D&D General For a setting that emphasizes the five power sources

Something like.

• Athletics skill: to assess Martial effectiveness.
• Religion skill: to assess Divine effectiveness.
• Nature skill: to assess Primal effectiveness.
• Insight skill: to assess Psionic effectiveness.
• Arcana skill: to assess Arcane effectiveness.

Normally I would use Intelligence for all of these analyses checks, where Intelligence includes intuitive knowledge. But other abilities are possible depending on context.

Right now, Arcana handles all spellcasting. But splitting magic among the power sources, and dedicating a skill for each power source, will help actualize their distinctive flavors.

The five skills above have areas of overlap, that I would like to disambiguate. To understand why Arcana-Arcane is neither Nature-Primal nor Insight-Psionic, helps give a clearer sense about what Arcana-Arcane exactly is.

Some aspects of D&D 2024 are core. For example, the Arcana skill is for "planes of existence", including the Astral and its alignment planes. However, I want the Religion skill to refer to any and all questions about the Astral Plane. This more immediately connects Religion with Divine magic and its Astral ideals and personas. This exercise of sorting out the power sources can include some slightly noncore tweaking. So it is better to think of these details about the power sources as true for a specific setting.

Something like.

Martial Classes (Body Soul)
• Fighter
• Rogue
• Warlord

Arcane Classes (Material Weave - science)
• Wizard
• Artificer
• Warlock (?)

Divine Classes (Astral Weave - language)
• Cleric
• Paladin
• Sorcerer (?)

Primal Classes (Elemental including Plant)
• Druid
• Ranger
• Monk (?)

Psionic Classes (Spirit Soul)
• Psion
• Bard (?)
• Barbarian (?)

Both Primal and Arcane can interact with elemental magic: earth water air fire and plant. The difference is, science (Arcane) engages the elements as machinery, and animism (Primal) engages the elements as persons.

The elemental features of nature − mountains, rivers, weather patterns − are persons, having desire and intention. Primal classes form personal relationships with these natural features.

By contrast, Arcane classes approach the elements (modern "states" of matter, solid, liquid, gas, and plasma), especially via alchemy.

Arcane applies the Arcana skill to process alchemy ingredients. Primal applies the Nature skill to "persuade" the elements to behave a particular way. In this way, Intelligence (Arcana) and perhaps Charisma (Nature) are routine to generate elemental magic. In both cases, the themes relating to plant magic categorize well when plants are understood as a kind of living element that emerges when the four elements are interacting with each other.

I updated the post with the class list so each power source has three classes. It works out reasonably well. The five power sources either derive from the impersonal properties of the Weave (Arcane and Divine), or else the personal properties of ones own Soul (Psionic and Primal, even Martial).


The Martial classes rely on the innate lifeforce of the body, the aura, the self, the body soul. This helps explain some of the superhuman class features, especially at the highest class levels. The Psionic power source is ones own soul, relating to consciousness, presence, and influence. Its psychometabolism sometimes manipulates the body as well, especially for shapeshifting and healing. This is achieved by mentally visualizing a new self, and the body shifting into these mind forces. Psionics can alter the body, but Martial lives the body to its fullest.

This Psionic Barbarian is mind over body. The Berserker is psychometabolic, applying the fury of altered states of consciousness to combat. Likewise the Beast becomes the soul of an animal. The Zealot is dedicating ones soul wholeheartedly. The Tree includes aspects of Primal plant and Divine structure, but is ones own soul as a microcosm of the multiversal macrocosm.


The sourcing for Warlock and Sorcerer might surprise. Generally speaking the earlier class traditions made the Wizard−Sorcerer−Warlock continuum too difficult to distinguish why Sorcerer and Wizard were not the same class, or why Sorcerer and Warlock were not the same class. To assign different power sources helps separate these classes from each other. But because of the earlier ambiguity, various power sources can make sense. So to explain why one power source and not an other, is a choice.

I would have made the Warlock the Divine power source, focusing on religiously forbidden magic, a kind of anticleric. Its patron features can parallel the Cleric patrons. The main reason I decided against a Divine Warlock is because I feel too much of Warlock flavor is the Fey patron. Removing Fey flavor from the Warlock somehow makes it feel less of a "witch". So I left the Warlock as Arcane. Arcane itself has overt flavor, namely science (protoscience). This Arcane flavor strongly emphasizes the Material Plane and its laws of physics and chemical constitution. In this context, these entities that the Warlock class bonds with, know something about the Material Plane and how to manipulate it. The Warlock patrons are doing science, albeit by means of secret knowledge often hostile. Sometimes the more bookish options have the Warlock study these protosciences. But what is mainly happening takes place at level 3 during the "pact". The Patron utilizes Arcane magic to transmogrify the body and spirit of the Warlock. The Warlock character is the result of a protoscientific experiment, sometimes an accident, or a carefully guarded secret formula that Patron only applies to the most loyal supporters, or at least the supporters hoped to be loyal. Ultimately, Warlock magic is Charisma, because it is self-expression, even if the pact has fundamentally altered the "self" of the Warlock. The Warlock becomes the piece of Arcane magitech technology. Sometimes, the Charisma also applies to cajoling future magical favors from the Patron.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Sorcerer is Divine. The sorcery is too innate, too nonintellectual, to match the protoscience flavor of Arcane magic. And here the Warlock pact already covers the flavor of protoscientific enhancement. Perhaps it relates to Primal, but clearly, the Sorcerer embodies planar magic, and here in this setting, is especially Astral magic. The core subclasses of the Sorcerer are Clockwork (≈ LN plane Mechanus), Wild (≈ CN plane Limbo), Aberrant (≈ antiastral Farrealm), and Draconic (≈ Astral dragons involved in the formation of the Material Plane, including Bahamut, Tiamat, and the Ruby Dragon). There can be other explanations for the subclass features besides these go-tos. The main idea is, the Sorcerer is a living portal of an other level of being. The character is a multiversal anomally, and ones magical phenomena are normally evident at birth. Notably, at least for this setting, there are no Fey or Undead Sorcerers, albeit there might be Sorcerers warping the planar fabric of Arvandor or Hades, respectively. The Astral Sorcerer is living poetry, the resonating songs of a particular plane of existence.

The Cleric utilizes symbols and prayers. The Paladin utilizes oaths and exhortations. Both are aspects of linguistic communities. Divine magic is language itself as a fundament of reality. It is the Word, the Song, the Vibration, the Structure, the Organization, the Reality. Divine magic always involves speakers of a language. The Astral Plane is the stuff of language, where archetypes, paradigms, ideals, concepts, and cultures exist independently from matter. The Elemental Chaos is the threshold between the Astral Plane and the Ethereal Plane, where Astral concepts begin the process of emanating ethereal forces, erupting at first like a steady-state Big Bang.


Druid, Ranger, even Monk are Primal. Primal magic is the features of nature existing as a kind of person. The Primal mages form personal relationships with these features of nature. The mountain is a person of earth who likes to relax and enjoy existing. Sometimes, a mountain wants something different. There are essentially six elements. Ethereal force is physical but immaterial. Gravity and telekinesis are features of ether. The four elements of matter are solid earth, liquid water, gaseous air, and fiery plasma. Mainly this fire is skyey, such as lightning and the radiant sun, but it extends to the glowing hot gases of candle flames and bonfires. Finally, plant is a kind of living element, where the integrating forces and matters entangle life. All three Primal mages involve elemental magic.

Even the Monk has subclasses correlating with Elements, Shadow (ether and plasma), Hand (becoming hard as stone, fluid as water), and Mercy (the living properties of plant). The 2024 Monk seems to be going for Martial flavor, such as switching from "ki" points to more neutral "focus" points. The Primal Monk emphasizes the living aspects of nature itself.


The Wizard and Warlock are Arcane protoscience, roughly the maker and the made, respectively. Where the Artificer emphasizes alchemy, it obviously is protoscience. The Artificer is a pet class. I prefer there to be a subclass where this pet is instead a suit of magical armor. As such, I want this Armor Artificer subclass to be the missing "Arcane Paladin" sotospeak to doubledown on the Wizard-Fighter gish flavor.

Something like.


Here are the magical themes:

• Mundane (skills, weapons; reallife exemplars of athletics, arts, human sciences and physical sciences)
• Magic (spellcasting, dweomer, Detect Magic, Dispel Magic, Counterspell, Antimagic Field; Wish)

• Illusion (objective illusory phenomena, telekinetically reinforced for physical quasi-real constructs)

• Force (physical immaterial ether, telekinesis, gravity, Ethereal, Wall of Force, Tiny Hut, Fly, Magic Missile)
• Elemental (earth, water, air, and fire including light-darkness)
• Plant (ַwhen the four elements interact to entangle life: plantal, fungal, microbial Ooze; item Fabrication)

• Mind (Telepathy, Enchantment, Fear, Charm, Hold, Dominate, subjective Phantasm)
• Body (heal, resurrect, shapeshift, Beast, Awaken)

• Spacetime (prescience, clairsentient scrying; teleportation, demiplane, time manipulation)
• Planar (summoner; planeshifter, multiversal planes of existence, levels of being, Astral)

Every spell organizes into one of these themes. Certain complex "fiddly" spells with a number of possible effects, might involve more than one theme, but even then one theme tends to predominate.


Here are the modal thematic combinations of each power source:

• Martial: Mundane, Body

"Soul"
• Psionic: Mind, Body, Spacetime, Force
• Primal: Elemental, Plant, Body, Illusion

"Weave"
• Arcane: Force, Elemental, Illusion, Planar
• Divine: Planar, Spacetime, Mind, Body

A class spell list corresponds thematically to some or all of a mode. But a subclass might diverge. The nonmartial power sources also include the Magic theme.

While sorting through material spanning multiple editions, I’ve found that making concept maps useful in addition to lists.
(And some venn diagrams for the core mechanics).

I’ve been playing with “threes” and “fives” as an organizational principle.

I can’t really comment on 5e mechanical aspects, but I can post these as a gesture of homebrew solidarity:


ETA: the first image is for Planescape in 5e.
The second and third are older editions of D&D, and some tidbits from The Book of Numbered Lists, as a seive for sorting spells and effects...

@Brendan Byrd

When determining what the salient themes of each 5e class are, the results arent symmetric. So the charts dont form clean geometry. For example, every caster class has some form of Spacetime (Prescience-Teleportation). Most classes have Body (Shapeshift-Healing). Both the Wizard and the Sorcerer do everything. So the resulting charts lack even distribution.

Salience identifies what a power source needs to emphasize, but also what it needs to avoid. The specializations help distinguish the feel of one source from an other.


Consider the salient themes of Psionic casters, Psion and Bard. Both empasize: Mind−Body−Spacetime



If so, the class comparison suggests that the thematic essence of the Psionic power source is Mind−Body−Spacetime. These are in the sense of telepathic influence, psychometabolism, and remote presence (clairsentience-teleportation). To the triad of themes, the Psion class adds Force (telekinesis), but the Bard class adds Illusion (metacreativity). For the Psionic concept, probably Mind and Spacetime (telepathy and being "psychic") are the must-haves.


The Divine casters Cleric and Paladin emphasize: Planar−Spacetime−Body.



Here, the class comparison suggests the essential themes of the Divine power source are Planar−Spacetime−Body. The Planar refers to Astral magic, typically the alignment planes, and the symbols and cultures that construct it. The Body especially relates to healing, and the Spacetime to prophecy. I would like to see the Divine casters handle more teleport and time maniputlation, relating to Spacetime and potential timelines. Too my surprise, I noticed the Cleric features a high frequency of Elemental magic. But I guess this makes sense, since the traditional priestly role originates from agriculture, for abundant crops (Plant), timely rain (Air-Water), good soil and sunshine (Earth-Fire). Sometimes these same Elemental magics involve painful consequences of unethical behavior. The Paladin adds Mind magic to inspire, but also to awe. The Divine themes seem to minimize Force (telekinesis, fly, wall of force, etcetera) and deceptive Illusion. In sum, Divine flavors Planar−Spacetime−Body.


The Primal casters, Druid and Ranger, are the most minimal thematically: Spacetime−Elemental−Body. These three themes relate to the "fates", the elements of natural features including plants, plus shapeshifting with healing and animal tropes. The Druid adds a bit of Mind magic (beyond affecting animals), tho I would rather it not since this starts making it too close to the Bard themes. I would rather the Druid add Illusion magic to represent how the nature beings often manifest quasi-real apparitions for dreamlike waking experiences. The addition of an Illusion theme might suit the Ranger, in any case. The Primal power source correlates closely with animistic cultures. In this sense, all reality is forming personal relationships with the perceivable features of nature that exist in the Material Plane. This power source should avoid references to an other place "somewhere else". (The Ranger has Planar subclasses involving Fey or Shadow, but subclasses can do any theme, and these places relate thematically to some animistic concepts about the underworld being literally underground. Other planes are only relevant to the degree they are evident within the Material Plane, such as Fey Crossings or Shadow Crossings.) At least the Primal themes avoid the immaterial Planar Astral themes. They also minimize the immaterial Force theme, so effects like telekinesis, fly, wall of force, are rare if any. When Primal mages fly, they sprout wings: Body shapeshifting. In sum, the Primal themes emphasize Spacetime−Elemental−Body, while perhaps adding some Mind or Illusion.


When it comes to the "Arcane" casters, their spell lists and features do every magical theme. It is a challenge to narrow each class down to four themes. The results seem thematically incongruent to each other. Consider Wizard, Warlock, and Sorcerer. Together, Wizard and Warlock suggest the Arcane power source is: Planar−Force−Illusion. But then Sorcerer feels the odd class out.



For the Wizard class, the most salient themes are clearly Force−Illusion−Elemental. The Wizard is a "creator" concept. Adding the fourth theme is a tougher choice. Mind magic is removable, and the Wizard still feels like a "wizard". The Wizard has some Body magic, even Shapechange and animal tropes. However, the strong aversion to healing magic, and the animal tropes feeling Primal or Psionic, the Wizard feels sleaker without any Body magic. So the choice is either to add Planar magic relating to the many summoning spells, or to add Spacetime magic relating to teleportation and time manipulation plus a few divination spells. Every class seems to have Spacetime magic (which makes sense since magic arises from needing to know something or influence something elsewhere). The Wizard actually gains distinctiveness by lacking it. Hence, this Wizard is a Planar "conjurer", as an aspect of being a cosmic "creator". The Wizard accesses the magic of the Weave mysteriously inherent in the stuff of the multiverse. Force−Illusion−Elemental plus Planar.

The Warlock class is obviously Planar, undergoing a transformative pact with a planar entity. Meanwhile the Warlock is an exemplary manipulator of the Mind and weilder of Illusion: Planar−Mind−Illusion. The fourth theme is more difficult to decide. Except for the famous Eldritch Blast, Force magic is minor. The spell list lacks Magic Missile, Wall of Force, Tiny Hut, even Telekinesis (tho GOO supplies it). Nevertheless the list features Fly and even Forcecage, and ultimately, it is hard to imagine a D&D Warlock without Eldritch Blast. Spacetime spells are ubiquitous elsewhere. In sum, Warlock distinctively correlates Planar−Mind−Illusion plus Force.

When comparing the Wizard (Planar−Illusion−Force−Elemental) and the Warlock (Planar−Illusion−Force−Mind), they suggest.

The essence of the Arcane power source is: Planar−Force−Illusion.

To these three themes, Wizard adds Elemental and Warlock adds Mind.


The Sorcerer feels the odd mage out. It does all of the themes, like the 5e Wizard does. It could reduce to an Arcane class, but because it is necessarily Elemental, it would end up identical to the Wizard class, Planar−Force−Illusion + Elemental. It helps the Sorcerer class have a reason to exist, by allowing its themes to evolve differently from the Wizard − and from the Warlock.

The Sorcerer class personifies Planar phenomena: LN Mechanus (Clockwork), CN Limbo (Wild), Farrealms (Aberrant), and even Draconic suggests Astral or First World tropes. The Sorcerer doesnt necessarily learn properties or partner entities. The Sorcerer oneself is the Planar phenomenon, a living portal of an other level of being.

A notorious "blaster caster", the Sorcerer features Elemental volleys, whence Planar−Elemental. Narrowing down to two more themes is trickier, because like the Wizard, the Sorcerer can do everything. Probably the essential themes of sorcery are: Planar−Elemental−Spacetime−Mind. These four acknowledge the centrality of Planar and Elemental, and the high slots of Spacetime magic. The spacetime might relate to manipulating the fates of other creatures. The Mind spells are competent plus there is the Aberrant subclass − and connotatively, to "ensorcel" someone normally refers to mind manipulation. All together, this Sorcerer feels an otherworldly, catastrophic, psychological impact.

But also these Sorcerer thematics dont quite match any of the four power sources.

Sorcerer: Planar−Mind−Spacetime−Elemental
Arcane: Planar−Force−Illusion
Divine: Planar−Spacetime−Body
Psionic: Mind−Spacetime−Body
Primal: Spacetime−Elemental−Body

Is it worthwhile to create a new power source, Sorcerous?


To specialize four salient themes, works excellently to distinguish the modern magical classes from each other. But then how these classes group into power sources is not exactly clear yet.