Elements & Game Mechanics

Okay, not just 12 elements, here - but 24! That's right - between every two spokes we can fit a little extra element.

The inner elements can be, of course, cleanly removed if 12 is enough elements.

elements

Quick Summary

archetype	element	themes & gameplay elements
oth	earth	slow, steady, strong, blocking
	beast	raw, sacrifice, numerous
cystam	electric	speed, risk, chaining
	sound	helping, quick buffs, area of effect
kiro	light	strong start, weak finish, help a little
	love	pairs, long-lasting buffs
stacks	mind	planning, searching, indexing
	chaos	a lack of intentional strategy
mersenne	fire	high-risk high-reward, random
	machine	a better copy with obvious downsides
world	metal	powerful, durable, forged
	rage	aggression, add and remove things from battle
path	air	low damage, dodge, flight, shuffle
	smoke	choking, obscuring, disabling, area of effect
curopal	poison	insta-kill, repetitive damage, patience
	plague	contact growth, incubate, spreading, viral
blit	void	nothing, removal, cancel, game-ending
	galaxy	huge, create, pull & push
audient	spirit	laws, complexity, exponential scaling
	mirror	clones, duplicates, reversal
misk	water	reconfigurable, ok at everything, healing
	psychic	weird, occult, control, puppet
zariel	time	loops, repetition, rewind, remove
	plant	natural, slow, healing

The outer elements (example: air, void, metal) are a little more direct, simple and fundamental, whereas the inner elements (example: sound, mirror, psychic) tend towards being a little more complicated, specialized, and abstract.

One way to add a little bit of verve to each archetype in the pantheon would be to give them elemental associations to the outer element on their spoke, as well as both of the nearby inner elemental associations.

Oth would be Earth, Plant & Beast.
Cystam would be Electric, Beast & Sound.
Kiro would be Light, Sound & Love.
Stacks would be Mind, Love & Chaos.
Mersenne would be Fire, Chaos & Machine.
World would be Metal, Machine & Rage.
Path would be Air, Rage & Smoke.
Curopal would be Poison, Smoke & Plague.
Blit would be Void, Plague & Galaxy.
Audient would be Spirit, Galaxy & Mirror.
Misk would be Water, Mirror & Psychic.
Zariel would be Time, Psychic & Plant.

Oppositions

Earth and Air
Electric and Poison
Light and Void
Mind and Spirit
Fire and Water
Time and Metal

Enumerating the specific qualities that define these oppositions will remain an exercise for the reader.

The oppositions on the inner elements are more defined by their relationships between outer elements than by their oppositions with one another.

Plant and Rage
Beast and Smoke
Sound and Plague
Love and Galaxy
Chaos and Mirror
Machine and Psychic

Each of these pairs feel not like parallel concepts: but orthogonal ones. No matter how hard you rage at a plant, or love at the galaxy, or shout at a virus - nothing will happen.

Combinations

It's also possible to concoct groupings for other thematic purposes:

Storm could be Electric, Air, and Water
Healer could be Water, Plant & Love.
Magician could be Smoke & Mirror.
Demagogue could be Electric, Sound & Psychic.
Foxglove could be Plant & Poison.

These are fun to concoct and there are too many possibilities to enumerate.

Magic Systems & Cost

One thing to consider when designing magic systems for narrative purposes is that one way to make magic more interesting is to give it some kind of a cost.

I think the first author I saw pitching this idea was Orson Scott Card, but I've seen Brandon Sanderson bring it up it as well.¹

From a horrifyingly practical standpoint, 'unlimited magic' characters are a source of infinite energy and should simply turn a crank as fast as possible, all the time.

attributing an idea to the first person I heard it from isn't necessarily accurate but it at least seems fair.

Let's Look At Each Element More Closely

Earth

Earth: rock and dirt, mountain and ground.

Earth effects generally:

Take a long time to develop.
Are hard to get rid of.
Are defensive in nature.
Block or reduce damage.
Are themed around "rock", "mountain", "stone".

Beast

Between Earth and Electric, beast represents the animal and insect kingdom.

Beast effects generally:

Come in a great number.
Multiply.
Sacrifice weaker creatures to build up stronger creatures.
Are themed around "blood", "claws", "teeth".

Electric

Lightning! Thunder! A whole mess of electrons moving from place to place!

Electric effects generally:

Take a while to build up, then happen instantly.
Chain, jumping from target to target to target.
Follow predictable rules to arrive at unpredictable outcomes.
Are themed around "lightning".

Sound

Big sound! Much noise!

Sound effects generally:

Have a wide area-of-effect.
Can bolster the courage of friends.
Can confuse or distract enemies.
Provide buffs and debuffs¹.
Are themed around "thunder", "music".

if you're not familiar with the terms, "buff" is an upgrade, a buff might make someone stronger, or faster - correspondingly, a "debuff" is a downgrade, that might make someone weaker, or slower.

Light

Sunlight! Hope, optimism!

Light effects generally:

Start very strong, but lose steam quickly.
Provide very small or inconsequential buffs.
Provide a lot of utility in dark environments.
Are themed around "the sun", "day".

Love

LURVE. Passion. Charm.

Love effects generally:

Link things together as pairs.
Provide long-lasting, resilient buffs.
Slowly turn enemies into long-lasting friends.
Are themed around "hearts", "kisses", "kindness", "friendship", "courage".

Mind

Think carefully, know things, be insightful. Plan.

Mind effects generally:

Allow for searching or indexing through abilities¹.
Provide insight on or identify enemy weaknesses.
Prepare effects that take some time to trigger.
Prepare traps that may be triggered.
Are themed around "planning", "libraries", "traps", "plots".

as a collectible card game enjoyer, these seem inconsequential to newer players but often are some of the most powerful cards in the pool.

Chaos

Randomness! Nobody can predict these effects! Well, that's not entirely true: the tools of probability theory can rein in the possibility space somewhat. Dice are random, but they're not unknowable.

Randomly determined outcomes.
Effects that may or may not trigger.
Effects that can't obey any particular strategy, like playing high-stakes poker with your cards face down on the table.
Themed around "casino", "dice", "chaos".

Fire

Flames! Hot! It burn! Burn be good! ¹

Fire effects generally:

Are unpredictable and destructive.
Spread easily and maliciously.
Are high-risk but high-reward.
Are not fussy about who they hurt.
Provide a lot of utility in dark environments.
Are... fire themed.

I didn't imagine when I took on this project that I'd set myself up for a task as rudimentary as trying to write copy to explain "fire" to people. I'm pretty sure people don't need flavor text for fire.

Machine

Clever engineering, combustion, horsepower, human ingenuity.

Machine effects generally:

Mimic effects that other elements have access to:
- faster, stronger, or more repeatable,
- at much higher cost or with much less resilience.
Have repetitive, ongoing costs.
Are themed around "contraptions", "rube goldberg machines", "engines".

Metal

Steel, silver, bronze, gold, metal is here to save the day!

Metal effects generally:

Provide uncomplicated defensive and offensive options.
Can be made stronger up-front with more time, expense, or rare materials.
Rust and degrade over time.
Are themed around "swords", "shields", "armor", "steel", "currency".

Rage

Big negative emotions! Hate! Fear! Rage! Rraaaaaah!

Rage effects generally:

Provide long-lasting debuffs.
Trigger aggression and attacks.
Can cause parties to enter or leave battle.
Are themed around "fear", "hatred", "division", "nationalism".

Air

Light, free, hard to see. We need it to live.

Air effects generally:

Provide dodge: prevent attacks from hitting without blocking them.
Less damage than Fire or Water, but can still be used offensively.
Flight! Get up, get on up!
Shuffle, move, or redistribute things.
Create breathable bubbles in unbreathable locations like "underwater" or "in space".
Are themed around "motion", "storms", "wind", "twisters"

Smoke

Air gone terribly wrong, thick with particulate and toxic to life.

Smoke effects generally:

Obscure or hide things.
Temporarily disrupt the battlefield.
Temporarily disable strong opponents.
Quickly kill or disable weak opponents.
Enjoy an enormous area of effect.
Are super-effective in confined spaces.
Are themed around "smoke", "toxins", "pollution", "choking", "asphyxiation".

Poison

Immediately, drastically, deadly effects. Sudden sabotage.

Poison effects generally:

Take time to set up, then do very high, very targeted damage.
Do low but repetitive damage over a long period of time.
Are themed around "poison", "betrayal", "daggers", "assassins", "arsenic".

Note:

With Curopal positioned right at the nexus of Poison, Smoke, and Plague, that also gives them a real compelling pitch for "medicine" or medical-related effects, the "good" side of poison and plague.

Plague

A coughing, hacking, microorganism-based assault on the living.

Plague effects generally:

Spread, but only in close quarters.
Are difficult to contain.
Damage things for a long time without killing them.
Turn things into plague-spreaders.
Incubate.
Bypass traditional defenses.
Are themed around "virus", "pestilence", "disease", "pustules", "goop", "decay", "rot".

Void

Hollow, dark, nihilistic, empty.

Void effects generally:

Cause things not to exist, remove things.
Provide debuffs.
Cancel effects: a thing that would have happened, instead, doesn't.
Set up effects that threaten to end the game if left unchecked.
Are themed around "shadow", "void", "absence", "nothingness", "sadness", "emptiness".

Galaxy

The universe and everything. Distant, unfathomable, and yet the only true force of creation.

Galaxy effects generally:

Are huge. HUGE. Effects that are orders of magnitude bigger than any other.
Create. Galaxy can create something from nothing in a way that no other element can.
Pull and push things around.
Are themed around "space", "creativity", "genesis", "art", "gravity", "stars", "moons".

Spirit

Some things may not exist, but we cause them to (sort of) exist through the sheer force of believing in them, ideas like "honor" or "Canada".

Spirit effects generally:

Create and enforce laws, like "no Void effects can be played on even turns".
Make big, fundamental changes to the rules of the game.
Come with difficult to grasp mechanics that pay off with careful study.
Have endurance: Spirit effects are hard to shake.
Are very weak initially, but scale exponentially in the late game.
Are themed around "belief", "conceptual shifts", "faith", "truths".

Mirror

Reflect. Copy. Clone. Duplicate.

Mirror effects generally:

Create exact duplicates of other things.
Reverse, invert, and create large shifts in position.
Provide counterattacks!¹
Are themed around "mirrors".

"Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything."

Water

Water your thoughts on this?

Water effects generally:

Are flexible, adaptable, can provide a bit of everything - offense, defense, utility.
Are "Judo" inspired - redirecting an opponents' energy to flip them on their backs.
Heal! Water and Plant are the only elements that can easily provide healing.
Are rapidly reconfigurable.
Are themed around "water", "ice", "healing", "pure", "fluid".

Psychic

Think oppressively. Reach into opponents' minds. Predict the future.

Psychic effects generally:

Look ahead in time.
Force opponents to reveal things, or make specific moves.
Quickly turn enemies into unwilling puppets.¹
Can create enemy weaknesses.
Are themed around "occult", "mental dominance", "oppressive thought"

While Love might take some set-up to create a permanent ally, Psychic might provide very short term "charm" effects that are easy to shake off.

Time

Cycles, inevitability.

Time effects generally:

Look ahead or backwards in time.
Prevent things from having ever happened, retroactively.
Rewind damage (like "healing" but it has to happen right away).
Replay events that went badly.
Make a prediction, then get a large reward if that prediction comes to pass.
Repetition. Try (or do) something again, and again, and again, and again.
Themed around "clocks", "cycles", "loops".

Plant

Vegetation & nature. Slow-moving.

Plant effects generally:

Grow, taking things and making them stronger gradually.
Heal. Water and Plant are the only elements that can easily provide healing.
Entangle & thorn, preventing movement and dealing minor damage.
Reward patience.
Provide bountiful harvests (a lot of little buffs and heals that can be passed out).
Are themed around "trees", "harvest", "green spaces", "gardening", "fruit & vegetables"

Groovelet: Portable Mythology