Describe Your Magic System in a Few Sentences

This is only a conceptual magic system, but I may end up working on it

Essentially, friendship is magic

No, really.

Magic can only be preformed between two or more people with strong emotional bonds to one another. Whether they're romantic, platonic or bonds of blood relation, as long as there's a strong emotional connection, magic is possible.

edited 2nd Jul '13 7:17:48 AM by DarkbloodCarnagefang

Impress the universe enough to make it do what you want, and keep its attention, because Magic A is not Magic A, the rules are liable to change at any time, and aren't the same for different peoples or in different places. Also, do it where you won't get noticed, because two or three world-changing events are enough to make people suspicious enough of magicians already. Also... don't catch the attention of the Titans. Those guys are bad news.

Also, the existence of things like the afterlife, souls, lycanthropy and vampirism are distinct from magic which isn't even really supposed to be part of the universe at all.

Tweaked my system so it would be more accessible and lenient enough to apply to plot developments

Raw Sorcery or Natural Magic-

In this type of magic, the practitioner’s spirit resonates with ambient electromagnetic field of the earth and eventually the more energetic fields beyond the atmosphere.* This brings the amount of energy the person can obtain with their mana capacity from the far reaches of space, to within their general area, instantaneously. The influx of raw mana energy ionizes the air at a rate that generates a room-temperature plasma (35-40oC) called “mana plasma”. The plasma is an ionized gas that is light and airy, and is moldable by a person’s movements and internal flow. The applications of natural magic involve enhancing the force and speed behind movements, creating constructs, affecting EM fields, sanitizing areas of microorganisms, channeling bio-electric energy, etc. Although most of the natural properties of this cool plasma are bound to the laws of physics, mana plasma does have a few properties outside the norm. As the density can be changed with skill, increasing the amount can make it useful for concussive force as the mass is tossed around. The consistency of the object can be changed in different states, for example, it can be made into an amorphous glop that either hardens upon impact or absorbs the shock by staying soft, depending on the user’s skill. It can even be made to dissipate in explosion-like shockwaves without producing shrapnel. This kind of magic evolved as an extension of martial arts, particularly breathwork called qigong. Thus it seems that the best way to develop this ability is with qigong training, sensible since both rely on the body’s electromagnetic field as a component of their true potential. Also the particular techniques for this magic type are called skills, while in other magic types, they are called spells. It is the inherent ability of all species of humans in the setting, though the majority of the masses are currently unaware of this and the knowledge is only in a few places.

Ordered Spellcraft or Arcane Magic-

Source is General mana or the universal energy of existence present in all matter and energy, mainly undetected by most earth-based technology. It is a by-product of the creation of the universe as a near-invisible force that is generated and surrounds all places and things. The spirit linking part is similar to natural magic but raw mana has to be converted or ordered with the user’s intent and will before it can do a specific action. This can be done with various actions such as Sign (tracing a symbol in the air), Gesture (Specific Dances), Step (precise stances and walking), Ward (geometric mandalas made from glowing raw mana), Incantation (specific words and phrases), Rite (spell specific rituals), Focus (magic assisting device). It affects the caster’s world mainly by bending the current physical laws like the traditional idea of magic. The major limit is that Users are limited to defying the laws of physics, and cannot rewrite or manipulate universes themselves, save for artificially created pocket dimensions. (Gravity still pulls down, even if it takes a really long time to do so. Unless gravity in a confined area is reversed, then vice-versa.) Arcane Magic can often disregard certain observed scientific laws such as thermodynamics and energy conservation, but only as long as the spell is in effect or the source of it is supplying. Is used by Jinni; Faerie (Faye, Merfolk, Lamia); Kami; Dragons; Phoenix; and a few other arcane animals and plants

edited 9th Jul '13 6:31:04 PM by JDTcreates

Mana/Tao/Force/Dust/Energy, associated with life and the natural cycles. Magic is just applying it with your will, shaing the world with it.

I'd like to spice things a bit by making the elements/colours/whatever of magic more "greyish". Like the chinese conception of Yin and Yang, nothing is purely Yin or Yang, and there is a spectrum of alignment. Water, for example, is Yin but more Yang than Ice, the upper body is more Yang than the lower body but the lungs are more Yin than other organs in it. It's the same principle, but with more "things" besides light and dark.

I posted about this in the Post Your Concept thread in Writers Block. Anyway;

Magic is using cheat codes to the universe. Incantations are ways for ordinary people to access and alter the "programing" of reality to bend or break the laws of physics. The more complicated the desired affect, the more complicated the incantation. Most magic is temporary, but magic amulets allow for spells to be more permanent, since their crystalline structures can be altered to act like a code, and they make casting spells easier because of this. Magic circles that are drawn can also also help reduce the amount of incantation needed, and the best sorcerers only need will power to activate spells by thinking of them, but this takes a lot of practice and familiarity with the spells, and in any case, spells all require energy to cast, either from the caster or someone else, and the more complicated or power the desired effect, the more energy it costs.

This is kind of the way I see Tron and Tron Legacy work; we see it as a digital world from our perspective, but from the perspective of the programs inhabiting it, it can seem more like a fantasy world, and the Users, the gods of the system, are able to perform what to them may seem like great feats of magic, but to us, the users, it's just rewriting the code.

edited 30th Jul '13 10:10:36 AM by StarOutlaw

Right now I'm leaning towards a Magitek world where magic functions much like advanced technology. In fact like the electricity that powers our technology, magic can be used up and requires energy extracted from a special material (mana crystals?) in order to work. One example of magical technology that my world has is a form of long-distance communication resembling a Star Wars hologram.

Magic is essentially a scientific process that manipulates and accesses via one's focused will three known energy fields in different measures and makes use of the world's unique place in its cosmos to access other universes (or to construct pocket dimensions for various purposes; but most results have multiple ways of arriving at them, whether that means an alternate technique (e.g., ceremonial magic versus animism versus geomancy) or a differing approach (e.g., the scientific rigor of a laboratory versus the religious and ecstatic trance-states of desert nomads). But due to differing schools of thought, theory and practice, there are effective and ineffective methods for anything- shamans and alchemists are good at elemental manipulation, for instance, while sensors and empaths are better at mind-reading (though overuse of certain mind-based techniques or over-concentration on one type of energy can cause breakdowns and madness in those not naturally gifted). Certain regions are also known for having developed exceptional skills in specific disciplines, from imbuing weapons with hexes and raising the dead to charged tattooing and crafting servitors, but powerful sorcerers are kept track of very closely to prevent catastrophic disasters or power-grabs by hubristic despots, both past situations that have had terrible effects on the world before. Currently the best way to legitimately enter the magic arts is to attend one of three closely-regulated universities, though entry is difficult and training can be had for the right price in certain places, from among indigene nomads on the savannahs to dank back-alley emigrant tenements in dockyard neighborhoods.

edited 31st Jul '13 5:41:54 PM by theBuddySystem

1. People can only use magic if they have the Gift for it. The Gift is detectable since birth and is not hereditary. Chances to get it are about 1:1000, higher if parents are healthy (inc mental health) and well-fed, lower otherwise. Certain very difficult and costly rituals can artificially create it in a person, as can deals with sufficiently powerful demons. This is very rare, but will explode in popularity throughout the 20+ year span of the story.

2. It's easy to do basic spells, with uneducated or child gifted often inventing the same cantrip independent of each other, but more complex and powerful ones require extensive knowledge of geometry and natural sciences, and precision drawing is needed to perform them well. Also there are sometimes verbal components.

3. There are 3 types of magic which depend on different states of mind / emotions / attitudes to use to the fullest extent of one's gift: White Magic, Pure Magic and Black Magic AKA The Dark Arts. These all excel at what you'd expect, with the Dark Arts being the most explored and detailed due to the protagonist using them.

4. Most practitioners are familiar with the theory of all 3 branches but will only use one, as they need to maintain the associated attitude and outlook in life and trying to use more than one branch pollutes your Gift, making it weaker.

5. Magic is relatively weak, its main appeal being the ability to do stuff that goes against the laws of nature and/or what is possible with the medieval tech available. Large scale spells are possible but require a lot of mages working together for variable lengths of time, even decades, just like mundane large-scale projects. It's almost unheard-of for a mage to be able to kill an ungifted with magic alone, and very hard to do on another mage also (more below).

6. The more magic is involved in an object's existence the more susceptible to further magic it is: Gifted are more susceptible than Muggles, the widely-used "construct-horses" buildable by all 3 branches are more susceptible than natural horses, etc.

edited 18th Aug '13 12:03:34 PM by rottenvenetic

Magic revolves around a material known as aether. Some people ("Casters") and creatures can control aether telepathically, and use it as a middleman through which they can manipulate their environment.

The actual spellcasting process is, essentially, programming. You can input every step of the process manually (example: apply [force] with [direction, intensity] at [target]), but it's tedious and very possible to lose track. Therefore, you assign functions: teach your mind to cast a pre-set sequence of commands after a specific trigger. Detailed example-

There are different types of trigger; the two most common are motion and spoken casting. Both are pretty much Exactly What It Says on the Tin: motions/gestures (compare bending in the Avatar-verse) or spoken incantations (compare magic in the Harry Potter-verse, wands optional). Most spells use a combination of the two— you can yell "Fireball!", but it won't do you much good if you can't point your finger to aim it at something. There are other, less conventional methods, but that's a subject for another time.

edited 20th Aug '13 9:25:24 PM by Blueeyedrat

I'm fairly certain I should revise mine since it's based on easily disproven pseudoscience, but I'll try:

1. Abilities differ based primarily on one's location in the multiverse. Any abilities used must have some degree of probability of occuring in the current dimension. This (sadly) leads to a lot of repeat powers.

2. The laws of conservation of mass and energy are observed (on Earth and similar worlds), though energy is harvested by people with abilities through means that we cannot (e.g. through light sources or pulling energy out of another dimension)

3. For the purposes of abilities on Earth, the primary setting, a user must be in contact with both a power source (usually light) and a shadow, since shadows are basically portals to people able to utilize them.

4. The ins and outs of an ability must be known before its use. Shapeshifters have to know every form they're going to take down to the molecule in order to be able to use it without experiencing Body Horror, for example

5. Creatures outside their dimensions bring over the logic and physics from their world to project into the world they're going to in the form of a small field around them which slowly warps everything within it. Powers from either plane may be used in these fields, but the fields slowly dissolve if the extradimensional being dies. As a result of interdimensional inertia, an extradimensional being killed and taken out of its own field will slowly return to its own world.

6. No one is born with "powers" in any dimension. All abilities gained are the result of appropriating the logic and physics from another world into one's own within the bounds of what the individual world is able to maintain. In order to gain these abilities, a being must have the means by which to travel to another dimension and a body structure resistant enough to do so, so powers are incredibly rare.

I think that's few enough...

edited 23rd Aug '13 7:38:41 PM by DeviousRecital

I've recently worked out two magic systems for my conworld which I'm not sure about using, because I want my world to be pretty realistic, but it doesn't really matter anyway because Magic A is pretty difficult to do right and Magic B is pretty boring.

Magic A is strongly based around Theurgy in that it involves summoning spirits and getting them to do things for you, which is easier said than done. Spirits exist in a weird alternate dimension to ours that connects at certain places and times more than other, so summoning a spirit usually involves just doing something really fucked up at one of these places or times that is bound to catch the attention of any interdimensional passers-by. These rituals can be anything from a blood sacrifice to a really good performance of a spirit's favorite song. There are loads and loads of books about which spirits can be summoned at which times at which places with which rituals, but ultimately spirits are capricious beings who operate on a Blue-and-Orange Morality system. Sometimes they don't show even though the Sorcerer in question does everything right, and sometimes they'll appear for any random traveler who has just chanced upon their haunting grounds.

Once the spirit has been summoned, the sorcerer must make some sort of a deal with them. Sometimes the spirit will just turn up and offer the Sorcerer something just for performing the ritual correctly, but mostly the spirit demands something in return for doing something for the sorcerer. For example, he may want someone dead, and killing is an easy enough task for a decent-powered spirit. In return, however, the Sorcerer may have to, say, build a Shrine on the spirit's land or kidnap someone so the spirit can inhabit their body for a time before returning to their ethereal form.

Ultimately, no one know why spirits even bother doing things for anyone, since they don't inhabit the material realm and thus no material goods the sorcerer gives to the spirit end up being of any sort of use. The leading theory is that spirits do what they do simply for the lulz.

The other form of magic, Magic B isn't even though of as anything magical by the inhabitants of my world, and there is no clear boundary between it and science. It is essentially Alchemy, though not much can be done with it. Mostly, those who practice this form of magic are old women in certain villages spread around the world who happen to know of the recipes for certain draughts whose effects we would consider "magical" such as curing someone of a disease at an unnatural speed or giving someone heightened awareness. However, while these draughts are very reliable, they often don't do much more than generate a placebo effect, and many of the recipes are pure claptrap.

edited 2nd Sep '13 12:49:00 AM by Isanos

Hm.

Magic can definitely be studied and learned by a muggle if given enough time and given an appropriately capable teacher. Of course, humanity is less capable of magic than Angels, Luciferians and Old Demons(via natural magical capabilities) as well as Undead(via simply them having much more time to learn). The exception from this rule are super-humans, described later.

Magic itself is divided into a number of "schools":

• Chaos Magic - Where every mage starts. The most versatile of schools, but also the one that takes a long time to truly master. It can do most various of stuff that's usually not covered by other schools. Most mages tend to learn it for a bit before shifting to a suitable school.
• Elemental Magic - Divided into Fire, Air, Earth, Water and Tetra(all four elements combined), it's a classical "throw-a-fireball" magic. An elemental mage tends to pick only one or two of the subgroups. It should be noted that this magic lets you manipulate an existing element rather than create it out of nowhere. To throw this aforementioned fireball, you'd need some flame as a catalyst.
• Necromancy - About as classical as it gets, though it also involves a vast knowledge about anatomy and an introduction to Healing Magic(described later). Generally frowned upon as "the dark art", though there are no restrictions about using it other than your own judgment.
• Chronomancy - An advanced and highly specialized school that deals with time itself, allowing to alter it to user's will. Its applications are however limited: time cannot be receded, only stopped and fastened. There is only a handful of chronomancers as it is, considering this school requires immense amounts of power, self-control and the likes.
• Healing Magic - A classical "mend-wounds" magic, highly priced for obvious reasons. It can revive the dead, though it's a very difficult, time-consuming and can result in a nasty backfire.
• Summoning Magic - A school of magic that allows a mage to summon a being to do their bidding. It's divided into Angelology, Demonology(Classical for Old Demons and Luciferian for Luciferians), Golem-Making and Scientia Abyssi, regarding a certain race of creatures that only the bravest and the dumbest dare to try and tame.
• Divine Magic - Considered a pinnacle of what a mage can learn, this is basically a power of creation with some heavy limitations. This allows you to make things out of thin air. All you need is a thought and a suitable amount of power to create it. Amongst mortals, there is only a handful that can use it even remotely effectively.
• Personal Magic - A specific school of magic that grants its user a "passive" effect. It can be anything, ranging from Super-Strength to an ability to wield other magicks without effort. It's a "school" exclusive to super-humans that are all born with some amount of Personal Magic(there's roughly a 0,5 - 1 % chance for a super-human to be born. Family trees with more of them in their ranks are more likely to have another super-humans).

Each use of magic disrupts The Equilibrium, though Chronomancy, Divine Magic and certain forms of Healing Magic(most notably revivals) do this the most. It is said that once The Equilibrium is off the rails, something will happen that might cause The End of the World as We Know It. There is also a belief that reckless magi who abuse their powers and cause even more disruption are being hunted down by a bio-construct known as Necromancer, though nobody can confirm this. It's more likely they get power-mad and eventually blow themselves up due to magical overload.

Rumours mean it's actually happening, right? Or something like it...

anyway, I have a few pointers:

1.Magic is drawn form the Howling realm, an alternate-universe that is multiple galaxies in size. A maelstrom of whiling power, it's MUCH denser and energy rich than our own universe, but is hurled around at effectively faster-than light speeds. (This also behind faster-than-light travels, which is a useful handwave as it's literally magic. The hard part is SURVIVING the howling realm for extend periods.)

2. Magic is used though certain biochemical and enzymes that effetely make tiny channels to the realm, allowing one to draw forth it's power: these are known as gate-proteins. In this way, magic obeys conservation of mass/energy, as well as entropy. Gate proteins, like all life, evolve randomly: theirs is little telling what world will or will not evolve species with them.

3. All magic is visceral: you probably can't throw a fireball, but you can give yourself a fire-bladder and breathe it instead. It's generally simpler to stab people with bone spires, but some workarounds include making species that involve fire in their metabolism...

4. Some spells require a genetic lock: this included shapeshifting into a specific species, or targeting curses. Species can be made wholecloth or fused, but this requires much trial and error, and is an exacting process.

5. While any species can use magic, the pinnacle of it are the species of artificers. These rare thaumatrges have their own limit: they each have a certain obsession, such as candy or taxidermy, and all of their creations and spells must work with and not against that.

edited 9th Sep '13 4:17:46 AM by doorhandle

I'm actually a little torn on the matter. I don't know whether to make Necromancer an actual being, only a myth or a being that is far less impressive than described. Then again, it's not a suitable thread to further discuss this matter. ^^;

From the Wizarding School webcomic I'm working on, my magic system is as follows:

Magic is an umbrella term for any supernatural means to influence the world around oneself. Out of such means, the three most common are called Powers, Spells and Invocation, respectively.

The simplest of these are Powers, which are any magical ability inherent to a species, such as a werewolf's shapeshifting or a dragon's Breath Weapon. Such abilities are as natural for a species as walking is for a human, and do not require to be “learned” to use, although they may require training and practice to fully master.

Spells are arguably the most complex method of magic, requiring a combination of words of power, the caster's own mana (see below), and understanding of the natural world in order to function. First and foremost, while most sentient magical species are capable of using spells, as well as their own powers, humans require to be born with what is known as “the Gift” in order to do so. It is not known for sure what makes some humans Gifted and others not, although many theories on the matter exist, ranging from ancestry from magical species to an as of yet unmapped gene to being “chosen” by a deity. The first step of spellcasting is the caster's Mana. The caster must learn to control the flow of their mana, synchronize it with the mana of the world around them, and release it in different ways allowing them to influence their surroundings. However, not everyone possesses the fine-tuned control required for this, and require aids, such as words of power. “Words of power” is actually a misnomer, as the words themselves do not possess any power. There is no word that automatically launches a fireball from one's hand when spoken. What these words do is help the caster visualize the spell's end result and help them control their mana in the way they need to cast that spell. In fact, a talented enough caster can cast spells with no words at all. Most magic schools standardize this component of spellcasting by teaching students certain words for certain spells, most commonly words and phrases in dead languages (so that no one burns down the school by saying the word, “fire”), but any word, even completely made up words, will work for a spell as long as the caster associates it with the spell strongly enough. Finally, spells require a clear scientific understanding of what the caster wants to do. For instance, one won't be able to cast a healing spell if they don't know how the human body's natural healing processes work. This is why there are far less instances of great acts of spellcasting being performed prior to the Scientific Revolution than people like to imagine.

Invocation is the art of harnessing another entity's powers, either by entering a contract with said entity allowing you to do so, or by binding it into servitude by learning its true name. As the invoker is having another entity do all the work for them, this would seem to be the least costly method, but it is also the most dangerous, whether because of the invoker eventually having to carry out their end of the bargain (which are more often than not less than savoury affairs), or the all too real possibility of a bound entity breaking free and killing its former master for any and all indignities suffered by their hand.

Magic is powered by mana, the energy of life itself. Mana flows through everything in nature, from people to animals, from plants to rivers, from mountains to mineral deposits to the planet itself. The mana of all things are connected, and because of such connections, the amount of mana something possesses is greatly affected by how much power and influence it possesses. Because of this, a world leader or notorious outlaw will possess a great amount of mana, as will an iron deposit a nation relies on for industry, or a volcano that has caused great death and destruction with its eruptions. Things closely connected to sources of great mana, such as the child of that same world leader, or a weapon made from that iron deposit, will also possess a large pool of mana themselves. However, the amount of mana in anything is finite, and can be consumed by casting spells. It is possible for a caster running low on mana to syphon it directly from their surroundings, but things are often adversely affected by having mana forcefully removed from them. For instance, plants will wither, water will go stagnant, metals will corrode, people and animals will become sick, and so on. Finally, completely exhausting one's supply of mana will can have dire consequences. Known symptoms of mana deprivation in humans include debilitating exhaustion, catatonia, depression symptoms, and in severe cases, irreparable brain damage or death.

...I'm not good at keeping things brief.

edited 29th Aug '14 8:37:41 PM by MapleSamurai

my magic system basically works as a donor system...2nd hand magic i guess.

someone has to have the original power (and since this world doesnt have anyone like that these people have to be lifted from alternate timelines) and they basically need to donate their power to this magic system to be reworked into a system of magic they agree with, which can then be used by anyone (unless theres a mitigating factor). of note is that the magic that results only has to have one major similarity to the base power, and can end up very different from the original.

4 systems of magic currently:

• Fire magic: created by the fire god of the southern theocracy. whereas his magic is volatile and explosive he preferred to give his followers something more controlled and and elegant. cast by german hymn; concentration spell, though the spirit spell is constant and has its own dispel word. the only requirement for this magic's fire is air, though traditional fuel allows it to flare up for whatever purpose. Can only be used by members of the theocracy that have the fire god's explicit permission.
• Illusion magic: the craftman's boon, illusion magic is controlled through idols and has an upper limit for being in use; 12 hours. the exact time spent using the idol then has to be spent waiting for it to recharge. the spell has unique cast and dispel words for every idol that can be cast by anyone within earshot of the user, and perfect illusions are not allowed and they have to have an intentional flaw; the craftsmen usually just branch their idols instead of create intentional flaws.
• Gravity magic: three types; the demon race that use this do so naturally, as long as they are above a certain weight. humans method is undecided right now, but its a concentration spell that makes it hard to use. the 3rd use, for objects, is calculation based with tags to mark what specific aspect of the result to disable.
• Barrier magic: the oldest magic system, barriers come in two types: static and mobile; the former is generally stronger but less flexible. both types are created with "triggers", objects inside the barrier in which a programming language carved in that tells the barrier how to work and what to let through or not. mobile barrier's triggers have to be in the center and any force the barrier experiences is transferred directly to the trigger, destroying it if strong enough. the trigger can be of any material and size as long as the program can be accurate written on it, and the material and size will affect its strength. the original user can create barriers with just his thoughts, allowing him to create barrier types impossible by the magic system, though as a result he's significantly less precise.

edited 29th Aug '14 11:40:29 PM by Tarsen

Magic is based on the five classic elements (earth, air, fire, water, quintessence) plus necromancy. Each element has three sub-elements. Magic is accessed by using Mana and force of will to impose your instructions on the natural world; Mana itself is created through the resonance between natural deposits of Mythril and Orichalcum. For most races, this is a pleasant experience-it's quite the power rush to make physics sit down and cry. However, for humans, it's like a punch in the stomach- which is the real reason magicians carry staffs. Side effects of using magic include bouts of weakness, migraine/cluster headaches, vomiting, and coughing fits. Due to this restriction, humans prefer guns-which are on the level of Excalibur in power, due to being designed by god himself and granted to their Messianic Archetype.

Magic branches and those who study them

• Earth, Metal and Wood-Magineer
• Air, Lightning, and Mist-Galecaller
• Fire, Plasma, and Ashes-Incineratus
• Water, Ice, and Cleansing-Aquarian
• Necromancy, Blood, and Void-Necromancer
• Chaos, Entropy, and Surprise-Quintessor
• Theoretical seventh branch

edited 18th Oct '14 3:47:50 PM by dvorak

Magic can only be used by Arcane beings (Eldritch Abomination Pure Magic Beings from another dimension called Manaspace) or hybrids descended from them. Wizards/Mages/Sorcerors/anybody that can use magic are all part Arcane, just with very diluted blood.

Magic powers are obtained at birth and are set. They can vary from elemental powers to matter manipulation to super empowering to Reality Warping, but it generally involves breaking of the laws of physics. The magic user needs knowledge on said laws of physics to use their powers properly and skilfully (e.g. Calia, a solid manipulator can create, move, and destroy solids or transmute any form of matter into any solid of choice. She has knowledge of thermodynamics, chemistry and molecular structure to create solids or transmute matter. Math and spatial reasoning are needed to shape and direct her attacks)

Children will usually gain the powers of the parents- if both parents have different powers, the child will usually get both, but at a weaker level of the parent. Rarely, they may get an entirely different set of powers.

Spells are cast via manipulation of Mana, an intangible gas-like energy that saturates Manaspace. Stronger spellcasters can use weaker spells as a Thought-Controlled Power, while stronger spells require gestures. Spells are not line-of-sight, although the user needs good spatial reasoning to make sure the spell is generated from or hits in the right place.

Anyone who is 1/4 Arcane and above has a strong connection to Magispace/Manaspace, which allows them to passively "produce" Mana by drawing it from there. However, this comes at a cost- sentient souls are required to keep this connection. Those who are less than 1/4 Arcane are unable to produce Mana, and must draw it from the surroundings, but they also don't have to eat souls.

Mana

• It's the SI unit for magic energy.
• Mana Density is the amount of Mana in 1 metre cube of area. (Mana/m^3)
• Mana Capacity is the maximum amount of Mana that an object can store. Different materials can store different amounts, and people who have more Arcane blood can store more.
  • Fun fact: This is the reason why RPG characters have a maximum Mana value.
• Mana can be drawn from the user or from surroundings to be used in spells.
• In its natural form, Mana moves somewhat like a gas, but it can be absorbed by solids, in which case it circulates through the object.

edited 1st Sep '14 6:56:36 AM by ironcommando

Magic is just a way of bending the laws of physics. Most people use it as a system of recipes and techniques, but you can also reverse-engineer it or even just create your own effects. The better you understand the physical laws, the easier it is to get more impressive effects.

On Muttra, magic comes from the Spectrum, the nine color-worlds that surround the world of mortals. In order to use magic, most mortals have to imbibe special liquors that enable them to see where the Spectrum pokes through and gather the right colored energies to form the desired spell. A healing spell, for instance, requires summoning energy from the Verdant, the world of life and generation, while a destructive spell might call upon the Crimson, the world of blood and predation. It's very complicated, and thus most mortals don't bother with it.

From Lucas & Lace, the novel series I've been working on for a few years:

• Wizards perform magic by reciting spells. They often carry wands, staffs, rings, and other objects that have had spells cast on them, and stored in them, before. In terms of raw power they are at the low end of the scale, but in terms of versatility and ability to cast more than one spell at once, they are near the top (largely because once they cast a spell, it becomes self-sustaining until they cancel it).

• Mages have innate magic, stored within their body. As the mage approaches puberty the magic builds up; if not released it can permanently warp, or even kill the mage. Once released the mage can manipulate their magic in any way they see fit. They have more force at their disposal than wizards, but have fewer options available to them, and can't work as many spells at once—they can only do as many things as they have energy to pour into it.

• Witchcraft involves using somebody else's soul to fuel your spells. It is incredibly powerful (one warlock holds off most of the Wizards' Guild and Mages' Guild at one point) and has a massive area effect, but requires constant sacrifices to maintain. Additionally, a witch or warlock can only cast one spell at a time; if they transfer the souls to a different spell, the original one collapses.

• Sorcery involves the manipulation of the chaos that Demons bring into the world. How powerful a sorcerer is depends on how powerful any Demons in the area are; unsurprisingly, most sorcerers are Demons.

edited 9th Sep '14 10:10:09 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Bullshit Rule of Cool.

There's a network of worlds: each one has subtly different physical laws. Datapoints are sparse but it seems that worlds with local laws allowing both advanced electronics and high-thaum magic are relatively rare; thus a device that functions off thaums or transistors may not work from one world to another. (If you think about it, a scientific calculator or a smartphone is no less wondrous than a summoning grid.)

The real fun comes in the connection system between the worlds: L-space, the Library of Babel (or, depending on your local culture, the Unseen University, the Orne Stacks, or the Great Library of Celeano). Entering L-Space from a given node isn't too hard, though discovering those nodes can be tricky. The real trick is coming back out alive: L-space may look like a winding series of library bookcases, but it is littered with the bones of interlopers and unwary wanderers who've managed to get lost within a single corridor. Attempts at cataloguing the bookshelves have been frustrating: there are patterns to how the contents of the shelves change around, but figuring those out have been the priority of several different research groups for several years now, to little success.

For the prevailing theory among the researchers is also the most potentially frightening: the library is alive, with the bookshelves and corridors as its nervous system. The corridors that it deigns to let us monkeys of flesh and blood traverse are only a tiny fraction of a tremendous, multiverse-spanning computer, simulation spaces through the virtualized brain of a being vast enough to bridge universes, its thoughts and memories contained in the untold lightyears of bookshelves and the time- and space-folding anomalies that allows a person to take a shortcut from Unseen University in the heart of Ankh-Morpork to a dingy bookshelf in an instance of a Nairobi alleyway, or the oxygen-poor atmosphere in a bleak tower on a nameless planet orbiting a dead star—or, conversely, to a recursion trap of time and space that feeds in on itself with no escape, or a long drop into a dimension where 'the very concept of pain is considered a fascinating research topic by the natives'. There are a lot of ways to refer to such a being.

"God" is one of them.

Don't get it angry.

Your system reminds me of my own fictional universe, which contains a multiverse separate from existence itself that connects itself to the omniverse. This multiverse (known as Metaspace) is like a sentient program filled with different realms containing information-like beings, and is said to govern the laws of physics, abstract concepts and... higher-level information. It also allows traversing between time-space and universes, which is how the bad guys operate.

edited 9th Sep '14 4:41:51 PM by ironcommando

I'm a big enough fan of spy fiction to go for stories where the group up to shady, classified, and very often morally questionable actions is probably the good guys. The emphasis on a story revolving around such a setting is how the inhabitants of those universes so connected would respond to this new source of power.