify Spell, Lightning Reflexes, etc.
Red Tier 3 (Requires 3 Affinity in Red): Spell Penetration (Evocation Only), Spring Attack, Empower Spell, etc.
Just spitballing ideas!
You can even throw abilities into there from other classes. No one playing a Bloodrager? Use some of their Bloodline abilities to spice up the list. No one playing a Witch? Throw some of the darker Hexes as a selectable option into Black or Blue. No one playing an Arcanist or Abjuration Wizard? Maybe put in the Counterspell ability and the counterspelling feats in the Blue Tiers.
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Your attunement idea sounds fun. Let me try to help:
Slightly attuned to Black: +2 to Fortitude saves
Slightly attuned to Blue: Skill Focus (any 2 Blue skills - see above) as bonus feats
Slightly attuned to White: +1 hit point healed per die of healing received
Slightly attuned to Green: +5 movement speed
Slightly attuned to Red: Weapon Focus or Spell Focus as a bonus feat
Moderately attuned to Black: +2 to all attack and damage rolls at night
Moderately attuned to Blue: Slippery Mind (or an additional use per day if character already has it)
Moderately attuned to White: +2 to AC and all saving throws in daytime
Moderately attuned to Green: +1 hit point/level
Moderately attuned to Red: Evasion (or Improved Evasion if character already has it, or additional +2 to Reflex saves if they already have that too)
Strongly attuned to Black: immunity to either acid or cold
Strongly attuned to Blue: immunity to either cold or electricity
Strongly attuned to White: immunity to either sonic or fire
Strongly attuned to Green: immunity to either acid or sonic
Strongly attuned to Red: immunity to either fire or electricity
Powerfully attuned to Black: +2 to STR, INT, and WIS
Powerfully attuned to Blue: +2 to DEX, INT, and CHA
Powerfully attuned to White: +2 to CON, WIS, and CHA
Powerfully attuned to Green: +2 to DEX, CON, and WIS
Powerfully attuned to Red: +2 to STR, INT, and CHA
Love it! I'm gonna refine it a little but that's a fantastic start!
Hope it turns out great!
Glad to spur some homebrew.
I'll use it as a baseline for the system I end up using. Mostly intend on them noticing the effects very gradually and that makes it fairly simple.
Kobold Press's Deep Magic has rules for Ley Lines.
Color alignments have been discussed before too, worth checking out.
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I know it's been an incredibly long time, and I have no idea what's become of your idea in the interim, but for the record and apropos seemingly of nothing of I would like to say I have refined my original suggestions for skill affinities so they're all more evenly distributed (I noticed, for instance that originally I'd somehow managed to exclude even a single "White/Red/Black" combination!):
Acrobatics – Red/Green/Blue
Appraise – Black/Blue/White
Bluff – Blue/Black/Red
Climb – Red/Green/White
Craft – Blue/Red/White
Diplomacy – Green/White/Blue
Disable Device – Red/Blue/Green
Disguise – Blue/Green/Black
Escape Artist – Red/Green/Black
Fly – Blue/Red/White
Handle Animal – Green/White/Red
Heal – White/Green/Black
Intimidate – Green/Black/White
Knowledge (Arcana) – Blue/Red/Black
Knowledge (Dungeoneering) – Black/Red/Green
Knowledge (Engineering) – White/Red/Blue
Knowledge (Geography) – Green/White/Red
Knowledge (History) – Blue/Black/White
Knowledge (Local) – Green/White/Blue
Knowledge (Nature) – Green/Red/Blue
Knowledge (Nobility) – White/Black/Blue
Knowledge (Planes) – Red/White/Black
Knowledge (Religion) – White/Black/Green
Linguistics – Blue/Green/Black
Perception – Red/White/Black
Perform – Blue/Red/White
Profession – White/Black/Blue
Ride – White/Green/Black
Sense Motive – Green/White/Blue
Sleight of Hand – Blue/Red/Black
Spellcraft – Black/Blue/Red
Stealth – Green/Blue/Black
Survival – Green/Red/Black
Swim – Blue/Green/Black
Use Magic Device – Red/Black/White
Put another way, that's:
Black skills: Appraise, Bluff, Disguise, Escape Artist, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Nobility, Planes, Religion), Linguistics, Perception, Profession, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Stealth, Survival, Swim, Use Magic Device
Blue skills: Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Fly, Knowledge (Arcana, Engineering, History, Local, Nature, Nobility), Linguistics, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Stealth, Swim
White skills: Appraise, Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Fly, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Engineering, Geography, History, Local, Nobility, Planes, Religion), Perception, Perform, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device
Green skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Geography, Local, Nature, Religion), Linguistics, Ride, Sense Motive, Stealth, Survival, Swim
Red skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Fly, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Engineering, Geography, Nature, Planes), Perception, Perform, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Survival, Use Magic Device
Put a third way:
White/Blue/Black: Appraise, Knowledge (History, Nobility), Profession
Blue/Black/Red: Bluff, Knowledge (Arcana), Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft
Black/Red/Green: Escape Artist, Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Survival
Red/Green/White: Climb, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Geography)
Green/White/Blue: Diplomacy, Knowledge (Local), Sense Motive
Black/White/Green: Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Religion), Ride
Green/Black/Blue: Disguise, Linguistics, Stealth, Swim
Blue/Green/Red: Acrobatics, Disable Device, Knowledge (Nature)
Red/White/Blue: Craft, Fly, Knowledge (Engineering), Perform
White/Red/Black: Knowledge (Planes), Perception, Use Magic Device