In the story I'm developing, magicians are known as adepts. Adepts are born with a special magical ability called ether, which they can develop over time. The problem is: What abilities does my MCs should have? I mean, they're not Marvel superheroes...
Depends on how you envision your world. It could be that certain people are destined for glory, and as such are blessed by spirits / gods / fate to have a power which is useful for them in their quest. So someone whose fate it is to prevent the country from being invaded might have the power of numbers, where they can see any large army and know exactly how many people are in it. Or someone who must be a messenger in a crucial time may be born "deformed" with huge batlike wings instead of arms, but she can fly by controlling the air around her with ether. Another alternative: you make it so everyone has ether and can develop it over time, but most people choose not to because it's hard work or because they need to work to support their families and don't have time for magical studies. Or perhaps it's dangerous - you have to master it somehow, for example by deliberately hurling yourself off a cliff and trying to wrestle it under your control by making it slow your fall. In this case, you might prove control in different ways: by having an immense healing factor, by flying, by reversing gravity or by applying a strong force, etc. Or ether could be something which people have studied for a long time, so that people with ether could choose which route they want to take. For example, one branch of ether magic could focus on manipulating biology - after twenty years studying that, you can heal all kinds of illnesses. Or one branch might involved brain manipulation - so that after years of study, you know how to do math really quickly, or learn languages in days, or effortlessly memorize long poems. (Or the more sinister route of learning about psychology in order to influence masses of people or in order to lie convincingly.) Or one branch could involve manipulating forces, or the elements.
Like HeinleinFan said what do you envision? Can one Adept defeat an army, control a king, cure a disease, tell the future. You don't want them being Superheroes so maybe the ether lets them do marvelous things, but the more powerful the magic the more it drains them. So killing 5 men is doable for a strong Adept, killing 10 leaves them severely winded. Killing 20 puts them into a light coma, killing more kills them. Maybe they can't actually do amazing feats of power. Maybe they can only work quietly affecting small changes. Put a whisper into Kings mind, give a person a little more energy to fight off the plague, or put a snowflake in just the right spot to cause an avalanche. Think about what you want them to do. Then decide what you think is too powerful. Write that down and put the paper somewhere close to your writing space with the words RULE #1. Then whenever you have an adept doing something, look at RULE #1. If it surpasses that rule change the story.
I know I'm not the TC, but those are some really good ideas! And I think he mentioned before that he wanted elemental powers, although those are a little cliche.
yeah, xD. I'm using the Chi concept, in which the adept calls upon his spirit's energy (which is the ether) to power a spell, however the adept can end destroying his soul with overusage or something like that. I'll combine HeinleinFan's ideas, thanks! BTW, those someone knows of a website with a huge list of names and surnames? Help would be appreciated!
