You might recognize me from one of my recent threads Assistance on Magic System. Well, since I’ve figured the source of magic and some abilities offered by some of the deities in my world, I’m now stuck on the means through which magic is used. More specifically, I’m having trouble deciding on the tool through which magic is generated, instructed, and casted.I’ve thought of some options, but I’m still not quite sure. I’d like to get some advice on which option to go for. But, if you have any other options and suggestions, feel free to name them. Prayers - Since I’ve noticed some religious undertones I’ve involved in my story so far, this’ll basically be me going all the way with it. If I do go with this option, I might do something similar to the video game Blasphemous with the prayers in the game basically being spells that allow the player to do various things. However, some problems with this system include: Since each Blessed gains one ability from the deity they gain their powers from, would they have to learn only one or several prayers? What would the prayers even be? “Biomancy” - This was actually suggested to me by someone recently. In this version, a Blessed already contains a portion of their patron deity’s power within them that they can use according to their own will. Obviously, the limitations for this system would include stamina, physical handicaps, etc. Faith - In this case, magic is generated through the power of faith. This can also make for a good limitation as, if a Blessed loses faith in their patron, then their magic is less effective. Sorry if this is somewhat of a mess. I was just writing what was on my mind. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask away.
Maybe a combination of faith and biomancy. Like, you'd have to have faith to hold the deity's power, but if you have it, you have a fair amount of control in its expression. This could also be taken away if the deity is displeased.
Shit, you know what would be cool? A version of a prayer system where the gods were at each other's throats. "My god could beat your god up!"
@GraceLikePain That actually sounds great. It also gives me an excuse to drop a certain portion of my magic system. I was originally going to give each Blessed (the name of magic-users) a single ability based on a particular domain of their patron deity. I guess if they're given free expression, they could have free-range in which domain they draw their power from too. @The_Joker This sounds brilliant. Based on this, there would likely be entire holy wars where the gods pit their Blessed against the Blessed of other deities just to get back at each other. Basically, they can be like the gods of Greek mythology who are known for being extremely petty. To take it a step further, the relationships between deities can also have influence over their Blessed's magic. I'll have to elaborate on this a bit more soon.
The gods bashing each other is the basis of Roman, Greek, Norse, just about any non monotheistic Magic Use. I suggest quantum physics. As Niels Bohr put it, if quantum physics doesn't scare you, you don't understand it.
Quantum physics is just weird. Few physicists agree on exactly what it is. Basically one of the fundamental ideas is that matter exists and doesn't exist at the same time at least on the subatomic level. Now you can move something that doesn't exist an infinite distance without expending any energy and then it suddenly exist in another place. I'd call that magic some people would call it quantum entanglement. But you can really get away with lots in a story
So, like the power of thought or something? I'll have to consider this one a bit more. Even if I don't use quantum physics exactly by name, this could provide some inspiration on rules and limitations at least.
Entangled particles end up with the same charge instantly once they stop spinning, no matter the distance. Non-physical information is being communicated somehow. Crazy stuff.
Why not include all three aspect and roll it up into a bigger overall system. Initiation When one is inducted into the faith of their chosen religion they undergo a ritual. If they prove themselves worthy they're instilled with a small portion of the patron deity's power. Casting/Praying This is where the initiated calls upon the power granted to them for a specific purpose. Being it healing, casting out evil (if that's a thing), blessing a weapon to be more effective or any other number of effects. This process not only requires a portion of the power granted to the person by the deity, but also some of the users stamina. Faith This is one of the most important aspects of the whole process because the more faith a person has the more effective their prayers are. Just a rough idea, but there you go.
This sounds like a great way to sum things up. Although I was going for something a bit different initially, I can definitely see people being initiated into their religions. First time would probably be when they're baptized or something along those lines. The second would be when they're older and officially are accepted. I'll have to think about what exactly those prayers would be, but the lack of faith would probably either cause one's spells to fizzle out completely or for the spell to do only a small portion of what was intended. Thank you for your suggestions.
