Magic in balance.

[Logos&Eidos]

How does one balance a magic a system?

This issue has been racking my brain...especially since I have multiple magic systems at play and only one of the feels out of whack.

the divine magic is a subtle thing attained through a connection to the numinous power of A God. This is balanced. The power bestowed is determined by the purview of the god.

there is an inner form of magic. which is really just a person training themselves to unlock the full capabilities of the mind and body. this balanced. because no matter how maximised a person is one still just shoot them.

there are demons and their demi-mortal offspring. their magic is technically not even magic at all. Demon are native to a fluid and mercurial realm and their physiology is reflective of this. When a demon crosses over it has to possess ( hybridises with) an indigenous and compatible life form or die from a kind of petrification. A demon in the physical world manifests it's natural physical abilities as supernatural phenomenon. this balanced because even the demons with forms comparable to Kaiju are still physical beings and they can be shot...or punched in the face by giant robots.

Mortal-Sorcery, the set of supernatural abilities that by birth and or training are accessible by the mortal races. Has proven rather difficult to both design and balance.

My first iteration was fueled by the chaos flowing through the cosmos. I had throw that out because once I thought of the costs and ramifications( damn the Writing Excuses) I realized that it let people do to much.

The second iteration was based around a rather StarWars-ish idea of a cosmic force field. control the field controlled everything caught in it. This worked... better but still felt a little to powerful.

The Third iteration is based on the ability to translate thought and or will into a tangible physical Force; how or why this works I'm not quite sure. Positive force nurtures and
enhances,negative causes degeneration and negation. neutral force really just moves stuff around,essentially being kinetic energy/gravity/inertia rolled into one.

The third iteration is the most balanced...however I still kinda need sorcery/ psi to do more stuff. Like teleportation clairvoyance and telepathy. maybe even alchemical transmutations.

Opinions,advice,help?

 

[Svrtnsse]

Out of curiosity, is this system primarily intended for stories/fiction or is it meant for gaming of some kind?

On to the topic, what is the difference between "inner magic" and "mortal sorcery"? Is the inner magic mainly an exceptional form of normal physical abilities or is it more than that?

As for balancing mortal sorcery, I get the feeling what you're thinking of here is a flaw/drawback of some kind to associate with this form of magic. I'm liking the third iteration with translating thought into action. If you don't want it to be too overpowered but still powerful you could limit the art by the skill/discipline required to use it. It may be theoretically possible for anyone to use the skill but using it at a higher level requires greater skill/training/discipline.

Finally, if it's for a story, keep in mind that the requirements for balance are different to what they are if you're balancing for gaming. When you're making up a story you have control over many more variables than you do if you design a game system (they key here is control and not the number of variables).

 

[wordwalker]

In other words, in a story it's okay to have one branch of magic be weaker or more limited than others-- just show that most mages flock to the stronger ones and leave the lesser branches for whoever cares most about its specialties. (That's at least if they have a choice; limited innate Gifts or rarity of proper training may mean one branch is stronger but still not common. Maybe demon magic almost always wins, and it's a good thing there isn't much of it.)

All that matters is that your story uses those differences.

 

[Terry Greer]

I've found the best way of balancing magic is to have it exert a cost on the caster as if carrying out a physical activity.

E.g. with someone who can control fire:

creating a small flame such as that from a match is then the same as if picking up a bag of sugar - easily done - and can be kept up for long stretches of time.

creating a larger flame such as a campfire to cook over - is then like moving a table - you can do it relatively easilly - but it tires you out if you do it for more than a hour or so.

creating a bonfire would be very tiring - like pushing a car for a hundred yards or so.

Larger flames could exhaust the caster for hours - and a really monumental action would cause them to go into a coma - or even worse (but they could do it if needs were great)

 

[Terry Greer]

I always like having an explanation for what the magic is actually doing.
For example:

Heat is caused by making things vibrate very fast.
Light is caused by converting energy from one form to another (so it might cool down an area that was being lit).
Possessing a character is affecting the electrons in the recipient's brain.
Lightning by altering static chargers
Mist is caused by altering the air pressure in an area
etc.

Note I don't ever explain this - this is fantasy after all - but having that internal model of what is going on helps me to gauge the magnitude of the effect and the toll or way it affects the caster. I also find it useful for comparing different magic systems as it provides a way of abstracting how much energy is required for each.

 

[Nagash]

Gotta agree with Terry here - magic wielding gotta have a price for the wizard. In many magic systems (i'm thinking about Warcraft's), dealing with tremendous amounts of arcane magic is the best way to be consumed - at best - or mutate into some kind of demonic entity. Magic corrupts - hence the notion that one must handle it with caution and most of all, restraint.

 

[Logos&Eidos]

Out of curiosity, is this system primarily intended for stories/fiction or is it meant for gaming of some kind?

On to the topic, what is the difference between "inner magic" and "mortal sorcery"? Is the inner magic mainly an exceptional form of normal physical abilities or is it more than that?

As for balancing mortal sorcery, I get the feeling what you're thinking of here is a flaw/drawback of some kind to associate with this form of magic. I'm liking the third iteration with translating thought into action. If you don't want it to be too overpowered but still powerful you could limit the art by the skill/discipline required to use it. It may be theoretically possible for anyone to use the skill but using it at a higher level requires greater skill/training/discipline.

Finally, if it's for a story, keep in mind that the requirements for balance are different to what they are if you're balancing for gaming. When you're making up a story you have control over many more variables than you do if you design a game system (they key here is control and not the number of variables).

Inner magic is being Batman! Well he's the best western example that I could think of. It's an in universe justification for the trope of characters through sheer will,training and guts! Doing things that border on and at time cross into the range of superhuman.

Mortal-Sorcery is something completely supernatural. Iteration three, translation of thought into action is the most balanced with the rest of the world. I may just have "cut" some of intended abilities of mortal-sorcery,like clairvoyant observation and tracking. And maybe long range teleportation and or portals.

What I'm doing is the world-building for a story,though I wouldn't mind seeing it as a campaign setting one day.

 

[Logos&Eidos]

I always like having an explanation for what the magic is actually doing.
For example:

Heat is caused by making things vibrate very fast.
Light is caused by converting energy from one form to another (so it might cool down an area that was being lit).
Possessing a character is affecting the electrons in the recipient's brain.
Lightning by altering static chargers
Mist is caused by altering the air pressure in an area
etc.

Note I don't ever explain this - this is fantasy after all - but having that internal model of what is going on helps me to gauge the magnitude of the effect and the toll or way it affects the caster. I also find it useful for comparing different magic systems as it provides a way of abstracting how much energy is required for each.

Well going with iteration three of mortal-sorcery, the translation of positive, negative and neutral psychic energy into physical forces. I can explain how a lot of current spells work.

Positive energy creates and enhances. All the sorcery involved with physical augmentation or healing is fueled by this. Making crops grow faster and more nutritiously.

Negative energy is entropic it warps and decays. all sorcery that deals with degeneration or negation is field by this.

Neutral energy is a force of impulsion and mediation. it servers as a mediator between the forces of creation and destruction. Makes them work together... rather than trying to annihilate each other. I'm not shore what the neutral forces more abstract and ethereal uses and manifestations could be. but telekinesis and force-blasts are definitely the most basic.

Telepathy and being and sense minds through a kind of psychic radar, made sense in the context of the magic-system. Sorcery is the translation of psychic energy (of which thoughts are made) into physical effects. Mental communication and detection seemed like a very basic and possibly precursory set of abilities to have.