Magecraft and Stuff

Ok, so I'm new here, and I need some criticism and advice on my magic system. Magic comes from three different sources: Mana, a personal pool of magical energy within each sentient being, and the Animus, the magical energy drawn from the Background Magic Field which is like the Force. The two are interchangeable, though it is very difficult to use Animus for long periods of time, and even more so if it is used in tandem with Mana, i.e., using both Mana and Animus to enhance your strength.

Everybody in the setting's society can use magic, though the what they can do is limited by the size of their mana reservoir, as in the amount of mana they have. Anybody who uses spells have a special intangible organ called an Ether Core, which is essentially both a heart/engine/CPU and the container for the Mana. The ether core regulates the mana flow and output, which can be increased or decreased depending on the situation. The Ether Core can be replenished simply by resting yourself safely, though it can be impeded by illnesses. It also has a record of every spell a mage casts in their life time.

The Cores can grow and develop, given enough training, as in the mage gains more mana to utilize. The training is usually a combination of mental discipline and physical exercises. In addition, an Ether Core can get damaged, and if it does, its regulation goes haywire, not unlike a flamethrower without a safety valve, and if is left untreated, they may die. If the Ether Core gets removed or destroyed, it can regenerate or regrow a new one. It is entirely possible to live without an Ether Core.

Now on to how a spell is cast. To cast a spell, first a mage must gather the Mana in his body, shape the mana into the spell the mage requires, and then aim and release it into the general direction. Think of it like loading a gun, aiming it, and firing. Of course some spells require prerequisites, such as a specific time, place, target, caster, skill, or belief.

Mana can be imbued into objects, which is like filling a bottle with water. It can be used as emergency resources if a mage runs out of mana.

So that's all I have so far. I request advice, criticism, tips, and questions, please.

Does the Ether Core take Animus and metabolize it into Mana?

What is the process of imbuing something with Mana? Does it create a sort of imitation Ether Core in an inanimate object, or does it re-structure the existing Animus in the object so the magic flows like Animus-Mana-reAnimus, with reAnimus being more compatible with Mana (sort of like how the invention of cooking was essentially digesting food outside the body)?

And when the Ether Core has a memory of spells, is it possible to imbue an object with a specific Mana spell? If so, can that be re-absorbed as Mana by anybody or only the caster or would the caster be accidentally casting something like a fireball on themselves if they try to eat their fire wand with their Ether Core?

edited 26th Mar '15 3:31:00 AM by Faemonic

How an Ether Core refills itself is much like the water cycle. When you cast a short-term spell, like a fireball, the mana used to perform the spell would fill the air, and after a while it will be converted into Animus, just like evaporation. On the other hand, an Ether Core will take in ambient Animus from the surroundings in order to refill only the Ether Core. Too much of it, however, will cause Animus poisoning, requiring you to bleed off the excess energy.

On how the object is imbued with Mana, yes it does create an artificial Ether Core for the object, requiring ritual magic, to make it happen. However, these objects are usually just there to store Mana and in order to fill the artificial Core, it must use Mana itself from a mage, not Animus. Futhermore, they are used as Amplifier Artifacts or as a Power Source.

On the subject of imbuing spells into objects, yes objects can be enchanted to use magical abilities, though they by themselves are not filled with raw Mana. Think about it like this raw Mana is basically random data running through a computer. Spells are those same data translated in order for the computer to work properly. Enchanted items have prerequisite to be fulfilled, such as lineage, where it can be used, the time of day it can be used, etc. Also, the spell can be reprogrammed to become a different spell, and the spell can be deconstructed into Mana for the one holding it to absorb. Granted, I'm not a genius in computer science, so the analogy might not fit. But if it helps, think of the enchanted item as an electrical appliance and the user as the outlet. Hope this clears things up.

(..."Sky Haven Path 13 from Little Rock, Ar" sounds like a story in and of itself .)

Does "everyone can use magic" mean "everyone does use magic"? The system itself seems fine, but a society where everyone essentially has a literal "firearm" of varying strength at their beck and call, sounds less pleasant than Westeros when alcohol and the resulting drunken magefights are involved.

("Drunken Magefight" is a nice bandname, I think.)

For that matter, what use is Good Old Fisticuffs in a setting where magic is more powerful and plentiful in every meaningful way?

edited 7th Apr '15 10:55:50 AM by DeusDenuo

Everyone does use magic, but there are certain types of magic that are explicitly dead, such as resurrecting the dead as your army.

Ok, maybe the gun metaphor was too extreme. The gun metaphor really only applies during combat situations. I guess it's more like putting in batteries in a remote, deciding which buttons to press, and pressing the buttons, though that's a flawed metaphor in itself.

As for Good Old Fisticuffs, most of the cast are Magic Knights or Kung Fu Wizards, while most mages require a staff or similar objects to help them focus their spells, and some of them require chanting a series of words in order to correctly cast a spell efficiently. Besides, the the technology is somewhat futuristic. Basically I'm combining as many Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, and Science Fiction Tropes as I can. It has dragons, gods, paladins, and the like. But it also has holograms, airships like the ones from Asura's Wrath, a magic internet, Satellites which can fire lasers from orbit, portal systems which act like airports, laser blades, genetic engineering, artificial humans, robots and A.I.s, Floating cities, cyborgs... but no interplanetary travel or aliens. Along with modern firearms.

On a side note, my protagonist has Anti-Magic but gains the ability to use magic as well, with the condition being he has to switch off his Anti-Magic, but has the ability to turn back again. What do you think?

edited 20th Apr '15 6:38:17 PM by SkyHavenPath13

How do you "shape" a spell? Is it learned ahead of time or can you spontaneously create unique spells on the fly?

It's a bit of both actually. Theoretically, you can create new unique spells, it just won't be as effective as you thought it would be and it may blow up in your face. Take a few months to refine it, and it would reach the level you would expect it to have. But generally, learning magic spells requires you to study hard and practice, unless you have a secret skill that bypasses the time it takes to practice, i.e. Power Copying.

I would make the Anti-Magic as deliberately rare as you can, and certainly not something the protagonist can have. (In fact, I'd even recommend making it a MacGuffin!) The reason being, it gives the character a way to stay safe under (ideally very specific) conditions, and you probably don't want your guy being able to walk through the middle of a Mage War like C-3PO and R2-D2 aboard the Tantive IV - just with physical as well as narrative Plot Armor! Giving him that and actual magic is a joke - why not have him start at Level 20 as well?

No, I'd under-arm him to Gordan Freeman levels, and force him to work his way up.

As for the magic itself, I'd make it something that is incredibly difficult to craft into a useful spell - but once the research is done and the user knows what to imagine and how, their only limitation is their Animus Reserve or whatever you're calling it. This restores the "gun" analogy: pretty much anyone can cast a simple attack and defense spell, but it takes (military) training to cast a Magic16-Animus4 spell. Gun control then takes the shape of denying individuals the ability to imagine certain spells - and yes that's meant to be as disturbing as it sounds.

(This does not preclude a Manauser from training their abilities as physical attacks, since that doesn't require a Imagined Form.)

But I would keep an eye on where the balance between tech and magic is. Why use one or the other at all, if the first is present and the second has start-up costs? Maybe Mana isn't easily recharged in most people, and Animus is rare, so tech quickly supplants magic in regions where there wasn't much to begin with?

Either way, I wouldn't dump every trope into the story. For each trope you include, you have to justify why it's included; if you include too many, you'll spend more time explaining (through plot or directly) than actually having your characters do anything...

Yeah, well here's the thing. Yuri's (my main character's) AntiMagic suffers from Power Incontinence. He can't turn it off, until at least midway through the series.There are also several limitations: It can't instantly negate extremely powerful magic, nor anything that can beat it's cancellation speed. He can't be affected by beneficial magic. It can't protect him the effects of magic i.e. shrapnel. It also isn't quite as good around mental magic. He has a healing factor good enough to regenerate from bullet wounds, but it requires one to remove said bullets. Major injuries such as losing an arm requires a week before it can completely be grown back, and he can still die of blood loss. And he will have to relearn how to use the arm, any way. He can still die from disease, or if he gets decapitated. And most of the antagonists have won the Superpower Lottery like you wouldn't believe it, and yes they do take advantage of their powers, and they avert [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?]] trope. And his Anti-Magic is Contact-based.

On the Bright side, however: Touching a mage, causes them not able to use their powers, negate healing factors and immortality. He can throw back any powerful magical attack, since it isn't instantly dispelled. His powers can't be perfectly replicated. It can evolve. And the ability itself is actually a seal preventing him from using his own magic source. He can switch between magic and anti-magic, though it takes 30-60 secs. before he can do it again. Though if he does switch from magic to Anti-magic, it kills off all of his active spells. Later, he can use magic and anti-magic at the same time, though this is very dangerous. He's also very Genre Savvy, a Combat Pragmatist, and very paranoid.

There maybe more I forgot.

edited 18th Apr '15 5:13:52 AM by SkyHavenPath13

Even with that further explanation of the Anti-Magic, he might be a notch too powerful because he has both Anti-Magic and spellcasting.

My suggestion? Make him an Un-Sorcerer. That way, while powerful, able to take more damage than the 'average' person and being able to cancel out enemies' powers at close range, he's less versatile and has less ranged combat options than a straight up spellcaster and needs to get really creative to fully take advantage of his powers.

It's more this: He can't use spell-casting and Anti-magic at the same time until 8/10 through the series. And before that it's more of an on/off type of thing, with a 30-60 second gap before he can switch back again. And should he be cursed, like say turned into a girl or a child, or anything like that, while in his magic form, he can't switch back, until he returns to normal. When he does switch to Anti-Magic, he'll have to kill off his spells. And besides even in his Dual power mode, if he leaves on too long, it will decay both his Healing Factor and Anti-Magic. During the time he uses magic, it grows a Super-Powered Evil Side.

His Anti-Magic isn't quite as good when dealing with Mental Magic.

And like I said, his opponents won the Superpower Lottery like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking Nasuverse, Jo Jo, and Index level of hax, with Saiyan Saga DBZ level of fire-power. And they are Kung Fu Wizards.

edited 18th Apr '15 5:28:49 AM by SkyHavenPath13

Okay, I'll admit that evens the odds a teensy bit, and I will commend you for working out how Anti-Magic works in your setting and not making it the Story-Breaker Power ii is when it usually shows up in fantasy. I'll be interested to hear more more of your project.

Just to give you an idea of what he went up against: You have this artificial angel. Not only does she have lightning magic, she also has a Hyperspace Arsenal, allowing her to hold a million knives and throw them out Gate of Babylon style. On top of that, she's as fast as lightning, with the reflexes necessary, can fly, has an Always Accurate Attack spell, create portals to teleport attacks, such as a Wave-Motion Gun, can dish out a Wave-Motion Gun Nanoha herself would be jealous of, is Nigh-Invulnerable except for certain things, can teleport herself similar to Minato Namikaze, except she can also teleport others to her, if they bear her sigil, has a spell that is similar to Libra, create her own knives out of Aether, has razor wings, and to top it all off: can stop time.

It's as insane as it sounds. Granted Yuri had obtained the ability to use both magic and anti-magic, so it's not exactly what you think.

edited 18th Apr '15 3:27:45 PM by SkyHavenPath13

HOLY CRAP, that's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann levels of batshit over-the-topness right there! So you're right, your hero probably needs all the help he can get.

Haha! Spread the word. And that's just one character.

Here's another character. Name's Kain Lightsworn. One of the most broken people in the verse. What does he do? Let me put it this way: He's this verse's counter to Accelerator. Do you want to continue?

...but then, why would a God-Tier character give even half a damn about Underpowered Citizen #18042015053932, even if he's ineffectively trying to kill her?

(The solution there is to teleport in a non-magical mountain on top of him. Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies. Or to put out a bounty for Yuri; if the Anti-Magic is that rare, any blip on the radar is a major threat and should be dealt with disproportionately.)

Also, does your Expy still need to breathe?

edited 19th Apr '15 6:23:05 PM by DeusDenuo

I have this story concept inspired Water Margin (at least the 108 protagonists aspect) and Sons Of Winter And Stars. In it there are multiple groups of magic, two of which I have already worked out:

• The first of the magic that a group/species called "Asters" have. It is basically an anchantment that allows access to Star Power and Light 'em Up spells, but also grants a Lovecraftian Transformation (and can stack with other transformation such as Lycanthropy) making them Humanoid Abominations (or in a few cases Animalistic Abominations) and granting them Contexctual forms of immortality. The unique spells are used by chanting an eldritch language which they automatically do upon thinking of the spell, and without need of prior knowledge
• Alchemy. which kinda works differently from what you'd expect from Fullmetal Alchemist or Atelier (no Seals, and Item Crafting is but only one of the practical uses) The art of making Gold is more Midas style and it can be reversed. The Philosopher's Stone is simply their term for The Singualrity. They use Colored Minerals (fictual minirals) to aid their Alchemy and they can make contracts with elementals (Which are species that are part of Hive Mind, but cna detac themsleves from the hive at any moment, though there are some differences form the traditional style such as the change of Gnomes to Golems; insentient automatons used primarily for earth-aspected alchemy and making one of the sentient members a pseudo-ghost called an Aura As well as adding Nymphs as lightning equivalents (and the Aura is a Non-Elemental spirit that is mostly confined to a Pocket Dimension.
  • The way Alchemy works BTW is by imbuing magic into various substances and reagents. Both of which can take many shapes.

The setting is one of which Sci-Fi and Fantasy elements are prevalent so Alchemy exists alongside modern chemistry and one can influence the other. (they also call AI avatars that are acquainted or affiliated with them Homunculi)

I'm looking for ideas on how to expand on the Asters' magic (which would be Lovecraftian to an extent) and working out other systems of magic (such as necromany) so if anyone has any ideas that would help immensely.

edited 19th Apr '15 10:09:51 PM by MorningStar1337

By that point of the story, he had already gained the ability to use magic and be immune to the supernatural at the same time. And he's not trying to kill her: After all she is his best friend who was forcibly turned into an angel. The magic radar thing... well, the radar in the verse works by detecting magical power. Yuri when using Anti-Magic, logically, doesn't give off magical power. Though this only works in crowds. Oh yeah: the artificial angel was just formed when Yuri fought her. She still had her limits of teleportation when she was still in human form, i.e. her target for teleportation cannot exceed the weight of a human.

And Kain doesn't need to breathe, but vector manipulation is not his power. When I say that he's this verse's counter to Accelerator I meant he normally can't be touched.

edited 20th Apr '15 6:24:29 AM by SkyHavenPath13