1. naruzeldamaster

    naruzeldamaster Senior Member

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    What are some strange magic 'rules' you've come across (that make sense in canon)

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by naruzeldamaster, Sep 26, 2021.

    For example in Bayonetta (video game series) the witches there channel their magic through their hair, they also weave their clothes with their hair strands. So it (kind of) makes sense that the top layer of clothes disappears when they do their big summons since the demons they summon are gigantic and are ensnared in their hair.

    In my current project Kitsune are like regular humans for the most part (aside from the magic) but their bodies are naturally far more dense. They have to be molecularly dense to contain the magic they hold, their bodies would be torn apart inside and out otherwise. (it also explains why they are so long lived, at some point magic just causes their internal clocks to just stop and they no longer age. And since they can't age, less chance of organ failure etc) An average kitsune weighs 2.5 times more than an average human of their build type.
     
  2. Joe_Hall

    Joe_Hall I drink Scotch and I write things

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    In my current WIP universe, it is theorized every thousand years an antimage is born. They are special individuals, usually with physical characteristics that are odd for their ethnicity and they are completely immune to magic. Like you could toss a world-sundering spell at them and it would do nothing. This also applies to out-going magic and they are not usually able to learn how to cast magic either. However, their immunity to magic sends the mage's guild into terror. An antimage could walk up to a wizard or witch and beat them to death with a stick and all the magic in the world can't stop them. This causes them to be feared, hunted, and killed in childhood. It's one of my WIPs main plot elements.
     
  3. hirundine

    hirundine Contributor Contributor

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    In my WIP, a person who has the magical ability to sense magic can't sense their own magic. It makes sense that their own magic would be filtered out because in universe sensing magic is uncomfortable and can even be incapacitating depending on the circumstances, so if your own magic wasn't filtered out, it would be anywhere from uncomfortable to debilitating all the time. It's essentially like how your body is constructed so you can't hear internal sounds like blood running through your ears, only with magic.

    It's also crucial to the plot, of course.
     
  4. Chromewriter

    Chromewriter Contributor Contributor

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    Inception has dreams within a dream concept.

    Lost the TV series had a big button that you needed to push or the world would end.

    Lord of the rings required the ring to be thrown in only one particular volcano to be destroyed.

    In 1984, big brother was always right.

    Vampires are always depicted as being weak to light and stakes. They also need to drink blood and they can't break through doors.

    But I kind of like the vampires in 'the night watch' which was a Russian novel; they could take blood transfusions and they couldn't walk through your house uninvited, but garlic and the cross didn't work. They threw away some rules and brought new ones.

    In naruto the fox gods had to be sealed in babies. Who knows why? Or at least, I forgot.

    Full metal alchemist they had the idea of equivalent exchange. Still one of my favourite magic systems of all time. It appealled to the scientist in me.
     
  5. Travalgar

    Travalgar Active Member

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    The SCP Foundation (despite their "there is no canon" policy) contains some of the best pieces of worldbuilding I've ever read. A few of them deals with actual magic, in the sense of real magic actually happening in our real world that is hidden from the knowledge of the general populace for the sake of maintaining sense of normalcy and order in the society. What amazed me was how the writers approached the magic systems with a scientific framework of mind.

    The result is one of the most rigorously explained, detailed, and plausible magic system I've ever encountered on works of fiction. I'm talking about their basic principles, consequences, ties to historical cults and traditions, ties to existing real-world scientific principles, classifications of individuals with magic, how to be a user of magic, how secret organizations of our world deals with them, and so many more. They even went so far as to create fictional scientific theories, laws, and terms for the general principle and application of magic. It almost seem like they're taking Clarke's third law way too seriously. And I'm happy they did!

    I highly suggest anyone with a serious interest in speculative fiction to check them out.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2021
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  6. QueenOfPlants

    QueenOfPlants Definitely a hominid

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    BrandoSando has some strange rules in his magic systems.
    Like, how in Warbreaker you draw colour from things to animate other things.

    It's kind of cool to see it applied, but there is no conceivable reason for this.

    And the moment when Susebron uses his power and turns his black palace white is just... "Holy Mother of God!" awesome.
     
    Chromewriter likes this.

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