You can also read his books to see his systems in action; personally I recommend Elantris. In fact, they are drawing on residual energy left behind when a spirit interacts with the human world. For telepathy and telekinesis, you mention sources of energy. This was, oh, maybe sixth on the list of fourteen or fifteen legendary impossibilities he demanded, all in the essentially same format. 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? That would then explain why accidential magic can happen when someone is enraged or otherwise under emotional pressure its triggered subconsciously. Everyone has their own power level amount of energy they can produce in one go. How does the energy reach an object (including a brain) without affecting and potentially being dissipated by everything in the way (including air)? These individualized magic systems can be a great way to make characters stand out, but they also come with their own challenges. If your characters will use magic to resolve that conflict, then establishing a clear set of rules for your magic system is necessary to avoid cheapening tension via contrived magical solutions. And after reading this article, Ive found there is one important question missing: How exactly magic affects the world? SWAMP, kind of based off of iguanas in design, rare chance of getting magic. (The amount of waste we produce is naturally less than the amount of food or liquid we consume, so again do they have a non-scientific explanation, or if they do have a scientific explanation, why do they not consider the same thing happening in plants? What important historical events in your story world were affected by the use (or failure to use) magic? Absorb Project Summon Dispel Protect Destroy Restore. Ill have to remember I can do that if necessary. Plot-wise, yes. 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. How was magic created? Now the magic is tied directly to ones own life force, the more magic they use the weaker their magic becomes and the weaker they become, with rest their strength will come back but their magic will not and if they run out means they used up their entire life force so they die and the only known way to regain all their magic and life force is to take the life of another completely consuming their victims life force\magic. Here, you would have to add something else, perhaps a boost a telepath receives (again, remember the unused potential of muscles, if you want to), which allows for them to reach out and tap into another brain. Pick just one source; Ill discuss how to add variety to your magic system in the next section. Yes, that kind of priest would merely be concerned with problems with the locals, then their holy magic can be far more generic and not tied to a god. And if youre a goddamn god with a controller, it can pull a star destroyer into a planet while at the same time swatting aside oodles of TIE-Fighters (still the only sore point in The Force Unleashed 1 for me). 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. They're overall stregenth of that ability is average. If a character casts spells with a combination of substances, dance moves, and symbols drawn in charcoal, assign a role to each component. Motion/kinetic energy: you stop an object in its tracks. Oh, I see what I missed last time. The source should give you an idea for how it might become available. What themes will your magic system discuss? A water line would provide energy for a water mage, an earth line for an earth mage, and so on. I just made it up, I had no idea there was a magic system out there that was so similar. As far as the potions issue, again, these are based off historical ideas about magic and potions. Magic does exist and it follows rules is the first rule of a rational system. How to Create an Eclectic Magic System For those who want casting to look or work a certain way, I created another method that starts with the casting and works backwards. What I dont agree with is the idea that there is somehow an objective way to determine whether the rules of magic make sense or not, as magic isnt real and what is considered natural is culture-dependent. Will have to give it some thought. this is all super helpful! The audience has no idea what they can do other than what theyve been directly told, so if they do anything new in a crisis, it will look like a deus ex machina. It is inspired from some character sheets that ask you a series of questions. Those rules are established within the story (unlike underlying rules with Rowling might have for her magic or Lucas might have had for the Force), so at least one character must know them or learn about them as the plot develops. and much if not all this her non original content that she is taking from is founded in actual fairy tales with absolutely no magical or rational system. 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. man to machine interfaces, nanites cluster on nerve ending allowed some individuals to easily interact with ancient tech, or even graft it into their bodies. Now I think I covered everything, please comment, I accept anything you want to contribute, thank you. That is, unless you have a good relationship with him. Witches and wizards need to learn each spell individually and practice speaking their enchantments in exactly the right way in order to achieve the intended results. This curse infects at random, leaving those infected without the memories of their past selves. Because there is no sunlight and no heat, the water is frozen and white, and blankets the ground. 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. Im not a novel writer, but I am a worldbuilder. Thank you Cay, for making me think more about what i want my theme to be. Theres hardly a limit, every wizard and witch (once adult) seems pretty much capable of using all spells (although experience and practice sure play a role). If you want to create a hard magic system, you need to create a specific logic that serves as the foundation for the entire system. 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). Using magic is physically draining. So then, my idea was that even though minds were separate from bodies, they were normally closely tied so they could interact, which was why telepathy and telekinesis had things such as limits based on physical distance. Anyone who uses the magic of these Towers will have a name that corresponds to the pair, not just the Tower they draw from. What effect does the use of magic have on the user? 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. Wizards arent included in this; as far as we know, you cant just simmer a wizard in a pot for a few days and end up with a magic potion. Now, for your first comment about my magic system, it is true I might be overthinking it (people have told me that before). You need to think it through and you need to make it understandable for the reader, because otherwise they cant imagine your world and they cant dive into it which is why people read stories. Originally I was going to go with energy, but thats way too vague. Many systems treat magic as energy similar to heat, magnetism, electricity, or movement. Also Im thinking about the idea when none of characters can store those energy. ^.^ Generate random names for characters, events, taverns, etc. That was exactly what i thought! That will keep your characters from going deus ex machina at you (meaning suddenly doing something they shouldnt be able to, just because you need them to). to be a Mind, whose role is to Think; and the Magic comes when it is possible to use that Thinking to affect what Is and what is possible to Be. Vampires are commonly believed to be soulless, but in reality their human soul was replaced by a vampire soul, which alters their personality, gives them vampire powers and renders them incapable of casting any spells. Then I really thought about the setting and that would breakwell, everything. There is no right way to build a magic system. I would take a step back from good and bad, first of all. However, they seem to require non-biological properties, so they probably wouldnt evolve naturally. 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. Usually, magic comes from magic users, the gods, magical creatures, or a specific substance. Someone could gain double the magic in half the time. I originally wanted a free form system where just about anything was possible. Humanity loses control of the system, the factories start belching out nanites into the atmosphere, these new nanites containing instructions that are corrupted, missing a few bytes here and or even having added a few. 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. No, the water is surely a curse and warning from the mother, who draws the water from the plants themselves as a punishment for stealing the most precious of energy, sunlight itself. 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. What kind of defensive and offensive things can they do? Why are some people spell book readers but not others? You just need a set of guidelines that all of your spirits/nymphs follow. What can your high fantasy magic do as in abilities and cant do like limitations? but gods, spirits, and demons can. Its not enough to have a source of magic. 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. In this world, soon to be named, certain people have access to an energy that is the personification of nature. 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. When shes not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. 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. Can ones magical abilities be stolen or suppressed through fantastical or physical means? However, even if we have energy available, there is still always the problem of directing it. If every spell casts creates a knot that must result in the opposite effect happening then the incentive to kill becomes too great. Reversing entropy would be a matter of gestures as well as speeding it up. In the Harry Potter universe, magic works in several different ways: These three sets of rules dont appear related to each other. Does it seem too unpredictable? Last, heres a fun chart showing the details of magic systems in the most popular works. You make good points about the gap between different kinds of magic. Humans cant curse (or maybe they just didnt figure it out yet!) Substances like these make it easy to put limits on the amount of magic used just limit the substance. (I wont deal with it here and now, as this reply is getting too long already and you never mentioned it in your comment). Its easy to mix up rational magic with whats often referred to as hard magic. If you dont have enough power to spare, the spell fizzles. Humans have no idea. 3. Mana manipulation is a basic form of magic (though anyone can learn this ability through time and training without doing magic at all. I also thought about adding elementals (People that impersonate a specific emotion and can change when overloaded with emotion) and some lore. Interferers cant store energy like Conduits, so they have to use all of what they have in a few minutes or it explodes out of them randomly. Different kinds of people use magic in different ways. 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. She might exchange one persons hand for anothers, but she might not deem two lives equal. From this point onwards paint is incorporated into science and technology. A primary example of soft magic would be that which Gandalf practices in The Lord of the Rings. Magic certain individuals acquire the ability to issue new instructions to existing nanites, whether in the environment or within others bodies. Okay, now that thats our of the way Are all individuals able to tap into the magic source or only a lucky few? The answer to which one (or more) to pick is again entirely dependent on what you need from your magic in your story universe. Other than that your spells can be pretty much anything, from destructive to healing spells, elemental to demonic spells and from conjurations to enchantments. Check out my other generators 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 Interesting perspective on the Harry Potter magical system. Neither hard magic nor soft magic are a fashion. 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). For Time and Space, Keeper will be the name. Once eaten, the magical substance builds up in their systems until they focus their will to cast magic. And there are laws to the magic, they may not be as strict as some novels and series, but they are there. 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. Ask yourself what kind of problems magic will cause your protagonists, and whether your antagonist will use magic to achieve their goals. Hey! magic system. Check out the Magic Generator Pack . Im working on setting up a writing blog on WordPress, mirroring it to tumblr. For instance: a person who has long hair could pluck a strand and send paint through it causing it to straiten making a weapon hard to see or maybe if you can use paint on something you arent touching you could carry a bag of sand around and channel paint into it giving you the power to manipulate it a will. In real history governments & monarchies & over influential groups typically only become so due to Power, which they get from either, Food, Armies, Technology or Money (and usually one of those can help get you any of the others)- but in a fantasy world Magic would be on that list (the extent of which would depend on its abilities but regardless a group of Mages would without a doubt. 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. Can they absorb a gust the then use that to start a fire, or can they only use it to create a stronger gust? (For example, no effects that cover too large an area or are too far from the caster or use too much energy). The random Magic Type Generator is a free online tool that lets you generate random Magic Type content for your fantasy or writing project with the click of a button. I want to encourage writers and worldbuilders to stray from this formula. Paint is a very volatile substance that if held can burn off skin Lets say powers are granted by a changing lineup of gods, and the ocean goddess has three children that control the wind, waves, and depths. Paint can depend on someones mental state and will Perhaps Mages can use all the magical abilities, but CHOOSE to specialize? In the fourth book, Harry doesnt know any flying spells, so he uses the Summoning Spell to call his broomstick. you have to touch the person youre putting to sleep or touch the demon youre pacifying. This system was mostly me being annoyed that magic usually violates the Law of Conservation of Energy, so I made a system built around that principal (until it spiraled out of control) 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). Holy magic is more reliable, but hard to learn. The protagonists wording must be airtight, because the djinni will look for loopholes. Origami, cutting, painting, burning. In my plant-based system, there could be a lineage with the biological adaptation to absorb the magical substance directly, without using the plant as an intermediary. Magicians have no power of their own except through the spirits they command. Spell lists ala D&D can be fun, but spell creation in a limited system can be very flavorful. You can also use that fickleness, maybe, and some other things this answer mentioned, to weave in logical limitations on emotion-based magic that will make it perhaps more palatable to your readersin fact, in ways directly related to the example of exhaustion. In some magic systems, gods or other powerful beings are the source of all magic. The first step is building a metaphysical framework for how and why magic works. Im going for rational semi-soft I hope I pull it off. what could they have that the Mages need/want? 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). To the audience it will feel like every part fits together, even if theyre not precisely sure how. Also I like the fact that the Mages of the world are very politically influential feels so real because thats what would happen! They have to learn magic to use it. Some ideas are more fleshed out than other, if thats saying much. If they can do whatever they want with it, it sounds like conduits being a battery is the only real difference between them. Life is responsible for, well, life and health. In Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, magic comes from specific metals, like copper, tin, or aluminum. Im currently working on subtypes to it but I am miserably failing. 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. 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. Thank you so much! . In my world, priests arent like Catholic priests and all that. How would a non-magic wielder fight a magic wielder? Obviously this is another aspect which heavily depends on your story universe, but most methods can be twisted to fit. Mystical Paths A slightly humorous generator that produces new mystical practices for characters.