#magic systems

[whereserpentswalk]

Wizards are ordered from oldest to youngest. All wizards are nonbinary.

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #fantasy #urban fantasy #my worldbuilding #polls #writing #my writing #wizardcore #wizard #wizard shit #sorcerer #mage #magic systems #magic #weirdness #weirdcore #monster lover #necromancy #necromancer #non binary #nonbinary #enby #queer

[dduane]

I just wanted to tell you, I came across your name in a book group - someone suggested your young wizard series as something to check out if one had enjoyed Harry Potter. I didn't have any expectations going in aside from the general 'kid discovers magic is real', and I started to read last night before bed. I woke up 3 hours ago and immediately grabbed the book, and mainlined it like a junkie. I'm going to the library today to get the rest of the series. I am 43 years old, I've never written a letter to an author before, but I just had to tell you - I think your story is amazing. I loved everything about it - you followed the rules of the universe that you built, and because of that, I was able to stay in the story right alongside Nita and Kit. It is *rare* that I don't get bumped out of a book when it breaks its own universal rules - the only other ones I can think of are the Fellowship of the Ring series and the Broken Earth trilogy. Anyway, I'll stop rambling, but I just wanted you to know that your writing is incredible, and you are now on my 'recommend this author' list. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.

And thank you so much for letting me know! It's always good to hear I'm getting the job done. :)

As for the "rules" thing: I belong to one of the schools of (fantasy) writing that leans hard into the idea of limitation being key in both making things seem feel more real for your reader, and assisting them in fully grounding themselves in the story you're trying to tell them. (I just typoed that as "sell them", but that works too.)

Life is full of limitations: things you want but can't have, conditions there's no way to change but you wish you could. Without the ubiquitous reality of gravity underlying them, dreams of flying aren't worth much. So to feel real—at least from where I'm sitting—magic, to fit in, needs rules: things it can do, things it can't. The tension between those two states (and on the characters caught between them) will be a potent driver of both plot and character development. And with my eye on the drama both of those rely on, I have zero time for the "wave your wand and shit happens" approach to magic in fantasy worldbuilding. That generally strikes me as both lazy and boring.

Then once the rules have been set up, it seems to me, the writer needs to stay in them and not casually screw around with the structure... any more than gravity will let (nonwizardly) people screw around with it, no matter how much trouble they're in. Here, consistency really matters. To break the rules on a whim is to betray the reader... which is not a nice thing to do.

Anyway: I'm glad this approach is working for you so far. That said: the underlying magic system in the Young Wizards universe reveals more of its complexities as the series goes on. I'm hoping those books will work for you too.

#So You Want To Be A Wizard #Young Wizards #Young Wizards meta #magic systems #and #rules

[plotandelegy]

Crafting Future From Ruins: A Writer's Guide to Designing Post-Apocalyptic Technology

Photo: Standard License- Adobe Stock

Crafting post-apocalyptic tech involves blending creativity and realism. This is a guide to help you invent tech for your post-apocalyptic world:

Tinker, Tailor, Writer, Spy: Start with modern tech. Take it apart (conceptually or literally if you're feeling adventurous). Using the basics, think of how your character might put it back together with limited tools and resources.

Master the Fundamentals: Understand the basic principles underlying the tech you're working with. Physics, chemistry, and biology can be your best friends. This understanding can guide your character's resourceful innovations.

Embrace the Scrapyard: The world around you has potential tech components. Appliances, vehicles, infrastructure - how could these be deconstructed and repurposed? Your characters will need to use what's at hand.

Cherishing Old Wisdom: Pre-apocalypse books and manuals are the new internet. A character with access to this knowledge could become a vital asset in tech-building.

Indigo Everly

#writing #writing tips #creative writing #writing inspiration #fiction writing #fantasy writing #world building #character development #magic systems #fantasy tropes #post apocalyptic #dystopian writing #survival stories #wasteland adventures #creativewriting #storytelling #writing advice #writingcommunity #narrative structure #writingtips

[headspace-hotel]

@that-gay-jedi requested that i talk some about material conditions and their effect on worldbuilding so here's something I'm thinking about

One area where the conditions of day to day life never seem to be fully considered in their impacts on the worldbuilding: magic systems.

I'd have to do more research to support this theory, but I think that this is one of the major ways that D&D has shaped how we Do Worldbuilding in fantasy. Most magic systems, in the way they are shown to us, have a lot of very combat-focused applications. Even if it's not all fireballs, lightning bolts, and more classic D&D wizard type stuff, physical/elemental type magic is explored from the angle of "how do I hurt/kill people with this" or "how do I destroy things with this"

But. If you're in a roughly pre-industrial fantasy world, and a portion of the population that's at all significant has magic, or can learn magic, that affects the natural world, the oldest and most widespread type of magic or method of using magic likely isn't going to be for warfare, and even when writers question the combat-centered magic, they usually go for like, exploring how magic is incorporated into the arts or something

Which is great. But in most pre-industrial societies, like 90% of the population is rural farmers. What I'm saying is, where is the farm magic.

The first spells to be developed, the oldest and most well-known spells, should really be like this:

banish slug

repel frost

corral

loosen dirt

uproot

magic scythe

separate chaff

repair horse

castrate bull

deworm

summon scarecrow

peel sheep

direct moisture

What farmer even today wouldn't find loads of uses for magic? Charms that keep patches of ground above freezing. Magical explosions that disseminate seeds instantly all over your fields. Shade spells to protect your plants from beating sun.

If magic can summon demons or familiars or make constructs to do stuff for you, you bet your ass that stuff was used by farmers long before it was ever used for fighting. The most culturally important use of necromancers isn't creating soldiers to form undead armies, it's reanimating your dead mule so he can still pull your plow. Farmer warlocks will summon demons from hell to haul manure for them.

If you have wizards in a fancy wizard private school learning how to create a shield of frost, that knowledge had to come from somewhere, and the answer is probably thousands of years of farmer wizards learning how to magically protect their crops from extreme heat and cold.

I want to see side notes in worldbuilding about how every spell used for combat is basically a repurposed farming spell.

This spell for summoning a magical suit of spectral armor that shatters weapons? Yeah, that was originally developed for chickens so foxes would shatter their teeth when they tried to bite them. It was used for centuries before someone thought of trying it on a person.

#worldbuilding #magic #writing #magic systems

[ahb-writes]

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions (Magical Abilities)

Magical Abilities Worldbuilding Questions:

What magical or supernatural abilities exist in this world?

What does using magical or supernatural (or cyborg) abilities cost, and what are the risks and dangers involved?

Who has exceptional ability, and why?

Who understands individual and magical abilities? Does anyone hold mistaken beliefs about them?

Where did any paranormal or magical abilities in the world come from?

Where do people learn to use or work with their abilities?

When characters use their abilities, is this use governed by codes and rules? What are they?

When do abilities typically first manifest or awaken?

Why do this world’s inhabitants fear, revere or covet special abilities?

Why do people with abilities choose to use their abilities for benevolent or malevolent purposes?

❯ ❯ ❯ Read other writing masterposts in this series: Worldbuilding Questions for Deeper Settings

#worldbuilding #magic systems #writeblr #writing tips #writing advice #fiction writing #novel writing #fwq #writing #individual ability #magic #what do the people fear #magical ability #paranormal

[cosmere-polls]

#cosmere #magic systems #cfsbf

[cepheusgalaxy]

Magic system ideas because I need some

Everybody has a "shadow" and this is the part of your self that has all your magic. If you want to use it, tame it or something.

Your magic is in this specific body part like Sanson's hair. It gives you One Power, according to a set of magic rules I did not made up yet.

You have a star patron and it is the source of your magic. The bigger the star, the bigger the power. Not a fair system at its core, but there are shortcuts. You could even cause the death of your star, and if it's big enough, it causes a supernova and it gives you a boost of power. Maybe you can even trade stars? Play around with astronomy stuff and apply it to magic.

Everybody starts with a general magic, but you can follow "paths" that will determine how your magic will turn out. Following the path of the wind, the blood or the plants... Like, idk, Eeve from pokemon. Maybe there are even some people who manage to take more than one Path and have different kinds of magic they can use or manage to be powerful magic users with general bland starter magic.

#magic systems #worldbuilding #writers block #writing #magic #oc ideas

[wondrousworldbuilding]

I'm currently trying to world build a magical school for my fantasy realm. I'm having a hard time finding sources online. Any general advice for fantasy schools?

For starters, you want to have your magic system fleshed out really thoroughly. What good is teaching a bunch of kids how to use a magic system that you, the author, don't really know how it works, right!? If you haven't done this, you might check out my Brainstorming posts Here (Part 1) and Here (Part 2) to get started.

Beyond that, you need to think about some school basics:

Are all children educated in magic? Or only the most talented, the richest, or the poorest?

How does society at large feel about magic education and how does that impact the freedom and funds of the school?

(Related:) What kind of teachers are employed at the school? The best and brightest or the shlufs who couldn't make it in a "real" school? How does that affect the education of the students?

How does general education play into the lives of the students? Do they go to primary school first where they learn to read and write etc. or is that part of the their magic school curriculum?

How much danger is there in the day-to-day of the school? Is the magic difficult to use and therefore generally not a risk? Is it ubiquitous and therefore maintains some inherent balance? Is it difficult to use and therefore volatile and unpredictable?

What is the purpose of receiving a magic education and what do its students aspire to do after completing school?

I hope these help you out little bit. :)

Happy building!

#writing #amwriting #worldbuilding #setting #fantasy #writeblr #magic systems #magic school #speculative fiction #helpforwriters #help for writers #creative writing #writing prompt #novel planning #novel writing

[rightwriter]

This is the best video on magic systems I've ever watched! It makes a strong argument to what some folks call "soft" magic systems. And look at that thumbnail art, so cute!

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2023 #preptober #soft magic #hard magic #magic systems #fantasy worldbuilding #youtube #rightwriter #writing tips #writing #worldbuilding #writing reference #writing advice #on writing #creative writing #writerslife #writer #writing fantasy #writing magic #Youtube

[bluemarbled]

My favorite type of magical force in fiction is the kind you can't talk about. Not in the sense that it's forbidden, or even that it's hard to explain. But the type of magic that by its very nature, cannot be spoken of.

Old magicks that no longer have names. Whose spellbooks were all burnt to ash in years long past by people who believed their practitioners to be inferior. The type of magic that has evolved beyond the need for words or incantation in order to avoid extinction. It manifests only as a vague yet overwhelmingly powerful feeling in your gut, it's something you have to cast with your whole body instead of just your mouth. You cannot speak about it because the words have been lost, but the power remains.

New magicks that cannot be defined, that are unfamiliar and unique and dangerous to those who rely on and are limited to existing and mainstream power sources. The type of magic that people usually just throw under the umbrella term 'wild magic' and don't look too closely at. Young, untrained mages with massive raw potential that they don't know the true significance of because they're being manipulated or lied to by their mentors, who fear what they could do if they learned to harness their abilities properly. Healers and metal benders and telepaths in worlds where those aren't supposed to be possible, even if many other fantastical things already are. You can't speak about it because it's not supposed to exist, but it does.

Magic that comes from unexpected places, powers manifested by specific and very unlikely chains of events. Magic that comes from wishes and accidents or abilities passed on by an inter-dimensional being to an unsuspecting mortal because that inter-dimensional being is tired and ready for retirement. The types of magics that come from secrecy and exist in shadow and that you cannot speak of. Even if you wanted to, the words simply do not exist.

Just. Yeah there's something really fucking juicy about being filled with a power and/or knowledge that no one else can understand, even and especially in a world that theoretically should be able to.

#the moth that learned english #tropes #fantasy #magic systems #worldbuilding #unspoken magicks

[peonights]

Shadow Magic vs Dark Magic

I find it fascinating that Black Clover makes a difference in its magic system between shadows and darkness.

Most darkness we see comes from shadows, that's how places get lightless most often—but they are just one way. For example, nighttime brings darkness too, but is different as it's the dark outer space. Darkness is the absence of light. Shadows are one way that light can go absent.

So, unlike other fantasy media I've seen (for me, notably Shadow and Bone), Black Clover acknowledges that there is a difference. Shadow and Dark are two different magic attributes.

And that's interesting because the one Shadow Magic user we meet—Nacht—is the vice captain and ex-best friend of a Dark Magic user, Yami. Using magic to highlight character foils is nothing new, as a fantasy reader it’s everywhere.

However, unless I live under a rock, I haven’t seen two prominent foils to each other ever be shadow and darkness before! They’re always conflated and pitted against light.

This time though, we have a pair, Yami and Nacht, who started out the same—two best friends against the world with their similar magic attributes.

Then Yami joined the Magic Knights and befriended the Light Magic user Morgen. The two became a duo of light and darkness, as we normally see in media. Adhering to media’s norms makes sense for the lawful Morgen and the expectations of the Magic Knights.

Meanwhile the rebellious Nacht distanced himself from them both. This is worsened after Morgen’s death and Nacht’s switch to rationality. Still, in the end, shadow and darkness are two different things—and so are Nacht and Yami.

At last, the two mend their relationship and we go back to the beginning.

Here, it’s a zigzag between the similarity and difference in Shadow and Dark Magic, which highlights the zigzag in Nacht and Yami’s bond over the years.

TLDR: I love BC’s use of an unconventional yet similar pair of magics to highlight the complicated dynamic between Nacht and Yami. Can’t you tell who my favorite vice captain is?

#longposts #black clover spoilers #black clover #black clover analysis #black clover thoughts #peo’s thoughts #analyses #magic systems #nacht faust #yami sukehiro #morgen faust #which isn’t even getting into yaminacht being best friends—enemies—lovers - arguably my favorite dynamic #and the symbolism of morgen being more christian-themed while nacht uses a lot of occult and pagan influences #peo’s nachtposting

[whereserpentswalk]

I want a magic system that slowly drains its users. Like magic drugs but they aren't the fun kind of drug but the life ruining kind. Magic users will slowly grow paler, their weight will drop at unhealthy rates, dark marks will form around eyes that slowly seem eternally bloodshot. As time goes on they lose reproductive function, and start feeling either constantly awake or needing to sleep more. Someone who begins practicing magic in their teens will not see forty.

You're so powerful but at what cost. You're bodies wasting away, and the younger you start the better. If you stopped now mabye you could heal... but it feels so good to become something like that, something more powerful then humanity was meant to know.

Anyone want to just totally ruin their life when they become a wizard?

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #fantasy #my worldbuilding #my writing #writing #world building #magic system #magic #magic systems #wizard #worlock #dark fantasy

[dduane]

Re: Magic systems

kosmonaunt asked:

I have the weird hyper-fixation of wanting to know all their is about The Speech and just how everything works!! I love learning about how power systems work, and it helps since I’m trying to develop my own. I’m always stuck on soft or hard magic systems. Since I don’t know all there is to really know about my system. Do you have tips on crafting magic systems? How do you feel about someone being inspired by pieces of your system?

Inspiration is fine! What you want to make sure you do with whatever inspires you, though, is to work hard to make your own take on it different from or better than what you borrowed. Around here we refer to this as "the magpie principle:" if you're going to pick up and play with/make off with a bright and shiny idea, you need to be working to produce something even brighter and shinier as your part of the "exchange". Whether or not you succeed at this (or can succeed), either sometimes or never at all, isn't the point. The point is to always be trying.

As regards building magic systems: there were three different ones in the foreground or background of my first novel alone—all of them with features that at this end of time I can recognize as being inspired by elements of magic systems in other writers' work. But by the time I'd more fully developed them, each had become something unique. The system I'm probably better known for—the system based on the wizardly Speech and its use—sprang more or less automatically from the increasingly complex answers to the question, "What if there was a manual that could tell you the truth about/the secrets of what makes the world go?". (Because once you answer one question, another pops up. "Where did that manual come from? What're you supposed to do with it? What's wizardry for?" Etc., etc.) I've spent the last few decades, on and off, answering that question in ways that (intentionally) mirror the main characters' exploration of the art of wizardry, and what it means to engage in the business of errantry in a world that mostly thinks wizards are a fairy tale.

Before getting into describing my own approach to building a system, I needed to take a little time to look around and make sure I knew what you meant when you mentioned hard and soft magic. My best guess is that you're referring to what a lot of people are calling "Sanderson's Three Laws of Magic" (fairly enough, as Brandon calls them that himself). I had a look, and have come to the conclusion that they're more general guidelines than laws... as in each of his three essays on the subject, Brandon no sooner names his basic laws/principles than he starts punching holes through them to make room for systems that don't follow them rigidly. (And frankly I find this kind of endearing.)

With his first one, in particular, I have no quarrel at all: the concept that in one kind of magic, which for his purposes he defines as the "hard" kind, rules are extremely important. (Which is why I'm kind of horrified that he apparently got dogpiled about this take on a Worldcon panel, because to me it seems so intuitive. Some of the best fantasy storytellers I know, like this one, would agree with him.) Then later he gets on to the equally valid ideas that limitations on magic are really important, and that culturally interconnecting multiple systems is useful; and here too we're in agreement. This is reassuring to me, considering that I built my first four systems—all of which feature approaches resting on similar concepts—while Sanderson was between four and six years old. :)

People using Sanderson's Laws will look at the three systems in the Middle Kingdoms books and classify them as varying sorts of relatively hard magic, with their power rooted in two or maybe three different sources. (The blue Fire is a gift of the Divine, nearly lost since ancient times and much damaged, but now slowly being recovered: sorcery is a language-based art in which no one's terribly sure where its power comes from: and the so-called "royal magics" probably started out as a blood sorcery that over centuries was shifted toward very specific uses by the power of the demigod-descendants who employed it.)

The Young Wizards novels, though, feature an extremely hard magic deeply rooted in science and (more or less under the hood) very, very rules-intensive... while its power relies on correct use of the language used to create the Universe, and the active cooperation of the Powers still busy about that work. And this is the reason why, though people are going to naturally be curious about the Speech itself, no one's going to hear very much from me about its actual words.

This is because the Speech is canonically described as so powerful that its use is something you can feel in your body and mind (and theoretically your spirit): bone-shaking, life-changing, unmistakable. And there's no way that made-up words on the page can realistically be expected to evoke physical sensations like that in the reader... or like the sense of the universe going silent around you, leaning in to listen, as you speak your spell. The careful writer knows that it's unwise to attempt to produce responses in the reader that, when they fail, will only emphasize how that thing is not happening, and stands a good chance of shattering the illusion one’s trying to weave.

So a Speech-word gets dropped here and a phrase there, but no one's ever going to get enough of it out of me to try to build a spell. Readers are better at doing that work for themselves in their own heads, out of hints and whispers. Over ten books and their interstitial material, there are plenty of those scattered through the text: not to mention the most basic principles of wizardry, which are laid out before the end of the first chapter of the first book in the series. So I'll leave you to get on with deducing what you can from canon.

Meanwhile, if I was about to build a new system, I'd look at my main characters—in the setting of their home cultures—and ask myself for answers to these questions:

What do they want more than anything?

Why can't they have it?

What kind of power will help them get it?

When they do eventually get within reach of the power / the desired thing... what will its achievement cost them?

And will they pay the price?

...Because the payment of such prices is where you find out what your heroes are worth. (Or aren't.) The above arc succinctly describes, in broad strokes, both The Door into Fire and So You Want To Be A Wizard, and a good number of the books that follow them. (Because why abandon what works, or try to fix what's not broken?) :)

With answers to the questions above you can start feeling your way toward what you need—always looking closely at the cultures your characters spring from, and how those cultures will shape their response to the magic they seek. (Or that finds them.) Maybe it's no surprise that the preferred arc structure of a writer who was a psychiatric nurse will be deeply involved with questions of motivation: because motivation is at the heart of almost all human behavior. Find the motivation and you find the character's heart—and, often enough, what kind of magic they need to make their desire and intention overflow into triumph.

...There are quite a few "How to design your magic system" pages out there. You might glance at these to see if there's anything useful in them for you:

How To Build An Amazing Magic System For Your Fantasy Novel

How To Create A Magic System In Six Simple Steps

Building Your Magic System: A Full Recipe

How To Create A Rational Magic System

However, my favorite is the "So You Want To Write A Functional Magic System" page at TV Tropes, which is nicely arranged yet also completely nonprescriptive—a pick-'n'-mix jar of prompts, things other writers have done that've worked, and generally useful ideas. (And try not to vanish too far down the many interconnected rabbitholes...) :)

Now get out there, build the world, and make the magic(s).

#magic systems #building magic #magic #writing advice #fantasy

[jezebelgoldstone]

Queer books with cool magic systems in a different world! Witchmark, The Four Profound Weaves, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Iron Widow, The Black Tides of Heaven, The Bruising of Qilwa, Gideon the Ninth

Cool magic systems in our world! Elatsoe, The Last Sun, Dreadnought

Other worlds with NO magic and NO sci-fi! The Traitor Baru Cormorant, A Conspiracy of Truths, Captive Prince, Monstrous Regiment, The High King's Golden Tongue

Gimme those sweet sweet cross-species queer romances Prince of the Sorrows, the long way to a small angry planet, In the Court of the Nameless Queen

I wonder what the highest number of pronouns that can be used in a single story is? The Bruising of Qilwa

#queer #queer romance #gay #queer books #book recs #queer book recs #queer romances #fantasy #sci-fi #magic systems #readblr #reading #writing #jez recs #Op

[cat-appreciator]

Thinking about A Practical Guide To Evil, which has its flaws, but which definitely has a really good magic system. The Names and their Aspects is just so good (at least from my perspective as an itinerant fanficcer), I could noodle about infinitely making up Names and Aspects for them. It’s a bit like characters in DOTA; this character has a certain deal or aesthetic going on, which gives them a limited number of moves, now let’s toss them like tomatoes in a salad and see what happens when they interact.

APGTE is also really good at making those interactions feel really satisfying when they’re pulled off. Just a series of magnificent bastard Xanatos gambits all the way down.

Unfortunately the Name and Aspect system is deeply tied in with the setting’s narrative causality, there’s not really an easy way to loot it for parts like the terrible magpie gremlin I am. Oh well!

#APGTE #A Practical Guide to Evil #fanfic #worldbuilding #magic systems #mostly just me being enthusiastic tbh

[melodramamatic]

Shen Wei's Learning Power

Am I missing something, or is Shen Wei the only Dixingren we see who coughs up blood when he overextends himself? like, I'm fine with it as a trope, its a good hurt/comfort vibe, but are we supposed to assume that's normal for Dixingren? Because I've got a theory.

Shen Wei seems to think its normal. We as the audience assume it's normal (if alarming) because he treats it as such. It is a normal consequence of using too much dark energy. A sign he has nothing left to give and tried to keep going. But I don't remember anyone else to compare that to. We do see Ye Zun have terrible coughing fits when he's young, that don't seem to plague him as an adult. After his power came in. Maybe it's not normal, but Shen Wei doesn't know because he didn't use his power extensively until the war. And he was Hei Pao Shi by then, more symbol than man, and Hei Pao Shi can't show weakness. So he hides the episodes away, thinking it's something other people just have a better handle on (he definitely has self-esteem issues), or that normal people don't use their gifts to the same extent he does (Very Likely), or maybe it just doesn't happen the same way until he's in the modern day and his powers are bound by the treaty (a distinct possibility, I don't remember much blood coughing in Ye Old Haixing).

So, what if Shen Wei's abilities involve some sort of passive dark energy absorption that buffers his health, but when he doesn't have enough dark energy, his health is similar to his brother's before Ye Zun's own power was able to compensate.

And, I don't remember if Shen Wei's difficulties with technology are a 'actually from 10k years ago' thing or a 'my powers make tech do weird things' thing, but I like the idea that his powers cause problems with complex circuitry if he's in close proximity for too long. And the handwavy magic explanation I'm going with is that his own dark energy passively maps energy patterns around him. Which does bad things to technology over a period of time. So if he carries around a phone or laptop for too long it will fry, but he can borrow a phone and use a desktop occasionally and not be a walking EMP. I'm not sure we see him wear a watch either.

TLDR: Shen Wei's learning ability involves mapping energy patterns around him and passively absorbing dark energy. So he fries technology if he's too close to it for extended periods of time, but he could borrow a phone or use a desktop as long as he doesn't do it often. It also could be buffing his health, and he cough's up blood when he doesn't have enough energy left to not do that.

#guardian 2018 #shen wei #ye zun #worldbuilding #magic systems #coughing up blood #i cannot possibly be the first person to say this #but I feel like putting it into words so it will leave my head. #shouting into the void to make my brain shut up