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That means Rowling doesnt have any guidelines to keep her from contradicting something shes already invented or from creating a spell that makes the plot pointless. When a mage makes a contract with a spirit, what are they paying with? My magic system is based on the Netflix show, The Dragon Prince, because I really like how dynamic and diverse its magic system is. But in the real world, moving out of the way would be easier; since spells have straight paths when cast, why use magic when theres an easier non-magic method of avoiding harm? 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. Im not sure if this will help ScWall any, but I experimented with something very similar a number of years ago. They arent all knowing like gods so you have to talk to them directly. To keep your magic mysterious like in Game of Thrones, hide how it operates. Both are checked on periodically by officials after. Every action we take, even the most mundane has a profound effect on the Flow of Creation. I think rule based magic is important for worldbuilding, not novel writing. was really misleading. I have two things to talk about. 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. Both have always existed since the beginning of time and revolve around each other in order to exist. 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 The only limit is your imagination. To craft your framework, just answer these questions. A puddle could be vaporized at will, only to have the water redistributed at a later time, again at the will of the one controlling the exchange. 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. Thats what I mean when I say Dumbledore and Voldemort should have paid for their enormous use of power at the ministry of magic in Harry Potter. It is inspired from some character sheets that ask you a series of questions. It flows through all life and can be controlled by any sentient object. 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. And, by the way, you actually can use parts of wizards in potions, and theyre used in pivotal parts of at least 2 books: the Polyjuice Potion uses part of the person you want to transform into, and the potion used to give Voldemort a body has bone of the father flesh of the servant [and] blood of the enemy. As a quick example, just think about how many movies and books reuse the theme of elemental magicfire, water, earth, and air. Following is a list of all the abilities that can be generated by the Abilities Generator. The Living Mother dreads chaos and wants balance. In the series Rowling shows that wands and spells channel the magic within an individual so witches and wizards are not without magic if they dont have a wand. That source has to be available to a spellcaster, and that spellcaster needs to direct it to accomplish specific goals. Generate a random star system, including primary planet . Humans cant curse (or maybe they just didnt figure it out yet!) If I knew that I could kill every jerk i know unapologetically and without remorse, and be assured that someone would be returned to life as a result of that action then whats stopping me from just killing indiscriminately all the time? Hell make it rain if your rain dance impresses him, but he wont strike someone with lightning no matter how impressive your dance is. 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. Also Im thinking about the idea when none of characters can store those energy. Despite that, it can still be used to many different and wonderful effects, think like some of the stuff Aang does. These terms, originally coined by Brandon Sanderson, are widely used by fantasy fiction writers today. The steps of rituals are based on hearsay, so its hard to know whats actually necessary. Hey everyone! If were told that a heros ability tires them out, but they can always push through their exhaustion when they need to most in the story, then we stop considering their exhaustion when considering whether we should be worried about them. Humans have it too, but they are a small piece. First off, Id like to say that your idea is amazing! Dispel | Spiritual | Fire | Creature Im thinking at the beginning it requires some basic training to attune oneself to contact spirits, and from there its more a practice/strength of will thing. In case if something enters inside such bonded blob it will exit on the other side of the bond. Thank you for commenting! Source Materials Who and what wields it How to wield it What are the powers? These are the 7 forms of energy this magic affects. Plot-wise, yes. Electricity They can do things with water, and also move farther away from their source (something other nymphs cannot physically do). You can get away with a strange assortment if you have mechanics that explain it. Because minds were immaterial, physical brain damage wouldnt really affect thoughts, personality, and so on, instead mostly things such as the ability to move and regulate basic bodily functions. One world I thought of involves magic based around Life, Metal (mostly magical machinery), Water, Mind, Soil, and Dragons (the rarest), and many in-universe cultures consider these natural divisions, but I suspect Chris Winkle would consider this system non-rational. 2023 Mythcreants LLC, all articles, art, recordings, and stories are the copyright of their respective authors. In your case, how exactly the will affects something: For instance, if speaking is an essential part of spellcasting, then characters cant cast spells if they cant speak. Magic that powerful would leave a large fingerprint on the world, and if you dont avoid ultra-powerful characters, it can also break your plot. It 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? You make good points about the gap between different kinds of magic. That can have a lot of applications. Telekinesis and teleportation require an explanation as to how you direct your power outside of the body. Spells are also incredibly varied, which makes adding randomized details a . Usually you can figure out if theyre alive, where they are, and how theyre doing; but its hard on your brain to process information for two people at once. Hey! The first and probably most important aspect of magic is its source. Talking of the wedding feast: Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. Oh wow, thats a steep price for magic. This generator gives you names for their various alliances, covens, and clubs. A waterbender cant control air or earth or fire. Your storys magic system may fall somewhere between these two extremes, and thats perfectly fine so long as you understand the role that magic serves within your story. It violates local conservation laws and relativity (whats simultaneous in one reference frame is not in other frames). I just wanted to run a few things past eyes that arent mine any feedback/critique/comments would be hugely appreciated!! A common mistake when building magic systems is to forget to include costs. For a similar reason, simple exhaustion, without any other defined limits, is generally a weak way to limit an ability in the story. In the Harry Potter universe, magic works in several different ways: These three sets of rules dont appear related to each other. When a person deliberately causes an imbalance that person becomes the cork plugging up the hole, so to speak. Is it light and full of wonder? Obscuring the rules is easier if the cause and effect can be separated by space and time or the cause isnt directly observable. I was wondering if any of you could give your thoughts on it. You need to lay enough groundwork and hard rules and be consistent enough that it doesnt feel like a character getting angrier will suddenly allow them to start winning a climactic battle, at least not without significant buildup to such a thing happening. Not at all. So this sentence: Eg- In order to make the static ball move with your mind you need something around you that you can either see or feel is moving to help focus you. Some people make a long-term contract with a particular spirit to channel its energy themselves, with the spirit becoming the casters familiar. 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). In this world, soon to be named, certain people have access to an energy that is the personification of nature. If there are important mines in your world, for example, it might make sense for magic to come from metals. Then the fight between Voldemort and Dumbledore (both of which also have that trait) would be a glance into the future of Harry himself. Sorry about the comment length and the long worldbuilding paragraph. Hello to anybody that sees this. 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. Honestly, I cant think of a reasonable or cohesive cap on what it can do so I hope the limitations will balance it out. Thats a larger imbalance. To the audience it will feel like every part fits together, even if theyre not precisely sure how. Does it just move objects/parts of object? A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Like actually dodge the spell physically? Paint can be placed on any object and 1 in 15 people can use paint on something they arent touching. For Light and Darkness, Shade will be their name. Summon up a spirit to help you move a piano, and you can spend hours debating over price. Or you blame all psychic powers on quantum and be done with it, but I doubt you want to take that way out, otherwise you wouldnt have been plotting that much already. Telekinesis was also handy (pun intended) for explaining nonhumanoid creatures without hands or similar developing and using technology, because I am interested in the possibility of aliens very different from humans. Magic systems can even serve as a vehicle for theme, exploring topics such as power, privilege, oppression, and greed. Not sure what I mean? These effects all involve either draining, manipulating or sensing magical forces, including the stuff that runs the internal workings of magical creatures. (somewhere I have a document outlining Philosophical associations between Elements). The only difference is Life energy contained in every living creature, and every creature has own Mind ball in place of real brain. Its not just about the energy needed to transform a body into energy and then back into mass, its also about controlling where the second transformation takes place (splicing would be a problem or manifesting through matter its what cost Heimlich from the Brian Helsing series his right lower arm). Its implied humans discovered the thread and abandoned technology altogether, becoming more and more dependent on magic over the next few hundred years. Using this site means trees will be planted. That boar, the Twrch Trwyth? There are 391 different powers and variations in this generator, so you're bound to find one you like. All of the Aether and Souls stem from the Sephirot, and at the same time are all one and the same. Which is why you need to attach a heavy price. Ive since abandoned it and am working on something that, while in a similar vein, is quite different. 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? This is super helpful, thanks so much for taking the time to write it and to provide examples. Their eyes are blinded and their organs fail. Are there any natural elements which are home to magical powers or are there any which could house magical powers? E.g., player can only use some energy from the environment, depending on available amount and the players skills. 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. Paint can be collected from the surrounding area into your body and be channelled through your bloodstream. On top of this, theres teleportation I still need to consider, which comes with its own host of issues. Maybe death magic is evil and life magic is good, and both fit the theme of controlling peoples lives. Side note, can anyone contact the spirits, or does it require a special gift.. It is an epic drama that, year by year, is played out before humanity. Now, its VERY early days for me with this thing, but Im wondering: This was implemented to further refine (/complicate?) Building Your Own Hard Magic System. Im going for rational semi-soft I hope I pull it off. Another limit would be limited ability of the user, like Gummy Bear who uses magic, but half of the time cant remember the spell, doesnt find the right one, or just does it wrong. 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). No matter what magic they practice, it all centers on the manipulation of their mana to connect to the natural forces they want to control. Everything in Tolkiens world is carefully designed to avoid being preachy; but most of it also has a carefully thought out moral and spiritual basis, and certain elements (like whether orcs have free will, and are therefore capable of redemption, and the implications of what that means in terms of how the good characters treat them and the conflict with the literary need for a clearly identifiable group of bad guys) troubled him to the end of his life and which he was never able to resolve to his own satisfaction. Dont feel discouraged by the problems of your first draft, remember that you will solve them later. Viewpoint characters dont use magic and the audience doesnt understand how it operates. Last, heres a fun chart showing the details of magic systems in the most popular works. The protagonists wording must be airtight, because the djinni will look for loopholes. :). You just feel the spell, you dont need to recite anything. The Towers radiate an energy that interferes with circuit boards, so the only expeditions have been with primitive tools. Feats of telekinesis should leave your characters a little exhausted the more energy needed, the higher the exhaustion. (A quiet lunch with my friend is much more repeated/repeatable than when I first met my best friend). Combining powers for a summoning could mean larger creatures could be summoned and a teleportation spell could be able to teleport far more people, or even entire cities. The twist? I think youre overthinking things a little in your example. Perhaps magic-users know what magic can be used for but are not concerned about why it works that way; for all we know, that could be the way most wizards and witches feel in Harry Potter. 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. Maybe its impossible, and I dont know, although Ive tried to figure out. In The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb, practitioners of the Skill can communicate to each other telepathically. Thats because we know dragon glass can kill them and both weapons were forged by dragon flame. In Brandon Sandersons Warbreaker, magic is powered by a life force known as breath. Sanderson could have made breath do anything, but instead its mostly limited to animating objects and improving the casters senses. I would take a step back from good and bad, first of all. In general, hard magic should solve problems for your protagonists, while soft magic should cause problems for your protagonists. 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. That means that divine intervention is a possibility (a deus ex machina in the true sense of the world), but theres no way your regular human MC can rely on it. The protagonist doesnt understand Naming well either, so we never expect him to solve major plot problems using soft magic. Magical effects will make a bigger impact on your readers if you use all five senses. If I were you, I would make sure every complication you have is something thats important to you. In the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, necromancers can control the dead using bells and music. Ask yourself how you can prevent the magic-wielders in your story from becoming too powerful, and what costs would post interesting challenges for your characters. So, early on in our history, humanity was deemed too dangerous to stay in the greater multiverse. Do users of demonic magic face persecution? 2015 2022 Kristen Kieffer | All rights reserved. The purpose of soft magic is simply to create a feeling of adventure, and wonder. For example, your magic is powered by emotions, which also means that your emotions, if they dont get a new power source (more emotion), will disappear over time. 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. 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. Youll need to set guidelines for how these beings operate so that you can explain why they do or dont answer prayers whenever theyre asked. You could also INCREASE existing energy in an object (Eg- Can make a Moving ball move faster) Or you could DECREASE existing energy in an object (Eg- Can make a Moving ball slow down and even stop & become completely static). Thanks to this article I have been able to advance my magic system up from the basics and I just want to run this by someone who is not me: My magic system is called Paint. You have the tank, often a warrior, who has great armour and a lot of health and will draw attacks and take the damage. Ocean: Ocean magic draws power from the ocean, and by extension the rivers and lakes that are born from and eventually lead back to it. Most often, the source of magic itself comes in different types that create different effects. They can only work through people that do their will voluntarily. Check out my other generators However, if were shown the hero struggling more in fights as a result of exhaustion after using said ability (e.g. Id love to hear more about what the magic can do. There are others who feel this way as well. For which Ive added some more rules: Perhaps then these powers could actually be based on nanobots or even totally new forces and particles that are not visually detectable. If a character casts spells with a combination of substances, dance moves, and symbols drawn in charcoal, assign a role to each component.