Most often, your audience should see the effects of magic but not the cause. So there you have a source of energy for your telekinesis. Now I think I covered everything, please comment, I accept anything you want to contribute, thank you. But its repeatedly said in the series that spells can be cast when the user feels strong emotion, so it could possibly be connected in that way to the old magic. Or you could simply say that air is good for dodging, while earth is good for blocking. They arent all knowing like gods so you have to talk to them directly. In Game of Thrones, the red woman throws leaches into a fire, and later several lords die far away. That more than one type of magic exists in a generally complex way not thoroughly understood by anyone feels very real, very much in fact like science. If you go with that, I really hope youll have a scene where your mage character (or one of them) sees the empty shells that older mages have become, their very last memory bargained away in exchange for a little power. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. If spellcasters can run out of magic, itll be easy to put them in a tight spot when you need to. He shrugged and complained, feeling too tired to trudge away from comfort. Some well-known examples of soft magic systems: In The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Visit her new website . Readers know little, if anything, about the nature, origin, or limitations of the characters fantastical powers. Im currently working on subtypes to it but I am miserably failing. If you could, they probably wouldnt tell the students at Hogwarts. Who will use magic: the protagonist (hard magic), or the antagonist / side characters (soft magic)? Ive currently got 11 tabs open that I need to look through. Relocating energy (in telekinesis or telepathy) is, however, less of a problem than dissolving a body and recreating it at another place, to its not the same as full teleportation. Most magic systems used in medievalish fantasy have groups of people with access to the same spells and abilities, though their talent with magic will vary. I made myself wait until morning to reply (A quiet lunch with my friend is much more repeated/repeatable than when I first met my best friend). Though this is all tentative, Id probably categorize it into two types: warp threads (like the structural threads you mentioned) for physical spells and weft threads for nonphysical spells. Or you could think of the world like a house, a house has wood beams to hold the roof up, pipes to run water, electrical lines to power appliances, etc. It depends on how you build up your magic system. If you want to go with something necromantic (as spectre and ghoul suggest), you might be able to find something more fitting in that area. Those are the things I thought about, let me know if it helped you improve! When youre brainstorming magical costs, try to be creative. If you can convey the rules of your system in a way the reader can understand, you have a rational system. With that said, I wonder why no one has replied to my previous comment on this article. Human variation in magical ability is determined by how much excess soul they have, after running all of their brain activity. Now we go back to the Beginning. What atmosphere will my story have? Creating a Magic System for Superpowers If the magic youre creating varies from person to person, this article is for you. Theres nothing wrong with using classic tropes, but if you want to stand out in the crowded world of fantasy, youll need to learn how to use them in an innovative and unique way. Im only using that as a place holder name because mostly priests use it but priest carries its own connotation thats probably also misleading. With that said, lava could still count as fire, so the point about magic being based on fire vs. ice might still stand. Really sorry about the length but Im really happy with this magic system and am wondering what other people might think of it- and the people here seem like they know what theyre talking about and are enthusiastic to hear more. However, set guidelines for how people react to exposure. Here are some examples of magical effects: In The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.J. Jemisin, orogenes can manipulate the earth. Sometimes this is unavoidable, it happens a lot in games and long stories spanned over many seasons/novels, but for shorter stories it's best to think about what the power limit would be. That goes for magic as well as for everything else. Heres what you need to think about. The willpower to make changes, no matter what kind of powers or tools are needed in addition. Why you should create a rational magic system as a writer? Pushing themselves past their limit can lead to exhaustion and have them pass out, or in extreme cases, using up too much mana can kill a person through over-exertion. Fireball that damages a characters weapons/armor, while leaving the character unharmed. As bestselling author Brandon Sanderson explains, most magic systems can be classified as hard or soft in nature. Mother takes away the gift of sunlight and its heat and sends all of the water down upon the plants to punish them in their death. The dryads control water? Second, look through all the essential pieces of spell creation and casting, and think how the casting process might fail at each step. I would skip chemical energy though opens up too many things. If Rowling had, for instance, done more with the four houses, things might have been different. Hey, dont know if anyones still commenting on this but here goes. That means the stories cant foreshadow spells prior to their explicit introduction, and when a protagonist has to face a tough problem, they cant get out of it by inventing new spellwork. You could explain telekinesis (telepathy, too, I guess) with having invisible energy arms which are connected to your body and grab the object in question (or create a connection to another being for telepathy). This could also link in nicely culture and tradition (festivals on summer or winter solace to celebrate the Mother). In order to fully capitalise on paint one must find a weapon they work well with and a fight style that suits your body. How much of it might people attribute to the magic, and how much might they attribute to simply becoming blas in the face of so much death? A puddle could be vaporized at will, only to have the water redistributed at a later time, again at the will of the one controlling the exchange. No matter what magic they practice, it all centers on the manipulation of their mana to connect to the natural forces they want to control. Are all individuals able to tap into the magic source or only a lucky few? First, the magical system is based off European history and mythology. Ive since abandoned it and am working on something that, while in a similar vein, is quite different. The farther an individual cause the needle to drift towards imbalance, the more force shall be exerted on that individual until the balance is restored through redistribution. If so, why? If youre new to the genre, its easy to fall back on tropes youve seen before. The mingling of the two forces became one and allowed him to harness the energy of the wind, one face of the energy of nature. What about Time? It isnt strictly necessary, as I could probably write something interesting without it, but it is extremely convenient). For instance, some animals can also cast magic, and they do it pretty much the same way people do. Ive found this post while looking any information about making own magic system for an cRPG. Learn the most recent fiction marketing tactics, Amazon algorithm deep-dive, with case studies, & more. Magic should be limited when its used by humans or other mortal beings as opposed to being used by divine or other immortal beings. The size of those continental plates and their placement on the planet would be an arbitrary effect of nature, and so the magic they generate might reflect those arbitrary characteristics. But magical things do have specific usesHarry writes essays on the uses of different plants in potion-making, for example. His thoughts compiled into a fortified plan to use his skills to accomplish it, without leaving his comfortable chair. If magic is based on emotion, those Apaths could, perhaps, nullify it? Weft threads are what complete the fabric, what is woven through the warp to add the unique characteristics of the fabric (e. g., a 3/1 twill for denim or a satin weave for silk). In the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, the entire spirit world operates under a soft magic system, from the magical bathhouse customers to the killer paper airplanes. If you only specify one source of magic, you cant suddenly drop someone into the story who uses something different. Now, of course, this is magic and doesnt have to follow real life but by the same token, as in real physics, it doesnt necessarily have to seem sensible to humans (think of how weird quantum mechanics is). Certain effects that were considered: If you read up on no other system of supernatural beliefs, check out that one. Oreads are nymphs of Mountains. I really like all the terms you use on this site, theyre so helpful and clarifying. Choose the right magic system for your fantasy novel without the headache. Overusing their magic can cause them physical harm. Balance being an essential figure in most fantasy pieces, this works on many levels! That also means that magic is an entity of its own, hence experimenting with it can be highly dangerous. Nonhumans might think in ways that make little sense to humans. I love your idea Madden, however if i may point out one significant flaw that you will very quickly need to address. What is the development of science, your description of kinetic or thermal energy makes me think the inhabitants have some scientific knowledge, but if thats the case why is it that they havent studied transpiration? Forms of Star magic include telepathy, telekinesis, mind control, astral projection, and precognition. Therefore, its probably a power you should consider not using unless its absolutely plot relevant for you to have a character who can do that. I suspect it might be possible; after all, there are plenty of mathematically worked out theories involving new particles and forces, but Ill have to do quite a bit of research. All you need are the right ingredients, follow the right steps, and have the right mindset. The purpose of soft magic is simply to create a feeling of adventure, and wonder. Make magic tricky and fickle. If you havent seen it yet, I also recommend looking at my other post on magic systems: https://mythcreants.com/blog/how-to-create-an-eclectic-magic-system/ its better suited to creating effects that are varied and complex. (somewhere I have a document outlining Philosophical associations between Elements). Your answer could have huge ramifications for your world. It's not wrong to have overpowered spells, but they often lead to plot holes or silly ways of explaining why that power cannot be used in a specific situation. Thank you! The audience will be looking for the pieces that might come together in the climax to enable the hero to win, rather than waiting for the hero to have an emotional moment when there is no other viable turning point. A primary example of soft magic would be that which Gandalf practices in The Lord of the Rings. weft threads could determine the properties of the warp threads, i.e. Try to group together similar effects, sources, and costs. And I did read the other piece about magic but my system sounded alot simpler in head head so I didnt think it applied as much. Limits then usually come from the strength of the effects (a limit to the area spells can target or the number of spells a mage can use before resting). To the Avatar thing: the point is not using a scientific system for your magic. While I have thought of several different magic systems, Ill present the one I conceived of first. You can make it as cool as you like; think Discworld, Middle Earth, Zamonia, etc. Luckily for the majority of the population of the Voden Imperium, the nanites are happy to sit mostly dormant, quietly replicating away. You can certainly use that, even though information might sometimes not be easy to find. Like species in our world evolved so did the magic in their world, with their ancestors using a specific type of magic and pased it down it just became a part of them. Their technology and motivations could be very different from human ideas. Color: the type of color determines what kind of effect the Vibration will have on the Physical World. Angels are not incapable of doing bad things and demons can be nice every now and then. There's a wide range of elements you can change to make your magic system unique, whether it's how it is wielded, what its source is or even what types of spells are used. As long as you dont change fundamental things in the universe, theres no problem with making enough changes to slip your magical or psychic powers in.