Im not sure if this will help ScWall any, but I experimented with something very similar a number of years ago. I disagree. The only other limiting factor to the magic is that in order to produce the energy in the first place, is that you need Inspiration to help channel your thoughts & familiarity. And the whole thing about souls & vampires! If every spell casts creates a knot that must result in the opposite effect happening then the incentive to kill becomes too great. In Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, magic comes from specific metals, like copper, tin, or aluminum. I would also like to point out that alchemy is not a religion, but an admittedly partially superstitious precursor to chemistry. Dont expect to put out a perfect draft, having to do revisions or rewrites is disappointing, but its a normal part of the process that helps us strengthen our skills. Of course, like any contract, value is relative and subject to change based on circumstances. And the HPMOR fanfic mentioned above is about a Harry who does want to find out this why although I dont think it succeeds at conveying this particularly well in the story itself.). Oh! A primary example of soft magic would be that which Gandalf practices in The Lord of the Rings. While characters can invent some potions, it appears they only do it by trial and error, not through a formula that guides what goes into a potion to create specific effects. It's an important aspect to think about as it'll heavily affect your story universe. All three should work together to create the magic system. But that doesnt mean all magic systems work equally well for stories. In addition, the spells available for use arent completely based on nonsense, or taught completely irrationally. How to Create an Eclectic Magic System For those who want casting to look or work a certain way, I created another method that starts with the casting and works backwards. 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. what could they have that the Mages need/want? And of course, if magic is viewed as an alternate system of physics theres no reason why physics has to match the naive categories of intelligent beings; think of how weird quantum physics seems, for instance. Perhaps theyd have to choose two which are not opposites (fire/water or earth/air would be opposites). Sandersons Mistborn series and Stormlight Archive both contain excellent examples of hard magic systems. Forms of magic include water magic, healing magic, potion making, and purification. This allows for the reader to know what is or isnt possible. Each time Harry, Ron, and Hermione find themselves in danger, they can only escape that danger using magic that weve already seen them learn. Anyway, just to throw MY 2 cents in A while back, I was trying to design a magic system for a Skyrim Mod some friends of mine were attempting That ultimately went nowhere. Why should the magic be complete or symmetrical? the primary topics discussed in a story). Or some other options?.. I was actually thinking of precursor aliens having set everything up, but that raises a lot more questions of motivation and the ability to remain undetected. Im glad youre feeling encouraged! Hi there, I know this blog was posted a while ago but Ive only just found it and its exactly the kind of thing Ive been looking for, plus Ive seen more recent comments here so hopefully theyll be some people still interested. That would make Harrys choice important in two ways: hed be the odd one out who can control all powers (like the Avatar controlling all elements) and he would be limited in what he learns to control by the house he chooses. Thank you! Being a priest (a magic user in service to their village/town) is a full time job; but sometimes you need a hunter, not a demon slayer. There are 7 types of energy that all link with one another (the first two I made up as a pseudo science which explains the workings of Life & Sentience in a pre-modern scientific age), Sentience Lich could do for those who contain the energy, as liches go on living long after they should be gone, so essentially containing life energy past their due date. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang. And the way they fight has to do in part what magic they use. You neednt appropriate any that have extant adherents, of course, but looking at what people believe can be a touchstone for how an invented system of magic could work. Specific effects include communicating with others, working together as a group, and riding inside the minds of others. Another aspect of it are the Akashic Records where all the information of Creation is stored. The system I created is very similar, with some differences. The most common form of magic is to make a contract with a specific spirit for a specific outcome, and then the spirit uses its power to reach that outcome (level of cooperation varies). > how are you handling the problem that (I would imagine) youd have to assign EVERY object/environ in your game world a energy attribute/variable. Strength no longer depends on physical brute force but many new factors make it so much more complex. The Force can do precisely what is needed. 7 Considerations for Writing Fantasy Magic and Magic Systems. mental enhancements, the nanites acting as auxiliary brains. 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). Superpower name generator. There are roughly two types of fantasy. Shocker (electric) But it feels as if it all fits together, not least because Tolkien himself had a clear notion of what was going on. Practically everyone uses it in their daily life. Im currently working on subtypes to it but I am miserably failing. However, it makes it harder to build tension when power levels can change at any given moment as needed, especially at climaxes, where emotions will naturally be high. That will tell you what the Empire could have that the mages cant just conjure for themselves. Also I thought about it and further developed it. Perhaps the background magic I mentioned earlier could be involved. to be a Mind, whose role is to Think; and the Magic comes when it is possible to use that Thinking to affect what Is and what is possible to Be. They have to learn magic to use it. What I dont agree with is the idea that there is somehow an objective way to determine whether the rules of magic make sense or not, as magic isnt real and what is considered natural is culture-dependent. Being able to gain power is generally an often picked choice for story telling, first the hero is unable to defeat the villain, but after training or some other form of power gain the hero becomes stronger than the villain. However, a few fantastical powers can go a long way toward livening up many fantasy stories. Otherwise, how can the effect of the knot be decided? Making sense in case of magic means being constant. Become a patron. Not sure what I mean? They are responsible for all the phenomena that occurs in our world, from the spark of a fire to weather changes, to the Four fundemantal forces of the universe, atoms, and even concepts such as Time and Causality. Characters ability to control/convert each type of energy goes from some skills which could be improved and basically limited by amount of energy which the character can control at any single spell. All of Creation is born from a single point in time, that exists both Space, Time, Existence, or Consciousness, what we call The Sephirot, or The Spark, or the Egg of Creation, it goes by many names. Hey everyone! For instance: a person who has long hair could pluck a strand and send paint through it causing it to straiten making a weapon hard to see or maybe if you can use paint on something you arent touching you could carry a bag of sand around and channel paint into it giving you the power to manipulate it a will. Because the powers are not very hard to control, Givens are feared and supposedly taken care of by the government. I think your point is that in a story, there needs to be limits to magic, which I agree with. Without the explanation you added (glutton for punishment), that sounds more like someone who consumes a lot. You could even have a combination of two or more sources, but choosing which are best suited for your system will largely depend on what you need from your magic within your story universe. This has been extremely helpful! Because the setting is divided into nations that correspond with the elements, the Avatar is the only person who symbolically belongs to all the nations. Though there is an international standard for magic spells, certain cultures practice magic in different ways pertaining to either their culture, beliefs or lifestyles. Telepathy: You mention detecting the electrical impulses of the nervous system. I want the magic of the world to feel whimsical (or horrifying) and ever present, but not the cure all to every problem. Get into religion and the systems of magical belief and practices really explodes. The audience has no idea what they can do other than what theyve been directly told, so if they do anything new in a crisis, it will look like a deus ex machina. If you make all of your spells fit together, you'll need less foreshadowing. It is inspired from some character sheets that ask you a series of questions. Muggles are not going to have much luck oppressing wizards. It takes decades to master a Type of magic, and some mages (any magic user, human, dragon person, whatever) spend their whole lives perfecting one spell. You can also use that fickleness, maybe, and some other things this answer mentioned, to weave in logical limitations on emotion-based magic that will make it perhaps more palatable to your readersin fact, in ways directly related to the example of exhaustion. Who can use magic? Anyway, before I get onto the reply for this comment, Ill briefly reply to your other comment (the one which mentioned an alternate magic system for Harry Potter at the end, which I couldnt reply to in that comment thread). Another rare one is magic transference, my idea of that one is gaining an ability that an extinct race once used, examp. Blood is messy and sticky and gets in the carpets and really why would anyone who doesnt consume it like a vampire want it as payment? There are plenty of sources you can use, like bodily energies, energies in the air, power bestowed by the gods, powers within blood, pools of magic in the world, a worldwide life force, magical artifacts and so on. While she does talk about how it adds limitations, that doesnt actually seem to be her primary focus. Those are just considerations, however, when it comes to flaws I only really see one. However, you can also experiment with different techniques for accessing and directing the magic, each with upsides and downsides. 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. The law of magic that makes it so you cant summon food out of thin air feels like something invented by JK Rowling for plot purposes, not the logical result of a different set of physics like in Avatar the last Air bender. Their eyes are blinded and their organs fail. Like this, the Avatar system makes it clear where the limits are, for everyone but the Avatar. Although, I have made some changes. Reading this made me realize that while Ive got the source pretty nailed down, I dont actually have much else figured out yet! Maybe the mad mage could be a catalyst for that, tampering in magic that drives off spirits (or becoming one herself? Dont be afraid to try something novel. (For the record, though, strong emotion results in power use isnt actually a element I like in a system.). Some kind of mana system (where mana is the energy the mage uses to cast spells) will make the system rational in that case, because it will give natural limits a mage can only cast as long as they have mana left and they need to regain it afterwards (through rest, rituals, or whatever pleases you). If you want conservation of energy, you could show those who use specific powers, magical or psychic, having to replenish that energy in some way (through food, meditation, or something similar). So Id rather go science fiction, or full-on, its my world, I make the rules magic. Magic types: Or you could simply say that air is good for dodging, while earth is good for blocking. How does a user summon magic, and how does that magic manifest (i.e. All other alien races find our violent behavior disgusting and, honestly? 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. that were made by the gods. The purpose of soft magic is simply to create a feeling of adventure, and wonder. I forgot Theosophy! However, set guidelines for how people react to exposure. Both the caster and Given are in prisoned if police find out, but the caster is normally in for 10-30 years. Taking this further would logical lead to even more powerful techniques, using vacuums to burst eardrums, rupture lungs, and using air pressure to launch objects in ways similar to the people that build vacuum cannons that launch ping pong balls at supersonic speeds. I hope this is a reasonable explanation. Students learn all of the spells by memorization, because theres no logic underpinning how they operate. In The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, practitioners of the Skill can communicate to each other telepathically. Anyway, the original inspiration came when I read an article about the philosophy of mind which claimed that interactionist dualism (the idea that the mind is immaterial and the body is material, yet they interact) couldnt be true, with one reason given being that such an interaction would violate conservation of energy. Nevertheless, you will always introduce something which, as far as we know, does not exist in reality. On Star Treks Mediocre Antagonistic Species. The younger generation tend to favour unconventional weapons. Spirits that become familiars dont affect ambient energy levels, making casters bound to them potential weapons, but also wild cards (whether theyll help you depends on both their own desires and their familiars). If a mage has no limit to what they can do, why not simply find one who solves all the problems for your hero with the snap of a finger (or a well-conducted ritual)? Can they absorb a gust the then use that to start a fire, or can they only use it to create a stronger gust? In addition, exposure to sea water improves magical ability for humans slightly, especially childhood exposure, so the strongest spellcasters are all in coastal areas. And I don't mean only practical magic as a modern Druid, I mean magic of every kind, real or imagined. Ill be talking more about it in another post, if someone wants to here it, of course. Now, to those who contain their power. Maybe each thought produces a tiny amount of energy that allows for sending a nerve signal to, say, cause a body part to move. I dont think that interactionist dualism (or psychic powers existing) is likely to be true in real life, but if I were creating fictionI could include that. All life on Terra (my world) is born with a connection to one of these Primals, and what magic they can perform depends on the Primal theyre connected to. Lets say powers are granted by a changing lineup of gods, and the ocean goddess has three children that control the wind, waves, and depths. 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). Some are carefully planned; others contradict themselves and lead to plot holes. Are there multiple types of magic users? All three should work together to create the magic system. Why should I only have one source of magic? Thank you so much for the reply! 2023 Mythcreants LLC, all articles, art, recordings, and stories are the copyright of their respective authors. The descriptions follow the same pattern overall, but the details will vary to create different magic systems. Im finding that my worldbuilding and plotting inform each other more in this story than others Ive worked on. In the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, necromancers can control the dead using bells and music. An elemental mage could probably use several elements, if they trained for it. Balance being an essential figure in most fantasy pieces, this works on many levels! Im definitely not saying these problems are insurmountable, just that I do need to think a lot about them. Harry realizes what hes done and looks for a counter-spell, instead of just hopelessly thinking Oh no! Also Im thinking about the idea when none of characters can store those energy. A water line would provide energy for a water mage, an earth line for an earth mage, and so on. A genie grants three wisheswith a twist. VINE DWELLER, based off of forest nymphs from folklore in design, moderate chance of getting medium to strong Eco magic, extremely rare chance to get weak magic of another Type as well. I just finished the entire creation story because of these questions as well as creating a more refined system of magic in my book! She ran Well-Storied from 2014 - 2021, sharing hundreds of articles, podcast episodes, and other resources on story craft and creative living. Anywhere there is festivity or drinking he might try to have some fun, which could make for an epic night or a lot of destruction; hes the bane of every tavern and bar. It would foreshadow his powers at the end of the story, when he faces off against Voldemort controlling all types of magic. So then, my idea was that even though minds were separate from bodies, they were normally closely tied so they could interact, which was why telepathy and telekinesis had things such as limits based on physical distance. Mages draw energy from these Primals to cast spells, but are limited by the amount of Primal energy drawn, mainly from environmental factors. Whatever you figure out, it should have an internal logic. Ill give you a specific example of the cultural dependence I mentioned. o_o. That was exactly what i thought! Each house is limited to one type of magic and students are not sorted by their character at the age of 11, but by what magic they have an affinity for. I also want the systems to be distinct, but relatively balanced. Because people tend to be put off when your story changes rules in the middle. Terminology is pretty difficult to deal with, because there isnt a big enough shared vocabulary for storytelling to have the discussions we need to have on the site. Thats not exactly what I mean Im talking about low-level How. The key traits of a hard magic system are outlined in the graphic below. Luckily for the majority of the population of the Voden Imperium, the nanites are happy to sit mostly dormant, quietly replicating away. You could just as well do the Magic The Gathering approach and use stuff like decay or nature as base for the magic (which would give you white magic based on life/nature and black magic based on death/decay). It tries to convince the reader the newly defined rational magic system is what every fantasy writer should strive for. There are 391 different powers and variations in this generator, so you're bound to find one you like. They're overall stregenth of that ability is average. That would then explain why accidential magic can happen when someone is enraged or otherwise under emotional pressure its triggered subconsciously. About the Avatar thing, what you are saying makes more sense to me now. This creative freedom is exciting, but it also requires a lot of world building work to invent a fleshed out and textured fantasy world. Chris Winkle mentioned Avatar as an example of a rational magic system, because its elements (fire, water, air, and earth) are natural classifications. * When Jon Snow kills a white walker with Valyrian steel, it makes sense even though we havent been told that could happen. Each ability corresponds with role in a gang of thieves. Perhaps then these powers could actually be based on nanobots or even totally new forces and particles that are not visually detectable. The Living Mother dreads chaos and wants balance. What kind of defensive and offensive things can they do? Human variation in magical ability is determined by how much excess soul they have, after running all of their brain activity. I like your idea about the gods randomly interacting with the world. In some cases, the answer might already be obvious given the world your story is set in. Sun magic: Sun magic draws power from the heat and energy of the sun. So I know a few things. Anyone who uses the magic of these Towers will have a name that corresponds to the pair, not just the Tower they draw from. 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. I forgot to mention the Towers :(. Fantasy Random Generator. It is an epic drama that, year by year, is played out before humanity. What I really dont like about this article is the formula on how to create a magic system. Hey there and welcome to my site. Here, you would have to add something else, perhaps a boost a telepath receives (again, remember the unused potential of muscles, if you want to), which allows for them to reach out and tap into another brain. Used by the guy who commands sand zombies or something? 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. There might be countless possibilities, but it will take countless years to figure it out. Now, for your first comment about my magic system, it is true I might be overthinking it (people have told me that before). As such, a being of the Physical Plane cannot exist in a Higher Plane, as their Consiousness isnt on a high enough leven to be able to sustain itself, you wouldnt even be able to think of yourself as an actual being, and so you just, cease to exists. Note that most, if not all, superpowers in this generator will belong . Then I really thought about the setting and that would breakwell, everything. Its crazy long but definitely adds logic to the system :D and its a nerdy heaven. Maybe incorporate the Lawful Chaotic axis, too? What effect does the use of magic have on the user? Dryads are usually depicted as tree spirits, or tree nymphs. (Yellow is weakest, purple is strongest.) Interferers can make things happen because when they add energy to the system, it is concentrated in one place. That can have a lot of applications. Are their any parts youre confused about? You need to lay down rules and follow them (which is where both Rowlings use of magic in Harry Potter and Lucas use of the Force in the original trilogy fail). Can magic be used incorrectly or immorally? However, I am suspecting my response to it will be pretty long, and I have other things I need to work on. The magical effects that affect the physical world all manipulate one of the four fundamental forces of physics. I generally call the opposite of rational arbitrary, and that one I just chose arbitrarily, you might say. a disease caused by the nanites Ill be checking this site for updates everyday, so thank you in advance of letting me share my crazy idea with you all. These symptoms will get worse over time. The Lord of the Rings is a low magic setting, but it is a high fantasy setting. There are over 1400 name generators, as well as many description generators, guides and various tools you might find helpful. It will allow to make some zones where one or other magic will not work, or otherwise where will be much easier to cast specific spells. Its a generic job title for people whose main concern is to maintain relationships with local spirits and practice holy magic so they can pacify demons. In the HP books, the only reason why Harry cant do everything is that hes still learning. If spellcasters can run out of magic, itll be easy to put them in a tight spot when you need to. While I have thought of several different magic systems, Ill present the one I conceived of first. I love it. Also, I have another magic system that sort of more on the traditional side that Ive been wrestling with for my story. This description generator will generate a short random description of a spell, including its effect, appearance and inventor. I know some of the basics for the magic in my world but have been having a hard time making them cohesive. Some kind of energy tentacles, if you want a picture. Fast forward a couple thousand years and some genius manges to find a way to control paint by collecting it into a special bottle. Those affected will suffer from chronic pain, skin lesions, and become prone to violence; but they will also gain super human strength. It could make for some interesting stories devout priests who get power from their deities versus irreligious wizards who use their own will as magic, bio-mages who draw upon the weak but flexible power of living organisms versus geo-mages who draw upon the mighty yet unsubtle power of the land itself, Incidentally, all examples you have given, Cay Reet, are about how (most) magic-users cannot use all types of magic; do you think that a system in which magic-users could learn all possible magic (at least theoretically) but what is possible for magic in total is strictly limited could work?

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