Ellen
So, I have the beginning of this fantasy world in my head, but to put it down on paper, I just realized that I need to hammer out the fundamental magical rules of said world. Here's a brief overview of what I have; I want to know if there are any gaping holes or improbabilities. Thanks!
- Warlock/Mage: Magic comes from a "Higher Power"
- Necromancer: Power comes from "dark gods;" is usually found in dark cults; has the ability to:
1) Raise the dead in the forms of ghosts, skeletons, or zombies
2) Commune with and summon spirits to do their bidding
3) Cast "death palls" onto people– curses that make death more likely, depending on the power of the caster
– Referred to as necromancers, black mages, (incorrectly) dark wizards - Prophet/Cleric: Power comes from a single, usually benevolent "god;" is usually found in monotheistic religious sects; has the ability to:
1) Fix wounds and cure sicknesses
2) Purify things, in a literal sense (water and food) and is a metaphorical sense (places of great evil)
– Referred to as prophets, clerics, paladins, healers, mediums
3) Counteract the effects of a necromancer's power - Shaman: Power comes from "spirits of ancestors;" is usually found in small tribes and close-knit social groups; has the ability to:
1) Commune with the spirits of the dead
2) Heal sicknesses (but not wounds)
3) Predict weather events, and in some cases, actually, summon or counteract them
– Referred to as Shamans, (incorrectly) "desert druids" - Elementalists: Power comes from "the elements;" common everywhere; has the ability to:
1) Control certain aspects of the natural world. There are six types: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Mind, Body
2) Depending on the type, summon either certain weather events (Earthquakes/volcanic eruptions, tornados, storms) or inflict damage (mental break, broken bones, etc…)
3) Can also counteract/heal the same events/damage
– Referred to as (Earth)(Air)(Fire)(Water)(Mind)(Body) Mages
- Necromancer: Power comes from "dark gods;" is usually found in dark cults; has the ability to:
- Sorcerer/Sorceress: Magic comes from Within (they're born that way)
- Enchantress: Power comes from an internal source of magic energy; pretty rare, usually found in king's courts or working for powerful companies; has the ability to:
1) Cast "charms" and illusions on people. Charms include luck, courage, intelligence, insightfulness, grace, etc…
2) Counteract the effects of a necromancer
3) See auras - Bard: Power comes from within/the way in which music is played; common, usually found in taverns (they often travel); has the ability to:
1) Weave illusions to go along with songs
2) Inspire extreme emotion with music (in fact, some have been known to use music to enslave people to do their bidding, but those are just stories… right?)
3) Restore people's spirits (but not their physical health) - Druid: Strength in drawn from nature, but comes from inside the caster; usually found in small forest sects; has the ability to:
1) Accelerate the growth of plants (or the healing of a person)
2) Commune with nature, animals in particular (some druids have "spirit animals," which are beings like familiars that accompany them into battle. Some also say that the druid can take the form of their spirit animal)
3) Create incredibly powerful magic "wards" that draw power from their natural surroundings to prevent trespassers from violating natural sanctuaries.
- Enchantress: Power comes from an internal source of magic energy; pretty rare, usually found in king's courts or working for powerful companies; has the ability to:
- Wizard/Witch: Magic comes from Books and Learning/Magical Objects
- Alchemist: Magic comes from a combination of science and wizardry; can be found in apothecaries in larger cities; has the ability to:
1) Add magical properties to regular potions/tonics (example: aphrodisiac –> love potion)
2) Add magical properties to objects and simple machines (example: quiver that never runs out of arrows)(example: broom that sweeps itself) - Witchdoctor: Magic comes from symbolism (sympathetic magic); usually found in remote locations, often specific to one group of indigenous people (can be compared to a shaman); has the ability to:
1) Enchant objects to be symbolic of one person (basically a voodoo doll)
2) Create incredibly strong potions (like an alchemist, but with less science involved) - Seer: "Power" comes from magical drugs; usually found in the court of a king or peddling fortunes on the street; has the ability to:
1) See the future thanks to a combination of potent magical drugs
– Theoretically, seers could be classified as Sorcerers, because the drugs are supposed to enhance a NATURAL ability to see the future, however many seers, both high and low lack the real ability and are simply actors who can tell people what they want to hear. Because of this rarity of ability combined with a relicance on drugs, they are classified as Wizards.
- Alchemist: Magic comes from a combination of science and wizardry; can be found in apothecaries in larger cities; has the ability to:
