Magic systems please!

[Badgerfrog]

...and my magic has a ghost sword. I am humbled, my good sir or ma'am(Or both or neither), and I humbly request your feedback on my system, if you would be so kind.

Swords are cool tho.

I'm a dude, man.

The first thing I see is that your post is pretty focused on the capabilities and limitations of the magic system itself and somewhat its history.

Purely as a magic system it feels pretty fleshed out, as though you have a good idea in your head of how it would work in real life and why it functions the way it does.

One thing I'd maybe do is "Why" it. Just ask "Why" about every little detail and question the answers you come up with even further until you get really granular. That'll help develop reasons for things to be the way they are in your world and help you flesh them out in a way that allows you to build upon solid foundations.

You definitely don't need to add this all to a story or even write it down(it does help though), so long as you as a writer know the answers, and understand how various metaphysics, interactions, and histories affect a world.









Caution: Feel free to ignore the below pedantry if you want.



Might not be what you're asking for, but another thing that immediately stands out to me is the most boring but also a crucial part of worldbuilding: formatting.

Forget sharing with others, just for the sake of my own sanity, the moment I start worldbuilding, I focus some time on making it legible and super organized so I can find what I'm looking for easily and add stuff in when ideas strike me.

I Start With One of These For Major Elements of Worldbuilding Like Magic(Font Size Changes Optional)
Then Go Here For Each Major New Type of Magic
Then Further Sub-Headings Can Be Like This For Stuff Like Magical Subtypes
Then Give Us A Specific Form of Magic
-Then:
-Organize:
-Standardized:
-Elements:
-Like:
-This:
Italics For Sub-Notes and Reminders Too!
Repeat, Etc...

Then copy and paste the format, and you can just fill out each blank for every different type of magic or whatever other worldbuilding element you need to add.

For your post, this might look something like:

Magic
Blade
Rarity:
Nature:
Type:
Requirements:
Limitations:
Flaws:
Subtypes
-Sword:
-Spear:
-Etc...

Or somesuch

 

[skip.knox]

There is a magic system for Altearth, but until modern times no one knew what it was. Instead, different people in different times and places had different theories--they had their own systems. This could be as simple as each wielder of magic has their own powers that are unique and not reproducible. In most centuries there were competing and contradictory systems proclaimed without anyone feeling the need to formulate a General Theory. Astrologers had their own ideas about how the stars influenced the world on which they shone, while battlemages had entirely different views of their powers. Consequently, too, different schools evolved, from narrow apprenticeships to something like universities.

I have never introduced anything like the "real" system of magic in any of my stories simply because the people at the time did not and could not know of it. More to the point, they believed they did understand, to whatever level of detail they cared to delve. So, there was neither need nor profit in developing a general understanding.

Moreover, humans had one kind of magic, elves another, dwarves another, orcs yet another, trolls yet another. These forms, each believed to be particular to their own kind; therefore still more reason not to believe there was some unseen underlying unity.

That may sound cohesive, but dang it was a long time in the development. For the most part, yours truly has enough to do to just get through the dang story.

 

[Badgerfrog]

There is a magic system for Altearth, but until modern times no one knew what it was. Instead, different people in different times and places had different theories--they had their own systems. This could be as simple as each wielder of magic has their own powers that are unique and not reproducible. In most centuries there were competing and contradictory systems proclaimed without anyone feeling the need to formulate a General Theory. Astrologers had their own ideas about how the stars influenced the world on which they shone, while battlemages had entirely different views of their powers. Consequently, too, different schools evolved, from narrow apprenticeships to something like universities.

I have never introduced anything like the "real" system of magic in any of my stories simply because the people at the time did not and could not know of it. More to the point, they believed they did understand, to whatever level of detail they cared to delve. So, there was neither need nor profit in developing a general understanding.

Moreover, humans had one kind of magic, elves another, dwarves another, orcs yet another, trolls yet another. These forms, each believed to be particular to their own kind; therefore still more reason not to believe there was some unseen underlying unity.

That may sound cohesive, but dang it was a long time in the development. For the most part, yours truly has enough to do to just get through the dang story.

Reminds me a bit of some old Forgotten Realms lore, which had the different species all interacting with the Weave in different ways and laid out how different magical traditions were rooted in culture but all connected to some vast unknowable whole. I dunno if they've retconned it though, like they have with lots of cultural stuff over the years.

Seems like a huge chore to keep track of, but also a setting that would allow a lot of different angles for exploring new cultures and traditions.

 

[mr_clean]

Swords are cool tho.

I'm a dude, man.

The first thing I see is that your post is pretty focused on the capabilities and limitations of the magic system itself and somewhat its history.

Purely as a magic system it feels pretty fleshed out, as though you have a good idea in your head of how it would work in real life and why it functions the way it does.

One thing I'd maybe do is "Why" it. Just ask "Why" about every little detail and question the answers you come up with even further until you get really granular. That'll help develop reasons for things to be the way they are in your world and help you flesh them out in a way that allows you to build upon solid foundations.

You definitely don't need to add this all to a story or even write it down(it does help though), so long as you as a writer know the answers, and understand how various metaphysics, interactions, and histories affect a world.









Caution: Feel free to ignore the below pedantry if you want.



Might not be what you're asking for, but another thing that immediately stands out to me is the most boring but also a crucial part of worldbuilding: formatting.

Forget sharing with others, just for the sake of my own sanity, the moment I start worldbuilding, I focus some time on making it legible and super organized so I can find what I'm looking for easily and add stuff in when ideas strike me.

I Start With One of These For Major Elements of Worldbuilding Like Magic(Font Size Changes Optional)
Then Go Here For Each Major New Type of Magic
Then Further Sub-Headings Can Be Like This For Stuff Like Magical Subtypes
Then Give Us A Specific Form of Magic
-Then:
-Organize:
-Standardized:
-Elements:
-Like:
-This:
Italics For Sub-Notes and Reminders Too!
Repeat, Etc...

Then copy and paste the format, and you can just fill out each blank for every different type of magic or whatever other worldbuilding element you need to add.

For your post, this might look something like:

Magic
Blade
Rarity:
Nature:
Type:
Requirements:
Limitations:
Flaws:
Subtypes
-Sword:
-Spear:
-Etc...

Or somesuch

I have an google sheet with percentage chances of all the magics. It'd also laid out much better in the world build doc, but for some reason it didn't work here, and was much more disorganized. Its annoys me.