Now, of course, this is magic and doesnt have to follow real life but by the same token, as in real physics, it doesnt necessarily have to seem sensible to humans (think of how weird quantum mechanics is). As a quick example, just think about how many movies and books reuse the theme of elemental magicfire, water, earth, and air. Magic can be taught and learned, but like the Arts or sciences, whether someone is good at magic or not depends on their inherent skill, talent, and dedication to their training. Oh, and thanks for the compliments! My magic system is based on the Netflix show, The Dragon Prince, because I really like how dynamic and diverse its magic system is. Robert Asprins MYTH novels actually do a good job limiting magic in a similar way. Magic system generator the magic system's origin is (1d? Im sure there are phenomena of nature that are plot holes in this magic system. There are roughly two types of fantasy. Then I really thought about the setting and that would breakwell, everything. That guy was supposed to be a REAL nasty bugger in terms of, you know, nobody whos ever gone to hunt this creature has ever come back alive, and all that jazz? Martin or the show writers lean hard by revealing how it works, I think theyll reveal something thats logically consistent. Does it seem too unpredictable? So this sentence: Lastly is the effect both our Perceived World and the World of Energy have on each other. This is the name list Tolkien draws from at least for a couple of the Dwarven characters in The Hobbit. For example, if you need a magic source which is unlimited a good choice would be a magical power given by the gods or magical energies within the air. Some consider it Her gift, a compensation for taking back the light they harnessed. Sanderson recognized that the hard magic system is a fashion, just like soft magic was before and this article doesnt acknowledge this. If youre still reading, thanks for letting me ramble. Fifty years after the war ends the younger generation make massive breakthroughs. Readers know little, if anything, about the nature, origin, or limitations of the characters fantastical powers. Oh wow, thats a steep price for magic. In The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, practitioners of the Skill can communicate to each other telepathically. Accio and depulso, for example, are taught one-after-another: pretty straightforward. Its way too easy for me to make everything very logical with a specific and predictable reaction to every action, which is why Im trying to challenge myself with a more whimsical(?) Conduits take magic energy from their surroundings, and Interferers take energy from Conduits to do magic by adding a bit of energy to the system (making a gust blow harder than it would, for example). The Lord of the Rings is a low magic setting, but it is a high fantasy setting. Like I said, its early days but any feedback or suggestions would be super-welcome!! Theres no way to please them or ask them for help, they just do stuff because they want to (very much like the Greek/Roman or Norse pantheons we have). Decay would be speeding up entropy, life would be slowing it down or trying to instill some kind of anti-entropy into the world. If a character casts spells with a combination of substances, dance moves, and symbols drawn in charcoal, assign a role to each component. ), Im just really curious to know more about your magic! the interactions between spells of opposing Wizards. By making sure magic has costs, you can force your protagonists to be clever and resourceful when they solve problems. Hey there and welcome to my site. You can make it mysterious just by hiding how it operates. These are some questions you should ask when you brainstorm. Youll need to set guidelines for how these beings operate so that you can explain why they do or dont answer prayers whenever theyre asked. Why should the magic be complete or symmetrical? If you do, how will you split the elements between the two sides? A rational magic system follows rules, thats what makes it a rational system. Humanity loses control of the system, the factories start belching out nanites into the atmosphere, these new nanites containing instructions that are corrupted, missing a few bytes here and or even having added a few. Theres things like creating food out of thin air, which means magic can add something to the world which wasnt there before (alternately, some people have all the rotten luck and their fridges are constantly empty and they dont know why). Or does it speed up molecules/atoms to heat up an object (if we have mostly realistic world)? Life is responsible for, well, life and health. So, early on in our history, humanity was deemed too dangerous to stay in the greater multiverse. Late to the party, but I wonder what is your take on the magic system in Type-Moon franchises such as the Fate series and Tsukihime? You mentioned Mana, Life and Mind as the elements of your magic system. You need to place incense in a semi-circle in front of you, drink fresh blood, paint your face with the blood, and focus on the person youre looking for. Grab a sheet of paper and brainstorm a list of magical effects that fascinate you: ones youve already seen before, or ones you come up with from scratch. The magic system in my current work-in-progress, Lady Legacy, serves as an allegory for ambition and the dangerous pursuit of glory, with magic exacting a heavy emotional toll on the user. I just finished the entire creation story because of these questions as well as creating a more refined system of magic in my book! Though a country can have a large number of a certain Primal (such as the Sun or Earth Primals) that doesnt mean that people of other Primals cannot be born in that area. All those rules are allow to create literally any classic spell, except teleportation/portals. Too Trope-ish?? In this world, soon to be named, certain people have access to an energy that is the personification of nature. The other faction I mentioned that mainly used defensive magic was based on the fact that they get into more close quarters combat situations so would need magic that would keep them alive and in one piece, if they can help it. Someone else is needed. .and It would probably look a lot less like the X-Men than a lot of fictional magic systems do. Avatar works with four definite sources of power, which happen to be fire, water, air, and earth. Some prices for their cooperation can even be steep, such as sacrificing something precious or offering up ones soul. If you eat after dark, shell take away the blessing. Second thought was the good ol blood sacrifice, but a) kinda dark for what Im going for and b) why would spirits want blood anyway? Moon magic: Moon magic draws power from the spirit and energy of the moon. Are there other applications that would make sense? And boy, rational magic systems arent new. To build this logic, start by thinking about three things: the effects, sources, and costs of magic. I also like the conspiracy, theres not many like that in high fantasy which makes it cool. For which Ive added some more rules: (plants take the water from the ground and transpire it at night, so its balanced in some sense) If thats not the case(scientific understanding of the world), how do they explain a fire dying out or lightning? But it feels as if it all fits together, not least because Tolkien himself had a clear notion of what was going on. Take Noethers Theorem for example. Post time-skip, with my second protagonist, magic is rarer due to shifts in the spirit world and how humans access it. I remember a HP fan-fiction where Harry developed two spells into some kind of magical arms he could call up at will to help with magic or protect himself by picking up half a dozen objects he could throw into the path of a spell or weapon. The machines were built in centralized factories embedded with instructions for their specific purpose and packaged up and sent out around the globe. I really like the distinction between on the one hand the rational-nonrational scale, on the other hand the hard-soft scale. The more unique you make it, the more memorable your book will be for readers. Something as seemingly insignificant as a casting time thats five seconds longer has a huge impact on whether mages can handle unexpected problems. You could just, you know, move out of the way? I really hope you go through with it! Toward the last point, I think the inclusion of old magic in reference to Lilys motherly love protecting Harry I believe is more for the benefit of the themes of love and goodness triumphing over evil and hate (Rowling was dealing with grief toward her own mothers death while writing). Regardless, having nature spirits of various kinds that have power related to their aspect of nature is completely reasonable. It's an important aspect to think about as it'll heavily affect your story universe. And the other main faction (dont have a name for them yet) use mainly defensive magic like using a shield just strong enough to protect them from immediate danger and phasing (though still thinking about what that would entail) and others I cant think of at the moment and still trying to think of more. However, a few fantastical powers can go a long way toward livening up many fantasy stories. (As a side note, I mentioned teleportation because it would help get the various alien species in my universe together quickly so there could be stories based on interaction between them. If your characters will use magic to resolve that conflict, then establishing a clear set of rules for your magic system is necessary to avoid cheapening tension via contrived magical solutions. Specific effects include waking the dead, sending dead spirits back into the afterlife, and binding the dead to follow their commands. Oreads are nymphs of Mountains. There are multiple types of energies floating around everywhere in the world (some of those energies similar to Elements of nature Air, Water, Fire, Earth; plus Mana, Life, Mind and, probably, more) Or just think up what you want to have be things that good and evil magic can do, put them in categories, and decide which good magic categories are opposites to evil magic categories, and create new areas to fill holes. Nonhumans might think in ways that make little sense to humans. Human muscles actually can produce more energy than our brain allows for us to use because if we used the full force our muscles are capable of, we would risk injuring ourselves. Basically, the magic in my world all comes from spirits, which exist in a dimension parallel to our own. They each have powers, but only relative to what they are. In the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, wand magic is like language. That wall of gobbldygook was as far as i got (there were a few story bits though; going to one of the factories and contending with the burgeoning AIs, people with unflattering mutations being exiled or outright killed, fear of the outside and of the disease, the worry that the holy artifact gifted by the gods(the jammers) is growing dim, whatever). All magic can be learned by anyone, its just that the magic they didnt inherit will be harder to learn. Perhaps theyd have to choose two which are not opposites (fire/water or earth/air would be opposites). Source Materials Who and what wields it How to wield it What are the powers? We were ripped out of the (literal) fabric of reality, shaped into a forbidden-to-visit pocket dimension. Sounds right to me). how would you define the users magical abilities)? This adds a bit of strategy to the game, because you need to figure out how to use the different skill sets best together. Magic is part of an enormous range of stories, but finding 2 stories which use the same magic system isn't as easy as it may sound. ^_^. I dont like giving writers a formula for magic systems. Rowling has cherry picked her source material from myths that cross many cultures, Irish, Celtic, Greek, Welsh, Slavic, etc. The Interferer group split apart eventually and the two factions warred and almost killed all of the Conduits, but reached a treaty saying that they wouldnt kill anymore Conduits (Interferers need Conduits to do anything), but Conduits are still rare and fought over. I also specifically mentioned that I was not including conservation of energy in my system, but you assumed it in your comment. I think I mostly understand, but Im not exactly sure what Interferers cant an cant do. Magic that powerful would leave a large fingerprint on the world, and if you dont avoid ultra-powerful characters, it can also break your plot. It does seem likely that humans, with their limited lifetime, would not master all elements in a system of elemental magic, but it is, of course, possible for humans to use different types of magic or magic from different sources all at once. You could also INCREASE existing energy in an object (Eg- Can make a Moving ball move faster) Or you could DECREASE existing energy in an object (Eg- Can make a Moving ball slow down and even stop & become completely static). Thank you so much for the reply! Your storys magic system may fall somewhere between these two extremes, and thats perfectly fine so long as you understand the role that magic serves within your story. Each blob of energy could be bound to the other blob of the same type of energy and it will result in kind of quantum entanglement from real physics everything what happens with on blob will happens with other blob. Sympathetic spirits will take pity, accepting minor payment (maybe even the painful memory of seeing said loved one get shot). I think, some of the gods will be more random and chaotic than others. If youd like additional guidance as you build your storys magic system and other facets of your fictional world, then be sure to check out World-Building Warrior, a workbook that will walk you through the world-building process step by step. There are many assumptions in this article, it only focused on a small, known part of magic. It isnt a common thing among people of this world, but it is an esoteric art comprised of ancient secrets passed down through generations within a tribe of acolytes. Its unclear whether there are any other self-casting old magic spells besides this one. He focused his will and the energy that boiled in his mind, letting it out like smoothly flowing water into the air. Or maybe growing up with it has shaped my perspective. And, by the way, you actually can use parts of wizards in potions, and theyre used in pivotal parts of at least 2 books: the Polyjuice Potion uses part of the person you want to transform into, and the potion used to give Voldemort a body has bone of the father flesh of the servant [and] blood of the enemy. I think that should cover it, and I hope to get more advice to help me become a better creator. I just thought of something related to teleportation, however. Your different factions have magic that feels very different, and thats hard to put into a rational system. I would start with some metaphysical idea about exactly what functions these threads are performing to hold the world together. Both the caster and Given are in prisoned if police find out, but the caster is normally in for 10-30 years. Magic systems vary from colorful bears with tummy badges to ritual blood sacrifices. It sends a positive message to the reader when the magic being performed is a positive being paid for by a regrettable negative but sends the wrong message when its a cheat or lethal act that is only being rewarded or reinforced with a positive. If you were to grab a stranger off the street and ask them what magic was, well first they'd probably mention someone like Penn and Teller, but once you clarified and said you meant magic in fiction, you'd very likely hear at least a few of these words: spell, wizard, fireball, enchantment, wand, curse, potion, witch, fairy, monster . All magic is fueled by mana, a form of energy found in all living organisms. Players cast spells by arranging corresponding runes in different configurations to express the Spells intention, With the Runes inter-playing off each other in a Rock/Paper/Scissor manner. One type usually comes naturally to you (depending on your personality and familiarity) but through practice you can learn other types. Disadvantages: it makes your paint harder to control, if your will is weak your contractor could go against you, your contractor gets to present you with the deals and if you dont like them there is nothing you can do about it, harm to your contractor results in harm to your soul. Could perhaps some or all of them be elements alongside the classic four? Angelic and demonic can stay, but dont over-simplify things. Once you examine all the implications of this change, youll discover their powers are different indeed. Does the use of power exact a particular cost? Start by looking for further implications of what youve already established. Electronic telepathy, involving artificial devices that transfer neural information, could work, as scientists are already developing them. The dryads control water? Can they absorb a gust the then use that to start a fire, or can they only use it to create a stronger gust? Because magic is a form of power, it often explores related themes such as greed, privilege, and oppression. That would then explain why accidential magic can happen when someone is enraged or otherwise under emotional pressure its triggered subconsciously. Im thinking at the beginning it requires some basic training to attune oneself to contact spirits, and from there its more a practice/strength of will thing. The story looks like a fantasy story at first, with characters manipulating threads or ley lines. In a superpower system, spells are unique to each individual. There are roughly two magic systems. Over time more Blacks appeared and White got lonely so they split their body into seven colours. For Light and Darkness, Shade will be their name. There's a wide range of elements you can change to make your magic system unique, whether it's how it is wielded, what its source is or even what types of spells are used. Im working on a story that has 3 magic systems. The main exception is the avatar state, which isnt clearly linked to bending. I know it could use some work, but a lot of this came out in the very act of me writing it in this post! Originally I was going to go with energy, but thats way too vague. Here are four common categories you can consider. Usually, magic comes from magic users, the gods, magical creatures, or a specific substance. Mystical Paths A slightly humorous generator that produces new mystical practices for characters. Or just feel ridiculous. Furthermore, nervous systems and brains have different structures and encodings, even merely among humans how could someone understand all the different people? Most often, your audience should see the effects of magic but not the cause. A cunning ex-adventurer named Wlfrilda seeks a company of adventurers to explore the Pikawas Jungle. You should understand why some spells have symbols in common but different dance moves. How might someone with an unusual background or extraordinary dedication take magic either a step further or a step in a new direction? For instance, if you have chaotic magic, dark magic, and lawful magic, your audience will wonder where the light magic is. Interesting perspective on the Harry Potter magical system. Magic isn't real, so it can be anything we want. So if you think multiple types would be cool, go for it, if you want to keep it simple, dont. The first step is building a metaphysical framework for how and why magic works. Ones that havent made many contracts and dont know much about human emotion yet will be much more objective. Skill also plays a part, and is determined by both intelligence and creativity. 2023 Mythcreants LLC, all articles, art, recordings, and stories are the copyright of their respective authors. 2015 2022 Kristen Kieffer | All rights reserved. Limits can come in all sorts of varieties, the ones we've covered are: how to wield it (being disarmed), how to gain power, power limit, limited power source, cost of powers, the ability to combine powers or not, racial differences and whether or not you're born with a specific amount of power and talent or not. Either way, the recipients of the power lose whatever memories gained before or during their stay at the Towers. What about pine trees and the like, since they are always green what explanation could be given for why the mother does not retaliate against them? First, if its similar to someone elses that is purely coincidental. Side note, can anyone contact the spirits, or does it require a special gift.. would even mathematically work, as all existing particles and forces seem to be related by deep mathematical symmetries. Spectres might do for those who are consumed and become ghosts connected to that energy. Perhaps broken fingers mean you won't be able to wield magic or maybe magic itself can block another form of magic or the magical energies within a person. that you realize that the magic system in Tolkien is actually much more a spiritual and religious system based on the two fudamental pillars of his sincere Catholicism and his strong distaste for the worlds of contemporaries like C,S, Lewis where the Christian allegory was blatant or at best obvious enough to leave the writer open to the charge of being preachy. If youd like I can send you a link and you can follow along as I figure stuff out (dont want to clog up your comments section). Worldbuilding, Avatar, Magic, Magic Systems. What atmosphere will my story have? Each spell shortens their lifespan by an unknown number of years. Ways to obtain magic: These expeditions have all been disaster, as the concentration of Ghoul (better then Specters at least) is much higher in those areas. Its easy to handle in books, because author can just describe the effects. In Avatar, there is one person every generation who violates the rule that people can bend only one element. Life is movement and if part of nature isnt moving (even the earth) then it resembles death and not life. Some people are good at magic, others are not. Having people combine spells into more powerful versions could make for a great epic battle at the end, but at the same time not allowing them to be able to combine spells could provide for epic fights as well. The key traits of a hard magic system are outlined in the graphic below.
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