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How do you refer to Necromancy, Alchemy, Divine Magic and the like?

Besides simply calling them the "Types of Magic", how would you refer to elemental magic, necromancy, alchemy, divine magic, etc?
The best I've come up with so far is "Genres of Magic" but that's not quite right.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Specialities, Realms, Spheres, Colours, Fields, Zones, Areas, Wards, Arrondissements, Families, Councils, or just Magic.
It would depend on the flavour of what you are writing.
I tend to have just magic and leave it at that. Any speciality is at a personal level and nothing official.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I just use types of magic. Schools, or branches, or whatever, I think implies a tight connection between the kinds of magic. It reminds me of a D&D wizard who can cast from all of the schools of magic or pick one to specialize. In my setting nobody can use more than one type of magic. They're too different. They don't mix or blend into each other.

Sometimes in my notes I use elements, but I wouldn't put it in the story.
 

Nighty_Knight

Troubadour
Also think of different synonyms to genres and you can do the same for magic.
Examples could be-
Classes of Sorcery
Orders of Witchcraft
Fields of Mystic Practices
Disciplines of the Occult Arts
 
Specialities, Realms, Spheres, Colours, Fields, Zones, Areas, Wards, Arrondissements, Families, Councils, or just Magic.
It would depend on the flavour of what you are writing.
I tend to have just magic and leave it at that. Any speciality is at a personal level and nothing official.
I'm writing non-fiction trying to explain these groupings to people new to building magic systems. I like to talk about hard and soft magic systems as the core types of magic, but I haven't found the proper terminology to capture these other aspects of magic. I've been trying to figure this out for weeks now. I may just go with "Genres" or "Schools" and be done with it.
 
I just use types of magic. Schools, or branches, or whatever, I think implies a tight connection between the kinds of magic. It reminds me of a D&D wizard who can cast from all of the schools of magic or pick one to specialize. In my setting nobody can use more than one type of magic. They're too different. They don't mix or blend into each other.

Sometimes in my notes I use elements, but I wouldn't put it in the story.
That's a fair point. My main issue, is I'm trying to identify terminology I can use to distinguish between these types of magic systems and other types of systems such as hard or soft magic.
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
Ohh. For non fiction try elements, "magics with different sources," or branches of magic. To me they imply three different things though. Elements implies that the different magics have a kind of parity or relationship to each other. Fire to Water, Holy to Demonic, that kind of thing, maybe with one of those charts showing different connections between the 8-or-however-many elements. Sources of magic implies a bigger difference, because the different magics come from different places and therefor follow different rules. And branches implies that all the magics are connected, the "web behind the world" or whatever, but there's different branches through which you can approach it..
 
Personally, at least in my current work in progress, I refer to magic as "the mysteries", since studying magic is basically studying the mysteries of the greater universe. A mage might ask another "which of the mysteries do you study?" to which they might get a reply of "the mystery of death" or "the mystery of time". Commoners might just generally refer to it as magic, but they would be met with a nasty glare if they used the term around a mage.

In terms of your story, I suppose at the end of the day it comes down to the nature of the magic system, as well as how mages view the craft as well as how they perceive themselves.
 
I don't think my universe has an all-encompassing term. At least, I haven't got anywhere where it comes into play. I feel that perhaps such a definition gives people a bit too much control and overview, and I want this stuff to be something that people can get to work, sometimes, but damned if they know how.
 

MrNybble

Sage
How about "Flavors of Magic" or "Tones of Magic"? Really depends on the world and culture. If magic is common or rare. Can have simple terms used by the masses and complex ones used by the professional elite.
 

WooHooMan

Auror
I’ve looked through my draft and found that I’ve used the words styles, methods, channels, forms, and techniques interchangeably.

In my world building notes, I only use the terms types and genres.

Although, I should point at that there are no real “types” of magic. Just different ways to cast spells. It all comes from the same source and can be used to cast the same spells.
So a necromancer, alchemist and cleric could all cast the same spell and draw their power from the same source. The difference would be the tools they use. So a necromancer would sacrifice a person to raise the dead, an alchemist would use a potion to raise the dead and a cleric would use a holy relic and a prayer to raise the dead.
 
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