New Attempt At A Magic System

[S.T. Ockenner]

So, I want there to be different types of magic- I already have elemental magic, it is casted by using special elemental orbs that are very rare and look like Skyrim spells (a bit of fire in someone's hand) but I need other types of magic too. I am not doing a spell system, I'm doing a more general ability system.
Could someone please help me think of other disciplines?

Types so far:
Elemental (orblike, comes from the elder _______, allows you to directly manipulate the element you are holding)

 

[Bianca]

necromancy ( usually forbidden)
magic you can use to attack, defend, heal
What are the boundaries with magic?
Who can use it?

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

necromancy ( usually forbidden)
magic you can use to attack, defend, heal

Necromancy sounds interesting, but I'm not a fan of the 'attack, defend, heal' thing, I want it to have more substance than that.

Who can use it?

Mages can use it

So far, I have elemental magic, and I'm keeping Necromancy in mind, but I have no idea how it would work.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

Also, part of me wants it to have mages that can only (or mostly) work within certain types of magic.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I tend to lean to a school of thought that it’s best if folks develop these things on their own, as magic is integral to the world and story. That said, what you have here is limited by lack of definition. What does “type” of magic mean to you? What does “elemental” mean to you? I guarantee what you think of as elemental magic differs from what I use. Is it Earth, Fire, Fire, and Air? If so, why? What is the basis of magic? What do you want magic to do? What do you need magic to do? What do you want/need magic to not be able to do? Is it possible for words to hold power? Is it possible for runes to hold power? Do magical beings exist? If so, why and how? If they don’t, why not? You can work in two general directions, and go back and forth. Start at the basis of magic and figure out what that basis can do, or start at want you want it to do and figure out how magic achieves this.

Or you can just wing it! But, asking yourself lots of questions is the best place to start, and to when asking questions here, define what you mean. Table top RPG systems are probably a great place for inspiration, there are a multitude of magic systems worthy of study out there.

I went down the wormhole for years, developed a system of Elements and how everything works from undead to vampires (vampires can be living or undead, a result of understanding how things work, and that traditional vampires are not a thing) to runes, to scrolls, to metallurgy, to herbalism, gem-cutting, life and death and that state in between.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

Twelve Orders System of Magic
I was inspired by this thread in particular to have a system with different types of magic, I think it is an interesting concept, and I want to have it in my story- I think I should do some research later to find information on types of magic.

 

[Spacebar]

Your elemental magic centers around an external focus, so maybe you could use that as a unifying principle. For example, maybe you could do Beast magic, where a specially prepared part of a magical beast (the heart is popular) is used to invoke its power and assume some of its strengths and abilities.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

I like that idea!
1. Elementalism- essence held in hand, can control essence (but only masters can control external elements)
2. Beastmancy- inject the blood of an animal to take on a physical characteristic of it (only masters can shape-shift at will)

 

[Aboveavg]

You can go Fullmetal alchemist style and use that!
Animist
Apprentice
Archmage
Changellor
Cleric
Conjurer
Distorter
Druid
Elementalist
Enchanter
Fortuneteller
Hedge wizard
Incantatar
Mage
Magi
Magician
Magus
Mancer
Medicine man (lol)
Mentalist
Mystic
Prophet
Seer
Shaman
Sorcerer
Summoner
Vikan
Warlock
Witch
Wizard
If you need definitions lmk or just look them up hope this helps

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

You can go Fullmetal alchemist style and use that!
Animist
Apprentice
Archmage
Changellor
Cleric
Conjurer
Distorter
Druid
Elementalist
Enchanter
Fortuneteller
Hedge wizard
Incantatar
Mage
Magi
Magician
Magus
Mancer
Medicine man (lol)
Mentalist
Mystic
Prophet
Seer
Shaman
Sorcerer
Summoner
Vikan
Warlock
Witch
Wizard
If you need definitions lmk or just look them up hope this helps

I'm not really looking for titles, just types of magic.

 

[Aboveavg]

I'm not really looking for titles, just types of magic.

Ohhhh ok, how about this?:
abjuration, alteration, conjuration, divination, enchantment, illusion, invocation, and necromancy.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

Also not quite what I'm looking for;
What I have so far is:

1. Elementalism- essence held in hand, can control essence (but only masters can control external elements)
2. Beastmancy- inject the blood of an animal to take on a physical characteristic of it (only masters can shape-shift at will)

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

alteration,

Hmmm...but I like the idea of transmutation of some sort.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

1. Elementalism- essence held in hand, can control essence (but only masters can control external elements)
2. Beastmancy- inject the blood of an animal to take on a physical characteristic of it (only masters can shape-shift at will)
3. Transmutation- alter the molecular structure of things to change their shape and material [needs more limitations]

 

[Aboveavg]

Also not quite what I'm looking for;
What I have so far is:

Hmmm ok, maybe this'll help?:
Mystokinesis
Aeroportation
Alchemy
Aquatic Respiration
Astral Projection
Atmoskinesis
Chlorokinesis
Conjuring
Cryokinesis
Crystallokinesis
Cursing
Divination
Electrokinesis
Empath
Enchantment
Ferrokinesis
Florakinesis
Geokinesis
Granulation
Heliokinesis
Hydrokinesis
Hrdroportation
Illusions
Inflammation
Invisibility
Levitation
Necromancy
Photokinesis
Pyrokinesis
Pyromancy
Shapeshifting
Sight
Summoning
Telekinesis
Telepathy
Terrakinesis
Terraportation
Thaumaturgy
Thermokinesis
Theurgy
Umbrakinesis
Umbrageous Teleportation
(Lots of Kinesis'!!)

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

Hmmm ok, maybe this'll help?:
Mystokinesis
Aeroportation
Alchemy
Aquatic Respiration
Astral Projection
Atmoskinesis
Chlorokinesis
Conjuring
Cryokinesis
Crystallokinesis
Cursing
Divination
Electrokinesis
Empath
Enchantment
Ferrokinesis
Florakinesis
Geokinesis
Granulation
Heliokinesis
Hydrokinesis
Hrdroportation
Illusions
Inflammation
Invisibility
Levitation
Necromancy
Photokinesis
Pyrokinesis
Pyromancy
Shapeshifting
Sight
Summoning
Telekinesis
Telepathy
Terrakinesis
Terraportation
Thaumaturgy
Thermokinesis
Theurgy
Umbrakinesis
Umbrageous Teleportation
(Lots of Kinesis'!!)

Still, looking for things that are more broad...I also need to think up a limitation to transmutation.

 

[Aboveavg]

Still, looking for things that are more broad...I also need to think up a limitation to transmutation.

Ahh ok, That was the end of my knowledge there, I'm not very sure what to do to help. I wish you the best of luck though!!

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

1. Elementalism- essence held in hand, can control essence (but only masters can control external elements)
2. Beastmancy- inject the blood of an animal to take on a physical characteristic of it (only masters can shape-shift at will)
3. Transmutation- alter the molecular structure of things to change their shape and material [needs more limitations]
Can anyone come up with limitations for Transmutation?

 

[Spacebar]

3. Transmutation- alter the molecular structure of things to change their shape and material [needs more limitations]

Maybe it takes a long time to do the initial transformation, but the effects are permanent, so they can create items that are otherwise impossible to craft. Moreover, an item that the transmuter has transformed themselves can then quickly change between forms that it has been made into. So in the hands of the transmuter, their personal sword might have many forms that can be changed in the midst of battle.

 

[S.T. Ockenner]

1. Elementalism- essence held in hand, can control essence (but only masters can control external elements)
2. Beastmancy- inject the blood of an animal to take on a physical characteristic of it (only masters can shape-shift at will)
3. Transmutation- alter the molecular structure of things to change their shape and material (takes a long time, and total concentration) (masters have a personal object that they can transmute near-effortlessly, but it cannot grow or shrink by too much)
4. Animation- bring the nonliving to life, e.g. golems, zombies, plant monsters, parts of creatures sewn together in an abomination, etc [needs more limitations]
5. Psi [needs fleshing out]