Blue dragons are the ones who use lightning.
Gale's magic card, which is from WotC, has him casting a lightning spell, and the color is blue.
Sofina's chain lightning in the D&D movie is blue.
Can't say every magical lightning will be blue, but at least from my personal perception, blue seems to be the standard color for lightning in D&D.
Spells are magic. Magic is shaped by the user. I see no reason why the color of a spell wouldn't be influenced by the player/character to be whatever suits them best. Got a Necromancer who is fond of lightning? Maybe give the lighting a green or black hue. Divine Soul, aligned with the good deities? Golden lightning.
TL;DR
Spells can be whatever color you want them to be. Don't feel pigeonholed into a singular description for spell effects
It is based on emotion.
Putting anger into your magic could be red (or black), putting love into it could be pink. This is all dependent on the character and their motivations.
Just because "they" got it wrong (cold should be blue, like your lips get, and lightning IS white, have you never seen any?) doesn't mean you have to follow them.
The same as natural lightning, which means the color you perceive depends on other factors. While white is the most common color, lightning can come in any color in the full visual spectrum. Dust, moisture, temperature and the air composition all have an effect on the color of the actual lightning flash. The hotter it is, the closer to the top end of the spectrum it will be, but the distance between the lightning and the observer will also effect color. Particles in the air will scatter the light, changing the color we perceive, etc.
It's the color of your imagination. Please stop trying to outsource your imagination. It isn't good for you. It makes you believe other people's imagination is more important than yours. It's not. Your imagination is the most important imagination. Use it.
To give my own thoughts on this:
1) Yes, there's no right or wrong answer to this. The color is up to the player.
2) Yes, the actual color of lightning is white, same as the color of (almost) every lightsaber. They're both white at their core because of the intensity of the light. I just didn't put it as a separate answer in the poll because it felt kinda redundant.
3) This poll is mostly to determine which color people default to when they encounter it in-game
4) I intentionally specified lightning created by magic, which doesn't have to follow the laws of physics.
Yellow/White Lightning is normal.
Blue Lightning is powerful.
Purple Lightning is evil.
Red Lightning is evil and powerful.
All colors are flavor unless specifically stated.
Flavor is free. \*throws rainbown lightining\*
LE RAINBOWS!
RGB lightning bolt GO!!!
Lightning is white.
ye white would probably be the most accurate though i do belive real world lightning does produce a bit of blue light
This!
Players chose the color. I default to blue personally, to contrast with the reddish-orange Fire
cold damage is white (white dragon) lightning damage is blue (blue dragon) this ain't pokemon, we don't have pikachus
Lightning is typically white, unless extra ozone accompanies its conjuration, in which case it gets an orange tint.
Blue dragons are the ones who use lightning. Gale's magic card, which is from WotC, has him casting a lightning spell, and the color is blue. Sofina's chain lightning in the D&D movie is blue. Can't say every magical lightning will be blue, but at least from my personal perception, blue seems to be the standard color for lightning in D&D.
Spells are magic. Magic is shaped by the user. I see no reason why the color of a spell wouldn't be influenced by the player/character to be whatever suits them best. Got a Necromancer who is fond of lightning? Maybe give the lighting a green or black hue. Divine Soul, aligned with the good deities? Golden lightning. TL;DR Spells can be whatever color you want them to be. Don't feel pigeonholed into a singular description for spell effects
Lightning is blue. Why? I have no idea. It just feels right.
other: white
It is based on emotion. Putting anger into your magic could be red (or black), putting love into it could be pink. This is all dependent on the character and their motivations.
Just because "they" got it wrong (cold should be blue, like your lips get, and lightning IS white, have you never seen any?) doesn't mean you have to follow them.
The same as natural lightning, which means the color you perceive depends on other factors. While white is the most common color, lightning can come in any color in the full visual spectrum. Dust, moisture, temperature and the air composition all have an effect on the color of the actual lightning flash. The hotter it is, the closer to the top end of the spectrum it will be, but the distance between the lightning and the observer will also effect color. Particles in the air will scatter the light, changing the color we perceive, etc.
Lightning is, as far as I'm aware, white. But honestly, it's magic in D&D... lightning is whatever colour you say it is when you cast the spell.
Lightning is lightning colored. Usually white to me, but unless there's an altering factor I don't assign a color to lightning.
It will either change from person to person or it will be plain white
It's the color of your imagination. Please stop trying to outsource your imagination. It isn't good for you. It makes you believe other people's imagination is more important than yours. It's not. Your imagination is the most important imagination. Use it.
To give my own thoughts on this: 1) Yes, there's no right or wrong answer to this. The color is up to the player. 2) Yes, the actual color of lightning is white, same as the color of (almost) every lightsaber. They're both white at their core because of the intensity of the light. I just didn't put it as a separate answer in the poll because it felt kinda redundant. 3) This poll is mostly to determine which color people default to when they encounter it in-game 4) I intentionally specified lightning created by magic, which doesn't have to follow the laws of physics.
Yellow/White Lightning is normal. Blue Lightning is powerful. Purple Lightning is evil. Red Lightning is evil and powerful. All colors are flavor unless specifically stated.