You could use a rock-paper-scissors relationship where earth beats air, but air beats water, water beats fire, and fire beats earth. Thats why we have a character (in the Silmarillion, and referenced in passing in the songs and stories Aragorn tells the hobbits on Weathertop and they later hear much more about in Rivendell: a character like Luthien Tinuviel, who inherited her power from her connection to both the mortal (in the sense of not being a divinely descended spirit who chose to take bodily form; Tolkiens equivalent of greater and lesser angels whom he sees as having a role in the world; her father was a powerful Elf king but still in that sense mortal) and angelic (her mother, who was a lesser angel who fell in love with her father and chose to take on bodily form enough to bear his child but still remained of divine race) lines in her ahcestry. 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. I see where you are coming from on a few of these points but perhaps since Ive read the series so many times I think they miss the mark. moving more slowly, using other abilities less effectively, taking more hits), and the hero tries and fails to use the ability when theyre already at their limit, then we come to understand exhaustion as a real limitation that doesnt just go away as needed. Humans have it too, but they are a small piece. If Luke needs guidance to hit that exhaust port, the Force can guide him. This was, oh, maybe sixth on the list of fourteen or fifteen legendary impossibilities he demanded, all in the essentially same format. All three should work together to create the magic system. For example, a tree nymph can make a leaf tornado appear, but cant work with other materials. 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. Most of the time, this yearning leads them to the Towers, where they are never seen again. To make an arbitrary assortment of abilities feel like they fit together, he gave them a strong theme. Dispel | Spiritual | Fire | Creature If you only specify one source of magic, you cant suddenly drop someone into the story who uses something different. If youre at a loss, take a page from Brandon Sandersons Mistborn series. Few ideas are original at this point. However, not understanding Gandalfs magic doesnt detract from the story, because the protagonists have to undergo most of their journey without Gandalfs help. 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). Accio and depulso, for example, are taught one-after-another: pretty straightforward. Others say that this is blasphemy; for a gift of water, if not taken from somewhere, would disrupt the balance, however little, and Mother would never stand for it. Are there different types of magic, or did magic diversify over time? Thats because Disney movies are based on fairy tales and fairy tales dont write up rules for magic. 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? If thats not true and given the types of energies most classical magic systems are throwing around I consider it IMHO to be HIGHLY unlikely then its just splitting hairs whether we call it dodging, blocking or something else, youre REALLY gonna need something magical of your own to make sure that when that nasty spell gets to wherever its target may presently be, that YOU AINT THERE when it arrives! I do hope that this comment will help you understand the angle Im coming from. And along the way you provided a lot of good supporting material. Ones that havent made many contracts and dont know much about human emotion yet will be much more objective. 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). However, this doesn't have to be the case, the hero might not be strong enough on his own, but with other fighters the combined power might be enough to defeat the villain as well. A primary example of soft magic would be that which Gandalf practices in The Lord of the Rings. If you dont have enough power to spare, the spell fizzles. Money? All magic can be learned by anyone, its just that the magic they didnt inherit will be harder to learn. I went through this process recently with an RPG Ive been working on. 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). Fifty years after the war ends the younger generation make massive breakthroughs. 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. Youre deluding yourself if you think that. A few generations later, some of them did discover the truth, but kept it secret for fear of being blamed by association for the fall, and of people fearing a magical plague happening again. I forgot Theosophy! Theres three kinds of people: Apaths (Apath, sing. Some dimensions have a lot of energy and a lot of lines, others have few. Not using items doesn't have to mean a magic wielder is always capable of wielding it though. I really need a new name for the holy magic. Kathy Ferguson However, a few fantastical powers can go a long way toward livening up many fantasy stories. 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. In actual weaving, warp threads keep tension during weaving and are the main structure of the fabric. If you make all of your spells fit together, you'll need less foreshadowing. 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). Eco (plant life). Another limitation is that you have to touch whatever youre casting a spell on, e.g. 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. If your mage has no limits to their powers, where would the conflict be? And you have the buffer, often a rogue or priest, who can either buff the own group (healing, boosting skills) or debuff the enemy (lowering attack or defence most often). In addition, there are no boundaries on what magic could theoretically do in the Potterverse. However, as mentioned at the top of this article, magic can also serve as a vehicle for theme (i.e. Of course, its possible. Although, to be fair, I do see the magic in everything - nature, science, writing. Brandon Sanderson is fantastic at crafting magic systems. As fascinating and logical as this system is I think it loses points on merit and morality and doesnt set a good example to children. 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. It's not wrong to have overpowered spells, but they often lead to plot holes or silly ways of explaining why that power cannot be used in a specific situation. The differences come into play when various factions go to war. There are two types of people in this world, Conduits and Interferers (though Inteferers prefer to be called Whisperers). Its unclear whether there are any other self-casting old magic spells besides this one. First off, Id like to say that your idea is amazing! The more unique you make it, the more memorable your book will be for readers. I just finished the entire creation story because of these questions as well as creating a more refined system of magic in my book! If youd like I can send you a link and you can follow along as I figure stuff out (dont want to clog up your comments section). Vibrations function is fundamentally the same as electric signals in the brain, in that there are millions upon millions of different signals being sent and working together to achieve something, even something as simple as moving your arm. If George R.R. If spellcasters can run out of magic, itll be easy to put them in a tight spot when you need to. The system makes no sense so I cant possibly reason that theres a reversal of this! Common People (Theyre so common that they dont really have a name.) If I can find a way to make it work, it would be cool if sound can be harnessed and redistributed as well. And I don't mean only practical magic as a modern Druid, I mean magic of every kind, real or imagined. And the One became Two, Two became Three, and Three became All Things, (Actions) If youll allow my humble but informed opinion. This generator will give you 10 random super powers, which can range from many different types of powers, including magic and superhuman powers. The brain does use relatively weak energy for thinking, so that would not reach far. It might be argued that the wand and the spell serve to put the mind of the caster in the right mood so they can command the magic. I havent even gotten to the actual magic yet. (Arguably, before the development of modern science, many people had similar attitudes towards technology! My protagonist would be one of the paranoid who wants to conserve the thread. In my example of magic that is acquired by consuming a plant, a clever alchemist might distill and concentrate the plant down to an elixir that is digested more quickly. 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. 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). Forms of Star magic include telepathy, telekinesis, mind control, astral projection, and precognition. My character doesnt get him to throw lightning at foes, but he does send a giant bird to carry off my character to relative safety, but they end up getting separated from the rest of their group. I think I mostly understand, but Im not exactly sure what Interferers cant an cant do. Someone could gain double the magic in half the time. Elements are a system which people understand easily, other systems would have demanded more explanation. Some people are good at magic, others are not. what could they have that the Mages need/want? Here we will get into seven different bases to help you create your unique magic system. But that doesn't mean all magic systems work equally well for stories. Notes on the world: humans are at a hunter-gatherer to city-state level of development, gods are real but you can never talk with them, spirits are everywhere and run on fae logic, and demons are corrupted spirits that will ravage towns/cities and curse people. Sorcerers tend to specialize in offensive magic except the temptresses, necromancers and spell book readers. Sophie, if youre having trouble with elements heres a few ideas but no need to add them. And if you use an elemental magic system be creative, inform yourself what elements are overused already. Magic System Generator Perchance Magic System Generator This magic system focuses on manipulating luck. I have read an anecdote in which members of a certain tribe classified an orange with a knife, rather than an orange with an apple as the Western researchers expected, reasoning that a knife cuts an orange so they belong together. sheer warp threads create plain physical structures such as a ball and weft webs can add fire and velocity to that ball. Furthermore, nervous systems and brains have different structures and encodings, even merely among humans how could someone understand all the different people? It doesnt have to make sense in our world, but in the world of the story, it does. If a person can wield both kinds of magic, do they influence the person? If your loved one is dying from a gunshot wound, youve a lot less time to bargain. A substance can be traded on the market, gods can be prayed to, and individuals might be sensitive to magical energy or maybe everyone has machines that do it all for them. They worship and revere the Living Mother (what we might call Mother Earth) in her role as custodian and bringer of balance. My point was that this would essentially entail creating a new set of physical laws, and I wanted to find out whether this could be done in a consistent way while still keeping most things in that universe somewhat similar to our universe if the magic did not affect them (for example, having stars, planets, space, Earthlike life, etc) It turns out that there are some things that are mathematically impossible, so I have to be careful. 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. Their eyes are blinded and their organs fail. The power can be anything reasonable, but behind its use is an action that they used to love. What about Time? My major problem is that the subtypes dont connect with the main types of magic (demonic and angelic). I've kept the descriptions short in order to mimic descriptions you'd often find in games and other franchises. I love it. They instead study the laws of nature and learn to manipulate them. As long as your explanation isnt a slap in the face of physical laws we all know, theres no problem from that side. As mentioned, Im still working on the plot details, but I was thinking the decrease in magic availability from protagonist 1s time to protagonist 2s time had to do with spirits withdrawing from the human world and not dealing with mages. The audience isnt sure if burning the leaches actually caused these deaths, making it mysterious despite having witnessed the magic ritual first-hand. Its easy to mix up rational magic with whats often referred to as hard magic. (I wont deal with it here and now, as this reply is getting too long already and you never mentioned it in your comment). 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. Its time to create a system of rules that will feel cohesive and logical. Something as seemingly insignificant as a casting time thats five seconds longer has a huge impact on whether mages can handle unexpected problems. Another option is that there is a background magic field (see the TVTropes article) present everywhere that psychics draw on. We also have a step-by-step guide to building magic systems if you want to review the components of a magic system. 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. Paint can carry genetic qualities as well. 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. In most, if not all movies, there clearly arent rules for magic, or if there are, there arent many. A cunning ex-adventurer named Wlfrilda seeks a company of adventurers to explore the Pikawas Jungle. There is a set science about how magical techniques are performed, and knowing about the what and the how behind these techniques is important. 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? 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) Sometimes, as in the example I made, other natural processes, such as life and death (or decay) or day and night are added. At first thanks a lot for this article, it helps to organize some things in my head. You can make it mysterious just by hiding how it operates. That source has to be available to a spellcaster, and that spellcaster needs to direct it to accomplish specific goals. 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. Practitioners are all female. The second Twist to my setting is that the magic in my world is in fact technological in origin, Yep, Im doing the whole forgotten tech trope :-), The Grey Death is in fact a invasive form of Nanotechnology, accidentally released into the public. You can use our ProWritingAid Sensory Report to make sure youre including sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell in your magic system. I love your idea Madden, however if i may point out one significant flaw that you will very quickly need to address. (For the record, though, strong emotion results in power use isnt actually a element I like in a system.). Perhaps then these powers could actually be based on nanobots or even totally new forces and particles that are not visually detectable. Since the universe as a whole tends towards entropy, where this world uniquely tends towards balance, fire doesnt always behave as expected), Water in its various forms (liquid, gaseous, solid; in redistribution it will always revert to its most common form in nature, that of liquid. They will seek their own openings and create them for the other, distract the enemy when needed and surround him at all times. It worked well, but it had to be named before it became important to the plot.
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