While your categories wouldnt be any fun if they were identical, they do need consistency. 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? I havent even gotten to the actual magic yet. You can either post it here or use the contact page. You have the damage dealer, usually a mage, who can deal out a lot of damage, but has weak health and often limited choices in armour, making them vulnerable in a battle. An alchemist transmutes lead into gold. Are there any natural elements which are home to magical powers or are there any which could house magical powers? Stuff falls down, not up, for instance. However, those impulses are weak, and air is not a good conductor, so I dont think such a detection would work (Im not even sure in water). I thought, What if energy isnt conserved after all? If I get this right, magic workers are using pieces of the infrastructure built to support their world for magic instead, at which time it is no longer helping to sustain the world, and by putting these pieces back in place, the protagonist is strengthening that infrastructure. Divine magic comes from appeals to the gods. Rituals are easy to execute, but can be dangerous. You can take the time to practice it yourself, but youre better off finding a teacher. This isnt a formula for magic systems, but a guide for those not sure where to start or what exactly is a magic system. Tell us about them in the comments below. Or does it speed up molecules/atoms to heat up an object (if we have mostly realistic world)? If you choose a framework that is broader and vaguer, youll need to add less obvious limitations to it. Earth magic: Earth magic draws power from the energy of the land itself. Is magic kept secret in your story world? Sometimes you just get turned into a chicken. To the audience it will feel like every part fits together, even if theyre not precisely sure how. Untold masses dead, fear, uncertainty you get the idea. A rational magic system follows rules, thats what makes it a rational system. The expeditions that have come back tell of fantastical landscapes, filled with mystic flora and fauna. You should understand why some spells have symbols in common but different dance moves. Could you chip in? This is one of the most exciting things about writing fantasy: getting to design your own magic system. Anyway, an Order ofMages (havent thought of a proper name yet) is working in overdrive to contain the outbreak, taking the dying, destroying corpses, etc to prevent the spread of the blight Or so you think Hm, I had not planned on it, but it might be interesting. Source Materials Who and what wields it How to wield it What are the powers? 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). Since the main character of the series starts as a member of a gang of thieves, the choice of theme is very appropriate. After giving it some thought, I think the spirits will take memories as payment. This is really good! One way to get stronger is to give your paint a will creating a contractor. In fact, they are drawing on residual energy left behind when a spirit interacts with the human world. Apoglies if it comes off as confusing, Im not very good at conveying my thoughts and ideas, will explain in greater detail later. Been developing a magic system for a story of mine thats in its early development stages. Spells are also incredibly varied, which makes adding randomized details a . The audience will be looking for the pieces that might come together in the climax to enable the hero to win, rather than waiting for the hero to have an emotional moment when there is no other viable turning point. Yes, its arbitrary which items have magical powers (though many plants have historically been said to have magical powers and Rowling obviously researched these). And if you use an elemental magic system be creative, inform yourself what elements are overused already. Choose the right magic system for your fantasy novel without the headache. 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. What important historical events in your story world were affected by the use (or failure to use) magic? We were ripped out of the (literal) fabric of reality, shaped into a forbidden-to-visit pocket dimension. The Mages dont rule, but merely maintain a beneficial relationship with those that do, but the Empires form of transportation (and thus commerce) is almost entirely dependent upon magical meansSo what does the Imperium bring to the party? This sounds intriguingly cool, although if youre designing it for use in a computer game, might I ask 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, dictating how much player the Player can draw upon, and what happens when the Player hits that limit? Once you examine all the implications of this change, youll discover their powers are different indeed. This description generator will generate a short random description of a spell, including its effect, appearance and inventor. So, in my story world theres a plague spreading among the populace known as the Grey Death (somewhat analogous to the Bubonic Plague). However, humans actually have relatively little energy I dont have the precise numbers, but I have read that using only your own energy, you wouldnt actually be able to lift very much at all. [end worldbuilding] :). 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? This is where your magic system will become unique, even if it shares elements with existing works of fiction. 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. (oops, forget this one!). The same is true, if I use telekinesis to move that boulder. Who knows! But I dont necessarily want to read about rational magic systems. But the Mother eventually grows tired of such a long and drawn-out abuse of the balance, with the plants greedily hoarding the sunlight for themselves each day; in autumn she begins to draw water out of the plants, more than just the droplets that form on leaves in the morning. Like this, the Avatar system makes it clear where the limits are, for everyone but the Avatar. Sky: Sky magic draws power from the vast sky, movement of the winds, and from thunderstorms. In a world where the entire population can wield magic you might not have this conflict, not unless some are worse at wielding magic than others. 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. Occasionally you may want an arbitrary system it adds humor and entertainment to Harry Potter. 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. Its said more than once that really powerful wizards and witches can do wandless magic or even do magic without saying the spells. Despite that, it can still be used to many different and wonderful effects, think like some of the stuff Aang does. Why should the magic be complete or symmetrical? A mages magic can be stronger or weaker depending on how much access to a Primal they have at a given time. Harry Potters magic is not irrational. All those rules are allow to create literally any classic spell, except teleportation/portals. I suspect it might be possible; after all, there are plenty of mathematically worked out theories involving new particles and forces, but Ill have to do quite a bit of research. In the HP books, the only reason why Harry cant do everything is that hes still learning. Like species in our world evolved so did the magic in their world, with their ancestors using a specific type of magic and pased it down it just became a part of them. 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). Im using the elements as chemical states and even nature transforms between them (ice to water, water to steam, or the other way around for water). Though some have tried since the beginning, it has been deemed impossible for a human to harness and redistribute sunlight. 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. The plants begin to die, and in dying change color and surrender the rest of their water to Mother. But the curse also leaves behind a power that is unique for the person. Okay, now that thats our of the way I went through this process recently with an RPG Ive been working on. What unusual methods and applications might they attempt? Another possibility is that some kind of complex structure is involved that can navigate to a desired destination. Why can only some people do time magic or elemental magic? One final aspect to think about is whether or not those who cannot wield power can somehow gain the ability to do so and if those who can wield magic can lose the ability do so and if those changes can be reverted. 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. Each spell shortens their lifespan by an unknown number of years. However, I am suspecting my response to it will be pretty long, and I have other things I need to work on. Dark, but if it works for the story however, I would say that rather than the Interferes having been oppressed and retaliating, it seems a lot more likely that they were the oppressors and committed genocide. The four elements are chemical states: solid (earth), liquid (water), gas (air), and plasma (fire). We've covered limitations in several parts already, whether it's how powerful spells are or how much power you can gain, but it's important to emphasize limitations again. All magic can be learned by anyone, its just that the magic they didnt inherit will be harder to learn. There is a certain logic to the magic in Harry Potter, too, but its never completely explained, because the magic only serves the purposes of the story. Ive currently got 11 tabs open that I need to look through. There are hundreds or even thousands of magical techniques and spells that a magician can learn. First, if its similar to someone elses that is purely coincidental. There are plenty of stories where power just keeps building and building, which eventually makes the characters at the beginning of the story weak in comparison even though they were seen as incredibly powerful at that time. In the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, the entire spirit world operates under a soft magic system, from the magical bathhouse customers to the killer paper airplanes. 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. How might someone with an unusual background or extraordinary dedication take magic either a step further or a step in a new direction? thanks for the feedback! What atmosphere will my story have? If youre working with leylines and the fabric of reality you should model the whole earth as a living thing(as it is)but not necessarily conscious, although that could add tension and the leylines and threads could be like vains in an interconnected system that gets clogged from the knots relating to all manner of natural and unnatural disasters/phenomenon and just like any living thing this system would naturally resemble a circulatory/lymphatic system with currents and nodes to regulate and cleanse said currents. ): magical technology (uses the "uses of a spell casting focus/item" cost in addition to any others) fiendish/evil divine the far realm a mutation that is part of the users spirit-related natural limbo/the elemental planes unknown Then the fight between Voldemort and Dumbledore (both of which also have that trait) would be a glance into the future of Harry himself. In The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, magic comes from magical spirits like djinn. Probably best if I give you an example. He was inspired with the observation that this is the Living Mother who is removing water and redistributing it to restore a balance. Hey Ryan R Im still plugging away at it (when Life lets me anyway! What do I do now? A damned if you do, damned if you dont scenario. You wouldnt add that fire is good for creative thinking, because that wouldnt fit. Actually, one of the principles of old-time portions-making was that a plant which looks like a certain body part is good for curing that body part (actual results may vary). So you already know that unraveling a knot has the opposite effect as weaving one. That Interferer found others like them and went around killing the common people in revenge for shunning them and taking Conduits prisoner (to use them for power). Everything is made up of atoms and molecules, so someone with the power to influence those could, theoretically, create new stuff in a heartbeat. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang. Not using items doesn't have to mean a magic wielder is always capable of wielding it though. 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.