forum How does your magic system work?

Started February 23, 2021 by @SpaceCadet_Bongo

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Hi there :)

I'm currently planning to write a story about this modern day Australian boy who stumbles into a fantasy world filled with interesting people from real world cultures and magical abilities.

The world essentially looks like this…..

The only problem I have right now is that I don't have an effective magic system in place for the story and I was wondering if you guys could share your stories magic systems so I could get an idea on what the most effective one would be for an environment like this.

Is it one you can learn? or is it one that limited to certain people?

Do you need a specific tool/item to cast magic? or can people cast magic freely?

Can you run out of magical abilities and needs time to refresh? or is it an infinite resource available at any time?

Please let me know how your magic system works and what rules are kept in place in order for magic to work

Thank you :D

Hi! Your story sounds cool, and I love the picture!
My magic system has two main types of magic bearers: witches and wizards.
Witch magic is based on blood. To keep people from being serial killers just to enchant a door, the blood has to be your own. To keep people from self-harming, it has to be taken unwillingly. So, witches are normally women(because of periods and blood unwillingly, yadda yadda yadda). There is a misconception going around in this world that witches sacrifice one another and worship satan, but nothing could be further from the truth. Witch magic can be taught. Witches generally live in large groups called covens, and obey the Head Witch, who is basically Mom, but everyone’s mom, even your bio-mom’s. Not genetically, just authority wise. The head witch is the witch with the most experience that is still sane. That way, you don’t have a senile old lady teaching you how to turn cake into frogs. The senile old lady is still there, but she doesn’t call most of the shots. Witch training can start as soon as you are capable of learning, just like learning to walk or to speak. Young witches in training are called witchlings. Witches traditionally wear spell casting hats. They are thought to focus the witch. The most common choice is the pointed black hat that you see during Halloween, but it could be literally any hat. A plastic crown, a traditional witch hat, a sticky note you stick on your forehead(you might want something more permanent), or a flower crown even. Just as long as it means something to you.
Wizards use the magic in the things that exist around them. Everything in the world has at least a little magic in it, and wizards try their best to tap into that. Different items have different magic, so different items are for different spells and potions. Wizards live usually alone, or in pairs. The largest but still normal group of wizards would be a group of four. Wizard families consist of a master and an apprentice, one who teaches the other. Once the master has taught the apprentice everything they know, they usually continue learning, but together, via books and science/magic experiments. Wizardry can be taught. It is usually taught once you find a wizard that is willing to actually have an apprentice. As stated before, they’re usually not social. Wizards traditionally wear spell casting gloves, typically hand made, either by you or someone you trust, who then presents it to you as a gift. Do not use the gloves if you do not trust them. Wizard gloves are sacred.

Tl;dr: witches: magic inside, wizards: magic outside.
Hope this helps!

Edit:
The gears in my brain are always turning, and I’m always adding new stuff, so now there are two new magic types, ha.
Warlocks: have a patron god, the one who gives you your powers, but atheists exist everywhere religion exists, so lots of people believe the old gods are made up, and even if they think the gods are real, it’s not like they hand out powers left and right. Warlocks are believed to be a myth. It cannot be taught, and how much magic you can use at a time depends on your patron, and whether it’s a mini-god or an actual god. The kind of magic you have also depends on your patron. For example, someone who’s patron is Kian, the lava god, would have some sort of fire power. Someone who’s patron is Miir, a mini-god that protects treasures at the bottom of the sea, would have some sort of combat ability, or specialize in protective spells, like fire proofing. To be a warlock, you would need to make a pact with your patron. You agree to do something in exchange for magic. What you have to do varies from person to person.
Sorcerers: both of their parents were age bearers. They can do witch magic without blood, and wizard magic without a lot of usually key components. One is born a sorcerer, it can’t be taught.
M’kay, if you are still reading, thanks for tolerating my rambling.

Thank you @Mentally-unstable-potato for sharing you magic system :)

I find it really interesting with the whole, "witch hat focuses the witch" thing your going for, as it really puts a genuinely unique spin on the magic fantasy genre.

I also like the duality you've created with the witches and wizards, with witches being quite social beings and wizards being quite hermit like in nature. Very cool :D

I am bad at explaining my magic system effectively, but here goes nothing. It’s also a bit messy and unfinished. If you have any questions, you can ask me. I hope this gives you some ideas.

Magic is a skill only known to be used by witches/warlocks. Typically, females use witch, and males use warlock, but males can also use the term witch. Some other races use magic, but it’s not the same magic as witches/warlocks.

Many parents teach their children how to use and control their magic at an early age. Humans and other races can’t learn this skill and will be ineffective if they tried. What they're taught in childhood is enough to get by in life. Other witches/warlock like study books to learn more.

Magic comes free at the use of the user. Some witches/warlock may become unable to cast magic examples if they receive a brain injury. It takes concentration and a clear mind of organized thoughts. If you don’t prepare your mind, it's like not prepping your body for a marathon. If the person practices long enough, you won’t have to think about clearing your mind, and it’ll come as instinct.

Along with the focus of control, one can concentrate magic on any part of your hand. The person has to concentrate greatly on the area of your hand you want to use, and imagine the flow only going to that part instead of the entire hand.

No person can use magic without a price. You cannot run out of your power. When you use your magic, the price you pay is your energy. Some magic activities waste your energy more than others. One who collapses of exhaustion can sleep up to 16 hours.

There are three main magic basics. First, you have basic magic or normal magic. This is learned by all witches/warlocks and has many advances. There are too many applications to it to list.

Second, there are white arts. The white arts have to be studied for many years. It is unknown if there is a school or it’s a personal study. Many witches/warlocks who are interested in medicine take the course of white magic. White magic is the magic of the Angels. When you decide to take this course, an Angel visits the person and grants you the ability to practice it. The person is also given a code and takes an oath. It can take up to 12-14 years to master the white arts. Once mastered, the person earns a mark of healing on their body. White magic allows you to heal, purify, and receive visions from the Angels. Some witches/warlock have an angel that is personal to them.
As a note: If the person breaks the oath, they lose their mark and power to use the white arts.

Last but not least is dark arts. The dark arts is the magic of demons. A witch/warlock has to be corrupted by a demon. Upon the corruption, the demon feeds its blood to the witch/warlock. The witch/warlock gains the ability to use dark magic as the blood makes their powers stronger and darker. Not much is known about the dark arts. Most dark witches/warlocks don’t show themselves and only work with demons.

As much as rules to keep magic in order, it’s a lot like many laws. Using your magic to hurt, steal, etc is looked down upon the others in each other coven and are put under punishment. Punishments vary for the crime. Maybe a scolding and hard work to temporarily loss of using your magic to possible death.

The magic in my story (which is called Dzeign'r Witchcraft) is mostly based on Gardnerian Wicca, with a few twists to make it my own.

In my story, witchcraft is illegal in almost every country, save one: Dzeign'n, and their entire way of living is influenced by witchcraft. The most notable example of this would be the Dzeign'n government: In Dzeign'n, the most powerful witch is named the "Goi Ha'nche" (basically the president), after completing a super overly complicated test and winning an Olympics-style competition that tests your spirit, mind, and leadership capabilities. Only a witch can be the Goi Ha'nche, and a "ke'i", someone who doesn't practice witchcraft, is not permitted to even run for the position. On top of that, there's an entire covenant of influential witches called the "Goian", each tasked with a specific job designed to aid the Goi Ha'nche. This may sound a bit like a president's cabinet, but it's not quite, considering the fact that one of the Goian's jobs is to literally assassinate the Goi Ha'nche if they show signs of corruption, lunacy, or anything like that. Yeah, it's pretty cutthroat.

There are two types of witchcraft, Ka'oq Witchcraft and Luak Witchcraft. They're you're standard "light and dark" magicks, with Ka'oq being the light and Luak being the dark. Spells derived from Ka'oq Witchcraft are called blessings, while spells derived from Luak Witchcraft are called curses.

Ka'oq Witchcraft requires a ritual to cast. Essentially, the ritual is devoted to one of six deities (I use that term loosely to describe them), and they are the ones who actually cast the blessing on behalf of the witch. Now, the rituals are needlessly complicated. It's required that they be cast outside, while the witch is crying, while also requiring an absurd amount of ritual objects (they vary depending on the blessing being cast, but the universals are the burning stem of a flower (which also varies, depending on which deity you're devoting the ritual to), a hollow orange peel, and a solution of fly blood and water mixed with a silver ladle). Plus, arguably the most tedious aspect of the ritual is the fact that certain blessings can only be cast a certain times. For example, blessings of luck and transmutation can only be cast during the day, any type of illusion blessing can only be cast at night during a half-moon, and blessings of necromancy and strength can only be cast at night during the full moon. And then, even after you've gone through all the prep to set up the ritual, there's a chance that it may not even work! The six aforementioned deities are little shits, and sometimes don't even respond to a witch's ritual just because they don't feel like it! They don't do it frequently enough to dissuade witches from performing rituals, but it happens, and it's annoying when it happens to you.

Luak Witchcraft, despite being considered "dark magic", isn't inherently evil. It isn't death magic or hate magic. It's bootleg magic. It's magic that's cast without the approval of a deity, so while it doesn't require any tedious ritual or absurd time constraints, it isn't nearly as powerful. The reason it's considered to be dark magic is because it has no deity surveillance on it, meaning that you can get away with curses that cause harm and illness. Luak Witchcraft isn't illegal in Dzeign'n, but it is heavily frowned upon and can land you in prison if misused. It's rare to find someone who can efficiently cast Luak curses since they come directly from the self, require intense concentration and willpower, and are incredibly tiring. But, unlike Ka'oq blessings, Luak curses are instantaneous, meaning that they are more versatile (although it would still be difficult to cast a curse in combat, due to the need for concentration).

The difference between a witch and a ke'i is like the difference between a Christian and an atheist. A witch can abandon their beliefs whenever they want and become a ke'i, just like how a ke'i can pick up witchcraft and become a witch whenever they want. There's nothing inside of witches that make them any different from a ke'i, it's just about what they believe and how they live their life.

There are a few other things that don't expressly relate to the magic system itself, like the Dzeign'n holidays, the complete, drawn-out history of the six deities, and stuff like that. But, those would take forever to explain and probably wouldn't help much when it comes to your own magic system anyways. Also, apologies if anything was confusing or didn't make sense.

OMG HI HI HI- As a person in LOVE with Lore and Magic systems in books let me introduce to P:COP’s!

I’ll be using the system that the home country my characters are from (Paxlion) because different countries on their planet do things differently!

In Paxlion there are 14 Tribes:
Fire
Time
Electricity
Earth
Water
Ice
Space
Love
Sun
Moon
Wind
Hate
Art
Music
A person, at the age of ten, gets a ‘Charm’. Charms are pieces of jewelry with a crystal in them that provide the magic of one of the above Tribes. (A Charm May be in reference to the jewelry piece and crystal, or just the crystal itself.) Essence is injected into the crystal (which is clear before filled) and into the Triber’s Blood. This allows use of the Power. (Fun fact: people on Mandé, the planet Paxlion is on, consider ‘magic’ and ‘power’ two different things. Magic would be like a magician, Power is your Tribal powers and Sides)
A Tribe (Or two, people with two Tribes are called Double Tribers or DTs. A lot of people don’t like them but they take up about half of Paxlion’s population.) is based on two things:
Personality or Genetics.
EachTribe has a certain personality trait found in most, if not all, people of that Tribe. If a person is very stubborn and strong willed they’ll Bear (another term used) an Electricity Charm.

‘But Rex, I’m not shallow! I show a lot of personality traits!’ I hear you say. Well, that happens too and it’s ok, that’s good! When a child shows a lot of different personality traits they’re either a Double Triber or their genetics are chosen from.
Such as if two Fire Tribers have a child who is very flexible like an Earth Triber, Accepting like Love Tribers, AND show traits of a Time Triber, that kid is going to be given a Fire Charm like their parents.
Sometimes genetics are chosen anyways, especially if both parents are of the same Tribe like the family I just mentioned. If a family has, say, a Sun Triber and a Music Triber as parents, then if the child gets a Charm based on genetics they would be given the Tribe most notable in the family. (Basically, More Sun Tribers = child is Sun Triber)

Clans also play into it. There are two Clans; Life and Death. Each of the Tribes are in one of the two.
Death has Fire, Ice, Space, Moon, Wind, Hate, and Art.
Life has Time, Electricity, Earth, Water, Love, Sun, and Music.
If the parents are both from the Life Clan then the child most likely also will be, and vise versa for Death. If they’re Bi-Clanial (Uh I just made that word up on the spot, not sure if that’d be an actual term lol) then the whole ‘whichever Tribe is more prominent’ thing takes over.

And I haven’t even gotten into the Sides yet.
There are two types of ‘Sides’ which are just the smaller side powers someone has.
Tribal Side: the Side every person in your Tribe has. Such as all Hate Tribers have Weapon Mastery: the ability to learn any use of any weapon just by touching it.(Since everyone can summon one weapon per Charm, they get to change theirs but others Tribers are stuck with the one their Charm gives them. What LOSERS lol)
Personal Side: The Side you get based on your personality. It’s a lot less common for people in the same Tribe to ‘Match’ as you think it would be! But some examples are: if you’re good at reading people you may have Lie Detecting, X-Ray Vision, or Power Potential Scanning. Someone seen as toxic on the other hand may have Pain Induction or Pathokinesis (the abilities to inflict pain and to make others cry/feel negative emotion)

Almost done! If you’re still reading thank you!!
Paxlion is ruled by a monarchy, so Kings and Queens and rulers and stuff. Now you may wonder; What about them? They’re more powerful…right?
And of course they are silly, duh!
There are two Charms the two rulers get! (There most certainly has been NB rulers, or two kings or two queens in the long long history of Paxlion.)
The Life Charm, which grants its Bearer the power to bring things back to life, heal, and create.
And the Death Charm, which grants the power to kill with a single touch, poison, and destroy things.
The Death Charm Bearer wears black and gold, and watches over the Tribers in the Death Clan. (Death Clan Tribers wear the color of their Tribe, black, gold, and gray.)
The Life Charm Bearer wears white and silver, and watches over the Tribers in the Life Clan. (Life Clan Tribers wear the color of their Tribe, white, silver, and gray.)

That’s all I can think of/want to write rn, I’m sure I’ll think of more and hate not mentions it but whatever lmao, thank you for reading!! I absolutely love my system, as complicated as it is 👌🏼

Me: not reading the original post until after
Me: realizes I answered none of those questions uhhh

okay so this is the first story I've written with anything close to a strict magic system, so here's what I've got
Is it one you can learn? or is it one that limited to certain people? Sort of? People can be born with natural magic ability, like Frog, Dick, and Vanessa, but it is a skill that can be taught. People who aren't born with natural ability won't be as powerful as natural-born magical people, similar to how born vampires have stronger powers than turn-vampires.
Do you need a specific tool/item to cast magic? or can people cast magic freely? Freely! No wands or anything, I thought it'd be annoying. You do need specific spells and most magical people have spellbooks to keep track of their spells.
Can you run out of magical abilities and need time to refresh? or is it an infinite resource available at any time? Uh, yes. Depending on your level of expertise, the length of time available to do magic changes, sort of like athletes. If you practice and you work hard, you have longer stamina, but if you don't practice and you have fewer skills, you only can perform spells for a short period of time before you run out of energy.

My stories "magic" is called kilotai. Kilotai can be practiced by anyone but it takes a long time for any results to so so many give up on it. Its more common for magical creatures to practice kilotai because they have a longer lifespan. Kilotai has only ever been mastered by The Gods because they are immortal and have all of eternity to build their skill.

Another way you can gain kilotai if if you are blessed / favored but a powerful being. These are referred to as gifts. Gifts can only be given by The Sun, The Moon, and Earth. The Sun and The Moon can only give gifts of their respective kilotai (magic that uses light/heat and magic that uses shadow/darkness). These gifts can range from complete mastery of the magic, a secret to learn the kilotai faster, or a way to have more energy for kilotai.

Earth can give gifts for any type of kilotai. Gifts from Earth are extremely powerful and are only igven if she sees its a way to move society forward.

awesomeeeee (did you draw that???)

ok, so-there are two types of magic. Theres Talent and Magick.

Talent- A Talent is something a Witch can be born with, (more often than not) more likely in Pure Witches (100% genetic witches), and none have been recorded in a Witch under 70%. Talents are natural abilities that show up between the ages of six and nineteen. Talents (typically) take much less Energy (Energy is like magical stamina) and can sometimes be second nature, or used accidentally. The most prevalent difference between Talent and Magick is that Talent magic is directly associated to the Witch who owns it. For example, Clove has a plant Talent, and can only generate new plants from himself, and can't for example, direct his hands at the ground and a full tree emerges. With a Talent, there would already have to be a seed in the ground and make contact with it somehow, but it would be more powerful than the average Magick spell. It would still take Energy, though, depending on the skill the Witch has with their Talent and the size of the spell.

Magick- Your classic wave-your-hands-around-and-cast-a-spell magic. Magick has to be learned and practiced, and usually takes up more Energy. Magick also tends to take a bit of a delay to cast. However, the types of Magick a witch can learn is unlimited, regardless of Talent.