Hoyo all! GojiBean here!
I was thinking about a story I'm planning to write which features a magic system, and I thought it would be fun to see how other role-players and storytellers design their magic systems as they're one my favorite things to design in RP's which feature them.
So I'll talk about how I think about and plan magic systems, and then I'll leave it open for anyone who wants to chime in and discuss/debate the topic to make their responses!
So here we go!
The first thing I always consider is the purpose of the magic, and the presentation of said magic.
The purpose of the magic is exactly what it sounds like: What is the function of magic in society?
Fire Magic, for example. Is it combative? Is it a utility or a tool? Is it both?
What about Water Magic? Is it more combative, or more utility based? If it's one over the other, why? If it's both, also why?
What about non-elemental magic like Teleportation? Is it only used for travel? Or does it serve a larger function such as industrial uses for transporting goods and people of importance from specific locations to other specific locations? If it's used in combat, how is it used and how far can you push the "teleportation" function of the art before you venture into the bizarre and the outright nonsensical?
The presentation of the magic is about defining how the world perceives the magic.
For magic like Healing Magic, which is inherently benign and meant to help people, would there be any instances where a Healer would be ostracized, hated, or perhaps even driven out of any particular location in the world? If so, why? For such a stable and inherently helpful magical form you'd think everyone would love Healers and give them the highest respects, right? Well, if there are any exceptions in your world it's best to figure out why it is that those exceptions exist.
For more volatile magics like the elementals, Fire or Lightning in particular, how are they viewed by the world? Are they feared? Probably so. They're both highly destructive and difficult to control because of the inherent nature of the elements they're meant to harness. High-grade Fire and Lightning users would likely be highly respected and feared individuals who control a lot of power, even if only in the abstract sense. For those whom the power is literal, how high can they rise in society? And how far can they push their influence, be it for better or worse?
Worldbuilding is a topic which could have 1,000,000 books written on it and still never cover all of what could be covered and/or unearthed. But when it comes to Magic, the worldbuilding is especially important.
It touches on a lot of what I said in the previous section about presentation and purpose. But it also goes much further than that.
For example, if you have any kind of an "Alchemy" or "Transmutation" magic which can change matter from one form to another... What does that do for the world?
If you can use Transmutation Magic to turn stone into gold, for example, what happens when the economy is gold-based? Well, in no uncertain terms the ability to transmute anything into gold would basically nuke that economic system into the dust because, if left unregulated, gold would become so common of a substance that it would become entirely worthless. And everything about how and why the gold standard came to be would lose all value in society. You could hold a giant bag of 1,000 gold coins and a humble fruit vendor on the street would laugh at you and say "My apples are worth 10 million Gold pieces, peasant!"
... What do you do then?
Not a whole lot you can do except... Yep! REGULATE IT!!!
Government regulation of Alchemic and Transmutation magics would become necessary to hold society together in the face of magics that can potentially nuke the economic system. As well, anyone with the gift of Alchemy Magic or Transmutation Magic would be not only highly sought after, but there would likely be laws in place which allow such individuals to be isolated in society at a very young age to ensure that their rather broken gift can't be used to harm society. A bit cruel. But functionally it's necessary. Societies fall apart when they let the most integral elements either slip into chaos, or over-bloat themselves beyond recognition to the point of losing their value.
What about magic that's inherently wicked like Necromancy?
Raising the dead comes with a myriad of possibilities, after all. And a lot of them are morally questionable.
One of my favorites is to say that when a Necromancer revives a dead body, the spirit of the deceased comes back with it and is alive watching its dead body doing whatever the Necromancer wants and totally powerless to stop it. You revived this person's body only to force their spirit to helplessly watch whatever is happening before they die once again when the spells lose their effect or the user decides to simply stop using that dead body.
You... Friggin... Monster!!!
Caution is always needed when creating magic systems. If you leave too much open to interpretation or, arguably worse, you don't actually pay attention to your own worldbuilding and your magic system contradicts another element of your world, bad things can happen.
For example: Let's say you design a world where there's an entire industry around harnessing electricity via lightning rods connected to major batteries, water wheels in river systems, etc. But then you introduce lightning magic which is capable of powering any "electric" device in your world... What happens to the rest of that industry?
Is it even relevant anymore?
If Lightning Magic is an easily learned or widespread gift, then why is there any need for anything other than hiring Lightning Mages to power your society? So long as batteries and other storage systems for that electric power exist, there's no real need for water wheels or lightning rods, etc.
So you've designed an industry, and then you completely rendered it pointless by adding Lightning Magic.
Another and perhaps superior example would be the idea I presented earlier about Transmutation Magic and a gold-based economy. The idea of Transmutation magic is kind of cool. But without limits or some form of in-world regulation, it would very easily cause the logic and stability of your world to crumble once you started actually delving into it. And if you are in the middle of your RP and suddenly you realize things don't quite make sense or that there's a problem with how your magic system works, it's too late. You're in the middle of the RP. Either you let the economy fall apart as it would naturally given the problem of having that unregulated Transmutation abilities, or you have to actively retcon the capabilities of Transmutation magic so it doesn't endanger your economy anymore.
But if you do that, how far do you go with the retcon? How far do you have to go? Sometimes it seems as simple as just removing one detail. But often times when you remove a single detail you have, sometimes unknowingly, just destabilized another aspect of your world which will find its way into the problem focus soon enough. It's only a matter of time.
So, those are my thoughts and my process on how I think about and make a magic system. Sometimes it causes me to delay the creation of stories and role-plays for days, even weeks at a time. I think the longest I had to delay the creation of a role-play because of the intricacies of my magic system was about 2 months.
Blegh.
What about you guys?!
How do you think about and go about the creation of your magic systems?
I look forward to reading the replies!!
I was thinking about a story I'm planning to write which features a magic system, and I thought it would be fun to see how other role-players and storytellers design their magic systems as they're one my favorite things to design in RP's which feature them.
So I'll talk about how I think about and plan magic systems, and then I'll leave it open for anyone who wants to chime in and discuss/debate the topic to make their responses!
So here we go!
Purpose And Presentation
The first thing I always consider is the purpose of the magic, and the presentation of said magic.
The purpose of the magic is exactly what it sounds like: What is the function of magic in society?
Fire Magic, for example. Is it combative? Is it a utility or a tool? Is it both?
What about Water Magic? Is it more combative, or more utility based? If it's one over the other, why? If it's both, also why?
What about non-elemental magic like Teleportation? Is it only used for travel? Or does it serve a larger function such as industrial uses for transporting goods and people of importance from specific locations to other specific locations? If it's used in combat, how is it used and how far can you push the "teleportation" function of the art before you venture into the bizarre and the outright nonsensical?
The presentation of the magic is about defining how the world perceives the magic.
For magic like Healing Magic, which is inherently benign and meant to help people, would there be any instances where a Healer would be ostracized, hated, or perhaps even driven out of any particular location in the world? If so, why? For such a stable and inherently helpful magical form you'd think everyone would love Healers and give them the highest respects, right? Well, if there are any exceptions in your world it's best to figure out why it is that those exceptions exist.
For more volatile magics like the elementals, Fire or Lightning in particular, how are they viewed by the world? Are they feared? Probably so. They're both highly destructive and difficult to control because of the inherent nature of the elements they're meant to harness. High-grade Fire and Lightning users would likely be highly respected and feared individuals who control a lot of power, even if only in the abstract sense. For those whom the power is literal, how high can they rise in society? And how far can they push their influence, be it for better or worse?
Magic In Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding is a topic which could have 1,000,000 books written on it and still never cover all of what could be covered and/or unearthed. But when it comes to Magic, the worldbuilding is especially important.
It touches on a lot of what I said in the previous section about presentation and purpose. But it also goes much further than that.
For example, if you have any kind of an "Alchemy" or "Transmutation" magic which can change matter from one form to another... What does that do for the world?
If you can use Transmutation Magic to turn stone into gold, for example, what happens when the economy is gold-based? Well, in no uncertain terms the ability to transmute anything into gold would basically nuke that economic system into the dust because, if left unregulated, gold would become so common of a substance that it would become entirely worthless. And everything about how and why the gold standard came to be would lose all value in society. You could hold a giant bag of 1,000 gold coins and a humble fruit vendor on the street would laugh at you and say "My apples are worth 10 million Gold pieces, peasant!"
... What do you do then?
Not a whole lot you can do except... Yep! REGULATE IT!!!
Government regulation of Alchemic and Transmutation magics would become necessary to hold society together in the face of magics that can potentially nuke the economic system. As well, anyone with the gift of Alchemy Magic or Transmutation Magic would be not only highly sought after, but there would likely be laws in place which allow such individuals to be isolated in society at a very young age to ensure that their rather broken gift can't be used to harm society. A bit cruel. But functionally it's necessary. Societies fall apart when they let the most integral elements either slip into chaos, or over-bloat themselves beyond recognition to the point of losing their value.
What about magic that's inherently wicked like Necromancy?
Raising the dead comes with a myriad of possibilities, after all. And a lot of them are morally questionable.
One of my favorites is to say that when a Necromancer revives a dead body, the spirit of the deceased comes back with it and is alive watching its dead body doing whatever the Necromancer wants and totally powerless to stop it. You revived this person's body only to force their spirit to helplessly watch whatever is happening before they die once again when the spells lose their effect or the user decides to simply stop using that dead body.
You... Friggin... Monster!!!
Careful With Your Tools
Caution is always needed when creating magic systems. If you leave too much open to interpretation or, arguably worse, you don't actually pay attention to your own worldbuilding and your magic system contradicts another element of your world, bad things can happen.
For example: Let's say you design a world where there's an entire industry around harnessing electricity via lightning rods connected to major batteries, water wheels in river systems, etc. But then you introduce lightning magic which is capable of powering any "electric" device in your world... What happens to the rest of that industry?
Is it even relevant anymore?
If Lightning Magic is an easily learned or widespread gift, then why is there any need for anything other than hiring Lightning Mages to power your society? So long as batteries and other storage systems for that electric power exist, there's no real need for water wheels or lightning rods, etc.
So you've designed an industry, and then you completely rendered it pointless by adding Lightning Magic.
Another and perhaps superior example would be the idea I presented earlier about Transmutation Magic and a gold-based economy. The idea of Transmutation magic is kind of cool. But without limits or some form of in-world regulation, it would very easily cause the logic and stability of your world to crumble once you started actually delving into it. And if you are in the middle of your RP and suddenly you realize things don't quite make sense or that there's a problem with how your magic system works, it's too late. You're in the middle of the RP. Either you let the economy fall apart as it would naturally given the problem of having that unregulated Transmutation abilities, or you have to actively retcon the capabilities of Transmutation magic so it doesn't endanger your economy anymore.
But if you do that, how far do you go with the retcon? How far do you have to go? Sometimes it seems as simple as just removing one detail. But often times when you remove a single detail you have, sometimes unknowingly, just destabilized another aspect of your world which will find its way into the problem focus soon enough. It's only a matter of time.
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So, those are my thoughts and my process on how I think about and make a magic system. Sometimes it causes me to delay the creation of stories and role-plays for days, even weeks at a time. I think the longest I had to delay the creation of a role-play because of the intricacies of my magic system was about 2 months.
Blegh.
What about you guys?!
How do you think about and go about the creation of your magic systems?
I look forward to reading the replies!!