
Berselius |

So, for the Elemental Arcane Schools available for Wizards the choose, we have the classic Air, Earth, Fire, and Water and the three other exotic choices Metal, Void, and Wood. Are there any other elements that can be added? The only one that comes to mind is Cold to be honest but Water kinda covers that (sorta anyways).

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The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Void
And...I would have hoped that would be common knowledge on here. The only thing more that *might* be considered a legitimate 8th school is "Thought/Spirit."
Of course, if you REALLY want more Elemental Schools, there is a great deal of room for expansion....

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We are missing the Medieval Alchemical elements of Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur.
This I could get behind!
We could also use exploration of the four humors: Black Bile (Earth), Yellow Bile (Fire), Phlegm (Water), and Blood (Air).
Since when has Blood been Air and Yellow Bile been Fire? My original source had it the other way around (although I saw White Wolf's PROMETHEAN: THE CREATED arranged them your way).

Xuldarinar |

Xuldarinar wrote:We are missing the Medieval Alchemical elements of Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur.
This I could get behind!
Xuldarinar wrote:Since when has Blood been Air and Yellow Bile been Fire? My original source had it the other way around (although I saw White Wolf's PROMETHEAN: THE CREATED arranged them your way).
We could also use exploration of the four humors: Black Bile (Earth), Yellow Bile (Fire), Phlegm (Water), and Blood (Air).
It is that way in Humorism, at least as far as my google skills can find. I can justify blood being air, given its function in our body.

Insane KillMaster |
How about life? Death? Time? Gravity? Entropy?
The first two are usually covered (YMMV) by Positive Energy and Negative Energy.
* Fire: Fire, Heat (partly).
* Water: Fog/Mist/Vapor, Water, Ice, Auditive Illusions.
* Air: Air/Wind, Cold, Heat (partly), Lightning, Sonic.
* Earth: Earth, Mud... maybe many of the minerals.
* Light: Light, Visual Illusions.
* Darkness: Darkness, Shadow.
* Acid.
* Alkali.
* Life.
* Dead/Death.
* Gravity, Time, ...
* Chaos, Entropy, ...
* Law/Order.
* Aether, Spirit, Soul, ...

Luthorne |
Avoron wrote:Since when has anyone called those (or "aether" or "sonic") "elements?"How about life? Death? Time? Gravity? Entropy?
Well, for aether, I believe the concept dates back to about 350 BC, when Aristotle introduced the concept...though it wasn't initially called aether by him. Essentially, though, it was the element of the heavens, since to them - unlike terrestrial elements - it seemed that the heavens were unchanging and eternal, and thus must fundamentally be made up of some other sort of substance than the usual four elements. He believed terrestrial elements moved linearly and were subject to change over time, but the first element was not subject to change and moved circularly. It was later known as quintessence, and important to alchemical philosophy in this regard. In Indian cosmology, the term akasha is roughly equivalent, and void in the Japanese godai, though there is a more spiritual element to void, representing things beyond our normal experience...but it is similarly the highest element that represents the heavens.

Quintessentially Me |

I'm Hiding In Your Closet wrote:Well, for aether, I believe the concept dates back to about 350 BC, when Aristotle introduced the concept...though it wasn't initially called aether by him. Essentially, though, it was the element of the heavens, since to them - unlike terrestrial elements - it seemed that the heavens were unchanging and eternal, and thus must fundamentally be made up of some other sort of substance than the usual four elements. He believed terrestrial elements moved linearly and were subject to change over time, but the first element was not subject to change and moved circularly. It was later known as quintessence, and important to alchemical philosophy in this regard. In Indian cosmology, the term akasha is roughly equivalent, and void in the Japanese godai, though there is a more spiritual element to void, representing things beyond our normal experience...but it is similarly the highest element that represents the heavens.Avoron wrote:Since when has anyone called those (or "aether" or "sonic") "elements?"How about life? Death? Time? Gravity? Entropy?
Well... would not the Kineticist (Aether) provide a basis for inclusion of Aether an elemental school?
Kineticists who focus on the element of aether—a rare substance formed when elemental energy affects the Ethereal Plane—are called telekineticists. Telekineticists use strands of aether to move objects with their minds.
Granted it's a quasi-elemental substance mixing "elemental energy" (untyped or non-specific elemental substance?) with the Ethereal Plane, but it's something.

Gnick Gnak PaddyWack |

The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Void
I couldn't help but think of the old United States cartoon, Captain Planet, and the theme song reading this! :)

Luthorne |
Well... would not the Kineticist (Aether) provide a basis for inclusion of Aether an elemental school?
PRD wrote:Granted it's a quasi-elemental substance mixing "elemental energy" (untyped or non-specific elemental substance?) with the Ethereal Plane, but it's something.
Kineticists who focus on the element of aether—a rare substance formed when elemental energy affects the Ethereal Plane—are called telekineticists. Telekineticists use strands of aether to move objects with their minds.
Well, in my opinion, while telekinesis is cool, the kineticist's aether element has nothing to do with aether, and the fact that we have a void school already makes me think it's unnecessary to have an aether school for the wizard...just call it aether for games/characters more founded in Greco-Roman roots.

lemeres |

Xuldarinar wrote:We are missing the Medieval Alchemical elements of Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur.
This I could get behind!
Xuldarinar wrote:Since when has Blood been Air and Yellow Bile been Fire? My original source had it the other way around (although I saw White Wolf's PROMETHEAN: THE CREATED arranged them your way).
We could also use exploration of the four humors: Black Bile (Earth), Yellow Bile (Fire), Phlegm (Water), and Blood (Air).
Maybe due to burning sensation in the throat? Or the fact that I know I was super pissed back when I suffered a condition that caused me to dry heave until I released yellow bile (god, I kept entire 2 liter bottles of water... and used them thoroughly).

SameFormula |
Dave Justus wrote:The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, VoidAnd...I would have hoped that would be common knowledge on here. The only thing more that *might* be considered a legitimate 8th school is "Thought/Spirit."
Of course, if you REALLY want more Elemental Schools, there is a great deal of room for expansion....
Do we REALLY want a Seikon no Qwaser knockoff in Pathfinder?

Drahliana Moonrunner |

Dave Justus wrote:I couldn't help but think of the old United States cartoon, Captain Planet, and the theme song reading this! :)The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Void
So now you'll be asking for the School of Heart?

Starbuck_II |

Gnick Gnak PaddyWack wrote:So now you'll be asking for the School of Heart?Dave Justus wrote:I couldn't help but think of the old United States cartoon, Captain Planet, and the theme song reading this! :)The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Void
Agreed, Heart is the most powerful, too broken.
He can make people give him money (we see this in alternate future where he is a bum, he is lazy but not evil luckily).
He can control anything. He can use Suggestion at will. Telepathy also.
He can knock out people by "forcing him to look into his own dark heart." So Enchantment school in general he has.

Atarlost |
Avoron wrote:Since when has anyone called those (or "aether" or "sonic") "elements?"How about life? Death? Time? Gravity? Entropy?
For "aether," at least since Aristotle.
I'm Hiding In Your Closet wrote:Dave Justus wrote:And...I would have hoped that would be common knowledge on here.The elemental schools come from different real world cultural views of the elements.
The Greek: Earth, Air, Water, Fire
The Chinese: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water
The Japanese: Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, VoidCommon, but wrong.
[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element[/url]
All the non-Chinese systems are basically the same apart from the medieval set having sulfur, mercury, and salt.
Pathfinder does handle Chinese elements incorrectly, though. The opposed elements are different in that system and the shared elements needed to be revised to allow the Chinese choices of opposition elements (fire-metal, water-earth, earth-wood, and earth-water).