Dawnshards and magic system classification? (Cosmere spoilers)

[KandraAllomancer]

This is more an observation than a full-fledged theory yet, but I found an interesting pattern amongst the magic systems on major Shardworlds.
Before we start, a few caveats:

• This post contains spoilers regarding most Cosmere works
• It relies heavily on a speculative assumption that each of sixteen Shards can be mapped to one of four Dawnshards and the existence of a Unity Dawnshard encompassing Honor, Devotion and Dominion
• I excluded two important Shards based on their atypical situation: Autonomy (seems to have Invested on Taldain's sun rather than the planet) and Odium (prefers corrupting local Investiture to Investing on a planet, currently forcibly bound to Braize)

The remaining four major Shardwordls can be divided into two groups with many shared characteristics:
Nalthis & Sel

• Planets that have either one Shard (Nalthis) or two Shards belonging to the same Dawnshard (Sel)
• Magic is based on commands expressed through spoken language (Nalthis) or symbols (Sel)
• Said commands can be combined together to obtain more advanced effects, leading to almost limitless number of potential applications
• Individual experience and skill have huge impact on what you can achieve with magic given enough Investiture
• Immortality is easier to obtain and more common than on other worlds
• Overpowered artifacts (Nightblood, Elantris) are easier to create
• Magic users can easily create items or devices usable by other people

Scadrial and Roshar

• Planets with two Shards most likely belonging to different Dawnshards
• A small set of clearly defined powers whose number has some Cosmere significance
• Fewer possible interactions between powers, but they can be quite powerful (e.g. Compounding , Bondsmith synergy with other Orders)
• Overpowered abilities can be obtained through contact with pure Investiture of a single Shard (lerasium, atium, Honorblades, Old Magic)
• Magitech that can replicate the effects of the main magic system(s) seems to rely on Investiture from both Shards (harmonium and, I'm assuming, spren in Surge Fabrials)

I'm not sure what to think of it, to be honest. It could be random, given that it's just four planets we're talking about. If not, maybe different Shards are attracted to different planets, possibly following unknowingly some plan devised by Adonalsium? Or do planets, and by extension magic systems, behave differently depending on what set of Shards (and corresponding Dawnshard affiliations) Invest there?

[CosmereComrade]

Okay, so I see a few problems with the things you are stating

1.- The fact that immortality is easyer to obtain in Nalthis and Sel is for what I think not true.

Sure, in Scadrial the knowledge of how to obtain it (as in, hemalurgy) is lost, and due to the loss of power through the different generations it's more difficult to acces from birth (as in being a full feruchemist + full mistborn), but that doesn't make it inherently more difficult per how the magic system works.

2.- The differences between how you create devices usable by other people.

When we meet people from the south in scadrial we see that it is kind of easy to make such devices given to have the knowledge to do so. The same can apply to the magic system on Sel, wherein, if you don't know the Aons, you can't make any device capable of such things. On Roshar it also seems to be constantly improving in making it easyer to manufacture such devices (though i see the clear difference with Nalthis's system)

3.- The distinction in how skill and experience is different between both sets of wolrds.

Here I just don't see the difference. For as we see Susebron accomplishing great things with just access to an inmens source of Investiture but no real experience in it (since of how much breath he has, his commands just don't matter).

And in the other 2 worlds I also see how much knowledge, experience and skill matter in your power. Vin was an inmensely powerfull mistborn, I'd say that she would be more powerfull than Elend even if he had more "raw" or "base" power to start. That is because of her experience and knowledge on how to use her powers (as in the way she found out to "fly" on terrain that had no metal nearby). Same goes for Roshar's system in my opinion. A well experienced Lightweaver will accomplish much more than a newbie.

4.- Power obtained from contact with pure Investiture from a single Shard.

I think this is the same on any given planet with one or more shards Invested in it (or, as Sel, where Shards were Invested and now only their raw Investiture remains).

For example, the Returned become that way because access to raw Investiture from Endowment. (by her Endowing this on them). In Sel we just cannot see such things because those Shards are shattered and we still don't know if there are any residual pure or raw sources of Investiture that they could have possibly left on the planet. Still could be a possibility tho.

However I think the concept of a "Unity" dawnshard that encompasses Honor, Devotion and Dominion is very interesting! Since we  "*know*" the existance of the dawnshard of Change, in this respect I consider that probably Cultivation and Ruin would take part of that one.

[KandraAllomancer]

7 minutes ago, CosmereComrade said:

Sure, in Scadrial the knowledge of how to obtain it (as in, hemalurgy) is lost, and due to the loss of power through the different generations it's more difficult to acces from birth (as in being a full feruchemist + full mistborn), but that doesn't make it inherently more difficult per how the magic system works.

I does, however, have significant side effects (if we're talking about hemalurgy) and, besides, the whole process requires atium which is very hard to come by in Era 2. Both Sel and Nalthis have some stable population of immortals worshiped as gods, while on Scadrial and Roshar immortality is mostly reserved for semi-mythical figures, at least when we're discussing humans

11 minutes ago, CosmereComrade said:

When we meet people from the south in scadrial we see that it is kind of easy to make such devices given to have the knowledge to do so. The same can apply to the magic system on Sel, wherein, if you don't know the Aons, you can't make any device capable of such things. On Roshar it also seems to be constantly improving in making it easyer to manufacture such devices (though i see the clear difference with Nalthis's system)

Southern Scarian technology relies on Excisors, whatever they are. I'm not sure if the could have been created before Era 2 and harmonium. Roshar is more complicated. Surge Fabrials seem to require some very esoteric knowledge and abilities. Regular fabrials are easier to produce, but I feel like they belong in the minor Shardworld magic category - their creation might've been possible before the Shattering given that there were Highstorms, spren and Singer forms on Roshar back then. They also don't replicate the more powerful forms of local magic. On Sel and Nalthis, on the other hand, a magic user can create a magical object for someone else with just Command or proper Aon

23 minutes ago, CosmereComrade said:

Here I just don't see the difference. For as we see Susebron accomplishing great things with just access to an inmens source of Investiture but no real experience in it (since of how much breath he has, his commands just don't matter).

And in the other 2 worlds I also see how much knowledge, experience and skill matter in your power. Vin was an inmensely powerfull mistborn, I'd say that she would be more powerfull than Elend even if he had more "raw" or "base" power to start. That is because of her experience and knowledge on how to use her powers (as in the way she found out to "fly" on terrain that had no metal nearby). Same goes for Roshar's system in my opinion. A well experienced Lightweaver will accomplish much more than a newbie.

I agree on Susebron, but he's just cheating

A skilled Radiant or Mistborn can do a lot with the powers they have, but they don't get completely new skills (unless you count Oaths). An Awakener can discover a completely new skill (Vasher learnt how to erase memories, for example), very skilled Elantrians can create matter from pure Investiture etc.

29 minutes ago, CosmereComrade said:

I think this is the same on any given planet with one or more shards Invested in it (or, as Sel, where Shards were Invested and now only their raw Investiture remains).

For example, the Returned become that way because access to raw Investiture from Endowment. (by her Endowing this on them). In Sel we just cannot see such things because those Shards are shattered and we still don't know if there are any residual pure or raw sources of Investiture that they could have possibly left on the planet. Still could be a possibility tho.

That a fair point, but the way I see it, it really comes down to scale. You need 2,000 Breaths for the first truly overpowered Heightening, while a single nugget of lerasium can make you a Mistborn capable of controlling kandra or koloss, for example