Building A Magic System
October 23rd 2009 11:58
Some of you likely won't use this exercise, but for those of you who intend to have a strong presence of magic in your world and your story, there are some important things that need to be thought about.
One thing is that you may have decided to include multiple species in your world, things like Elves or Dwarves or what have you, and if you want their magic to be markedly different from that of the humans, you are going to need to define these rules.
This exercise should take up one page or less per species, and no more than twenty minutes per species. Only important species to your story should be worked on here; more can be added in later. If you get too caught up in your worldbuilding you may never get to writing the book.
Consider the following points:
How strong do you want magic to be? You need to decide if you want your humans to be able to destroy cities with their magic or if you want it to be at most the destruction of one building. And if it's extremely powerful, you need a good way of keeping people in control that keeps them from utterly destroying each other.
What does it cost? It should cost something to the caster's body and mind. My Elves, for example, are extremely powerful, and can use 'moderate' magic-which is the most powerful that any human can perform-without problems, but if they use any high-level magic it takes years off of their lifespan and slowly drains their sanity. Humans on the other hand experience physical weakness and sometimes collapse/black out from exhaustion.
Is it natural talent or can anyone use it? If it's natural talent, you need to decide how it is passed from one person to the next. In my world the children of those with magical talent usually have magical talent, but it is becoming increasingly rare in the country of Appollinia, because the Fatalis Intarnati are changing its flow in humanity. On the other hand, all Elves have natural talent, but some are only as powerful as humans.
If anyone can use it, how is it taught? Is everybody taught it, or are there ways of keeping certain people from learning it?
Is it elemental or not? Is it based off of the four elements (or more), or is it based off of something else, like animal spirits, personal spirit, ancestral spirits? Where does the power come from-if it is taught this is especially important, because you need to know where the people draw their power from.
If it's mostly/only one group, why is it them? It could be because they've beaten the rest of the population into the ground and oppressed them, limiting them, or because it is simply only people of a certain blood type or kingdom.
What are its limits and rules and how are they enforced? Consider here the physical and mental limitations, in other words, what a person can do with it and how long they can study it without suffering severe physical or mental trauma. Also consider societal rules. There might be magic that is taught to a certain few, and is only allowed to be used by them, possibly only in extreme cases.
Think about taboos around certain forms of magic and how they would be enforced-and what groups would break the rules and be able to get away with it.
Write 1-3 pages describing the basics of your main magic system and one for any differentiations if there are any (for different species). If you want you can hold off and there will be a post tomorrow with recommended reading for this exercise.
Prompt
Your prompt for the day is to write 700 words about mythological creatures. You can write about mythological creatures in general, invent your own, or write about some that are commonly used.
Tomorrow we will continue with the plot exercise.
One thing is that you may have decided to include multiple species in your world, things like Elves or Dwarves or what have you, and if you want their magic to be markedly different from that of the humans, you are going to need to define these rules.
This exercise should take up one page or less per species, and no more than twenty minutes per species. Only important species to your story should be worked on here; more can be added in later. If you get too caught up in your worldbuilding you may never get to writing the book.
Consider the following points:
How strong do you want magic to be? You need to decide if you want your humans to be able to destroy cities with their magic or if you want it to be at most the destruction of one building. And if it's extremely powerful, you need a good way of keeping people in control that keeps them from utterly destroying each other.
What does it cost? It should cost something to the caster's body and mind. My Elves, for example, are extremely powerful, and can use 'moderate' magic-which is the most powerful that any human can perform-without problems, but if they use any high-level magic it takes years off of their lifespan and slowly drains their sanity. Humans on the other hand experience physical weakness and sometimes collapse/black out from exhaustion.
Is it natural talent or can anyone use it? If it's natural talent, you need to decide how it is passed from one person to the next. In my world the children of those with magical talent usually have magical talent, but it is becoming increasingly rare in the country of Appollinia, because the Fatalis Intarnati are changing its flow in humanity. On the other hand, all Elves have natural talent, but some are only as powerful as humans.
If anyone can use it, how is it taught? Is everybody taught it, or are there ways of keeping certain people from learning it?
Is it elemental or not? Is it based off of the four elements (or more), or is it based off of something else, like animal spirits, personal spirit, ancestral spirits? Where does the power come from-if it is taught this is especially important, because you need to know where the people draw their power from.
If it's mostly/only one group, why is it them? It could be because they've beaten the rest of the population into the ground and oppressed them, limiting them, or because it is simply only people of a certain blood type or kingdom.
What are its limits and rules and how are they enforced? Consider here the physical and mental limitations, in other words, what a person can do with it and how long they can study it without suffering severe physical or mental trauma. Also consider societal rules. There might be magic that is taught to a certain few, and is only allowed to be used by them, possibly only in extreme cases.
Think about taboos around certain forms of magic and how they would be enforced-and what groups would break the rules and be able to get away with it.
Write 1-3 pages describing the basics of your main magic system and one for any differentiations if there are any (for different species). If you want you can hold off and there will be a post tomorrow with recommended reading for this exercise.
Prompt
Your prompt for the day is to write 700 words about mythological creatures. You can write about mythological creatures in general, invent your own, or write about some that are commonly used.
Tomorrow we will continue with the plot exercise.
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