When youre brainstorming magical costs, try to be creative. A person can use their mental conviction to create any of these energy forms by channeling the Ether (Breaking the law of Conservation- Something from Nothing). The system makes no sense so I cant possibly reason that theres a reversal of this! powerful mages who control transportation but do not rule (again, difficult). Re: hollow mages this is the fate of the previous mage who had the protagonists familiar she traded away bits of her life in order to extend it, until she ends up functionally immortal but with very little of her original self left, (she breaks the bond with her familiar in the process in order to make deals with more powerful spirits). It is an epic drama that, year by year, is played out before humanity. If they need to gather energy beforehand, they cant just build a wall of ice without any preparation (which limits their powers). Hard magic is one where the audience knows about the rules of magic, so it seems to me that your mention of convey[ing] the rules of your system might actually be referring to hard magic. Magic source description generator - Fantasy name generators However, I think vital your point about how a magic feels. Tolkiens magic confuses people who are looking for rules because no one sits down and says what the rules areto really understand whats going on that one has to delve into all his works (including letters and unfinished stories). Anger Heat. ;). And the way they fight has to do in part what magic they use. Superpower name generator Although they would have to learn it (Nullifying). The God of Parties, on the other hand, would be very chaotic. SWAMP, kind of based off of iguanas in design, rare chance of getting magic. Actually, the elite technique for Airbending is straight-up flight a la Superman. This system was mostly me being annoyed that magic usually violates the Law of Conservation of Energy, so I made a system built around that principal (until it spiraled out of control) The steps of rituals are based on hearsay, so its hard to know whats actually necessary. It sounds like youre going the scientific route with energy. Below, Ive outlined six general steps you can follow to forge an effective magic system for your story. Magical effects will make a bigger impact on your readers if you use all five senses. Though after reading the Mythcreants article about the effects of high magic and how it might speed up industry, these two time periods might be much closer temporally. ;P. I doubt anyone will read this, but I had this flash of inspiration on my commute home today for a magic system for a book thats been spinning in my head for a while. Another limitation is that you have to touch whatever youre casting a spell on, e.g. This is the easiest part from technical point of view in my current design. Some well-known examples of hard magic systems: In Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, magic is like chemistry. This was implemented to further refine (/complicate?) If you teleport, you have to control that energy while your whole body is nothing more than energy, too. There is a set science about how magical techniques are performed, and knowing about the what and the how behind these techniques is important. Internal logic, that is, otherwise thered always be that magic doesnt exist bit to fight against. 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. For Light and Darkness, Shade will be their name. Dryads are usually depicted as tree spirits, or tree nymphs. 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). Because I have 3 systems and they all lean soft-irrational, Im concerned that I have glaring problems that I overlooked. Technically, anyone can use holy magic, but it takes years to become proficient. Someone else is needed. Everything is what she deems fair. However, you can also experiment with different techniques for accessing and directing the magic, each with upsides and downsides. that were made by the gods. This is a pretty nice article, and it has inspired me to think more about the magic systems I create. Its easy to mix up rational magic with whats often referred to as hard magic. When the spell is done, the deactivated knots simply float around, unattended. Feats of telekinesis should leave your characters a little exhausted the more energy needed, the higher the exhaustion. And for Mind and Body, Distorter will be their name. Im definitely not saying these problems are insurmountable, just that I do need to think a lot about them. To avoid adding a sense of arbitrariness, your choice of categories must feel natural. There are 2 other different types of magic to do with Time/Space & Meta Magic of youd like to hear more about the magic from the novel I wrote. Your body can hold a fixed amount of paint (This is the same for everyone but full capacity is rarely reached). Now that youve brainstormed the effects, sources, and causes of magic, you can put all three together! People connected to the Moon and Star Primals are the only two that are common in a single place and can be found in any nation or culture. Theres a reason why RPGs with team-based fight systems (I use those when playing around with the RPG Maker myself) are often based around the Tank/Damage Dealer/Buffer principle. And if you plan on writing a whole series of novels about this, you need to work out how it works beforehand, so things stay balanced. (I wont deal with it here and now, as this reply is getting too long already and you never mentioned it in your comment). If Rowling had, for instance, done more with the four houses, things might have been different. Group A (Comment if you have a better name), They cant stop their emotion from changing surfacing and tend to be extra emotional. 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. I would skip chemical energy though opens up too many things. The questions which I usually ask myself are how difficult is it to inflict changes (which means does it take a two-day ritual or just a thought) and what are the costs (because if magic doesnt have a bad side, like the cost for a spell, there is no limiting it). Preview. As we dont seem to be focusing on that aspect much, however, I wont try to continue arguments about that part. A common mistake when building magic systems is to forget to include costs. Paint is a very volatile substance that if held can burn off skin Hello to anybody that sees this. Divine magic comes from appeals to the gods. Professor of Political Theory in Star Trek. Things holy magic can do include lighting incense, putting people to sleep, and pacifying demons. If travelling to the tower of the Dark Mage takes three weeks on horseback, there should be a good reason if you tell the reader the way back only took a couple of hours. Yes, first drafts are for your eyes only. Caster is Combustial, Given is Earth and rock For Time and Space, Keeper will be the name. This is one of the most exciting things about writing fantasy: getting to design your own magic system. What atmosphere will my story have? Hope I did well! But to elaborate a bit further The name Grey Death was inspired by the Bubonic Plague pandemic of the 1300s, known as the Black Death because, lets face it, thats a kickass name! However, certainly Interferers might be rewriting history to make themselves look better. The mingling of the two forces became one and allowed him to harness the energy of the wind, one face of the energy of nature. For example do you want evil spellcasters to raise undead? My main question is whether you think the weaving should be specialized; i. e., should I break it up into different types of thread/weaving style/knots? When a person deliberately causes an imbalance that person becomes the cork plugging up the hole, so to speak. If you choose a framework that is broader and vaguer, youll need to add less obvious limitations to it. Other limits include magic types (fire versus water for example), power restricting energies (magical or other), bodily energies (lack of food/sleep/etc), skill level, curses and much more, most of which will again depend on your story universe. 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. Magic would be cheaply acquired from soil the plant cant grow in, and they wouldnt have to worry about getting sick from overeating it. 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. Sanderson recognized that the hard magic system is a fashion, just like soft magic was before and this article doesnt acknowledge this. Those are just considerations, however, when it comes to flaws I only really see one. Use attributes or abilities you would connect with angels or demons and make them sub-types of the magic in question. Easier than fire/heat and air/wind, but it takes training.). Sandersons Second Law If magic is based on emotion, those Apaths could, perhaps, nullify it? The Way of King s is one of the most renowned fantasy novels to date. But fighting style isn't the only thing that could change when you decide whether or not powers can be combined. If youre at a loss, take a page from Brandon Sandersons Mistborn series. If youre having trouble, you can say there are many more categories but knowledge of them has been lost. Olwens father told Kilhwch he wanted that comb, razor and scissors to dress his beard with on the day of the wedding, before he would allow him to marry his daughter. Is it light and full of wonder? If theyre distracted, panicking, drunk, or otherwise unable to focus the spell wont work. Its mysterious. In fact, I suspect it might make more sense than what Chris Winkle says in the original article. Most often, your audience should see the effects of magic but not the cause. If a mage forms a contract with a water faerie, they can use water magic, even if their Primal isnt the Ocean. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. 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). and much if not all this her non original content that she is taking from is founded in actual fairy tales with absolutely no magical or rational system. In most, if not all movies, there clearly arent rules for magic, or if there are, there arent many. All three should work together to create the magic system. Souls allow us to exist as Individuals, separate from the Aether. For instance, if you have chaotic magic, dark magic, and lawful magic, your audience will wonder where the light magic is. (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? In the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, wand magic is like language. The audience isnt sure if burning the leaches actually caused these deaths, making it mysterious despite having witnessed the magic ritual first-hand. 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. A strong starting point in order to define your world as "other" to our own is selecting your world's name. Originally I was going to go with energy, but thats way too vague. So you already know that unraveling a knot has the opposite effect as weaving one. If you do, how will you split the elements between the two sides? Some extra stuff: There could be plots in which some would try to exploit/affect this source of energy but there could be a mental cost, such as suffering and being unable to think straight, for those who had to provide it. Otherwise you have near-god mages with no limits, who will hurt your story more than they will serve it. Forms of Sky magic include air magic, lightning magic, and weather magic. Worldbuilding sheet: Magic systems - v2 - DeviantArt I think Tolkiens magic also confuses people because, as you say, its not until you read in the unpublished material and the material that WAS unpublished at the time of Tolkiens death but has since been released as the Silmarillion, etc. Magic isnt real, so it can be anything we want. If you want to create a hard magic system, you need to create a specific logic that serves as the foundation for the entire system. New ideas in how my magic works have given me plot ideas, but I think Ill need to develop the plot more to refine how my magic system works within it. You might need more development in the how magic is accessed and directed area. If you dont have enough power to spare, the spell fizzles. Are there different types of magic, or did magic diversify over time? The water creatures, dryads and naiads, are rarer and more powerful (because water has been around for much longer). Why are naiads more rare and powerful than tree nymphs? 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. (somewhere I have a document outlining Philosophical associations between Elements). Like this, the Avatar system makes it clear where the limits are, for everyone but the Avatar. Yes, its arbitrary which items have magical powers (though many plants have historically been said to have magical powers and Rowling obviously researched these). This could also link in nicely culture and tradition (festivals on summer or winter solace to celebrate the Mother). Are there any natural elements which are home to magical powers or are there any which could house magical powers? > 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. Every action we take, even the most mundane has a profound effect on the Flow of Creation. The World we perceive and interact with all stems from the Energy, called Aether, and the Vibrations that come from it, all make up our world. Our Plane falls on the 3rd Dimension, being far away from perceiving the World. The elemental magic of Avatar is a great example of splitting the same form of magic into different types. If you use magic (or psychic powers) like a Deus Ex Machina, enabling your magic users (or psychics) to do whatever the story needs, without any understandable reason why they can do all this, you have something else. Im working on a story that has 3 magic systems. Mistakes as huge as that one turn people off reading your stories. Ill give you a specific example of the cultural dependence I mentioned. Finally, there are magic uses who seem to draw magic from the earth itself. Dragon breeds or races (this is with Borne magic): Maybe if their contact to spirits is limited, or the spirits themselves have goals that dont line up with the protagonists goals. Ask yourself if your antagonist will be a magic-wielder, and if there will be magical creatures in your story. Its easy to handle in books, because author can just describe the effects. I dont like giving writers a formula for magic systems. However, set guidelines for how people react to exposure. It tries to convince the reader the newly defined rational magic system is what every fantasy writer should strive for. Not sure what I mean? As far as using body energy outside of the body is concerned, this is something you will have to wing. Like I said, its early days but any feedback or suggestions would be super-welcome!! That more than one type of magic exists in a generally complex way not thoroughly understood by anyone feels very real, very much in fact like science. Once again, grab a sheet of paperthis time to brainstorm magical sources. Who knows! Would the odds be equal or would the magic wielder always have the upper hand? The younger generation tend to favour unconventional weapons. That goes for magic as well as for everything else. You can find that kind of magic partially in a system like Magic The Gathering (which has earth, fire, and air I think its been a while). While its more difficult to tell whether a soft magic system is rational, I suspect Game of Thrones is using a rational magic system. Do you guys have questions? Money? Its really creative and for the most part completely logical (and since the people in the story are acolytes, there is no scientific explanation needed since it all seems to fit within your model). There are many assumptions in this article, it only focused on a small, known part of magic. The Towers radiate an energy that interferes with circuit boards, so the only expeditions have been with primitive tools. Generate random names for characters, events, taverns, etc. These expeditions have all been disaster, as the concentration of Ghoul (better then Specters at least) is much higher in those areas. Magic isn't real, so it can be anything we want. To me, it seemed like I had everything figured out and I could write a story now. There are a few online articles about this: the ones I remember off the top of my head are Universal Fire and Universal Law, found on LessWrong. All students learn the same (unless its an elective) and can use the same types of magic. Witches and wizards need to learn each spell individually and practice speaking their enchantments in exactly the right way in order to achieve the intended results. The Lord of the Rings is a low magic setting, but it is a high fantasy setting. Their technology and motivations could be very different from human ideas. Other than that, most answers are really just what do you want? However, I will say that if magic uses up energy in the environment putting out fires and stopping movement for instance that would probably create some interesting scenes. *I noticed a notification in a tab I hadnt refreshed in a while about a new comment, but when I checked, there wasnt one. Do note that sharing elements with other works of fiction is near impossible to avoid, magic has been used in so many stories so the chances of whichever power you think of not being used already are very slim and those which haven't been used might not even be worth using in the first place. 7 Ways To Create A Magic System For Your Novel 1. Technically, you could link influencing the elements (moving earth to create a wall for instance) to the way Avatar handles it. In time cities arise around these safe harbors, and ever so slowly life begins again. Last limitation is that the caster has to concentrate on what theyre doing. Some get better with time, some get worse. Those are the things I thought about, let me know if it helped you improve! Your powers will be just as draining as a Bornes magic. The spellbook kind of magic is more of a preference, like if they dont want to be apart if any of the fighting and just rather hang back. If only a portion of the population can wield magic it could also mean the magic wielders are either the elite or the lower class. I really like the distinction between on the one hand the rational-nonrational scale, on the other hand the hard-soft scale. So eventually, after a little Silly Putty work with words and concepts, I wound up with a magic system where believing something was considered a form of observing it with your mind in the state that you want to be so; that all that I read in the quantum physics book was true and intermeshed perfectly with the various descriptions of magic as being any system where a strong mind or majority of minds is able to influence reality through the strength of its being perfectly itself (e.g. This suggests that telepathy and telekinesis (at least if I go with something like your suggestion) imply some form of teleportation. The flavor might be of magic based on communication with spirits, although these spirits do have to obey at least some physical laws. I just replied to your last post, but about the different cultures have different ideas of what makes sense, the point about a rational system is that it must make sense to the reader. This article will help you write a magic system for your fictional world that readers will remember long after theyve turned the last page. 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). Other than that your spells can be pretty much anything, from destructive to healing spells, elemental to demonic spells and from conjurations to enchantments. You can get away with a strange assortment if you have mechanics that explain it. The tricky thing about powering magic with emotions is that it generally leads to magics power being as fickle and arbitrary as emotions, which often makes problems and solutions stemming from its use feel arbitrary. Korra did it but that was more so of Avatar state then an Airbending technique. That will keep your characters from going deus ex machina at you (meaning suddenly doing something they shouldnt be able to, just because you need them to). So, basically it will be a portal (or teleportation, in case if anyone makes the bond from surrounding air blob, for example). Maybe death magic is evil and life magic is good, and both fit the theme of controlling peoples lives. It is not genetic, and it depends on the persons natural ability to feel/ synchronise with the energy type and become familiar enough with it that they can produce their own from the Ether. Fortunately it's not that hard to create a magic system, so this guide will be relatively short, but the amount of work you'll have to put into the creation of your magic will depend entirely on how detailed you want to get. The magical effects that affect the physical world all manipulate one of the four fundamental forces of physics. This allows for more ready, flexible use of magic, but one has to be careful how much they use at once or risk damaging both the spirit and themselves. While she does talk about how it adds limitations, that doesnt actually seem to be her primary focus. If youre doing the system well, you dont need to break a rule for the plot or you can make it shine through beforehand that under specific circumstances rules can be broken (or at any rate bent very far). A system where the only users of this magic are at first the cultists until the Heroes learn it out of necessity and self-defence, and accepting the price that it separates them farther from the group consensus of reality which is the measure by which society defines sanity, and that in fact belonging to a species of animal as social as humans are means that diverging too far from your species in the way you perceive and experience reality carries certain risks and costs to it, more or less well understood to tradition and to the majority of systems of magic because what most of these theories agree on is that the more minds believe that something is So, the more difficult it is for one individual Mind to impose a different understanding than what the Many agree on EVEN IN THE PERSONAL REALITY the putative magician themselves inhabits, and CERTAINLY if they have to use the force of their personality, belief and magic to convince other individuals that what THE MAGICIAN believes as fact is in actual good and honest coin Really So in the shared consense reality they all co-inhabit by reason of their shared belief that they do in fact have at least some things in common in their universes, enough to make a Reality of and enforce/defend it by the power of your shared beliefs.