Any magic system needs limits. This I've learned as I have done research. In fact, I subconsciously made a limit to my own magic that I only noticed as I prepared Chapter One of my book to send off to my new test reader. My magic is powered by two things, one the power source is from the planet itself, two the wizard's energy level. This means that if the wizard is tired they cannot cast much magic. I take this one step further by also having it where if the wizard casts magic while hungry they have a ravenous appetite that forces them to consume a lot of food. A wizard can waste away if they don't eat after a few minutes. Of course, eating a bunch of food quickly has a rather embarrasing side effect that the Italian views as a huge complement but that's just my silly side surfacing. Anyhow, what do you think of my limit? Do you guys have an interesting limit to your magic system? If so let me know so I can compare notes.
Only thing that seems quite heavy in cost is food intake. It takes hours before you digest it all and if you can waste that away in minutes one might be quite anorexic. Further, seems a good start. When it comes to mine, oh dear so I’ll keep it short. My magic works as where you can change the forces of nature to ones binding. So simply, make swords heavier/lighter, but can become extremely elaborate as long as it follows the three laws. The three laws that govern magic use are: You need to touch the object you’re casting on. Objects hold a natural limit in the amount of magic can be forced on. The larger the object the more it can hold. The caster needs to understand the act they’re putting on the object (simply, you can’t move sand into a sculpture as you won’t be able to follow/understand where every single grain needs to go, you can move the whole roughly around though). When you ignore the second law an object becomes overcharged, losing all magical properties and gaining a certain status depending on its phase. This includes the body. Water freezes, air crackles with electricity, solids increase in weight. There’s a whole more to it but these are the limits of magic in short .
Yours looks interesting do far. I'm looking forward to reading the book? As for mine, there are quite a few limitations. Let's see... - A big one, and somewhat similar to yours I suppose, is that casting spells requires channeling magical energy directly through one's body. Magic, in its pure form, is destructive, and using too much magic can tear one's body apart. It's something that happens over time, so usually people can stop casting before permanent damage is done, however an angry or desperate mage may very well tear themselves apart. Over time, using magic will cause the physical body and magical energy to become more intertwined and allow more magic usage, however there is no obvious physical tell to this. People generally figure out their own limitations. - The other major one is that magic on Verail is divided into five types, Radiant, Darkness, Summoning, Sight, and Chaos. Using more than one is very difficult, and only about 1% of Verail's mages learn to use two, which is the most that can be mastered through training alone and is still extremely difficult and dangerous. There are very rare people, known as Silver Mages, who can use all five. There are usually no more than 1-2 Silver Mages on Verail at any given time, and the ability to become one is genetic. There are technically other types of magic which are different from the main five types which have their own set of rules, such as Schism and Shalvaari energies, but I won't get into those here. The five types are what 99% of Verail's population uses. - Magic requires a source. Many different sources exist, but the most common is known as the First Spire. The exception to this is members of the Kahvlarashar race, which are born with magic within them. For a l0ng time, they were the only spellcasters on Verail aside from servants of deities and those in possession of certain Kahvlarashen-made artifacts, but the Kahvlarashar eventually created the First Spire, allowing other races access to magic. (Which eventually caused a massive war because the elves got greedy, but that's another story.) Other spires have later been created as well, some of which are only f0r one magic type, and some that, like the First Spire, contain all five. People who use it still have to choose one type to draw, aside from the rare individuals who can use multiple types. - Magic is addictive. This is less of an issue since most people who have a source of magic will keep it, but of an experienced mage loses access to magic, it can cause a variety of side effects. Weaker mages will eventually recover, while the more powerful mages are often completely reliant on magic, and will keep a backup source just in case because losing their access to magic would also mean their death. Well, I clearly didn't do as good as Gadock at keeping this short, so sorry for the long winded post.
I forgot to mention that the magic consumes the food faster than the body can process it. The wizards often wonder where they are putting it all but it's simply vanishing to leave the air in the food, hense a huge after meal belch that puts a dwarf to shame. no, I meant that Italian chefs view a huge belch as a compliment.
I don't see much to respond to yours with and it seems like you are asking for others as a comparison so okay!!!! I am not one to leave an eager audience hungry. Lol. In my world. A person's magic is relative to their soul which is born almost fixed(few things can change it). The current anology is imagine a balloon. It's size and shape dictate it's users abilities and limitations. And it's size can be increased through stretching or working out(making it akin to a muscle). And how much energy you currently have is the air. Exhausted leaves you deflated but you can always rest and regain energy. The other notable aspect is stamina and Mana are different guages. So a person out of magic can still move and run. And a person out of stamina to run can still cast magic but the average person uses a little Mana to help running. So their running quality can be reduced by being out of Mana. And channeling magic costs some stamina points so while the guages are separate they are connected and important to each other.
I haven't done much with magic yet, but I have been working on so basics. I don't have any offical rules but do my best to limit. Usually it's in the form of fatigue, and that Magic takes energy, requiring the caster to rest after awhile or limit themselves, reserving magic for when they need it, due to this. I have one magic user who is very powerful, but it's pointed out by a rival king that even she has her limits and eventually her city would fall. and she admits to the ruler that her power is depleting from overusing it, and she must rest at some point. Another time, a magic user goes into a rage mode after his dear friend and king is assassinated, in this episode he kills many including some on his own side, and destroys a pass that links the other region where the enemy is coming from. However, after this he falls into acoma (I haven't decided if he lives or dies yet)
Keep you magic as uncomplicated as possible. A long explanation of how a magic-user does what they do is, frankly, boring. Just let them do it. I prefer to keep the magical elements simple - such as, someone can affect the weather, but not start fires. Limitations make the magic seem accessible.
Depends on the type of Magic. But to put it into simple terms. There are pacts. Which the users get powers from a much more powerful Entity, Can be a God of sorts usually. Or Creatures that are seen as lesser Gods, Though they can only channel as much as their body can handle without risking permanent damage, or being completely subjected to the being they are taking power from. They also need a sort of Talisman or object, that relates to their God, to channel the powers given to them. If they ever piss off the God, or Entity, it can also decide to break the pact, in less than desirable circumstances. There's Witchcraft, Which Tears out energy from the air, plantlife, water, Fire, anything elementally based. Often killing what they are taking the energy from, However, using too much power than they can mentally handle will make them into ghastly beings more relating to what they take energy from.(Nature) However they don't need a catalyst. It gives them the most raw power output in most circumstances, however they have far less control over their powers than the other two. Wild and Chaotic, just like nature is. Sorcery is using the energy within(Either soul or just the physical and mental energy, that your body shoots out. Called simply Arcane by most), They need a catalyst that has been has had a rune Burned into it by another sorcerer, or Sorcerer like entity, with Arcane energy. These Runes allow Energy to channel through the body and out into what you desire. What Sorcerers do is change atoms into what they wish, Like if they wanted air to change into water, they'd change the particles into H2o. making most Sorcerers, Scholars as they need a much larger understanding of what makes what for them. Or they can just shoot out Arcane energy if they're feeling lazy. However doing that takes alot more energy. One can gain more skill, or get a better catalyst, ect, To complete spells that no one can dream of, However the amount of energy you have, can't be increased truly, It just seems like it when you are better with it. You can also take Arcane energy that has been put inside special crystals, for more energy than one person can provide. Also again, intelligence and creativity is the greatest source for this type of magic. That's the basics of the three types, There are plenty of subcategories, but most of them all branch from one of these three types.
For my magic systems I don't use anything so elaborate. I just treat it as a strong expenditure of energy. After casting spells during a fight, the person finds themselves fatigued in the same way that a warrior would swinging a giant axe around. When a mage casts a huge and powerful spell, they fall to the ground, exhausted and can barely move the next few days. Their limits are how much effort they are willing to put into their spell.
I must magic wrong. In a Fantasy story I started, objects are imbued with special and specific properties. And obviously Creatures of different origin have their own strengths/weaknesses. But none can cast spells or anything like that. Guess it adds to a bit of limitation on the part of those parties. Or a take on less gimmicky magical approach. IDK.
I agree, there is no way to do magic wrong. If your world only has magical creatures it's still a fantasy in my book and just as magical as having a wizard as a protagonist, or antagonist for that matter. Thank you, everyone, for all your wonderful replies. Seeing your limits and feedback has really helped me out.
My current novel is about ghosts, so necromancy involves emulating "classic" ghostly abilities--seeing, hearing or speaking between the worlds of the living and dead, moving objects or creating cold or fog, distorting space to "trap" others, messing with technological devices, and things like that. To access it, a character needs to have an intense and usually painful memory that logically feeds into that sort of effect--ghosts have these abilities as part of the circumstances of their creation, but living people touched by death can also use them. For example, the ability for a ghost to appear in the living world can be invoked by a feeling of desperately wanting something, but being unable to touch it. The ability to produce will-o-wisp like lights comes from a memory of being alone and frightened in the darkness. In the story, it's a good tool for character development, lets me personalise the powers of each character, and gives a reason why characters can't just whip out a new power whenever they need it, since they may simply not have the right sort of experience in their backgrounds.