forum General Talk About Magic

Started March 22, 2018 by @ImNotCrazyImAFangirl

tune

Just if you need any sort of advice for magic, or maybe you want to throw ideas back and forth. Or maybe you just really love magic and talking about magic :)

Ooh I'd like to talk about magic. So I have this universe, and it's got two separate types of magic. The first one is word magic, which basically anyone can learn but not many do because it's pretty hard to master. Basically it's like in Eragon, like, where you say something in a language and it shapes reality. The only thing is that it's only for spells or pacts.

The second type of magic is when people are born with magic in their blood. They can, like, imagine stuff and it happens, but it only kicks in when you're really in danger and you do it on instinct. After you use it for the first time, you can use it whenever.

So yeah.

Whoah, that’s really cool!

Oh that sounds amazing

In my book you have to be born with the ability to use magic- humans can't learn how to use it.

The magic you can use is also based on what 'color' or type of magic you're born with- for example, green magic users can use earth and healing magic, and blue magic users can use water and ice magic (though there's more types of magic that those two can use). Most magic users (they're called "Casters" in my book) specialize in one form of magic, but can still learn others.

Elemental magic is specific to color, but there are spells that all Casters can use, and these are usually taught to Casters at a young age before they choose what they want to specialize in.

They can use magic as weapons, but they also have to enchant their metal weapons AGAINST magic, so that metal magic users can't use their own weapons against them in battle.

Also, Casters don't make their own magic- the earth actually creates magic, and kind of deposits it on the surface for Casters to use.

That's a lot, and it's probably confusing, but that's sort of how magic in my universe works.

That’s also pretty cool! I happened to be reading the Red Queen series when I created my world, so my magic is heavily influenced by that.
It’s a thing you’re born with, and higher families have more powerful abilities. Families can have correlating skills, or completely different. They range from everything to anything, which basically means I was too lazy to make rules and specifics for it, so it’s whatever I can come up with.
For example, my main character is an illusionist. Her twin sister can make any drawing (or illusion!) come to life. And a mind link. I think.
I imagine there’s someone who can turn off emotions, or maybe someone who can kill with a touch. Maybe a little boy who likes to play in the clouds, or an old lady who tells the children amazing stories with her ability project her thoughts. Or maybe a teenager in the outskirts of the kingdom who can read minds and uses it to tell their best friend exactly what their crush thinks of them :)

That's nice! (And I love the Red Queen series!) My book tends to take inspiration from the Mortal Instruments series, and the Percy Jackson series if I'm being completely honest- though in another book I'm writing (I'm currently writing two) the characters have abilities (not necessarily magic) and I seem to have taken a little inspiration from the X-men comics and the Red Queen series while writing it!

I think most writers tend to do this while writing- even without knowing it! (Especially without knowing it!)

Definitely, lmao! Red Queen inspired the story on a whole, and then entire time I was planning, I was like “dontmakeitfanfictiomorredqueendontmakeitfanfictionofredqueen-“

Literally me. XD

@ImNotCrazyImAFangirl I like the sound of your idea! By it being limitless, what do you mean? Can people have magic that grants them immortality, or limitless magics?

Where did I say that.? Am I missing something? Sorry, it’s just been so long since this very-short chain was alive

'They range from everything to anything.'
Or did I interpret it wrong?

Yeah, I think what I meant was the powers could be anything. Like from your typical flight or super-strength to perfect memory.

I have a world that has 4 classes of magic: basic, wizard, clan, and throne.
Basic is something you're born with usually, but almost anyone can eventually learn it. It's just weak telekinesis and such- they can make sticks levitate, they can make clothes become clean, and so on. Simple tasks.
Wizard is a bit stronger- the only way to use it is to be born with it. They use elemental magic, as well as a little bit of teleportation, and things like that.
Clan is above that in strength. There are 2 clans that you must be born into: light magic, and shadow magic. They do-what all light and shadow magic does, but they also have access to the Portal Realm, which is basically a world on a giant cloud, filled with portals to other realities. It, itself, is between all of them.
Throne magic is far above the rest, because the few people that can use it have amplified versions of all of the other powers. The way the users of this magic are chosen is by a "magical bloodline" which basically chooses an heir from any reality that fits the personality type, inner strength, and natural connection to magic.

Ooo nice

I have a magic system that's got two forms of magic. One is based on Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the other side is kind of like animus magic from Wings of Fire (but less soul damaging!).
My main character is a Half-Dragon, and he has the ability to train and refine his Bending, but because his mother is human, he can't use magic and enchantments that full dragons and sorcerers can use. My whole deal is that Bending can be taught, it just takes far more work based on heredity and such. My character can't move quantity like his father (i.e. moving a mountain so that the sun can reach his wife's garden), but he can get the job done on a regular basis.
Because Bending can be taught, humans can learn it too, but it would take a lifetime to get past lifting rocks and actually shaping them. It took my character around 50 years to get where he is, and in dragon years that's about 16 years.

I have a magic system were, if you want to use magic, you need to make a deal with these creatures generally referred to as spirits which can be persuaded to reveal themselves through rituals. But nothing is ever for free and the price is dependent on the whim of the spirit you're dealing with.
The thing is that, although there are large groups aware of the existence of magic, few actually understand how it works and many who try it get frustrated because it doesn't work, not realizing they need to make a deal with a spirit

Also, Yamatsu, does your character age like a human or a dragon? I'm curious

He ages like… uh… it's complicated. I took the idea of maturing quickly and living longer like turtles, but he has years of experience under his belt. It's like having a 17-year-old with knowledge of events that happened decades ago, but he's got that immaturity like "Oh yeah! I remember that old restaurant, I went there every Wednesday!" "Dude, that building's been defunct for 10 years, and the restaurant closed 5 years before that." "Really? I must not have been paying attention."

I also want his mother to stick around for at least 1 book, so copulating with dragons provides many unseen benefits. No one's ever really set out to try/document it (because they're COWARDS!), which is why Half-Dragons are exceedingly rare.

Oh that kind of stuff is hilarious. Shenanigans with old people trying to be sage-y and him having the right to be like "In your time? HA! in my time…."

I'm writing a story with a half immortal that ages kind of like that. Except it's a bit of a darker story, so I can't really put that kind of humor to good use.

Also @m.W.Poel I really like your magic system that's cool

@Feathered Tadpole, thanks I always do my best to make it logical why magic is or isn't used by people.

That's a good way to do it. I always try to have the magic itself make sense- how and why it works, etc.