forum Help with my Magic System - I don't want to seem like I am copying
Started by Tiarna
tune

people_alt 43 followers

Tiarna

I have a magic system similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender but I want it to be different. Basically people in this world can use magic consisting of seven elements; earth, fire, water, air, dark, light and spirit. Dark, light and spirit are mental elements are harder and more costly to perform while the other four are physical. People are born with the element drawn to them but can be born with connections to other elements as well however they have to learn them rather than being able to perform them on the spot. There are magical creatures that use some form of the elements, dragons are more connected to the elements and are considered powerful beings. Most of the magic doesn't require crazy movements like Avatar, just simple gestures unless you are using a lot of magic. People mostly incorporate their magic with their fighting and weapons, I guess I'm kinda thinking like the Force where it's not just magic but also weapon fighting. They can also make magical weapons and do things like light their swords on fire or have effects on arrows. Secondary elements like metal, lava and healing require more than one element to master. Say lava would take earth and fire to be able to use, having fire heat the earth up to a point where it becomes lava. Healing would take light and any physical element. Dark is more of a negative influence on the physical elements, being able to bring out destructive sides of the magic, darken areas, manipulate minds with spirit which is an extremely rare ability, it can also heal other dark magic attacks or dark creatures. Light is mainly used to heal, have positive effects on the physical elements and create light. The physical elements are similar to Avatar. Spirit is a connecting element that influences the mind and soul, it can be used with dark and light. Dark, light and spirit are draining elements so if you use them too much, you could die. Using the physical elements does not affect your energy unless you use a lot of magic then you can drain yourself. This is the basis of my magic system, I just want some ideas of how I can change if needed so it doesn't seem to much like Avatar. Also any suggestions are welcomed. Sorry if this is a lot, I don't know how else to simply explain my magic.

@WaffleWizard

Ok, yeah that was a lot.
First off, as you go along in developing your story it should branch further and further away from being just like Avatar.
My advise is to not worry about it so much. So long as you have differences and you use it differently it's ok.
(I don't want this to sound offending) But I'm just going to guess that this will, most likely, never be published. Which means that no one is going to use the heck out of you for copying them. (Plus they didn't invent the idea of controlling elements)
So just don't worry about it. Just let it develop and have fun!
Good luck!

@Yamatsu

Dude, I almost completely copied my elemental system, to begin with. I recommend either changing the rules or having a variety of uses for Bending just to make it seem different from the show itself.