This is my first thread on this site, so please be merciful. This thread will describe my magic system for the fantasy series that I'm working on. I decided to just throw it out there to see what people thought of it. This magic system is my own take on elemental magic, with my primary inspiration coming from Avatar (of course), Magi, and the Witchlands. In my world, anyone can learn magic with enough practice and study, but only certain people can use magic for practical purposes, much like artists or musicians. But first, a little background info as to what fuels magic. Mana Mana is the metaphysical energy that exists in all living beings. It is a form of energy that exists and flows throughout nature and life itself. Mana serves as the source of magic and an array of other skills. Mana can be used to enhance one's physical abilities to make them stronger and faster, act as a defensive shield to protect a person from physical attacks, and it can be used as raw energy, forming energy blasts and shaping energy constructs strengthened by the user's will. Magic and mana are deeply connected, for magic is just the art of using mana to interact with the environment. Over usage of one's mana puts a strain on the body, and using too much can cause severe exhaustion, dizziness, or fainting. Going beyond one's limits can even put someone in a coma or kill them. Magic Magic is the manipulation of the elements. In nature, mana exists and flows throughout all forms of life. Fluctuations in this natural energy cause storms, fires, earthquakes, etc. Magicians are trained to harness their energy and give ceremonial commands to the elements behind these events to reproduce natural phenomena. All magic in the world is connected to the six elements: four physical elements--Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, and two spiritual elements--Aether (Associated with life) and Void (Associated with death). The art of casting a spell is done by directing one's mana to give ceremonial commands to an element to accomplish a particular goal, often through the use of incantations and hand gestures. All creatures are born with an affinity to one of the six elements. Magicians have an easier time learning to control an element that matches their affinity, although even then it may take a number of years. Mages are not limited to the element they have an affinity for, and it is in fact common for master magicians to have mastered two elements. Although it is technically possible to master all six elements, it is very rare because of how much training is involved. Magic requires energy and every act of magic uses up some of the user's mana. If a mage overexerts their magical capabilities too much, it physically takes a toll on their body, causing them fatigue, exhaustion, dizziness or fainting. It could also cause their energy to be drained or depleted, leaving them unable to use their magic until it recharges. Aether Aether is the spiritual element associated with life and the heavens. Aether magic manipulates the celestial substance that flows throughout the universe. Subtypes of aether magic include light magic, psychic magic, illusion magic, gravity magic, abjuration, and space-time magic. Air Air is the physical element associated with the sky and storms. Air magic is the art of controlling and manipulating air and wind. Subtypes of air magic include lightning magic, sound magic, and weather magic. Water Water is the physical element associated with both fluids on the earth and fluids in the body. Water magic is the art of manipulating water in all its forms. Subtypes of water magic include ice magic. Earth Earth is the physical element associated with all things linked to the earth--from stones and metals to plants and animals. Earth magic is the art of manipulating earth and earthen materials in all its various forms. Subtypes of earth magic include plant magic, metal magic, and animal magic. Fire Fire is the physical element associated with heat and flames. Fire magic is the art of creating and manipulating fire and heat. Void Void is the spiritual element associated with death and the underworld. Void magic is the art of manipulating the stygian substance that connects the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. Subtypes of void magic include shadow magic, blood magic, curse magic, spirit magic, and necromancy. I designed this magic system to mix elemental magic with the more dynamic traditional magic systems common in most fantasy stories. Aether and Void are the "mystical elements" that allow mages to do crazy things like conjure things, form magical barriers and summon beings. Different cultures view magic differently, some hold it in a more religious light while others see it as a tool or craft to be used at their leisure. Some people use spells while others just manipulate the elements without incantations. How magic is used depends on the people using it.
Uh, why post this to us? This is your creation to develop? Honestly, it sounds like you have a pretty well thought out system. My only comment is to pay attention to the consequences of the magics. Since fluctuations apparently cause earthquakes, that means you'd probably have some sort of magical weather service in your world that spends their time anticipating and dealing with any major natural phenomena. Like if a volcano is about to explode, they'd have to, I dunno, drain the magic away so that it doesn't, or at least delay the eruption until everyone is evacuated.
I just wanted other people's opinions on it to see if I was missing something with my system. And the idea behind mana fluctuations being behind natural occurrences is more like, people understanding that whenever there's a large scale natural event like a storm or earthquake, there are coinciding fluctuations in the natural mana of the world happening at the same time. It's all natural, not magical at all. Magic works on the principle of manipulating the elements to reproduce these natural phenomena and maybe even controlling them. There's no magical weather service, as these occurrences are natural. For the volcano bit, it's not as simple as "draining" magic away to keep it from erupting. A group of powerful mages can combine their magic to delay an eruption, but it requires a lot of energy to do.
Not trying to discredit you on your efforts, but this is pretty basic/expected. I spent so much time working on my own personal magic system, felt pretty good about it, only to go online and find near-identical ideas and results. The next step I had to take was defining its sub-categories, like conjuration and transmutation. Or coming up with cool spells/combos that go beyond 'I used water to put out a fire' or something.
Yeah, that's the thing about designing magic systems, there's almost always someone whose had a similar idea. Elemental magic is a prime example, but it's not just making your system unique, it's how it's portrayed differently. You don't necessarily have to go above and beyond to design cool and outlandish elements to your system to make it different. Magic itself is a common trope, but people have made it work in tons of fantasy stories because of not how different they are from each other, but how they portray magic in their worlds. Honestly, it was because of how common elemental magic was that I shied away from it for so long, until I saw anime like Avatar and Magi and how differently they did the trope that inspired me. Yeah, sometimes I feel a bit inadequate compared to some other authors who've done the same thing better, but honestly, just focus on your stuff and do your best. Wow that was fun to type down.
Yup. I've been reading a lot of Brandon Sanderson, so I've been testing out what to do, what not to do, and how to do designing a magic system properly. I have a lot of time on my hands.
I have to say it looks pretty solid to me too, although in my system I never categorized elements. Elements are mentioned, but not specifically listed. This way it leaves some wiggle room and what can and can't be done. Also here's a small except detailing my own magical dangers in regards to overuse. Essence Magic This is the domain of the desperate, crazy, or just plain suicidal. Essence Magic is the term applied to a Biomancer who has exhausted the supply of biometric energy his body can spare. Once they reach this point if a practitioner tries to push their body past its limits it will literally fight back in an instinctive act of self-preservation. If they are able to push past this limit, and most aren't, they begin to burn up their own life force to fuel their magic, literally sacrificing months or even years of their life in the process. Extended use can result in someone visibly aging. A rather interesting side-effect of Essence Magic is that it's 2-3 times more powerful than normal. Loss of life and aging aren't the only dangers one can face. The trauma reaped upon the body by such desperation can result in irreparable physical injury to the body or one or more of the five senses, mental instability, or worse. At times one need not even use all their life, they can sometimes suffer massive heart attacks, strokes, arterial ruptures and more. Someone also can't just decide to use Essence Magic on a whim, they have to first drain all the body's energy reserves, fight past their own survival instinct, and pray they withstand the strain placed upon the body.
Here is a little addition to the description above. It talks about the types of magic that are grouped within the six elements. It mainly deals with the most common subtypes of magic used by mages on a global scale. Subtypes of Magic Within the six elements are several subtypes that branch out of the baseline elements. Each subtype requires a different level of mastery over the root element from which its derived, as its practice often deviates from conventional magic. Ordinarily, a mage will study and learn only a single facet of an element, but some mages have total mastery of an elemental type through learning all subtypes. Air Lightning Magic: A form of air magic that involves the generation and manipulation of electricity, more specifically, lightning. A mage can manipulate, control and create pure electrical energy. They can control all forms of electrical power, be it static electricity, thunder and lightning, magnetic forces, electromagnetic forces, and electrical pressure. Sound Magic: A type of air magic that manipulates sound and soundwaves. This magic can use soundwaves to mimic other sounds, such as noises or voices, and is amplified by the user’s voice. A mage can also generate soundwaves in the form of powerful vibrations that affect physical objects with tremendous force. Weather Magic: A advanced form of air magic that manipulates the weather. Considered to be the pinnacle of air magic, weather magic requires extensive knowledge of weather patterns and how to manipulate air currents on a large scale. It involves a combination of air and lightning magic to properly manipulate the ever shifting atmospheric conditions. Water Ice Magic: A type of water magic that manipulates ice and snow. It is an extension of baseline water magic that can controls the shape of ice and snow, and powerful mages can even create large scale avalanches and blizzards if environmental conditions are met. Earth Metal Magic: A type of earth magic that manipulates metal and metallic ore. A mage can manipulate metals and natural ores, and alter their shape at will. They can also call upon nearby metals, magnetize metals to their bodies and detect different kinds of metal. A mage can also control processed metals too. Plant Magic: Another form of earth magic that controls and manipulates plants and trees of all kinds. A mage can control existing plants, grass and manipulate their growth and structure. They can summon vines from deep within the ground and use them to entangle enemies, make flowers and other plants to bloom instantaneously, manipulate trees, control spores and pollen and cause seeds to sprout. The main limitation to plant magic is that they cannot revive dead plants, though they can manipulate dead vegetation. Aether Light Magic: A basic form of aether magic that involves the manipulation of light. The mage can generate light beams which harm and burn opponents, generative protective shields or barriers, freeze single photons in mid-air and even casting various illusions, whether it be to change one’s appearance or implanting an image in the mind of various people. Psychic Magic: Another type of aether magic relating to, affecting, and influenced by the mind. Psychic magic is a form of magic that encompasses the mind as a whole, and aether mages of this form are capable of performing extraordinary mental-based magic like telepathy and telekinesis. Illusion Magic: Aether mages can create powerful and very vivid illusions that are able to stimulate the five natural senses. Illusion magic is a difficult and varied skill that takes time to master, and can range from manipulating mirror images, casting invisibility by scrubbing one’s image out of existence, camouflage, overloading the senses through induced vertigo, and projecting an illusion around an area to make it look like another place. Healing Magic: Healing is an aspect of aether magic devoted to improving the physical and mental condition. There are many different disciplines in this branch of aether magic that have a variety of effects. As with all forms of medicine, it is incredibly complex due to the range of possible afflictions that magic offers. Conjuration: A form of aether magic that manipulates matter itself to create facsimiles of objects and creatures that are stabilized by the user’s mana. These constructs last as long as the user wills it or until the mana stabilizing them is disrupted. Abjuration: A form of aether magic that encompasses protective spells. Abjuration involves spells which create physical or magical barriers, negated magical or physical abilities, harmed trespassers, or even banished spiritual entities. Space-Time Magic: An advanced form of aether magic that involves the manipulation of the space-time continuum. This magic gives its user the ability to transcend space and time. By using cosmic energy to warp space, aether mages can create portals to travel across short and long distances. The amount of energy needed to create a portal is dependent on the distance between where the mage is leaving and their destination. The longer the distance, the more energy is used. Transmutation: The art of transforming living and nonliving things into different forms. Void Dark Magic: The art of generating and manipulating darkness, the absence of light. Void mages can physical manifest shadows as dark energy and manipulate shadows to form any weapon. They can manifest pitch-black dark clouds to surround enemies, use darkness to create portals to travel from one place to the next, use shadows to cover oneself in darkness to become invisible, and absorb and dissipate shadows. Spirit Magic: A type of void magic that interacts with the spirit world—to communicate and control the spirits that inhabit both living beings or nature itself. Practitioners of spirit magic can use their power to communicate with the spirits of plants, animals, the land itself, or with the spirits of men, especially the deceased who cannot pass to the afterlife. Blood Magic: A rare form of void magic that manipulates blood. A blood mage is capable of manipulating their own blood or the blood of another living being. It requires a certain level of concentration and focus, and though blood magic can be used on multiple targets, the act puts a strain on the user's mana and mental capacity. A mage can also use blood magic to track a person through scent alone, no matter where they are or how far away the target is. Bone Magic: A form of void magic that gives the caster the ability to manipulate their own bones. With bone magic, mages can grow new bones anywhere in their body. Typically these bones are functionally and visually identical to other bones, such as the spine or ribs. The user’s bones can be made denser, increasing their cutting power and rendering them resistant to crushing or cutting. They mage can even forcefully eject bones from their body as projectiles. Sympathetic Magic: A form of void magic that involves manipulating people an objects through a non-physical connection they share with each other. It is divided into two categories: the Law of Similarity, which states that a model or miniature of a real-world object will affect the real-life counterpart when it is changed. The Law of Contagion, which stats that things that have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed. Necromancy: An advanced form of void magic that involves the manipulation of the dead. It can be used to manipulate corpses, raise zombies, controlling cobbled monsters, and commanding spirits. Necromancy is considered to be the pinnacle of void magic, but it is seen as a demonic and unholy practice that is illegal in many countries, though there are several necromanctic sects and families that still practice it in secret.
Can you clarify this a bit? The "for practical purposes" part makes it sound like only special people can use magic in practice, implying that everyone else can only learn it in a theoretical sense. However, the other parts makes it sound more like a matter of talent and personal dedication. (Similar to how everyone can create art, technically, but only a relative few become successful artists.) Just want to make sure I'm not misunderstanding you here. So in other words it serves as a vital force like chi or, well, the Force. Similar to how magic works in my setting, although in my version living beings don't actually need it to survive, and people generally can't perform magical feats beyond the physical enhancement part without the aid of magical technology. Are there limitations to what magic can do? If so, are those "hard" limits inherent to how magic actually works, like actual natural laws, or just a product of the magicians having a limited understanding of magic's potential, or being unable to make use of that potential due to purely practical limitations? Are the elemental aspects even something inherent to magic itself, or are they constructs that people came up with as a way to categorize different methods to utilize the same force? You mentioned affinities, are those based on nature or nurture? Like, are you literally born with the affinity for air magic the way you're born with physical attributes or does your personality, upbringing and culture factor in? Related to my previous question: Is there any room for creativity and experimentation here? "Ceremonial" implies that most mages are taught according to rather rigid schools of technique based on tradition, perhaps at the expense of more efficient or creative methods. Compare how in Avatar, practically everyone uses one particular bending style that corresponds to the element of their culture. For example: Pretty much all earthbenders use the same Hung Gar-based style. Toph, however, developed her own personal style that doesn't even resemble the standard one, due to being denied formal training. This suggests that the main bending forms are mostly traditional rather than strictly necessary to bend a particular element. Then there's the invention of unusual, highly specialized techniques like metalbending and blood bending, which basically came about from people simply thinking outside the box for a moment. Put another way: How important are those incantations and gestures? Are they just psychological tools that help the magician focus on a particular effect they want to achieve, or rituals that have certain effects simply because the magician believes them to? Or does magic actually "care", like how in Harry Potter most spells not only require spoken incantations in a certain language, but stuff like incorrect pronunciation will actually mess up the spell. (I always found that a bit strange, honestly.) Is it possible to improves ones mana capacity? (Working your magical muscles, so to speak.) Are there ways to recharge faster, say by transferring or absorbing mana from other entities? Can one "super-charge" oneself with more mana than one would normally possess? I can't help but feel some of these are more impressive than others. Fire Mage: "I can set things on fire. Or just make them warmer, I guess." Aether Mage: "That's cool. I can create illusions, energy shields and lasers, read your mind, control gravity and bend the very fabric of space and time to my will!" I mean, that's not necessarily bad. It's okay for abilities to be unbalanced, because it's not like you're making a video game or whatever. It's worth keeping in mind, though. Some of the sub-domains related to the elements might be somewhat arbitrary. For example, while it does make some sense the air mages get lightning powers, it could just as well fall under fire (since lightning consists of plasma which can be argued to be a type of fire, plus lightning bolts are insanely hot) or even aether. (Since electromagnetism seems to fit their general style of being all cosmic.) But I think that's just something that tends to happen when you're working with elemental magic and start making associations. Over all, it seems like a pretty solid albeit rough draft for a hard magic system. Mainly you should think about how the presence of magic affects the setting. Especially if its a skill that anyone can acquire, at least in theory. Personally, I'm not a big fan of fantasy stories where the approach is: "It's basically your standard medieval setting, except there are people who can fly and read minds and throw fireballs from their hands, but of course this hasn't directly affected society at all." What I'm saying is, in a world like the one you describe, magic is going to be a very big deal.
Dude, your comment is exactly what I've been waiting for. I'll try to answer your questions to the best of my abilities. 1: When I say "practical purposes" I mean like mages who are capable of using magic at a level where it can be useful. You hit it on the head when you said it relied on personal dedication and talent, because that's what's required to be skilled in the art. Sorry I didn't clarify that, this is sort of my first draft that I update from time to time. But yes, a person's magical ability is largely dependent on their talent, innate skill, and training. 2: There are limitations to magic. The most obvious one is that a mage cannot create their element. With the exceptions of fire, light and darkness, the other elements such as water, air, and earth cannot be created from nothing, only manipulated. Another limitation is willpower; if a mage does not have proper focus and belief in their magic, then it either won't work or it will be too weak to control properly. Your emotional state can also either strengthen or hinder your magic, so it's best not to lose your temper or you'll cause an avalanche or light something on fire. The third and most important limitation is mana; novice mages start their training by learning how to properly generate and control their mana to cast spells and the like. It's sort of like Chakra training in Naruto, if you don't have proper control over your mana, then your magic will be unstable or go won't work at all. If you use up too much energy, the you can't use any magic until you recharge your mana, much like stamina. You can increase the amount of mana you create through exercises, such as cycling your energy through your body like an electrical circuit to increase the size of your "core" the source of your mana. A mage can also draw mana from the environment, but that is an advanced technique used by experienced mages. 3: The elements are indeed inherent to magic. Magic itself is controlling the elemental forces seen and unseen in nature. As for affinities, it's something of a grey area in-universe. It is known that people can use certain types of magic easier than others, but there are a whole lot of theories as to why that is. There's no concrete reason and most mages actually don't care all that much. It's like the Chakra affinities in Naruto, you have an affinity to one element, but it doesn't keep you from learning other types of magic. It's just the way some things are for some people. A popular belief however is that affinity may be partly influenced by environmental and cultural factors, though this is just speculation. 4: In magic, incantations and hand gestures are partly psychological in helping a mage focus, but they also help regulate the energy used to fuel the spells. They're tools to help a magician focus on casting a spell without distractions, but it is possible to wordlessly cast spells using only hand gestures, though it's a bit harder to do given the halved focus. A mage can manipulate the elements without spells, but this requires a certain level of skills and focus to not let the element go out of control. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right, but that's the best I can do. 5: The power levels between the elements may seem a bit unbalanced, but it's nothing too overpowering. All the elements are powerful in their own right, and as I mentioned before, a mage with experience and training is more dangerous than a mage with a lot of power but no skill to control it. Aether and Void are the "mystical" elements with powers and abilities commonly associated with magic in other fiction. Again, practice and training are what make a mage powerful. You don't start off learning aether magic by popping off all kinds of psychic abilities. It's a learning process that begins at the bottom and works its way up. Some people just focus on a single aspect of an element, like an aether mage with light magic or an earth mage with plant magic, while others study for years to learn everything. Most master magicians have learned at least two types of magic, three in some rare cases. Four in the extremely rare cases. It is possible to master all six elements, but it takes years to do that. 6: For subtypes, it was touch and go. Yeah, I thought about assigning light to fire, but air and lightning is something that was set in stone from the beginning. I stay away from classifications like plasma because it sort of irks me that some people even consider it a magical element. I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to this, so that might just be me. I jus recently switched animal magic from earth to aether because it honestly wasn't fitting in very well with the element. 7: Figuring out magic's place in the fantasy world at large is something that's always been on my mind thanks to watching Avatar and reading Brandon Sanderson. I get your gripes with the medieval setting that has magic but is still no different from the standard shitty medieval fare, and I myself have fallen out of love with the D and D types of settings too. I'm all for more diverse fantasy settings, like oriental or middle eastern, that kind of thing. But yes, my series will explore how magic is perceived and used in different cultures, though it won't be a main focus for the most part. Some cultures see magic in a religious sense, others cultural and festive, others as just a tool to protect themselves, that kind of thing. Wow, that was a dozy to type down, but I enjoyed answering your questions. If you want me to clarify anything, just let me know.
