Elemental Affinities for Schools of Magic

[RedMage125]

So...I have this idea I was tossing around in my head for a story, and it involves magic being tied to the classic 4 elements. And I wanted to classify the 8 schools as being considered "air/water/fire/earth magic", in terms of how the characters' talents lie. So, I've decided to post this, because I like to share my ideas, and if anyone likes this, they're welcome to cherry pick or steal wholesale.

First, the list, and then I'll give my reasoning:

Divination: Air
Transmutation: Water
Evocation: Fire
Abjuration: Earth
Enchantment: Air/Water
Illusion: Air/Fire
Conjuration: Earth/Fire
Necromancy: Earth/Water

Air Magic: Air is often times (with Astrology, Tarot, etc) associated with the mind, mental faculties and the like. Air Signs, for example, tend to be "in their head", and be more prone to cold logic over emotional responses. Divination is thus purely Air, as it reveals/provides knowledge and insight, generally without creating anything of substance.

Water Magic: Water is change. Pure and simple. Going again with Astrological signs, Water Signs tend towards emotion, which can-at times-be very volatile and subject to swift change. Transmutation, in this regard, is the quintessential school of magic for change. Water is also often associated with Life, which will be addressed further below.

Fire Magic: This one should be obvious. Fire is the element most easily associated with "energy". In Astrology, Fire Signs are enthusiastic, passionate, and creative. Evocation is the creation and manipulation of raw energy, be it fire, electricity, etc.

Earth Magic: This one was honestly the hardest of the elements to codify. Where I went with this is that Earth represents stability, solidity, and to a small extent, protection. In Astrology, Earth Signs are solid, dependable, and practical. Abjuration is the school where one finds a great deal of protection spells, wards, and the removal of other magical effects, such as dispelling magic or antimagic fields.

Air/Water: The combination of Air and Water leaves us with things that change or alter the mind. Thus, Enchantment fits in nicely.

Air/Fire: Air and Fire combined give us things that are made of created energy, but lack substance. So Illusion is perfect.

Earth/Fire: Conversely, to use energy to create things that DO have substance, thus blending Fire and Earth, we have Conjuration.

Earth/Water: Now, we are left with Necromancy. Why is it Earth and Water? Necromancy involves changes to something's life. As mentioned above, Water is often associated with Life, and manipulation of the life energies of a creature (i.e. Necromancy)* is therefore a blend of Earth and Water.

*It should be noted, that for this to work, healing magic needs to be reclassified as Necromancy, like it used to be in older editions.

Like I said, this was created more for a story, to be used narratively. The character with a penchant for Air magic has a talent for Divination, Enchantment and Illusion, but his Abjuration, Conjuration, and Necromancy spells are not as strong, and he has moderate or average strength in Evocation and Transmutation. The story in question is not for a "D&D world", and does not have Vancian Magic or Prohibited Schools, but since I was using the D&D codified Schools of magic, I thought the Playground might enjoy and maybe get something out of it.

I don't know if anyone would find this helpful, or useful as a story element or roleplaying tool, but I wanted to share it anyway.

I welcome any comments/criticisms/questions. And like I said in the beginning, if anyone would like to adopt or cherry-pick from this, I welcome it. Plagiarism is, after all, the Sincerest Form of Flattery.

[Tvtyrant]

Seems cool. Illusion I don't know about, since mirages are dry but fata morganas are wet.

Elemental mages seem cool here, gives you access to a swath of spells but more in universe connection between them.

[RedMage125]

Seems cool. Illusion I don't know about, since mirages are dry but fata morganas are wet.

Elemental mages seem cool here, gives you access to a swath of spells but more in universe connection between them.

Fata morgana are naturally occurring optical illusions, and not magical. Second, they are an effect of the air above the water, over the horizon level.

This is about Illusion magic, which either spins fake or quasi-real images out of nothing -to include obscuring things by crafting an illusion on nothing over a creature or object- or directly affects the target's mind with such an image, like Phantasmal Force.

[Kurald Galain]

A setup I used for an older campaign is air for mind, water for emotion, fire for body, and earth for matter. This gives us,

Divination: Air
Illusion: Air/Water
Enchantment: Water (this moves spells like Magic Weapon to transmutation instead, e.g. magically make it sharper)
Necromancy: Water/Fire
Evocation: Fire
Transmutation: Fire/Earth
Abjuration: Earth
Conjuration: Earth/Air

[RedMage125]

A setup I used for an older campaign is air for mind, water for emotion, fire for body, and earth for matter. This gives us,

Divination: Air
Illusion: Air/Water
Enchantment: Water (this moves spells like Magic Weapon to transmutation instead, e.g. magically make it sharper)
Necromancy: Water/Fire
Evocation: Fire
Transmutation: Fire/Earth
Abjuration: Earth
Conjuration: Earth/Air

That's an interesting take. I think it's funny that our Air, Earth, and Fire lined up (Earth, Wind, and Fire, if you will ). I think one of the places we differ is I see Air/Earth and Water/Fire as opposing, and you seem to have Air/Fire and Water/Earth be opposing. Which I suppose is a little more true to how Astrological signs are ordered (Air, then Water, then Fire, then Earth).

But in my mind's eye, I see them arranged as 8 points on a circle in the 4 cardinal directions, with the 4 secondary directions in between. Air at the top, Earth at the bottom, Water on the left, and Fire on the right.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only weirdo who thinks about stuff like this, lol. Thread went for days with like 70 something views and no comments. For awhile I thought I was just the outlier thinking about stuff like this.

[Kurald Galain]

Oh I love making schemas like this.

One of the reasons I've put air opposite fire is that it fits the alignment cycle well: earth is clearly lawful, water is obviously chaotic, and air/fire fit well with the heaven/hell theme of good and evil. This also fits most of the schools: abjuration feels very lawful and enchantment chaotic. And of course water = emotion and emotion = enchantment.

Of course, any system that involves fire MUST have evocation in the fire spot :) but mindless destruction is a good fit for the physical and evil side anyway. Some of it will need additional worldbuilding to support it, e.g. to explain why transmutation is considered lawful evil in this world (e.g. lawful because of FMA-like conservation laws, and evil because witchcraft).

I'm not sure if I agree with your illusion = energy setup; illusion strikes me as the opposite of energy. Then again, worldbuilding to the rescue! Incidentally, my system retains healing spells as conjuration; outside of my system I do agree that necromancy (or even transmutation) is a better fit for healing.