# Magic - attainable levels of power



## Gwydir (Jan 22, 2014)

In my WIP magic has several 'levels' of power, each one allowing a mage to cast different spells.

Level 1: Bending - this is what new mages are taught. It teaches them to be in tune with nature and to respect how volatile and dangerous both nature and magic can be.
As you might've guessed, they are capable of manipulating elements, not creating them. 
Water cannot be 'expanded' they can only use the volume of water available at the time. Fire can be made into fireballs etc, earth is almost limitless as is wind. Lighting cannot be manipulated due to the fact it moves so fast and no mage it powerful enough bend a lightingbolt striking 4 miles away in the distance.

Level 2: elemental creation - A step above bending. Mages can create then manipulate elements at will.

Level 3: bodily and psychological manipulation - allows healing, reanimating the dead, shape shifting and illusion type spells.

Level 4: "soul bending"* working title - allows a mage to channel pure energy from the realm of the dead via souls and on occaision, their own souls to make devastating beams of light (think DBZ). Or bringing the dead back to life by putting a soul in a new vessel/body. This could theoretically prevent a mage from truly dying. Though it is heavily frowned upon by the magical community.

Any feedback on potential loop holes and inconsistencies would be much appreciated.


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## Gryphos (Jan 22, 2014)

The thing about fire is that it doesn't really have a volume or amount, so the laws of bending would not apply as directly as they do water or earth. It's just something to think about.


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## wordwalker (Jan 22, 2014)

Debatable. Does firebending need to gather and move around amounts of energy, the way other bending moves mass?

--The problem with that "you can't create energy" limit is that bending matter is still creating the "telekinetic" energy to move it around, and saying that energy's easier than creating the rock or water itself. So the TV Avatar version where yes, firebenders shoot fire out of nothing, makes sense.


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## Gwydir (Jan 22, 2014)

I see what you mean. I was trying to make it a little bit different from Avatar. Maybe fire could not be in the first level but be in the second level like lightning. My original thought on it was fire bending would be like they guy from Xmen who can control fire (cant remember his name) but then it doesn't actually explain how he does it, it just happens..


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## Gwydir (Jan 22, 2014)

Another thought I had was maybe they could only increase the rate at which fire spreads. Eg they could make a candle burn out really fast. Or in a battle scenario, some ones clothes are on fire I tiny bit the mage could make the flames engulf said person. So they can augment flames as long as there is fuel for it to burn off kind of thing. It's a tricky one. Thanks for the feedback anyway guys


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## Gryphos (Jan 22, 2014)

I like that idea. They can't create fire but they could 'enhance' it, as it were.


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## wordwalker (Jan 22, 2014)

Augmenting is fun. Say that power works partly by tapping into the presence (or spirits) of what's there. The bigger the fire or the connection between the earth/water/air and the larger body of it, the more you can do.


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## Flash (Jan 25, 2014)

Question about the water... If a student is given (for example) a glass of water outside, can they only use the water contained in the cup, or can they pull the water from other things?  Could they pull the water from the air (Any variety of humidity), or the grass, or the earth?  Or can they only work with what they can physically see?

That might not be a big deal, but it seems like only fire and water are limited to the first level.  While wind, you can always create more, because it is simply air moving due to changes in atmospheric pressure, and earth you could never run out of because if you do, well the world is fully screwed, or you are in an ocean.  (Even if you were in an ocean, could you pull from the earth below?)  

Probably not very helpful, but those were the questions that popped in my mind reading your description of first level limitations.


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## Gwydir (Jan 25, 2014)

They can only bend water that they know is there. Eg, they could bend the water in a underground water table but they would have to know exactly where it is. Taking water from the air (humidity) wouldn't be very practicle since there is actually so little of it. But yes it could be done. 

The limit to earth and wind, as well as water and fire, is the amount of magical energy needed to bend. Eg, more magical energy is needed to say literally move a mountain compared to making a single colum of earth rise up. The larger the quantity of an element the more power is needed to manipulate it. This comes through practice and proficiency.

Also, when a mage is taken to the "academy" I'll call it for now, a series of magical seals are placed on them that limits the amount of magical energy they can gather and cast at one time. Once they prove they are proficient enough at one level a seal is removed allowing them to be able to cast higher level spells. And a level 2 mage can still bend elements but to a greater effect than a level 1 mage.


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## wordwalker (Jan 25, 2014)

Skill and power ought to matter for tricky things like drawing atmospheric water-- and could be more needed to move a rock or a body of air that are in a building than for the same amount when it's fully connected to nature at large.

It could become pretty individual too. One mage might have power at using bodies of water, but another who was just more precise (or who lived further inland -- or saw the right episodes of _Avatar_) could do more with small amounts or gathering mist in the air.


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## psychotick (Jan 25, 2014)

Hi,

I have no problem with one and two. But the next two seem off. They aren't what I would call extensions on magical power so much as completely different types of magic. Presumably healers would be able to do three and four but not necessarly one and two.

My thought would be to look at each form of magic as being in two tiers. Shaping what's there naturally and then creating new magic as T1 and T2. So a T1 fire mage can use the fire that's normally around but not create it. A T1 healer can use the magic within the body to assist healing but not generate new healing magic. A T1 soul mage could read a soul etc, a T2 could do the mind bending stuff.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Gwydir (Jan 26, 2014)

I actually really like that idea. The whole idea with the seals is to explain how my MC comes into his power so I made it apply to all mages to limit magic. But now I'm thinking it's just him who has a seal placed on him to stop him knowing how powerful he could be. He also doesn't truly remember his childhood before age seven. And restricting a mage to one type of magic tiers also provides a limit for magical ability and makes more sense than my original idea. Cheers


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