When your reader starts mimicking the magic’s movements and angrily yells the spells into the mirror, while brushing their teeth: THATS when you know you crafted a good magic system. :)
I liked the part about magic enabling creative solutions. In the first Harry Potter book, when they fight the troll in the bathroom, they beat him with a levitation spell. They don't levitate the troll, they levitate his club and drop it on his head, knocking him out. Creative and fun.
What I love about your videos are: - They are short and meaningful - They always provide insightful value addition - They are well structured - They are modular - The offers are list formatted - No faff! 👍
I think One Piece is such a good example of this. You can gain unnatural power by eating a 'devil fruit', but the 'unnaturalness' makes you hated by the mother of nature the ocean, and so all devil fruit eaters are weakened by sea water and can't swim. In a world where the only land masses are islands and almost every main character is a pirate this is such a cool idea
I'd like to say I agree, but this really fades out the longer the story continues. There are characters who are still easily superhuman even when in contact with sea stone.
I watch a lot of anime and read a lot of manga and I always find myself comparing the magic systems in these videos to the magic systems I see in a certain anime or manga. I was wondering if you ever view those types of media because I think an analysis on their magic systems would be so interesting. Love your videos!
Eh instead of that, he should go more into light novels since they are the general foundation for most mangas and animes. Also Light Novels are novels so it would fit in pretty much with the theme of the channel.
@@TechAndBeyond381 Yeah of course. I just lumped them together for the sake of simplicity, and the fact that the anime/manga that consistently comes to mind is Jujutsu Kaisen, which doesn't have a light novel.
Anime power systems are usually soft magic (think Dragon Ball and One Piece) or soft magic with some rules (think Hunter x Hunter). Anime usually focuses on powers that are unique to individuals, at least for the main cast, which have their own rules even if they exist within a broader structure. Western fantasy usually emphasizes powers which are formally codified, studied, and taught directly, from the humble monk learning his temple's traditions to a wizard studying in the capital's most prestigious university. The spells and abilities they learn usually already exist and are understood. So, generally, they have a more hard magic lean, at least aesthetically. Obviously these are in no way universal. The most prominent western fantasy books ever put to paper, LOTR, are soft magic. But I find that this is generally accurate in my experience.
I've kind of done the opposite, the only thing limiting the abilities of my magic users is time. The big bad is 300 years old and looking to ascend to godhood to manipulate every atom in the universe to his whim.
What about magical blood colors that allow users to absorb or fuse with different physical items or elements like metal and non-physical concepts like memories and strength. Their bodies will take on the characteristic of what they fused with or absorbed. Black Blood allows users to fuse and absorb metal. Black Bloods can animate metal prosthetics to act like normal limbs and attach weapons to their bodies that will then act like an extension of their bodies. Orange Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with non-metal elements like stone, fire, air, water, and plants. Similar to Black Bloods, Orange Bloods can animate constructs made of the element. Green Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with animals. Users can attach large bird wings to their back to fly, some can absorb sea animals to be able to breathe in the ocean, and much more. Purple Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with body parts of other Purple Bloods. Users might have multiple heads and arms or legs that they can move and control. Silver Bloods allows users to absorb and fuse with the strength, speed, and durability of others by stealing it from them. Their bodies will become stronger while those they have stolen from will become weaker. Gold Bloods allows users to absorb and fuse with the minds and memories of others. They can steal personalities and know the past of those they have absorbed. Blue Bloods allow users to absorb and fuse with corpses. They can animate the dead by giving the corpses some of their blood, including controlling the bodies of other blooded beings. No Bloods are users who do not have any blood but instead have dust. They can absorb the flesh of others and then use that flesh to heal their own bodies. They do not feel any pain or any fear. They can also graft their own body parts on others, allowing them to take control of the body part and use it as if they were still attached to them. White Bloods allow users to manipulate and control any organic lifeform (unable to alter a lifeform that is elemental or metallic). They can alter the biological structure of others with a single touch but they cannot alter that lifeform a second time.
This is very cool concept and could run for ages Your black bloods are like Kevin 11 from Ben 10 Alien Force, while your white bloods are like Mahito from JJK. Also I would split up orange bloods, fire sounds like it needs its own blood as it's the energy being controlled rather than matter, and plants may work better as green blood since that blood is the essence of life. Stone is a weird one, because metals and stones end up overlapping at some point and stone is more associated with metal than water. I think your orange blood should be an elemental blood, controlling the elemental lifeforms of stone, water, air and fire. A good drawback of this power would be that if they allow too much material into their system in a short period, they get poisoning from it e.g.: black bloods gets iron poisoning, no bloods get autoimmune disease, gold bloods get split personality disorders I recommend adding leeway between different bloods, more so in later books as a way to show the growth of science in your magic system such as: Green bloods can graft animal features easily, but purple bloods need extensive training because their power is for humans. Or White bloods needing training to control lifeless corpses to the extent blue bloods can. If you really want to, you could use typical colours associated with elements, like corpses are black blood, though it seems you went out of your way to avoid it
@@strangesword4524 I did get inspiration of my Black Bloods from Kevin. Orange Bloods are in fact Elementals. The White Bloods who rule the world try to divide each lesser blood into castes. So the Green Bloods are divided into those who obey the at least 50% human to at most 50% animal fusion ratio. So Centaurs are considered obeying the law while Minotaurs or Minos as they are called do not. I do have the Black Bloods suffer from severe metal poisoning and even rusting. So Black Bloods have to constantly bathe in molten metal to have it burn away the rust and replace the lost layer. Orange Bloods are also divided into castes, with many Elementals looking human; thus, they are considered obeying the law. The White Bloods age far faster than any other of the Blooded Race. Spoiler: The White Bloods are gods and thought to be immortal when in reality they act like parasites to specifically the Red Blooded Humans. You have some White Bloods transform humans into spare organs to replace their aged one and then transform the Human into a younger clone of themselves.
@@strangesword4524 I didn't want the elemental color thing because that was a going to be another series I worked on and B because I wanted to dip my toes in something a little different that will make my story more unique.
I've been trying to justify the different peoples in one continent having affinities for a particular type of magic, but I had not thought about blood color!
You mentioned a lot of great points but I would've liked more pieces of advice that apply to soft magic systems since I'm writing a story with a soft magic system
Here's one that the video totally leaves out that I think is very important for any sort of fantasy story, hard or soft; ... It's PRESENTATION! You can take a really cool magic system and explain it in clear, concise and banal language and it'll be boring, or you can take a pedestrian magic system and goose the throttle by writing scenes with magic in them with a ton of atmosphere.
Agreed. I'm generally not even interested in hard magic systems. ngreennz is correct, it's all about presentation. Soft magic wizards like Gandalf or Ged are convincing because of the impact of when they do use their magic.
Soft magic is just hard magic that is poorly understand within the setting. Even if you are writing a system with few codified rules, it STILL requires limitations and some level of internal consistency to be satisfying or interesting. If it comes across as an excuse to just do whatever you want, it makes everything feel arbitrary and forced. And to be fair, that is literally true of every story because they're all made up, but stories are illusions that people willingly accept. And to maintain that illusion, you need to first and foremost present a world that is believable under the rules you impose upon it.
This is causing me to have some thoughts about my own magic systems, and after this video I think I've mainly made a few key decisions on how I need to change a couple of them to make them more unique...thank you for that!
I like how you gave this video a simple listicle title and tricked us into clicking on a really informative teaching video. Great content, as usual. Your videos have become my go-to method of getting into the creative headspace at the start of my writing sessions.
Since playing and falling in love with Mage: The Ascension, I've been addicted to advanced magic systems. Creating new spells was always fun, but damn, creating a new magic system, world, and characters that coexist is on another level. Already ending my second volume, and it's the best ride of my life. The thing is, I think I would never start, if not for channels like this, so I'm really grateful. Thank You, Jed.
I'm planning on writing a _graphic_ novel, but it's also in fantasy. So listening to you to enhance and deepen my characters (specifically the protagonist's powers are monster-related, and I wanted to make it more challenging, so hey, what if the only way to use their powers is to hide them with things that are meant to chase away/hurt monsters. Obviously, it'll cause pain, so the lesson is learning how to cope, endure, and eventually overcome struggles in life.)
Hey Jed! Thank you so much for this video and for being the highlight of my lawn mowing sessions. Keep up the great inspirational work and keep writing! Blessings!
I absolutely loves your video your an inspiration and i hope there will be another magic system contest as i will like to present my magic system which is combining numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division making math more entertaining and fun to watch all while learning. Limitations: headaches.
My magic system is very simple, it's all about manipulating energy. All living things have energy and it's within all things. And basically, living things can tap into this energy, weave it, manipulate it, and transmute it. There's definitely spells you can learn to manipulate the energy easier, however it's better to think of it like a Green lantern, where you it's more about weaving the energy into a physical manifestation of your imagination. Of course, each being has a limited pool of energy/mana, if you use it all up, you die. You can increase you pool of mana by absorbing it in other things, of course if you absorb too much too fast, your body breaks apart and you die by basically exploding. It kinda abides the basic law of physics in that things cannot be created or destroyed, but things can be transmuted into energy or from energy. So you can create a physical object from energy. Now there are different types of energy that come from different realms, like Demonic, Divine, Arcane, Celestial and what not. Demonic makes someone more ambitious and more greedy. I wouldn't necessarily call it evil, but the more you consume of it, the more greedy and ambitious you become. It's about possession. Divine is all about pure white light that protects and maintains order. However, too much can make one very prideful and somewhat tyrannical. Arcane is more about creation and it's more artistic. However, it can make people envious. Celestial is all about life and growth. However, it can make people very passive and humble. There's more energies and it's mostly based on emotions with aspects that are all based around those emotions. With energy like most things, it's all about balance and moderation. Too much of something can corrupt you.
I'll base this on the film idea based on a game idea. 1. Not One Bit. 2. Now this works with some characters not the system itself. If you get lucky it won't matter really all it takes is learning the spell and then you can fly with half the elements. However if you dont have a good element it stops you from being able to do this. Unless youre born with all magics then you win anything. 3. Almost none, depletion of Mana stops them from using large amounts of spells and they're stuck to a single element unless theyre lucky. 4. Everyone gets a type of magic expect a few lucky exceptions. 5. The original idea is a game so yes progression is featured well, you have to progress your abilities and in the movie everyone gets more skilled throughout it. 6. The magic system is very intergrated being that its the main thing that everyone uses and the story was formed around it. 7. Its not the most original taking much from others but how it relies on luck having many people just stuck being weak is more original. Unlike most things i watch and read the runt will always find a way to get stronger but youre just stuck weak if youre Unlucky here.
Great Video! I'm developing a magic system called "Magic Missle", here are some examples: 1. Magic missile 2. Magic missle 3. Magic missle 4. Magic missile
I think the magic in my WIP can be described pretty succinctly: "By channeling power through any medium, you can create any magical effect you can imagine." I wanted a flexible power system which would allow me to give characters unique powers with unique properties, though it's deeper than it'd seem from that explanation. There are limitations, obviously, and it has an established physics and metaphysics to it beyond just "me think good and make lots of fire!" My key inspirations are the Destiny series of video games, anime, and - for lack of a better term - science. I actually don't consume much western fantasy, and my writing leans heavily towards soft magic systems built to emphasize character writing. But I also like the mechanics of a world to behave realistically; i.e., even The Strongest Man can't lift a person off the ground away from their body because center of gravity is a thing, and fire magic can't be used in the vacuum of space. That being said, there seems to be a perception that soft magic systems are lazy or used as an excuse to justify whatever the author wants, and I'm worried that I may not be able to properly convey that there are, in fact, limitations, and that things function in certain ways for actual reasons.
Those seem only be true when the reader is into hard magic, the moment they want soft magic nothing said in the video will lead to them become interesting in the magic. I know, since I am one of those people that prefer soft magic. For me the more a magic is defined the less it becomes appealing to me, since it literally loses the magic and becomes little more than a craft.
when you say 'it literally loses the magic' wdym by magic? is it the fantastical feeling of not knowing what is it, or the mystery of the powers the characters wield? i'm a reader who's into hard magic, so i can't exactly understand why you'd lose interested into more defined magic.
@m3m3z62 These hard magic systems are often not magic in the literal sense of the word magic. They are crafts, and you know what will happen when someone does something. It's more interesting to read about spirals of chaos where unexpected bs happens, and more often then not the magic gets fvked, and the characters deal with the fallout. Not limiting the possibilities and having bizarre, weird stuff happen is far more interesting, especially when it leans into cosmic horror themes.
@@mEmory______ I now understand that you enjoy the unknown aspect of magic where the outcome will always be unpredictable and bizarre, 'ppreciate you responding to me. In that case, does the element of surprise play a big factor into your love for soft magic? When exactly does 'magic' become 'craft' in your eyes? I'm genuinely curious.
@m3m3z62 in Malazan, for example, although there are things you expect some to be able to do, characters in general don't know the upper limits of what mages can do. Each individual has a different level of understanding of the magic system. Unknown effects come into play, and genuinely random stuff happens. There are plenty of moments where characters accidentally stumble on situations where they get certain varying types of powers. And there are moments when they screw up, misunderstand what that power is, get themselves merked, all because they just got that power the other day. That make sense? Don't know if I was very coherent.
My magic system is simple (minded). Mental effort is expended to manipulate energy fields. It's exhausting and the magic user is vulnerable because all the attention must be focused on the spell. A new spell requires a chant to focus the mind on the desired results, but with practice the spell can be initiated without the chant by simply focusing on it, and eventually by willing it with little conscious effort, although it still requires the same mental energy. Large spells require assistants to feed their energy to the magic user to amplify the effect.
Recently I've rewatched one of my favorite shows and it had me thinking why do writers struggle at writing a villain mc without either giving up modway and making them an anti hero or going overboard and making them a cartoonish villain By the way the show is overlord a rare case where the mc is a villain and stays as such it's Great you should check it out
Even as someone studying about game dev, including writing, I love your videos and try and adapt them to this other medium and my concepts. Making me feel like all the time I put into it was worth it and I have good ideas.
It would be interesting to see a discussion on the differences between magic systems between eastern and western fantasy. Like, what overlap is there? How does each type of fantasy affect the magic system? How do the magic systems of each type of fantasy affect the story? Could you simply use an eastern magic system in a western fantasy without having to make any adaptations to the way you tell the story? What about if you use a western magic system in an eastern fantasy?
I, personally, am more amiable to the progression fantasy style magic system with little to no downsides, as opposed to the ones from standard fantasy. I feel like im able to make a much more impactfull story when i use the plot to propose conflict instead of relying on the magic
Another excellent video! I could have used this last year. LOL. I created a magic system, but after writing my novel, I didn't like it. Too boring, and too much power with little consequences. So, I added in some very serious consequences, which led to a new BBeG, and then fueled the reason for one of my other main BBeGs to have 'turned bad.' I think this video is so fantastic and very necessary. Thank you.
I know Fires of the Dead is a standalone story, but I think you should check out spodomancy--an form of divination that is practiced by examining ashes, cinders, or soot, particularly--though not exclusively--from ritual sacrifice. I stumbled across this by accident. I was reading some old fairytales and found it odd that so many had protagonists that wallowed in cinders like Cinderella--some of these protagonists were even called Cinderlad. I imagine Cinderella's story could be a bit more interesting if all that time by the hearth was really her searching for answers to the burning questions in her heart, despite her stepsisters always mocking her for it. If your protagonists were searching for a patriarchal pyromancer's skull could expand the power of their house, imagine the adventures that could come from reading the future from the ashes. Just thought you would be interested by this.
The system of magic in my world is: Advantages Magic is limitless, it is only inhibited by mana and thinking. Everything has mana, even planets, stars, black holes and other more things have mana, every single world has mana, dead worlds though doesn't have mana. Disadvantages: Magic is limited by the capability to use general magic, which includes command, control and commencement, lack of general magic knowledge will stop you from using that certain magic.
Love the Roman Pantheon--the oculus at the top is an example I often use in training architects and engineers to highlight excellence in pre-electrical lighting design as well to drive home the importance of proper fenestration. (My day job is in commercial lighting and lighting controls).
My magic system is something like this: Sorcery is of three types: Elemental(which involves the use of the five elements), Illusory(illusions), Manipulative(which can manipulate objects) and Physical(where you use your Vitalis(energy currency) to amp up your physical stats). Most sorcerers have only one, with only a minority having two or more. While this may seem boring by itself, the political angle(in my opinion) pours life into this system. One of the main things in my story is that sorcery gives the oppressed the power to contend with the privileged, and recognising this, the government bans sorcery among the commons and restricts it only to the higher castes. The main characters are common people who can use sorcery, and because of it, they have a curse which causes a sharp pain on their shoulders if they use any form of magic for more than thirty seconds, which only intensfies the more stubborn someone is. Last and definitely the least, there is a dynamic between using a wand and using hand seals (only applies to Elemental Sorcery) Using wands, one's attacks are at least twice as powerful, with the caveat being that the user needs to scream the name of the attack out. Using hand seals, however, one doesn't need to say the name of the technique out loud, although the attacks are less powerful.
I've recently updated how my magic system works, so its a lot simpler to explain & is implemented into the world more. ( mainly that people find different ways to use the magic, such as one kingdom inspired by African countries figured out ways to use Sympathetic magic. while another country similar to the Scottish Highlands, as well as Britain & Ireland, found a way to cast spells via runes, allowing them to essentially create Magical technology).
My magic system in a sentence is: Use the decay of your sense of reality and identity to fuel sympathetic magic. Magic is limited by how quickly rwality/identity decays. Powerful magic could erase who you are, or make you no more than a formless ghost. You can, if course use other's or other objects reality or identity. The weakness is that magic causes overwhelming bliss, and euphoria leaving the user mentally scattered and unable to fully concentrate. Consequences of it are that yu can becomes addicted to magic duentonthe euphoria, and your identy and reality can decay away (or you become predatory and try and force others to give you their reality). Some unique points are: that can make contracts with other beings, usually to pay for the magic being done. And as the system is a sympathetic magic system, you can use it to manipulate or control the target. As an example you could snap a log by picking up a stick, use magic to bind them (the sympathetic magic), then snapbthenstick and the log breaks too.
I found this channel recently and bingewatched so many videos, it's been incredibly inspiring and helpful :) ; this video made me think that one thing I would love to hear more about is the aspect of magic systems that is not about how individuals use it but how it works in the world as a mechanic, like, I don't know, a world where the unbalance of dead versus living would provoke catastrophic magical storms. Is there different principles you could apply there for a good system ?
The secret to Roman concrete has been figured out. It is a limestone with a special chemical structure that absorbs water and strengthens the concrete it is used in.
i have a world that is very much alchemical in that the magic system in my novels setting is a form of highly addictive narcotic (something i sadly have too much experience with) that promises satisfaction in the form of power but inevitably leaves anyone who uses it twitching, emaciated, yammering, and entirely reliant to the sources though still capable of throwing flaming sparks or telepathic/telekinetic things depending on how they respond... though my protagonist couldn't care less about how the magic works he just wants revenge on the organization that sold it to his sister who OD'd
14:15 A risk is a chance of something happening. Channeling *Saidin* has no risk, as insanity is guaranteed to increase with every use. Also, the dark one. Not the dark lord.
When will Kingdom of Dragons finally be on Amazon, and on your website? I want to read it something fierce. I just ordered The Thunder Heist off Amazon. The cover looks amazing.
My magic system is based around memories and it’s an abstract concept allowing for a soft magic system. It’s separated into four types; light magic can only be used by pure hearts, dark magic can be used by dark hearts, neutral magic can be used by anyone, and ancient magic can only be use by dragons and ancient fairies. Which is thought to be extinct.
7:15 Yeah, but what does "burn them inside themselves" mean? Don't get me wrong I know, because I've read them, but if I hadn't read them and someone said that to me, it would sound so confusing.
If you've already ordered/pre-ordered the book through the Kickstarter (or through the late backer store), you should have access to this right now. Send me an email at jed (at) jedherne.com and I'll get this sorted for you!
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who couldn't care less about magic systems in fantasy - or at least, hard magic systems. I couldn't get in to Mistborne, and the Allomancy magic system everyone praises endlessly didn't help the series at all to me.
I'm no native English speaker, so please excuse me I think if magic is very powerful and accessible in your world, it should impact the world building accordingly. For example: If magic is a powerful force on the battlefield, armies would probably no longer rely on medieval knight weaponry, but instead use just magic. Because this is what would happen in the real world, i think. When there's new technology, people will just use it to the max to gain advantages. When crossbows were invented in medieval Europe, soon everyone used crossbows instead of bows. If magic is powerful but not that accesible (only few can wield it for some reason or because it is difficult to learn), magic should still revolutionize the world. Maybe it can revolutionize and change not only the military, but also other sectors of society, like agriculture, transportation, building, different crafts. People would be very creative, if powerful magic really existed. They would make use of it in ways that are surprising and ingenious. So to me it's always unbelievable if there's just magic in a medieval world. If magic appeared in the medieval period, it would revolutionize and change everything. Soon it wouldn't resemble the medieval period at all. Magic + medieval world is only realistic when magic is weak or very elusive.
Im a brazilian begginer writer, and i just love fantasy since i was a little kid in my five or six years. Nowadays, im 16 years old, and i always wanted to write, so last year, in october, i decided to start writing. I know i cannot create a whole complex universe and a great book at first, so i ended up rewriting it two times while i get to improve my writing skills. But the only problem is that i started creating my universe not just for writing, but for my d&d campaings, four years ago, and i decided to use that universe, that was already FULL of history, as the setting of my books, but now that im seeing your videos, i understand the importance of a unique and more interesting magic system, but now i just cannot leave the "d&d magic system", and now im stuck on that for the past two weeks. Do you have any suggestions or tips that could help me in this case? Thank you anyways, love your videos and love your content, its really helpful and inspiring. EDIT: Just clarifying why I'm stuck: this world that I created already has a very large timeline, with many eras, many characters, many events, several gods, many magical things that are all based on the "d&d magic system" , and now that I'd like to change that, I don't know what I can create without having to abandon the entire scenario I've already created. I fear that this is really the only solution, because looking at it now, this magic system does not have significant consequences, or a relevant "price" or any of these qualities, since in d&d almost anything has magic.
Don't think I could be as big a help as jed but I have few advice for you bro because I have been in a similar condition. I too am a 16 year old who has gotten mixed up in setting which have a large timeline with many pantheon power systems which are very shallow, races, worlds, characters and events. I would suggest to select or create an event where most of the characters gods places and events which you are interested in writing are involved in some way. To create a more unique magic system with d&d elements add few elements that invoke the common theme of everything else. It would work as even jed says originality comes with a combination of different curiosities.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention only show the world you create that naturally mixes with the theme of your story it would stop a sense of messiness and invoke a sense of mystery and wonder. Good luck for your novel from a teenager writer from India
Oh yeah I forgot your last point it would also be solved with the method I suggest as emotional and mental consequences and prices are added when you write with a theme take subaru frim re zero for example his ability return by death don't have consequences and weakness in traditional sense but cause author tapai write with theme of self love so consequences of getting insane get in place cause subaru recklessly uses it to save his friends cause of his low self-esteem
I'm not sure to what extent this comment belongs here, but for my sci-fantasy setting, I'm wondering how integrated magic should be within the technology and society of the world. My two main ideas are that FTL travel relies on magical artifice, and that crystallized magic has become the main way to supply electricity in power station (still on the principle of boiling water and turbines). But it's more to what extent should it appear in the every day life of the average person. I want the civilisations and societies to have semblance to modern day and relate to issues, but I don't want magic to feel like a footnote or a different world.
Oh I love The Name of the Wind. It's been awhile since I've been so enchanted with a story. Truly cannot wait for book 3, The Doors of Stone. Not counting The Slow Regard of Silent Things and The Narrow Road Between Desires, which I also love despite them being stories meant to fill the gaps between The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. It's goes without saying (saying it anyway); The Kingkiller Chronicle is a must read.
you tell me the ring does more than that? funny how this was never a problem back in the day, when narnia and lotr, even though the later was heavy on worldbuilding, the power system itself wasn't a real concern, and what to say of the former. many good books didn't think about this, all they did was telling a good story with good character and growth
Sry, but I'm gonna have to call bs on the tree trunk part. Could you describe the magic system in Star Wars in one sentence? Or lord of the rings? Or Harry Potter? While I DO agree with the idea, I don't see it as absolutely necessary.
It's just the times we're in unfortunately. Writers are more focused on marketability and trends which means most modern writing advice ends up being centered on these very lean dumbed down methods of story development that "hook the reader" at all cost. It's why we are in the era of "retellings" and why most books today feel so derivative or made to fit a checklist of tropes.
The Force is the easiest of them all to explain in one sentence. In fact, you don't even need a sentence. Just a word. People with the Force can do ANYTHING. It's pretty much the same with LOTR's magic system. It's based in song. Soft magic systems don't really have much of a premise in their magic. Hard ones do.
I made a magic system in my world called, 'Switch Magic.' It is magic, but when you chant incantations, it can switch to dark magic. This can be combined with pretty much any sort of magic (like hemocrafting.). The only downside is that this corrupts the hell out of the character, and if they don't to be corrupted, they have to be in service or worship the goddess Hala. However, that is not easy. Thanks for these vids, and also love the thumbnail.
@justadel2 Well, Hala, being the goddess of dark magic, it is hard to gain her attention and please. She would make the character do things that they don't want to do - like act immoral, do strange things like stealing, etc. All because it is a test. And the one thing she asks in return is unwavering commitment to use dark magic.
I want my book to have a dark magic system based around dark energy and witchcraft, that is fear-based, as in induce fear into others, but at the cost of corrupting the mind of the user. How would I go about it Alternatively, I want to create a cursed, magic sword, said to be made from the remains of an evil dragon, whose soul is said to still reside in the weapon.
do you still need a consequence and all these things even when the magic isn't that important to the story? Or do you encourage there to be a lot of magic in fantasy?
My thought on the matter has been that the consequences and costs should equal or at least close to the power used. So if something big is done with the magic, something big is required, if the magic doesn't do much little is required. Your story should be just that, your story. If that includes magic, great, if not, also great, magic is a part of your setting not a prerequisite for fantasy.
Can I ask for advice for writing here? Anyway in my story I have decided to create two magic system as in my story axioms which are fundamental ideas who exist beyond the main universe of the story, they're actual characters with their own desire motive and goals two of such axioms amarth and eidelon (these are place holder names) plays twilight of the kings a game in which deites and mortals are selested from different point in space and time(only mortals came from different times) to compte agsaint each other in a different universe where players (amarth and elidelon) indirectly effect their life. Deites are being s born out of belif. They are able to assert their control where their belivers are in majotary . They control a concept as it percive by their belivers (another universe is a mirror image of main one) they could be gods, devails, spirts or anything born out of belief and as being born out of believe they require belief on a daily basis and are changed as believe changes (and yeah they're is a reincarnation cycle like in buddhism deites were infulencational figure in their previous life bot like every being can't remember thier past life) . This is the first one and deties are antagonist with this I had summed up most things about this magic system and appart from some issue with originality it's quite decent but the I am not able to make second one better, ot is called school of thought and is phyliosphy based magic system, here I am unable to connect the act of philosophy with combat on higher leval doesn't have consequences cannot be easily summrise and is unable to create much sense of progression as there is no novince character. Plese give me some suggestions
I mean their personality , so here consequence is their identity is not fixed and they're not in control of this they have to find way to fix this issue with various means
Geography too change with believe as details control them and past events effect the believes if today, each deities also have a control over thier self but base is created by belif. I will a quote from my story here" For deities changing identity is like not completely able to understand others for mortals something that is experienced by everyone "
I fear that my magic system is not that engaging because it's not a typical fantasy story. The magic is very grounded and ultimately mundane in that it's a form of telekinesis with skill being the only limitation. However, the magic itself is completely infused into the story. The religion is the origin of magic and its overwhelming power is impossible to rival by non-magic weilders once a sorcerer gets over the learning curve. Because of this, the cultures and people of these worlds are directly affected by the existence of magic. The story reveals many of the few secrets left about magic and the religion and takes place in a modern era where magic almost completely understood and is fully integrated into much of the technology. I've found that the magic system itself is almost like a setting, and so it makes it very hard to explain in a concise way. I wish it were easier to explain than just, "Imagine if most people had 1% of Magneto's power, except they can affect ANY object and not just metal and the only limitation was people's access to information about how magic works.".
Turning magic into super powers is a turn off for me. It loses its charm it just becomes a tacked on thing. Look at Army of Darkness. Ash has a gun which is effectively a super power. Can you think of that as a magic system? No
So uhhh. I did the worldbuilding first and I don’t even know what kind of stories I will have take place in the world other than very few characters who don’t have filled out backstories or lives, so no single story, it will be multiple stories that are completely disconnected possibly thousands of years apart from one another, and there are no stories that exist yet. Got it? So, this does not look good for me. The magic system is very rigid and impossible to exploit, so characters cannot gain much power from the magic system. The whole thing is that the consciousness of sentient being creates energy and that energy goes into what they think about. If they think about a person, that energy goes to that person. When a person’s energy hits a certain threshold they have the option to go through the process to become a demigod. After they go through this process they get new abilities, some that all demigods get and one exclusive to their species (humans do not have a unique ability but that’s fine because humans will be almost irrelevant to all stories and it is very hard for a human to become a demigod anyways.), and they can spend energy to do certain things. It’s weak and not usable in the slightest. There’s also witchcraft and alchemy, but all the spells and potions are weak and expensive, so that won’t help either. The only way for a character to get a combat advantage is the attributes your species naturally has (still won’t help, people in this world don’t fight each other often if at all, except for humans, but all the species are so much more powerful than humans that humans don’t stand a chance and will just end up being eaten with no chance of escape, and the afterlife punishes human when they fight back against another sentient species when they try to eat them, so they few fights that do happen aren’t really fights.) Except, there are spellcasting species, some with broad magical abilities some with narrow, but they are rare and still rarely use their magical abilities to gain power. On top of the fact that I’ve managed to write lore that conflicts with ANTAGONISTS existing, this does not look good, I’ve already decided that using the fantasy formula is completely hopeless and will make for way worse stories than other options. I need help. I don’t think I’m writing fantasy, I think I’m writing anarchy.
Your idea about investing a soul into a building and gaining power from adoration for that building isn't ENTIRELY original. I take it you haven't seen the anime DNAngel. In it, the main character is the heir to a family of phantom thieves. His job is to steal famous pieces of art. Why? The collected energy from the synergized feelings of its admirers gives the artwork power that runs wild and hurts people. They steal the art so they can magically seal it and keep it sealed. As a twist, he is born with a magical being that awakens when he's 14. This being is one half of an infamous work of art from centuries before. His nemesis bears the other half of that work of art within him.
its not free if you require data to get it since i have no interest in giving you my email so you can spam me with mailing list nonsense, the only reason you need the email, im calling out the lie. its not free
When your reader starts mimicking the magic’s movements and angrily yells the spells into the mirror, while brushing their teeth: THATS when you know you crafted a good magic system. :)
Lol!
Moon Spiral Heart Attack!
In the Name of the Moon, I will punish you!
@@JustClaude13😂
Hahahah love this one
Avada kadavra!!
I liked the part about magic enabling creative solutions. In the first Harry Potter book, when they fight the troll in the bathroom, they beat him with a levitation spell. They don't levitate the troll, they levitate his club and drop it on his head, knocking him out. Creative and fun.
What I love about your videos are:
- They are short and meaningful
- They always provide insightful value addition
- They are well structured
- They are modular
- The offers are list formatted
- No faff! 👍
I think One Piece is such a good example of this. You can gain unnatural power by eating a 'devil fruit', but the 'unnaturalness' makes you hated by the mother of nature the ocean, and so all devil fruit eaters are weakened by sea water and can't swim. In a world where the only land masses are islands and almost every main character is a pirate this is such a cool idea
I'd like to say I agree, but this really fades out the longer the story continues. There are characters who are still easily superhuman even when in contact with sea stone.
8:35 Ah yes, Nitchkee, my favourite philosopher
I rank him up there with Play-do and So-crates.
havent heard that one before tbf
As Nitchkee said, ged is dad
Thank you soooo much, have felt insecure about my magic system, this helped soo much
I watch a lot of anime and read a lot of manga and I always find myself comparing the magic systems in these videos to the magic systems I see in a certain anime or manga. I was wondering if you ever view those types of media because I think an analysis on their magic systems would be so interesting. Love your videos!
Eh instead of that, he should go more into light novels since they are the general foundation for most mangas and animes. Also Light Novels are novels so it would fit in pretty much with the theme of the channel.
@@TechAndBeyond381 Yeah of course. I just lumped them together for the sake of simplicity, and the fact that the anime/manga that consistently comes to mind is Jujutsu Kaisen, which doesn't have a light novel.
Anime power systems are usually soft magic (think Dragon Ball and One Piece) or soft magic with some rules (think Hunter x Hunter). Anime usually focuses on powers that are unique to individuals, at least for the main cast, which have their own rules even if they exist within a broader structure.
Western fantasy usually emphasizes powers which are formally codified, studied, and taught directly, from the humble monk learning his temple's traditions to a wizard studying in the capital's most prestigious university. The spells and abilities they learn usually already exist and are understood. So, generally, they have a more hard magic lean, at least aesthetically.
Obviously these are in no way universal. The most prominent western fantasy books ever put to paper, LOTR, are soft magic. But I find that this is generally accurate in my experience.
@@someman8772for anime what your thinking of are mostly shonen but you are right that theres a bunch of soft magic systems in anime.
I was a bit insecure of my magic system, I thought it was too basic and one-dimensional. But now, I have realized that it’s perfect the way it is.
I've kind of done the opposite, the only thing limiting the abilities of my magic users is time. The big bad is 300 years old and looking to ascend to godhood to manipulate every atom in the universe to his whim.
May I ask what it's like?
@@DameiusLameocratesvery full metal alchemist esk
I never imagined hearing anyone quote Nietzsche to explain Pokemon :)
What about magical blood colors that allow users to absorb or fuse with different physical items or elements like metal and non-physical concepts like memories and strength. Their bodies will take on the characteristic of what they fused with or absorbed.
Black Blood allows users to fuse and absorb metal. Black Bloods can animate metal prosthetics to act like normal limbs and attach weapons to their bodies that will then act like an extension of their bodies.
Orange Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with non-metal elements like stone, fire, air, water, and plants. Similar to Black Bloods, Orange Bloods can animate constructs made of the element.
Green Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with animals. Users can attach large bird wings to their back to fly, some can absorb sea animals to be able to breathe in the ocean, and much more.
Purple Blood allows users to absorb and fuse with body parts of other Purple Bloods. Users might have multiple heads and arms or legs that they can move and control.
Silver Bloods allows users to absorb and fuse with the strength, speed, and durability of others by stealing it from them. Their bodies will become stronger while those they have stolen from will become weaker.
Gold Bloods allows users to absorb and fuse with the minds and memories of others. They can steal personalities and know the past of those they have absorbed.
Blue Bloods allow users to absorb and fuse with corpses. They can animate the dead by giving the corpses some of their blood, including controlling the bodies of other blooded beings.
No Bloods are users who do not have any blood but instead have dust. They can absorb the flesh of others and then use that flesh to heal their own bodies. They do not feel any pain or any fear. They can also graft their own body parts on others, allowing them to take control of the body part and use it as if they were still attached to them.
White Bloods allow users to manipulate and control any organic lifeform (unable to alter a lifeform that is elemental or metallic). They can alter the biological structure of others with a single touch but they cannot alter that lifeform a second time.
This is very cool concept and could run for ages
Your black bloods are like Kevin 11 from Ben 10 Alien Force, while your white bloods are like Mahito from JJK.
Also I would split up orange bloods, fire sounds like it needs its own blood as it's the energy being controlled rather than matter, and plants may work better as green blood since that blood is the essence of life. Stone is a weird one, because metals and stones end up overlapping at some point and stone is more associated with metal than water.
I think your orange blood should be an elemental blood, controlling the elemental lifeforms of stone, water, air and fire.
A good drawback of this power would be that if they allow too much material into their system in a short period, they get poisoning from it e.g.: black bloods gets iron poisoning, no bloods get autoimmune disease, gold bloods get split personality disorders
I recommend adding leeway between different bloods, more so in later books as a way to show the growth of science in your magic system such as: Green bloods can graft animal features easily, but purple bloods need extensive training because their power is for humans. Or White bloods needing training to control lifeless corpses to the extent blue bloods can.
If you really want to, you could use typical colours associated with elements, like corpses are black blood, though it seems you went out of your way to avoid it
@@strangesword4524 I did get inspiration of my Black Bloods from Kevin. Orange Bloods are in fact Elementals. The White Bloods who rule the world try to divide each lesser blood into castes. So the Green Bloods are divided into those who obey the at least 50% human to at most 50% animal fusion ratio. So Centaurs are considered obeying the law while Minotaurs or Minos as they are called do not. I do have the Black Bloods suffer from severe metal poisoning and even rusting. So Black Bloods have to constantly bathe in molten metal to have it burn away the rust and replace the lost layer. Orange Bloods are also divided into castes, with many Elementals looking human; thus, they are considered obeying the law. The White Bloods age far faster than any other of the Blooded Race. Spoiler:
The White Bloods are gods and thought to be immortal when in reality they act like parasites to specifically the Red Blooded Humans. You have some White Bloods transform humans into spare organs to replace their aged one and then transform the Human into a younger clone of themselves.
@@strangesword4524 I didn't want the elemental color thing because that was a going to be another series I worked on and B because I wanted to dip my toes in something a little different that will make my story more unique.
@@tinosdragatsis seems legit
I've been trying to justify the different peoples in one continent having affinities for a particular type of magic, but I had not thought about blood color!
You mentioned a lot of great points but I would've liked more pieces of advice that apply to soft magic systems since I'm writing a story with a soft magic system
Here's one that the video totally leaves out that I think is very important for any sort of fantasy story, hard or soft;
...
It's PRESENTATION! You can take a really cool magic system and explain it in clear, concise and banal language and it'll be boring, or you can take a pedestrian magic system and goose the throttle by writing scenes with magic in them with a ton of atmosphere.
Agreed. I'm generally not even interested in hard magic systems.
ngreennz is correct, it's all about presentation. Soft magic wizards like Gandalf or Ged are convincing because of the impact of when they do use their magic.
Soft magic is just hard magic that is poorly understand within the setting. Even if you are writing a system with few codified rules, it STILL requires limitations and some level of internal consistency to be satisfying or interesting. If it comes across as an excuse to just do whatever you want, it makes everything feel arbitrary and forced. And to be fair, that is literally true of every story because they're all made up, but stories are illusions that people willingly accept. And to maintain that illusion, you need to first and foremost present a world that is believable under the rules you impose upon it.
This is causing me to have some thoughts about my own magic systems, and after this video I think I've mainly made a few key decisions on how I need to change a couple of them to make them more unique...thank you for that!
I like how you gave this video a simple listicle title and tricked us into clicking on a really informative teaching video. Great content, as usual. Your videos have become my go-to method of getting into the creative headspace at the start of my writing sessions.
Glad it was helpful!
Since playing and falling in love with Mage: The Ascension, I've been addicted to advanced magic systems. Creating new spells was always fun, but damn, creating a new magic system, world, and characters that coexist is on another level. Already ending my second volume, and it's the best ride of my life. The thing is, I think I would never start, if not for channels like this, so I'm really grateful. Thank You, Jed.
I'm planning on writing a _graphic_ novel, but it's also in fantasy. So listening to you to enhance and deepen my characters (specifically the protagonist's powers are monster-related, and I wanted to make it more challenging, so hey, what if the only way to use their powers is to hide them with things that are meant to chase away/hurt monsters. Obviously, it'll cause pain, so the lesson is learning how to cope, endure, and eventually overcome struggles in life.)
Hey Jed! Thank you so much for this video and for being the highlight of my lawn mowing sessions. Keep up the great inspirational work and keep writing! Blessings!
I absolutely loves your video your an inspiration and i hope there will be another magic system contest as i will like to present my magic system which is combining numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division making math more entertaining and fun to watch all while learning. Limitations: headaches.
My magic system is very simple, it's all about manipulating energy. All living things have energy and it's within all things. And basically, living things can tap into this energy, weave it, manipulate it, and transmute it. There's definitely spells you can learn to manipulate the energy easier, however it's better to think of it like a Green lantern, where you it's more about weaving the energy into a physical manifestation of your imagination. Of course, each being has a limited pool of energy/mana, if you use it all up, you die. You can increase you pool of mana by absorbing it in other things, of course if you absorb too much too fast, your body breaks apart and you die by basically exploding.
It kinda abides the basic law of physics in that things cannot be created or destroyed, but things can be transmuted into energy or from energy. So you can create a physical object from energy.
Now there are different types of energy that come from different realms, like Demonic, Divine, Arcane, Celestial and what not.
Demonic makes someone more ambitious and more greedy. I wouldn't necessarily call it evil, but the more you consume of it, the more greedy and ambitious you become. It's about possession.
Divine is all about pure white light that protects and maintains order. However, too much can make one very prideful and somewhat tyrannical.
Arcane is more about creation and it's more artistic. However, it can make people envious.
Celestial is all about life and growth. However, it can make people very passive and humble.
There's more energies and it's mostly based on emotions with aspects that are all based around those emotions.
With energy like most things, it's all about balance and moderation. Too much of something can corrupt you.
I'll base this on the film idea based on a game idea.
1. Not One Bit.
2. Now this works with some characters not the system itself. If you get lucky it won't matter really all it takes is learning the spell and then you can fly with half the elements. However if you dont have a good element it stops you from being able to do this. Unless youre born with all magics then you win anything.
3. Almost none, depletion of Mana stops them from using large amounts of spells and they're stuck to a single element unless theyre lucky.
4. Everyone gets a type of magic expect a few lucky exceptions.
5. The original idea is a game so yes progression is featured well, you have to progress your abilities and in the movie everyone gets more skilled throughout it.
6. The magic system is very intergrated being that its the main thing that everyone uses and the story was formed around it.
7. Its not the most original taking much from others but how it relies on luck having many people just stuck being weak is more original. Unlike most things i watch and read the runt will always find a way to get stronger but youre just stuck weak if youre Unlucky here.
1. my magic when activated has a weakness of salt
Great Video!
I'm developing a magic system called "Magic Missle", here are some examples:
1. Magic missile
2. Magic missle
3. Magic missle
4. Magic missile
To tree trunk: there is a saying for planning outdoor games: KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid, also simple main target, enveloped possibilities
I think the magic in my WIP can be described pretty succinctly: "By channeling power through any medium, you can create any magical effect you can imagine." I wanted a flexible power system which would allow me to give characters unique powers with unique properties, though it's deeper than it'd seem from that explanation. There are limitations, obviously, and it has an established physics and metaphysics to it beyond just "me think good and make lots of fire!"
My key inspirations are the Destiny series of video games, anime, and - for lack of a better term - science. I actually don't consume much western fantasy, and my writing leans heavily towards soft magic systems built to emphasize character writing. But I also like the mechanics of a world to behave realistically; i.e., even The Strongest Man can't lift a person off the ground away from their body because center of gravity is a thing, and fire magic can't be used in the vacuum of space. That being said, there seems to be a perception that soft magic systems are lazy or used as an excuse to justify whatever the author wants, and I'm worried that I may not be able to properly convey that there are, in fact, limitations, and that things function in certain ways for actual reasons.
your advice has saved me, thanks friend
Those seem only be true when the reader is into hard magic, the moment they want soft magic nothing said in the video will lead to them become interesting in the magic. I know, since I am one of those people that prefer soft magic. For me the more a magic is defined the less it becomes appealing to me, since it literally loses the magic and becomes little more than a craft.
These have some good stuff, but yeah, i want more soft magic.
when you say 'it literally loses the magic' wdym by magic? is it the fantastical feeling of not knowing what is it, or the mystery of the powers the characters wield? i'm a reader who's into hard magic, so i can't exactly understand why you'd lose interested into more defined magic.
@m3m3z62 These hard magic systems are often not magic in the literal sense of the word magic. They are crafts, and you know what will happen when someone does something. It's more interesting to read about spirals of chaos where unexpected bs happens, and more often then not the magic gets fvked, and the characters deal with the fallout. Not limiting the possibilities and having bizarre, weird stuff happen is far more interesting, especially when it leans into cosmic horror themes.
@@mEmory______ I now understand that you enjoy the unknown aspect of magic where the outcome will always be unpredictable and bizarre, 'ppreciate you responding to me. In that case, does the element of surprise play a big factor into your love for soft magic? When exactly does 'magic' become 'craft' in your eyes? I'm genuinely curious.
@m3m3z62 in Malazan, for example, although there are things you expect some to be able to do, characters in general don't know the upper limits of what mages can do. Each individual has a different level of understanding of the magic system. Unknown effects come into play, and genuinely random stuff happens. There are plenty of moments where characters accidentally stumble on situations where they get certain varying types of powers. And there are moments when they screw up, misunderstand what that power is, get themselves merked, all because they just got that power the other day. That make sense? Don't know if I was very coherent.
Thanks for a great video Jed! 7's a great number!
My magic system is simple (minded). Mental effort is expended to manipulate energy fields. It's exhausting and the magic user is vulnerable because all the attention must be focused on the spell.
A new spell requires a chant to focus the mind on the desired results, but with practice the spell can be initiated without the chant by simply focusing on it, and eventually by willing it with little conscious effort, although it still requires the same mental energy.
Large spells require assistants to feed their energy to the magic user to amplify the effect.
i watch every single one of your videos and they are really helpful so thanks! downloading the resource now :)
Love your videos, they help so much! And I really wanna read your new book, it sounds AMAZING!!
Recently I've rewatched one of my favorite shows and it had me thinking why do writers struggle at writing a villain mc without either giving up modway and making them an anti hero or going overboard and making them a cartoonish villain
By the way the show is overlord a rare case where the mc is a villain and stays as such it's Great you should check it out
The sun warden apprentice killing the dark warden reminds me of the Sith Lords and their apprentice from Star Wars
Even as someone studying about game dev, including writing, I love your videos and try and adapt them to this other medium and my concepts. Making me feel like all the time I put into it was worth it and I have good ideas.
Thank you for this useful tips
It would be interesting to see a discussion on the differences between magic systems between eastern and western fantasy. Like, what overlap is there? How does each type of fantasy affect the magic system? How do the magic systems of each type of fantasy affect the story? Could you simply use an eastern magic system in a western fantasy without having to make any adaptations to the way you tell the story? What about if you use a western magic system in an eastern fantasy?
This is some great food for thought as I pants the hell out of my magic system. Thanks for another great video!
Ohhh I just love your videos so much...
Thanks for the tips
I'm creating a system of magic and superpowers that run from the same source, so these are useful for how I write it
Damnit that tree system sounds cool
Love the black prisim...this explanation is so needed 👌
I, personally, am more amiable to the progression fantasy style magic system with little to no downsides, as opposed to the ones from standard fantasy. I feel like im able to make a much more impactfull story when i use the plot to propose conflict instead of relying on the magic
Another excellent video! I could have used this last year. LOL. I created a magic system, but after writing my novel, I didn't like it. Too boring, and too much power with little consequences. So, I added in some very serious consequences, which led to a new BBeG, and then fueled the reason for one of my other main BBeGs to have 'turned bad.' I think this video is so fantastic and very necessary. Thank you.
I know Fires of the Dead is a standalone story, but I think you should check out spodomancy--an form of divination that is practiced by examining ashes, cinders, or soot, particularly--though not exclusively--from ritual sacrifice. I stumbled across this by accident. I was reading some old fairytales and found it odd that so many had protagonists that wallowed in cinders like Cinderella--some of these protagonists were even called Cinderlad. I imagine Cinderella's story could be a bit more interesting if all that time by the hearth was really her searching for answers to the burning questions in her heart, despite her stepsisters always mocking her for it. If your protagonists were searching for a patriarchal pyromancer's skull could expand the power of their house, imagine the adventures that could come from reading the future from the ashes. Just thought you would be interested by this.
Are you planning to make another magic system competition?
The system of magic in my world is:
Advantages
Magic is limitless, it is only inhibited by mana and thinking.
Everything has mana, even planets, stars, black holes and other more things have mana, every single world has mana, dead worlds though doesn't have mana.
Disadvantages:
Magic is limited by the capability to use general magic, which includes command, control and commencement, lack of general magic knowledge will stop you from using that certain magic.
Love the Roman Pantheon--the oculus at the top is an example I often use in training architects and engineers to highlight excellence in pre-electrical lighting design as well to drive home the importance of proper fenestration. (My day job is in commercial lighting and lighting controls).
My magic system is something like this:
Sorcery is of three types: Elemental(which involves the use of the five elements), Illusory(illusions), Manipulative(which can manipulate objects) and Physical(where you use your Vitalis(energy currency) to amp up your physical stats). Most sorcerers have only one, with only a minority having two or more.
While this may seem boring by itself, the political angle(in my opinion) pours life into this system.
One of the main things in my story is that sorcery gives the oppressed the power to contend with the privileged, and recognising this, the government bans sorcery among the commons and restricts it only to the higher castes.
The main characters are common people who can use sorcery, and because of it, they have a curse which causes a sharp pain on their shoulders if they use any form of magic for more than thirty seconds, which only intensfies the more stubborn someone is.
Last and definitely the least, there is a dynamic between using a wand and using hand seals (only applies to Elemental Sorcery)
Using wands, one's attacks are at least twice as powerful, with the caveat being that the user needs to scream the name of the attack out. Using hand seals, however, one doesn't need to say the name of the technique out loud, although the attacks are less powerful.
New vid let's goooooo
I've recently updated how my magic system works, so its a lot simpler to explain & is implemented into the world more. ( mainly that people find different ways to use the magic, such as one kingdom inspired by African countries figured out ways to use Sympathetic magic. while another country similar to the Scottish Highlands, as well as Britain & Ireland, found a way to cast spells via runes, allowing them to essentially create Magical technology).
Would love your take on using the magic concept in a non fiction book
My magic system in a sentence is: Use the decay of your sense of reality and identity to fuel sympathetic magic.
Magic is limited by how quickly rwality/identity decays. Powerful magic could erase who you are, or make you no more than a formless ghost. You can, if course use other's or other objects reality or identity.
The weakness is that magic causes overwhelming bliss, and euphoria leaving the user mentally scattered and unable to fully concentrate.
Consequences of it are that yu can becomes addicted to magic duentonthe euphoria, and your identy and reality can decay away (or you become predatory and try and force others to give you their reality).
Some unique points are: that can make contracts with other beings, usually to pay for the magic being done.
And as the system is a sympathetic magic system, you can use it to manipulate or control the target. As an example you could snap a log by picking up a stick, use magic to bind them (the sympathetic magic), then snapbthenstick and the log breaks too.
Ah yes, who can forget that one passage of 'Beyond Good and Evil' "Charmander, I choose you"
I found this channel recently and bingewatched so many videos, it's been incredibly inspiring and helpful :) ; this video made me think that one thing I would love to hear more about is the aspect of magic systems that is not about how individuals use it but how it works in the world as a mechanic, like, I don't know, a world where the unbalance of dead versus living would provoke catastrophic magical storms. Is there different principles you could apply there for a good system ?
If i ever rite a book and it gets famous, ill give you credit
Thanks for all the good tips
Not trying to sound mean, but you'll need spelling and grammar lessons.
@@IllusionistBeatsOfficial not when i have chat gpt 🤣
@@JoaoSantos-gl8yo I wouldn't trust chat gpt with doing your writing for you. Good luck with whatever you write!
The secret to Roman concrete has been figured out. It is a limestone with a special chemical structure that absorbs water and strengthens the concrete it is used in.
i have a world that is very much alchemical in that the magic system in my novels setting is a form of highly addictive narcotic (something i sadly have too much experience with) that promises satisfaction in the form of power but inevitably leaves anyone who uses it twitching, emaciated, yammering, and entirely reliant to the sources though still capable of throwing flaming sparks or telepathic/telekinetic things depending on how they respond... though my protagonist couldn't care less about how the magic works he just wants revenge on the organization that sold it to his sister who OD'd
15:51 Concrete cancer… I gotta use that someday 😂
14:15 A risk is a chance of something happening. Channeling *Saidin* has no risk, as insanity is guaranteed to increase with every use.
Also, the dark one. Not the dark lord.
Two years ago I wrote (still unpublished) fantasy novel with no magic in the story.
When will Kingdom of Dragons finally be on Amazon, and on your website? I want to read it something fierce. I just ordered The Thunder Heist off Amazon. The cover looks amazing.
My magic system is based around memories and it’s an abstract concept allowing for a soft magic system. It’s separated into four types; light magic can only be used by pure hearts, dark magic can be used by dark hearts, neutral magic can be used by anyone, and ancient magic can only be use by dragons and ancient fairies. Which is thought to be extinct.
Yoooo I'm early to a Jed Herne video! Nice!
7:15 Yeah, but what does "burn them inside themselves" mean? Don't get me wrong I know, because I've read them, but if I hadn't read them and someone said that to me, it would sound so confusing.
Excited for kingdom of dragons! Preordered the ebook, any idea when that will go out?
If you've already ordered/pre-ordered the book through the Kickstarter (or through the late backer store), you should have access to this right now. Send me an email at jed (at) jedherne.com and I'll get this sorted for you!
@@Jed_Herne thank you! I must have missed the email, I was able to get it!
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who couldn't care less about magic systems in fantasy - or at least, hard magic systems. I couldn't get in to Mistborne, and the Allomancy magic system everyone praises endlessly didn't help the series at all to me.
Same here
Great video!
I'm no native English speaker, so please excuse me
I think if magic is very powerful and accessible in your world, it should impact the world building accordingly. For example: If magic is a powerful force on the battlefield, armies would probably no longer rely on medieval knight weaponry, but instead use just magic. Because this is what would happen in the real world, i think. When there's new technology, people will just use it to the max to gain advantages. When crossbows were invented in medieval Europe, soon everyone used crossbows instead of bows.
If magic is powerful but not that accesible (only few can wield it for some reason or because it is difficult to learn), magic should still revolutionize the world. Maybe it can revolutionize and change not only the military, but also other sectors of society, like agriculture, transportation, building, different crafts. People would be very creative, if powerful magic really existed. They would make use of it in ways that are surprising and ingenious.
So to me it's always unbelievable if there's just magic in a medieval world. If magic appeared in the medieval period, it would revolutionize and change everything. Soon it wouldn't resemble the medieval period at all.
Magic + medieval world is only realistic when magic is weak or very elusive.
Im a brazilian begginer writer, and i just love fantasy since i was a little kid in my five or six years. Nowadays, im 16 years old, and i always wanted to write, so last year, in october, i decided to start writing. I know i cannot create a whole complex universe and a great book at first, so i ended up rewriting it two times while i get to improve my writing skills.
But the only problem is that i started creating my universe not just for writing, but for my d&d campaings, four years ago, and i decided to use that universe, that was already FULL of history, as the setting of my books, but now that im seeing your videos, i understand the importance of a unique and more interesting magic system, but now i just cannot leave the "d&d magic system", and now im stuck on that for the past two weeks.
Do you have any suggestions or tips that could help me in this case?
Thank you anyways, love your videos and love your content, its really helpful and inspiring.
EDIT: Just clarifying why I'm stuck: this world that I created already has a very large timeline, with many eras, many characters, many events, several gods, many magical things that are all based on the "d&d magic system" , and now that I'd like to change that, I don't know what I can create without having to abandon the entire scenario I've already created. I fear that this is really the only solution, because looking at it now, this magic system does not have significant consequences, or a relevant "price" or any of these qualities, since in d&d almost anything has magic.
Don't think I could be as big a help as jed but I have few advice for you bro because I have been in a similar condition. I too am a 16 year old who has gotten mixed up in setting which have a large timeline with many pantheon power systems which are very shallow, races, worlds, characters and events. I would suggest to select or create an event where most of the characters gods places and events which you are interested in writing are involved in some way. To create a more unique magic system with d&d elements add few elements that invoke the common theme of everything else. It would work as even jed says originality comes with a combination of different curiosities.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention only show the world you create that naturally mixes with the theme of your story it would stop a sense of messiness and invoke a sense of mystery and wonder. Good luck for your novel from a teenager writer from India
Oh yeah I forgot your last point it would also be solved with the method I suggest as emotional and mental consequences and prices are added when you write with a theme take subaru frim re zero for example his ability return by death don't have consequences and weakness in traditional sense but cause author tapai write with theme of self love so consequences of getting insane get in place cause subaru recklessly uses it to save his friends cause of his low self-esteem
Double jumping
I'm not sure to what extent this comment belongs here, but for my sci-fantasy setting, I'm wondering how integrated magic should be within the technology and society of the world. My two main ideas are that FTL travel relies on magical artifice, and that crystallized magic has become the main way to supply electricity in power station (still on the principle of boiling water and turbines). But it's more to what extent should it appear in the every day life of the average person. I want the civilisations and societies to have semblance to modern day and relate to issues, but I don't want magic to feel like a footnote or a different world.
Oh I love The Name of the Wind. It's been awhile since I've been so enchanted with a story. Truly cannot wait for book 3, The Doors of Stone. Not counting The Slow Regard of Silent Things and The Narrow Road Between Desires, which I also love despite them being stories meant to fill the gaps between The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. It's goes without saying (saying it anyway); The Kingkiller Chronicle is a must read.
Jed Herne doing the "Absolute Cinema" pose
5:50
"No magic, but magical items with special behaviour"
you tell me the ring does more than that?
funny how this was never a problem back in the day, when narnia and lotr, even though the later was heavy on worldbuilding, the power system itself wasn't a real concern, and what to say of the former. many good books didn't think about this, all they did was telling a good story with good character and growth
Hi will the Book kingdom of Dragons be translatet into german? Looking forward to read it.
a druid whos magic sucks up the nutrition in the soil leaving it bare if overused
Sry, but I'm gonna have to call bs on the tree trunk part. Could you describe the magic system in Star Wars in one sentence? Or lord of the rings? Or Harry Potter? While I DO agree with the idea, I don't see it as absolutely necessary.
It's just the times we're in unfortunately. Writers are more focused on marketability and trends which means most modern writing advice ends up being centered on these very lean dumbed down methods of story development that "hook the reader" at all cost. It's why we are in the era of "retellings" and why most books today feel so derivative or made to fit a checklist of tropes.
The Force is the easiest of them all to explain in one sentence. In fact, you don't even need a sentence. Just a word. People with the Force can do ANYTHING. It's pretty much the same with LOTR's magic system. It's based in song.
Soft magic systems don't really have much of a premise in their magic. Hard ones do.
Those are all soft magic systems with very few defined rules.
I made a magic system in my world called, 'Switch Magic.' It is magic, but when you chant incantations, it can switch to dark magic. This can be combined with pretty much any sort of magic (like hemocrafting.). The only downside is that this corrupts the hell out of the character, and if they don't to be corrupted, they have to be in service or worship the goddess Hala. However, that is not easy.
Thanks for these vids, and also love the thumbnail.
Can you say more about the not easy part? What makes it not easy?
@justadel2 Well, Hala, being the goddess of dark magic, it is hard to gain her attention and please. She would make the character do things that they don't want to do - like act immoral, do strange things like stealing, etc. All because it is a test. And the one thing she asks in return is unwavering commitment to use dark magic.
@@AxisBeatsMusic you said its switch magic. What's the other form?
It totally depends. I write xianxia, it has totally different requirements from what the western fantasy has.
I want my book to have a dark magic system based around dark energy and witchcraft, that is fear-based, as in induce fear into others, but at the cost of corrupting the mind of the user. How would I go about it
Alternatively, I want to create a cursed, magic sword, said to be made from the remains of an evil dragon, whose soul is said to still reside in the weapon.
if you can't run around your neighborhood doing the magic system with your friends then it probably sucks.
Have you heard about the fate series magic system
do you still need a consequence and all these things even when the magic isn't that important to the story?
Or do you encourage there to be a lot of magic in fantasy?
My thought on the matter has been that the consequences and costs should equal or at least close to the power used. So if something big is done with the magic, something big is required, if the magic doesn't do much little is required. Your story should be just that, your story. If that includes magic, great, if not, also great, magic is a part of your setting not a prerequisite for fantasy.
Thank you!
Can I ask for advice for writing here? Anyway in my story I have decided to create two magic system as in my story axioms which are fundamental ideas who exist beyond the main universe of the story, they're actual characters with their own desire motive and goals two of such axioms amarth and eidelon (these are place holder names) plays twilight of the kings a game in which deites and mortals are selested from different point in space and time(only mortals came from different times) to compte agsaint each other in a different universe where players (amarth and elidelon) indirectly effect their life. Deites are being s born out of belif. They are able to assert their control where their belivers are in majotary . They control a concept as it percive by their belivers (another universe is a mirror image of main one) they could be gods, devails, spirts or anything born out of belief and as being born out of believe they require belief on a daily basis and are changed as believe changes (and yeah they're is a reincarnation cycle like in buddhism deites were infulencational figure in their previous life bot like every being can't remember thier past life) . This is the first one and deties are antagonist with this I had summed up most things about this magic system and appart from some issue with originality it's quite decent but the I am not able to make second one better, ot is called school of thought and is phyliosphy based magic system, here I am unable to connect the act of philosophy with combat on higher leval doesn't have consequences cannot be easily summrise and is unable to create much sense of progression as there is no novince character. Plese give me some suggestions
One thing more deities change as believe change
I mean their personality , so here consequence is their identity is not fixed and they're not in control of this they have to find way to fix this issue with various means
Geography too change with believe as details control them and past events effect the believes if today, each deities also have a control over thier self but base is created by belif. I will a quote from my story here" For deities changing identity is like not completely able to understand others for mortals something that is experienced by everyone "
If readers don't understand, tell them "it's magic"
Are all superpowers magic systems, or are all magic systems superpowers?
It's called the art of making the sh!t up. You can call whatever you want
Jade=Arkenstone
What about soft magic system?
I fear that my magic system is not that engaging because it's not a typical fantasy story. The magic is very grounded and ultimately mundane in that it's a form of telekinesis with skill being the only limitation.
However, the magic itself is completely infused into the story. The religion is the origin of magic and its overwhelming power is impossible to rival by non-magic weilders once a sorcerer gets over the learning curve. Because of this, the cultures and people of these worlds are directly affected by the existence of magic. The story reveals many of the few secrets left about magic and the religion and takes place in a modern era where magic almost completely understood and is fully integrated into much of the technology.
I've found that the magic system itself is almost like a setting, and so it makes it very hard to explain in a concise way. I wish it were easier to explain than just, "Imagine if most people had 1% of Magneto's power, except they can affect ANY object and not just metal and the only limitation was people's access to information about how magic works.".
Turning magic into super powers is a turn off for me. It loses its charm it just becomes a tacked on thing. Look at Army of Darkness. Ash has a gun which is effectively a super power. Can you think of that as a magic system? No
So uhhh. I did the worldbuilding first and I don’t even know what kind of stories I will have take place in the world other than very few characters who don’t have filled out backstories or lives, so no single story, it will be multiple stories that are completely disconnected possibly thousands of years apart from one another, and there are no stories that exist yet. Got it?
So, this does not look good for me. The magic system is very rigid and impossible to exploit, so characters cannot gain much power from the magic system. The whole thing is that the consciousness of sentient being creates energy and that energy goes into what they think about. If they think about a person, that energy goes to that person. When a person’s energy hits a certain threshold they have the option to go through the process to become a demigod. After they go through this process they get new abilities, some that all demigods get and one exclusive to their species (humans do not have a unique ability but that’s fine because humans will be almost irrelevant to all stories and it is very hard for a human to become a demigod anyways.), and they can spend energy to do certain things. It’s weak and not usable in the slightest. There’s also witchcraft and alchemy, but all the spells and potions are weak and expensive, so that won’t help either.
The only way for a character to get a combat advantage is the attributes your species naturally has (still won’t help, people in this world don’t fight each other often if at all, except for humans, but all the species are so much more powerful than humans that humans don’t stand a chance and will just end up being eaten with no chance of escape, and the afterlife punishes human when they fight back against another sentient species when they try to eat them, so they few fights that do happen aren’t really fights.)
Except, there are spellcasting species, some with broad magical abilities some with narrow, but they are rare and still rarely use their magical abilities to gain power.
On top of the fact that I’ve managed to write lore that conflicts with ANTAGONISTS existing, this does not look good, I’ve already decided that using the fantasy formula is completely hopeless and will make for way worse stories than other options. I need help. I don’t think I’m writing fantasy, I think I’m writing anarchy.
Your idea about investing a soul into a building and gaining power from adoration for that building isn't ENTIRELY original. I take it you haven't seen the anime DNAngel. In it, the main character is the heir to a family of phantom thieves. His job is to steal famous pieces of art. Why? The collected energy from the synergized feelings of its admirers gives the artwork power that runs wild and hurts people. They steal the art so they can magically seal it and keep it sealed. As a twist, he is born with a magical being that awakens when he's 14. This being is one half of an infamous work of art from centuries before. His nemesis bears the other half of that work of art within him.
its not free if you require data to get it since i have no interest in giving you my email so you can spam me with mailing list nonsense, the only reason you need the email, im calling out the lie. its not free
nitchky, lol
Why are we here in this life? Why do we die? What will happen to us after death?