Feedback on "seasonal" based magic system

[TheRedPrince]

Ok, let me start with what makes a mage. Only those who are of the bloodline of the original 240 mages have the potential to wield magic. It is how ever not a given that people with the bloodline can use magic.

So my idea for a magic system is that each God watches over the earth for a certain period of time and the year is divided accordingly (like the zodiac for lack of a better explanation), lets call it a God Reign Cycle for now, GRC for short. During each gods GRC their connection to the mortal realm is strongest. What ever time of year or GRC a potential mage is born into dictates what magic he or she is capable of using.

Eg: a mage born in the GRC of the God of the Forge is bonded to that god and capable of using fire and water magic. And for the rest of the year outside of the GRC of the forge God fire and water magic is severely weakened.

Some mages born in the cusp of two GRC's are sometimes (if given proper training) capable of using the magic associated with both Gods.

Gods and their according magic:

God of secrets and knowlege (the Prime God from which the others were born)- gave the first mages the ability to wield magic.
Those born under his GRC can have any magic he decides. Even forms of magic the mortal world has not yet witnessed.

God of forge - fire, water

God of sky (day time) - wind

Goddess of sky (night time) - lightning

God of seasons - healing, earth manipultaion.

Goddess of love and passion (applies to all forms of love, love if music, art, animals etc) - mind manipulation, including animals.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the GRC of the Prime God and the potential cataclysmic powershift such a mage could bring (both mages and regular mortals share this view) ALL babies born in this cycle are killed and the population is thus detered from concieving a child that would be born near this period.

 

[Addison]

This magic system is solid and beautiful. The god-mage relationship sounds complex and each one sound like they could have their own different conflicts. Especially the Prime God. Poor babies. That right there sounds like it could be a story in itself, a baby survived or was born on the cusp of the Prime God and another.

 

[Queshire]

Interesting. Are they treated like a zodiac style thing for non-mages? Horoscopes and what not. Also do the gods have constellations to them? With the zodiac what sign you're born under is supposed to have an influence on your personality. Are you going to have something like this with your guys?

 

[Aspasia]

This is a very cool magic system. Unusual and it sounds like it works very well. I like it . Sounds very solid.

 

[Edankyn]

Definitely sounds intriguing, but I have a couple questions...
Are there only six gods in total? If so is your calendar year split into six corresponding sections (with each GRC lasting approximately 2 months using our calendar), or does each God get two GRCs within one year (ex. God of Secrets and Knowledge has his GRCs during January/July)? Obviously you can make your calendar reflect the realities of your world; I'm just using our calendar names & numbers as a basis for my questions.

The names God of Sky (day time) and Goddess of Sky (night time) are slightly confusing. Would those two gods encompass distinct GRCs or would they both be present during one GRC [ex. God of Sky is powerful during the day while Goddess of Sky is powerful at night during the same GRC]?

Finally, what impact do the original 240 mages have? If they serve any sort of significance, do you have an explanation for why those 240 particular individuals became mages?

 

[TheRedPrince]

The calendar year is split into the six GRCs, so yes there are only the six gods. My society doesn't really have a "month" so to speak. They track the year by number of days per GRC (number of days per year yet to be decided) ie, the 12the day of the forge god.
The original mages were the first priests you could say, they were chosen by each god and the prime god then gave them the form of magic of the god/giddess they represented to prove they were the voices of the gods on earth. To be honest 240 was just a number I plucked out of my arse because I plan for mages to be quite common. It could work as easily with 20. The god and goddess of the sky; I imagine it to be a combination of they both have their individual GRC and that the corresponding magic is weaker during night or day accordingly but not as weak as it would be outside of their GRC.

 

[TheRedPrince]

Sorry, realised the sky gods might not still make sense. Example: a mage who uses wind magic will be weaker at night time but not as weak during the GRC of the night goddess.

 

[stephenspower]

It's a clever idea, but from a narrative point of view it could lead to a lot of authorial puppetry because everything is at the whim of the gods. I would also say that the descendants of 240 people would increase rapidly over the generations.

However, I like the idea of a seasonal magic because of the dormancy built into nature. Many plants require this to fruit the following year. In addition, the freezing that brings on dormancy also prevents certain diseases and parasites from killing plants. For instance, trees in the Pine Barrens are being devastated by a bug that hasn't been killed by winters that, however snowy NJ was this year, aren't cold enough for long enough anymore. So, bringing this to a mage level, what if mages had to take time out from doing magic to let their powers regenerate, much like a dragon supposedly has to sleep after periods of exertion. What if a mage had to do magic during this dormancy period? Could she? Would her powers be forever damaged and what would make her take the risk (I'm reminded of the Saki story about the safecracker who has to save a child locked in a safe at the risk of being arrested)? How would a mage defend himself during this time, especially if a mage of the opposing season and a possible enemy where then at full strength? Would mages form defensive leagues?