World Building. What's your magic system?

Manyana 2021-07-20 13:12:36 UTC #1

What is the magic system of your world?
Is magic frowned upon in your world? Is it widespread?
What kinds of species or beings have the ability to use magic?
Which of your characters possesses or has access to magic? What kind of magic do they possess or employ?
Is there anything else special you'd like to say about the magic in your world?

Also, how can an individual gain magic? Are they awakened? How so? Is the magic passed down? What are the qualifications/criteria to be able to "inherit" the magic?

Title: Talipandas
Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy, Slice of Life, Romance
Status: On-going
Description: When spoiled rich girl Ari's life ends, she finds herself reborn as Princess Iris in a fantasy world created by her childhood imaginary friend! But being a princess comes with being the last hope to remove an evil curse from the royal bloodline, which would be a lot easier if she hadn't inherited the most useless kind of magic in the world.
Content Warning: one paragraph of sexual content, mental health issues, and countless profanities.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 52 [Part 1]
Chapter Link: https://tapas.io/episode/2224850

Other sites:
AnyStories: https://m.anystories.app/stories/60dd5281360c030013cacb50/talipandas
Royal Road: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/43395/talipandas
POPINK: https://www.popinkapp.com/novel/200001216
Neovel: https://neoread.neovel.io/book/9168/EN/talipandas

InfinityBeerwizard 2021-07-20 13:23:56 UTC #2

Magic is basically the harnessing of your spiritual energy manifested into physical form. It's tiring to perform depending on the spell and your "level" but with enough patience and practise- there's an almost unlimited amount of things you can do with it (ie: teleportation, summoning, mind control, elemental control- etc). People who use magic are called "wizards" but some prefer to be called "sorcerers", "mages" or other titles lol.
Nah but it's not something everyone wants to partake in either lol
EVERYONE! Some species have it easier (ie: beings MADE of spiritual energy) but essentially everyone who harbours spiritual energy can perform magic
The main character Requiem! He's a blue wizard (medium level- not bad not great). He strives to master all kinds of magic but is currently efficient in healing
Magic starts out colourless at first but takes on a colour once the user has been mentored by a fellow wizard. The colour changes based on how powerful of a wizard you are

I had to take up this oppurtunity to lore dump qkajsd,nf (edited cos missed out 2)

Kuma 2021-07-20 13:31:50 UTC #3

To perform Arcane Sciences you need 3 things.
Possessing Vis (A rough equivalent would be Mana)
Knowing Spell Formulas (Understanding the world and how to bend it)
Having a cut and polished Active Cibus Crystal (Serves a focus and amplifier of Vis)

Vis is passed from parents to children, so only people in the same bloodline can use it. That's why noblemen are noblemen.

Spell Formulas are composed of a lot of information but they manifest in reality through chants, that give purpose, shape, direction, and any other modifications. Each line of chanting consumes Vis, the more lines a chant has the more specialized it can be. You can make a fireball with two chants, but if you want the fireball to explode and scatter smaller ones you need more chants. Plus each chant needs to be inscribed into the Cibus Crystal.

Cibus is a pinkish crystal that serves as a storage and enhancer of Vis, as it bounces inside it. The more faces it has, the higher the enhancement is, but having too many small faces limits what Spell Formulas you can use, as you need to inscribe them into each face. There are simple formulas you can know from memory, but most elemental Arcane Sciences or from other schools need to have inscribed crystals. If the faces are too small you can't carve them into them.

ScarletDemon 2021-07-20 13:38:55 UTC #4

Mainly because of the fact the stories I write at low-fantasy like Harry Potter, where it's our world adjesent, magic is everywhere:
1. I use the DnD method of a magic system where everyone who has magic only has a certain allotment of magical power, certain species of nonhuman have larger allotments, things along those lines and while all species have their own innate magic, everyone whom is in the hidden magical world can learn it. I even go as far as to have the classes, spells and the same school's of magic as DnD for the abilty to keep everything ordered and consistent
2. Magic is everywhere and anywhere if you look in the right places. Hidden magical cities within major human ones, a hidden magical college. Magic is everywhere and is as prevalent in the lives of nonhumans as much as say something like electricity. there are certain magics that are generally looked own upon like types of necromancy or violate the natural order, but there are still exceptions
3. To put it short, everyone...I like to have every possible folklore and mythology creature be represented in my stories. I keep a list from Wikipedia that's every single creature of legend and just select at random or best fitted for the character I am writing
4. It changes with the book, some have more innnate magic whereas there is a magical college that teaches students all sorts of magic, but certain characters are older than the college. As I said, I use DnD as a magic system base, so I often use spells based on DnD ones
5. The magical world is entirely hidden to humans in my worlds, but certain humans are born with the ability to see past all of the illusions, all of the wards and walls, they are called Seers and are usually marked with heterochromia. Usually Seers are brought into the fold of the magical world and as humans have a fairly low allotment of magic, but time and study does increase that.

Sorry for the text-wall

yumeryuu 2021-07-20 13:43:15 UTC #5

Whatever powers Devils and Angels seem to muster up.

Manyana 2021-07-20 13:48:35 UTC #6

I added an additional question and a couple of subquestions

Legendofgenii 2021-07-20 14:13:29 UTC #7

My MC wanted to answer. So here is Gen’s take on ‘magic’ (currently).

What is the magic system of your world?

Magic what? What’s a system?

Is magic frowned upon in your world? Is it widespread?

I guess so? The village elders didn’t like it very much (banished) and Erras told me not to mess around with it.

Honestly, I didn’t know magic was a thing up until a few days ago.

What kinds of species or beings have the ability to use magic?

None of them?

Which of your characters possesses or has access to magic? What kind of magic do they possess?

Oh, I do! Watch this… Does the lame trick where you pretend to pull your thumb off Haha!

Seriously though, I have a shattered crystal in my palm that does some strange stuff… look I’ll show you… Does thumb thing again and giggles.

Is there anything else special you'd like to say about the magic in your world?

Can I get back to you at the end of chapter three? Goes off to experiment with the God Stone.

yukishimeart912 2021-07-20 15:11:32 UTC #8

Magic is the source of all existence. Magic, although different from life magic, they coexist together, or more accurately, life would not exist without magic, and vise versa.
Magic is used by EVERYONE. Those incapable are practically dead.
Every existence came to exist through magic so of course, as mentioned above, everyone uses magic. But there are also cases were magic is too low it could be barely used, but such situations are rare. There are multiple kinds of species in my world and they are divided into three general types; Flora, fauna, and object type magic (e.g. sword, paper...etc.) Each of the three are divided into several different parts for example Flora type magic -> Flower type magic -> Rose magic. Depending on their attributes, and magic proficiency, the more they fuse with their element, the less they are as mortals and more as spirits. Mages born from upper level families are born spirits, and are naturally close to their element than those on the lower levels. Because Mages are spirits, after a short duration the body which is essentially a mass of magic, when life energy which keeps those magic together runs out, the mage will disintegrate into magical particles and fade till there's nothing left.
There are a lot of characters so I'll just mention one. Airicien Rose (Airi): "Rose magic" A magic known for it's beauty, AKA the perfect. Using the petals, vines or anything related to roses, Airi can create weapons and use an art called Rose waltz. Rose waltz like its name, a dance that portrays the beauty of roses. It can also be used to kill. ("A dance you would never dare imagine to witness outside of the ballroom, but enchanting enough to forget looking(running) away nor to interrupt. Those who were unfortunate to see it never lived to see another day without even realizing their head was cut off as their blood danced with the roses." - a random middle ranked Ascender)
At birth one is recognized as a sprout and after reaching a certain proficiency at magic, one will then become an Ascender and will gain eternal youth and of course massive power. There are exceptions to that though which is called Miracles. They are children that are born Ascenders born only from the families of the upper levels. Depending on their talent in magic, they will stop aging before they reach the age of 15. The younger, the more powerful their magic is.

A mage's magic is hereditary and can also affect appearances. In Dividence(my world), each territory/ floating islands which are ruled by a specific family, floats higher or lower within the void depending on the overall abundance of magic and that family's specific element(e.g abundance of roses present). There is also a certain rule that a mage from an upper level family will have a magic benefiting his/her family's rank. It is the same for a mage born from a lower level family, which will also remain forever in that rank. As such, even if an upper level family was slaughtered, as long as there is still one family member remaining, even if their level drops, in due time that family will rise back to their previous rank.

Also, children are born when a male mage creates a seed full of his magic and gives it to a female which she will then nurture with her magic. Females don't accept seeds they think are weak, and in cases where the seed is stronger than the female, the female will die before the child is even born. Needless to say, children cannot be born unless the parents are of the same rank. Thus, lowering the number of childbirth (not that they needed too since they have eternal youth), and also maintaining the overall balance of the world.

Rai_Muffin 2021-07-20 15:30:27 UTC #9

1) Raiden Energy; an elemental electricity given off by all living things, named after the sage that taught it to the first shaman.
Each element corresponds to one of the 12 gods (Neptune is god of Water, Saturn is god of time etc), though the five “natural elements” are the most common (water, wind, terra, fire and lightning).
By directing it externally one can control the elements, while directing internally can push the body and mind to superhuman levels of strength, stamina and reflexes.
Raiden can also be contained in orbs, and used to jump technology centuries ahead.
And by solidifying ones own energy, mercenaries can empower their weapons with an enhanced form (Denku Bure-Do).

2) The world is populated by giant monsters, so soldiers trained in its use, mercenaries, are the most relied on form of defence.
It also forms the basis of their technology; from phones to trains, Raiden energy is a common part of everyday life.
So people are very accepting of it and those who use it across the continent.

3) Any human sized biped (called Deman) can harness Raiden, though it takes years of training to hone the body and mind.
Wild monsters (Demon) and intelligent magical beasts (Demin) can also use Raiden instinctively.

4) The main cast use their Raiden in a variety of ways:
- Protagonists, Natsumi and Fuyumi use water Raiden. Natsumi throws concussive water blades and can propel herself to increase her damage. Fuyumi freezes instead, creating hard ice shields that she can explode outward.
She also has a rare time affinity that can let her see visions of the future.
- The samurai, Keanu, can form an armoured fist from his Raiden, called a Bulletfist. It increases his speed and power, and by striking reapetadly he can build up energy then deliver a punch powerful enough to break the sound barrier.
- The ninja, Lok, uses wind to fire homing arrows, which he can also use to deliver explosives and other trick arrows.
As a Lucan he can also harness Luna Raiden energy to transform into a large wolf.
- The beast tamer, Nyambura, has tattoos which when exposed to air allow her to terraform.
- The weapon smith, Leon, can use Raiden to create weapons or other tools. He can also put energy into rocks and clay to create explosives.
- The paladin, David, has a rare light Raiden affinity; by inspiring hope in people he can turn that hope into light blades, or direct it into others to empower them.
- The doctors, Fio and Lilia, can use Raiden to perform medical surgery.
- The assassin, Jasmine, can channel other people Raiden through her swords, granting access to their abilities and taking on their personality while holding it.
- The mecha pilot, Yuseong, uses Raiden to power a transforming mecha suit in battle.

There are more, but this a decent variety in their uses.

5) Raiden is available to anyone with the desire to unlock it; it requires dedication to building a body that can handle the power and the intelligence to research its uses and create their own style.
It’s practitioners, the mercenaries, are trained as martial artists to handle the power, then sell their services to capture criminals or even taken down armies.
It’s taught to the devoted, rather than a power one is born entitled too.

I want it to serve as an alagory for human potential; no one is born talented, but with passion and devotion we can achieve great things.

EncryptedWriting 2021-07-20 15:50:03 UTC #10

I need to include 20 characters, LMAO!

Lady_T_Musings 2021-07-20 16:43:34 UTC #11

There are many classifications of Magic in MagicalMashup! as magic can manifest in many ways. Some mages are the classics witches and wizards, but others are enchanters, boosters, pact partners, leeches, alchemists, and so on. It just depends on how your essence manifests...that will dictate the magic you have. There are also affinities that can impact how your magic manifests too, like if you have a fire affinity, your magic aura may look like flames, or you naturally just run a bit warmer than most people, and in cases where folks are really aligned with their affinity, they will have control over said element (to a degree) despite their classification.
There are two main camps for thoughts on Magic in MM! and they are pretty much divided by landmasses. Those in Corporea tend to not look favorably on magic, but times are changing; while those in Encantania find Magic to be as natural as breathing. Magic is incredibly widespread in Encantania and Coprorea, one side was just more open about it than the other, but with the standardization of magic classes and Link-net being more readily available, magic acceptance, and coveting is spreading all around Magos.
All natural-born species of Magos have the capacity to be born with the ability to manipulate their essence into a form of magic that can be classified.
All of them as the story centers around a bunch of young adults in magic college. The main Character Junah is an Elemental Shifter meaning she can change compounds that she understands into other forms or even elements, though she works best with elements in nature. Her partner Kaelen is a wizard with a high affinity for water, his magic always looks watery when he casts spells.
Nah I'd be talking all day, I got a whole codex for crying out loud haha, but this is a lovely question!!

Also, You have to be a natural-born being of planet Magos, Classifications can be awakened in folks with high enough essence due to a variety of reasons, spreading from puberty, trauma, or external forces.

This is usually a gradual thing, but explosive awakenings can occur and the possibility of a passive trait, called trait of Magos can occur.

These traits are often things that can't be turned off or controlled like other magics and are usually things people don't notice much: ie a trait that makes people feel at ease around you, or one that makes it impossible for people to lie to you, but they can be quite unfortunate with folks gaining acidic saliva or uncontrollable seer seizures.

Magic can be passed down but doesn't always manifest the same way. Though it's rare for a family of wizards to give raise to a witch (or vice versa), it's possible. Then there are the cases of families with no known magic having a child that can heal with their essence (incredibly rare in MM!).

The only qualification for one to get magic in MM! is being a natural-born being of the planet and being lucky. Parents with magic don't guarantee children with magic, though usually does, and parents without magic can have children who do have magic.

wekanian 2021-07-20 17:08:08 UTC #12

This is interesting!

The magic in my story is very generic, an energy that can be converted to do various things. It can affect physical things, spiritual, and even emotional.

It is a secret thing from the general public so it is not widespread.

Only humans.

All of my characters can do magic because those who can’t are wiped out One of them do portal magic, perceptive magic, psychokinesis, nothing that you never heard of.

The strongest magic in effect is the one wiping the entire “muggle” population and leaving those with magic.

The ability to use magic is innate to a person, so it’s either they have it since birth or not. It’s then a matter whether they finally be aware of it or not. It can be passed down if both parents can use magic. I am thinking it like a recessive gene.

tamapochi 2021-07-21 20:56:55 UTC #13

I've never actually properly defined my novel's kinda magic system in text so this would be helpful for me xD Magic in Devouring is called Ability.

1.) Well, I try to keep the magic system as simple as possible. Everyone has a unique ability and to use the ability, they need mana!

2-3.) It's widespread. But not everyone actively use it. Basically, everyone has it Hunters especially are trained to use it. Though my MC is a bit of an exception.

4.) Might as well list down some of my characters Abilities are pretty simple and straightforward in design:
- Shinichi doesn't exactly have Ability but he can upgrade his companions ability! And eventually steal it...
- Irish can control fire
- Zero can control her blood (mostly just crystallising it)
- Nahashi can charm butterflies
- Nokori can create transparent honeycomb barriers
- Rinko has compulsion (control people through her words)
- Ime can control flowers and plants and has very fast regeneration

5.) I guess one thing that'll make Ability unique is that its strength changes depending on your location. Mana is innate but it is difficult to access without Mana Stone consumption and being near the ley lines (they are everywhere but its appearance becomes more visible deeper inside the Danger Zone). As such, the use of ability feels more suffocating in the rural areas. There are also certain fields scattered around Tairuku which neutralises mana (so all effects of mana on the person is essentially gone while in that area). One can force their way to use it but it'll have drastic consequences to the physical body. In contrast to this, the nearer a person is to the Danger Zone's monolith, the more reactive and powerful abilities are.

For those last questions:
After the 2nd Collision (big bad devourer destroyed half of Tairiku), humanity was suddenly able use Ability. Ability became innate to human biology, basically becoming part of their genes. Usually certain families will adopt a similar type of magic ex. the Akatsuki Family's abilities are all blood related.

crimson_mystery_cake 2021-07-22 07:40:15 UTC #14

1. What is the magic system of your world?

This is a hexagram. The five pieces on the outside represent elements of nature. Clockwise from the top, the first piece represents waves, then the storm, then life, then mountains, and finally waste. Those five elements are where most magic comes from on earth. The center of the hexagram represents magic itself. Magic works by the spell caster combining their spirit (which is basically just your memories and emotions) with the spirit of one of the elements of nature.

Depending on what kind of spell you want to cast, you’ll want to draw from a different element of nature. Each part of nature has a different suite of magic it specializes in.

Waves = charm magic. These are your enchantments, your healing spells and your curses. Basically if you want to manipulate something or someone this is the magic you want to turn to.

Storm = powers. If you want to bestow something with new magical properties then you’ll want to use this magic.

Life = creation. If you want to make a magical construct out of scratch you’ll turn to this force of nature.

Mountains = build when you want to pull out the already existing magical properties of something then you’ll turn to this magic.

Waste = destruction. If your aim is to create a pure destructive force then waste is your guy.

For the majority of creatures, depending on their nature they’ll have their own elemental affinity that they are most comfortable with. If you can use magic then you can learn to use whatever magic you want, but for the majority of magic users they just stick with the one that matches their affinity from birth.

Magic is incredibly versatile and it can be stacked together to create numerous effects. When magic is made to interact this way that is known as magicrafting, and the people who come up with magic spells are known as magicraftsman.

Magic is incredibly deadly and random. It’s not something someone can really control, only understand. While you can bend the laws of reality with magic, magic and magic spells themselves are subject to the laws of physics. Stuff like the laws of thermodynamics and Newton’s laws of motion are something that a magicraftsman has to keep in mind. In particular Newton’s third law, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you fire off a super strong magic spell at great force, that force will act back on you. All magic spells come at a physical cost to the caster. However, if a person is naturally magically resistant then they can offset this cost somewhat. There are special people who are born magically sensitive, usually because they inherited a strong spirit from a previous life.

2. Is magic frowned upon in your world? Is it widespread?

Magic used to be more widespread, but an event in the past caused most magicraftsman and magic in general to be disavowed by greater society. It’s a bit of a spoiler but there was once this princess, she was the reincarnation of a great magical spirit that was always known to bring a great change to magic whenever she was born into this world. However this princess was depressed, and basically a bunch of stuff happened, her heart got cursed by an evil witch, and then basically the princess ended up committing suicide. This event was known as the death of magic, because her body was retrieved by people practicing dark magic. A bunch of dark magic and evil magic spell was born from studying her corpse, and it even led to the rise of the dark lord. The public became scared of magic, and magic became associated with evil, so all of the magicraftsman, good and bad, were murdered, and the existence of magic was tucked away from greater society.

3. What kinds of species or beings have the ability to use magic?

In modern times it is exceptionally rare for a human to be born magically sensitive, and a lot of magical creatures have been driven to the brink of extinction. There are the fae, who are humanoid creatures that are known to be very close to magic. There is a species of fae for every one of the six main forces of magic, the wave fae are more colloquially known as water nymphs, the storm fae are also known as fairies, and the life fae are known as witches. There are also a ton of other magical creatures running around. Werewolves, vampires, and their breed can all basically draw their heritage from one curse, creates by an ancient underwater dwelling creature known as Asblagorph. There are demons, creatures born from the literal pits of hell. There are beings such as boogeymen, who are created from nightmares, and many many more.

4. Which of your characters possesses or has access to magic? What kind of magic do they possess or employ?

There aren’t very many magically sensitive people left in my verse, and the few that are magically sensitive don’t actually know how to use magic. Like, the only regular reoccurring character in my current wip the Blinking Box that can use magic is an ancient Chinese monk that I’m calling Epsilon for now. He’s a 200+ year old monk that helped seal away the dark lord when he was in his late twenties, but sealing away the dark lord cost him his life. Then in the modern day a mad scientist revived him using her reanimator serum, and now he basically just chills at her place, tries to just blend in with modern American society and not stand out too much, uses his magic to help kill whatever rogue experiment of the week his mad scientist girl roommate whatever concocts, and tries not to make out with his mad scientist girl buddy roommate whatever.

5. Is there anything else special you'd like to say about the magic in your world?

What is probably the most used type of magic is whisper magic. It’s basically just a universal tongue that all magically sensitive creatures, and ONLY magically sensitive creatures can hear. It sounds like a whisper at the back of your ear, and sometimes demons and evil creatures will use it to trick or charm magically sensitive beings.

6. Also, how can an individual gain magic? Are they awakened? How so? Is the magic passed down? What are the qualifications/criteria to be able to "inherit" the magic?

You’ve pretty much got to be magically sensitive. It used to be that if you trained your mind, body and spirit you could learn to use magic, but after the death of magic that is no longer the case with humans. In order to e magically sensitive you basically just have to be reincarnated from someone who was magically sensitive in their past life.

Oh yeah, also since magic has the whole “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” thing going on for it, you technically have to be physically strong enough to withstand your own magic spells. Being magically resistant also helps.

MattRAuthor 2021-07-22 09:25:41 UTC #15

All magic comes in the form of a plant called vireen. This plant can be eaten, smoked like tobacco, or cooked into meals (the edible parts anyway). It boosts all senses, including strength, speed and the healing process, but is difficult to master and control. When enough of it is used, it can also take a physical form around weapons, usually knives or swords. It does take a physical form around guns, but not the bullets within them.
Not frowned upon, but growing more and more widespread with exports throughout the empire.
Anyone can use the magic, including animals that happen to eat the plant, but they are less aware of it.
All of my characters have access to magic if they have access to the plant. My MC is able to produce thorns whenever he attacks someone, while the LI's magic looks like water but is razor sharp
It's probably the simplest magic system I've made but also the weirdest lmao. The plot of the story mainly revolves around my characters discovering a metal form of the plant and how that magic can be used.
Pretty much anyone can gain magic as long as they have access to the plant or are able to grow it.

MermaWisdo 2021-07-23 03:41:55 UTC #16

1) Magic came from the gods who wanted to encourage the inhabitants of the world to create and shape their world. It's used in many ways but because it's strong and unpredictable, those who practice it have to be careful not to overexert themselves. For a long time, there were wars based on magic until about 200 years before my story takes place, schools were established to help manage that magic to be more useful. For some reason the creator of the schools loved flowers so each school is named after a flower with the Iris University of Magic being the biggest out of them all. Also, to keep track of the good or bad mages, each school has a designated council to keep track of their graduates.

2) Magic is common but not everyone uses. It requires a lot of training and those who practice it have to go through trials to prove that they can handle that power. People who don't use it will often rely on those who do for safety, protection and such.

3) Pretty much everyone can learn to use magic but creatures like gryphons and unicorns, have their own natural affinity for magic. Some of the humanoid species tend to have arguments on who really should be using magic but there's a mutual agreement that it's not for everyone.

4) My main character, Niah, can use healing magic and a few others she comes across use magic. Although, she does have friends who don't practice magic but are fascinated by it.

5) Without spoiling much: healing magic is the hardest magic to use because it deals with a balance of helping the person and not making their injuries worse. The easiest magic to learn is elemental because it uses the sources that surround a person - and no, you can't be like the avatar; a person picks one element to focus on and that's it.

6) The way someone can gain magic is attending school which someone has be 18 or older to attend. Anyone who wants to learn it as a kid or teen can learn from a local mage or family member but only the basics. In the university, a 18 year old new student goes through a trial to prove they can use magic and pick classes based on their niche. The schooling is vigorous and hard but after 4 years, a student can graduate as a licensed mage.

hjpetersonauthor 2021-07-23 12:14:59 UTC #17

Magic in my world is pretty much made up of abilities granted by the Gods via the water in a certain natural well (the Godswater). You drink the water, and if the Gods find you worthy, you'll have one specific ability, such as healing (called a Blessing). If not, the water will kill you. The belief is that the Gods touched this wellspring so that a hero centuries ago could defeat the Blight: monsters that spring up from the shadows.
The fact that magic exists in the first place is knowledge limited to a select few. Namely, the clergy and a branch of the army dedicated to keeping the Blight at bay. Over the past thousand or so years, they've done a good enough job that most people in the country (Caithia) think that the Blight and the Godswater are just legends.
Anyone that drinks the Godswater and survives has the ability to use magic. My world doesn't really have elves or orcs or anything like that, though, so I guess just humans.
As of right now, most of the protagonists do, with the exception of the MC. None of the antagonists have access to it, but they're trying to gain access.
The Godswater generally leaves some sort of "mark" on people who successfully drink from it. For example: turning your eyes/hair a different color, turning the tips of your fingers black in the case of one character, etc.