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Magic Idea Criticism

I wouldn't worry about copyright in that case. If you go quoting long stretches of dialog you may be in trouble, but an idea isn't subject to copyright.

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cliche

Minstrel
I wouldn't worry about copyright in that case. If you go quoting long stretches of dialog you may be in trouble, but an idea isn't subject to copyright.

Sent from my Blade using Forum Runner
Ah ok then, though I am interested in what form of magic in that film previously mentioned was used, seeing it may give me alternate ideas and a different outlook to what a similar form of magic can do.
 
Some questions:

1. The Soul Breather - what would prevent one from using a human?
2. crystal magic, no so much a question but a comment the way I handle crystal magic in my world is the Crystals used are grown specifically for that purpose and can be recharged.

Overall I question why so many forms of magic, I think as a reader I would get confused over who uses what magic
 

cliche

Minstrel
Some questions:

1. The Soul Breather - what would prevent one from using a human?
2. crystal magic, no so much a question but a comment the way I handle crystal magic in my world is the Crystals used are grown specifically for that purpose and can be recharged.

Overall I question why so many forms of magic, I think as a reader I would get confused over who uses what magic

There isnt anything to stop someone from using a human, though it is frowned upon by all parts of society.
The crystal magic (like pretty much all the others) is still a work in progress. I still have to change and add certain details to all these forms of magic.
Finally half of these wont be made known in any one story, you may hear about one or two, but only one will usually be the main focus of the story. The place in itself is going to be setting for several stories, not just centered around one character.

Despite this though I have to agree with you up to a point, I am considering removing a couple of the magic ideas altogether, can anyone give me their opinion on which one(s) I should remove?
 
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cliche said:
There isnt anything to stop someone from using a human, though it is frowned upon by all parts of society.

I'd like to see that change, even if it is just fringe groups. There will always be outliers in any group, and they are often the most dangerous.
 

cliche

Minstrel
I'd like to see that change, even if it is just fringe groups. There will always be outliers in any group, and they are often the most dangerous.

That's true, there are always exceptions to the rules when it comes to society. Yeah, I think I may change that. As you have said, there is bound to some groups out there who see nothing wrong with using humans as familiars, and they can be some of the most deadly.
 

JamesTFHS

Scribe
I just want to say i love your idea and concept of the soul magic thing that is awesome. I sort of came up with the same concept, except for the familiar part that is genius in my opinion. You got alot here and i like it. some magic is just to overly simple and i like all the different levels and forms of magic and i agree that you should introduce them slowly.
 

W.k. Trail

Scribe
The soul magic thing is neat. It's like something I saw in an anime once, though the show was otherwise forgettable enough that I couldn't tell you what it's called. Dunno if that bothers you.

The rest of it was... complicated. I got half a paragraph in before my eyes fell out of my head and I had to just stick bottle caps into my sockets for now. (I am a robot, it's okay.) It might work to have something that complicated in a story but unless you explain it unusually well and organically nobody is going to be able to make sense of it.
 

cliche

Minstrel
I just want to say i love your idea and concept of the soul magic thing that is awesome. I sort of came up with the same concept, except for the familiar part that is genius in my opinion. You got alot here and i like it. some magic is just to overly simple and i like all the different levels and forms of magic and i agree that you should introduce them slowly.
Thank you, I am contemplating whether to create completely separate worlds for each of the different types of magic that i have specified (so as not to overload the reader). Though in the end it how i develop the world and introducing the magic slowly will probablu be the best way to go about it.
The soul magic thing is neat. It's like something I saw in an anime once, though the show was otherwise forgettable enough that I couldn't tell you what it's called. Dunno if that bothers you.

The rest of it was... complicated. I got half a paragraph in before my eyes fell out of my head and I had to just stick bottle caps into my sockets for now. (I am a robot, it's okay.) It might work to have something that complicated in a story but unless you explain it unusually well and organically nobody is going to be able to make sense of it.
It wouldnt surprise me if this was similar to an anime or even a movie, the best thing I can do at the moment is try and add my own unique twist to it and try to further myself as I can from the other persons idea.
Yeah, some of the magic ideas are a bit complicated but they are probably only going to exist in one or two towns, cities or countries (depending on how big of a region i decide to focus on) and most of the stoires will only revolve around one form of magic and not all of them simultaniously.
 

Jess A

Archmage
The rest of it was... complicated. I got half a paragraph in before my eyes fell out of my head and I had to just stick bottle caps into my sockets for now. (I am a robot, it's okay.) It might work to have something that complicated in a story but unless you explain it unusually well and organically nobody is going to be able to make sense of it.

Adding to what W.k Trail said:

I have noticed in a lot of books that the exact details of magic and religion are not explained, or they are in very small ways - through actions rather than anything else. We, the readers, learn about it as the magic-user learns - through his or her experiences.

If you can introduce some aspects subtly and as part of the story, it can be done. However, you can afford to leave certain things out sometimes and allow the reader to piece things together. It wouldn't be easy, but it would read better and the reader would not get bogged down on every little detail.
 
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cliche

Minstrel
Adding to what W.k Trail said:

I have noticed in a lot of books that the exact details of magic and religion are not explained, or they are in very small ways - through actions rather than anything else. We, the readers, learn about it as the magic-user learns - through his or her experiences.

If you can introduce some aspects subtly and as part of the story, it can be done. However, you can afford to leave certain things out sometimes and allow the reader to piece things together. It wouldn't be easy, but it would read better and the reader would not get bogged down on every little detail.
I agree and I have decided to split these forms of magic upa dn use them in different settings and perhaps entirely different worlds. I will have to make sure that I concentrate on the story and not the details that may bore the reader.
 

utiuts

Acolyte
I'm interested with the magic of the souls. I assume that you learn magic since you're young, and during practice, it can't be helped for you to cast a bit of magic, thus turning you older. I'm wondering about what would happen to those youngsters who are stuck in old bodies? Would they abuse it due to their youthful spirits? If you know what I mean. All of your methods of magic seem to be pretty dark for me. As for the magic itself, I think they're all comprehensive enough for now. You wouldn't know what's missing until you actually write it. What I think interesting is the anthropological aspects of the people who use the different methods of magic.
 

cliche

Minstrel
I'm interested with the magic of the souls. I assume that you learn magic since you're young, and during practice, it can't be helped for you to cast a bit of magic, thus turning you older. I'm wondering about what would happen to those youngsters who are stuck in old bodies? Would they abuse it due to their youthful spirits? If you know what I mean. All of your methods of magic seem to be pretty dark for me. As for the magic itself, I think they're all comprehensive enough for now. You wouldn't know what's missing until you actually write it. What I think interesting is the anthropological aspects of the people who use the different methods of magic.

That would be an interesting situation. Perhaps their coud be some form of lock that can be placed on the children to stop them from using their powers. Or if there is not anything to stop them and they find out about their abilities when they are too you ng then they will probably have to live within the body of an old person for the remainder of their lives (no matter how much shorter it may be).
Though how they get access to the magic (as in learning it and being able to manipulate it) is still something I am working on (along with deities) once I have finished both of those things I am probably going to start properly planning out the story.
 

Joanna

Scribe
I like the idea of your soul magic. With regards to humans being used I thought it doesn't have to be "evil". You could have for example a cloister of monks who are all familiars to their leader, and are happy to sacrifice themselves for a greater good.

In a similar vain I thought it would be interesting if you expanded that concept over a whole kingdom. Every subject is a familiar to their king (and maybe his heir). In fact, in battle taking a day from a thousand subjects would make almost no difference to the people, but the power adds up quickly. I'm almost tempted to add a country like this to my world ;)
 

cliche

Minstrel
I like the idea of your soul magic. With regards to humans being used I thought it doesn't have to be "evil". You could have for example a cloister of monks who are all familiars to their leader, and are happy to sacrifice themselves for a greater good.

In a similar vain I thought it would be interesting if you expanded that concept over a whole kingdom. Every subject is a familiar to their king (and maybe his heir). In fact, in battle taking a day from a thousand subjects would make almost no difference to the people, but the power adds up quickly. I'm almost tempted to add a country like this to my world ;)

Thank you. I never really thought of it that way before but using it in that context would be great!
 

Mindfire

Istar
About your soul magic. It sounds kind of similar to the blood magic that the Canim use in the Codex Alera books. In those books, there's a schism between the Canim priests who follow the "old way" of using their own blood, which is seen as more honorable, and those who follow the "new way" of using the blood of others, which is less respectable, but offers greater power. It would be interesting to see people developing different theories about how this magic should be used and the conflicts between factions.

And speaking of theories, what do you think of this idea: suppose some smart wizard in your book finds a new way of using soul magic that doesn't kill people? The concept is that of magical "circles" or "circular flow". The wizard draws energy from themselves or a familiar to perform a magical feat, but instead of transferring the magic directly into the spell, it sort of "passes through", performing an action, and then returns to the caster, although somewhat diminished. The idea is that for most spells, you dont need a permanent effect. A fireball or lightning bolt doesn't need to last forever, so its a waste to do a permanent energy transfer. The "boomerang" energy method is more efficient because you get most or all of the energy back after you cast the spell. The only downside is that the effects of the spell are only temporary because the energy is always moving, constantly in flux. I think this would be a great way for the more honorable soul mages to perform magic.
 

Rullenzar

Troubadour
Don't know if someone mentioned this but the soul magic is from the covenant movie. The more they use their magic the quicker they age. They can also sacrifice themselves and give their power to someone of their choosing making that person more powerful. They don't have any familiar stuff though, thats unique however familiars were used in The Priest, a vampire movie where vamps use familiars to do their bidding in the day. Not the same but thought you should know.

All in all you have some neat ideas. I personally think implementing all the types of magic into one story would be great. You could make say Schools of magic where mages flock to learn these magics in different settings and schools for each type.
What you could do is make your main character oblivious to other types of magic aside from the one he studies. He knows there is more out there but his own was enough to keep him busy without thinking of other ones. As he progresses through story he meets or has conflict with other mages and the reader learns when your character does about the other types.

Just an idea.
 

cliche

Minstrel
About your soul magic. It sounds kind of similar to the blood magic that the Canim use in the Codex Alera books. In those books, there's a schism between the Canim priests who follow the "old way" of using their own blood, which is seen as more honorable, and those who follow the "new way" of using the blood of others, which is less respectable, but offers greater power. It would be interesting to see people developing different theories about how this magic should be used and the conflicts between factions.

And speaking of theories, what do you think of this idea: suppose some smart wizard in your book finds a new way of using soul magic that doesn't kill people? The concept is that of magical "circles" or "circular flow". The wizard draws energy from themselves or a familiar to perform a magical feat, but instead of transferring the magic directly into the spell, it sort of "passes through", performing an action, and then returns to the caster, although somewhat diminished. The idea is that for most spells, you dont need a permanent effect. A fireball or lightning bolt doesn't need to last forever, so its a waste to do a permanent energy transfer. The "boomerang" energy method is more efficient because you get most or all of the energy back after you cast the spell. The only downside is that the effects of the spell are only temporary because the energy is always moving, constantly in flux. I think this would be a great way for the more honorable soul mages to perform magic.

That is a very interesting theory. It would depend entirely on whether someone discovered this theory and whether or not there was a social divide between people who believe that using this magic the old way allows them to build up character as they learn to use their magic sparingly. Then there could be those who believe as long as you use this magic for the right purpose the it is alright to use it in said method.
I like the way in which they use magic that it comes at a price. This is so no one can use magic to do irrveversable damage to land without controlling an army of familiars. Though people who do know how to use this magic will most likely have familiars which will a sort of parasitic bond with the soulmage as the familiar dies and feels the effects whilst the mage carries on living. I want to use this way as it demonstrates humanities selfishness and how society has been built on wanting more and less giving.

Don't know if someone mentioned this but the soul magic is from the covenant movie. The more they use their magic the quicker they age. They can also sacrifice themselves and give their power to someone of their choosing making that person more powerful. They don't have any familiar stuff though, thats unique however familiars were used in The Priest, a vampire movie where vamps use familiars to do their bidding in the day. Not the same but thought you should know.

All in all you have some neat ideas. I personally think implementing all the types of magic into one story would be great. You could make say Schools of magic where mages flock to learn these magics in different settings and schools for each type.
What you could do is make your main character oblivious to other types of magic aside from the one he studies. He knows there is more out there but his own was enough to keep him busy without thinking of other ones. As he progresses through story he meets or has conflict with other mages and the reader learns when your character does about the other types.

Just an idea.
I did not know about that film but I know that it is very difficult to come up with a completely original idea so I plan to put my own twist on it.
I like your idea about having separate schools for separate pieces of magic and people knowing but not quite knowing enough about other forms of magic other than their own. It will take a lot of work to do something like that and put it all into a single world as i would have to think about how different cultures affected the lands and what would happen when these cultures clashed which is why separating them into separate books would be more ideal for me. It would allow me to put it in different settings with different tasks and would not have to be relevent to one another thank you for the suggestion anyway.
 
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