fantasy magic system generator

In general, creating a system that is more limited in effect and creates more problems with casting makes for better stories. This is really good! There are two types of people in this world, Conduits and Interferers (though Inteferers prefer to be called Whisperers). While she does talk about how it adds limitations, that doesnt actually seem to be her primary focus. (oops, forget this one!). So the magic system is based on balance in nature. ;P. I doubt anyone will read this, but I had this flash of inspiration on my commute home today for a magic system for a book thats been spinning in my head for a while. The first to discover this art was a man who observed that water disappears on its own and returns later as rain. Yes, first drafts are for your eyes only. Magic that powerful would leave a large fingerprint on the world, and if you dont avoid ultra-powerful characters, it can also break your plot. But here is the problem since those energies are not strictly relates to the non-magical substances, Im not quite clear how exactly my energies will affect characters. Mana is the clean energy, without any attunement. Caster is Shocker, Given is Air and Weather some sort of selection criteria the nanites have 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. sheer warp threads create plain physical structures such as a ball and weft webs can add fire and velocity to that ball. An explanation for the seasons has its roots here as well. It is divided into two domains: the stone, minerals, and metals of the land, and the flora and fauna of the natural world. One might be cost, but only if your magic source is limited. In your case, how exactly the will affects something: Examples of rationality in spell design include: 1) Theres a spell for emitting light from ones wand (lumos, which is connected to the Latin word for light) and theres a spell for extinguishing your wand light (nox, which is literally the Latin word for night). But you can use pretty much anything you wish, whether it's a magic absorbing rock, special water or perhaps a type of wood. The questions which I usually ask myself are how difficult is it to inflict changes (which means does it take a two-day ritual or just a thought) and what are the costs (because if magic doesnt have a bad side, like the cost for a spell, there is no limiting it). Soft magic is vague, undefined, and enigmatic. Willpower is ultimately the deciding factor between to evenly matched opponents. Use this guide as best fits your approach to magic. For more inspiration and guidance in creating your magic system, I recommend these articles and resources. Wavelength: Determines how strong the affect it has Since the MYTH adventures are all about dimension travelling, that is an important thing to know. He was inspired with the observation that this is the Living Mother who is removing water and redistributing it to restore a balance. That wall of gobbldygook was as far as i got (there were a few story bits though; going to one of the factories and contending with the burgeoning AIs, people with unflattering mutations being exiled or outright killed, fear of the outside and of the disease, the worry that the holy artifact gifted by the gods(the jammers) is growing dim, whatever). He shrugged and complained, feeling too tired to trudge away from comfort. Remember that specific effects are better than broad effects. Look at your three lists and try to find patterns and connections. There are two types of magic systems: hard magic systems and soft magic systems. I went through this process recently with an RPG Ive been working on. All are well known for changing things theyre associated with into other things or even changing other women into one of them, so that can be fun. As a quick example, just think about how many movies and books reuse the theme of elemental magicfire, water, earth, and air. (Yellow is weakest, purple is strongest.) Could you chip in? This allows for the reader to know what is or isnt possible. For Time and Space, Keeper will be the name. Otherwise, your categories will feel contrived. So far, the types of energy that can be manipulated in this way are: Air/wind (although due to its constant motion and near-intangibility, air cannot in most cases be held, but is almost always instantaneously redirected. Limitations mean there will be tension in your story, without limitations anything and everything can happen, but generally not in a good way. Divine magic is often more powerful/useful, but isnt always reliable. I see some interesting potential with that. Ive found this post while looking any information about making own magic system for an cRPG. Bodily energies wouldn't make for a great choice as the body runs out of all types of energy, at least in real life and most works of fiction. If you're using this generator, you might also find the Magical Artifact Generator useful. The elemental magic of Avatar is a great example of splitting the same form of magic into different types. WESTERN VOLCANO, based off of western dragons in design, very likely chance of getting weak to strong Combustial magic, very rare chance of getting another type of magic as well. Balance being an essential figure in most fantasy pieces, this works on many levels! Because the setting is divided into nations that correspond with the elements, the Avatar is the only person who symbolically belongs to all the nations. If Luke needs to suddenly call out for help while hes hanging below a floating city, he can make contact with Leia (without their relationship already being an item). In both these cases, its their clever problem-solving that saves them, not the power of the magic itself. For instance, the Patronus Charm is a spell that is critical to the plot of multiple Harry Potter books. You could just as well do the Magic The Gathering approach and use stuff like decay or nature as base for the magic (which would give you white magic based on life/nature and black magic based on death/decay). Everything is what she deems fair. What limitations does the magic put on the wielder? Mother wont take kindly to that. Thats what its all about. In my plant-based system, there could be a lineage with the biological adaptation to absorb the magical substance directly, without using the plant as an intermediary. Others get a bit more pleasing mutations; sensory enhancements, enhanced reflexes, strength, bone density, accelerated healing. His thoughts compiled into a fortified plan to use his skills to accomplish it, without leaving his comfortable chair. However, understanding how magic can operate in fiction is key to ensuring that your magic system serves your story rather than undermines it. To the audience it will feel like every part fits together, even if theyre not precisely sure how. Moreover, the party must complete the quest without killing anyone. Maybe as a counterpart to motion? 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. The pulp could be made of something special that allows for different effects when treated differently. As just one example, she talks about choosing only one source of magic but I think its possible to have multiple sources and still have well-thought out and limited magic systems. If anyone interested, here is description of my magic system: The cycle of plants harnessing sunlight and Mother taking it back everyday is no longer considered a mystery, but an accepted fact of life. Will have to give it some thought. Youll need to set guidelines for how these beings operate so that you can explain why they do or dont answer prayers whenever theyre asked. ), Fire/heat (fire is a more fickle form of energy and as it is intangible, it is harder to hold on to, though not as hard as air. I love your blog a lot, but Im annoyed with your bashing of the Harry Potter series in almost every article. Other examples include alohamora and colloportus, reparo and diffindo, accio and depulso (learned but not named in-series, as I recall), etc. Mana manipulation is a basic form of magic (though anyone can learn this ability through time and training without doing magic at all. If you can't combine spells you'll have to work together perfectly, time spells one after the after and make sure you're not in each other's way. The willpower to make changes, no matter what kind of powers or tools are needed in addition. This was, oh, maybe sixth on the list of fourteen or fifteen legendary impossibilities he demanded, all in the essentially same format. Second thought was the good ol blood sacrifice, but a) kinda dark for what Im going for and b) why would spirits want blood anyway? If spellcasters can run out of magic, itll be easy to put them in a tight spot when you need to. Water constantly replenished in its cycle, rising up as vapor and plummeting down as rain. When youre brainstorming magical costs, try to be creative. Project | Fire | Destroy | Item Of course, there had to be some in-world lore and stuff to go with the system, but the system / idea in a nutshell, The idea, when broken down is comprised of: 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. Strength no longer depends on physical brute force but many new factors make it so much more complex. So, in my story world theres a plague spreading among the populace known as the Grey Death (somewhat analogous to the Bubonic Plague). Shapechangers all use either the strong or weak nuclear forces, and telekinetics and poltergeists use gravity. 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. Could a small group of magic wielders defeat an army of non-magic wielders? Im finding that my worldbuilding and plotting inform each other more in this story than others Ive worked on. Be hugely important In politics. Its not enough to have a source of magic. Most of the time, this yearning leads them to the Towers, where they are never seen again. Magic would be cheaply acquired from soil the plant cant grow in, and they wouldnt have to worry about getting sick from overeating it. These expeditions have all been disaster, as the concentration of Ghoul (better then Specters at least) is much higher in those areas. Magic is part of an enormous range of stories, but finding 2 stories which use the same magic system isn't as easy as it may sound. Ask yourself what kind of problems magic will cause your protagonists, and whether your antagonist will use magic to achieve their goals. 7 Ways To Create A Magic System For Your Novel 1. Moreover, there are clearly references about people performing experimental magic that can have deadly consequences, for example Luna Lovegoods mother dies from experimenting with magic and there are parts of the Ministry of Magic that regulate magic and how it is performed. I know some of the basics for the magic in my world but have been having a hard time making them cohesive. Because people tend to be put off when your story changes rules in the middle. It requires words of power, and a magical energy called Deathlight, which is obtained by killing ghosts. It does what it needs to do in the books. All those rules are allow to create literally any classic spell, except teleportation/portals. Random Treasure Generator. And thanks to Oren for asking the obvious question and fueling my train of thought. And this is why I post my ideas on places like this someone will ask the really obvious questions I forgot to ask myself. You need to think it through and you need to make it understandable for the reader, because otherwise they cant imagine your world and they cant dive into it which is why people read stories. The water creatures, dryads and naiads, are rarer and more powerful (because water has been around for much longer). At first thanks a lot for this article, it helps to organize some things in my head. For instance, in Lois McMaster Bujolds Chalion Series, the divine cannot directly influence the world with their magic. 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? In a rational system, their powers would have come from somewhere and they would have been close to or even broken through their limit, which would have consequences. Some will desire fresh milk, and it will not be possible to have fresh milk for all, unless we have the bottles of Rhinnon Rhin Barnawd, wherein no liquor ever turns sour. Hello to anybody that sees this. I really like all the terms you use on this site, theyre so helpful and clarifying. Without this action, the person is consumed by the power, turning into a brute beast, only wanting to destroy those with more power then themselves. The protagonists wording must be airtight, because the djinni will look for loopholes. In fact, I suspect it might make more sense than what Chris Winkle says in the original article. Conduits take magic energy from their surroundings, and Interferers take energy from Conduits to do magic by adding a bit of energy to the system (making a gust blow harder than it would, for example). Check out the Magic Generator Pack . High Fantasy and Low Fantasy. All people that use magic are split up into different yet powerful factions. Some ideas are more fleshed out than other, if thats saying much. Energy-based magic is easy to use because it comes with limitations. The other is one of my own magic systems, as I want to hear what others think about it, especially in terms of this article. If you want conservation of energy, you could show those who use specific powers, magical or psychic, having to replenish that energy in some way (through food, meditation, or something similar). This could also link in nicely culture and tradition (festivals on summer or winter solace to celebrate the Mother). [end worldbuilding] Since the universe as a whole tends towards entropy, where this world uniquely tends towards balance, fire doesnt always behave as expected), Water in its various forms (liquid, gaseous, solid; in redistribution it will always revert to its most common form in nature, that of liquid. The Taran movie also would provide examples for limits through the source with both the magic kettle (stops working when a living thing is sacrificed) and the crystal ball which doesnt work for the villain for some reason, although its owner does well with it. Also, how is this energy directed to a specific object and not blocked by everything in the way (including air?) Just watch out for the unaffected 1%. When youre deciding which type of magic system to use, ask yourself: Do you want magic to solve conflict for your protagonist (hard magic) or to create conflict for your protagonist (soft magic)? If the mage could deal great damage, at the same time protect themselves, and had no limit in the form of mana, either, why have any other party members at all? Theyre usually gifted to devout followers, but anyone can use them once they figure out how it works. Forms of Sky magic include air magic, lightning magic, and weather magic. ^.^ All magic is governed strictly by the Law of Equivalent Exchange, which says that in order to obtain something, something else of equal value must be lost. When the protagonists need to create something, the readers understand exactly what materials they need to sacrifice. Grab a sheet of paper and brainstorm a list of magical effects that fascinate you: ones youve already seen before, or ones you come up with from scratch. Look at the fight between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the fifth book/movie the one in the Ministry of Magic. This ancient Wise One observed the natures tendency towards self-balancing and saw it as an Eternal Law. About the two types of fantasy magic systems Which POVs will best suit your story All about your publishing options There will also be practical tips that you can apply to your story straight away. To make an arbitrary assortment of abilities feel like they fit together, he gave them a strong theme. Alternatively, soft magic systems remain nebulous. Its a solid premise, and Im sure youll do amazing things with it. First, if its similar to someone elses that is purely coincidental. Its the same with a story. A cunning ex-adventurer named Wlfrilda seeks a company of adventurers to explore the Pikawas Jungle. . Your body can hold a fixed amount of paint (This is the same for everyone but full capacity is rarely reached). Can it be used to harm others or cause destruction? man to machine interfaces, nanites cluster on nerve ending allowed some individuals to easily interact with ancient tech, or even graft it into their bodies. Some theorize, that the Sephirot is an aspect of God, but our understanding of God is just one aspect of it, you could say the projection of its Will, in simpler terms. At the very least, you need to foreshadow that. This type of magic is tricky and potentially dangerous, as the faerie in question could seek out loopholes that benefit them and take more from the person than what was agreed. When I say the tips may not be universal, Im referring especially to how you state that rational magic is based on a single, coherent metaphysical framework and describe things such as categories and symmetricality. Once youve figured out what kind of system you need, its time to start building! Magical effects will make a bigger impact on your readers if you use all five senses. It will first appear has a reddish purple mark that will slowly spread across the whole body. Crafting a hard magic system can be a complex endeavor, though soft magic systems also require a bit of care and attention to develop. Motion/kinetic energy: you stop an object in its tracks. As you can see there's a lot to explore, but if you're looking for names you're at the right place. These small but significant changes in their functionality causes untold chaos; billions die and the climate is thrown off by the massive amount of metal particulates now in the upper atmosphere. Divine magic comes from appeals to the gods. Should I make what Interferers can do more specific (not just adding-energy-to-system)? Mages trained in a world with little power usually are very strong in one with more power, because they can make a lot out of a little. The key traits of a hard magic system are outlined in the graphic below. Magical creatures all have an innate connection to one of the forces, which they can use in ways dictated by the kind of creature that they are. So a Mage might give as payment a concrete memory, like their first day of school or attending a particular play, or something more abstract like the taste of chocolate cake or the pain of stubbing ones toe (spirits are interested in all experiences, even if humans see them as negative). The World we perceive and interact with all stems from the Energy, called Aether, and the Vibrations that come from it, all make up our world. Absorb Project Summon Dispel Protect Destroy Restore. Trying to do anything that involves pushing against or even breaking natural law will require aid from outside forces. ( ): Or you could simply say that air is good for dodging, while earth is good for blocking. Telekinesis: You mention psychics using their own energy for telekinesis. In my world, magical ability isnt something youre born with, or ordained its contracted, and the Mages Guild, who hold tremendous political sway, (as their magical abilities provide a fundamental key to the functioning of the expansionist Empire that serves as the primary backdrop/Antagonist) is whisking people away in an attempt to stop that fact becoming common knowledge and keep their power consolidated. However, set guidelines for how people react to exposure. Robert Asprins MYTH novels actually do a good job limiting magic in a similar way. If youd like I can send you a link and you can follow along as I figure stuff out (dont want to clog up your comments section). Because I have 3 systems and they all lean soft-irrational, Im concerned that I have glaring problems that I overlooked. If you follow this rule, readers will appreciate the awe and mystery of the magic without feeling like it cheapens the story. Theres no balance, nothing to sacrifice for the use of magic. In the TV show Im writing, there are dryads, nymphs, and naiads, which are all parts of nature. (Currently called Reformancers, Defining and Refining) The act of changing your sight so you see physical objects as they are, without needing light (eliminates glare and shadows), and the act of changing your sight so you can see a person's inner qualities. Thank you for commenting! Ill give a quick(ish) rundown of the basic foundation that lays the groundwork that I have so far for the magic system, Ill go into more detail if anyones interested. The only other limiting factor to the magic is that in order to produce the energy in the first place, is that you need Inspiration to help channel your thoughts & familiarity. Gestures could be used to move molecules (that would be how Avatar does it). And the HPMOR fanfic mentioned above is about a Harry who does want to find out this why although I dont think it succeeds at conveying this particularly well in the story itself.). Interferers cant store energy like Conduits, so they have to use all of what they have in a few minutes or it explodes out of them randomly. When an earthbender is blocked by a mountain, we know that with enough effort, they could create a tunnel through it. SO, strangely inspired by a Looney Tunes skit, staring Daffy Duck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi_hcwB8i64 ), I came up with a system of Runes that could be strung together to create different spell effects that way, through their understanding of the Runes (and the underlying mechanics, which was NOT immediately revealed to the Player), Players could effectively reverse engineer opponent spells, Counter-spell and undertake other such wizardly endeavors. Everyone is also born with it. One world I thought of involves magic based around Life, Metal (mostly magical machinery), Water, Mind, Soil, and Dragons (the rarest), and many in-universe cultures consider these natural divisions, but I suspect Chris Winkle would consider this system non-rational. If thats the case, youll want to make animal spirits more common and less powerful like plant spirits, and air spirits rarer and more powerful like water spirits. So it goes like this, everyone in the world can use magic though alot choose not to because they dont want to get caught up in the conflict with all that do use it. Sounds right to me). If youre curious about setting/technological era, itll take place in two time periods; one in what would be Victorian times in our world, one in WWII time period. To have the power of the Towers, one must have originated from them, or been taken to it by someone from the Towers. also just a thought, you also could have mentioned the Eragon series which uses language as the limitation for casting, and physical energy for fueling spells. Im thinking at the beginning it requires some basic training to attune oneself to contact spirits, and from there its more a practice/strength of will thing. thanks for the feedback! ^_^. Different for the TV series, of course. The first step is building a metaphysical framework for how and why magic works. When picking the powers and spells for your magic system you'll have to keep in mind a few things. Electronic telepathy, involving artificial devices that transfer neural information, could work, as scientists are already developing them. This would involve a preferred reference frame, breaking relativity (for a specific class of phenomena only) but disallowing time travel (I dont have anything against time travel stories; I just didnt feel like including it in my universe). But that doesn't mean all magic systems work equally well for stories. For a similar reason, simple exhaustion, without any other defined limits, is generally a weak way to limit an ability in the story. If youll allow my humble but informed opinion. Originally I was going to go with energy, but thats way too vague. Now paint may sound op but it has very risky limitations. Imagine if Harry Potter could vanquish Voldemort in the first chapter just by making up a spell called antagonist defeatium. But at extremely high levels (Demi god level) the breeze might be enough. Just because the system has volumes of lore and backstory to support it doesnt make it a rational system, though it does help to make it more believable. And the other main faction (dont have a name for them yet) use mainly defensive magic like using a shield just strong enough to protect them from immediate danger and phasing (though still thinking about what that would entail) and others I cant think of at the moment and still trying to think of more. Combining powers for a summoning could mean larger creatures could be summoned and a teleportation spell could be able to teleport far more people, or even entire cities. However, this doesn't have to be the case, the hero might not be strong enough on his own, but with other fighters the combined power might be enough to defeat the villain as well. Even without understanding the details, it feels like it all fits together. Im sure there are phenomena of nature that are plot holes in this magic system. Then use the answer to characterize all of your nature spirits. It is the rarest of the Primals to be connected to. Rowling has cherry picked her source material from myths that cross many cultures, Irish, Celtic, Greek, Welsh, Slavic, etc. Side note, can anyone contact the spirits, or does it require a special gift.. I forget the episode but Aang (obviously) and Zaheer do it also. Being able to gain power is generally an often picked choice for story telling, first the hero is unable to defeat the villain, but after training or some other form of power gain the hero becomes stronger than the villain. Light? Following is a list of all the abilities that can be generated by the Abilities Generator. Weak to medium Hydro, very rare chance of getting weak Eco as well, Learns magic more easily than other races. Oh, and the fantasy series Im cooking up is called Fantasia. It worked well, but it had to be named before it became important to the plot. 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. They already have enough problems with inter-house violence. Are there multiple types of magic users? Fire, transformation and order are strongly associated with this system of magic. At least not on earth, as far as we can tell. The steps of rituals are based on hearsay, so its hard to know whats actually necessary. Hard magic is one where the audience knows about the rules of magic, so it seems to me that your mention of convey[ing] the rules of your system might actually be referring to hard magic. However, you still need to put in the work to create a unique and compelling system that will serve the needs of your story. Olwens father told Kilhwch he wanted that comb, razor and scissors to dress his beard with on the day of the wedding, before he would allow him to marry his daughter. I hope this is a reasonable explanation. You wouldnt add that fire is good for creative thinking, because that wouldnt fit. So I know a few things. Ill give you a specific example of the cultural dependence I mentioned. Ones that havent made many contracts and dont know much about human emotion yet will be much more objective. In The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, magic is like law. Most often, the source of magic itself comes in different types that create different effects. Then they could connect to the energy of the other brain. Lets take a closer look at what these terms mean. In addition, the spells available for use arent completely based on nonsense, or taught completely irrationally. The main question becomes who set this up, and why? Or just think up what you want to have be things that good and evil magic can do, put them in categories, and decide which good magic categories are opposites to evil magic categories, and create new areas to fill holes. Imagine your body is a magnet and the paint in your body is evenly spread out making it weaker, well stimulating your power can make your magnet stronger resulting in a finer concentration of paint. Yes, its arbitrary which items have magical powers (though many plants have historically been said to have magical powers and Rowling obviously researched these). moving more slowly, using other abilities less effectively, taking more hits), and the hero tries and fails to use the ability when theyre already at their limit, then we come to understand exhaustion as a real limitation that doesnt just go away as needed. Sorry about the comment length and the long worldbuilding paragraph. Novice mages are taught how to bring out their mana to create energy bolts, shields, weapons, and constructs. Holy magic is more reliable, but hard to learn. Theres a reason why RPGs with team-based fight systems (I use those when playing around with the RPG Maker myself) are often based around the Tank/Damage Dealer/Buffer principle.

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