Pulling things together
I like the idea of the triad dynamic, where each facet pulls away from the other two, but no particular facet is directly opposed to another. It's more interesting than the regular option where there might be two forces opposed to one another (good and evil, law and chaos, light and dark), or a two way pair of axes (such as the D&D alignment grid).
Some triads get it wrong...
... often because they set up a false third element.
Some try to shoehorn ideas into the triad that vaguely make sense on the surface...
...but when you start to dig into them with a bit of meaningful research, they start to fall apart.
Some versions don't even try to be a real triad, but exist more as a continuum with three focal points along the length...
...and that's really not what I'm after at all. We might as well go back to the idea of the linear-two point tension.
Then there are the complications of triads within triads...
...which all gets a bit complicated for what I'm aiming at here.
Yes, I've got a tarot card generation system for the characters, so a Kabbalistic tree could form a really interesting way to identify a character's predispositions. But I'm aiming for a magic system beyond the fundamentals of hermeticism, so binding everything back into this system of lore feels a bit heavy handed, and pulls away from my intended aim.
White Wolf had it's Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm in the Werewolf game line, which corresponded to Technocracy, Marauder, and Nephandi in Mage...(or the essences of Pattern, Dynamic, and Primordial)... and since the lore of this game is heavily influenced by those games, then it's hardly surprising that this is where I'm basically heading.
One of the things that I have done in the past when setting up a trinity or triad has basically gone against everything I've just stated.
Three points, with a direct point of opposition against all three...halfway between the other two. If we work with the idea of weaver/pattern/law, wyld/dynamism/chaos, and wyrm/primordial/entropy, the mid points give us some intesting ideas...
Even just using the triad of "Life", "Death" and "Undeath" could feasibly work.
But if I'm going to go with 6 aspects, with pairs opposing one another it makes more sense to use the existing 6 aspects of the elemental cube.
Some triads get it wrong...
... often because they set up a false third element.
Some try to shoehorn ideas into the triad that vaguely make sense on the surface...
...but when you start to dig into them with a bit of meaningful research, they start to fall apart.
Some versions don't even try to be a real triad, but exist more as a continuum with three focal points along the length...
...and that's really not what I'm after at all. We might as well go back to the idea of the linear-two point tension.
Then there are the complications of triads within triads...
...which all gets a bit complicated for what I'm aiming at here.
Yes, I've got a tarot card generation system for the characters, so a Kabbalistic tree could form a really interesting way to identify a character's predispositions. But I'm aiming for a magic system beyond the fundamentals of hermeticism, so binding everything back into this system of lore feels a bit heavy handed, and pulls away from my intended aim.
White Wolf had it's Weaver, Wyld, and Wyrm in the Werewolf game line, which corresponded to Technocracy, Marauder, and Nephandi in Mage...(or the essences of Pattern, Dynamic, and Primordial)... and since the lore of this game is heavily influenced by those games, then it's hardly surprising that this is where I'm basically heading.
One of the things that I have done in the past when setting up a trinity or triad has basically gone against everything I've just stated.
Three points, with a direct point of opposition against all three...halfway between the other two. If we work with the idea of weaver/pattern/law, wyld/dynamism/chaos, and wyrm/primordial/entropy, the mid points give us some intesting ideas...
- Between the points of weaver/pattern/law and wyld/dynamism/chaos, is the balance of vitality and growth...this makes sense because it opposes the destructive tendencies of the wyrm/primordial/entropy essence. In the past I've just called this "Life".
- Between the points of weaver/pattern/law and wyrm/primordial/entropy is the balance point of stagnation and decay, it's something generally inescapable in the downward spiral of reality. In the past I've just called this "Death".
- Between the points of wyld/dynamism/chaos and wyrm/primordial/entropy is a balance point of darkness and swirling oblivion tinged with new potential, it opposes the laws of the universe and keeps the cycle spawning anew. In the past I've called this "Undeath" (though this probably isn't a great fit, and is something I've been in two minds about).
Even just using the triad of "Life", "Death" and "Undeath" could feasibly work.
But if I'm going to go with 6 aspects, with pairs opposing one another it makes more sense to use the existing 6 aspects of the elemental cube.
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