[Max]

Well now, we need five degrees of failure/success. This is all, of course, kind of moot since the colors can be decided upon by the individual user, but anyway, just as a thought exercise...

Let's begin with White failure. White is for the blank canvas of failed artists, the bleached bones of failed heroes, white is the fatal flash of the sun or the moon on the blade falling on you, the slavering fangs, the ripping talons, the wide-eyed terror, the empty panic-stricken mind of the soon-to-be-dead.

Then Black for the ultimate success. Black is the death-dealing iron, black is the mind-blasting sorcery, and the deepest and the highest knowledge and understanding, black is the eternal night, the primal night in which everything began and in which everything will end, and the barbarism that much always ultimately triumph; black is the dark undercurrent that runs through all the best S&S stories and lends them that particularily poignant contrast that makes them so deliciously, vibrantly life-like.

This leaves us with three intermediate levels of success. What more is there to S&S? Red blood, surely, and yellow gold, too. And let's throw in a verdant green, just for contrast.

Of the three, the lowest is Green. Green is for living things, and for the Earth that brought them forth, the grass, the trees, the rolling oceans, the steaming jungles and the primordial ooze that spawned all life. Green is also for the mold on the corpse, the searing venom in the fangs of a serpent, and the natural law of Tooth and Claw, the ever-turning wheel of life. Green is for those who live - for now.

Yellow is for the precious gold. It's for the rewards men seek in life, and sometimes achieve, for the warmth of the sun, the amber mead, the weight of the gold that lines your pockets, the hard-earned wealth and the ill-gotten gains. Yellow is for those who find the treasures they seek.

Red is the crimson of blood. Red is the blood of your enemies on your hands, red is the water of life in your own veins. Red is the stinging wine that sets minds a-light, the tender meat on your palate, the blazing dawn sun, the beckoning lips, the burning blood - red is lust and life. Red blood is more precious than yellow gold, for blood is life and without life gold is nothing. Red is for those who live to the full, who strive and slay and burn with life, and are content.

So now we have:
White, for failure
Green, for minor success
Yellow, for moderate success
Red, for major success
Black, for ultimate success