# Describe your magic system



## thedarknessrising (Jun 4, 2015)

I didn't see a post like this, so please forgive me if there is one.

How does magic work in your story? Is it common? Could it be learned easily? Who uses it?

In my world, magic is used by a select group of people. At the beginning of time, the gods created a race of beings that would be their representatives in the world. They called this race "elendar". The elendar devout themselves to a single god, and they draw power from them. The elendar is only as strong as their patron god. If the god were to be killed (which is possible, but extremely difficult), the elendar would lose his power and become mortal.

As time went on, the elendar grew rash and arrogant, believing themselves to be equal to the gods. They built a magnificent city, which they called Vell Khaless A Seraless. They stopped worshipping the gods, and the gods grew angry. They sent a massive red dragon to destroy the city and teach the eldar a lesson. The city burned in a night.

Realizing the error in their ways, the elendar repented, and begged forgiveness. The gods relented, and created three races for the elendar to watch over and rule: humans, dwarves, and elves. They bestowed among a few of these races a magical ability, to give them equal footing with the elendar.

Magic cannot be taught, but it _can_ be acquired through contact with a magical emblem, rune, or piece of equipement, like an enchanted sword or bewitched tomes. Magical ability is limitless. Elendar and wizards (those given powers instead of being "born" with them) can create fantastic spells of their own design. The elendar and wizards act as a guiding force in the land, interferring only in matters that affect all that live within it.


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## Gryphos (Jun 4, 2015)

In my world magic and the Occult are synonymous, and anyone can access its power if they want, but society is so fearful of its practitioners that it's international law that anyone discovered to be practicing 'the eldritch arts' can be executed without trial.

Occult energy exists in the air of the world, but not very much. So in order to use magic an occultist must first capture a large amount of concentrated Occult energy and store it in a 'vessel'. A vessel can be anything so long as it has an opened and closed state (most often occultists use pocket watches or lockets). So long as a vessel is close to them, an occultist can draw their power from it to work their magic. Vessels hence have to be refilled every so often with a simple ritual.

Ideally they would be able to store Occult energy in their body, but this isn't possible for humans to do. This is because in Occult philosophy there are three aspects of the being, and each of them have their own relationship with the Occult: the blood, the spirit and the mind.

The Blood = biological structure. Human blood is a very good catalyst/vessel of Occult energy, used in vessel-refilling rituals.
The Spirit = the inner being and shit. The human spirit is not adequate to connect with the Occult. Because of this, Occult energy cannot be stored in blood while it is within the human body, as the spirit repels it.
The mind = the mind (duh). The human mind is very able to connect with the Occult. This means that humans are able to manipulate the Occult to work spells, but also means they are vulnerable to it.

The general upshot is that humans are good at using the Occult, but their spirit won't allow them to store energy inside their body even though their blood is perfect for it, so they store Occult energy in an external vessel instead.

As to what they can do with magic, mostly it's influencing the minds of others. But also they can summon spectres and a few exceedingly powerful occultists have figured out how to conjure tentacles of Occult energy which are incredibly strong.


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## WooHooMan (Jun 4, 2015)

_How does magic work in your story?_
I based it off of wuxia martial arts.  It's a mental/spiritual thing but it's also a physical thing.  In short, it involves imposing your will onto reality, breaking the rules of nature/logic/whatever.

_Is it common?_
Not really but it's not exactly uncommon.

_Could it be learned easily?_
Easily, no.  It takes a life-long commitment just to learn a few "spells".

_Who uses it?_
The gods were, as far as anyone can tell, were the original users.  But they weren't very good.  Also, they're gone.
There are a few schools of magical arts but they also aren't very good at using magic.
Currently, there are 10 "master" magic users.  Nine of them can't really do much but the tenth has total mastery like some kind of super-wizard.  He can literally do anything.


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## DeathtoTrite (Jun 4, 2015)

Any feedback is very welcome! I'm kind of unsure of my system and definitely could use input.

How does magic work in your story? 

That's a great question! I don't really know. Nor does anyone in-universe. There is no unifying theme. Different cultures and geographies have their own brand of magic-- in one ancient city, the waters are all tainted black and can fully sustain a human, causing this city to be gargantuan by the standards of the world. In another country, some people are born who are completely immune to fire-- they form the core of the country's army (which is quite found of greek fire)

Is it common? Not much at all. Very rarely is it the kind of WMD's you find in say, Eragon. It does vary in prevalence from country to country, so some cultures basically every shaman is a "caster" in a sense. Other forms of magic, however, can 
manifest themselves in impossibly small numbers.

Could it be learned easily? Again, varies. Some of the skills- reading auguries in blood, creating wickerman, etc. can be learned, albeit with great difficulty. Others, however, are purely by birth (with subsequent training)

Who uses it? Depends on what the magic is useful for, the cost of the magic, etc.

I'm going for a system that is very diverse without any great "and this is how it all connects and why this particular form of magic is superior". There's a thin line between what works as magic and what is just superstition. Thoughts?


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## skip.knox (Jun 5, 2015)

I have a pseudo-scientific magical system, with stuff like phlogiston and aether. But it takes many centuries before people are able to detect these forces and to formulate theories to explain them.

Before that time, there were many theories about what magic is and why it works. Like most theories, each got some things right and some things wrong. The theories ranged from the notion that magic was a function of the individual--what I call "heroic magic"--to arcane systems such as alchemy or astrology. Or religion. 

I'm still working out details, but this approach has proved both flexible and interesting as I write individual stories. I think what sets my system apart is that it has a history. It changes over time.


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## ThinkerX (Jun 5, 2015)

Way back when - as in decades ago, my stories employed a magic system which was so much an AD&D clone you could hear the dice rolling in some of my stories.

That bothered me.  A lot.

So, I investigated the magic system in 'Warhammer Fantasy Role Play.'  An improvement, but still too...gamey.

Then I sat down, dug out a pile of quasi occult books, did a bunch of reading and a bunch of thinking.

I noticed that in the more...rational...investigations of people with psi abilities, the same talents or abilities cropped up over and over again - telekinesis, levitation, ESP, clairvoyance and its modern analog remote viewing. Lots of future divination type stuff. A few cases of teleportation and pyrokinesis.  Some cases of healing.  Not saying all or most of these claimed abilities were 'real,' but they did keep turning up (and I read...hundreds? thousands? of cases of varying quality).  So, I decided these abilities would be the ones used by the wizards of my world.  I did include spell levels of a sort, but that's kind of fluid.

At the same time, I read up on how those in the ancient world perceived magic.  Love charms.  Curses.  Shape shifting.  Healing.  And the biggie...binding spirits by knowing their 'true name.'  Get control of a 'spirit' and you could order it to do real powerful magic for you - magic far beyond the ability of a mortal sorcerer.  Reams of ancient magical texts dedicated to this.  Even makes appearances in the bible.  Thought about that for a while.

I'm also a long time reader of Lovecraft and related authors.  Many of Lovecraft's nastier creatures are...'aliens'...summoned from another dimension.  Noticed the parallels between this and the whole 'binding a spirit' / 'true name' thing.  That got added to the system...at least for the bad guy wizards.  Said conjured creatures (well some of them) are far, far more psi proficient than any human could ever hope to be.  And many of them regard humans (and like races) as bugs that need to be exterminated.  So dealings with them usually starts out 'bad' and then devolves to downright 'catastrophic.'  The very few relatively decent entities don't really do much to counter this.

But how to explain an abundance of people with turbo-charged psi abilities?  For that matter, how to explain why they were on the world?  Enter the 'ancient aliens,' beings who long ago transformed a dead planet into a living one, then populated it with lifeforms brought in from worlds they'd visited including many from earth.  The aliens technology was partly based on psi - they were innate psi users.  They decided some humans (and others) would make for fine assistants in their many projects, and used their super alien tech to imbue select humans and their descendants with psi ability.   Then they screwed up big time, and were mostly eradicated or exiled. 

So, to the things already established, I added a few more - runes and arcane rites, which are actually broken mangled pieces of the ancient aliens old tech and procedures. Lets psi types imbue objects with power - talismans, magic swords, that sort of thing.  Because this lore was mangled pretty badly through the ages, a lot of it doesn't do much of anything.  Most wizards stick with just a few that are sort of reliable.


Last, because it was cool, I tacked in illusions.


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## Feo Takahari (Jun 5, 2015)

I've done a lot of different systems, but I'm fond of the "chronowarp" in my (perpetually almost-finished) computer game _Gracie_. One of the characters can optionally be asked questions about its mechanics, which I'll stitch together here:



> It's helpful to start with what chronowarp isn't. For one thing, it's not a basic natural force like gravity. Everything, living or not, is affected by gravity to at least some degree. Nothing just shrugs it off. But chronowarp is more selective. The most basic ways of manipulating chrono-energy only affect Humans and Aetheril--in other words, intelligent beings. Animals ignore them. More advanced techniques affect animals, but have no power over plants. Still more advanced techniques affect all organic forms of life . . . From this, we can determine that chronowarp responds either to intelligence, or to some quality that correlates with intelligence.
> Of course, this leads to all sorts of wild, mystical thinking, but the study of chronowarp itself is a highly scientific endeavor. It's difficult to talk spiritually of something you can actually measure.
> A full treatment of the subject would take more time than you have available, but there are three broad categories of chrono-energy: Withering, or "red" energy primarily causes decay and destruction. Rejuvenating, or "blue" energy restores things to earlier states, and prevents things from happening. Echoing, or "green" energy causes an effect or force to repeat itself. Used properly, it can completely ignore entropy!
> Each category can be subdivided into a great many more types with their own unique properties. In the wake of the Displacement, we've also discovered a few subtypes with no obvious overtype . . .
> Aetheril are born with the ability to channel it, although not always consistently and reliably. Through study, they learned how to concentrate and store it inside certain kinds of crystals. Any Aetheril can draw it reliably from a crystal. A large minority of Humans can use the crystals as well.



Notice some giant holes there? Everything they know about magic is based on how two species use it, and they don't interact with it in quite the same way. The rules they've codified are perfectly accurate for them, but when they encounter and battle other magic-using species, they're caught off guard by things they can't do themselves and don't know how to prepare for. It's consistent, but it's not consistent with everything they thought they knew.


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## Queshire (Jun 5, 2015)

I just recently started working on the story idea involving this magic system so there's a good chance that it'll change but here's what I have so far;

There are various different types of magic and what ones you have access to has some influence on your social standing.

*Regular People* without any magic are at the lowest level socially. They're limited to only the most basic of the basic of government jobs; faceless infantry in the army, low level bureaucrats, stuff like that. However, there's various magical items or ways to get magic so it's not likely they're completely stuck in this position. Most of them are just honest, hardworking people just trying to live their lives and they're content with that even if they don't have magic. The most powerful of the regular people would have to be wealthy merchants who, despite their lack of magic, have an impressive amount of influence due to their wealth.

*Craft Mages* are the next level up and represent sort of the middle class. Anyone can become a Craft Mage. With enough dedication and / or enough experience just about any area of human endeavor can be merged with magic. There's craft mage blacksmiths, craft mage healers, craft mage soldiers, and so on. In a village the town council is normally made up of Craft Mages. Depending on their power as a craft mage they can do various things involving their craft. The simplest things are just little things that make it easier to do mundane things with their craft, such as a Craft Mage Blacksmith's magic allowing them to light their forge with ease, but more advanced Craft Mages can produce magical results with their Craft such as a Blacksmith forging a magical sword. While it is -technically- possible to become a Craft Mage in multiple crafts it is extremely rare. A legendary master Craft Mage Blacksmith might develop as a Craft Mage Swordsman as a result of obsessively testing out their own blades in their pursuit of creating the perfect blade.

*Noble Mages* are those born with a talent for magic, and since it's much more likely to be a noble mage if your parents were one it's used to split the nobility from the common folk. Noble mages can learn to be able to do what craft mages can do and without anywhere near as much trouble as a Craft Mage has to go through, though due to the fact that they specialize Craft Mages tend to be better at their own craft than a Noble Mage. What really sets Noble Mages apart from Craft Mages though is their access to Elemental Magic. Each one has an affinity for a particular element. There's fire, wind, water and so on of course, but it's more common for your initial affinity to be something like smoke, sand, lightning or so on instead of one of those "pure" elements. Your bloodline has a large influence on what affinity you get as well and the pure elements are associated with the oldest and highest ranked noble families. You'll always find that magic associated with your affinity is easiest to learn and takes notably less energy to cast than off affinity magic. There's also a similar though lesser benefit to elements closely associated with your affinity such as with a fire mage using smoke magic, however a fire mage learning smoke magic would have an easier time than a smoke mage learning fire magic since they're going from a pure element to a less pure one. It is possible to change your affinity or gain a second affinity in addition to your own, but it takes a level of dedication and effort comparable to a regular person becoming a craft mage. Finally, even among the pure elements there's two that stand above the others; Light and Darkness.

*Abstract Magic* is a subsection within the Noble Magic. Instead of dealing with a physical element such as fire it's "element" is more of an abstract thing such as time, space, order, or chaos. It is possible, but extremely rare for a Noble Mage's initial affinity to be for one of these instead of a regular element, however if you're an Abstract Mage learning Elemental Magic or an Elemental Mage learning Abstract Magic it's even more difficult than trying to learn the elemental opposite to your affinity, and so the use of Abstract Magic is usually associated with people experienced enough to be called an Archmage. The exception to this is Light or Darkness magic since those two elements are considered to overlap with Abstract Magic. As a result, learning Light or Darkness magic is often considered a gateway to learning Abstract Magic.

*Spirit Magic* Technically it'd be more precise to call it Wild Magic, however it's most commonly associated with Spirits, Spirit Magic stands outside of the established order. Things like curses, having the blood of a spirit somewhere in your family, summoning demons and so on. Since this type of magic stands outside the established hierarchy people heavily associated with it aren't often trusted.


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## Guy (Jun 5, 2015)

In my stories, magic is a natural force woven throughout the cosmos. Think of it as strings of energy. But it isn't evenly distributed. Some places have no strings. Some have strings that are too weak to be of any use. Others have strings so powerful they'd instantly fry anyone trying to access them. Other strings are just right. A sorcerer must be able the access the strings and attune himself to them. Highly skilled sorcerers can get the strings to attune to them. Not just anyone can use magic. They need a certain physiology, though I never bothered specifying exactly what that difference is. If a sorcerer doesn't want to rely on finding a proper string of magic, he must carry a repository with him -s staff, pendant, ring, amulet, etc.


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## X Equestris (Jun 5, 2015)

The ability to wield magic is relatively rare within my world.  Perhaps one percent or less of people are born with the ability to use magic, and fewer can use it a lot over a short period of time.  

Magic is tied to the Outerworld, a realm of existence beyond the physical world, and it's separated from the physical world by a sort of metaphysical wall.  It's the home of spirits, and predates the physical world.  Mages are born with an innate connection to the Outerworld, which lets them channel energy back and forth between the two realms of existence.  So a mage can bring forth thermal energy and start a fire, or send energy to the Outerworld and rapidly cool something.  

Those two examples would belong to the elemental school.  Growth magic involves things like healing (which is a difficult and time consuming process), rapidly causing plants to grow (which usually kills the plant), or reinvigorating someone who is exhausted by moving energy from the Outerworld to the physical world.  Reductive magic counters these efforts by sapping away energy and sending it back to the Outerworld.  Force magic can alter gravity within a certain area, increasing it or decreasing it.  Spirit magic or sorcery involves summoning, and sometimes binding, spirits and having them aid you.  This produces much more powerful spells, but if the spirit breaks free, one runs the risk of possession.  This school of magic is permitted, but heavily regulated, and binding spirits is prohibited.  

The last school of magic is blood magic, which is prohibited in most of the countries in my setting.  Blood serves as a conduit for magic, so using blood (in direct contact with the mage's skin) makes much more powerful spells.  Blood magic can also control minds, and cause blood vessels to burst or organs to fail.  This makes it quite dangerous, so pretty much every country that isn't a magocracy has outlawed blood magic.  

Spirits play an important role in magic.  Evil ones, typically referred to as demons, will often attempt to possess mage's via their connection to the Outerworld.  If a mage is deceived and gives in to a demon, they will become a Terror.  Such creatures can cause untold havoc, and are often difficult to kill.  Even worse, they steadily increase in power the longer they are active in the world.  Spirits may also cross into the physical world through "cracks" in the wall separating the two realms.  Their strength will decrease until they acquire a host, so good spirits will attempt to return to the Outerworld, while demons will try to possess the corpses of humans or animals, creating undead.  Demons may also try to worm their way into nonmages.  If they are successful, a vampire is created.  The subtype depends on the power of the demon, with lesser vampires being very human-like, while greater vampires appear animal-like, though they're much more powerful.

Mages are educated at the Academy of Magic and the Arcane.  This education begins when they first show signs of magic, and usually ends about ten years later.  After that point, the mage is free to choose their own path in life.  

The Order of the Watchers regulates magic and deals with threatening magic creatures.  Members of the Order can temporarily sever a mage's connection to the Outerworld, preventing the casting of spells, though this ability has a limited range.  Watchers go through trials that give them slightly increased senses, the previously mentioned spell nullification, and an immunity to blood magic.  However, they can't stop the casting of normal spells powered by blood.

Though magic is accepted by the main religion of my setting, there is still some prejudice against it and it's users, and not all of it is unfounded.  A magocracy once ruled most of the continent before its collapse, and human sacrifice and slavery, as a part of blood magic, was a big part of that.  Even in the present, there are a number of blood mage, demonic, or vampiric cults lurking in the shadows, along with other magic based dangers like Terrors, vampires, demons in physical form, the undead, werewolves, and a few species of animals that can use instinctive magic.


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## SeverinR (Jun 5, 2015)

MY magic system is has several different types.
The system that I have written most about is ID or Psi ability.
Elves are the strongest Psi users but the rarest to have it. Because their minds are centered on arcane magic. Their minds are stronger from evolution of magic, but because they focus learning so much of arcane, most elves snuff out the psi ability if they ever had it to start with.
All Psi people can communicate mentally with each other.Range of the communication depends on the strength of the psi ability and the relationship between the two people. Also if people are talking to an attacker, they will distract them, making it hard to focus on an attack. The character is learning how to control his abilities and someone attacks his soulmate girlfriend, all his friends instantly start mentally talking to him, making it hard to even form a sentence, let alone counter attack the attacker. They were afraid because he was in real fight early in the day, that he would over react.  It is a obstruction defense that would not be wise to use if someone was going to attack you, since you open up a path between the minds to communicate.)
The normal person usually has 1 major ability and one minor ability.  The MC's soulmate is a healer (major) and can read minds(minor) but her problem is, her mind reading is just a little deeper then normal mind speak, so she frequently eve drops on peoples thoughts without realizing she is doing it.
PSi ability can drive people insane if they aren't trained to deal with it. The MC is abused by a psi, to draw out his abilities, so he sees the ability as evil and reminds him of the abuse and pain. After the attack, anytime he is around people he hears a buzzing sound, the closer a person gets the louder,and the more people the louder it gets. So a crowd of people around him would be very uncomfortable.  
Once controlled they can use the buzzing to warn them of people nearby, and are able to ignore the sound if they don't need it.  Also, psi  can sense when someone else has psi ability, except that one minor ability is that their ability is masked. The MC's parents both never knew they had psi ability but had the mask, which also masked their buzz.
The psi draws energy from their body to attack or use their abilities that affect things. The MC has a special rebound defense(his major). His mind is able to reflect most of the energy and add his own to the attack. He also attacks in addition, so he over exerts himself and they fear he was damaged in the attack, when he just needed energy. Which is how they figure out the healer is his soulmate, because when he calls to her they share energy which is not common.(Just enough to keep him from passing out.) Also she heard his call at a distance that no one else could have received it.
The MC's minor is telekinesis, he saves his mother by altering the path of an arrow in flight, not drastically, just enough to fly over her head.
PSi attacks happen very fast, MC sees a bird flying towards them as the first attack hits, two students against a veteran psi, they both attack many times, and when MC collapses he looks up and sees the bird flying away. Life and death in seconds, and involved a lot of attacks.

My Second type of magic I have written about is Divine. Magic endowed by the gods.  The religious person must be devout and strengthen their mind to control the magic that their God blesses them with.  The type of magic is based on the God. Some gods are more focused on healing, others on feeding the masses, and others are more focused on combat.
The majority of energy for the magic comes from the gods, but the caster must control and focus the power to use it best.
They use some energy to connect to the godly energy, so if they cast alot of magic. they could have the low energy feeling that I spoke about above.

Arcane magic is using personal(Psi) energy, energy from nature and energy from the gods to cast their magic. This magic can be used for good, bad, healing, plant growth, elemental magic, and combat.

Basically all magic types can be used in combat, used to help others,and used to protect themselves.


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## Noldona (Jun 9, 2015)

In my world, magic is a natural occurrence. It is explainable by science, and has been studied by The Academy (a world wide organization that studies everything in the world, most of the knowledge they keep for themselves). All living things produce an electromagnetic field naturally. Most are unaware of this field. Those who study can learn to manipulate this field. It is difficult and takes years of study to become good at this. Different traditions and schools exist throughout the world using different techniques including rituals, alchemy (actually a combination of herbalism, chemistry, and ritual working), direct energy manipulation (akin to martial arts energy working). 

There also exists a natural element in the world that can be found in crystalline form. Similar to how quartz vibrates when exposed to electricity, this element will vibrate when exposed to the concentrated electromagnetic field created by a caster. Depending on the exact structure of the crystal, it can generate either a cancellation wave or a propagation wave. The cancellation wave nullifies the magical effect while the propagation wave makes it stronger. This element is found in different concentrations in different parts of the world. There is an island which contains large amounts of this in its crystalline form.

Different religions see magic in different ways. There is one religion specifically that is completely against magic. The main followers of this religion live on the island which has the large concentration of the element. The island is remote and hard to get to due to trade winds and such. However, if a magic user were to get to the island, they would find themselves unable to cast anything on this island due to the element. The crystalline form looks beautiful and ends up being used as jewelry by the island inhabitants which help protect them against magic. The element also gets into their food causing it to build up in their body and provides them a natural defense against magic. These facts are important if any of the inhabitants were to venture elsewhere in the world.


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## Garren Jacobsen (Jun 9, 2015)

I'm actively working with three worlds and three different magic systems. I will briefly describe each:

Blood Iron World: 

This is by far my most comprehensive magic system. I have laid out rules and regs for every element. To start with there are 5 branches that magical energy manifests itself. They are as follows:

*Metallurgy*- This magic system requires pulling latent magical energy from the universe. Light from stars and other forces act as lenses and makes it easier for a metallurgist to pull these energy from the universe and slam them home into a piece of metal. These energies can be used for passive magic purposes: making the metal strong, reactionary to threats, and other things that won't require active magic.

A sub-branch of this magic, that is also an exception to an above stated rule, is forging and shaping Blood Iron. This metal comes as a side-result of having a certain magical disease. This metal can channel magic energy, but only under certain conditions and one cannot cast a spell through it.

*Seal*

There are two schools for seal magic. The first is talisman making. This requires etching metal with certain magical energies imbued by the metallurgical process. These etchings act as a lens that will channel raw energy into a manifestation of something, like fire, ice, speed, strength, flight, etc.

The second is creating barriers. There are several types of barriers and require a certain locus and intent. The locus connects several different lines of though. So if one wants to create a 14 layered seal of protection, which creates an invisible wall, there needs to be 14 different lines of intent connecting to the locus that all deal with protecting. The more general the intent and the less layers the easier to break. The more specific and more lines the harder it is to break.

*Spirit*

There are three branches of magic in this. The first is contacting the dead. To do so one needs to have a relationship with the dead in some way. This is generally found in family lines known to the spirit magic practitioner. This means the practitioner needs to know their family history. One speaking with the dead can make contracts with them for either information or for a short-term use of their skills, which allows a harmonious possession where the spirit guides the actions but the practitioner is in full control of their actions.

The second branch is summoning demons and otherworldly creatures to do their bidding. This requires a strong sense of self and a strong will power. The practitioner and the demon create an agreement, according to the terms of the master agreement, for the demon to do certain actions and the practitioner pays them in spirit essences.

The final branch is creating spirit essences. To summon demons or create golems (done by elemental users) requires a combination of essences. These are difficult to create, but can be sold at a premium price.

*Elemental*

There are two types of these users: those that can make the element from nothing and those that can manipulate that which is already there. The former is the stronger elemental mage of the two. They can also combine elements to make other sub-elements. (e.g. fire and air to make lightning, air and water for ice, etc.)

*Casting*

These people manipulate probability and fold the fabric of reality to fit their whims. They cannot fold reality to create a bolt of lightning or a blast of fire, but if they know there is a flammable gas in the air and things to create a spark they can create a blast of fire. They can create hallucinations, levitate things, make things lighter or heavier, or do something that they want. The more likely the action is to occur the easier it is to cause via magic.

The Fallen (Working Title) World:

There are two types of magic I get into. The first is thieving magic. This magic enhances a persons skill to become a thief. Some can predict the future with some degree of likelihood. Others can literally steal a persons soul, powers, and memory. This was granted to them by a deity so that they could steal from demons. 

The second magic manipulates gravity and motion.

"Legal World" (I haven't come up with a good title for the stories set here

This world's magic system is based on certain common law principles.

Tort law describes when a person is disallowed from utilizing their magic and the magical punishments that apply for using their magic improperly.

Property law describes how a person gets power and how much magic they have.

Contracts makes all magic promises compulsory upon the promisor and promisee. 

These three areas of magic and law are controlled by a magic supreme court. They decide what the law is and from there the magic is contained or expanded. There are other twists to the magic that I have planned that I won't get into right now since they are important to the stories.

(note the "legal world" is a barebones skeleton right now)

That is what have made so far.


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## Bruce McKnight (Jun 9, 2015)

For as much time as I spend on world-building, I don't put nearly as much time into my magic system as it seems a lot of others do. Maybe it's because my magic "system" just grew out of the story and I haven't really put a lot of rules into it.

In my world, magic is a gift. Very few people have it and it's hard to explain why they have it. Those that do, seem to get different gifts. For example, one person may find that he can read minds while another can conjure flames from their fingertips (maybe you could describe magic in my world like the abilities in Heroes).

Magic is so rare that many people don't even believe it exists and those that find they may have a gift need to find someone who has honed their own gift to act ask if they can apprentice under them. When this happens, people with a gift often find that a master (for lack of a better word) can help them develop their gift and maybe even learn other abilities.

Alchemy is more common (though still pretty rare) and often employed by those who have magical gifts. Alchemists can brew potions and imbue items. In both magic and alchemy, spell components are critical (word pronunciation and proper gesturing also count to properly harness magic energy). Components can be interchanged and experimented with. It works a lot like cooking where if you run out of basil, you can try oregano - it wont be exactly the same, but it still might work... or just taste disgusting.

I'm sure some will disagree, but I like keeping the element of the unknown in it. It's more fun for me to write (and it keeps options open) and I haven't minded stories that do the same. However, I don't expect my work will appeal to a lot people who like to know the rules of how magic works!


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## The Construct (Jun 10, 2015)

I love magic systems. I've got a few of them myself with varying degrees of development.

*Thaumaturgy*

Whether they like it or not esoteric phenomena are a part of daily life for the citizens of my world, thaumaturges are the scholars which study these phenomena and use their understanding to reproduce the effects in a desired way. Technically speaking it's not magic, merely the science of a universe that works on different principles. Most commonly the desired effect is achieved by an arcane contraption or alchemical mix. What sets these things apart from conventional mechanisms and chemistry is generally just a key piece of information, a special conduit or ingredient that allows this particular creation to operate on a level outside of what is perceived as normal reality. The most common special ingredient is a soul, which can be extracted from a living being or harvested from the dead. Souls have a natural connection to the Aether, a higher dimensional plane from whence many magical occurrences have their source, and adding one or more to a properly designed machine allows it to interact directly with the Aether and produce seemingly impossible results.

Alas, thaumaturges are rarely all there mentally. Whether it's the study of the dark sciences which leads to madness, or that only the mad properly understand the mysteries of the cosmos, it is unknown. What is known is that a large number of thaumaturges suffer from some sensory or similar defect, eg. blindness, deafness or muteness. These almost always accompany a correlating new sensation, such as the blind being able to see into the aetheric realm, or the deaf being able to hear the musica universalis. This gives them a unique perspective on the orphic subjects they study. They are geniuses and madmen, making connections that would be unknowable to others and using them to amazing ends.

*Evokation*

Ultimately evokation magic is very similar to the 'divine magic' you'll see in many other works of fantasy. It is at its core the contacting of beings more powerful than the individual in the hopes of acquiring aid. Whether they be spirits, celestials, demons or ancient, dark gods, all these entities are capable of interacting with the universe around them in a way mortal folk simply aren't capable of, and so with their blessing the evoker may borrow, obtain or outright steal the means of the evoked. First contact may be made using meditation, bloody rituals, arcane runes, aforementioned thaumaturgy or even merely seeking out the nearest powerful being that may have manifested in the material world. The most powerful evokers (or invokers) may use specially crafted masks to allow their evoked being to fully inhabit their body, or use those same masks to trap the entity and force it into servitude.

*True Seeing*

A currently homeless magic system, true seeing involves one learning to observe the 'True Nature' of the world around them, allowing them perceive and interact directly with certain aspects and qualities of objects. A flame for instance has the natures of being red, illuminating, hot and probably other stuff. A Seer could remove the nature of heat from the flame, meaning it itself would no longer be hot, and they could then add it to another subject, ergo adding the heat of a flame to it (and probably setting it alight). There are other kinds of natures too, Inner Natures deal with the mind and emotions, and Deep Natures deal with concepts and 'states' such as being locked or unlocked, or being safe or unsafe. At its core is the First Nature, the very essence of the thing. A Seer must be careful as while they are True Seeing their eyes reveal their First Nature and having access to a person's First Nature gives another Seer total control over that person.

*Nameless Meditative Elemental Absorption Magic*

Another homeless magic system, and also nameless. With great effort, preparation and study an individual may at one point in their life enter a special meditative state during which they can absorb a chosen nearby element into their being. By surrounding oneself in fire one may become a fire elemental, by performing the ritual in nature one may become a nature elemental, by doing it in complete darkness one can become a shadow elemental, and so on. In extreme cases, one may even kill oneself during the meditation to become a death elemental. After the meditation the individual is an elemental of that element for life, being wreathed in flame, composed of wood, etc. You can quell the effect by wearing a special mask, at which point you appear as a regular human (wearing a mask of course), removing it re-releasing the element across your person.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 11, 2015)

Trying to keep mine relatively simple

Death Magic
Life Magic
Elemental Magic
Demonic Magic

Everything else (usually pertaining to supernatural beings and their powers) falls into some miscellaneous all inclusive category.


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## Alcowski (Jun 18, 2015)

Magic, the eternal struggle for fantasy writers... I'm old school (terms) when it comes to this so bear with me as I try to explain a system that is ever changing. Cause magic evolves. 

I am the master you are the apprentice... let's go.

What is magic?
Everything. 

Cmon really? Details pls?
Sure, ask a more detailed question then, dont ask vague questions if you dont want vague answers!

Magic. How do I learn it?
I told you no vague questions... but fine. You either have talent or you study. There are other ways too, most are very... dangerous. They usually involve your soul being taken after you die, an accident or being in the middle of a convergence of powers.

After I die? Is there an afterlife?
Yes and no. Depends. Your soul goes through deaths door and is reincarnated or something else. Who knows. The gods do. Serve one and you might find out...

... fine what types of magic exist that is availeble for a mortal with no desire to serve a god?
Finally, a specific question. True magic, real magic. Not borrowed or any temporary tricks. Unlimited potential, you can learn to access... everything. 

Woohoo! So I can learn to summon things?
Yes... kind of. Do you understand that summoning something is bringing it from another realm to this realm. Realms are way beyond your understanding. Maybe in a couple of centuries you can.

Then what do I do to start with this journey to become the greatest mage ever lived?
Learn to access your mana and survive. Magic lengthens your life. Or shortens it... todays lesson is done, go practice the mana excercise i taught you.

Ok.

So in that conversation my point was to make the reader think of possibilities of magic. Magic is the most interesting thing in a fantasy story. Dont spoil it, develop it as you are telling your tale. Use it for twists in the plot. But explain something, not too much not too little, explain it as your character learns it is the best way imo to develop the system. Both for you and the reader. Of course you must know the theory behind it all and be the ultimate god in your world that knows everything.

Thats my philosophy on magic. The knowledge the reader has must be the same knowledge that is available to the rest of the world you've created.


LÃ¤hetetty minun GT-S7710 laitteesta Tapatalkilla


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## Alcowski (Jun 18, 2015)

Alcowski said:


> Magic, the eternal struggle for fantasy writers... I'm old school (terms) when it comes to this so bear with me as I try to explain a system that is ever changing. Cause magic evolves.
> 
> I am the master you are the apprentice... let's go.
> 
> ...


So much typos as i tested tapatalk on my phone, didnt really check it too carefully cause I was missclicking left and right... fixes incoming. 

LÃ¤hetetty minun GT-S7710 laitteesta Tapatalkilla


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## Feo Takahari (Jun 18, 2015)

@Alcowski: reminds me of El Goonish Shive. Magic cannot reverse or completely stop the flow of time, and it has never successfully returned true life to the dead. Beyond that, there are no known limits on magic itself, only on what an individual magic-user can do. (Magic is an intelligent being with its own mysterious agenda, so it rewrites the rules whenever things aren't going according to plan.)


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## Saigonnus (Jun 21, 2015)

At the most simplistic level, magic in my world is a force that surrounds all things, living or unliving. Those "in tune" with the world around them can access this energy. The effects depends on what is around the caster, since this energy manifests itself in one of 12 different forms (at last count). 

The caster can use any energy within a mile or so from them, beyond that, they cannot sense or use it. 

They can either cobble together rude spells, which require practice to perfect, or in the case of transmuters, can harness the energy and use it outright or only part of it to alter how an existing spell works. Coldfire is an example of this. So cold it burns.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The_Murky_Night (Jun 24, 2015)

I prefer to keep magic in my fantasy universes mysterious and distant. If someone were reading my works, I would want them to feel awed at the mysterious, even frightening powers of sorcerers and witches. Basically, it's my goal for them not to understand magic, and thus I don't have a real system to how it works.

The closest thing I have to a system is that, generally, those who practice magic give up parts of themselves for their power. A person who uses magic for selfless purposes, such as a healer, gives up physical things- their looks, their money, their positions in society. A 'good' witch is often living in poverty and always appears older, scarred, and fragile. 'Bad' witches give up spiritual things- their empathy, their ability to love, and their very soul. These people are living with the riches and power they crave, and are vain, beautiful, and extraordinarily powerful.     

'Bad' witches trade their souls for power with dark entities through formal ritual whereas 'good' witches simply live in the light of Divinity and giving up their physical possessions is just part of that. I imagine 'good' witches would be reminiscent of an enlightened holy person- always living with an attitude of devotion for their fellow man as well as God(s).


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## Akira444 (Jul 27, 2019)

In my story, magic is the art of using energy to manipulate aspects of reality. It's a very versatile practice that anyone can learn, but only a few can properly use on a practical level through study and training. All magic in the world draws power from mana, life energy present in all living organisms that can also be used to strengthen the human body (similarly to how chi is portrayed in martial arts fiction).

The main limitations of magic is that magic is bound by the reality that it controls. You can manipulate natural forces, but you can't break natural law. That means no resurrecting the dead, because they'll get you in a lot of trouble. No time travel or time communication, because that flouts the laws of the universe. More complicated spells require more preparation and certain requirements, and one misstep can cause the spell to either not work or backfire terribly.


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## anotherwriter2019 (Aug 5, 2019)

To quickly summarize, the magic in my story comes from a select group of people who have acquired certain powers from an ancient bloodline that was passed down from the archangel Gabriel to his two sons who are half-mortal/half-angel. These people are called the Shields and they protect humans from the Watchers. The Watchers are "fallen angels", and they also have powers.


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## Aldarion (Aug 7, 2019)

*Introduction*

Magic is rare in the world, but can have major impact.

*Types of magic*

_*Elemental magic*_

Elemental magic is based on four primary elements: fire, water, air and earth. Fire is opposed to water, and air to earth. Secondary elements are ice (water + air, moist) in opposition to lava/metal (fire + earth, dry), and life (air + fire, warm) in opposition to death (water + earth, cold). Lava covers vulcanic activity and its products, such as obsidian.

Fifth element is aether, or immaterium. It is a realm of spiritual, and does not usually interact with material world.

Warm elements point upwards, ascending towards the spiritual realm, and are masculine, associated with light, warmth and activity (life). Cold elements point downwards, descending towards the material realm, and are feminine, associated with darkness, cold and passivity (death). Elements can also be moist and dry.

Air is moist like water and warm like fire, but has nothing in common with earth. Air and earth are thus opposites, as are water and fire. Likewise, ice and lava are in direct opposition and destroy each other.

Elements are hierarchical, going from earth to heaven. Earth is the lowest of elements, most material of them and associated with death. Spirit is the highest element, followed hierarchically by fire, air, water and earth.

Elements are represented by the pentagram. Point-up pentagram symbolizes spirit ruling over other four elements, and is thus associated with life and God. Point-down pentagram symbolizes dominance of the material, and is thus associated with death and Devil.

Geographically, North is associated with earth, new moon, winter and midnight. South is associated with fire, full moon, summer and noon. West is associated with water, waning moon, autumn and sunset. East is associated with air, waxing moon, spring and sunrise.

Fire is element of fullness and life, and is associated with Sun. Earth corresponds with midnight, winter and new moon; thus with potential and transformation, introduction of the new. Air is the element of new beginnings, youth, increase and creativity; it is associated with spring, waxing moon and sunrise. Water is the element of emotion and wisdom, and represents the time past the peak of livelihood.

Fire is associated with strength, activity, blood and life-force. It is highly purifying and protective, consuming impurities and driving back the darkness. It is most rarified and spiritual of elements, lacks physical existence, produces light and has transformative power. It is warm and dry, masculine (active). Its elemental is salamander, direction South, color red, magical tools are sword, athame and dagger, planets Sun and Mars, season Summer and time Noon.

Air is the element of intelligence, creativity and beginnings. Intangible and without permanent form, it is an active, masculine element, superior to material elements of water and earth. It is warm and moist, masculine (active). Its elementals are sylphs (invisible beings), direction East, color yellow, magical tools are wand, sword, dagger and athame, planet Jupiter, season Spring and time Sunrise.

Water is the element of emotion and unconscious, opposed to conscious intellectuallism of air. It is less material, and thus superior, to earth, and one of two elements that can interact with all physical senses. It is cold and moist, feminine (passive). Its elementals are undines (water-based nymphs), direction West, color blue, magical tool cup, planets Moon and Venus, season Fall and time Sunset.

Earth is the element of stability, groundedness, fertility, materiality, potential and stillness. It is also an element of beginnings and endings, death and rebirth. It is cold and dry, feminine (passive). Its elementals are gnomes, direction North, color green, magical tool Pentacle, planets Saturn, season Winter and time of day Midnight.

Spirit has no classical associations. It is a bridge between the physical and spiritual, between body and the soul.

_*Strenghtening magic*_

Strenghtening magic is used to protect objects against physical damage, be it earthquakes or weapons impacts. In modified form it is also used to nullify enemy protection magic, upon which both weapon and defense act as if there is no magical enhancement upon them (merely enhancing both would result in both bouncing off without damage). However, it places significant limitations – crossbows and other missile and projectile weapons have to be specially treated with magic for them to work, and gunpowder weapons, relying on chemical reaction rather than mechanical system, cannot be treated at all. A hoard of gunpowder under the wall will generally blow a tunnel rather than blow up the wall. And since offensive application merely nullifies enemy magical treatment, it still does not allow swords to cut through armour. While it can protect hull of a ship against ramming and impacts, it does nothing against fire.

_*Protection magic*_

Protection magic is used to protect an area against magical invasion. Generally, this protects against teleportation, summoning, and entrance of undead creatures, demons and other beings which rely on magic to enter or remain within the circles of the world. Similarly, religious symbols can protect person or home from harrassment by the demons. Pure iron – not steel – has protective characteristic; iron horseshoe in particular can protect against unnatural diseases.

_*Teleportation magic*_

Teleportation magic is used to quickly get from one point to another. It is generally used by demons, as it leads straight through Hell – humans using it run a high risk of corruption. Only humans who are members of various Satanic cults dare to use teleportation magic.

*Associations*

States

Empire of Ardea is associated with West and Water. From its association to emotion and unconscious also stems its association to magic – water magic in particular. Ardean water mages are capable of purifying water, thus allowing army to use water that would normally not be fit for drinking.

Beings

Undead creatures – zombies, wights – are associated with corruption of the element of Earth. They can thus be killed by swords and by fire.

*Red King and White Queen*

Red King and White Queen represent uniting the opposites to create a greater whole. Red King represents masculine elements – fire and air, and sun – marrying feminine ones – earth and water, and moon. They also represent sulfur (active, violatile, fiery) and mercury (material, passive, fixed). Salt, mercury and sulfur also equate to body, spirit and soul, with spirit being a medium of transference and connection between body and soul, and soul and God.


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## Jun Peng (Aug 7, 2019)

Lol -- A preface to this is that my son pulled the charge cable to my laptop without me realizing it and it died on me while typing out my response.

I based my magic style from the world of Dark Souls. I thought it's take on magic was very original and I really loved the flavor behind the conception. With that said my magic is as follows:

There are two types of magic if my world, magic from the Legacy of the Old Gods and magic from the World of Mortals. Each type has several branches and types within it, but their origins and limitations are founded in their creations.

Magic from the Legacy of the Old Gods is considered profane and ancient. It takes mortals decades before they may master only a few spells. This type of magic is learned from ancient manuscripts and texts, most of which are closely guarded by the clergy of this era. There are a few moldy scrolls that exist outside of the Church, but these are far and few between.

Magic from the World of Mortals is considered blasphemous and heretical. These are often spells and tombs that have been passed down from family to family, some dating as far back as the Legacy of the Old Gods. This type of magic varies greatly, but most believe it was founded by other primal forces at the beginning of creation. Practitioners often closely guard their knowledge. In most parts of the world, these practitioners are usually considered as 'evil' or 'witches'.


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## Yora (Aug 10, 2019)

One really cool thing about the Miracles in Dark Souls is that they are recitations of ancient tales of the gods. Hearing the stories and understanding their meanings allows priests to replicate the abilities of the gods. The more complete and accurate versions of the stories are more powerful than hazily recollected fragments.


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## Jun Peng (Aug 13, 2019)

Yes! I always loved that Miracles, in Darksouls, were recollections of the Gods. What a unique spin on 'holy' magic. The more I found out about it, the more it made me really try to get creative with the magic in my own world.


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## MauEvig (Aug 18, 2019)

Depends on which world because I have several. Magicordia, magic is energy and I use the concept of mana as the name of it's power. Of course, technically almost anyone can learn how to use and harness it, but it takes a great deal of discipline to do so.
In Sky Kingdom, the world of Ark'eth magic is known of, but once again it's a great deal of discipline. Cats have got around this by implementing technology in the form of "Magic Seals" which are tiny disks, about the size of an SD card for perspective, with small rotating gears inside of it. They can be equipped or affixed to weapons or armor to give them an elemental edge, or have specific healing abilities.
On Lumikios, which is the world of my OC and co-created by myself and my boyfriend the primary way to use magic is usually by finding a phoenix gem of a specific element, although magic can once again be learned as a strict discipline. While this particular project isn't a novel, story writing is still an important aspect of this world. This particular world we plan to make into an RPG game. Fela-flies are also found in this world as well.


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## Yora (Aug 18, 2019)

I am currently favoring a very simple system in which the only magical ability of mortals is telepathic, gained through meditation and mental training. This can mostly be used to mess with other people's senses, but also to some degree to change memories and implant ideas.
Everything more fancy than that is done through the summoning of spirits and using the telepathic ability for communication, to negotiate for a service or compel them to obedience.

There's also a good amount of what could basically be called alchemy. Some of it is supernatural chemistry, but the main application is to use substances and objects that affect spirits in ways that helps with getting them to cooperate. Very often such objects take the form of masks or lanterns, which are the most common form of magic items.


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## D. Gray Warrior (Aug 24, 2019)

My world doesn't really have a magic system, but has more of an anti-magic system, instead. The magic of the known world is sentient, wild, and unpredictable, with very little actually being known about it. It is regarded as a force of nature capable of magic storms and other such catastrophic events, and can even change entire landscapes seemingly at random. Attempting to control such magic is very dangerous and only the foolish and insane even attempt it. There was a civilization that was wiped out after attempting to control the magic.

Some individuals possess anti-magic, which allows them to be immune or at least resistant to some of the effects of magic. The anti-magic is random, something you have to be born with, and such people are a tiny minority of the population. They become even more resistant to magic when it groups, the larger the group, the stronger their anti-magic, or the weaker the magic. The blood of an anti-magic individual is highly valued, with some being hunted and killed and their blood being sold on the black market, while others are more fortunate and enjoy great social priveleges due to their importance in resisting magic. Some donate their own blood or have jobs as "reverse enchanters" where they infuse an item with anti-magic to make it resistant to magic or giving it other anti-magic abilities. 

They are often adventurers since they can go into areas with a heavy magical presence and not be as affected as the others.


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## MauEvig (Aug 25, 2019)

All of y'alls magic systems sound interesting!
An anti magic system sounds unique. The idea of having magic being an untamable force is something I find interesting. It's just something that exists, and only a select few people are immune to it or have any control over it at all.


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## Akira444 (May 31, 2020)

I've developed an elemental magic system that's basically based on Witchery from the Witchlands book series. In my series, I'm trying to show how different cultures view and use the same magic system across the world, both in practical, cultural and religious viewpoints. Anyone can learn magic with enough study and practice, but like how only certain people are good with an instrument or a weapon, only certain people can properly use magic at a practical level.

 In my world, magic is the manipulation of the elements. All magic in the world is connected to the six elements-four physical elements; fire, water, earth, and air, and two abstract elements, aether and void. The purpose of magic is to reproduce natural occurrences such as lightning, fire and earthquakes by giving ceremonial commands to the elements behind those natural phenomena.

 All creatures, magical and non-magical, have an affinity to one of the six elements (Note: More people are commonly connected to the four "main" elements of fire, water, earth and air, than they are to aether and void, which is rarer to have). Affinity doesn't work according to physical genetics, but rather it works according to spiritual genetics. Mages have an easier time learning to control an element that matches their affinity, although even then it may take a number of years. In fact, most master magicians have mastered at least two elements. Although it is possible to master all six elements, it is very rare because of how much training is involved.

 Magic can be done through manipulating the elements themselves, or by casting spells that give specific commands to the element. Spellcasting involves directing one's energy, or mana, to give ceremonial commands to the elements and direct them at the caster's will. Spells are generally performed through incantations and hand gestures.

 Air is the element of the sky and storms. Baseline air magic involves manipulating air and wind in all its forms. Subtypes of air magic include lightning magic, sound magic, and weather magic.

 Water is the element associated with the fluids in the earth and the fluids in the body. Standard water magic is the art of manipulating and controlling water in all its forms (liquid, solid, and gas). Subtypes of water magic include ice magic.

 Earth magic is the element that encompasses both the stones, metals, minerals and gemstones of the earth and the flora and fauna of the living world. Standard earth magic deals with manipulating earth and stone in all its various forms. Subtypes of earth magic include metal magic, plant magic, and animal magic.

 Fire is the element of heat and flames. Fire magic is the art of creating and manipulating fire and heat. It does not have any subtypes, but that doesn't make it any less powerful than the other elements.

 Aether is the element of the mind and spirit. It is considered to be a holy element. Aether magic deals with abilities related to the mind is spiritual in nature. Subtypes of aether magic include psychic magic, illusion magic, healing magic, light magic, and spirit magic (there are more, but these are the most common abilities).

 Void is the element related to death and the corporeal vessel (the body). Many cultures consider it to be a dark element associated with hell and demons, and persecute people with an affinity towards it. Void magic involves magical abilities related to death, namely the physical body. Subtypes of void magic are dark (shadow) magic, blood magic, curse magic, bone magic and necromancy.


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## Insolent Lad (May 31, 2020)

The magic of my primary fantasy world—the one in which most of my stories are set—is simple in its basic concept but complex in its many ramifications. It supposes the existence of infinite universes and the ability of some individuals to 'see' and partially enter those universes.  This is an inherited ability, a simple recessive gene for the ability itself, though how good one is at it or how it manifests itself could vary greatly depending on other heritages. Supposedly the gene came from a single wizard who fled there from another world in the far distant past. Being quite long-lived (5000 years) and prolific, he passed the gene along to a _*lot*_ of descendants. Indeed, chances are everyone in the world can count him as an ancestor. But most are not wizards!

Incidentally, if one posits infinite worlds there would be those 'out there' where any form of magic can and does exist. No matter how illogical.

Anyway, those with the power can reach into other worlds to retrieve things they need. Which will not remain—they pop back to their universe of origin eventually. This means one  can not bring food. It would disappear from ones stomach after a while, quite possibly causing considerable pain in the process. They can send a part of themselves into another world, preferably a safe little one (there would be, of course, an infinite number of those), to meet with other wizards and 'speak from afar.' That is one of the most useful and most used tricks of wizardry. They can pull fire, smoke, 'shadow,' etc from other worlds for attack, defense, concealment. And so on. They also may run into the occasional god or demon, who have their own universes. There's a lot of stuff out there. An infinite amount of it.

And the voices of all those worlds would be constantly in the ears of those who are untrained or unaware of their power. It can drive even the skilled mad—that's a inherent danger in being a sorcerer.


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## S.T. Ockenner (Jun 2, 2020)

In Maymyth, magic is based on runes and beards. Beards contain mana which is used by wizard-priests to enchant objects with runes. Mana permeates the world as the 5th fundamental force (never said, I just keep it in my mind) and some creatures (like Chimeras) have runes born inside of them. When a rune is scribed, it tires out the beard, making it pale and brittle. Wizards have black beards, normal people have white beards. It is commonly used in the war effort against the Typheus army, as cyborg arms are made that have red bubbles to put runes in. If you do to much magic in one day, your beard will begin to fall out.


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## Chuck (Jun 2, 2020)

My magic system is still in the early phases of development. I started planning an RPG before deciding to work on a prequel story. I really hate Vancian magic systems. They are very limiting in games. When playing games, especially computer RPGs, I prefer a mana based system. 

Magic in my world comes from interdimensional energy that seeps through minute cracks in the universe. When the universe was created, there was a lot more of the energy, but as beings used it, it started to fade. In ancient times, wizards were real and powerful, because there was enough residual energy to support their magic. But as time went on, they used the energy faster than it could be replaced, so eventually magic faded from the world, with the exception of a few groups. But now, magical energy is being regenerated at an extremely accelerated rate and they discover areas of extreme magical energy appearing, similar to ley lines, with magic being more powerful near those leaks. There are also different types of energy, so an elemental spell would be more powerful near an elemental leak. I still need to work on that part. 

The part I am still working on is how to cast spells. It will probably be a combination of spoken word, runes, and simple thought. An experienced magic user could do just about anything (within limits), if they can figure out the right "recipe". How much energy it requires of them will depend on the power of the spell. 

For some people, magic comes naturally, with the energy flowing through them. Other people have no magical affinity at all. And some people are naturally attuned to certain types of energy.


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## Onemaus (Jun 3, 2020)

In Vosha there are eight prime races: the Giants, Humans, Beastfolk, Avians, Elves, Merfolk, Dwarves, and Orcs. 
Lately, I've worked on the unified Creation story to understand how the Creator made 8 different races when they started this plane of existence. Each race except humans were born out of a different energy/element/source.

Magic, so far, comes from pacts with their energies/elements/source.

Avians were originally air spirits who asked the Creator to make them more human. The Creator did not want to alter them so they compromised by having the spirit and human mate (same for every other race but Giants: who were made from the mountains).

Because Avians were air spirit they can fly but are mainly able to exert mental abilities. 
Each energy/elemental/source pact is drawn individually as a right of passage. Because they descended from the spirits certain races are more likely to pact with specific E/E/S.

Humans (im not too sure yet if they get "magic")


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## Son of the Roman (Jun 5, 2020)

In my book it tends to be very vague, as I feel an in-depth description would ruin its ominous feel. Basically, “magic” is only used by the antagonistic priests who are influenced by dark spirits, and occasionally by a demonic giant or two.


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## Patrick-Leigh (Jun 8, 2020)

In my flintlock fantasy setting, there are three main types of magic:  Arcane, Psionic, Divine.  There are at least two other types of magic, Necromancy and Eldritch, but both of these have some overlap with Arcane and Psionic, so they're not always considered entirely separate types by people who categorize magic.

*Arcane Magic
*​Arcane Magic is perhaps the most "science-y" form of magic in my story setting.  Also called Thaumaturgy, it is powered by an energy called Aethyr.  Aethyr originates from The Source, a Plane that is made up entirely of Aethyr, and seeps over to other Material Planes through a form of "cosmic osmosis."  There are some rifts that connect to The Source, known as Leylines.  While they can appear like rivers in the way they are laid out across the landscape, they are more like fissures that vent Aethyr the way fissures in deep ocean trenches vent heat, gases, and other materials from below the earth's mantle.  Aethyr comes in 10 forms, the "generic" form, which can be used in any kind of Arcane Spell, but requires more input from the Spellcaster, or Elemental Energy, which is Aethyr that's attuned to a particular "harmonic" frequency.  Elemental Energy can only be used in certain ways but requires less input from the Spellcaster, so there are situations where it can be more efficient to use than "generic" Aethyr.

Elemental Energy comes in 9 forms:

Earth:  Affects most matter in its solid state
Water:  Affects most matter in its liquid state
Air:  Affects most matter in its gaseous state below temperatures where those gases become hot enough to emit light
Flame:  Affects temperature and most matter in its gaseous state above temperatures where those gases begin to emit light as well as certain forms of plasma
Electric:  Affects magnetism and electricity
Light:  Affects the whole of the light spectrum (though Arcane Spellcasters are still discovering certain parts of the spectrum)
Shadow:  Affects a form of matter presently called Shadow Stuff (though I'm open to suggestions for alternative names for it)
Corrosion:  Affects matter as though it were a powerful acid or base, whichever is applicable
Force:  Affects gravity and kinetic energy
Arcane Magic of all varieties is largely restricted by the laws of physics.  You can bend physical laws to a certain extent but never entirely break them.  The more Mages come to understand the laws of physics, the more precise Arcane Spells can be made to work.  Arcane Magic also overlaps with Alchemy in that Potions, Elixirs, Tonics, and Remedies combine chemistry with Thaumaturgy.  Presently, certain advances in Thaumaturgy have resulted in a sort of magical Industrial Revolution.  Machines are being developed that are powered by Aethyr or Elemental Energy.  In particular, steam engines that heat water using Flame Energy are becoming the norm.  Further, as Enchanting has advanced, Arcane Devices are putting Arcane Spells in the hands of the common man, which is having some interesting effects on various societies.
*
Psionic Magic
*​Psionic Magic, or Psionics, is powered by Psi Energy, or just Psi, which exists on the Astral Plane (sometimes called the Psionic Plane.)  Unlike Aethyr, which must be stored in the body or Power Stones, Psi can only be stored in certain ways (that I'm still figuring out,) but this is rarely necessary.  The Astral Plane overlaps with all Material Planes and can be drawn upon by anyone who has sufficient knowledge and training.  While there are some aspects of Psionics that overlap with Arcane Magic, there are more ways in which they differ.

Psionics can be divided into two primary categories:  Psychic and Phrenic.  Psychic Technics are strictly mental and include Telepathy, Empathic Reading, Mind Reading, the creation of Dreamscapes and Dream Snares, and defenses against Psychic intrusion, among other things.  Phrenic Technics are strictly physical and involve enhancing one's strength, reflexes, and stamina, as well as increasing the physical force of blows or shielding oneself from damage using Psi.  Most people are only aware of Psychic Technics, as Telepathic communication, though rare, is hardly unprecedented and most governments employ Psychic Psions in various capacities.  Phrenic Psions, on the other hand, are less frequently encountered and thus most people are not aware that Psi can be used to perform certain physical fetes.

As with Arcane Magic, there have been some recent developments in Psionics that are causing it to become more widely understood as Psionic Devices are manufactured on a larger scale.  Many places have Anti-Telepathy Fields that prevent the use of Telepathy within their area of affect, for example, and some Psionic Devices are being used for long range communication that has some parallels to the telegraph.  Further, some Alchemists are finding ways to create Psionic Potions, Elixirs, and Tonics (but not Remedies.)  Thus, the general public has become more aware of Psionics in recent decades.
*
Divine Magic*​
Divine Magic is power granted by the gods, or in the case of the Dark Arts, Demons.  The reason the Dark Arts are still considered a form of Divine Magic is that all Demons (and Angels) derive their power from one Deity or another, thus the power still originates from a god of some sort, even if that power is coming from a middle man.  Angels, incidentally, do not grant divine power to people since they see it as more efficient to just have you go straight to their bosses for it.  Why settle for getting power from a mere Angel when you can get it from a god, right?  But in the case of the Dark Arts, Demons offer power that they _claim _is their own as a way of tricking mortals into making Pacts with them.  (And, to be clear, Angels and Demons are both a form of _spirit._  The terms "Angel" and "Demon" are used to distinguish good spirits from evil spirits, therefore there are no good Demons or evil Angels.)

Regardless of how Divine Magic is obtained, it is not restricted by the laws of physics the way Arcane Magic and, to a large degree, Psionics are.  It can do things neither of those forms of magic can.  However, the "drawback," as some might see it, is that Divine Magic can be cut off if the Deity providing it disagrees with how the power being granted is used.  So, a good Deity will most certainly not allow the power they grant to be used to perform acts of evil while an evil Deity will most certainly not allow the power they grant to be used for acts of good (unless it somehow services a larger evil.)  Divine Magic can take many forms, but generally, if it comes from a good Deity, it is intended to be used for the greater good, not for selfish reasons, but doesn't come with any strings attached, while Divine Magic from an evil Deity _always _comes with strings attached, regardless of it if is provided by a Dark Deity or a Demon.
*
Necromancy
*​Necromancy is a form of magic that is largely powered by the Blight, a necrotic energy created by a Dark Deity presently called Necros (though I'm _very _open to suggestions for alternate names for this guy.)  Necros is the Dark Lord of the Undead.  The Blight is what animates corpses into Ghouls, partly sustains Vampires, and is the source of power for a Lich.  Necromancers are living people who use the Blight to control Undead of various kinds.  The reason that Necromancy is not considered a 100% separate form of magic is because Necromancers often use the Blight in conjunction with both Aethyr and Psi to accomplish certain things.  Indeed, it is very rare for a Necromancer not to have skills as either a Mage or a Psion and some believe Necromancy is not entirely possible without tapping into either Aethyr or Psi.  It could be that one cannot fully control the Blight without one of these two energies that are naturally occurring.  I'm still working out all the rules for Necromancy, but I do know it's not a form of Divine Magic because Necros doesn't regulate who uses the Blight.  The Dark Lord of the Undead tends to be very apathetic and has a _lassiez-faire _approach to things.  (Indeed, his only religious text, the Necronomicon, reads more like a dry, academic treatise on using the Blight than any sort of philosophical work.)






*
Eldritch Magic
*​Eldritch Magic is something I'm still figuring out presently, but I know that it takes more than one form.  It is a product of the Eldritch Lords, a set of evil gods who are very Lovecraftian in nature.  One variation of Eldritch Magic is Flesh Weaving, which uses a substance known as the Amalgam to create Chimeras.  The Amalgam also causes various kinds of mutations when creatures are exposed to it, so it can be a real problem.  Beyond Flesh Weaving, however, I haven't come up with much for Eldritch Magic, but I do know that, as with Necromancy, there's some overlap with Arcane and Psionic Magic, though in the case of Eldritch Magic, there's an additional overlap with Divine Magic.  Whatever forms it takes, though, it's always going to be very, very _weird_ in how it functions.

Anyway, those are the types of magic I have in my story setting.  Hope you guys found this interesting, and if you have any feedback, feel free to message me! 
​


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## nck (Jun 14, 2020)

I must admit to being somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of thinking about magic in terms of "systems" in the first place. The way I'm going to use magic in the series of stories I'm planning is what I guess people like Brandon Sanderson call a "soft magic system," but I don't even really like that terminology.

I'm consciously working in the sword and sorcery/weird fantasy tradition (Lovecraft, Howard and Clark Ashton Smith being my main touchstones), so my magic is pretty vaguely-defined, the only real "rule" being that it's always strange, dangerous, and Not Really a Good Idea to Mess With - hence wizards are generally the "bad guys," or at least worth being suspicious of.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 14, 2020)

Most of the world doesn't actually know this, but in my setting all magic comes from another realm of reality that reflects the imaginations and dreams of all sentient beings. This realm is superposed but "out of sync" with the material world, which causes some of its "fabric" for lack of a better term, to seep into normal reality. There are several ways to channel magic, but it all ultimately comes from this.



Spoiler



*Wizardry: *This is the way "common" (ie. human) way to do magic. You study the workings of nature and attune yourself to them through deep thought/meditation, and after a couple/few years, sometimes months if you're *really* good, this attunement becomes instinctual and your body starts to subconsciously store magical energy. Once you have that, you can start training to use it to bend the laws of nature you've been studying. A focus doesn't really help directly, but channeling the power through one makes it so it takes the backlash if you mess up, so much wizards use one. The biggest limitation to this type of magic (aside running out of mojo) is that it can only control things from the material world, and only things you personally understand. It bends the laws of nature, it can't break them. This also precludes esoteric stuff like curses, you can use natural elements to start a fire, but not put a specific infant to sleep on a specific birthday on the condition that they prick their finger. 

*Eorg Casting:* The magic used by a species called the Eorg. It's sort-of vancian magic. They're an evolutionary cousin of humans who have much stronger constitutions and higher muscle strength, but also much simpler nervous systems, and less complex minds. They're not clumsy nor dumb, but fine motor control is physically impossible for them, and abstract thoughts a very laborious for them to ponder, so they basically can't do wizardry. What they do instead is assemble groups of their most intellectually inclined who then intensely meditate about 1 specific effect they want at a time, usually dialed up to excessive proportions. After a while, usually a few hours per effect, this materializes a spell in their region of the magic realm (they don't exactly know where that is, they just know their magic is suspended *somewhere*). When any of them wants to use a spell, the briefly concentrate on a specific effect they want and pull a fraction of the spell appropriate to the intended use into the material world. The advantages are that 1) they don't need much magical energy stored inside them to use this, they virtually don't run out. 2) They basically have a power dial on the spells without extra cost to themselves. And 3) since this is fueled by effects they think about, it can do anything a group of them can imagine, which in practice doesn't get that weird since they're bad at abstract thoughts, but in theory it could do almost whatever one wants. The downsides are that since this is a group reserve, if it runs out, everyone is out of magic. It takes a lot of time to prepare a good reserve. And since it's very specific, it can screw you over depending on circumstances. For example if a spell is "shoot out a rock from the end of your polearm", and your polearm is lost of broken, too bad, you can't cast it now. 

*Sorcery: *This is based on symbolic elementalism, so basically wizardry but with symbolism instead of natural laws. For example, if a wizard wants to attract an enemy's sword to him, he needs to know and understand magnetism and manipulate magical energy to create a field that will attract the sword. But a sorcerer will create and merge a stone and some wind, and that will create a magnetism, because a stone is from the earth, metal is from the earth and wind pushes and pulls things, so combining them allows him to push and pull metal, ie. magnetism. Otoh, since they don't really study the actual rules of the world, they don't attune to it, and don't passively store magic in their bodies. So they need to use spells to actively draw power from nature. 

*The Craft: *This is also based on symbology, but from objects and shapes instead of elements. This is where you get small animals and creature parts in a stew having tangible effects, or stuff like voodoo dolls, totem curses, etc. The people of the world view this as a whole separate way to use magic, but it's actually more like a subcategory of the next 2, which are also basically the same thing deep down.

*Divine Magic: *Spells granted by gods. To be more exact, spells cast by a god, channeled through you, at your demand, if they want to. The conditions for this to work varies a lot, since it's basically you asking and the god doing it cause s/he wants to. Usually this is through devotion, rituals, worship, etc. Obviously very powerful, and costs nothing to you, since it's a god doing it, you're just asking. Sometimes someone gets it without ever asking, because the god likes them and/or considers their natural behavior "worship". For example one of main characters (it's a group of 6 protags) is a wizard specialized near exclusively in healing, but he has divine healing magic too because the god of healing likes his devotion to helping people. The only real limitation aside all this is that, you can't really devote yourself enough to more than one god sufficiently enough to get magic from both, so your divine magic is going to be limited to the sphere of influence of that one god. Otoh, since the gods are actually aggregate imaginations from the magic realm, they want exactly what their worshipers think they want, no guesswork involved. 

*Contracts:* Aside the gods, there are also lesser beings created the same way from ideas and beliefs. These can give you magic too, just not straight up like gods do. They do "require" their own form of "worship" though, which is what The Craft is essentially. Contracts are done with more advanced, but not godlike (not usually anyway), spirits. Unlike the cruel gods who demand devotion and rituals though, these ones only require that you do fun stuff they like, because they are kind. If you didn't get that reference, they're evil. They do just straight up give you a set of powers, which cost you no magical energy to use. But the powers usually tax your body, and it's not whatever you're asking as the moment of casting, it's a defined set of spells and/or abilities of the spirit's choosing, unless you make suggestions and the specific spirit you're talking to happens to like your ideas better than theirs. Oh and since they're evil, it will always be powers that pretty much can't be used to do good, unless you save people by attacking only bad people and you don't mind everyone being horrified and scared of you. But let's be real, you asked an evil spirit to give you magic, you're not really into helping others.

*Aeshir Magic: *The Aeshir intrinsically have a foot in the material world and the other in the magical one. They don't just *have* magic, they *are* magic. Their spells are essentially like wizardry based on the laws of the imaginary dream land. They don't strictly have a reserve of magical energy, but in practice is kind of works the same way as one. The main differences are that they can bend the laws of nature indefinitely with a finite spell, like light a flame that will burn forever without fuel. And also create magical esoteric or metaphysical magic effects, like give form and somewhat of a substance to someone's mind and remove it from them, basically rip out their soul, even though souls are not a thing in the setting. People in-universe kinda thing they exist because there are magical imprints of people sometimes (ie. ghosts), but to see someone get their ghost pulled out and die on the spot is still some crazy nonsense even to an erudite wizard.


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## Prince of Spires (Jun 15, 2020)

nck said:


> I'm consciously working in the sword and sorcery/weird fantasy tradition (Lovecraft, Howard and Clark Ashton Smith being my main touchstones), so my magic is pretty vaguely-defined, the only real "rule" being that it's always strange, dangerous, and Not Really a Good Idea to Mess With - hence wizards are generally the "bad guys," or at least worth being suspicious of.


Just last night, I watched a youtube clip that discussed the idea of soft vs hard worldbuilding. That sounds very close to this idea. The world is strange and unknowable. It's a nice watch.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

Imo even if the world is weird and mysterious to its inhabitants and to the reader, you the author should still know its rules, otherwise you can just make up anything whenever you want.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> Imo even if the world is weird and mysterious to its inhabitants and to the reader, you the author should still know its rules, otherwise you can just make up anything whenever you want.


Being able to make up anything whenever I want is exactly the goal, for me at least. So long as you keep in mind some broad guidelines (drawn largely from genre expectations, in my case) and don't do anything that blatantly contradicts something you've already written, the reader isn't going to be able to tell whether you knew everything about how magic and the world work before you wrote it or not, and then as a writer you get the freedom of being able to take the story where you want.

It's not a method that's going to work for everyone, of course; it might not even work for most writers. But this idea that as a writer you need to know exactly how the world works in order to write it is by no means a universal truth.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

nck said:


> Being able to make up anything whenever I want is exactly the goal, for me at least. So long as you keep in mind some broad guidelines (drawn largely from genre expectations, in my case) and don't do anything that blatantly contradicts something you've already written, the reader isn't going to be able to tell whether you knew everything about how magic and the world work before you wrote it or not, and then as a writer you get the freedom of being able to take the story where you want.
> 
> It's not a method that's going to work for everyone, of course; it might not even work for most writers. But this idea that as a writer you need to know exactly how the world works in order to write it is by no means a universal truth.


That's fine, I wasn't saying anyone had to, just shared my opinion. Even vague guidelines is still in the spirit of what I meant though.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> That's fine, I wasn't saying anyone had to, just shared my opinion. Even vague guidelines is still in the spirit of what I meant though.



Respectfully, while you did express it as an opinion, you used the word "should," so I _do_ take this as you saying that this what people have to do. I also don't think keeping in mind "vague guidelines" (by which I meant something as vague as what I described in how my magic works above) _is_ really in the spirit of what you said, which is that regardless of how mysterious a world is, a writer should "know its rules;" that implies a great deal more specificity than what I'm talking about.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

So I could have worded it better, my bad. It seems preferable to me if the system, or lack thereof, is less mysterious to the writer than it is to the reader. But whatever works is good.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> So I could have worded it better, my bad. It seems preferable to me if the system, or lack thereof, is less mysterious to the writer than it is to the reader. But whatever works is good.



I guess by including "lack thereof" you're suggesting that knowing there are no or very few rules worked out and knowing that there are rules and what they are amount to the same thing, but I feel like those are pretty different perspectives to write from.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

Well yes, but I guess I don't have a good picture of the mindset for "soft systems". I'm not averse to soft magic, liked it in the Middle Earth stories and Harry Potter, but for my own world I prefer strict rules, I don't think I could make a soft system if I tried. I even ended up with explanations for rule-breaking things that I intended to be mysterious.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> Well yes, but I guess I don't have a good picture of the mindset for "soft systems". I'm not averse to soft magic, liked it in the Middle Earth stories and Harry Potter, but for my own world I prefer strict rules, I don't think I could make a soft system if I tried. I even ended up with explanations for rule-breaking things that I intended to be mysterious.



This speaks to what I meant about being uncomfortable with thinking about magic in terms of systems. You don't have to "make a soft system," you just let magic be whatever the story needs it to. Think about how magic is often depicted in myths and fairy tales.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

I kind of have that too, the gods have magic because they're gods, many creatures are just naturally magic and there are fairies who have pretty vague limitations, it's the magicians and witches and such who have rules. Of course there happens to be an explanation for the rule-less too, but I don't know if an explanation and vague limits are "rules" per se. For example the God of War is an aggregate idea of what people think the personification of war is, and he can do war related stuff with magic, and that's about it.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

Okay, so the kind of magic I'm talking about is taking the idea of how the gods' and fairies' magic works that you have and applying it to the magicians and witches as well.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

But then how do I know what they can do or not ? I know it can work obviously, because it has before. But me personally, I can't write a story about people I don't know fairly precise limits for. Plus I just like knowing how things work in general.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

How can you write a story involving gods without knowing exactly what the gods can do? It seems like the same thing to me.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

The story isn't about gods, there's just gods in the setting.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

But by your own metric you can't include something in the world if you don't understand its rules.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

I can't write stories about them, is what I said. I have a group of 6 protagonists, only 2 of them are mages. I want to know what the rules for what they can and can't do, plus the same for any other mages the group encounters. Gods and godlike fairies are mostly background fluff, the narrative isn't about them. Plus they're gods, gods can always do basically anything they want, they wouldn't really be gods if they couldn't.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> I can't write stories about them, is what I said. I have a group of 6 protagonists, only 2 of them are mages. I want to know what the rules for what they can and can't do, plus the same for any other mages the group encounters. Gods and godlike fairies are mostly background fluff, the narrative isn't about them.



If they don't have a role in your story at all, then it's not clear why you said that they're something your story has. If they do have a role, then it seems like you'd need to know how they work.



> Plus they're gods, gods can always do basically anything they want, they wouldn't really be gods if they couldn't.



Sure, and this is easily an argument one could make about wizards or magic in general, provided one is writing a particular kind of story. I brought up fairy tales and myths because I was pointing out that there is a very longstanding tradition of narratives that both prominently feature magic and magical beings _and_ don't work with any rules as to how magic operates; and I only pointed this out because you suggested you didn't even really understand how it _would_ be possible to write a story like that.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

nck said:


> If they don't have a role in your story at all, then it's not clear why you said that they're something your story has. If they do have a role, then it seems like you'd need to know how they work.



I have them in my setting, but not in the story. 



> Sure, and this is easily an argument one could make about wizards or magic in general, provided one is writing a particular kind of story. I brought up fairy tales and myths because I was pointing out that there is a very longstanding tradition of narratives that both prominently feature magic and magical beings _and_ don't work with any rules as to how magic operates; and I only pointed this out because you suggested you didn't even really understand how it _would_ be possible to write a story like that.



I know it's possible to write a story without strict rules, I mean it's not really possible for me personally to write one. I need to know how stuff works. How my stuff works, at least, since I'm don't mind reading stories where magic is vague. I guess I have the impression that there are rules and they're just hidden, but when it's my story, there can't be hidden rules, since I'm making the world.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

> I guess I have the impression that there are rules and they're just hidden, but when it's my story, there can't be hidden rules, since I'm making the world.



I guess I just don't see what's so difficult about presenting magic _as if_ it had rules that are hidden from the reader while not knowing those rules yourself. It seems analogous to me to presenting some aspect of a culture that suggests a larger cultural and social system that it's a part of while not actually having that system worked out yourself, or presenting some aspect of a character that suggests some deeper psychological profile or life history that you as a writer don't actually know.

Like I get why you might not _want_ to do things that way, but I don't really understand why you'd think it's ill-advised or even impossible to do in general.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

Oh no it's not ill-advised, it's just not for me.


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## nck (Jun 15, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> Oh no it's not ill-advised, it's just not for me.



You said it seems preferable for writers to operate this way, which suggested to me you think it's a bad idea when they don't do it.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 15, 2020)

It seems preferable to me yes, that doesn't mean everyone should do it.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 16, 2020)

I've been saying it's just my opinion from the start. I know I said "the author should know the rules", but that doesn't have to mean a fully codified system, just have some idea of what the magic can't do. Absolutely no rules would make all magic users omnipotent.


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## nck (Jun 16, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> I've been saying it's just my opinion from the start. I know I said "the author should know the rules", but that doesn't have to mean a fully codified system, just have some idea of what the magic can't do. Absolutely no rules would make all magic users omnipotent.



It doesn't make the magic-user omnipotent unless that's how they're depicted in the story. As a writer I can use magic to fill whatever role I need without knowing what it _can't_ do: all I need to know is that it can do this thing that I'm getting it to do right now.

Maybe a concrete example will help make what I'm saying clearer. Without getting into spoilers, the Robert E. Howard story "Red Nails" features, among other instances of magic, the skull of a sorcerer that has been fashioned into a helmet -- and, because it's the skull of a _sorcerer_, its wearer ends up being able to bring certain mystical effects to bear. It's never explained why this is the case -- the characters just accept that, yeah, of course a sorcerer's skull is going to contain a vestige of his magic. It's never even really explained _exactly_ what the skull can do, though we're shown at least one concrete effect it has. 

Whether or not Howard had more of an idea about this magic than is contained in the story, I don't know (but my impression of his approach to writing is that he probably didn't), but this certainly seems like something someone _could_ write into a story without knowing anything more about it than what happens in the story, and I don't see that this would present any problem for the writer -- certainly I don't see how not having in mind any strict limits on how the whole sorcerer-skull-as-helmet things can work means you've automatically made all wizards into gods.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 16, 2020)

Obviously it's not a problem, since soft magic "systems" are a thing, that approach clearly works. But I mean, the Skull-Helmet wearer wasn't invincible, so clearly the magic had limits. I guess in that case the author's process is "I want this to happen and it can happen because magic" full stop ?


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## nck (Jun 16, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> Obviously it's not a problem, since soft magic "systems" are a thing, that approach clearly works. But I mean, the Skull-Helmet wearer wasn't invincible, so clearly the magic had limits. I guess in that case the author's process is "I want this to happen and it can happen because magic" full stop ?



Maybe? My point is that to a reader that reasoning and "this can happen because of rules I've carefully worked out but won't actually put in the story" work out to exactly the same thing for the reader.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 16, 2020)

I suppose so yes, with the caveat that hard systems tend to get explained at least partly. My intention is that the reader knows about as much as the people in-universe do.


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## nck (Jun 16, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> I suppose so yes, with the caveat that hard systems tend to get explained at least partly. My intention is that the reader knows about as much as the people in-universe do.



I didn't think we were talking about "hard systems" at all, since your initial point was that the writer should know the rules of the magic even if it's presented to the reader as "soft." Obviously, stuff like what Brandon Sanderson does with his magic is predicated on both characters and reader knowing more or less exactly how magic works and what it can do.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 16, 2020)

Well my system is a hard system, what I mean by knowing more than the reader is that they'd basically know what they people in-universe know, and people in my setting don't know about the whole "imaginary dream land seeping into reality" thing. Or that gods were created by people thinking they exist. Etc. But magic users know how their particular practice works, and maybe how some other ways work if they're more learned.


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## nck (Jun 16, 2020)

StrawhatOverlord said:


> Well my system is a hard system, what I mean by knowing more than the reader is that they'd basically know what they people in-universe know, and people in my setting don't know about the whole "imaginary dream land seeping into reality" thing. Or that gods were created by people thinking they exist. Etc. But magic users know how their particular practice works, and maybe how some other ways work if they're more learned.



Yes, I understand that this is how things work for a "hard" system, but the whole reason we're even having this discussion is that you said that's also how they should work for a "soft" discussion.

My point is really just this: the only stuff the writer has to know about magic (or any aspect of the world) is what they're going to communicate at some point to the reader. That's why magic that's strange and unknowable, and is always going to be as far readers are concerned, isn't actually something a writer needs to work out in any detail. That's the basis of my objection to your initial point.


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## StrawhatOverlord (Jun 16, 2020)

Fair enough. It was interesting to discuss the opposite perspective.


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## ThinkerX (Jun 16, 2020)

nck said:


> Yes, I understand that this is how things work for a "hard" system, but the whole reason we're even having this discussion is that you said that's also how they should work for a "soft" discussion.
> 
> My point is really just this: the only stuff the writer has to know about magic (or any aspect of the world) is what they're going to communicate at some point to the reader. That's why magic that's strange and unknowable, and is always going to be as far readers are concerned, isn't actually something a writer needs to work out in any detail. That's the basis of my objection to your initial point.


fair enough.  though you can write yourself into a corner - seen that happen in multi-book series.


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## nck (Jun 16, 2020)

ThinkerX said:


> fair enough.  though you can write yourself into a corner - seen that happen in multi-book series.



To be clear, I'm not equating not knowing everything about the world with not knowing everything about the story. With careful outlining, I don't see that it's easier to write yourself into a corner with a "soft" system than any other.


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## Vicki27 (Jun 16, 2020)

thedarknessrising said:


> I didn't see a post like this, so please forgive me if there is one.
> 
> How does magic work in your story? Is it common? Could it be learned easily? Who uses it?
> 
> ...


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## Vicki27 (Jun 16, 2020)

This sounds like a book I would love to read.  I see this thread started in 2015, please tell me you have finished it and what the title is ..... (fingers crossed)


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## JunkMonger122 (Jun 17, 2020)

I have multiple things I want to write so I ended up with three Magic Systems: Symbolic Magic, Curses, and Blood Magic. There are also three phenomena that influence Spellcasting: Release, Resonance. and Soul Alter. The power and skill level of the people who use Magic is represented in supplemental materials by the Stat Star System. Symbolic and Blood Magic are the systems used in Project: Magus, Curses are used in Project: Dog Days, Project: Galfreeze uses both and lacks the nuances of each. Project: Lapis Lazuli is science fiction and thus lacks a magic system.  

Symbolic Magic, at it's most basic, is the manipulation of the forces of nature via Symbolic Energy. Symbolic Energy is a Metaphysical Substance generated by complex Souls(read: sentient creatures) when stimulated by certain things that evoke the Element(s) the Caster has chosen to specialize in.. There are 15 subtypes, or Elements currently known, of Symbolic Energy: Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Electricity, Sound, Nuclear, Data, Law, Poison, Time, Life, and Death. No Element is greater or less than another. After generating at least one of these Elements inside of themselves, Magicians then use their willpower and imagination to shape the raw Energy into a specific desired form. When released from the body the Spell then immediately applies itself to a target determined by the Caster. There are many advanced techniques a Magician can learn to unlock more of their potential such as Elemental Enhancement, Ritual Casting, and Alchemy. There are also Arts, flashy techniques that combine Magic with martial arts. Most sentient creatures have Affinities for certain Elements. These Affinities differ based on species, for example Earthangel Elves have affinities for Earth, Light, and Life whereas Storm Dragons have Affinities for Water and Wind.

Curses are specific supernatural abilities borrowed from certain supernatural creatures via a contract of some kind. These abilities typically come in sets of four. Warlocks, the people who make make these bargains with the supernatural, usually start with the weakest, often most fundamental ability and are rewarded the "higher-level" abilities as the bond between Warlock and Master deepens. 

Blood Magic is a mysterious form of Magic exclusive to Vampires. Due to the many secrets surrounding Vampirism and Vampiric Energy itself, the exact nuances of Blood Magic are lost on most. Many stories abound of Vampires with strange supernatural strengths and weaknesses, and educated folks know that Blood Magic is at the heart of those stories. Indeed, Blood Magic may provide the essential clue to the source of Vampirism. 

Release is a transformation undergone by Hybrids and other beings with Form Seals such as Angels, Star Emperors, and Vampires to name a few. Release is the act of ripping off the Form Seal and exposing the true monstrous power hidden within. There are many different variations of Release, such as Release Break, Release Faker, and Final Release. These variations are usually much more powerful than the Basic Release. Each Release transformation has a set multiplier that increases the underlying numerical values represented by the Stat Stars. Each user of Release has a different, unique appearance they take on during the transformation.  

Resonance is a rare phenomenon where two or more individuals engage in temporary perfect harmony with one another. This is done by syncing up the individuals Souls. Resonance is very difficult to deliberately perform and most cases of it happen accidentally. Like Blood Magic, many secrets surround Resonance due to it's rarity. Resonance has little benefit by itself, rather it serves as a means further power. With Resonance, Warlocks can temporarily activate their higher-level abilities and Magicians can use Tagmagic, a method of casting Spells with multiple Elements as a group. It is unknown how Resonance would affect Blood Magic but it's probably something akin to Tagmagic. 

Soul Alter is the common occurrence of Souls being transformed by an outside influence. What the Soul turns into is determined by the thing transforming it, for example Bloodworld will inevitably turns it's inhabitants into either Devils or Hell Dragons while Empyrean grants its inhabitants the options to become Heralds of Empyrean. While Demons may act similarly to a Soul Altered they actually are born via the separate process of Spirit Pregnancy, making them a special case. 

The Stat Star System, as mentioned above, is a system exclusive to supplementary materials such as Databooks. Each character's magical prowess is evaluated by being compared to an average member of their species as well their personal feats. The values are represented by five stars. If a star is filled in blue it's a positive value and red for negative. One blue star means that a character is the average for their species.


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## Vicki27 (Jun 18, 2020)

Wow I can see you have put a lot of thought into your magic systems  The world you created with the Elendar sounded really interesting as well (I know that thread was back in 2015) but it really fired my imagination and I thought it would make a great story for a book.  You should write it if you haven't already.  Thanks for giving me a peek into your world.


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## Nigel (Jun 23, 2020)

How does magic work in your story? Is it common? Could it be learned easily? Who uses it?

In the world I have created, magic is named Essence (I really hope that hasn’t been taken!). 
I’ve gone for a traditional model - wielders use a maitrir (staff).
Wielders are born with it randomly.
For centuries the number of these new Neophytes has been declining and the potency of those who have mastered Essence (Firelocks) has also declined. This threatens to undermine their whole society.
What no one realises is that Essence was stolen from a parallel world millennia ago. A secret group has vowed to right this terrible wrong, despite the chaos that would ensue.
My “hero” will be torn between preserving Essence in his own land and saving the land ravaged by the theft.


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## Vicki27 (Jun 30, 2020)

Hi Nigel.  Basically my world has two types of magic. Elemental (earth, fire, water, wind, air and consciousness) and Blood magic, which in this case is dark and secretive and is exclusively used by warlocks.  For many generations humans watched the Faerie races wield elemental magic and gradually those who are born with a natural ability started to experiment.  This did not go well and eventually the high caste Elves agreed to teach those humans with magic capability.  Humans are born with magic capability rarely and those who cannot use magic are envious of those who can.  Male humans are unable to resist the dark perverse addiction of blood magic and become warlocks.  Human females who have magical ability are called Maidens.  The actual wielding of magic is called the 'craft'.  Each element has a different colour and those who are able to wield magic have to mix different elements to make the correct colour of the spell they require.  It's a basic story of good v evil with the usual battle at the end.  I have more than one protagonist, a few antagonists and a mixture of Elves, Trolls, Dwarves and Gnomes sprinkled throughout. 

Your world sounds as if you have put a lot of thought into it.  I don't know about you but I find it really difficult to come up with an original idea in certain genres because so much has already been written and explored.


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## Saigonnus (Jun 30, 2020)

I have a couple of worlds I have built. In one, magic is a natural-occuring field of energy, or more accurately, fields of different sorts of energy that mingle, interact and can be drawn on to make "spells"; though I rarely use that word. I like to keep the borders of magic open; limited only by the imagination of the caster and by how much life force they give to the spell. Too much and they can burn out and die, not enough and the spell fizzles or has unexpected results. It is also intuitive depending on the skills of the caster. If the caster is naturally talented at using shadow energy or lunar energy, then any "spells" they create using the power requires less life force than something they have to work hard at.

The forms of energy can either be used directly or can have certain effects based on the properties of the energy. For example, you can use molten energy to generate a fireball (mixed with air) or simply use the heat of it to change the temperature in a localized area. You can use the natural energy of water to create water from the air, or use the properties of water to slow a potential attacker. In this way, I feel it works well for my world.

In my other world, magic is runic, but still relies on the use of life force as the catalyst. There are two types of runes; passive and active. Active runes generally are one-time-use glyphs that have some effect beyond the "engraver". Offensive magic, traps, healing and blessings etc. are examples of active runes because once they are triggered, the rune disappears and has to be engraved again. The engraver can use nearly any medium for active runes; such as paper, sand, dirt, skin (like tattoos), but tend to go for things that are easy to use and portable; like parchment.

Passive runes have a persistent effect, but generally only affect the engraver. Unlike active runes, passive runes linger until they are somehow destroyed or maimed. An example of this would be a rodent ward; typically a wooden disk etched with the glyph to keep rats away. If the disk was thrown into a fire, or scratched badly enough, it would ruin the glyph and it would have to be engraved again. Passive runes are often defensive magic or "boosts" for the engraver.


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