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Help me flesh out my magic system, please

D. Gray Warrior

Troubadour
I don't want to give away too much as I don't want people stealing my ideas, but I am stuck with a magic system I am creating.

My world has magic technology, and magic is used as a power source for various devices and vehicles.

The mages create machines that run off magic by pricking their finger and write in blood somewhere on the device. They write runes with their finger and speak as they write to infuse the runes and the machinery with magic.

Whenever they need to activate it, they simply drag their finger across the blood runes and speak aloud the words that are written. The same thing is done to deactivate it, except the finger is dragged in the opposite direction.

This is where the hard part comes in. This system is supposed to be a magical version of a security system by recognizing the voice of the person along with reading their body and it is further protected with the proper pronunciation of those runes.

I want the villain to circumvent this somehow and steal the other mages' devices.

Activation requires not only correct pronunciation and and dragging the finger, but also the correct voice and there must be a connection between the mana in the runes and the mana in the individual Mage.

What are some ways evil mages could run away around this?
 
Here are my partial ideas, some of which might be useful in your final solution:

  • Identity theft (whatever that means in your world)
  • Employ dopplegangers or clones
  • Record another Mage's voice
  • Hire a voice impersonator
  • Steal another Mage's mana
  • Capture residual mana hanging around after a Mage casts an unrelated spell
  • Duplicate mana residing in a rune
  • Nullify existing runes and replace them with your own
  • Without nullifying the existing rune, add your own rune to the device

Maybe none of the above will work as-is, but hopefully something there will spark the right idea in your noggin. :)
 

K.S. Crooks

Maester
How would it work if a mage wants many people be able to use a magical device. What type of spell would they cast and could a villain do they same to convert something on a private setting into something public or even change the setting to match what they want? I guess I'm turning it into a type of hacking, which may be different than you're looking for.
Or what if the villain is more powerful and can override the spells of others.
 
Can the parts with runes written on them be replaced with new parts with different runes? I'm assuming the runes are permanent, because it's supposed to be a security system.
 

D. Gray Warrior

Troubadour
How would it work if a mage wants many people be able to use a magical device. What type of spell would they cast and could a villain do they same to convert something on a private setting into something public or even change the setting to match what they want? I guess I'm turning it into a type of hacking, which may be different than you're looking for.
Or what if the villain is more powerful and can override the spells of others.

That's another problem I'm having, how common people would have access to things like lights and automobiles.
 

R.H. Smith

Minstrel
Hey D. Gray Warrior, nice concept. :) For some reason your mentioning of the swiping of fingers had an image of someone opening their cell phone. I know you are concerned that someone will steal your ideas, but don't be. We are here to help, plus I've already posted countless ideas and even pieces of my work in progress. Anywayz, i have a few questions. Maybe these can help flesh out your idea some more!

1.What is the technology level? Is it somewhat like what we have now-a-days? Or more advanced? This helps in determining the suspension of belief factor for me.
2.What is your society like? Are the mages the bosses? Or are they simply a means to an end?
3.Magic technology does imply hacking like R.S. Crooks mentioned. Is this something you would be open to?
4.Does the security system read the mages body by analyzing their dna when they swipe their finger? Or how so?
5.The safety precautions are added by mages using their blood from pricked fingers. Do only the mages blood count? Or any magical blood?

With those questions (and probably many more) answered, both you and I can have a better idea on how a villain can bypass your magic security system. Hope this helps! Cheers!
 

D. Gray Warrior

Troubadour
1. The tech level is on par with WW1 Europe, but with magitech.

I'm not so concerned about people stealing my ideas, but more concerned with giving myself away if I ever publish a book and the reader will think "Hey, didn't he make a post about that on a forum?" Privacy concerns.

Well, the runes are limited to the Mage that creates them, but there are ways around it. In fact, I was pondering how common people could use technology if they aren't as skilled as magic. I'm leaning towards humans with a rare blood type and runes written with their blood allows anyone to use the runes. Therefore, they are seen as "resources" that kingdoms fight over and those humans are kept as prisoners inside of a room, and the guilds sell their blood to commoners.

Another idea are runes that specifically allow anybody to use them.

2. Idk how the society will be governed yet, but I think it would make sense for the mages to be the rulers, or at least highly influence the government.

3. Yes. I figured there would be hacking, I just didn't know how it would work.

4. It recognizes their voice and matching blood. Scanning their DNA is something I'm open to.

5. I haven't given safety precautions much thought.

If it gets to the point that it just won't work, I guess I will base it on technomancy instead where machines can run on their own without magic, but magic improves upon them.
 
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