forum Branches of magic
Started by @RedWryder
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@RedWryder

I need help figuring out the most prominent kinds of magic and classifying them, preferably into 12 or 13 branches of study. I already have time, light, dark, mental, spiritual, and elemental. Any suggestions?

@Urby

You should probably explain what each branch encompasses. Having just one "Elemental" seems much broader than "Light" because you can include air, fire, water, earth, metal, and wood inside of Elemental, depending on what you feel fits under the umbrella.

@RedWryder

Elemental encompasses the four elements & how they interact with one another. I'm also debating adding physical magic (the manipulation of matter, & finding ways to bend the laws of physics).
It kind of makes sense to have each one of the elements be its own branch of magic, since they're all so different, and could work by separate rules, or they could be sub-classes of the same branch. I haven't decided yet.

Name

I'm just going to say whatever comes to mind, hopefully it helps you (this sounds very fun). Gravity, heat/cold, air pressure (imagine lowering the air pressure around someone until the air is sucked out of their lungs), probability, summoning spirits/demons, illusions, sickness, invisibility, & maybe even emotions (kind of fits into mental though). I love the idea of bending the laws of physics (although you are going to give yourself lots of headaches over that one)!

@Duely

theres always the choice to have one of the branches be something like menial? stuff that would be useful in household management like cleaning and cooking. It kinda depends on how common the use of magic is. Sewing charms would be something that manipulates fibers or metals and obviously if applied differently you could make them combative.

There could be animal? magic (animal or 'familiar' is another naming option) that lets you communicate with animals or summon or control them or even apply traits to the caster.

Weather magic is another option. It could be a branch of elemental magics as it would be manipulating clouds and possibly storms or wind currents.

Growth magic could be magic that makes things grow or shrink, or influence how things grow as time goes on. (like making a giant carrot)

ritual magic? would be magic that involves making ritual circles and would mean learning runes and symbology. It would be reaching out to forces on certain dates or in certain locations, possibly to bless or enchant something.

@RedWryder

Here's what I've got so far: Time, Space, Light, Dark, Elemental, Spiritual, Mental, Blood, Shape, Color, and Illusion. The jury's still out on making the four elements their own branches, vs. them being different parts of the same branch. Any thoughts?

@Masterkey

Don't you think shape, color, and illusion could be combined into one? It seems like those three could overlap.

It might be easy to determine the different branches of magic by looking at different branches of science. You got three major categories: natural sciences (physical aspects of the universe), formal sciences (mathematics and logic), and social sciences (human behavior and society).

It'd probably be best to look into the natural sciences mostly. (LIST TO GET YOUR BRAIN GOING: biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, atmospheric science, oceanography, etc)

I think a branch of magic focused on astronomy would be wicked sweet.

@Broken Princess

Don’t get too crazy… there should be a line between magic and absolute power. There are some things that are too big and powerful for any one person to be able to manipulate at will.

@RedWryder

@Masterkey , I can think of several ways a magic could be based on astronomy, but I'm having a hard time finding one that works for my story. I still don't want to toss out the idea, though. What did you have in mind?

@Masterkey

Well maybe it could be like astrology, where certain constellations and alignments of planets and stars mean things, but it takes years to train in order to "hear" what the heavens are saying.

@RedWryder

Okay, I'm thinking of keeping the list down to nine, since everything else seems to fit into the categories I already have. Also, the number nine could give way for some opportunities for a few amusing allusions to LOTR. Here's my final list, and a brief description of each one:
Time- studying moments in the past, & possible moments in the future
Space- manipulating gravity, matter, & other aspects of the physical world
Light- life/energy
Dark- was created to oppose Light, and saps away energy, instead of borrowing it.
Mental- telepathy, mind control, etc.
Spiritual- emotions, drawing upon spiritual energy to heal, astral projection & aura, etc.
Blood- creating bonds between souls using blood, communicating with dead spirits (I'd love any suggestions on how to make this particular branch work.)
Astral- astronomy; I think shapes & numbers could be very prominent in this, but I'm still working on the details, and any thoughts would be appreciated.
Elemental- control over nature, especially the four basic elements (Yes, I know. It's exactly like in Avatar.)

There are a few things, like animal magic, that I think fit into other branches. Other kinds of magic are actually one or more of the nine I have listed combining, like Necromancy being a combo of Blood magic & Spiritual. If there is any kind of magic you think is prominent enough to have its own branch, or one that doesn't fit into any of the categories I already have, PLEASE tell me.
Thanks for everyone's help!

@Masterkey

This looks good for a basic list! I'm only a little confused about the difference between light and dark. Are you saying that light borrows light and dark just steals it and never gives it back? Basically destroys it? And would that mean that after the light magical person is done borrowing some light, they put it back…?

@RedWryder

Hm, maybe you're right. I had planned on Dark magic being a corrupted version of Light, because the way they work is so similar. I may need to figure out something else to make that work though. When you say it that way it doesn't make much sense.

(-.-)

Don't forget that darkness doesn't always mean that something is bad or evil. The way it seems to me is that Light uses energy from their environment and when they are finished with the energy what is remaining returns to where they got it, and because it is energy that is being used, some of it would have had to have been used and not be able to get back and returned. So Light is essentially taking energy willingly and Dark is taking energy without consent. (sorry if that sounds confusing my grammar is bad)

@Your-Humerus

I use chaos and order magic as like the "good and bad" while balance is the most powerful which is able to manipulate the equality of something or increasing someone's luck and of course time because hour glass and that shiz.

@@SlightlyZazzedPanda

My version of magic, Wielding, has branches according to the Pillars of Life (a.k.a my version of gods). So, Ghandrini, who is the Pillar of Air, can be 'connected with' to let the person Wielding manipulate air. Overall, I have Ghandrini (Air), Anwar (Earth), Meliandre (Time), Sha-Ulan (Mind), Aëkanon (the Vhoorust, which is the driving force behind all Wielding powers), Bolzinon (Fire), Bros (Mankind), Oilialé (Animal), Ca'Faal (Water), Khast (Soul), Olesya (Energy), and Agogon (who was the Pillar of Order but is now the Dhun'Deiar, or Chaos Lord, and the prime antagonist of the novel). Time and Mind are inaccessible to all except two Wielders.
Is this good and original, or too complicated? It makes sense in my head, but I don't know if it would to you. Please share your thoughts :)))

@@SlightlyZazzedPanda

I use chaos and order magic as like the "good and bad" while balance is the most powerful which is able to manipulate the equality of something or increasing someone's luck and of course time because hour glass and that shiz.

I like the idea of balance @Your-Humerus–very interesting.