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  1. Antaus

    Antaus Active Member

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    Magic Systems

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Antaus, Jan 13, 2018.

    This is something I've been tinkering with for a while because magic in fiction can do anything, includes dues ex massacre a plot. For a good while I was stumped on how to deal with this literary monster and I think I might have an idea. Magic in my story would have no limit as to what it can do, great huh? Not really, because it's also incredibly dangerous. The idea I had in mind is that there are spells, and certain general things you can do with magic, but the lay user does NOT experiment with magic.

    The reason being it's a well known fact, and not government propaganda, that experimentation can be quite lethal. For this reason the common magic user draws from accepted magical methods and spells. The experimentation is left to knowledgeable, brave, and very well paid people. Once this sort of magic think tank devises a new spell or what not, and it's approved, then everyone has access to a new spell. Just looking for opinions here.
     
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  2. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    You could make it kind of like chemistry. Chemistry has the periodic table of the elements and depending on the properties of certain elements, what they're mixed with and in what quantities, creates different things.

    Now everyone at some capacity can do chemistry. But it takes a chemist to know what you should and should not mix together.
     
  3. IHaveNoName

    IHaveNoName Senior Member Community Volunteer

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    That's pretty much a no-brainer. Experimenting with any magic system is dangerous, regardless of the rules of said system.

    That's what you should figure out first - the rules. What can you do (i.e., what does the collective knowledge of magic users encompass)? How does it work - are there incantations, gestures, dancing, do you have to write it down, sacrifice a goat, what? What happens if you do something differently (dancing instead of writing, using a chicken instead of a goat, etc.)?

    I like Kallisto's comment about chemistry. I'd also suggest checking out the anime/LN Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records. The magic system there is quite interesting because while all spells have a basic chant, the chant can be modified to alter the spell's effects.
     
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  4. DeeDee

    DeeDee Contributor Contributor

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    What you describe is a very widely used magic system - knowledge is restricted to few, who need special training beause the results of magic actions can be very dangerous. Even the Force/Jedi in Star Wars work in a similar way. So, yeah, this type of magic system is okay. What was the question again? :D I'm not sure what you are asking :oops:

    I think it would be much easier to adjust the magic system while you develop the plot. What does the plot need? What are the characters doing? If, so far, you got a magic system where only few can experiment, then is the plot about what happens when an non-trained outsider begins to experiment in secret? Then you got the question of how is an outsider going to know what to do in order to perform magic? Which is basically a question about finding out more about that magic system - are people born with magic abilities or can everything be learned? The more you go into the plot details, the more you can discover about your magic system and add specifics as necessary.
     
  5. soupcannon

    soupcannon Active Member

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    Your initial approach to magic seems pretty well-reasoned. In general, I like it. The only advice I could give would be to be consistent in your internal rules of magic. (Also, where applicable, have appropriate justification and character reactions to someone who apparently breaks the rules of magic.)
     
  6. Reollun

    Reollun Active Member

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    That's a good approach, I think. In my work, for example, magic has been banished and exists in the real of esotery, so to say. It's a force to be dreaded, and only certain mystics have the knowledge (and the will) to practice magic. Of course, one of the defining characteristics of dealing with magic is that it leaves consequences on the people who use it.

    A good idea is to make any practioning of magic highly ritualistic and mystical. In that way, you avoid the cliches and give your readers an incentive to draw their own conclusions and theories about magic.
     
  7. QueenOfPlants

    QueenOfPlants Definitely a hominid

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    You might be interested in these videos, soupcannon: and

    They are about magic system in general, though.
     

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