The Worldbuilding Diaries- Chapter Four; Making Magic Systems
Magic systems can be many things, bound by rules or forgiving and mysterious it can be connected to gods or a natural process accessible to anyone. It’s easy at times to believe there is only ‘one’ type of magic system, that it must have a couple of rules, likely related to the elements (fire, water, air and earth and if you’re lucky you’ll get something random like lightning or ‘energy’) and split into schools or categories. When I began worldbuilding for my own fantasy I realised that magic systems are not a staple to the fantasy genre but something that adds culture, history and stakes to the plot, story and world.
Treat magic like a character, what are their strengths and flaws and how can those parts be applied to a situation in an intelligent way to progress or regress the story. Magic doesn’t have to be a science, it doesn’t need to be bound by elements of the periodic table or to chromasomes in the characters DNA but it could be if you’d like it to, it doesn’t have to be a spiritual connection everyone has to the gods or the natural world and only able to be conjured when the plot needs it, but it could be if you’d like it to. Magic like your imagination is only bound when you bind it.
Is your magic naturally occurring? How has magic been recorded or affected events throughout history? Are their records on magic, how are they kept safe and protected from damage? Is magic expendable, is it forever lasting or can someone lose it?
If it is recorded how is the magic translated into a readable physical drawing or word? So you have to draw a rune or say a phrase to cast a spell, how do you know to do that, who taught you? who taught them? How was the connection drawn between this phrase/drawing and the spell? How many spells have been lost throughout history because the phrase or ruin was forgotten through time? And if the magic system isn’t studied and well known and conjured do people still try and control it? Do they limit when you can or can’t cast magic, are any objects or instruments required to cast, are these items sold for profit?
Regency, origination, where did you magic system originate, has it always been tied to humans ever since evolution or god-like resurrection occurred, is it recent and tied to an object that can then be obtained, brought, sold, restricted etc Is it well understood after existing for years or has chaos ensued. What are the ramifications of your magic system, does it take a mental toll, a physical toll, a cultural or religious toll. Your audience has seen the ‘they get tired after using big spells’ trope over and over again, raise the stakes or lessen them to your desire but make sure this ramification is real and established as a real threat early on if you decide to implement a consequence of using magic. I love the idea of magic taking a physical toll on the body, breaking bones, twisting limbs, temporary blindness etc.
It is one thing to create a magic system, another to correctly implement it into your story. Your magic system should be impactful and affect the history of your world, how current events and the plot are handled by both sides etc. Whether you write the rules of your system down on a sticky note and reference it or simply write the first draft before going back and wondering how your magic could be used in an interesting or smart way in this scene.
Remember to develop your magic! People adapt and change things and are always pursuing an easier way to get things done. For example, my magic system is based on a very apothecary like system with carbons, herbs and objects that need to be held close to the arm and cast alongside knowledge of a sigil. I thought about ways this idea could be developed and came up with chalk casting, grinding the herbs and objects and mixing them with chalk for a pocket spell that just needs to be drawn to be cast. People are smart and they’ll find ways to make casting/gathering easier.
Go out on a limb and devlop, develop, develop and happy casting,
-E
