Let's discuss about your novel's magic system

[sorin_gran]

My story, "Invade the Verse" utilizes two completely different magic systems.

One is hard (Auraspheric Arts) and the other is soft-hard (the Verse).

I'd love to hear about other people's magic systems in here. Though I encourage you not to give away too much if the comprehension of the magic system is tied to your story. Both my magic systems have strong ties to my story so I try not to leak too much.

Invade the Verse | Tapas

[HippieGhost]

The Aphuanian magic system is rooted very heavily in real-life occult philosophy, with callbacks to Alchemy and practices surrounding it, as well as several references to the work of Henry Cornelius Agrippa. It is a three-fold world with a variety of gods and goddesses that Aphuanians can devote themselves to in exchange for power. Most Aphuanians devote themselves to one of seven spirit-gods for access to powerful magic associated with the four alchemical elements, or with Light or Darkness. These Aphuanians make up the majority of witches in Aphing because it's a form of magic that is easily accessible, but those that devote themselves to older dieties and delve deeply into the occult find far greater powers that a subtler in nature.

You can check out my work below. I'm currently adding an appendix to the series which will go into magic in a more in-depth manner.

The Aphuanian Tales | Tapas

[cherrystark]

The magic system in my world has two parts. The first part relates to the artifact. The artifact acquires abilities from its original user but the ability has a downside. Like a perfume that makes you "lucky in love", can also make certain users incredibly jealous and protective of their lovers. Or an artifact that grants increased fertility, would also cause female users to become pregnant if the conditions are met.

The other part involves people. Artifacts can magnify a person's natural ability and give them superpowers. One character naturally healed faster than average but an artifact gave him permanent superhealing. It's fun to explore.

The Museum | Tapas

[Kaydreamer]

Blue Star Rebellion shares the same magic system as its parent story, Dragonfeathers, so I'll talk a little about that!

The Dragonfeathers magic system is an elemental system which draws power from a source called the 'Leystream'. The Leystream is... everything. A cosmic ocean of flowing energy which coalesces together to make atoms, which make rocks, and trees, and stars, and people. Some people are in tune with it to the extent that they can manipulate it. Such people are called mages. The form the Leystream will take when channelled through a mage represents a particular element related to that mage. The place in which one is born plays a major part, as does lineage. Personality and the nature of one's spirit also impacts what element a mage will manifest.

There's also runeology, a magic-based science which uses elemental runes, connected via various formulas, to channel the magic of the Leystream into different forms. Runeology can make a city float, or allow a spaceship to break the speed of light. It also makes the trains run, and powers the lights in peoples homes. For everything we used science to achieve, a highly magical civilisation likely used runeology instead.

The Leystream springs forth from a single point in the centre of the cosmos called the Leyspring. This place is guarded by beings called Keepers, ancient and immortal.

There is a counter-force to the Leystream. If the Leystream is everything, are there places where it has shrivelled and died? Where it no longer flows, leaving behind just a soulless scar of what once was? There is, and this force is called 'Scrios'. Scrios is born from the atrophied soul of a person who has become malignant to the Leystream. Who harms it through harming others, and who, through their own self-absorption, has severed their connection to the cosmos. When this reaches a critical mass, Scrios bursts forth and begins to consume the Leystream. It does so in many ways. Sometimes it will take monstrous forms and attack. Other times, it is a slowly encroaching wound, which consumes plant, air, animal, and mineral, leaving the husk of a landscape in its wake. Substance-less atoms, the shells of which are there, but don't truly exist.

There are 12 elements in Dragonfeathers, but I won't spoil all of them just yet! Most (but not all) will pop up in Blue Star Rebellion, and for the rest... you'll just have to wait for Dragonfeathers to begin.

Blue Star Rebellion | Tapas

[cyborgmermaid]

My magic system is based on 7 elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Aether, Life, and Death. Some races of otherkin have better mastery over certain elements. The seven most powerful otherkin are called Virtuos and they play a very important role but I can't get into it now. Magic is easier to use on Gaea but some trace amounts still exist on Terra. Otherkin on Terra can use special stones to help boost their abilities.

Stargazer | Tapas

[DasIstWunderblyat]

In my series the exact term "Magic" only applies to human. In the planet where the series takes place, the magic abilities is divided in a system called "partition." It is rooted in racial origin of each ethno-racial group.
For familiarity, it is similar with benders in the first avatar; however their abilities are not elemental-based.

There are some classification of abilities:

• Interior: takes effect only within the user's self.
• Exterior: takes effect only outside the user's self.
• Passive: ability that is innately always "switched on," denying the need of consciously activating it.
• Command: ability that can only be activated indirectly by using a specialized command or meeting a certain conditions.
• Direct: ability that can only be directly activated.

Do not have magical ability? Muggles innately have varying degrees of selective immunities to magic: harmful magic harm will get reduced, while beneficial one will be boosted.

What about earth humans? Same, but they do not have partition system. Meaning you can have similar power regardless of your racial origin.

What about creatures other than humans? They might have abilities that is tied to supernatural properties of their species. It is treated differently with human magic.

Magical ability is discussed a little in this chapter: https://tapas.io/episode/1976744

Karana | Tapas

[BlunderingAlbatross]

There are three kinds of magic in my novel and all of them essentially draw on the currents of power and fate that sit below reality, known as The Skein, all using the human body as the end conduit, but each of them different in how the magic is acquired.

• Thaumaturgy: Traditional wizard-types but structured like a modern university in terms of teaching, who learn their magic through rigorous academic study, applying the established knowledge of their predecessors, and only creating new techniques through careful experimentation and peer review. Mostly built around the direct shaping and manipulation of matter and energy (bolts, blasts, barriers, and telekinesis/portation).

• Divine: By binding themselves to a deity the practitioner has access to magic without the same effort that a Thaumaturgist needs, but is limited to powers that reflect the aspect of that god. E.g. a priest of the god of the sky can control the wind.

• Seith: Commonly known as witch's magic. This is the least powerful of the magics but the most free, unbound by the restrictions of gods or institutions. Nevertheless it is still very useful, helping in the healing of people and animals, the communing of spirits, weather prediction, and the growing and protection of crops. It's because of this that witches are still held in high regard in the rural communities they serve, even if Thaumaturgists tend to look down on them a little.

There's a lot more to each of these but this is the gist of it

The End of All Things | Tapas

[KhanSpring]

In my novel, witches and magicians are descendants of magical being such as samodivas, villas, rusalki, etc. Some people, born on a Saturday can use magic too, but their powers are limited. Witches are separated into three types and are more powerful than magicians.

The three types are - blood witch, mirror witch and witches of sense. The blood witches are the first, fourth, seventh daughter and so on, the mirror ones are second, fifth, eight and so on, while the sense - third, sixth, ninth and so on. Blood witches are the most powerful, mirror witches are the most gifted, while sense ones are the most dangerous.
* A witch of sense has the ability to free people of curses, to read and control one's mind, control earth and wind, to see people's past, take away their pain, etc.
* A mirror witch is gifted with seeing curses put on people, healing, potion-making, controlling earth and water. They can bless people with fortune and good luck, make one fall in love with them, but also create powerful poisons.
* A blood witch main task is to protect the family - she can sense when a person from the bloodline is in danger. They can curse people, read one's blood, control fire and earth. They can also freely communicate with the spirits of dead relatives.

Magicians, for the most part, are based on Bayan Magesnic(a Bulgarian mythical figure) and Koschei the Deathless. Koschei is one of the most prominent figures in Russian fairy tales, with his role always being antagonistic. Magicians are the ones who came up with the way to be "immortal".

However, this is in Suntolia, Karet and Volniya, which are the three main states where the story takes place, and even between them, there are some differences. Other nations/countries/cultures have magic systems on their own, with similarities between closer ones.

Dennica (Daystar) | Tapas

[ariffazaad]

In my series, you will find Exorcist, humans who have unlocked their sixth sense and uses their powers to battle against Demons that threaten the supernatural balance of the world.

These are the magic terms that I've introduced so far:

The Art of Spiritual Concentration
The ability to channel the spiritual force within to different or all parts of the body or to foreign objects.

The Art of Soul Detection
The ability to feel and concentrate on a Soul’s Sense.

The Art of Energy Formation
The ability to create solid energy constructions from the spiritual force within.

The Art of Magical Conjuration
The ability to create and cast mystical spells and abilities from the spiritual force within.

The Art of Divine Regeneration
The ability to convert spiritual force into healing energy.

The Art of Seal Origination
The creation of seals for containment, safeguarding, tethering and magical conjuration.

The Art of Object Spiritualisation
The spiritualisation of tools and weapons with various magical abilities using seals.

Demon Sealing
The entrapping and containment of Demons into weapons using seals.

Demon Blade | Tapas

[shfra13]

Not sure if the "magic" in my novel is considered a magic system sincei it's kind of cult-ish... but anyways.

The main source of power in my novel is from a Goddess' power, thus not a lot of people can access it. The ones that can easily access Goddess' power are Four Heaven Families--which are four bloodline that are directly blessed by the Goddess, with a share of Her power in form of swords and jewelries--and the Queen, who are chosen directly by Goddess through prophecies. Also, a special group of Oracle who sacrificed themselves to be able to connect directly with Goddess. Even then, not a lot of people actually learn and practice magic.

A dose of Goddess' power can be lethal to normal human, especially ones with impure goal. Normal humans that want to learn magic can apply to see if they are capable to receive the power before actually learning how to utilize them. Those who finish their study will have certifications that are evaluated periodically and can be revoked any time. The magic itself can be used for healing, mediating, building, and other things.

Aside from the Goddess, there are also some ways to gain power, though.

[braincell4rent]

My "magic" is quite simple, really. It´s just like: You criticize a story, then you´re condemned to reincarnate into it as a secondary character destined to die

No questions asked. It´s quite fun (not for my MC but well, we cannot have everything in life)

How to survive the worst novel ever written | Tapas

[surenlicious]

In Jade Kingdoms the three ruling prowess those with life can tap into are; the Sentient Mind, the Living Flesh and the Decaying Bones. These are the leftovers of the forces left to them by the Genesis Trinity, whom once shaped the universe anew.

The Sentient Mind often appears in the form of pathokinesis (emotional manipulation), memory branding, thought imprints and time splinters. This power is a natural force people from the Vritra species are born with. Within a Vritra's mind this power can go haywire creating a counter curse known as the Jade Construct, a atemporal field of time at risk of leaking into the world. It is a toned-down version of what the Primordial Dragon Vritra used to shape the Sentient Mind with.

The Living Flesh is actually an ailment that the more one taps into, the more your body will morph into an abomination with mutations and grotesque appearances. Though it allows people to cast illusions those with physical forms can be deceived by, the Living Flesh demands the body to keep on changing and morphing. Those of the Garuda species are born with this ailment, and it causes them to have difficulties with death. It was left and broken by Garuda the Inorganic, who made a fatal mistake thinking life could last without him, which made him cut ties curently to the Living Flesh making it spiral out of control.

The Decaying Bones are the remains of the once hoarded power by the legendary Distance Prime, the void that saw the rise and fall of 6 universes. When it offered its Bones (the planet) for the lifeforms to live on, it actually began eroding the planet's lifeforce causing decay all over the place. When the Distance was taken by its caretakers and sealed within the body of the High Blood Priestess, she still wouldn't let the planet recover by ensuring the Lifeblood would be trapped forever, causing the Decaying Bones to bring erosion and ruin to all that walk its surface. Those tapping into the Decaying Bones, discard their life and form, and become one with the army of the High Blood Priestess, the Distant Horde.

Jade Kingdoms | Tapas

[sorin_gran]

Fascinating! So your spirit gods act as a medium between the user and the magic they can wield. My soft-hard magic system the Verse works in a similar way. By the way, what kind of magic can the power of light and darkness do? Realistically, light and darkness are two sides of the same coin and are not really tangible. Does light work similarly to divine/holy magic and darkness works similarly to curse/shadow magic?

[sorin_gran]

Ah, so artifacts can work as a double edged sword which blesses them in one aspect but curses them in another. My semi-hard magic system the Verse has a similar double-edged sword vibe to it as well since its power demands the user to fulfill its wishes.

I guess the other parts involve people having natural passive abilities that can be further enhanced through an artifact? Interesting. I wonder if they artifacts are given out RNG style like a looter-shooter game or if there is a book that denotes the location of prized artifacts that people want to get their hands on.

In any case, fascinating information! I hope you can utilize your system to its fullest potential!

[cherrystark]

I took the simple approach for locating artifacts. The supercomputer sends them a message that tells the team "Go Here." so to speak.

It's interesting work with in the series because I have no idea where each story will end up. Some stories don't have a happy ending. Sometimes someone dies and that ends things. Other stories, I get to explore human nature. One villian associated beauty/youth with power, so where'd she go to collect her beauty/youth - a private school filled with teenagers. Another story approaches an angle to hero-worship. It's fun to explore.

[sorin_gran]

So your system is inherited from its parent. Must mean you have a lot of faith in that system or it belongs in the same universe hahaha.

Mine is a more restricted version of its parent. So we have that in common. The fact that both our stories have a parent.

Leystream, sounds similar to leylines in other works. Does it work the exact same way or are there any noticeable differences that you'd like to point out?

I see that runeology is runes properly doing its job. Symbolic magic that can perform scientifically complicated things. And can be utilized like a technological contraption which is self-sufficient as it does not require additional energy components. (wireless charging haha) Probably getting its battery charged by the leystream itself.

Ooh, so there is an oasis where all the leystream energy is produced. And its guarded my ancient immortal beings called keepers. Are they sentient or robotic?

So there is also a counter force that corrupts the leystream that was born from rebellious souls that refuse to become part of the leystream. Interesting, so I suppose human souls are brought to become part of the leystream once they pass away and they still have a will. I'm enjoying this. You call this corrupted energy Scrios, etymologised from the old Irish and Scottish terms for destruction. Very appropriate.

And damn! that's alot of elements! You seem to be having fun! haha. I hope you can use your magic system to its fullest potential. Good luck!

[sorin_gran]

Ah, cool cool. Sounds like your book is a whole anthology of stories not fixed to a single character. Let me know if I'm wrong haha.

[cherrystark]

You're right! The stories follow a central cast going on a bunch of different adventures. The anthology method worked best since I had too many story ideas and not enough plot in each story to flesh out the character development I wanted.

[sorin_gran]

4 of those elements are quite universally used for good reason! I loved Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Life and Death. Curiously, if I consider Newton's third law of motion. "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". Wouldn't the creation of life result in a depletion of life to another? Or maybe life and death does not qualify as motion hahaha.

Aether is the one I'm most curious about. How do you interpret Aether? So many stories interpret Aether differently, So i'd love to hear your take.

Anyways, thank you so much for participating in this discussion. I hope that you can utilize your system to its fullest potential. Best of luck!

[sorin_gran]

Nice, I also want to make an anthology series of my own in the future! It really is the best way to compile a collection of amazing stories!