Magical system - does it work?

[Ermol]

So I struggled to make up a magic system, and this is what I got so far.

Talents are born across my human & elf kingdom. Each one of them has an affinity for one or more of the three recognised magic schools: Life, light and nature.

I tried to impose certain quasi-scientific rules on this.

Light mages can shoot light rays both to light up and in offensive capabilities, as well as the opposite, suck the light out and make the room dark, or turn themselves invisible, or create illusions, or even infrared and x-ray stuff.

Blood/life mages are healers or necromancers, manipulating and transferring 'lifeforce' of their targets and their own.

Nature mages are the trickiest actually. I decided that they needed something particular to control, like 'lifeforce' or light. So I settled on air and water, on a molecular level. While this medieval world is not aware of molecules like we are, the talents can instinctively manipulate the building blocks. Note that there is no creation or destruction, only manipulation or transformation (I.e. water into ice or make up a storm, but not conjure water while trapped in a building fire).

A talent born with affinity for one school is rare. Two schools are super rare. Three schools are a historic event.

Talents can be detected early on but only manifest talents at puberty, therefore academy inspectors visit all points in the kingdom from big cities to small hamlets and check the local birth records against their own. Then later on in life the teens are sent to the academy. This is by royal decree.

The ability by default is wild and hard to control, hence the ban on wild magic. In the academy each student is given a focus, a talisman, each mage has their own, and that allows to focus, control, amplify or dampen their power. The students upon completion of their training are not bound to any kind of service but the Academy strongly encourages to stay for longer, or take on high ranking posts in the government and the military.

I welcome all questions, from mechanics to social and political implications.

PS. Typing from my phone and my fingers are cold so a bit rough and apologies for the spellos.

 

[Logos&Eidos]

Why don't mages rules the world? Magic is so much of a trump card that anybody with it would use it to subjugate all of their neighbors that didn't. Without a very compelling reason not to,the most common being a"dark side" that slowly corrupts those who turn their power to selfish ends, driving them to madness and or death.

Your magic systems works as is, and is a lot better put together than mine. It's simple clean invokes tropes that everybody familiar with fantasy novels/comics and anime(manga)/games will recognize

I'd expanded the talents out to include all the classic elements,fire,air water and earth, and possibly include the Chinese elements of metal(which could be just a subtype of earth) and wood. the Blood-magic might be related to the Element of wood, with that element being metaphorically tied to the life cycle more than any other.

 

[ThinkerX]

Talents can be detected early on but only manifest talents at puberty, therefore academy inspectors visit all points in the kingdom from big cities to small hamlets and check the local birth records against their own. Then later on in life the teens are sent to the academy. This is by royal decree.

The ability by default is wild and hard to control, hence the ban on wild magic. In the academy each student is given a focus, a talisman, each mage has their own, and that allows to focus, control, amplify or dampen their power. The students upon completion of their training are not bound to any kind of service but the Academy strongly encourages to stay for longer, or take on high ranking posts in the government and the military.

Problem of sorts here:

1) The government considers magic to be vital enough to the point of sending out search teams for 'talents.' Fair enough.

2) Yet, despite the effort spent in tracking down novice talents, and the expense of educating said talents, the government still gives them a 'quit' option upon graduating? Meaning they do not have to take up government service. Setup, like this, barring criminal or health issues, government service of some sort would almost certainly be *mandatory*. Nature of said government service could vary, of course.

Given the quasi scientific nature of your system, I would strongly encourage you to AVOID converting this into an elemental magic system.

Also, I would strongly suggest abandoning the 'light mage' designation in favor of plain old 'illusionist,' as they seem much the same anyhow. 'Life Mages' would be either 'Necromancers' or 'Healers.' It would be tempting to use 'Druid' as an alternate name for 'nature mage,' - possibly an archaic name, reflecting a different historical origin for these wizards. Also, as 'nature' is the sphere of interest for these mages, I would suggest some sort of plant or animal affinity to go along with their other abilities - maybe life mages originated as an offshoot of nature mages.

 

[skip.knox]

I have a problem with that sort of system; namely, that it presumes magic is a system. I view magic as something far more organic and ill-understood by its practitioners. So the answer to most of the questions posed by M. Harrison is: nobody really knows.

But, I hear you say, the author ought to know. Maybe. Or maybe it's okay to leave the "system" fuzzy around the edges. It is, after all, magic. Not science. Unless it is. Science, that is. There are magical systems that attempt to be scientific, which is to say rule-bound. Given A, B must follow. That's fine for those who want to write that way. I don't.

 

[Ermol]

Why don't mages rules the world? Magic is so much of a trump card that anybody with it would use it to subjugate all of their neighbors that didn't. Without a very compelling reason not to,the most common being a"dark side" that slowly corrupts those who turn their power to selfish ends, driving them to madness and or death.

Your magic systems works as is, and is a lot better put together than mine. It's simple clean invokes tropes that everybody familiar with fantasy novels/comics and anime(manga)/games will recognize

I'd expanded the talents out to include all the classic elements,fire,air water and earth, and possibly include the Chinese elements of metal(which could be just a subtype of earth) and wood. the Blood-magic might be related to the Element of wood, with that element being metaphorically tied to the life cycle more than any other.

I initially tried to incorporate all of aristotlean (is that right?) elements like Earth and Fire, but that only worked so far. In my head, the system has to be incredibly rigorous, magic being a very vital component of the society. I have a loose scientific background, therefore I tried to break it down into components.

Also I tried to avoid too much of Wheel of Time. I kind of did and didn't. Those few who can do both nature and light can create a fireball by combining air and intense and hot ray of light with a viable fuel available (a bit like weaving threads of saidar I suppose). But this way any fireball is a quite complicated spell very few people could do, therefore a unique skill.

Problem of sorts here:

1) The government considers magic to be vital enough to the point of sending out search teams for 'talents.' Fair enough.

2) Yet, despite the effort spent in tracking down novice talents, and the expense of educating said talents, the government still gives them a 'quit' option upon graduating? Meaning they do not have to take up government service. Setup, like this, barring criminal or health issues, government service of some sort would almost certainly be *mandatory*. Nature of said government service could vary, of course.

Given the quasi scientific nature of your system, I would strongly encourage you to AVOID converting this into an elemental magic system.

Also, I would strongly suggest abandoning the 'light mage' designation in favor of plain old 'illusionist,' as they seem much the same anyhow. 'Life Mages' would be either 'Necromancers' or 'Healers.' It would be tempting to use 'Druid' as an alternate name for 'nature mage,' - possibly an archaic name, reflecting a different historical origin for these wizards. Also, as 'nature' is the sphere of interest for these mages, I would suggest some sort of plant or animal affinity to go along with their other abilities - maybe life mages originated as an offshoot of nature mages.

There is government service of some sort incorporated in the standard academy training before people graduate, it's about two years. During one's tenure in the academy the amount of indoctrination is huge. You could say a vast majority of the students go and do what the academy 'suggests'.

Post-graduation, the main thing the academy wants is control; it needs a list of all the talents and that there are none running wild and untrained around the countryside. And there will be some, inevitably, and that makes them livid. We don't like the academy bureaucracy, they are just shy of being bad guys and that's a plot point.

I really like your designations, I wasn't going to call them 'light mages' etc. but at the same time didn't think too much of the alternative.

 

[Logos&Eidos]

The princeples of your magic reminds me way more of Drowtales Mana Arts than Wheel Of Times channeling. Your already dabbling in Elementalism for your magic might as well go all the way;in my not so humble opinion.

Why do the Talents go along with being "encouraged" to serve the state instated of forging a Magocracy, or at the very least charging a premium for their services.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

What you are working on sounds a little similar to a novel I recently published. I have four different ability sets. Shogun- powers based on physical attributes; Elemental- powers based on fire, water, lightning, air, earth; Ethereals- powers based on shadows, light, mirrors; Shaman- powers based on plants, animals, life force

I found what you need to think of are the limitations of their powers or what can be done to stop them, for instance my characters can only use one ability at a time. If you do not give they limitations or ways to be stopped then there can never be good conflict or obstacle to overcome by some other means. Best of luck to you.

 

[Ermol]

The princeples of your magic reminds me way more of Drowtales Mana Arts than Wheel Of Times channeling. Your already dabbling in Elementalism for your magic might as well go all the way;in my not so humble opinion.

Why do the Talents go along with being "encouraged" to serve the state instated of forging a Magocracy, or at the very least charging a premium for their services.

The Academy is content to keep the royal court in check by controlling certain people in it, but not so overtly that an actual rebellion might occur.

Centuries ago the group that founded the Academy was in a bit of a bind, and so they helped create a kingdom as a means to protect themselves. They advised and helped the leading city-state in the area to conquer certain strategic points around the area. The result was a stable and a prosperous kingdom, with good tactical positions, trading posts, strong military and leadership and a progressive education. Since then they worked hard to preserve that status quo, sometimes at the expense of progress that may be desired by some (like one of my MCs). Hence the subtle manipulation and installing Academy-friendly rulers. However, the ordinary citizen and an average soldier regards all the Academy mages as mysterious but loyal servants of the Crown.

When I say the students are strongly encouraged I mean just shy of brainwashing. Government service, be it as healers, battlemages, spies, court mages, even those who inspect children for abilities, is highly regarded and respected in the kingdom in general. Note that service doesn't mean slavery but wages, ranks etc. And at the same time all the students are taught to be incredibly loyal to the Academy, and they feel indebted to that place of learning which allowed them to learn and control such amazing power. The test of those loyalties is a going to come into play as well.