Color associations

I just associate them with the colour spectrum, sice it looks nice on a char sheet:
STR - red
CON - orange
DEX - yellow
WIS - green
INT - blue
CHA - violet

Note, that I changed the order of the stats.

What is interesting to me, is that I'd always use 'warm' colours (red, orange, yellow) for the physical stats (STR, DEX, CON) and 'cold' colours (green, blue, violet) for the mental stats (INT, WIS, CHA).

It makes sense to associate physical stats with combat, exercise, heat, warmth and thus reddish colours. Just like associating mental stats with rationality and calm.

My list:
STR: Red
DEX: Yellow/Green
CON: Brown
INT: Blue
WIS: White
CHA: Purple/Pink
 

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I noticed recently that the 6 ability scores in D&D associate very strongly with particular colors in my mind.

You know, I always sorta did this, too, but I didn't think very much about it. Constitution has the "strongest" color in my mind. It's yellow.

Strength is brown, Dex is green, Int is white, Wis is gray, and Cha, strangely enough, is also yellow. It might have something to do with the first letters.

And now that you mention it I tend to associate colors with certain words and songs. It's not like I actually see the words in a different color, I just think of the color when I see the words or hear the songs. Is that synesthesia?

Edit: Wow, I just realized that there are a few other words that begin with D that I associate with green, and other C words that are yellow. I think I definitely have synesthesia.
 
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The impact of CRPGs could have something to do with this.

There is now a default standard (thanks, Diablo...) that Red is Health and Blue is Mana. You see this time and time again, to the point where I've seen games criticized for "confusing" players by breaking the norm. It's not just CRPGs, either. Many "shooters" that use some kind of mana-equivalent (e.g. Bioshock) also use the Red/Blue standard.

So, Red = Strength and Blue = Intelligence, as a common design standard.

To make use of the color palette, it seems that a lot of games make the design choice that any third option (usually some kind of Stealth/Rogue/Tech option, depending on the game) should use either yellow or green. Pink and orange are too close to red, and purple is too close to blue.

So, Dexterity = Green or Yellow, as a common design standard.

As for the other stats, there's no real standard. Wisdom is typically equivalent to Intelligence in most computer games, Constitution is typically equivalent to Strength, and Charisma is usually bundled into that third "Stealth/Dexterity/Other" classification, if it exists at all.
 



Didn't the AD&D1 adventure module Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun have a magic-gizmo-thingy with ability scores mapped to colors?

Bullgrit
 

I noticed recently that the 6 ability scores in D&D associate very strongly with particular colors in my mind. Strength is red, dexterity yellow, constitution brown, intelligence blue, wisdom light pink, and charisma white. I suspect I picked up these associations from a video game or a book, but can't for the life of me remember what it was. Does anyone know where this color mapping might have come from? Am I alone?

There was a game (though I can't tell you what game, because I'm an old old man whose memory has long since left him for a younger man, just like every woman in my life... but I digress).... there was a game that, when you went to the character stat details, had your ability scores written in squares and each of those squares was colored. I think it was similar to what you said (because I distinctly recall strength being red and one of the mental states being blue and another mental stat being white - i can almost picture it in my head).

So I either share your memory or I share your delusion, one or the other ...
 

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