Hi! Welcome to my writing tips! I plan on posting every Sunday about various literary topics or hurdles and then trying to find some useful tips regarding the particular topic. You can also add your own experiences and tips or ask questions. Hopefully, this will result in a nice little writers' club. :)

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Magic systems - This topic is probably one for all you fellow magic lovers out there. ;) Now, in this post, I am not going to talk about the different magic types or tropes. After all, I bet most of you have already read about them countless times. Instead, I would like to talk about what I've seen work the best and what I personally would recommend for the creation of any new magic system. Obviously, you might have your own preferences, so I hope I'll get to read what you guys like and are using as well. :)

The pre-defined spells - One interesting trope to play around with is the existence of a pre-defined list of spells. These spells are known, taught, and practised by all mages, and there is simply no limitation to how many you can learn or use. Because of this, every obstacle the wizards have to face, or every fight they have to take part in, will be decided by how creatively they can work with these balanced rules. I really like this idea because it reminds me of chess. There are no hidden tricks up anyone's sleeve. Wizards will always fight using the same spells and non-wizards know which spells these are. Based on this, victory in any battle can be decided by tactic and planning, rather than a simple clash of strength. In scenarios not related to battles, these spells are still viable as well, of course, and so whether or not the wizards succeed in their endeavours depends a lot on how well they can think with their repertoire of spells. Or, on the other hand, those going against the wizard have to think about the limitations of such spells in order to get the upper hand. Although such a system might be difficult to use, creating it is quite simple, as all it needs is the creation of several spells and methods to cast them, which stay unchanged throughout the story.

Spell-less systems - Now, let's have a look at the complete opposite. In this system, magic does not exist in the form of individual spells, but rather in the form of a set of building blocks. What becomes of them is highly dependent on the person. These systems can be incredibly tricky to write but offer immense creativity. Here, the characters have access to some form of magic, which they can then mould, shape, and use how they see fit. The best example of this is probably Nen from HunterXhunter. Although there are techniques that are reminiscent of spells, replicating the abilities of another person is immensely difficult as different people will have different capabilities and ideas about using their powers. However, the basis is always the same. The character starts off with a pool of power and what they make out of it and how they use it is anyone's guess. Here, the conflict can be even more intense, because one side never knows how many secrets the opponent might be hiding. At the same time, it also means that magic can be used for almost any activity. A wizard doesn't have to cast fireballs into obviously-flammable structures. They can use them to help in their daily profession or to help them with tasks around the house. With this system, I would say that sky is the limit, which, however, is a bit of a double-edged sword. A writer who always has their head full of new ideas will easily transform this into a wonderful part of their world, but those who are less creative in this field might struggle with this particular system.

Undiscovered system - This is something I rarely see and it is honestly such a shame. When we read a fantasy story with a hard magic system, usually, the rules of the magic are already set in stone, in accordance with the system's definition. However, I rarely see stories where the magic system might be hard, with specific rules, but the people do not know them yet. After all, if magic would be like science, its secrets might still be waiting to be discovered. Such a system can work very well with writers who do not know which direction their story is going to take. Like this, it is possible for the characters to learn about magic gradually and for the system to grow slowly along with the writer's tastes and ideas. On the other hand, such a system is very prone to deus ex machina, where new discoveries in the field of magic might be made simply to nudge the story in the desired direction. Therefore, I would suggest thinking about such systems very carefully and observing if the discoveries the characters make actually seem logical.

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Now, I could talk about magic for hours. Honestly, this topic is so expansive that it would take me weeks just to mention all the other possible systems, but I suppose these three will suffice for now. :) Obviously, they aren't the only ones, not by a long shot, and you might even come up with something completely new and unique yourself. For this reason, I hope you fantasy writers will not hesitate to share the magic systems you have written and what made you choose them. ;)

Additionally, if you have a topic you'd like to see appear in the next week's post, please, toss it in here. It would make things MUCH easier for me ^^;

Thank you all for your attention, and best of luck with your stories. ;)

How about a combination of all three? 

A spell system made out of building blocks that has been used to build some pre-defined spells by old wizards, and an MC trying to learn magic by figuring out pre-defined spells first and then how those building blocks work together... 

Just a thought... 

M.D.Syl Wrote: How about a combination of all three? 

A spell system made out of building blocks that has been used to build some pre-defined spells by old wizards, and an MC trying to learn magic by figuring out pre-defined spells first and then how those building blocks work together... 

Just a thought...

Sure, why not. Although I do feel like the first two systems mentioned would partially disrupt one another, I don't see a reason why they couldn't be combined and done well by a skilled writer. :)

HorribleWriter Wrote: Sure, why not. Although I do feel like the first two systems mentioned would partially disrupt one another, I don't see a reason why they couldn't be combined and done well by a skilled writer. :)

Let's hope I'm skilled enough for that... ;)

My favourite topic that often isn't fleshed out enough. The magic system in place.

For me, I've planned (and is still implementing) to have a magic system that's all three. Descent's magic system is a perception based system (to a fault) where it relies heavily on the Elementalist's perception to use their inborn power appropriately. Some use chants to get a power boost, while some can immediately use the same amount of energy to use said power without a spell. At the end of the day, the end justifies the means for the task at hand, and there's no set way to do it apart from the imagination and creativity of the Elementalist.

As for Undiscovered systems, the pair of twins coughing out their lungs after using it.

Yeah I agree that Undiscovered Magic Systems are quite rare, such that I actually wrote a story around the idea that magic and just recently been introduced to the world because it felt like a novel approach.  So many fantasy settings magic is a deeply established and understood system, which makes sense for a story that won't be really long.  But long form stories can really take advantage of a system where there are no teachers or masters, so you can show growth of people and the world.

My story Shift actually has both a spell-less system type and an undiscovered system type, not strictly magic.  But much like the other story I wrote, I wanted not have masters, I wanted people to teach themselves and have unique growth as a result.  But it is a balancing act, because someone might be talented in problem solving the system and get a jump ahead of others.

Though I'd like to also offer companion types that are common ones that provide more definition.  External or environmental magic system versus an internal magic system.  Depending on the type of story being told there are different leanings with each.  Internal magic system, where spells are given energy from the magic within the person tend to be good for more character focused or growth sorts of stories, because it's all tied to the individual.  The growth can be more readily display by the ability to channel more or use more spells before tiring out.

External systems can do it similarly, but it ends up relying more on ambient magic presence as well as someone ability to draw upon it.  The external can fall into lazy traps where magic is just uniform across the world, which doesn't really take much advantage of such a system.  An external system its more world building focus because done right, there's leylines, magic points of confluence, thin spots and these all have history and causes.  Things that let the story dig into that sort of narrative, if the world is more of a focus rather than character progression.

One other that's becoming more popular these days is the sciencification of magic.  It's presented like magic, but it's technology that allows it to happen.  I don't see it a ton, but it pops up in urban fantasies and contemporary or near future settings.  When done with the added pseudo-science behind it, as a more technical focused story it can be a strong approach to be novel.

Probably would depend on the presentation or application.  Railgun from Index is an Esper and uses electromagnetism, but since the world also has a magic system it ends up not being seen as magic.  Though I think reasonably if you put her in another setting, her use of electricity would be easily seen as magic instead.  Electromagnetism does tend to get to the more physics and science side of things, but more grounded fantasy settings that try to also utilize the physics of what magic is doing will use magic in more creative ways.  Goblin Slayer is a good example of that.  So if the writer has lightning magic and then channels in such a way making electromagnetism doesn't seem unreasonable.

I see, that's certainly a different perspective.  I guess an argument could be made for it be that.  Though I guess it would have to depend on how magic's being defined.  Because I don't think it's necessarily a requirement that magic is the glue that makes up the world.  It certainly can be and has been done, but it can also just be an adjacent system operating independently.

What about a combination of all three? I have one particular universe I've been working on for 20+ years (with a lot of different stories in it in different locations/time periods that I've began plotting,) "Kingdom Dawn," that has elements of all of those.

Pre-defined spells: Two of the Five Lesser Arts (sorcery, magery, artistry) work primarily with set spells. There is some flexibility, however, as the aura of a sorcerer or and the reason of a mage can affect how a spell is applied or its results. Also, some spells have been "lost" or were never discovered (due to the secrets behind how magic even exists in the universe) so there are cases of a mage or sorcerer uncovering a new spell, which others can then use if it is taught vs. hoarded. Artistry is even more flexible as it is partially innate as well, working with bio-rythms, and the inspiration and creativity of the artist (E.g. dancer, performer, artist, mime, craftsman) can adapt known spells to specific needs.

Although as a caveat, a sorcerer usually only casts spells in his or her own Pillar which his aura is most attuned to. It's not an "everyone can do any spell" matter. There are some conjoined pillar sorcorers, but it's much harder to learn those cross spells as they tend to only be taught by specific groups for their own members. Magery is much more accessible to the general public, but two people casting the same spell may have differing degrees of control.

Yet because there are only a limited number of spells known, governments and societies know roughly what to expect from those who use these forms of magic and can set rules accordingly. For example, weather control spells are heavily restricted on some planets while actively sought on others.

Spell-less system: Two of the Lesser Arts are primarily spell-less, though common combinations exist with somewhat similar effects. Syllabary (e.g. chanting, rune casting) works from the building blocks of syllables and symbols. Just like with language, there are countless ways these syllables and their multiple potential meanings can be combined. Affinity has specific parameters for each of the habited planets in the universe, but is a primarily innate magic where the caster acts out of their affinity for the planet or some aspect of nature itself. It's more intuitive and experiential than learned. 

Undiscovered System: There are underlying 'secrets' of the various forms of magic in the world that (at least for most of the stories which take place after the fall of Dawn) most of the inhabitants of the worlds don't know about. Hence many spells have been lost to time, but more than that, how each magic system operates and how new spells can be formed was primarily forgotten in a 'Tower of Babel' type situation. Magic isn't truly "magic" in the usual sense of some supernatural force or power, it just might as well be since people can now use it. The rules are being discovered, or rediscovered, over time - often with consequence. (For example, most weather spells are restricted on Kayenne because their experimentation and use led to a perpetual storm developing on one continent.)

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I'm still debating whether I want to post some of my Kingdom Dawn stories on Royal Road or should start with my smaller-scale, mostly written time-travel fiction as that one is closer to being finished. (The latter does have magic as well, mostly of the undiscovered and freeform type as there aren't "set spells" but the users have to uncover the powers and choose how they are used. It's more like superhero magic in that way. The main character also has to figure out the "rules" governing her time-space traveling power as well.)