Twelve Orders System of Magic

[Mindfire]

Okay, I looked over the forum, and this is how I'd organize the orders and ideas you've gotten so far, plus some thoughts of my own.

First, your "Order of Science" kinda confuses me. How can you have magical science? I'd personally give it a different name like: the Order of Substance. It would encompass the knowledge, understanding, and manipulation of matter and the laws of the material world from the rarest molecule to the furthest star. Wizards who practice the Order of Substance are not necessarily constrained by the laws of physics, but they understand them impeccably. There is are some physical laws they cannot transcend however, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics. A Wizard of Substance cannot create matter or energy out of nothing, only transfer or convert them. Every act using the Order of Substance requires energy from somewhere to accomplish it, which is the school's largest limitation. They also cannot create life, since (it is assumed for the sake of this creative exercise) life does not consist solely of tangible matter. The God of Substance could be seen as the god of ultimate knowledge, craftsmanship, and the ultimate source of all energy.

The Order of Creation, in my view, could stand in contrast to the Order of Substance in that while Substance deals with things material and tangible, Creation deals with things immaterial and intangible. Because the Order of Creation is, in essence, the order of creativity. It is the order of the things that are pleasurable, wise, or strong, but cannot necessarily be touched or seen. It is the order of thoughts, feelings, art, beauty, music, and values. Through this order of magic, wizards can read and influence the minds and hearts of others, and imprint their own thoughts and feelings onto reality. Lesser imprints manifest as vague feelings, sounds, or sensations, stronger ones as ghostly apparitions or phantoms, and wizards capable of especially powerful imprints can outright think or feel things fully into existence. As the Order of Creation is the order of creativity, it's limitation is the imagination and will of the user. However, this order also cannot create true life, because any animate thing it produces is tethered to the mind of the one who produced it. (See Aule's creation of the Dwarves in Tolkien's writings.) The God of Creation is a patron of the arts, a lover of music, and perhaps a comforter of mankind, the god most likely to take positive interest in mortal affairs.

The Order of Time would be next. It is neither material nor immaterial. It is the order that concerns visions, dreams, shadows of things that have been, that are, and that are yet to come. It is the order of history and prophecy. Of counsel, wisdom, preparation, and foresight. It's users are able to pull back the temporal veil and receive visions of events past, present, and future. They are also able to alter the perception of time both in them and others. While not time travel, this allows them impossibly quick reflexes and battle precognition. Extremely powerful wizards of Time can even appear in multiple places simultaneously or experience time at such a quick rate that others seem not to move at all. They can also alter their apparent age at will. A wizard of Time is more useful as an adviser or spy than a warrior however. This order's greatest limitation is the experience of the user, for without experience, the visions and dreams are difficult to reliably interpret and the powers are difficult to control. The God of Time could be seen as a distant god of wisdom, patience, and omniscience, but also one content to let mortals learn from their own mistakes rather than warning them in most circumstances.

The Order of Vitality (as I renamed your Order of Nature) is concerned with all life and it's nurturing. Wild or domestic, plant or animal. The Order of Vitality allows its users to hasten the development of a life form (e.g.g transform a seed into a fully grown tree) to enhance a fully grown life form (transform a small dog into a giant mastiff), to diagnose and heal diseases and injuries, and to exert influence over not only life itself but that which is needed for it to flourish such as soil, sun, and weather. An exceptionally powerful wizard of this order could summon great thunderstorms, or transform midwinter into spring. Wizards of this order are limited in two ways: they cannot bring life out of nothing or out of unliving matter. There must be a "seed" to work with. Also, they cannot control life, only influence it. After you transform that baby lizard into a dragon, good luck telling it what to do. The God of Vitality would be caring and parental, but also capricious and forgetful, destructive but without malice, mimicking nature itself.

The Order of Fate (ironically) gives the power over things that cannot be foreseen. It is concerned with possibilities, coincidences, chaos, luck, chance, choice, accidents, cause and effect. It is the subtlest of all the orders. The movements of a wizard of Fate are obscured even to the eyes of a wizard of Time because they do not affect reality directly, but indirectly, altering the unseen web of probability and circumstance to their advantage. They are the essence of superstition, chaos made flesh, fortune and misfortune incarnate. For this reason, they are the wizards most adept at countering a wizard of Time: a wizard of Fate cannot truly be predicted. At least, not with any accuracy. In order to use their powers effectively, the mind of a wizard of Fate must be flexible and open to change. A rigid mind will break if it attempts to touch the web of chance, because as you push the web it also pushes back. The God of Fate could be seen as a trickster, unpredictable, chaotic even, but not evil. He would be the champion of free will and choice to counterbalance the stoic determinism implied by the powers of the God of Time and his order of magic.



These five are so all-encompassing that I'm not sure how you'd come up with an additional seven without diving headfirst into tired tropes. If you're wondering why "elements" didn't show up on my list, it's because I think the powers you attribute to "elements" could easily be divided up between "vitality/nature" and "substance/science", so there's really no need for it. If I think of any other orders/gods I'll do another post.

 

[Phietadix]

All your Ideas above are good, much more organized then what i had come up with already. Now I have come up the the 6th order.

The Order of Animation The wizards of animation basicly have the power of moving things, they have telekeineses and also their main ability. They can 'animate' objects, their magic takes an increidible amount of time and training to do, but they can 'progarm' obejects to do certain things. For example, A wizard of Animation could 'progarm' a tree to swing it's branch and do it over and over again, basicly turning it into a brach swinging robot, if they spend enough time they could make an something ent, even with Artificial intelligence. Their main limitation is they have no contol over things that can think for their own. They can not cause armys to start fighting each other or control animals. Their other limitation is that there magic takes a long time to work for anything besides bacic telekeineses.

 

[Mindfire]

All your Ideas above are good, much more organized then what i had come up with already. Now I have come up the the 6th order.

The Order of Animation The wizards of animation basicly have the power of moving things, they have telekeineses and also their main ability. They can 'animate' objects, their magic takes an increidible amount of time and training to do, but they can 'progarm' obejects to do certain things. For example, A wizard of Animation could 'progarm' a tree to swing it's branch and do it over and over again, basicly turning it into a brach swinging robot, if they spend enough time they could make an something ent, even with Artificial intelligence. Their main limitation is they have no contol over things that can think for their own. They can not cause armys to start fighting each other or control animals. Their other limitation is that there magic takes a long time to work for anything besides bacic telekeineses.

This is a good idea! But you might consider expanding it into the The Order of Enchantment. This order would be concerned with infusing magic into the physical world, combining magic with matter in a predictable and practical way. They are not theorists like wizards of substance, nor artists like wizards of creation, nor tricksters like wizards of fate, nor stoic contemplative like wizards of time, nor capricious like wizards of vitality. The Order of Enchantment is the order of practicality. Wizards of Enchantment are interested not in academic knowledge but in applied knowledge that will produce repeatable and, most importantly, useful results. Their magic is powerful, but not often flashy. They far prefer clever "boring but practical" or if necessary, "awesome but practical" solutions. Their ultimate criterion is "does it work, and reliably?" To them, using an iota more magic than is necessary is wasteful. They often stick to magic "formulas" that have been rigorously tested and approved for use by the order, and do not stray from them unless they must. They have the strictest internal regulations of all wizard orders (wizards of fate have the least) and are sticklers not only for rules and laws but morality and ethics. All their powers are based in the ability to imbue magic into the physical world and infuse it into inanimate objects or "unconscious" life forms (like plants) to create golems, automatons, and their signature: magic weapons. To them, using magic directly when a magic weapon will accomplish the same task is foolish. Telekinesis is also a signature power of theirs because it is simple, practical, and requires little magic. The God of Enchantment is a champion of order and hates chaos, like the God of Time. But unlike the God of Time, the God of Enchantment also dislikes ANY change in the order of the universe and sees it not as part of nature, like the seasons, but as an occasionally necessary evil to be tolerated.

Wizards of Enchantment are among the least likely to become evil due to their conservative nature, but when they do, they are utterly, mechanically ruthless.

 

[Phietadix]

This is a good idea! But you might consider expanding it into the The Order of Enchantment. This order would be concerned with infusing magic into the physical world, combining magic with matter in a predictable and practical way. They are not theorists like wizards of substance, nor artists like wizards of creation, nor tricksters like wizards of fate, nor stoic contemplative like wizards of time, nor capricious like wizards of vitality. The Order of Enchantment is the order of practicality. Wizards of Enchantment are interested not in academic knowledge but in applied knowledge that will produce repeatable and, most importantly, useful results. Their magic is powerful, but not often flashy. They far prefer clever "boring but practical" or if necessary, "awesome but practical" solutions. Their ultimate criterion is "does it work, and reliably?" To them, using an iota more magic than is necessary is wasteful. They often stick to magic "formulas" that have been rigorously tested and approved for use by the order, and do not stray from them unless they must. They have the strictest internal regulations of all wizard orders (wizards of fate have the least) and are sticklers not only for rules and laws but morality and ethics. All their powers are based in the ability to imbue magic into the physical world and infuse it into inanimate objects or "unconscious" life forms (like plants) to create golems, automatons, and their signature: magic weapons. To them, using magic directly when a magic weapon will accomplish the same task is foolish. Telekinesis is also a signature power of theirs because it is simple, practical, and requires little magic. The God of Enchantment is a champion of order and hates chaos, like the God of Time. But unlike the God of Time, the God of Enchantment also dislikes ANY change in the order of the universe and sees it not as part of nature, like the seasons, but as an occasionally necessary evil to be tolerated.

Wizards of Enchantment are among the least likely to become evil due to their conservative nature, but when they do, they are utterly, mechanically ruthless.

I like the idea of them being practical since their magic takes so much time and energy, but it would only work up to a certain point. Some of them would be working to create new and better AIs and more things to 'Progarm' into objects. They would always be wanting to improve upon what they already know. I don't think I'm going to give this Order the power to make Magic weapons, but I'll consider it. Also the God of Animation can't be total non-change, because he was partially responisble for one of the biggest changes the world had known; Adonai's Disapperence.

 

[Mindfire]

I like the idea of them being practical since their magic takes so much time and energy, but it would only work up to a certain point. Some of them would be working to create new and better AIs and more things to 'Progarm' into objects. They would always be wanting to improve upon what they already know. I don't think I'm going to give this Order the power to make Magic weapons, but I'll consider it. Also the God of Animation can't be total non-change, because he was partially responisble for one of the biggest changes the world had known; Adonai's Disapperence.

Interesting. Well, instead of anti-change, he could be anti uncontrollable or unregulated change. And the reason I think having them make magic weapons works so well is that since their magic takes so much time and effort, it's not the best tool in a fast-paced battle situation where you don't have time to think. In order to prepare for that, a wizard of this order would have to have some combat-ready magic prepared in advance, and the most convenient way to carry such a spell is inside an enchanted weapon. You make a good point about them needing to constantly research and improve their methods. I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps their order has an R&D division?

 

[Mindfire]

Also, I'd suggest giving the wizards of time an interest in writing poetry and perhaps a minimalist style of music as a meditation exercise. Learning to follow the rhythm and flow of poetry and music helps time wizards will help initiates learn to attune themselves to the flow of time. The music of time wizards will be more solemn, contemplative and have a different focus compared to the highly emotional music of the creation wizards.

 

[FatCat]

If you have order of creation, you need to balance it with order of destruction!

 

[Jamber]

Are you going to have all equal orders or orders + sub-orders? (The latter would let you have, say, the order of tree-spirits, or the order of herbal lore, or something like that... But it would seem strange to have a herby order equal in power to, say, the order of creation). In fact there's a faint sense of hierarchy already in your order list.

Another way to approach this might be to go back and fragment some of those gigantic-themed orders, thus 'order of creation' might become several new orders, all vaguely creative (e.g. think along the lines of toolmaking, creation in terms of overarching worlds, sunlight and plants, reproduction, etc).

Or just some crazy unthought-through orders, see how many you can jot quickly and then prune back the list to the best and most resonant-sounding ones:

Order of the night sky. (What for I'm not sure... Divination? Or to rule over things that align themselves to the night sky – moths, fruit bats, certain other animals, certain plants, as well as star alignments and certain forms of prophesy?)
Order of winged things.
Order of malevolent spirits.
Order of sprites and elementals.
Order of fire energies.
Order of... Oh well, I'm out of split hairs.

You could think up a heap of orders and then imagine what they're for, just play loosely with words.

Well, those are my vague thoughts, anyhow... Having just been doing something a little similar (but with 9 mage-guilds).

Good luck!
Jamber

 

[Phietadix]

If you have order of creation, you need to balance it with order of destruction!

Intresting, what abilitys would an Order like this have?
Anyway I've been working on the 7th Order.

The Order of Strength The Order of Strength gives it's wizards the ability to enhance their, and their allies, natural abilitys such as Strength, speed, reflexes, etc. The most powerful of the Wizards of Strength might be able to boost their reflexes to match even a Wizard of Time. Wizards of Strength are always wanting to increase their abilitys naturally as well, and place high importence on exerciese and proper diet. The God of Strength loves sports and often hosts his own games similar to the Olympics.

Also in reply to Jamber, there won't be sub-orders. Some Wizards may choose to focus on a particular thing (Such as Herbal Lore) but it won't be like you were describing.

 

[FatCat]

I like the strength one, sort of like monks. I guess destruction isn't really what I'm thinking of, more the 'occult'. Though this would depend on what religions you have in your world, they could study spirits of the dead. Through rituals and summons they can ask for...services to be performed, so to speak. Again, anything further would be made on the assumption that your world would live within the factual truth that there is an afterlife, if this school would be taken seriously. Then again, you could have them be renounced and not taken seriously, even if they can really do these things.

 

[Phietadix]

I like the strength one, sort of like monks. I guess destruction isn't really what I'm thinking of, more the 'occult'. Though this would depend on what religions you have in your world, they could study spirits of the dead. Through rituals and summons they can ask for...services to be performed, so to speak. Again, anything further would be made on the assumption that your world would live within the factual truth that there is an afterlife, if this school would be taken seriously. Then again, you could have them be renounced and not taken seriously, even if they can really do these things.

To see what the Religon is, just read this thread the 12/13 orders ARE the Religon. And while there is an afterfife, it's not commonly believed.

 

[FatCat]

Hmm, well maybe you can have the potential 13th order be the study of the afterlife and death, renounced by the other schools as blasphemy. Perhaps you could even have the origins of the prophecy regarding the death of Adonai and the transfer of his power come from this god. With the creation of this school, Adonai cemented the need for death in life, and took this principle literally, knowing such a prophecy of his doom would be written.

 

[Mindfire]

Hey, Phietadix! I came up with 3 or 4 more orders for you! The ideas came to me when I was daydreaming in class. lol I don't have time to write up a post right now, but shoot me a PM or chat invite if you're interested and I'll tell you what I came up with. Or I might make a post tomorrow. Just don't let me forget!

 

[Phietadix]

Hmm, well maybe you can have the potential 13th order be the study of the afterlife and death, renounced by the other schools as blasphemy. Perhaps you could even have the origins of the prophecy regarding the death of Adonai and the transfer of his power come from this god. With the creation of this school, Adonai cemented the need for death in life, and took this principle literally, knowing such a prophecy of his doom would be written.

It's not really a potential order, it definitly exists, but most people in the world don't acknowlage it as a real order. The thirteenth order is the order of Adonai. It's Wizards are Usually called the Paladins of Adonai. They are the main ones who belive in an afterlife. Also the Paladins are known following a stict code. They are by far the smallest order, they are both mocked and respected. They are mocked for believing in a 'dead' God and are respected for their honesty and unweavering sense of duty and for helping others.

 

[Mindfire]

Question, Phietadix, why do you call this god "Adonai"?

 

[Phietadix]

Question, Phietadix, why do you call this god "Adonai"?

Named after the Hebrew word for Lord.

 

[TheWarlock]

I have just started on this site how are you guys and gals call me the warlock

 

[Mindfire]

Named after the Hebrew word for Lord.

I know what the name is, but why did you choose it?

 

[TheWarlock]

I like your system

 

[Roc]

I still need to figure what the other 8 orders should be.

How about only four, that way I don't get jumbled up. 12 is a lot to remember, so if you could put telekinesis in science, then you got that solved.

Previous posters were right in saying those four you already have are very broad, however, when being broad, that means there's room for mystery.

Good luck!

Edit: Was just reading your next couple posts, and I must say you're moving in the right direction, but after all, it is 'your' direction. I like mind fires ideas, mostly his renaming, they sound more interesting.

I disagree with the science part though...science should and would have a place in magic if your society was based around magic.