Start by looking for further implications of what youve already established. People who practice this form of magic are called lucalurgists. You just need a set of guidelines that all of your spirits/nymphs follow. In real life, cold is not a thing but just the absence of heat, and ice and fire dont seem to be fundamental opposites. Good luck! If you fail to understand the role that . If you are the child of a Given and you are born with magic, you are called a Twisted mage, and have the same powers as your Given parent. 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. The key traits of a hard magic system are outlined in the graphic below. She might exchange one persons hand for anothers, but she might not deem two lives equal. Sophie, if youre having trouble with elements heres a few ideas but no need to add them. These structural integrity threads can be used to apply physical force to something. You can CREATE new energy into an object that wasnt already producing that same energy (Eg- Can make a static ball move in any direction). Dont be afraid to try something novel. However, a few fantastical powers can go a long way toward livening up many fantasy stories. In The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss, the magical discipline of Naming is a soft magic system. Life Mana is the clean energy, without any attunement. The system makes no sense so I cant possibly reason that theres a reversal of this! I know some of the basics for the magic in my world but have been having a hard time making them cohesive. I think rule based magic is important for worldbuilding, not novel writing. was really misleading. See the LessWrong articles Universal Fire and Universal Law for one explanation of how all physical laws are tied together. The story looks like a fantasy story at first, with characters manipulating threads or ley lines. For this reason, it is particularly dangerous to withhold kinetic energy and should be redistributed as soon as possible else you risk dismemberment from energy escaping randomly). 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. Hey everyone! First, the magical system is based off European history and mythology. Would it be possible to gain power in your universe or is everybody limited to what talent they're born with? As Sanderson explains, magic primarily exists to create conflict in fiction. Or maybe have subtypes based on the seven deadly sins and heavenly virtues? Hard magic systems feature a strict set of parameters explained within the story to ensure that readers understand what characters fantastical powers can and cannot do. Origami, cutting, painting, burning. Group A (Comment if you have a better name), They cant stop their emotion from changing surfacing and tend to be extra emotional. Both Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender are hard magic systems, because they explain magic and its rules to the audience. Characters could control those energies by some kind of telekinesis (Thoughts & will) plus Mana energy. Caster is Shocker, Given is Air and Weather In your case, how exactly the will affects something: Though this is all tentative, Id probably categorize it into two types: warp threads (like the structural threads you mentioned) for physical spells and weft threads for nonphysical spells. Its easy to extrapolate all the basic uses of this magic system. Its no surprise the avatar state causes plot holes during Avatar: The Legend of Korra. Could you chip in? Thanks again for the advice! Thats really cool. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. Rituals are easy to execute, but can be dangerous. Im definitely not saying these problems are insurmountable, just that I do need to think a lot about them. So, early on in our history, humanity was deemed too dangerous to stay in the greater multiverse. Really sorry about the length but Im really happy with this magic system and am wondering what other people might think of it- and the people here seem like they know what theyre talking about and are enthusiastic to hear more. If you have multiple races, or even species, who can wield magic, are there any differences between the different races and species? For some systems it could be obvious: for example, as I understand, in the Avatar those guys can control existing non-magical things (water, air, fire, earth). Which is why you need to attach a heavy price. When picking the powers and spells for your magic system you'll have to keep in mind a few things. That can create an interesting dilemma if a person primarily driven by a particular emotion starts to lose it, how likely are they to remain committed to their goals? Sandersons Second Law 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! Hard magic systems provide interesting limitations that allow your protagonist to solve problems using their own wits, not raw magical power. Project | Fire | Destroy | Item Who will use magic: the protagonist (hard magic), or the antagonist / side characters (soft magic)? 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? Figured out the important themes and used them to craft something that fits more within the setting. The Living Mother may hardly notice a tiny imbalance such as this. The story is at a climax when emotions are always high? In time cities arise around these safe harbors, and ever so slowly life begins again. 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. Spells are also incredibly varied, which makes adding randomized details a . I guess its similar in its outward effects to the Avatar magic system, but youll see that its actually quite different. Most magic systems used in medievalish fantasy have groups of people with access to the same spells and abilities, though their talent with magic will vary. Wind, or life, or just movement? Otherwise, how can the effect of the knot be decided? 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. Creating a rational magic system allows you to add realism and depth to your world while still leaving room for new and interesting changes. The readers should, after reading a bit of the story, develop an understanding for how people do magic. Theres not much description sticking in my mind about the details of the contest, which tends to indicate to me how orders-of-magnitude outclassed of a mismatch Tolkien considered this one on the spiritual level he viewed as most important, since if theres one thing Tolkien excels at, its birlliant and poetic description of the details of those elements he viewed as important to convey in his work, which he approached with the carefully thought out professionalism he drew from his years in the academic world as professor and often chair of various university departments, most I believe relating to linguistics and literature, in particular of the Anglo-Saxon and Norse cultures (though the Welsh Mabinogion seems also to have influenced the development of Middle Earth and in fact some of the names, particularly of the Dwarves, were lifted directly from there check the Mabinogi of KILHWCH AND OLWEN; OR THE TWRCH TRWYTH, which basically explains the collection of the legendary royal treasures in terms of a pig hunt which in turn was demanded by the Bad-guy Ogre Father of the Heros Love Interest (basically because he was prophesied to, um, you know, DIE when his daughter was married, so he was REALLY interested in being as difficult a crusty old bastard as possible in terms of legendarily impossible tasks he was going to demand of his prospective son-in-law as the bride price. Some prices for their cooperation can even be steep, such as sacrificing something precious or offering up ones soul. ), Given how late it is, I hope this makes SOME sort of sense :-S. Thanks alot for your thoughts, it looks interesting! This may or may not be an insuperable obstacle. Their technology and motivations could be very different from human ideas. As long as you dont change fundamental things in the universe, theres no problem with making enough changes to slip your magical or psychic powers in. When the nanites were first created, their creators by which I dont mean their society, but their specific inventors failed to contain them, resulting in a plague similar to the Grey Death. 9. 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. 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. Imagine if Harry Potter could vanquish Voldemort in the first chapter just by making up a spell called antagonist defeatium. Alrighty, its late and Im tired. In the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo, all Grisha have to serve the King. Spell lists ala D&D can be fun, but spell creation in a limited system can be very flavorful. Thats what its all about. Its important to define what the magic user can manipulate and how/why. The Lord of the Rings is a low magic setting, but it is a high fantasy setting. If a character casts spells with a combination of substances, dance moves, and symbols drawn in charcoal, assign a role to each component. Only one. We were ripped out of the (literal) fabric of reality, shaped into a forbidden-to-visit pocket dimension. But here is the problem since those energies are not strictly relates to the non-magical substances, Im not quite clear how exactly my energies will affect characters. The Way of King s is one of the most renowned fantasy novels to date. 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). 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. 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. 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. Why should I only have one source of magic? Every person who attempts this dies, without fail. Probably best if I give you an example. Life is responsible for, well, life and health. All other alien races find our violent behavior disgusting and, honestly? Mistings have to ingest and burn these metals in order to use their powers. 2) Paper. 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 one side summons up a lot of spirits, they inadvertently give more available energy to those who channel it from the surrounding area. In Brandon Sandersons Mistborn Series, characters acquire magic by imbibing small amounts of metals and burning them once theyre consumed. Not that hard to extrapolate. Making sense in case of magic means being constant. I gave the most basic rundown I could. Would the odds be equal or would the magic wielder always have the upper hand? Magicians have no power of their own except through the spirits they command. 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. And sorry about the length of this comment. EASTERN THUNDERER, based off of Eastern dragons in design, likely chance of getting weak to strong Shocker magic, rare-ish to moderate chance of getting magic of another Type as well, Learns magic a bit more slowly than other races. Too Trope-ish?? ), revising, scrapping, re-revising, Because I never seem to do anything by halves, my original idea for my book has spiraled out of control into a series, set in a Sanderson-esque system of loosely connected worlds. Teleportation is hardest to work out, because it includes the idea that you can pull a body apart and put it back together without any consequences. While it can be fun to have wacky spells, wouldnt it be even cooler if you could reveal how your wacky spells all click together? Thats not exactly what I mean Im talking about low-level How. They dont pay with utter exhaustion or even by losing several years of their life, because of the power they wield. Once you've figured out who can wield it it's time to figure out how they can wield it. But in case of computer game, need to implement those rules somehow. If you dont have enough power to spare, the spell fizzles. Slytherin still could breed dark wizards and witches perhaps they have a tendency towards dark magic. If so, what differentiates them? Youll have to figure out exactly what characteristic weft threads are adding, but thats completely doable. Though, Im thinking about giving them a secret ability that hasnt been discovered yet because theyre so rare. 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. How does the energy reach an object (including a brain) without affecting and potentially being dissipated by everything in the way (including air)? Can ones magical abilities be stolen or suppressed through fantastical or physical means? The definitions for these are as follows: So the way the world works is that this physical world we see and interact with is one of an infinite number, which exists on one of the 12 Planes of Existence. If you use this source, decide why reality is so malleable is everyone in a dream or a virtual reality game? Sandersons First Law Robert Asprins MYTH novels actually do a good job limiting magic in a similar way. Just a drop in, but your explanation of the plant use in relation to magic should be credited to Robin McKinleys use of it in the Hero and the Crown when the MC eats the Surka plant.. it almost seems like this is your reference base. Because magic is a form of power, it often explores related themes such as greed, privilege, and oppression. GIVEN: obtained magic through an illegal potion or spell cast by a very powerful mage. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. 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. Magic systems can even serve as a vehicle for theme, exploring topics such as power, privilege, oppression, and greed.