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. If you could, they probably wouldnt tell the students at Hogwarts. Of course, I wasnt interested in my universe following all of the laws of physics in our universe. Another option is that there is a background magic field (see the TVTropes article) present everywhere that psychics draw on. However, it makes it harder to build tension when power levels can change at any given moment as needed, especially at climaxes, where emotions will naturally be high. Not very exciting, right? Another rare one is magic transference, my idea of that one is gaining an ability that an extinct race once used, examp. I see some interesting potential with that. It does, although thats what I want to do. Hm, I had not planned on it, but it might be interesting. In your case, how exactly the will affects something: A waterbender cant control air or earth or fire. Usually, magic comes from magic users, the gods, magical creatures, or a specific substance. If you want to create a soft magic system, I have some good news: you dont need to come up with a set of systematic rules, or even an underlying logic. If anyone interested, here is description of my magic system: This generator gives you names for their various alliances, covens, and clubs. In a way you can see it as choosing between having 2 (or more) people using normal weapons to fight an enemy together. They already have enough problems with inter-house violence. Do users of angelic magic have to join some kind of religious group? That works for just Neo, but if you have many spellcasters over long periods of time, someone will be able to smash two planets together. What are those with magical powers called within your story world? Or just think up what you want to have be things that good and evil magic can do, put them in categories, and decide which good magic categories are opposites to evil magic categories, and create new areas to fill holes. If an elemental mage can only use elements which are not opposite, they have to choose between the four elements when they start training. Many systems treat magic as energy similar to heat, magnetism, electricity, or movement. Check out my other generators You can certainly use that, even though information might sometimes not be easy to find. Yeah, I think your fabric metaphor works great. ;). Furthermore, mages can form contracts with faeries (another race in my world) to harness their powers. Some feel cohesive; others feel random. If I were you, I would make sure every complication you have is something thats important to you. However, not understanding Gandalfs magic doesnt detract from the story, because the protagonists have to undergo most of their journey without Gandalfs help. Then they could connect to the energy of the other brain. The magic was based essentially off the interplay between my hereditary inclination towards poetry and a book on quantum physics Id just read entitled Space, Superspace and the Quantum Universe which explored the newly proposed theory of quantum mechanics that by some quantum physicists said by our observation of the physical universe we live in we are, in ways measurable to quantum physics, IN FACT INFLUENCING WHAT ITS STRUCTURE ACTUALLY IS. (For the record, though, strong emotion results in power use isnt actually a element I like in a system.). Vindictive/less scrupulous ones will take the opportunity to ask for more than youd normally give. I hope this is a reasonable explanation. Even though there are no physical costs to using magic, being Grisha means losing their freedom to pursue the life they wanted. Worldbuilding, Avatar, Magic, Magic Systems. Stars: Star magic draws power from the vast expanse of the cosmos, and is primarily psychic in nature. In Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson, magicians owe a demon years of their life in exchange for magic. (Currently called Reformancers, Defining and Refining) The act of changing your sight so you see physical objects as they are, without needing light (eliminates glare and shadows), and the act of changing your sight so you can see a person's inner qualities. 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. Paint is everything and everywhere. There are also spells and counter spells, and characters know when to use themtake for example when Harry accidentally levitated Ron (using levicorpusnot hard to figure out the root for that one). If you only specify one source of magic, you cant suddenly drop someone into the story who uses something different. Occasionally you may want an arbitrary system it adds humor and entertainment to Harry Potter. As this energy is formless and intangible, it is naturally attracted to your body and stored there. Humans have no idea. It could range from absolutely anything to a single effect such as moving objects or pausing time. If youre at a loss, take a page from Brandon Sandersons Mistborn series. In The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, magic comes from magical spirits like djinn. Can they simply stretch their arm, make a gesture with their hands and shoot out a ball of fire or do they need a wand do direct the magic? Why do I need spellcasters? P.S. Or it could indeed be a matter of merely thinking things into existence specific ability necessary. This ancient Wise One observed the natures tendency towards self-balancing and saw it as an Eternal Law. Second, look through all the essential pieces of spell creation and casting, and think how the casting process might fail at each step. When an Interferer discovered their ability to pull power from a Conduit and affect the world, they were shunned for interfering. Chaotic Shiny - Magic Generator Remember the problem with any kind of existing lore: someone out there whos reading your stories is an expert in it and will be pretty annoyed if you just wing it and your version has next to nothing in common with reality. I have three ways to get magic, and four types of magic, and several races of dragon. What can your high fantasy magic do as in abilities and cant do like limitations? However, you can mix pieces of magic plants and animals in a pot and get powerful effects. The story is at a climax when emotions are always high? Should I divide my Mages into sub-classes (similar to Sandersons Mistborn)?? However, most people wont deviate from what they know to work to avoid wasting their time on a failed ritual or potentially hazardous consequences. Here are some examples of magical effects: In The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.J. Jemisin, orogenes can manipulate the earth. However, certainly Interferers might be rewriting history to make themselves look better. Dryads represent trees but usually can move about unless they are hamadryads which are locked to a particular tree than a tree type. 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 crazy long but definitely adds logic to the system :D and its a nerdy heaven. And of course, if magic is viewed as an alternate system of physics theres no reason why physics has to match the naive categories of intelligent beings; think of how weird quantum physics seems, for instance. However, they seem to require non-biological properties, so they probably wouldnt evolve naturally. Like this, the Avatar system makes it clear where the limits are, for everyone but the Avatar. ), 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. Learning about one doesnt give a better understanding of another. Broken cities, old equipment, enchanted odds and ends from modern society. Also Im thinking about the idea when none of characters can store those energy. If there are no downsides to using magic, your protagonists might soon become overpowered, able to solve any problem with the wave of a wand. The other is one of my own magic systems, as I want to hear what others think about it, especially in terms of this article. How big or small a role it plays in that story is completely up to you - but no matter what kind of magic system you're devising, you need to know it inside and out. Does it just move objects/parts of object? Whether with words, gestures, complicated rituals, or just pure thinking, the idea that someone can control reality with their mind is at the base of every magical system. A wizard casts a powerful spell. And thanks to Oren for asking the obvious question and fueling my train of thought. Combustial (fire) There are 4 main types of magic systems in fantasy. If your mage has no limits to their powers, where would the conflict be? This article is very normative and I think its furthers clich. If youre curious about setting/technological era, itll take place in two time periods; one in what would be Victorian times in our world, one in WWII time period. If one side summons up a lot of spirits, they inadvertently give more available energy to those who channel it from the surrounding area. Some well-known examples of hard magic systems: In Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, magic is like chemistry. Its a solid premise, and Im sure youll do amazing things with it. Taking this further would logical lead to even more powerful techniques, using vacuums to burst eardrums, rupture lungs, and using air pressure to launch objects in ways similar to the people that build vacuum cannons that launch ping pong balls at supersonic speeds. In a superpower system, spells are unique to each individual. Generate a random star system, including primary planet . If it was merely about Harry learning magic more of that logic would be needed. 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. Below, Ive outlined six general steps you can follow to forge an effective magic system for your story. It doesn't have to be something natural either, it could be a machine or body enhancement, like a tattoo. I forgot Theosophy! Lets delve further into this topic together. Are there other applications that would make sense? To do this, I would need to work out whether adding the sorts of new particles and forces needed for this scenario to what exists in real life can be done in some mathematically consistent way. Or you go back to the idea that words shape the world, which is why we have the word enchantment which comes from chanting. Its the same way you need to build your world logical for a novel. Further into the future two young men of solitude manage to unlock the greatest fighting potential by breaking mental barriers making them the strongest people to exist since Black and White but they have a fight on morality causing a great war. Their powers go far beyond what has ever been shown before and theres no repercussions for them. Now, there is a scene in the Silmarillion where Luthien goes to rescue Beren, the mortal man she loves, from the dungeons of Sauron (who is a corrupted angelic spirit somewhere around the same level in the angelic hierarchy that her mother occupies on the good side); and in the process she engages in a duel of song with Sauron himself, since song/music is the primary metaphor Tolkien chose to express the use of this spiritual/magical energy in the writings which were collected into the Silmarillion. The younger generation tend to favour unconventional weapons. Now its time to decide why magic cant do anything and everything the spellcaster wants, whenever they want. The houses are merely there to spark rivalry, they have no deeper meaning for the magic or the story. From the other side, putting lot of fire energy into single point will produce real fire, moving air energies will make air blows. All are well known for changing things theyre associated with into other things or even changing other women into one of them, so that can be fun. Building Your Own Hard Magic System. Would it be possible to gain power in your universe or is everybody limited to what talent they're born with? Forms of moon magic include illusion magic, shadow magic, and spirit magic. Not that hard to extrapolate. 6 Key Questions To Ask When Creating A Magic System If you are not creating a game, where you want a firemage be as powerful as a dark wizard for balancing sake, your magic doesnt need to be symmetrical. 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. The issues with this idea are a) adding more complexity to my magic system and b) giving more power to the side of the war that directly contracts spirits. Probably best if I give you an example. I think that Ill change the names to be about the Towers, instead of what I have now. Want an offline version of this generator with editing, printing and saving? I just replied to your last post, but about the different cultures have different ideas of what makes sense, the point about a rational system is that it must make sense to the reader. And I had trouble writing with what nature aspects nymphs, dryads, and naiads would relate to, so I went with that. It wasnt meant to be a rational system (although the EU developed it into one and, no, Im not going into the midichlorian desaster), it was simple old-fashioned fairy-tale magic, the kind which does exactly what the heroes need it to do. What I really dont like about this article is the formula on how to create a magic system. :-), Thanks! Disadvantages: it makes your paint harder to control, if your will is weak your contractor could go against you, your contractor gets to present you with the deals and if you dont like them there is nothing you can do about it, harm to your contractor results in harm to your soul. For every energy type, there are only 3 things you can do with the energy. Someone else is needed. Then use the answer to characterize all of your nature spirits. The person who got the powers is called the Given. There are plenty of sources you can use, like bodily energies, energies in the air, power bestowed by the gods, powers within blood, pools of magic in the world, a worldwide life force, magical artifacts and so on. Sure, go ahead. Ill give a quick(ish) rundown of the basic foundation that lays the groundwork that I have so far for the magic system, Ill go into more detail if anyones interested. Perhaps, a ritual needs chants which will take most of the night. Regardless, having nature spirits of various kinds that have power related to their aspect of nature is completely reasonable. This allows for the reader to know what is or isnt possible. Telekinesis: You mention psychics using their own energy for telekinesis. It is the rarest of the Primals to be connected to. He was inspired with the observation that this is the Living Mother who is removing water and redistributing it to restore a balance. Also I like the fact that the Mages of the world are very politically influential feels so real because thats what would happen! Magic System Generator Perchance Magic System Generator This magic system focuses on manipulating luck. the frequent earthquakes that break up the surface of the earth and reshape it releasing gasses from below. It depends on how you build up your magic system. Runes are one example which are used a lot, as are crystals and various (unique) artifacts. That means every control over them would be on the molecular level, manipulating the molecules and atoms to speed up or slow down or (for changes) change their configuration. But we know some things. Thelema, Goetia, Gematria, Thaumaturgy, Alchemy, Hermeticism? Sandersons Mistborn series and Stormlight Archive both contain excellent examples of hard magic systems. People who practice this form of magic are called lucalurgists. 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. Meanwhile, most people selected for magic by the nanites didnt know what was happening they might have been able to make better guesses than people now, but next to surviving the end of their world didnt devote a lot of thought to it. Its not enough to have a source of magic. 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! How to Create a Magic System in Six Simple Steps A rational magic system is one where every spell is guided by the same metaphysical laws. You could just, you know, move out of the way? Its at its strongest during a thunderstorm and is the most dynamic of the Primals, as the mage is always connected to the Primal at a given time. Not sure what I mean? Magic is part of an enormous range of stories, but finding 2 stories which use the same magic system isn't as easy as it may sound. After giving it some thought, I think the spirits will take memories as payment. Luckily for the majority of the population of the Voden Imperium, the nanites are happy to sit mostly dormant, quietly replicating away. Some plants and animals have magic inherently inside them, creating a variety of results. However, a few benders can bend their element when its in a different form or less pure. Depending on where the clusters are and how they are structured different effects emerge: I remember a HP fan-fiction where Harry developed two spells into some kind of magical arms he could call up at will to help with magic or protect himself by picking up half a dozen objects he could throw into the path of a spell or weapon. How was magic created? Cool system, sounds like it has great story possibilities. In fact, I suspect it might make more sense than what Chris Winkle says in the original article. Its way too easy for me to make everything very logical with a specific and predictable reaction to every action, which is why Im trying to challenge myself with a more whimsical(?) That wall of gobbldygook was as far as i got (there were a few story bits though; going to one of the factories and contending with the burgeoning AIs, people with unflattering mutations being exiled or outright killed, fear of the outside and of the disease, the worry that the holy artifact gifted by the gods(the jammers) is growing dim, whatever). 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. These properties can give limitations but also make some stronger. Here are four common categories you can consider. As such, a being of the Physical Plane cannot exist in a Higher Plane, as their Consiousness isnt on a high enough leven to be able to sustain itself, you wouldnt even be able to think of yourself as an actual being, and so you just, cease to exists. Very interesting system youre developing, I really like that it comes from a disease. In this case, rational, soft, and hard come from Brandon Sanderson. There are hundreds or even thousands of magical techniques and spells that a magician can learn. As fun as fantastical powers can be to write, crafting your magic system with care is key. Those who dont contain their power are simple called Unchained, with the name of their source before or after the Unchained, if you want to designate it further. what could they have that the Mages need/want? The jammers are slowly getting weaker, and the nanites, while the have mostly settled in these past centuries, slowly encroach upon the population. Bit of background on the names, also random worldbuilding you can skip: Conduits were though to be channeling the energy of the gods, as when they are full they glow slightly but Conduits cant do anything with their energy by themselves. The source should give you an idea for how it might become available. 9. Although, I have made some changes. Nevertheless, you will always introduce something which, as far as we know, does not exist in reality. The Harry Potter series is a splendid examplewe know what spells Harry can do, while we never find out the exact bounds of Voldemorts magical abilities. We accept that our universe works the way it does without necessarily knowing which physical law is at work at any given time in any given thing happening. That also means that magic is an entity of its own, hence experimenting with it can be highly dangerous. I have two things to talk about. However, scholars and Wise Ones know that harnessing sunlight is possible, for virtually every plant known to this world is more than capable of harnessing sunlight, and does so continuously, every day. The way it goes is that the universe of our perception is just a projection, an illusion if you will, of the real World, the Sea of Energy. Human variation in magical ability is determined by how much excess soul they have, after running all of their brain activity. Learn the most recent fiction marketing tactics, Amazon algorithm deep-dive, with case studies, & more. Dont feel discouraged by the problems of your first draft, remember that you will solve them later. Without the explanation you added (glutton for punishment), that sounds more like someone who consumes a lot. You could explain telekinesis (telepathy, too, I guess) with having invisible energy arms which are connected to your body and grab the object in question (or create a connection to another being for telepathy).