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View Full Version : What is the best color for ghost energy?



Orcus The Vile
2015-09-14, 08:50 PM
Like I see a lot of pale blue flames and energy but I also like the creepy blood red and and the Sickly Green Glow...

What you guys think?

MrZJunior
2015-09-14, 09:03 PM
Like I see a lot of pale blue flames and energy but I also like the creepy blood red and and the Sickly Green Glow...

What you guys think?

You can't go wrong with radioactive green!

goto124
2015-09-14, 11:12 PM
I usually think 'translucent white, like mist or fog'.

Considerations differ if it's for, say, an art piece.

Though it could help with descriptions as well.

Fri
2015-09-15, 02:43 AM
Octarine of course.

Necroticplague
2015-09-15, 03:12 AM
I'm personally a fan of "glowing black" because the lack of sense it makes normally helps emphasize the otherworldly nature of ghosts.

goto124
2015-09-15, 03:31 AM
I dunno, I think it's that kind of black when you set your screensaver to complete black, then let your computer go to screensaver...

Bascially, black with glowy outlines.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-15, 03:45 AM
There's a good point to be made for pretty much any color, as the posters above me show. One of the options I like is purple. It may not be as counternatural as glowing black, but it's still a very rare color in nature. Something colored purple that's bigger than a flower or a snail instinctively registers as weird, so it makes a good color for spooky glows. It's also a pretty dark color, something can glow purple and still be mysterious and not completely shine up in the dark.

Seto
2015-09-15, 05:12 AM
I'm in the Sickly Green Glow Team.

Mr.Moron
2015-09-15, 07:01 AM
Whatever is the most suitable Color for giving the particular ghost in it's particular context the correct feel for it's role.
These are all "Ghosts":

A "Just a monster that's extra wispy"
A "Silent wandering ethereal presence"
A "Vengeful tormented soul"
A "Mischievous haunting force"
A "Psychic projection of the departed deepest secrets"
A "Confused soul looking for closure"

They're all going to act and look different, including their color.

Garimeth
2015-09-15, 07:25 AM
Second vote for the misty white/grey, as that's how I imagine the spirit world in my campaign.

mikeejimbo
2015-09-15, 12:35 PM
Depends on how the ghost in question died.

Aetol
2015-09-15, 12:47 PM
I'd say purple. After all, Supernatural Is Purple (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SupernaturalIsPurple).
Warning : do not click this link if you planned on doing something productive today.

Lord Il Palazzo
2015-09-15, 01:03 PM
It depends on the ghost. I usually default to a white or pale sliver fog, the sort you can almost mistake for natural fog if you aren't on the look out for anything supernatural, but a black so intense it somehow glows darkness is pretty cool if there's intense evil or malevolence at work. Similarly, a very angry ghost might have a red or orange aura or energy that might crackle like a fire.

(In my mind, the spirit world is kind of a big mood ring with different colors and forms of energy representing different emotions that are in play.)

Strigon
2015-09-15, 03:02 PM
I agree that it depends on the type of "ghost", but ethereal, wispy themes work for me.
Pale blue works well, too; perhaps something along the lines of Jace's Phantasm? (http://www.artofmtg.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Jaces-Phantasm-MtG-Art-2.jpg)

Jenerix525
2015-09-15, 07:56 PM
If I had to pick a colour for a ghost, it would be white. But that isn't how I usually imagine them.

The more a ghost is defined by their identity in life, the more I would expect them to be in their original colours, just translucent.
As their identity is consumed by the fact they're a ghost, they slide into greyscale. Then they start turning into Casper-type ghosts, the floating white sheets and such. They also get to pick up some cool effects: mysterious fog, unearthly chill, all that jazz.

If a ghost has a particular colour, I would probably think that comes from some spell in effect stopping it from passing on.

ArcanaFire
2015-09-15, 08:23 PM
I'm throwing my 2 cp behind "It depends on the ghost". A violent poltergeist might be served best with a more red aura and the ghost woman that died waiting for her sailor to come home might be better served in a pale blue or white.

If the issue is making it clear that these effects come from ghosts, try your other senses. The room gets cold, or the faint smell of sulfur tinges the air when a ghost manifests.

Cealocanth
2015-09-15, 11:15 PM
With the specters in my games, I tend to fall back on one of two general themes. Either the ghost is an incorporeal or semi-corporeal cloud of sentient mist, meaning all ghostly energy is translucent white or grey like steam, or the ghost plays up on the grossout factor with "ectoplasm," a low-contrast light green that glows brightly, often used to make physical formations such as bridges, doorways, or soul-eating slime-zombies.

goto124
2015-09-16, 12:09 AM
ghost woman that died waiting for her sailor to come home might be better served in a pale blue or white.

The ghost of the sailor lady who died in her seafaring adventures is probaby best served by a dark blue, the color of the sea.

ArcanaFire
2015-09-16, 02:33 AM
The ghost of the sailor lady who died in her seafaring adventures is probaby best served by a dark blue, the color of the sea.

Oooh yes! Or that salty blue green. With floaty hair bits like she's underwater.

Lvl 2 Expert
2015-09-16, 06:59 AM
When we're talking about spirits that appear in the daytime or around dusk and dawn I'd also like to make a case for just plain misty white without glow, witte wieven style. It's a bit like the shapes you can see in a dark room, except you don't get time to study them. Did that mist bank just look like it was winking at me? And why does this fog seem to be circling me, in both directions at ones?

ThinkMinty
2015-09-16, 09:56 AM
Octarine of course.

Seconded! Team Octarine is so ghostly you can't even see us coming.

Ya know, because we're Octarine.

Slipperychicken
2015-09-17, 11:19 AM
I prefer translucent white/gray, myself. Like this:
http://witcheslore.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ghost.jpg

Light blue is also acceptable for spirits which aren't supposed to be as spooky or mysterious.
http://7-themes.com/data_images/out/79/7041588-ghost-girl-dog.jpg

Lorsa
2015-09-17, 02:16 PM
Can I vote for ultraviolet? Great color in general!

Otherwise I'll agree with the "different color for different ghost" sentiment.

And if I was forced at gunpoint to choose I'd say misty white/grey for the manifiestation of the ghost and sickly green for manifestation of their powers.

goto124
2015-09-17, 11:47 PM
Ultraviolet would require special googles/vision/detect spells to see the ghost at all. I think?

Strigon
2015-09-18, 07:26 AM
Ultraviolet would require special googles/vision/detect spells to see the ghost at all. I think?

Pure ultraviolet would, it's true. Which might be exactly what you're looking for.

I think what they meant was an effect similar to a blacklight, which (as I understand) operates just on the border between visible violet light and ultraviolet light, with just enough of the former to be visible as a colour which never occurs in our natural world - at least not isolated - and also causes certain objects to glow thanks to the latter.

JusticeZero
2015-09-28, 12:43 AM
I'm partial to "silvery, the light of which illuminates no color".

NRSASD
2015-09-28, 02:12 AM
I strongly support the "it depends on the ghost" camp, but a great color for ghostly energy is black with fiery outlines. Like someone standing in front of a campfire; blocking the fire itself from your view but illuminating their outline in a flickering reddish light.

Joe the Rat
2015-09-28, 07:11 AM
Ultraviolet would require special googles/vision/detect spells to see the ghost at all. I think?

Depending on your setting, that may be ideal. Another related idea would be antiglowing infrared - you know, that "region of cold that indicates the presence of a disturbed entity"

Strigon
2015-09-28, 07:19 AM
I strongly support the "it depends on the ghost" camp, but a great color for ghostly energy is black with fiery outlines. Like someone standing in front of a campfire; blocking the fire itself from your view but illuminating their outline in a flickering reddish light.

http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k210/floyd_droid/Screenshot2012-10-20at24121PM.png