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Newbie wrighter needing assistance with a magical system!

Iapetus777

Scribe
I am currently brainstorming with an idea where it basicly is the supressed magicians story, but I want some good reasoning for magicians to be exiled. Now here is the basic overview, the setting is earth, 2058, the world is in disarray the legendary magical material, Diathera. Humanity has been split into 3 major groups, all revolving around this useful and toxic material, The Global Defence Initiative, seeking to control the growth of Diathera and get rid of its toxic nature to serve humanity, then there is the Ditherians, a race made by this material, their only drive is to increase the spread of Diathera. Then there is the Order of the Exiled Magicians, the seek revenge on the GDI so they can resume their rightful placeas rulers over the non magical folk. So I have come of an logical explanation for the ability to supress the magicians, they have commando squads that specialize in eliminating the magic capabilities from an individual and restore it if necessary. Now, what would be abilities that would likely be wide spread enough to cause fear in the non magicians to a point where these squads would be necessary?
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
Oh yeah, with the topic in mind, I want a hard magic system that does have abilities that are seemingly overpowering to normal people. And I do have ideas, but I really can't decide limitations, abilities what not. So input will be greatly appreciated.
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
So now for the point for me being here. I have been developing a universe within my head for almost a year now, and it has the magicians supressed trope, but I kinda like it with the circumstance the people are living under and the history of the magicians and the non magical peoples. The setting is earth, 2058, a magical supstance has been created that can be converted into basically any other resources know to humanity. After some interesting happenings, and the magicians making this substance toxic to non magicians, the magicians were forced into hiding by anti magician commando teams. As a act of retaliation, the magicians made said substance grow at an astonishing rate. My question is what should of been the initial reson for the exile of these magicians, like abilities or some sort of political ideology. Please help!
 
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CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I'd just look at what has created Out-Groups in a real world setting. It could be politics [directly or indirectly] fear, envy or almost anything else.
 
If the magicians had to make the substance toxic to non-magicians, why did they do that? Because that right there is not a nice move, enough to create hostility.

On an unrelated note, you might want to consider changing the name of that organization to something other than GDI. Because right now, with the substance than can be seen as a stand-in for Tiberium, it kind of looks like you were heavily inspired by Command & Conquer.
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
I bet for the toxic to non magicians thing probably was sparked over massive political tension, consistent commando raids, and a combination of other things from the UN and the Exiles to cause the initial suppression and because of this, the magicians felt like this was an adequate revenge. I guess the tension started as either the UN or the Exiles saw a potential threat from a political leader in the other faction, and took action. In something like assassination. Then the whole thing became a mess.

Now for the Command&Conquer thing, I just looked it up and realized how I got the inspiration. I guess at some point when I was young I saw it some how, and now I really did not remember the name or other things of similar to that, and I remembered some details and not others. Also, the way I develop books, I generally use some sort of platform, like Command&Conquer in this instance, to get the general idea of how my political world functions, technology, and other things. For this instance, I guess I used that as a platform with out knowing it was a platform. Thank you for letting me know that, and some significant changes will come.
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
Now for letting my magic idea out. The magicians can store a unearthly quantity of energy within their bodies. The main source of this energy is Diathera, which is created by magicians using magic, and magical runoff from the caster seeps into the ground, and grows Diathera, hence continuing the magical energy flowing through the earth. The energy flows around the body in certain networks of energy, and the Chinese almost got the paths right, and pools in certain areas, mainly the palms of you hand, the balls of your feet, and the third eye region. This energy can be directly put into matter near the area, or can be projected to areas a handful of meters in front of them. Let's say that there is a bullet coming towards them, they can use energy pooled up in any of the previously designated, and shoot it at the bullet, two things can happen, either kenetic energy is given to the bullet in whatever direction opposite to the origin of the energy beam, causing it to lose substantial quantities of velocity and drop to the floor. Or the energy will vaporize the bullet all together. Given that there is not a calculator for finding how many watts are needed to make a fireball 12 cm in radius and 3000 degrees Celsius, it will be much harder to work with. But, for the making it toxic, I would say making it a more unstable isotope would do the trick. Plus I imagine that people that are able to store that much energy should be a good bit tougher than normal people, and be able to survive the magical alpha particles. And yes, they have some crazy reaction time.
 
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Iapetus777

Scribe
Now with the magic in mind, the magicians would gard the groves of Diathera with their lives, since it is the only way to get magic and any resources needed with ease.

Unrelated to the previous paragraph, it is nice having a place were I feel safe putting my ideas out there and get good ideas from the community.
 

MrNybble

Sage
Diathera can be a double-edge sword for magicians. It may be the source of their power, but can also be the bane of it. Let us say Diathera gives off a magical version of "White noise" that interferes with controlling magic. Wind can make electrical power, but you don't want a hurricane coming through your windmills. So magicians would want a balance between power and control. Others could use this as an advantage against magicians.
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
So if I am understanding correctly, Diathera has magical disruption in it's pure form, and an individual can overcharge their body for more power, but having potential loss of control and or magical backlash that could seriously injure them.
 
Just a general statement - it's pretty hard to maintain reader interest in something invincible. Everything needs balance, or at least an Achilles heel. There is a substance called Metathera which can neutralise diathera and some people in your story are trying to find it.
 

Iapetus777

Scribe
Unrelated to the previous topic, apparently Ditherians means diathermy in Greek, Dithera means happy in Greek, and Metathera means by default in Greek.
 
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