forum Magic Building and where to Start

Started March 27, 2018 by Dead DJ

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Magic is a concept most new writers have trouble getting the grip of.

There are three main rules of magic you have to follow:

1. There has to be a source
2. It must have limits
3. Magic is energy

Let's look at point 1-

All magic has a source, whether that be from a wand; rune; stone; or otherwise. Magic doesn't come from nowhere otherwise it'd be something everyone can access without any form of power, skill, or talent.

For example, you could have the character carry a magical stone around with them. The stone gives them power and without it on their person, they have no magical abilities.

Magic doesn't always come from an object, it can come from the spirit in form of mediation. This way the people are able to access it at any given time if they wish.

Another option is to have a 'main source' like a magic stone that gives everyone in a certain proximity magical talents. The stone is able to generate mana and grant the ability onto anyone.

Point 2 next-

All magic has limits, all of it. If there were no limits to magic, anyone who had magic would be considered a god. This is not the case when creating good magic.

Limits can be anything, from limits in what spells are allowed to how much energy someone has. If anyone can access magic, you might want to use a limit on energy or what they can do with magic.

If only a few people have access to magic you might want to consider restricting their limits to a certain 'genre' of magic. For example, someone who can manipulate liquid, they can manipulate anything made of water or is liquid based. Their limits include only being able to do this with certain liquids of certain consistencies and only being able to manipulate, not create.

If your characters have to use a magical object, usage might be a good idea as limitation. You can only use the object a certain amount of times or it needs time to charge, like a Pokemon after battle.

Onto point 3-

Magic is an energy, it will either be used up or have limits on what it can achieve. It's really based on how you want magic to work in your universe. I'll give you a few brief examples:

Someone who uses magic from an object- Life, the life of the object is how much you can use it before it gets tired

Someone who uses a rune- Power, might depend on the person or the spell.

Someone who uses 'mediation' or 'soul' magic- Stamina, the amount of magic that person can use is based on their stamina. For example if the person gets worn out quickly then so would their magic.

A few examples of good magic use.

Harry Potter-
J.K. Rowling has made an amazing series of stories based on a boy learning magic. The whole series is centered around magic and magic users. The limitation on their magic is magical ability, laws and what is logically possible by magic.
They cannot raise the dead with magic, nor can they create artificial life for example.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Although this is an anime, the use of magic or 'alchemy' is really in depth. It's too hard to explain in detail but basically their magic works by Understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing. They use runes to do this, and the runes can be applied to anything.
To explain the limitations of their magic would be to spoil the show. So you should watch it.

Q&A
Ask questions and I will answer them :D

This kind of reminds me of Sandersons laws of magic

This is a really good break down of magic! But I always felt like Harry Potter is a poor example of how to work magic. Most of what pops up is just an ex machina situation, and magics are constantly dropped throughout the plot, making a system that feels inefficient and only there for the story, like it never existed prior to Harry's adventures in Hogwarts.
I also have a question! Like you said, magic is an energy, and many works base the prowess of spells and abilities on a mages/witch's magical energy. It's a limitation, along with their magical knowledge in general, but are there any other systems of limitations? Like, the equivalency of FMA is very unique. Do you have any other suggestions?

This is REALLY helpful, although I'm not sure I understand "Soul" or "Meditation" magic, but this post has really helped me.

I thought that the Inheritence Cycle (the Eragon series) had a well thought out magic system.

@Syguy20132 I am unaware of the Inheritance cycle magic, I've read only half of the first book. But I do know that the books series are really good so I don't doubt it

@Snowmirror Limitations have their own limitations. Types of spells, access to spells, knowledge or even memory are some good ones. Another limitation could be that which is similar to DnD, which is how many spells a person can actually have based on their ability

@AmericasFavoriteFightingFrenchGirl_LAFFETTE! Elemental powers can easily be explained with ability or even the surroundings. A good example of this is Avatar: The Last Airbender

@Jazz Milsom Soul and Meditation magic basically means the core energy of a person, the source of their power comes from them. Meditation just means they need to meditate to unlock it. Much like Chii in kung-fu panda

For the fantasy story that I'm co-writing with a friend of mine, we have our dark magic powered by blood and/or a body part (as a sacrifice). Cliche; perhaps, but it works! Our light magic draws power from life around the spell caster…. Not sure on the light magic power scource, so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!