Auras are useful for a number of things, but they are restricted in how useful they could be by being simple colors without adjustable transparency and with a fixed opacity over their entire radius. Similarly, shapes are limited to some extent by primary colors, not adjustable transparency, and no ability to specify a fill image. Many ongoing effects, environmental effects, and temporary terrain features could be specified much more easily and readily with drawing tools and auras. For auras, having a "fade" or the ability to specify colors on a gradient (color to transparent, or transparent to color) to indicate glows or magic circles would be helpful. Fog, magic auras, many other ongoing effects would be more easily and dynamically generated.
