Fusangite
I find it curious that D&D uses the four Aristotelian elements but does not use the rest of Aristotle's cosmological system. The idea of the five elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Aether/Quintessence, the harmony of the spheres, etc. is fodder for some quite interesting discussion. In particular, it raises the question of what the natural philosophy of D&D is -- what the basic rules of physics, etc. are in the universe. Do we have the four qualities as well as the four elements? Are the outer planes made of the four elements or of the quintessence/aether? What are the implications of the D&D ethereal plane being coterminous with the ordinary world?
Given that Alchemy, Knowledge-Arcana, Knowledge-Planes, etc. are knowledge skills, I'd like to be able to give theoretical as well as practical answers to questions asked using these skills. The fact that falling damage increases linearly rather than exponentially suggests that the D&D universe may operate with Aristotelian rather than Newtonian physics.
Has anyone given any thought to the rules of physics, alchemy, optics, etc. in the D&D world or indeed in any other fantasy world? Do we still run our worlds by Newtonian rules with a long list of exceptions or do we more fully embrace the Aristotelian universe?
__________________
EricNoah
*********
I would love an article or something maybe more substantial that delves into the issue of elements and the other forces that make spells happen, and also appropriate defenses for each kind of element/force. Kind of a rock-paper-scissors effect.
For instance, we have spells that do "force" damage, and there often is no defense against them (magic missiles). But sometimes there is (a shield spell). Similarly, we have spells that do fire, acid, cold, and electrical damage and there seem to be many spells and creatures that have varying amounts of resistance to these. But you rarely see a sonic-resistant creature. So is sonic "more valuable" or "more rare" than the others? And how do negative and positive energy all play into it? And what about psionic powers that do "damage" that's not of any specific type (concussion comes to mind)? I personally think all damaging spells should be of some element, energy, or force and not just some nebulous "damage" that can't be defended against.
________________
Cheiromancer
I've run into the theory that there are really only three elements- Fire, Air and Water. But not earth.
Which kind of makes sense- there are archetypes of the Big Three- the "purest" fire is hot, bright and smokeless (and probably blue)- fresh air and pure rain water are the archetypes for the other two.
But there is no archetype of earth- there are dozens of different kinds of crystals, metals and minerals, not to mention all the different kinds of soil and clay. In other words, earth doesn't have a "pure" elemental form- it is a composite.
If I were to associate the different forms of energy with the Three Elements, this is how I would do it:
Fire: fire and electricity
Water: acid and cold
Air: sonic and force
Fire gets the "luminous" energies. Water is the best common solvent, so it makes sense to associate it with acid. And it sucks up heat very well, which seems appropriate to cold. Air is the subtle and invisible element, the one corresponding to pressure (force) and waves of pressure (sound).
Earth is a mixture of elements. Certain proportions of elemental mixtures "resonate" with the planets, and these are the astrological metals: silver, mercury, copper, gold, iron, tin and lead (for the moon, mercury, venus, the sun, mars, jupiter and saturn, respectively). Other materials might be linked to certain constellations. I'm not sure.
tleilaxu
let's see....
lightning
acid
fire
ice
sonic
positive
negative
divine
force
i nominate
time/gravity as another
i think arcane is ok....
edit: forgot slashing, piercing and bludgeoning, which are all subsets of
physical
how about
'kinetic'
