Describe Your Magic System in a Few Sentences

In a story where anything at all is possible, the one thing you can't have is dramatic tension.

The best way to do this is to make your super-abilities come with a price. Say that if you time-travel too much, bits and pieces of you get lost throughout time. First, maybe a spleen, maybe a liver or a toe. Then a hand or a leg. Something that slowly makes using it degrading.

Nobles (read: Magical Girl) are bestowed their powers by the Dynasties of Light, who live outside our dimension. Each Noble has a Suit (corresponding to a Tarot or Poker suit), a Rank (corresponding to the Minor Arcana in Tarot), and a Motif (corresponding to a Major Arcana or the Joker, although there are others that aren't found in Tarot; unlike the Rank and Suit, each Motif can only be held by one Noble at a time). The Suit grants them Elemental Powers, the Rank determines the form of their Transformation Sequence, and the Motif gives them another power. Shadows, people chosen by the Darklords (also from outside our dimension), have their own counterparts: instead of a Suit, they have a Vice (representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins); instead of a Rank, a Void (representing a critical flaw or a tragic loss); and instead of a Motif, an Omen (representing a dark fear or terrible fate; a few Motifs double as Omens). They also have a connection to the Dynasts/Darklords associated with their powers; Suit/Vice and Rank/Void rulers don't often speak with those they have granted their favor, but Motif/Omen keepers have a personal relationship with their charges. Pain, fear, and other negative emotions weaken Nobles while empowering Shadows; and positive emotions do the reverse. If a Noble is tainted by darkness, in moments of weakness they become Reversed, and their Motif's power changes as the Darklords' power infects it. Shadows can undergo a similar process if marked by light, and temporarily become Illuminated. If either goes on too long, they may flip from Noble to Shadow, or vice versa, and have their powers replaced to match. Some Nobles and Shadows have powers that allow them to imbue items, places, and people with a fragment of their power, allowing for magical artifacts, animals, sanctuaries, etc.

Can a witch undergo the ritual to become a wizard, gaining the powers of both?

Edited by Arcane101 on Feb 18th 2021 at 9:10:07 AM

Magic for the most part is a reality altering property who have Three Sources but all of which derive from the Satanic like being known as Despaw.

1) Drawing upon his power after surviving the Contract which converts those into wizards. There is a 15% survival rate for those who partake in it, and 5% chance for the survivors to retain their humanity instead of converting into a demonic servant.

2) Have to be born a magi/witch. Basically they are the children of Despaw who don’t require to draw powers from him as they have their own inate magic potential. They usually develop such powers when they come of age at 16.

3) Utilizing one of the 13 talismen that Despaw created originally to basically amplify his own powers making him a god above all gods. Think infinity gems or the talismen from Jackie Chan Adventurea.

My Magic Lore:

3 Gods used to rule a planet; first together they crafted the world, but then they had a falling out and created the Races, immortal but essentially powerless, as a way to have companions/servants who would help them with their jobs. Eventually the Gods tried to patch things up, but then they died somehow. With their death, the Races gained Mortality, and they also gained some of the powers of their Gods. These powers are Magic, and everyone has them to some extent, though they're specific to each individual. One might have Fire Magic, one might have Plant Magic, one might have Mind Magic, etcetera.

Edited by DingoWalley1 on Mar 20th 2021 at 9:08:24 AM

EDIT: Nevermind, forgot this is "a few sentences".

Edited by AGuy on Mar 30th 2021 at 9:59:34 AM

Magic is split between arcane, using chi which are native to the fay, and divine, using mana native to the spirits. And all the races on the planet can use it, but can only pull a small amount of mana and cast only a small amount at once. But most goes into a contract with the fairies, inhabitants of the fay realms, or spirits, inhabitants of the spirit realms, to be their familiar. But there are exceptions with sorcerer/druids and bards/monks.

Mage and clerics are limited by the amount of chi/mana they have per day but can cast high powered spells, sorcerers/druids can cast spell indefinitely but are limited to low power spells, and bard/monks casts multiple cantrips in rapid succession.

Going to a contract requires the user to first learn the basics of science, meaning that anyone can be a mage or cleric by taking a course in magic 101.

Magic is done by manipulating the five elements, earth, wind, fire, water, and aether. By saying out the words in either the fairies or spirits and stringing them into a spell, for axample a magic missile is an aether bolt empowered and multiplied.

Arcane is your standard fireball, blizzard and so on but mages and sorcerers are forbidden to touch any metal, doing so would make it feel like their touching red hot iron. Magus and warlocks slightly avoids this but the former must use tools to compensate their weaker magic while warlocks must make an equivalent exchange in addition to the chi cost. Bards are immune to such. And sorcerers also gets a special power, like manipulating time.

Divine is limited to healing, blessing, and curses but its users can wield metal tools. And druids also have a holon, which are either a stand/person, pokemon, or shapeshifter powers.

magic in the children of fate setting is fairly unrestricted:

it naturally requires mana, which every living being has some amount of, some races more than others. it also can do much of anything provided enough mana is provided and a strong mental image is included. Resurrection is impossible however, due to the soul being pulled back into the cycle of reincarnation immediately.

theres 2 main methods of casting magic

• method 1 is to use a catalyst to more easily focus mana in a specific direction; magic staves or magic circles and the like, though how the catalyst functions differs from type to type. Circles are essentially just a pre-prepared spell with its functions, scale and mana all set up beforehand.
• method 2 is to cast directly from will; naturally more demanding of ones personal store of mana, and not necessarily stronger due to relying on the caster's mental image instead of a properly defined spell. fundamentally this comes down to the difference between visually mimicking a phenomenon and actually recreating it; while a thunderbolt or a fireball may look like the actual thing, it won't actually possess the speed, heat or volatility of the real thing. in some circumstances this is more advantageous.

theres some degree of overlap between the two methods (a stave can be used as a catalyst to more efficiently cast spells via method 2) and a combination of catalysts (that is, staves with circles engraved on them) although overly specialized, is seen as the strongest form a spell can take. as such in a duel between mages preparedness and foresight is seen as the key to a mage's true strength.

of course, to certain species with a naturally high pool of mana to draw from and a closer connection to the earth, a catalyst isnt necessary. or more precisely, anything can be used as a catalyst. Dragons, being practically living elementals naturally use their bodies as stave-like catalysts and their extraordinary mana pools allow for free-form use of magic, often with the drawbacks of this type of magic being compensated by simply spending more mana to strengthen the results.

Beastkin are unusual in that they're typically seen as unable to use magic, but its rather that they're ignorant of how to use it the same way everyone else does; their bodies, being built different, require an outsider's touch to 'unlock' their potential. However, their transformation abilities are not an innate physical ability, but a variant of method 1 magic; their physical features (such as ears or tails or claws or eyes) serve as the 'magic circle' that provides the information required for the spell to change their form (though this still requires some level of mental image to work, but thats generally provided by their ethnic identity).

Elves have small mana pools and largely rely on magic circles, but due to their insular nature their magic is quite stagnant in development, and in fact due to the nature of their primarily interests (archiving and research of history, especially long forgotten epochs known only through looking into the memories of past lives) their magic is quite antiquated, vastly outmatched by the rest of the world.

in the current iteration of my Onyx verse, magic is the scientific study of existential principles and the artistic practice of influencing their behavior through ritual.

magic rituals and their effects are called "workings".

practitioners of magic are called "workers" in general.

magic is mysterious and dangerous enough that technology is usually preferable but not so much so that it is completely abandoned.

the principles of existence are divided between the complexities of eternity, undeath, time, and mortality and the simplicities of illusion, truth, story, essence, form, ether, stasis, paradox, dynamism, life, afterlife, and fate.

workings are defined by their shapes, ranges, and durations.

druids and witches are born workers ; druids have an innate aptitude for workings dealing with eternity, undeath, truth, and form, while witches have an innate aptitude for workings dealing with time, mortality, truth, and form - souls and vampires can become workers called wizards and liches respectively.

workings have a cost paid in ritual elements and if these costs are not paid in full, the workings implode violently, diminishing the fullness of Nothing and Everything ; ritual elements may be occult words, esoteric substances or materials, and / or arcane movements and gestures - the cost of a working is determined by its shape, range, and duration, plus the shape, range, and duration of the unintended side effect ~ not even druids and witches can determine what the unintended side effects of workings will be, but they can usually afford to pay more than is actually required, while souls and vampires are limited by what they know and have.

there are three standard shapes workings can take : lines, cones, and spheres ; lines add +1 element to the cost of workings, cones add +2, and spheres add +4.

there are three standard ranges for workings : touch, short, and long ; touch range adds +1 element to the cost of a working, short adds +2, and long adds +4.

there are three standard durations for workings : instant, short, and long ; instant duration adds +1 element to the cost of a working, short adds +2, and long adds +4.

workings of perfection or degradation add +1 element to the cost, while those of manipulation or alteration add +2 and those of destruction, creation, or augmentation add +4 ; workings of creation pull phenomena out of possibility into reality, while those of destruction push phenomena out of reality into impossibility, those of perfection make phenomena better, those of degradation make phenomena worse, those of manipulation change the external natures of phenomena, those of alteration change the internal natures of phenomena, and those of augmentation change the internal and external natures of phenomena.

the cheapest workings have a cost of eight elements, while the most expensive have a cost of thirty-two elements ; druids and witches can sacrifice any elements they choose and occult words are most commonly offered, which is why druids and witches have been called enchanters - souls and vampires must sacrifice the particular elements a working demands ~ once words, movements, and gestures are sacrificed, they are ripped from the memories of workers, while sacrificed substances and materials disintegrate.

The occult language is Old Druidic, which harms witches, wizards, and liches.

I use a Glyph/Rune-based magic system (very, very) loosely based on Chinese characters. Essentially, there are Glyphs, visual representations of concepts, items or actions. Glyphs are made up of smaller particles, which also have individual meanings.

Certain Particles don't have a meaning or use outside of defining Glyphs they're part of. For instance, certain Particles are useless on their own but empower other Glyphs when added. Some Particles define what Glyphs mean, like how a symbol may mean 'light' normally, but means 'fire' when an elemental particle is added. There are two alphabets for Glyphs- a traditional alphabet, which is more complex and violent but can carry more magical force, and a simplified alphabet, which is easier to draw and control but slightly less powerful.

Anyone can draw a Glyph, but only certain people can inscribe magic into them. These people are called Glyphcallers. However, Glyphcallers can't inscribe all Glyphs. Rather, they can only inscribe ones that they have a connection with. Glyphs that someone is born connected to are called Signa, but there are other ways to create a connection, like tattooing the desired Glyph onto one's skin or using certain (incredibly rare) scrolls. Signa allow the connected Glyph to be inscribed regardless of whether the alphabet is simplified or traditional, while other methods are restricted to a single system.

Glyphs are typically inscribed onto small, flat surfaces like coins, wooden and glass chips or pebbles, and once inscribed can be used by anyone, even people without Signa. Especially powerful Glyphcallers do not need to draw glyphs to use their abilities, but lesser ones can also do this if the ability is triggered by extreme danger or shock.

Having Signa is mostly genetic, and some families are well known for having one type of Signa for generations. However, there is a small chance for anyone to have Signa, and pacts with powerful entities like demons (shoot, I haven't talked about those yet... oh no) can guarantee some kind of innate ability. There are also the connection methods stated above, though scrolls are very rare and tattooing glyphs is expensive enough that the average person tends to shy away from trying it out.

Glyphs are not the main language of this world, but they are used in non-inscribed forms as crests and a generally 'fancier' form of writing for special occasions.

Edited by ChocolateCat on Sep 7th 2021 at 2:34:51 AM

• Fantasia: These are immortal or longevous beings who innately possess magic power. It is very rare for mortals to become fantasia and typically cannot do so without another fantasia's help. Power can range from lesser fantasia who may only have one specific supernatural ability, to Anthropomorphic Personifications of an aspect of nature or a concept, to greater fantasia that are outright Reality Warper s.
• Theurgists: Mortals do not possess magic; they can only attain it through access to the fantasia. Those who are called "mages" are mortals who have established a contract with at least one fantasia. A fantasia may also practice theurgy by establishing a contract with another fantasia. Theurgy is not mutually exclusive to martial arts and being a warrior.
  • Spells: These are simply communication with the fantasia the theurgist has a contract with telling them how the theurgist wants to use the fantasia's power. They have no power on their own, the magic power comes from the contract with the fantasia. Spells may be either spoken, or written on a wand (or other object) or in a spell-book for quicker use.
  • Evocation: "Calling forth." This is literally summoning the fantasia to appear in person. This is the most powerful theurgist ability.
  • Invocation: "Calling on." This ranges from typical spellcasting (commanding the fantasia's power to do a certain task) to merging some aspect of the fantasia with a mortal host (i.e.: possession).
• Magic Object: This is made by a fantasia or theurgist imbuing an object with magic power. The magic in the object may be sealed so that only specific user can unlock it's power, or may be fully accessible to any user (making it Magi Tech).

Edited by shiro_okami on Oct 17th 2021 at 1:01:49 PM

Basically, a "summoning-based" magic system. Nice. You don't see those too often, even thought they are closer historically to what the folk understanding of magic was, back when everyone believed in it.

That's what I was going for. In a lot of current fiction (especially manga/anime) magic is WAY too common and accessible, nor is there any talk about where the power actually comes from. Or it's based on the more recent concepts (e.g.: mana, od, leylines, etc.) instead of the ancient concepts.

I hate it when the way magic is depicted makes it appear like a weird form of engineering. I created my own system of "historically accurate magic", so I understand.

With help from a Discord dedicated to magic systems, here's something I've cooked up for the setting of a "series" I plan on making:

In the world of Thera, all living creatures possess an ethereal essence known as "Spirit Force", which is born from the mind and reverberates throughout the body (think a combination of "aura" and "chi/ki" in a lot of fiction). Spirit Force innately increases the physical durability of creatures, making even the average human Made of Iron, but Spirit Force can also be channeled by the individual to vastly enhance their physical strength or speed, depending on the individual's aptitude (muscles playing a crucial factor; bigger muscles means better strength, while leaner muscles make for better finesse). Through this, a Theran human specialized in strength could successfully arm wrestle a real-life gorilla; although a Theran gorilla is able to rip apart a tank through their own Spirit Force enhanced strength.

By default, Spirit Force is mostly a physical booster for living creatures, enabling them to better survive in a hostile world. However, Spirit Force has an additional function that can only be achieved by sapient creatures; being able to "feel" mystic energies and tap into their power: enabling the use of magic. Said mystic energies come in three flavors, each originating from one of the three Planes of Existence- the Physical Plane (i.e. the natural world, the domain of the elements and flora & fauna), the Shadow Plane (the "shadow" of the natural world, the domain of souls and spirits), and the Arcane Plane (the mysterious "void" beyond the natural world, the domain of time-space and psionics). Depending on which plane an individual taps into with their Spirit Force, they can gain abilities based around either of the domains of each plane. Being able to utilize the abilities of multiple domains, and even multiple planes, is possible, but only by individuals with exceptional levels of Spirit Force.

However, there are two other forms of "magic" that transcend the Three Planes- Chaos and Order. Both being fundamental forces of reality that have existed since the beginning; or in Chaos' case, existed before the beginning. Chaos, in fact, is what brought about existence in the first place, having caused the "Big Bang" that would bring forth energy and matter. But for as much creation as Chaos brought, it is ultimately a wild and disorganized force that destroyed as much as it made, and caused energy and matter to surge in ways that prevented life from occurring. That is until Order rose from the discord and brought forth laws and organization to the newborn universe, enabling the formation of stars and planets, among other things.

Whereas all that is required to utilize the magic of one of the Three Planes is knowledge and practice, Chaos and Order requires one to be "chosen" by the forces in order to wield their respective power. For Chaos, which wanders the universe and manifests at random locations at random times, one needs to essentially be in the right place at the right time, as determined by one or multiple dice of varying kinds. And for Order, one needs to be deemed by the force to be orderly and lawful enough to be worthy of wielding the power of Order.

As Chaos is the source of all existence, and capable of shifting into any kind of energy and matter of its choosing, those who manage to wield Chaos' power are able to utilize the magic of all three Planes, and all their domains, at once. In addition, these "Chaos Wielders" derive extra strength from the chaos of their environment and from within themselves, whilst expelling "Chaos Energy" to destroy obstacles around them and induce confusion into their foes, making them the most formidable combatants to fight against. The one big drawback is Chaos' random nature, which makes the effects and strength of spells and abilities vary wildly; a Wild Card superpower that can be a blessing or a curse.

With Order, which came about to reign in the discord of reality, the "Order Chosen" do not and cannot utilize the magic of any of the Three Planes: they exist nothing more than to serve Order. But while they lack the use of other magics like Chaos Wielders do, the power of Order Chosen is at its highest by default; the class being able to project the most durable force-fields, the most powerful healing and curing spells, enchanting their weapons to pierce all defense and always hit their target, among other things. In addition, the power of Order is able to negate the effect and use of magic and Spirit Force enhancement, removing an opponent's strengths while retaining their own (even if on a temporary basis). And if even that fails, an Order Chosen can fall back on "Will Control", completely subjugating the mind and body of their foe, provided their willpower is higher. The one thing that keeps Order Chosen from dominating all other classes is the limits imposed on themselves by the power of Order itself, as per its nature.

Edited by KaoticKanine on Jan 3rd 2022 at 8:55:50 AM

What limits the effects that characters can achieve with magic in your system? How do you prevent it from breaking the story-plot?

I admittedly haven't put much thought into that ^^; Although an important component of Spirit Force I have in mind is that the strength of one's Spirit Force is measured by their, well, spirit. Someone with a strong mind is going to have very good Spirit Force, enough to wield magic. But someone who is mentally unhealthy will have relatively weak Spirit Force who can only really use it for physical enhancement (which is mostly decided by their physical fitness to begin with). And needless to say, someone who is physically and mentally unhealthy (making for poor spirits) has such weak Spirit Force that they only have the Made of Iron thing, but even then that's the only thing separating them from real-life people.

Though, even someone with a strong Spirit Force can only "choose" one of the Three Planes to draw magic from. And while they could certainly utilize both domains of a single plane, it's generally much better for a Theran magic user to specialize in a single domain than try both at once, in the same way it's better for an engineer to specialize in a specific engineering field, among other comparisons. Not unless that magic user has great enough Spirit Force to be a Renaissance Man among magic users, which is an exceptionally rare feat. And I should note that, thanks to needing a good chunk of Spirit Force just to tap into a Plane's magic, magic users of Thera cannot make much use of the physical enhancement ability of Spirit Force (so while there are Magic Knights in Thera, their physical stats are mostly dwarfed by dedicated Badass Normals).

Chaos Wielders are the only real exception on that front, being able to wield all magics with no real limits (since Chaos is not bound by any limits), with the randomness of their strengths and effects each use being the big drawback.

As for the strengths of magic users who do indeed dedicate themselves to a single domain of a single magic Plane, I've always thought of them as being about as strong as the average Bender in Avatar: The Last Airbender / The Legend of Korra. Or in terms of MMORPGs, the strength of the average "class member" in World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2. Magic users or "Badass Normals" of Thera have great influence over things, but individually they are no One-Man Army nor are they on the level of Superman and most other superheroes in terms of combat capability/accomplishments.

EDIT- Oh right, the Order Chosen are also kind of an exception in that last regard, as individually they are very powerful; not full on One-Man Army but very close. Main thing keeping them from effectively taking over the world is their self-restrictions, as per their lawful nature, and the Order Chosen are a comparatively small group (seeing how becoming one is an exceptionally rare occurrence).

I hope this is a satisfactory answer ^^;

Edited by KaoticKanine on Jan 9th 2022 at 2:29:05 PM

This is more of a power system rather than magic, but so what.

The powers are based on “ether”, which is sort of like the spiritual equivalent of bacteria that is in symbiosis with its host. Ether grants power in three basic ways. One way is by supporting or granting a fourth-dimensional (4D) body for the host, meaning that all or part of the ethereal’s body does not exist in the physical world. The second is the ability to generate physical matter and force. The third is by the ether removing the host’s biomass and biomatter from the physical world.

A person that has ether is known as being “ethereal”. Ether cannot be observed by the physical senses. Only an ethereal can sense the presence and location of another ethereal and ether can only be counteracted or nullified by ether. Ethereal fight each other by using 4D attacks that can directly injure the other’s 4D body and damage and destroy their ether supply. Some beings and even entire races are born ethereal. Others become ethereal by spending time in ether-rich environments. And still others become ethereal by being granted ether by another ethereal. As Shakespeare once said, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Ethereal are broken down into eight classes.

• Mythical Classes: The first four classes are made up of races that are born ethereal. A person not born in these classes generally can’t get into one of them without a magical transformation.
  • Spirit: This is the most powerful of all eight classes. Has a 4D body that is not physical. They can interact with the physical world without actually entering into it. They can generate temporary physical bodies which can be harmed or destroyed without damaging the spirit’s real body. They can also generate physical matter and force at will in any form they choose.
  • Myst: Has a 4D body that includes a physical body that is gaseous and can be either invisible or take a visible form like that of cloud, mist, or smoke; it is also extremely fast. Within their physical body is an ethereal core that connects their physical body to the rest of their 4D body. They can only be killed if their core is destroyed. They can generate physical inorganic matter and force at will in any form they choose, but can only do so using their physical body as the conduit and point of origin.
  • Shapeshifter: Has a 4D body that includes a physical body with no set form. Their physical body can take any form, but its maximum size is limited. Within their physical body is an ethereal core that connects their physical body to the rest of their 4D body and a circulation system that funnels ether throughout their physical body. Their body can only be harmed if the circulation system is damaged, and they can only be killed if their core is destroyed.
  • Giant: Only has a 3D physical body. All of its ether is materialized as part of its physical body. They use their ether to generate bio-matter to increase their size and strength. Their growth is not reversible; they can only get bigger, not smaller. Bio-matter generated by ether has no mass but can still generate force, so there is no issue with the Square-Cube Law. As such, their mass is much less than what you would expect. (Imagine a feline that has the size and strength of a lion but the mass of a housecat.) They can be physically injured, but because most of their body is materialized ether, they can shrug off any damage that does not hit the fleshy part of their body.
• Superhuman Classes: The second four classes are attainable by humans and other humanoid races that are not normally born as ethereal. Note that the ability of ether manifested as biomatter being able to produce force without having mass also applies to these classes as well.

  • The 4D body of a superhuman takes the form of their ether producing copies of their physical body that do not exist in the physical world. These copies can serve a number of functions. They can be used to heal the physical body by essentially being “cannibalized for spare parts”. They can only be killed by normal means once they run out of copies they can use for healing. Any status effect (e.g.: survivable injury, pain, senescence, hunger, disease, toxins, pregnancy, etc.) can also be transferred to a spare body. Any status effect (e.g.: full stomach, body heat, etc.) can also be transferred from a spare body to the physical body. While only the physical body of superhumans actually has an appetite, they can also feed their copies separate from their physical body, and can eat quite much when they do that.
  • They can imbue ether into any object they are holding or carrying. An ether-imbued object can retain its ether upon separation from the ethereal, but only if the object is projected away from them using their own strength directly. For instance, a thrown rock, slung stone, or arrow shot from a bow can all retain ether, but a crossbow bolt or bullet cannot. As a result, superhumans tend to prefer using pre-modern weapons and most shy away from using firearms if they are available.
  • The only ability they have to physically manifest ether is to create stationary platforms under their feet that only exist for a moment before disappearing. This allows them to jump in the sky or slow their descent from a fall. This ability is only awakened when a superhuman’s power has become very advanced.

  • Guard: This class activates their ether by achieving peak physical strength, their physical body alone (without ethereal enhancement) being at the same level as an Olympian weightlifter. They have the following abilities:
    • A portion of their ether permanently leaks into their physical body and materializes as bone and muscle. As a result, they are bigger and taller than normal (at peak power men can grow over 9 feet tall, women over 8 feet).
    • Instead of keeping their copies separate from their physical body, they can overlay the abilities of their copies (either individually or collectively) onto their physical body, magnifying their physical power, durability, senses, etc. Due to their size, they focus their immense physical power into super strength. If a guard has the strength of 10 men, it’s because they literally are 10 men, you just can’t see the other 9. Their speed is not great, but they are also excellent jumpers, able to jump several times their body height at peak power.
    • They can physically manifest all of their ether as physical force to give their strength an even greater boost, but can only do so for less than a minute at a time at best before deactivation. After being used, it has to stay deactivated for a rest period before it can be used again.
  • Raider: This class activates their ether by achieving a high level of strength while keeping their physical body more trim. Their physical body is at or above the same level as an Olympic gymnast. They have the following abilities:
    • They can physically manifest ether as bone and muscle, but unlike guards, they can reverse this growth.
    • They have the same copy overlay ability as guards. While they magnify their physical strength when their body is enlarged, when at their original size, they can also magnify their speed as well as strength.
  • Scout: This class activates their ether by achieving peak physical speed, their physical body alone being at the same level as an Olympic sprinter. They have the following abilities:
    • They have the same copy overlay ability as guards and raiders, and are better at magnifying speed than strength (but will still be stronger than the average human).
    • In addition to the above, they also have the ability to instead array some or all their copies around them. This can give them 360 degree vision by looking through multiple sets of eyes. This ability also allows the arrayed copies to carry different objects than what the physical body is carrying, allowing them to transfer any objects small enough to carry to and from the physical world.
    • They can materialize the arrayed copies as clones, although they have to be materialized near their physical body. The ether only copies the physical body itself, not anything on it. This is why the ability for copies to carry different objects is so useful; each copy can have its own set of clothes and weapons.
  • Assassin: This class is activated by practicing stealth. Is considered the weakest of all eight classes (despite having a frightful set of abilities to make up for their lack of raw power), and is the most unique of the superhuman classes. They are the only superhuman class that does not have enhanced physical power and durability. They have the following abilities:
    • They have the same copy array ability as scouts, but more advanced that they can spread the copies out away from their physical body. This gives them a limited level of clairvoyance (sort of like looking at several different camera feeds at once).
    • They can teleport short distances by swapping locations between their physical body and one of their copies.
    • They can also materialize the arrayed copies as clones, but more advanced that they can do so while there is a limited amount of distance between the clones and their physical body.
    • They can temporarily de-mass their physical body without removing their ability to produce force by shifting their mass into 4D space. How long they can do this depends on how much mass they have, so they don’t tend to carry too much on their person (they have their copies to carry stuff for them) and benefit from having smaller, skinnier bodies. This ability allows them to walk up walls and survive falls from any height.
    • They can temporarily de-materialize their physical body by shifting it into 4D space, rendering it invisible and intangible to normal humans (but not to other ethereal), and making their entire existence non-physical while this ability is active. This makes them the only superhuman class that can directly attack the non-physical part of another ethereal’s 4D body. They can interact with the physical world without actually entering into it, but only for a moment at a time. Trying to do it continuously or too often will re-materialize them.
    • They are immune to the physical force generated by a 4D body. When fighting the other superhuman classes, their physical body will only feel their opponent’s base strength from their physical body, not their enhanced strength from their entire 4D body.
    • They can affect 4D forms directly. Instead of using ethereal enhanced force to overpower durability and healing to inflict as much damage as possible when other superhumans fight each other, their attacks are 4D and affect the main body and all copies directly. This means they can inflict wounds and killing strokes that bypass a superhuman’s durability and cannot be healed.

Edited by shiro_okami on Feb 23rd 2023 at 12:46:12 PM

Cool. Have you done any world-building? Is this intended for a heros vs. villains themed story?

For my Video Game Isekai Fiction name Cyber Paradise Project Player's Magic is based on Concept of Our World both Natural & Manmade but not absolute control due it the magic are refiend from Raw Magic of Trinity Goddesses & Conceptual Gods which control domain of concepts.Alll Player can have only one concept at time until they became successor of NPC so they can get second concept which based on Concept that NPC held but All Player still have Only 2 concept and can't have more

Another is Cheat Skill which isn't Natural Magic of Cyber Paradise but it is magic of Goddess Insidious who want to turned Cyber Paradise which setting is based on Warhammer Franchise(Warhammer 40K,Warhammer Age of Sigmar & Warhammer Fantasy Battle) into Generic Medieval Fantasy World of Modern Isekai for NEET & Hikkimori who want wish fulfillment World where They are God like Being where Everyone is praise,has Harem etc.Cheat Skill have only One Absolute Skill that is overpowered version of Concept Power and unlimited concept power that they can earn it easier than Player of Cyber Paradise and can held with no limit and can evolved into Absolute Version unlike Concept Power

No world-building yet.

It's not for a superhero story. While my previous post about an actual magic system is based on the ancient concept of magic, these powers are designed to match the ancient myths and legends, whose heroes were more often superhuman warriors instead of mages.

I have an idea of doing a story of a girl who becomes the first ever assassin in an ancient world and ends up haphazardly inspiring terrifying legends about herself when she uses her powers.

Edited by shiro_okami on Aug 21st 2022 at 2:36:20 PM

So basically there's 3 Types of magic

Arcane: Which anyone can use with enough practice and study. Its kind of a Jack of All Trades magic since it can do pretty much anything that isn't Divine or Infernal Magic, but requires lots of practice to be used effectively.

Divine: Pretty self-explanatory. Basically its where gods grant magic to their believers, mostly healing magic, but also light magic and protective enchantments.

Infernal: This is basically pact magic. Basically its where someone makes a pact with a demon, and in exchange for whatever it is the demon wants, you can call upon any power that demon possesses. So if a demon can shot fireballs, so can you.

@Shiro: "While my previous post about an actual magic system is based on the ancient concept of magic, these powers are designed to match the ancient myths and legends, whose heroes were more often superhuman warriors instead of mages."

I see. Are these two systems intended to be used together within the same story/game? Could be interesting to pit against each other, or on a team.

@Archsage: Is this intended for story, game or video? Have you thought out the actual mechanics at all? Where do arcane mages get their spell effects if they don't come from divine or infernal beings?

Edited by DeMarquis on Aug 22nd 2022 at 3:16:50 PM

Firstly, a book. Secondly, Arcane magic come from this thing called The Mystic Soul which is basically an energy source found everywhere.

Yes, and they are not mutually exclusive either. It's possible to be both ethereal and a fantasia/mage. Mages are far less common than fantasia or ethereal, since their power relies on borrowing the power of fantasia, who don't hand out contracts to just anyone.

Edited by shiro_okami on Aug 22nd 2022 at 10:22:24 AM