For example: Your mum had speed enhancing paint you will have some form of it or Your mum had paint that could carry poison within it, your dad had paint that could take the physical appearance of slime and your grandma had paint that floats you now have floating poisonous slime paint. In general, hard magic should solve problems for your protagonists, while soft magic should cause problems for your protagonists. Nevertheless, I will go with your assumption for what follows for the moment, as it does involve fewer changes to known physical laws and is easier to discuss (plus, I already mentioned some of the consequences of lack of conservation in my previous post). If there are intelligent creatures with thought processes different from humans in your story, it would seem especially weird that magic must follow rules that conform to human divisions precisely. Holy magic is more reliable, but hard to learn. Magic is one of the essential elements of any fantasy story. 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. This is true even if weve never seen anyone craft a tunnel before. And they were given this power, making them enhanced. you have to touch the person youre putting to sleep or touch the demon youre pacifying. So this sentence: In The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, magic comes from magical spirits like djinn. Magitech To create strange fusions of science and sorcery for your more unusual settings. If they need hand gestures to do magic, they cant do it while tied up. Color: the type of color determines what kind of effect the Vibration will have on the Physical World. I would say on a molecular level. Making sense in case of magic means being constant. Whether your source is limited or not is another important aspect you have to think about. Summon up a spirit to help you move a piano, and you can spend hours debating over price. Conduits can technically slow movement down because they pull energy from the environment, but they pull from all around them equally so the effect is minimal. Many receive horrible mutations, the nanites only know that they are to better humanity but they have no notion of what being a human means, some are physically melded into grotesque shapes, some lose their minds becoming like feral beasts. Random Treasure Generator. Why are naiads more rare and powerful than tree nymphs? Few ideas are original at this point. So, this sheet is meant to help fantasy world-builders (for any media, not just writing) create the magic systems for their worlds. Ripple: The last step. This article will help you write a magic system for your fictional world that readers will remember long after theyve turned the last page. There are two types of people in this world, Conduits and Interferers (though Inteferers prefer to be called Whisperers). If they need to rely on chanted rituals, they cant do something in a few seconds and they cant start a ritual while the enemy is looking for them, because the voice would lead the enemy to the hiding spot. Occasionally you may want an arbitrary system it adds humor and entertainment to Harry Potter. The costs of magic can be physical, societal, or even financial. P.S. These Tower appeared out of thin air, bringing with them a curse. Shocker (electric) Those are the things I thought about, let me know if it helped you improve! I shall now splurge it out here If you like it, and you think you can bend it to fit your idea, then go for it!! For example, in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien uses the near omnipotence of the One Ring to explore the dangers of authoritarianism, which he fought as a British soldier during WWI. Unless obsidian in Westeros is formed by dragonfire instead of volcanoes (or volcanoes are tied to dragons somehow, which I dont think was ever even hinted at), it wasnt actually forged by dragons. Humans have no idea. Who can use magic? 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. Mandrake, which is featured in the second book, has historically been associated with witchcraft. Limiting what magic can theoretically do will dramatically cut down the number of plot-breaking scenarios you might have to deal with. Bewitchment Grenade-- This bomb emits a gas that causes hallucinations and lowered aggression in 99% of affected persons. Mistings have to ingest and burn these metals in order to use their powers. In The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, the magical discipline of Naming is a soft magic system. After giving it some thought, I think the spirits will take memories as payment. Ask yourself what effects will help your protagonists solve the problems presented in your plot, and what effects will be fun to write about. As a quick example, just think about how many movies and books reuse the theme of elemental magicfire, water, earth, and air. Hell make it rain if your rain dance impresses him, but he wont strike someone with lightning no matter how impressive your dance is. There are 391 different powers and variations in this generator, so you're bound to find one you like. 3. You need to make your sub-types of magic logical parts of the main type of magic. In Avatar, most benders can only manipulate pure water, earth, air, and fire. It is divided into two domains: the stone, minerals, and metals of the land, and the flora and fauna of the natural world. It is an epic drama that, year by year, is played out before humanity. Spells are also incredibly varied, which makes adding randomized details a . Project | Fire | Destroy | Item magic system. And if they can add energy to it, it sounds like they have to absorb that energy like a conduit. If a person can wield both kinds of magic, do they influence the person? Alternatively, soft magic systems remain nebulous. So a Mage might give as payment a concrete memory, like their first day of school or attending a particular play, or something more abstract like the taste of chocolate cake or the pain of stubbing ones toe (spirits are interested in all experiences, even if humans see them as negative). Thats because Disney movies are based on fairy tales and fairy tales dont write up rules for magic. Depending on where the clusters are and how they are structured different effects emerge: You can take the time to practice it yourself, but youre better off finding a teacher. But thats not the way Rowling goes. The main question becomes who set this up, and why? Heres what you need to think about. 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. Summoning rituals or teleportation spells for example, they too could change. This type of magic is tricky and potentially dangerous, as the faerie in question could seek out loopholes that benefit them and take more from the person than what was agreed. Magicians summon magical spirits, like djinni, and command them to do their bidding. That source has to be available to a spellcaster, and that spellcaster needs to direct it to accomplish specific goals. Check out the Magic Generator Pack . Apoglies if it comes off as confusing, Im not very good at conveying my thoughts and ideas, will explain in greater detail later. To build this logic, start by thinking about three things: the effects, sources, and costs of magic. Magical creatures all have an innate connection to one of the forces, which they can use in ways dictated by the kind of creature that they are. I transfer energy into the boulder or to the air around it to move that boulder. (And I LOVE the idea of sea water improving magical power- its like a psudeo science in the sense that you could say that the Sea Water makes the magic (like electricity) conduct better and so being around it over long periods would wear off on you and make you more powerful? There are hints throughout the story that its actually sci-fi. Ill respond to that one later. It doesnt have to make sense in our world, but in the world of the story, it does. Building Your Own Hard Magic System. Forms of moon magic include illusion magic, shadow magic, and spirit magic. In the first book, Ron doesnt know any troll-slaying spells, so he uses the Levitating Spell to knock out a mountain troll instead. Its no surprise the avatar state causes plot holes during Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Its been a tremendous influence on pop culture, especially conceptions of ghosts. The answer to which one (or more) to pick is again entirely dependent on what you need from your magic in your story universe. These properties can give limitations but also make some stronger. ie: Water beats Fire, but MY level 5 Fireball beats YOUR level 3 Ice Wall. Someone else is needed. Its true that fire produces light; but any attempt to harness this light merely results in harnessing and redistributing heat, for the source of that light is not the sun, but the fire, and it is temporary and dies, restoring balance. Could perhaps some or all of them be elements alongside the classic four? The thing is, I believe that what seems natural in these cases can depend on culture and perhaps even species. They can only work through people that do their will voluntarily. So, for each point in environment will be possible to calculate the energy value. However, I am suspecting my response to it will be pretty long, and I have other things I need to work on. Without this action, the person is consumed by the power, turning into a brute beast, only wanting to destroy those with more power then themselves. Here are more ideas for them. Last, heres a fun chart showing the details of magic systems in the most popular works. Every action we take, even the most mundane has a profound effect on the Flow of Creation. Thats really cool. If you want spells, you shouldnt work with elements, but work on the premise that magic is real and a power like light or sound which can be guided with the voice. Know How Your Magic Works Here we discuss considerations outside the scope of this article, such as the effect magic has on society. *squeals* Chris you are my hero and your articles inspired me to try writing and you are very, very, very awesome *squeals* Curses are basically magic diseases. If your mage has a limit on their powers (and having a human with unlimited powers is probably going to break a story, at least with that human being the hero), the limit must always be the same or you need to give a reason why it is different (the character is exhausted and thus cant muster as much magic or the character took a specific potion which boosted their powers, for instance). Post time-skip, with my second protagonist, magic is rarer due to shifts in the spirit world and how humans access it. 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. You make good points about the gap between different kinds of magic. This generator gives you names for their various alliances, covens, and clubs. Its the subtle way magic leans toward fire or ice. Each of these works with each other and the level of each step determine how much oomph the next step has to produce an effect in our world. And this is why I post my ideas on places like this someone will ask the really obvious questions I forgot to ask myself. Using the Harry Potter example, the rules of what magic can and cannot do are defined throughout the books new things are added throughout the series, but there is some structure in the form of spells, potions, etc., and a few laws that are hard limits (such as the no true resurrection one), yet the author of this post states it is not rational (although hard). Limited power creates struggle and conflict, the main hero might be strong, but what happens when an army of thousands have cost him all his powers before he could even reach the main villain? If youre having trouble, you can say there are many more categories but knowledge of them has been lost. Hey there and welcome to my site. Decide on its tone. Magical properties are randomly given to some creatures and elements (eg: Fire breathing dragons, Gem stones that arent affected by gravity)- this type of magic is Irational but still has rules (depending on each specific example), But the most common form of magic is the one humans can control- this is a rational hard magic that is all about Energy, our ability to create & manipulate it. Another aspect of it are the Akashic Records where all the information of Creation is stored. Talking of the wedding feast: Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. would be for instance the power to congure spectral weapons like a sword or bow and arrow, though they are powerful magic and would be taxing on ones body and life. This would involve a preferred reference frame, breaking relativity (for a specific class of phenomena only) but disallowing time travel (I dont have anything against time travel stories; I just didnt feel like including it in my universe). Not sure what I mean? If you do, how will you split the elements between the two sides? Everything is what she deems fair. It would also bring a limit, because the ley lines dont exist everywhere. I think youre overthinking things a little in your example. A being of a higher Plane has the opposite effect, their presence and consciousness being far too much for the Universe to handle, and so it would just collapse on itself wherever the being would go. And thanks to Oren for asking the obvious question and fueling my train of thought. Since the protagonists are on this side, it would remove a lot of tension. This is the name list Tolkien draws from at least for a couple of the Dwarven characters in The Hobbit. If you want you can also make a difference between Nyads and Nereids the usual river and spring nymphs and large powerful Sea nymphs. However, then I realized a key problem: Could I make this a logically consistent system? You can either post it here or use the contact page. Sorry for the late reply I had went out for the past few days. Or make your telepath one who can only read minds when touching someone else (Vulcans from Star Trek work telepathy that way). 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) Some theorize, that the Sephirot is an aspect of God, but our understanding of God is just one aspect of it, you could say the projection of its Will, in simpler terms. 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. If thats the case, youll want to make animal spirits more common and less powerful like plant spirits, and air spirits rarer and more powerful like water spirits. The houses are merely there to spark rivalry, they have no deeper meaning for the magic or the story. . Different for the TV series, of course. Now its time to decide why magic cant do anything and everything the spellcaster wants, whenever they want. Which is why you need to attach a heavy price. That can have a lot of applications. Do you have any feedback or glaring flaws that you noticed? Dont feel discouraged by the problems of your first draft, remember that you will solve them later. Theyre part of a task force to reweave the knots. A basic form of mana manipulation is cloaking their bodies in mana to protect them from harm (sort of like Aura in RWBY). Learning about one doesnt give a better understanding of another. Why should the magic be complete or symmetrical? Both the caster and Given are in prisoned if police find out, but the caster is normally in for 10-30 years. More like youre a easily broken, magical gun (Aim, shoot fireball, repeat.) However, while I do hope to write something that others enjoy, it is also for myself, and I like thinking about things and would not want to write something logically impossible. By adopting a specific mentality and pairing that with martial art forms, they can move and manipulate their element. Would it be possible to gain power in your universe or is everybody limited to what talent they're born with? * When Jon Snow kills a white walker with Valyrian steel, it makes sense even though we havent been told that could happen. If your mage has no limits to their powers, where would the conflict be? 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. You could use a rock-paper-scissors relationship where earth beats air, but air beats water, water beats fire, and fire beats earth. 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. You might want to read them. (Storm God = sky domain = bird ? Robert Asprins MYTH novels actually do a good job limiting magic in a similar way. I love it. If magic is based on emotion, those Apaths could, perhaps, nullify it? And those explanations would make sense within the storys universe and would always be true. Why should I only have one source of magic? The farther an individual cause the needle to drift towards imbalance, the more force shall be exerted on that individual until the balance is restored through redistribution. . Fifty years after the war ends the younger generation make massive breakthroughs. In another world (a fantasy high-magic setting), I havent fleshed out quite as much, but I do know that magic is powered by your soul, which is also needed to run all brain activity. Occult Network-- The magic Internet. Luckily for the majority of the population of the Voden Imperium, the nanites are happy to sit mostly dormant, quietly replicating away. Sound. It violates local conservation laws and relativity (whats simultaneous in one reference frame is not in other frames). For example, you can create a magic system that has very clear rules for your protagonist but only vague rules for your antagonist. Different kinds of people use magic in different ways. This is only my second serious piece of writing, so its really encouraging to hear stuff like that from someone like you. There is a cap that only the two young men of solitude have managed to break the interactions between spells of opposing Wizards. I guess its similar in its outward effects to the Avatar magic system, but youll see that its actually quite different. Those that survive the process emerge as a member of the Exalted (believed to have been chosen by a higher power) those that dont die screaming, bodies horribly twisted and in extreme cases, even dissolving into silvery, grey goop. Paint can hold curses that are also genetic (curses can make a person stronger but the price is extremely high) This curse infects at random, leaving those infected without the memories of their past selves. Or maybe have subtypes based on the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues? 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. Just watch out for the unaffected 1%. Life is movement and if part of nature isnt moving (even the earth) then it resembles death and not life. What limitations does the magic put on the wielder? In Brandon Sandersons Mistborn Series, characters acquire magic by imbibing small amounts of metals and burning them once theyre consumed. I have three ways to get magic, and four types of magic, and several races of dragon. but gods, spirits, and demons can. The source should give you an idea for how it might become available. Are you looking to define what weaving one can and cant do? Limits then usually come from the strength of the effects (a limit to the area spells can target or the number of spells a mage can use before resting). In the last forty-eight hours, this generator has been used to construct 2069 worlds and 9.7 GB of images. Just a quick note to let everyone know that I am still here, just had some of that icky Life stuff get in the way. In Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, magic comes from specific metals, like copper, tin, or aluminum. Another elite bending technique is Astral Projection since their are the most spiritual of benders. Telekinesis and teleportation require an explanation as to how you direct your power outside of the body. Examples of rationality in spell design include: 1) Theres a spell for emitting light from ones wand (lumos, which is connected to the Latin word for light) and theres a spell for extinguishing your wand light (nox, which is literally the Latin word for night). The way the magic of my world works so far goes as follows: Magic is based in blood, the eight types of magical blood found in fantastical creatures and humans (Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Mind, Body), and the way people gain magic is either by taking that blood from the creature or being born with it, so either a Linear or a Pureblood. Choose the right magic system for your fantasy novel without the headache. And it would explain the marked as an equal thing, too. 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. Also I think the name Grey Death is cool, especially if theres some in world reason? Specific effects include communicating with others, working together as a group, and riding inside the minds of others. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. mental enhancements, the nanites acting as auxiliary brains. Not using items doesn't have to mean a magic wielder is always capable of wielding it though. One type usually comes naturally to you (depending on your personality and familiarity) but through practice you can learn other types. The more unique you make it, the more memorable your book will be for readers. However, it sounds like theres a gap between the rational aspect and the large assortment of different things your magic casters are doing. Magic systems can even serve as a vehicle for theme, exploring topics such as power, privilege, oppression, and greed. On Star Treks Mediocre Antagonistic Species. What important historical events in your story world were affected by the use (or failure to use) magic? Some feel cohesive; others feel random. How could a magic user be defeated? For telepathy and telekinesis, you mention sources of energy. Magicians draw on their inner energy, called mana, to cast spells and perform magical techniques. Vampires are electromagnetic, which is why they are hurt by sunlight (photoelectric effects), are solid but turn to dust when killed (they actually are dust, and their solid form is a magnetic shell), have superstrength (they can easily lift metal objects, and can use opposing magnetic forces to move their own body quite forcefully). But Chaos is discovered to still exist and actually controls the inner workings of our universe (similar to a pusdeo quantum physics where laws arent followed and anything can happen at anytime) This (called the Ether) rarely affects our natural world but when it does the laws of physics are broken in the form of magic. For example, your universe might not have demons or gods which can grant more magical powers, but there could be plenty of other magical beings who can. powerful mages who control transportation but do not rule (again, difficult). However, Im not surprised youre getting overwhelmed, youre mixing a lot of different stuff together: Fantasy worldbuilding Magic systems Scifi worldbuilding Make Full-Time Passive Income From Book Sales FREE Creative Writer Class: How to Write & Publish a Fiction Book Taught by a Bestselling Author with YEARS of experience doing JUST THIS! Your patronage keeps this site running. Then you would have to decide whether someone can use all elements that way or just one (as everyone safe for the Avatar in the series). Magic systems can even serve as a vehicle for theme, exploring topics such as power, privilege, oppression, and greed. 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. 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). If spellcasters can run out of magic, itll be easy to put them in a tight spot when you need to. Maybe something with an eclipse? Its a common trap that many authors using emotion-based powers fall into its tempting to create a sudden dramatic reversal of a seemingly hopeless situation with a method the fundamental rules of the story allows for at any time. Magic isn't real, so it can be anything we want. To build this logic, start by thinking about three things: the effects, sources, and costs of magic. The plants begin to die, and in dying change color and surrender the rest of their water to Mother. Would the odds be equal or would the magic wielder always have the upper hand? Is there a cap on the users' magical abilities? Do magic users have their own language, religion, festivals, and/or other cultural hallmarks? There are hundreds or even thousands of magical techniques and spells that a magician can learn. 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 Sandersons First Law Even within one category, theres no way to extrapolate new spells because the rules are so eclectic. Because that makes it much more obvious and harder to forgive if you do need to break a rule for plot. Because water is more tangible than air and fire, it is likewise easier to hold on to. (I wont deal with it here and now, as this reply is getting too long already and you never mentioned it in your comment). There are medieval books detailing how to pluck a mandrake from the ground because it was thought that they screamed when unearthed and could kill everyone who heard the scream. Lets take a closer look at what these terms mean. These effects all involve either draining, manipulating or sensing magical forces, including the stuff that runs the internal workings of magical creatures.

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