# What's your magic called?



## Worldbreaker (Nov 5, 2011)

Like in the night angel trilogy by Brent weeks, it's called talent.  In Mistborn it is allomancy.  I'm building a world right now and I don't want the magic to simply be called magic, and I was wondering what some of you may have called your magic?


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## Devor (Nov 5, 2011)

I think the Final Fantasy games did a good job with that.  They tend to use words like Magicite or Materea for the physical stuff that their magic comes from.

I've been trying to come up with something just like that for my own world.  There's supposed to be a little "Magic" in a lot of common elements, but only certain people can manipulate it.  I want to find a name for the substance they're manipulating as opposed to the effect they're creating.


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## Ravana (Nov 5, 2011)

I call it "magic." 

On the other hand, magic in my world(s) tends to consist of multiple different techniques, each of which receives its own appropriate name… of which there might be any number, depending on the scope of the work. But it's all "magic," no matter what the specific techniques or power sources may be.

Calling magic something specific implies the way it works: allomancy isn't "magic," it's magic that works through a certain process. It just also happens to be the dominant form of magic in that world… and the other forms are based off it. "Talent" implies (to me, at least) a person with the ability to perform magic, not magic itself: I haven't read the works you reference, but I can't see someone "casting a talent spell" or "burned at the stake for practicing talent" popping up in them. At any rate, I don't see any virtue is changing the name of something _just_ to have a different name for it. (I also see no virtue in having only certain people able to perform magic at all–that is, it's something inborn, and the majority of people can _never_ learn it, no matter what–but that's a personal peeve.)

That having been said… using specific _appropriate_ names can add considerable personality to a work. They can be convenient shorthands, providing readers some expectations as to what a given character can (and can't) do. And using _inappropriate_ ones can really screw things up, for me: I hate it when someone calls a magician a "necromancer," and then doesn't have him do a thing involving the dead… just uses it as a synonym for "magician." A witch-hunter might do this, to prejudice his case; the magician himself never would.


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## Worldbreaker (Nov 5, 2011)

Hmmm idk I just feel like magic can be too generic a term, and magic means something unexplainable(inherently, most books tend to explain it thoroughly, which makes calling it magic redundant) electronics would be magic to a person from 2,000 years ago, but to us it's perfectly normal and explainable. In my book's world "magic" is common and explainable. That's why I was thinking I shouldn't call it magic. So I was wondering what other people called their systems. 

And Ravana, it annoys me too when people use the wrong term for something too, such as your necromancer example


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## Devor (Nov 5, 2011)

Ravana said:


> (I also see no virtue in having only certain people able to perform magic at all—that is, it's something inborn, and the majority of people can _never_ learn it, no matter what—but that's a personal peeve.)



With the exception of Harry Potter (where pretty much every important character did use magic), I agree with you, and I've tried to build my magical system entirely around that premise.  I just don't want to give away any details as it's one of the ideas I'm using which I consider to be completely "stealable," even though I've tried not to be too paranoid about that.


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## Hans (Nov 6, 2011)

As already been said you could use "magic" for the general term, mostly used by commoners (who on earth also called electricity and such magic for a long time) and more specific ones for people who know what they are doing.

An alternative is Thaumaturgy from  Greek thauma = miracle, ergon = work. But maybe a miracle worker has a too big religious aspect.

In one of my worlds magic is either shamanism (getting ghosts and spirits to work) or daemonology (trying the same with daemons). The first needs big rituals and has only small effects, the second is much more powerful but needs blood and virgins and all that stuff. Both is called magic by most people that do not see the difference.

I do not have a problem with some sort of "talent" for magic users. Some people are just better in these things. Most people have very limited abilities, never train it and thus are non magic users.
Like not everyone is an artist. Those without talent are less likely to train their drawing skill. And thus "can not draw". Maybe everyone could become a fair artist, but why invest lots of time when you could never be better than mediocre?


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## Terra Arkay (Nov 6, 2011)

@Devor: Yeah, I take a lot of inspiration from Final Fantasy when it comes to magic. I was thinking mana...


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## Foxmc (Nov 7, 2011)

In it's rawest material form, I call it Lavun.


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## The Grey Sage (Nov 7, 2011)

I use a  form of energy called 'Cri', not really magic per say but it similar. Cri is commonly physically manifested as upside down transulcent flames. Pretty simple but when techniques start getting used it becomes more complicated. As stated before I see no reason to not let everyone access the magic or whatever but if everyone does use it then there can be way too many powerful people or just too many influential people for a story to really be cleaned up. Also, I use 'Cri' as a base energy but I also include things like 'Stepping' (basically teleportation) and 'Riac' (which is polar to Cri) to add more to the powers available along with alchemy and more cool stuff. So basically naming can also help you organize the people who can readily use it and the powers that stem from it.


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## mythique890 (Nov 9, 2011)

I'm trying to figure out what to call mine.  In one story, I call it "the gift" and I'm fine with that, even though it's been done before.  I haven't worked out the particulars, but it's pretty generic magic (at least until I start writing it again and make things hard for myself).

My other story (the one with dragons) is giving me more of a problem.  In the story, dragons are leftover dinosaurs who have been around and sentient for about 80 million years.  Humans have been around for between 100,000 and 200,000 years... can you imagine where we'll be in another 79.8 million?  I can't.  So I want to go with the idea that these types of powers evolved and have specialized in the different races, but I don't know what to call with it.  The problem is compounded by the fact that I have about 12 different races of dragon and each of them have their own "systems" and cultures, so they'll probably each have their own name for it as well as one common name.  Ugh.


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## Devor (Nov 9, 2011)

Worldbreaker said:


> Hmmm idk I just feel like magic can be too generic a term, and magic means something unexplainable(inherently, most books tend to explain it thoroughly, which makes calling it magic redundant) electronics would be magic to a person from 2,000 years ago, but to us it's perfectly normal and explainable. In my book's world "magic" is common and explainable. That's why I was thinking I shouldn't call it magic. So I was wondering what other people called their systems.



Spending some time on the research forums put my second project back in mind, and it occurs to me that as a mythological piece, it's far more high-magic than the typical high-magic fantasy setting.  And nobody calls it magic.  It's charms and spells and a dozen special words for the specific abilities that characters have, and they're so prominent and distinct and defined that I can't believe anyone in that world would call it magic.

If I had to point to a difference, in this setting the limits are clearly understood to the people who don't use them.  In a High Magic setting, the wizards gain amorphous and mysterious powers (even though there is a system).  I guess perception is everything.


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## myrddin173 (Nov 12, 2011)

Its just magic in my world, and everybody has a Talent.  Some are more useful than others.  A common Talent among the nobility, though its not unheard of among the lower classes is the Silvertongue, kind of like Saruman their power is in their voice making them persuasive to say the least.  Sometimes its an affinity to a certain kind of animal.  My MC's Talent is Navigation, give him a map to study and he'll have it memorized in moments, and be able to navigate using it.  The rarest of all Talents is the Talent of the Mage (wow mythic scribes doesn't think that's a word), those who have it can manipulate magic as they wish, through the use of a trigger individual to that person. At the time of my story the number of magi in the world can be counted on the talons of a Japanese _lung _(three if you don't know).  These are just a couple, there are an infinite variety of such Talents.

As for the whole only a select few can use magic.  Technically that is true, sense behind the scenes the inhabitants of Kateena are descended from people from our world.  The Select few left leaving us behind.

Also there are sources of the magic that are different for each of the nations/ethnic groups and work in different ways.  The sources are Stone, Wood, Fire, Water, Light, Dark, and High.  There is also Deep but, well you'll just have to Read And Find Out....  For example Stone endures, Fire consumes, and Dark conceals.

@WorldBreaker as a side note magic in Mistborn is more than just allomancy, there is also feruchemy and hemalurgy


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## Telcontar (Nov 12, 2011)

Magic.

Those with the inborn ability to manipulate it are referred to as Mages. Anyone born as a mage is said to be born Talented (though I've never been in love with that term, and keep trying to think of a better one. Damn you Goodkind for taking 'Gifted'!) Those who learn to manipulate it through formal knowledge are Wizards.


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## sashamerideth (Nov 14, 2011)

Cursed ones, blessed ones, children of Hadonth (an insult,  Hadonth was a old "magician" who became a leprous beggar) ... I have a few, depending on the culture talking about them.


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## RobW (Nov 16, 2011)

The magic system in my stories doesnt really have a name. I'm just now realizing that it was indeed a magic system since it was just an ability held by a certain individuals and was a gift given by a higher, extremely mysterious character and is only really manifested in swordplay so far.


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## Terra Arkay (Nov 17, 2011)

I want to stray away from your generic 10th century Middle Age world... I haven't got a complete concept for my magic but it will probably have something to do with the soul and suprisingly, water.


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## demented-tiger (Nov 21, 2011)

There are 2 types of magic in my world: "true magic" (your typical DnD stuff), and psi-chology (basically psychic powers such as telepathy and telekinesis). Psi-chology is practiced exclusively by humans (mostly women), and also refers to the scientific study of these powers. True magic is practiced primarily by elves, though in the distant past, humans once used it too.


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## Reaver (Nov 23, 2011)

In my world, I call magic several things depending on what particular kingdom and/or land mass my main characters happen to be. In some places it's known as Arcane Arts, in others it's Mystic Arts, Magick, Magelore and Shadowweaving.


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