Actually, that is something I never understood. How does putting limitations on abilities make them stronger? The way it is explained, it is like rigging your car up with a turbobooster, but if you are using in any other situation but to chase Mexican bankrobbers, the engine will explode.
i liken it to Naruto. he gets these awesome abilities/ninjutsu but he can't use them often or at all because it shortens his life/etc. the more powerful, the less/limited situations you can use it to create a balance in the world.
Christian Griffis Boku no hero academia also has a interesting power system.Some powers they have like ranged quirks can put pressure on their bodies and limit usage, other powers cause massive recoil damage, some quirks require the user to know what a substance is made up of to use their quirk, other quirks can limit your senses once activated, some have time limits and so on.
Lennartlau In Hxh Gon made a contract for power to defeat a strong opponent but in the end he was heavily hospitalised and nearly died cause of his contracts conditions as a cost foe that power or in Fullmetal alchemist where Ed and Alphonse tried to bring back their dead mother but ended up losing Ed's arm and leg and Alphonse's body because there is no price that can be put on a human soul.
If we're strictly talking the movies, Gandalf also knocks around Saruman in Orthanc, creates a magical shield against the Balrog, collapses the bridge with magic, obscures his identity with light, deflects Legolas and Gimi's attacks, turns Aragorn's sword red hot, sends out a magic whistle to call for Shadowfax, drives Saruman out of Theoden, blocks a fireball, breaks Saruman's staff, and drives away the Nazgul with a shaft of light. He casts quite a few spells.
LOTR magic is...quieter for lack of a better term. More worldly and intuitive weapons that never lose their edge rope that forms unbreakable knots and unties itself when you're done. A brighter sunrise at your back.
Magic in ME seems to be a series of investments- that in order to evoke an effect, one must invest a part of their "life energy" into it. So rather than casting spell after spell Mickey Mouse wizard apprentice like, it's much more efficient to invest once in an artifact. Those with "more" life in them can cast bigger spells and make shinier baubles, but in doing so, a part of their personality is also imbued into the artifacts. This also affects who may use said items- those with life energy equal to the energy imbued can manage, those who are lesser begin to suffer. In most instances, the "life energy" invested can be recovered, however, creating too powerful an item can scar said life permanently, and the maker is permanently connected to the item. There's a lot more to this idea, but that's a wall of text- Great discussion btw
6:15 Gandalf is a divine being and has the ability to conjure rains of fire, among other things. The movies didn't really show any very active magic uses (except in the fight with Saruman), and let it look like small tricks and complex rituals with subtle effects. But the books make it clear that magic can do quite a lot.
Good advice. Just one thing. Gandalf also lights a fire on Caradhras. Remember? Gimli, nor Legolas could get it started, so Gandalf did. He also used that spell around the group when the wargs attacked their camp.
There are more instances, at least in the movies. - Arwen summons a wave to wash away the Nazgul (I think in the books it was Elrond) - Gandalf casts an invisible barrier, withstanding a blow from the Balrog - Gandalf casts a lightning bolt at the Balrog (Flashback in Two Towers) - Saruman summons a storm - Gandalf and Saruman have their telekinetic battle - Gandalf gives a moth a message to carry to the eagles - The Witch King destroys Gandalfs staff - Gandalf drains Saruman's influence out of Theoden - Also, not to forget his magical fireworks - and last, Gandalf is never later, nor early ;)
Your "goddess" is "Lunar Goddess Diana" from League of Legends, but someone put it on a different background. I like all the points you raised for defining a magic system. Most of us when we come up with one we just go "it'll be like this." But if we use your questions it will let the story remain the same throughout and avoid the problem of magic behaving one way at one time but differently at another. These questions also let us think of a lot of different story ideas/ plot points to help our story along or take it in ways we hadn't thought of before.
I love this series, watching your practical demonstration along with the questions. I much prefer your list of questions to Brandon Sanderson's laws, because there are no limits, you just need to make it logical within your world.
I feel like Sanderson's Laws could compliment this very nicely, especially his first law. Ultimately, from what I understand, Sanderson doesn't use his laws to build a magic system, but to govern it. He wants to ensure that his readers understand it, and that its power doesn't get out of hand, creating a deus ex machina situation.
I'm with Craig. I have a very similar set of rules, but mine are much more codified than Brandon's. I use the same roleplaying systems I've been gaming with for decades, mostly Pathfinder / D&D these days. In these settings the uses and limitiations of magic are very well defined. What bonuses you get to hit and damage, how far you can throw a spell, how many people it can affect, etc. Knowing these things makes writing combat super easy for me, plus a ton of fun. However you insert them, guidelines for governing power levels are critical. I tend to run something called E6, which caps the level of characters at 6th. Normally they'd be able to go to 20th, but by the time they've reached 11th they can reshape the world. By 17th they can create whole other planes of existence. Allowing that kind of unbridled power makes a setting very difficult to accurately write, because your antagonist could just magically nuke entire planets, including the protagonist.
Great videos and information. I've run a home brewed fantasy RPG for over 30 years. When I built the magic system I listed the initial questions that needed to be answered. Having a solid foundation allows you to be creative and helps you answer future questions more easily. Although RPG rather then writing specific, here was my initial list- What is magic? Where does magic come from? Are mages generally combat or combat support? When cast, how does magic manifest? How does magic affect its target? What protections are there against magic? Can mages wear armor and does it affect casting? Does magic affect armor of its targets or surrounding inanimate objects? How is magic in general and specific spells learned? How is a mage’s magic depleted and restored? Is there an upper limit on a mage’s power? Can mages’ combine their power to cast more powerful spells? How does an individual resist or avoid a spell? (See How does magic affect its target? above) Can a spell fail or be interrupted? Can a spell cause or critical hit or be fumbled?
This series has actually SUPER helpful for me and generated some ideas that better flesh out the world I'm working with and enable some plotpoints that I'd wanted to do, but just couldn't figure out how to get them to fit. So thanks for putting this together, Chris!
So here's what happened. I started writing an epic fantasy themed story about a year ago. Recently (like, three days ago), i went back re-read what i wrote. Needless to say, what i wrote was bad enough to amke a viking weep. So, here i am, browsing youtube for videos on writing stuff that dont suck ass! (i am also currently reading the Wheel of Time series, i am on the sixth volume, the Lord of Chaos, at the part were the Tower Aes sedai are visiting Rand in Cairhien. This bit of info may seem irrelevant but keep reading.) So, here i am, coming across a video thats titled how your magic system works.My thoughts: "cool, lets watch it" So i hit play, open up a notebook and start taking notes. Halfway through the video, this dude hits me with Rand al'Thor building a black tower. Mind you, the only place i have seen that name is on the picture of a map from WoT online... Half in tears, i stop the video mid sentence thinking that I must have angered the gods, somehow...
Haha nice. I’ve actually been wanting to write a manga based around a character I created when I was 11. I’m 16 now and i have so many ideas but not really any set ones at the moment. Hence why I’m watching this video. I already have some characters both hero and villains, a power system that I’m still working on, some powers for certain characters, etc
I love unique magic systems. For me, the use of metals etc. that are ingested in the 'Mistborn' series by Brandon Sanderson, was incredible. I've seen so many 'elementals', wand wavers, force users etc. The idea of having to eat something specific to use your particular power was so unique. I also loved the idea of Higher Magic and Lesser Magic that Raymond E. Feist used in his book 'Magician'. The idea that someone from one type of magic couldn't learn the magical practices of the other type made for a great story. You instinctively knew that Pug had to be able to use magic and felt his frustration when he couldn't learn what Kulgan was trying to teach him. Similarly, the relief you feel when you realise that Pug aka Milamber has gained far more magical power than he ever expect to be able to wield, simply because it was the right type of magic for him. Absolute masterstroke for pushing Pug/Milamber's story along.
You could also ask if all magic is the same. For example, both a wizard and a fairy use magic, but is it the same kind of magic? Does ir work the same way? Is it performed differently? Does it have different limitations? Etc
In my world anyone can learn to cast spells, but it requires years of study. It's also limited by the technological and scientific level of knowledge of the people in my world. There are very few, if any, healers who use magic because so little is understood about the human body. In order to cast a fireball the mage has to know what fire is made of. However, there are a number of wizards (inspired by the colour-based wizards from LotR, but with less facial hair) who wields what is considered divine magic. That means there are very few limitations to what they can do. Most people believe their powers came from the gods, but that may not be true...
I think something missing a bit from this is the aspect "What can't magic do?" and in general a discussion of how adding more powerful magic to your world will limit your actual storytelling in that world later (e.g. in a world with ubiquitous telepathic communication a storyline about getting information to someone will not work very well).
These are great questions to keep in mind, and I'm glad you went through your magic system. I love the idea of interlinking sigils you came up with, and the mythology.
Gandalf does more than just a light spell! He changes the colors of the Smoke Rings In The Hobbit to amuse the party, he disguises his voice to trick the trolls with magic and let's not forget about the magic fireworks in The Fellowship of the Ring on Bilbo's eleventy first birthday just to name a few.
I once come up with the idea, that in an alternate dimension where all life is now extinct, a highly advanced race of the past created incredibly powerful, multidimensional robots that operate when commanded to do something by voice, and can hear throughout all dimensions. Magic is first discovered when someone accidentally says something that sounds like a word in the language of the robots in such a tone that they mistake for a command, and they perform "magic". Eventually people start experimenting with made-up words, trying to find new "spells", and some actually do end up creating new commands. Eventually, some people start to become aware that there are patterns in the words, and that they form an actual language. The wisest and most educated eventually compile as complete of a dictionary and books about the rules and grammar of the languages as they can. It is unlikely that anyone would ever realize that multidimensional robots would extraordinary powers were following their commands from another dimension, but I think it's a very interesting idea.
Actually, Gandalf does throw fireballs. In the Fellowship of the Ring (the book, though they put it into the first Hobbit movie) Gandalf lights a bunch of pinecones on fire with his staff and shoots them at the wargs to drive them away.
Hey now. Gandalf and Sauruman definitely threw each other around a bit with some magic. He also talks to moths. I'm calling that magical. He also has some pretty fancy magical smoke ship powers... :) I think Bilbo was impressed.
Watching this video kinda helped me wrap my head around how I want to write magic in a world I’m working on What is magic: Magic in the world is known as vibes. It is the influence that every living creature has on the world simply by having the ability to feel, and express themselves. The vibes that livening beings give off effect the world in minor ways. Positive vibes bring nature to life bless land with ore and is also implied to even have an effect on the vary concept of luck. Negative vibes on the other hand in large portions bring about and attract monsters, which in this universe can range from simple small imps to house sized monstrosity’s. Bad vibes also cause an area to begin being consumed by black wood, a vile wood like material with a red almost bloodstained looking interior which slowly overgrowths the area. While positive vibes are usually just referred to as vibes , negative vibes are referred to as feral vibes and feral vibe users are referred to as the feral How common is magic: Vibes are in a sense everywhere in this universe but those who actually have the power to influence it are smaller in numbers but that all depend on were your from. The still unnamed steam based kingdom keeps any and all users kept under check, which leads into the next question How do you learn magic: Be capable of using any kind of vibe energy is as simple as being born with a connection to a Certain vibe or in some case growing especially attached to it in your early youth. For most vibe users an emotion typically runs in the family emotions. Learning how to use your vibe effectively all boils down to you as a person. Being able to focus on your vibe while also staying battle savvy and logical is a major consern which then leads over to the next question What can magic do: Vibes for most users boil down to being a rallying point for the fighting spirit basically. Focusing on your vibe and fighting through it can increase your strength or endurance but if you want any real shit that’s were vibe cry’s come in( incoming Jojo influence) vibe cries are sacred words that allow vibe users to Chanel there vibe into elements of nature, cry’s like VORO VORO VOROSHO allow you to bend the very wind currents themselves GARO GARO GAROVEI allows you to Chanel’s flames into your attacks. There are still many more that I would like to make but this is still just a work in process, as for learning these It’s not so simple for standard vibe users it takes intense understanding of yourself and how links to your vibe to even be able to speak these words, and even then you need to basically be blessed with them or find some relics that inscribed the words into your very being. Feral’s on the other hand have it slightly easier, they can absorb the feral energy from powerful monsters and learn there vibe cry’s through absorbing them. What does magic look like Vibe energy doesn’t really have a distinct look when someone uses VORO it simply creates powerful gusts of wind in the flow of there attacks. GARO just kind of ignites flames in whatever your vibe is being channeled through if your channeling it into a punch your fists will burst into flame as you pummel your opponent while going GARO GARO GARO. Magic for as cheesy as it is in this universe Isn’t very flashy, So far I still think vibe energy needs more work but that’s what criticisms for. Also an important thing to note is that in the story in question the main character is a feral and the main villain is a positive vibe user! (Edit) That’s a lot of spelling errors but I kinda rushed as I was writing this.
Not to be hyper-technical, and I'm sure someone probably said this already, but Gandalf uses a bunch of spells, at least in the novels. In the hobbit, he sets things on fire with magic (making pine cone fireballs), kind of summons his horse through magic during LOTR 3 (at least it seems like it), and somehow, as a frail old man, survives the massive fall down Mt. Doom (I'm calling some sort of magical shenanigans), among other examples.
In my Rage and Frustration of seeing how your writings in your examples is very similar to ones I've been writing the past 3 years, I have decided to buy your book just to know how much in my own I need to rewrite. I guess it just shows I've procrastinated too much and/or just not that uniquely creative. If anything, it's already a valuable lesson and am finding all these vids helpful and think it will be a good read regardless. Thank you for sharing and can't wait to read Tech Mage.
Hundreds of thousands of geeks grew up on Warhammer 40k, Spelljammer, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Shadowrun, World of Darkness, Farscape, Marvel, and Dungeons & Dragons. It isn't surprising that many of us have similar ideas, and that's a good thing. Think of it from a reader perspective. If I write a great space fantasy and you come along with a similar great space fantasy...people will just read both. Get writing man =p
Also, the price of using magic could be interesting point Chakra (well, sort of magic) from Naruto is tied to body, expending it all causes fatigue and possible death and there are weapons or abilities that can strip it away from a target. Bunch of abilities can lead to users death too, either by actually killing him (Reaper sealing, 8.th inner gate, resurrection) or exhausting him so much he will be KO for the rest of the battle (Inner gates 1-7, any abilities that rely on tug of war with enemy) On the opposite side of spectrum from gaming, magic on Azeroth (Warcraft universe) is both powerful and... relatively safe to use... relative is accurate terms since some magic types can fill you with darkness and chaos. If someone expends all "mana" he can still fight on with weapons, mana also regenerates naturally and constantly compared to chakra which regenerates by resting for longer periods of time.
In the movies of Lord of the Rings, in the third movie Saruman casts a fire spell at Gandalf, whereas Gandalf retaliates with (another anti magic light bubble spell) with his staff and "Saruman your staff is broken" spell with his voice. Also in the same one the Witch king destroys Gandalf's staff.
i'm legit happy that i managed to answer all of those questions when it comes to the magic in my story. I take a lot of pride in the way I made my magic function
As opposed to what does it look like try what does it feel like. Having the ability to describe how magic is woven or focused and even concentrated gives the creator a better understanding of how they want their characters to act or feel when they perform it
Elementalists can align their auras with auras of the creatures that inhabit the world and access the same abilities as those creatures. All people have the potential to become elementalists, but there are genetic dispositions that come around with what element you can most easily allign to, but not really helping very much with learning (you'd be very slightly accelerated), but you also find all the other elements more difficult. The main reasons for the magic not being more common is a lack of time and lack of teachers to share the methods to allign your aura. Most people who do it now a days do it by accident because of their life choices and sudenly find the power coming to them.
tysm for this video. I've just started crafting my magic system for a book that i've been procrastinating for a while and your video gave a really clear guide.
The Wheel of Time example is two-sided. Although Rand and his Black Tower learn quickly, women traditionally took something like 6 years to be raised from a brand new Novice to a fully trained Aes Sedai at the White Tower.
I really love it when writing tutorials like this completely describe what I'm already doing. That's not sarcasm, it lets me know I'm doing something right!
I really love hearing from people, both when they have a different method, and when they are using the same. It's validating, and / or I learn something new too =)
In my world there’s a particle called ”magitron”, which comes from another universe that have wierd effects on the world, and mages can learn to control them. Learning simple things, like moving objects can be fast, However, pretty much everything is possible, you can travel through dimensions and devour worlds but it takes many tens or hundreads of years to learn that, so it’s really rare.
Hi Chris, I want to thank you again for everything, you are such an inspiration! Do you perhaps have some tips on training your writing "muscle"? I have days where I go great and write a lot of words but then I'm completely burned out for several days after. Keep up the good work!
If you burned out at say 2,000 words, then I'd reduce the daily quota to 1,500 for a few days and see how that feels. On the days where you feel especially burnt out try for 500. The trick is to not take days off, even if you only write a few words. Keep that momentum going until the draft is done. After the draft is done? Take a break =D
One of my favorite 'magic' systems are the Devil Fruits from the manga One Piece. For reference the world is about ~85% water. probably more. There are 3 types of Devil Fruits: Logia (able to turn body into an intangible ELEMENT. Fire, Lightning, Sand, etc), Zoan (Turn into an animal with 3 stages, human, human-animal hybrid, and full on animal. Falcon, Woolly Mammoth, and even a Human!) and finally Paramecia (Literally everything that isn't logia or zoan. Permanently turning your body into rubber, ability to touch people and they turn into toys, and turn any part of your body into a musical instrument) The kicker is that 1)DFs taste terrible and 2) you lose the ability to swim. Which is a big deal considering the story is about pirates on a planet that's mainly water.
The reason there are so few Jedi in the original trilogy is due to the fact that those who were on Jedi levels of power didn't have anyone to train them. At the end of the sequels, there were about 10,000 Jedi. Still very, very small in comparison to the amount of people in the SW universe, but more definitely more then a handful. Most Jedi also spend the majority of their lives in study and peaceful arts; the only reason Jedi in the movies fight a lot is because conflict makes good stories. Now onto LotR correcting. Gandalf has cast a light spell, but he has also cast fire spells(Lighting pinecones on fire, lighting a fire on Caradhras), blasting spells(Blasted orcs when the dwarves were captured) and a locking spell(On the door when stalling the orcs so the Fellowship could escape.) Magic in LotR is, in fact, incredibly powerful, we just don't see any characters who both have that power and can unleash it in grand fashion. Overall, I'd say this is good advice, but your knowledge on these fandoms could use some work.
Thank you for this wonderful series. As a new story writer, it is really helpful to me to generate an overarching outline of how I will design my adventure.
I am working on a series of Film Noir style PI books. The stories are set in LA in the late 1940's after WWII. So my world building completely different than the one you talk about for Fantasy, Science Fiction. Most of what I've been working on is getting details right, ie, right car, buildings mostly small stuff. A big part of my World Building is a firm backstory for the main characters.I have two main characters who's the first story revolved around events that happened long before the first story takes place. So for me, A big part of my world building has been building a timeline of the major events of their lives, and events that occur during the stories.So some discussion of building back stories and incorporating them into the "Stories" would be of interest.
I wish writers to be sceptic with templates like these. For example: If you use question number 3, your magic will be used by people. This is by no means nesseary for a magic system, but the question presupposes it. I don't think you need to answer any of these questions to make a magic system. Create yourself! Even the templates to create with! Other than that it's a nice video. Thanks :)
An idea I have about a countermeasure to magic is that dead or decaying organic matter blocks or absorbs magic, which makes cementaries the best place to hide valuable items if you don't want wizards to steal them.
You just reminded me why I couldn't get more than a few pages into The Wheel of Time - I just couldn't bear a writer bad enough to call his main character "Randall Thor"!
In Lotr there is a lot of inferred magic. Descriptions of wills literally affecting people, hinting at magical abilities here and there... also I don’t mean to be that guy but Gandalf does a lot more than the light spell. He blocks the Balrog’s sword and breaks it, he reads peoples minds, on some occassions events happen that seem likely he is like summoning storms and stuff.
Mahalo nui loa for this. I have magic in the story I'm working on, but I never bothered to define it like you did before writing. This was really useful, but I think you should also emphasize what Magic can NOT do in your world as a companion to what it CAN do. I feel that saying magic can do almost anything is easy, whereas coming up with the actual limits of the system help ground it in a "reality" that makes sense.
I have a video planned about the limits of magic. I think establishing them is important, and complex enough to be worthy of its own video. Beyond that, you want to detail a cost to your magic. How many spells / abilities can you use before running out of power? How is that power replenished? Do you have to go to a holy site, or can you just sleep? Hopefully the next video covers this topic well. Any additional suggestions are appreciated.
this video helped a bunch at wrapping my head around creating magic systems for RPGs about the what magic can do part I often find myself a bit annoyed at settings with pre-made spells. See the Harry Potter series and similar universes or most RPGs with vancian magic: doesn't matter what the magic user is trying to do, either they have a spell that is fit to solve the problem somehow or they are screwed. Doesn't matter how amazing magic is, there just isn't one spell for helping the manuscript kiddies with whatever it is they need. In these settings you rarely see a caster make up an improvised spell on the fly, I really wish I could find some solution for it that wasn't super complicated
Hello, I am a medical student, M3, and i have never writen any novel (or anything other than papers for that matter), but i have so many ideas that i put by for years for a fantasy novel, and i'd like to start writing for the first time. The thing is that while world building and story outine is not that hard, i struggle with writing per-say. Do you recommend that i enroll in a writing course ? or an english language course ? if yes for either, do you have any recommendations ? Thank you 😀
IMO, setting practical limits to the "power" is important too. One of the issues I've often had with authors that adopt magic, particularly in a series, is they eventually reach a point where the power of the magic is so overwhelming that there's almost nothing the wielder can't do. As a reader you end up constantly wondering why the characters are doing certain "normal" mundane or trivial things when magic makes those these silly to bother doing. Some tech based SyFy falls into this trap too, when tech gets so overly powerful that many things the characters are doing make no sense anymore. Mind/magic based teleportation is problematic. Excessive telekinetic ability is problematic. Mind reading/future sensing is problematic. Mind/magic generated beam/laser weapons with Gigajoule output is problematic (also true with small handheld devices based on tech). A silly example is one of the X-men, Cyclops. I'm willing to suspend belief and physics for much of what the X-men can do, but in recent movies the shear power of the laser beam he could shoot out of his eyes, (yet held back by sunglasses), just got stupid. OK, he has laser eyes, but where is the megawatts of power in that beam coming from? Where in is body could that much energy be stored.
That's a thing that took me out of Star Wars The Clone Wars. In the comics and books, Jedi and Sith are capable of using the Force to hurl entire moons and planets and even constellations as weaponry against one another (See: Darth Plagius), yet in The Clone Wars, even the masters struggle to slightly move spaceships and trains.
I agree...for the most. Sometimes the author does have an explanation, but doesn't explain it well enough to the audience. In the case of Cyclops, his eyes are portals to another dimension, thus power generation is only limited by the dimensional output (a dimension of pure energy).
That's like asking how Storm is able to control one specific portion of the sky with her powers, or if her powers are TRULY storm related and not just elemental, ie: water for rain, air for tornadoes, etc, and why the lightning she generates doesn't kill her, and why her eyes get hazed over (dos she have cataracts?! /s) And how about Angel? What muscles are he really using to control his wings? That's actually impossible if you think about how the mutant Angel manipulates his wings. Controlling such massive wings with nerves alone isn't sufficient, and he'd probably need bigger wings and a different set up to be so agile in air, his legs would create crazy drag ... You have to suspend belief, deeply, at some point, and stop getting so damn technical about fantasy/sci-fi. You could nitpick about ALL the mutants like this all day, if you want. Don't get me started on the mutant Rogue, fantasy dragons, the Unicorn from the last Unicorn (Unicorns casting spells, WITH THEIR HORNS? GIMME A BREAK!!!) The White Walkers and Zombies, on a whole. Maybe fantasy isn't for you, m'dude, if you can't just enjoy the ride. I get what you mean by being overpowered, but your example wasn't really the best. Use DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc for power scaling issues, if anything.
+daniraptous...You missed my point. I explicitly said I was will to suspend belief TO A POINT. It's when the powers get so unbelievably powerful, out of all proportion, that the problems start for me. It's when the powers become so fantastic that other things they do, and other characters become completely irrelevant in comparison. X-Men is just an example, but you have major characters that fight and punch, an stab like Wolverine, but yet Cyclopes can release a sustained laser from his eyes that can slag a battleship. Or Magneto can use his power to lift a stadium in the air, move it, and drop in on a city and the other characters. It's just too much, and makes so many of the other characters irrelevant.
The thing that kind of bothers me about a lot of magic systems is there doesn't seem to be much of any limit to how much magic a character can channel within a set amount of time. I get that a practices mage can probably throw out a lot of spells before seeing any real fatigue but that rarely seems to be shown in any meaningful way. The one book series I have read parts of that at least attempts to show this is the Shannara Chronicles. It is damaging to the caster to overuse magic and it appears to be pretty detrimental. Course, they also have spells that help for recovery and longer life so it's hard to say just how much of a hinderance it really can be.
What I have seen in basically every work featuring a magic system that I consider a classic, is that they never call their magic magic. And they dont treat it like such. Its always some organic element of the setting, and more of an art or profession.
Does this sound any good? Since I know there are many religions in real life, I want that to also reflect in my story. . . 1) What is Magic? -Magic is people's connections to their god/gods. 2) How common is Magic? -Varies per place, more religious places have much more magic users while places less religious will have less to no people. 3) How is Magic learned? -Being connected to a god/gods. Giving sacrifices to them, pleasing them. 4) What can Magic do? -Varies per god. The goddess of nature will have nature based magic, god of war will have fire based or weapon base magic, the god of the ocean may Grant hydrokenises or other ocean based magic, etc. 5) What does Magic look like? -by default everyone eye's glows. (Depending on the part of the eye depends on the type of connection) The colors show each god. Some gods' colors over lap due to different religions existing. Because of this some people have markings that glow with their eyes.
Cameo Shadowness it does, but maybe you could also add other things, does the environment affect them? Are there consequentes? Is there a point where you can misuse it? What are the flaws? There is a 3 part series on magic here what may help you: ua-cam.com/video/iMJQb5bGu_g/v-deo.html
This is incredibly helpful!! I can understand the magic system I want in place now so much clearer, and can really start delving into ideas more! Thank you!! :)
I sorta want my magic system to be based in how 'free' someones mind is. Its hazy, but a drone who tills fields or grinds an office job without questioning things is not going to be very in touch with this magic. However, someone who becomes enlightened through deep meditation won't be the same type of powerful as somebody in a bezerker trance or who has developed a unique philosophy or even one who really likes math puzzles or whatever. A lot of good systems or lore details have some thematic element to them first with the details filled in later. But that isnt the only way
In my setting, there is two magic systems, Arcane Magic and Religious Magic. There was a war in the past where the Arcane Magic "wizards" won but with heavy losses. I have three "good" Arcane casters, one "evil" Arcane caster and only one "good" Religious caster
Im using a system where its as common if you want to put the work in. You want allowance, you do chores. You want to use these abilities, you have to gain favor of the divines. (Explanation for resource costs in the RPG)
In Wheel of time most people take years to get good. The main characters take months to learn and get good over several years. its just the audience is not with them for every day- because travel is done realistically a character could be on the road for months while the book follows another character doing something interesting. Most of the main characters have some sort of help so that they learn faster than normal but still they progress over several years time. The Asha’man in the Black Tower had to learn how to channel (do magick) before they could learn powerful skills. So they took tome to learn how to use magick but new skills could be learned quickly
Could a mage write down the spell array they write into the air on paper or other objects and use that to caste spells? Or could they like have this array place on clothing as protection of some sort?
A mage can store spells, but it requires an object capable of storing and discharging magical energy. The most sought after are dragon scales, which are used in many different kinds of enchanting. Instead of a scroll, you might have a dragonscale with a fireball spell in it. Making something like a protective garment requires enchanting (air, life). You can only enchant magical materials, but you can make pretty much anything. If you had say enchanted silk from a spider god, or cotton from a life god, you could weave magical clothing and instill it will protective enchantments.
If I had a piece of a dead dragon god, could I set up some kind of roach motel to put it in to attract primals, get them turned into dragons, and then slaughter them industrially while they're still weak for a supply dragonscale to keep making more stored spells with? How hard is it to perform magic? Can I cast fireball all day, or do I get tired after one or two? Can I make dragonscales of fireball all day? Is it harder than casting in the first place?
You'd need the dragon god's full body, but if you could someone kill the guardian and control the Catalyst then you could absolutely set up your dragon scale farm. Every mage has a pool of energy. Aran's at the beginning of the first book is 9. A 1st level spell costs one point, a 3rd costs 3 points. Sleeping will replenish the well of energy, and the more the person uses it the large the well grows. Voria's pool is 21 at the beginning of the 1st book.
The technical term for what you are describing is a "sigil" or (if you're more into Norse mythology) a "rune". There is in fact a long tradition of people making such things, and examples of sigils still exist!
I'm a year too late, but Rand knew what he was doing because he was Lews Therin Telamon reincarnated, and also he had Asmodean who knew stuff from the age of legends captive.
Hello Future Me (channel) has a very good video on magic systems. I believe the first and most important question when creating a world, is to decide how releveant magic is to your world. How does magic affect the world, and how well does your magic system fit in the storyline as a whole. There is a very strong difference between soft magic systems and hard magic systems, and the choice to which one you would use totally depends on how you want to use the magic to begin and end the story.
2:45 uh Jedi aren't the only force users in the Star Wars universe, though. The odds of you being on the same planet as a (accomplished or not) force user is actually pretty high. Of course, in the entire area covered by the stories, at some points in history, there's about a few hundreds of properly trained force users, but there's always hundreds of thousands of people born with the potential every day. And, side note, The Force is a semi-sentient thing. It has an agenda. It will actively create as many users as necessary and lead them to completion for some sort of balance to be reached. It's a weird concept but I kinda love it.
It is never clearly established which force theory is closest to the truth, and the most prevailent one in any given story will usually be what serves that story best. But if we are talking A New Hope, thennyes, the Living Force is probably the most accurate.
The "critical questions" -- What is magic (where does it come from)? How common is magic? How is magic learned? What can magic do? What does magic look like?
There are three definitions of magic: 1) Magic as unknown, what include Clarke's Law so alien tech. 2) Magic as paranormal, what is self explanatory. 3) Ritual Magic, what is definition of actual occult. Rest is derivative. Like how common magic is tie directly to genres of High and Low Fantasy (with its highest point being Fairy Tale and lowest Paranormal Investigations). Way of acquisition is also relatives as it usually align with class of magic users (wizards learn, sorcerers born with it and warlocks acquire it through contract with religion being also indirect form of contract). And magic by definition can do everything, so the actual question is about the skill and systemic limitations (what say only about rituals not magic itself). Concepts of Hard and Soft magic are specific approaches to a systems, what also indirectly tie to form of used magic (Wizards by definition do hard stuff, when Sorcerers the opposite).
@@TheRezro Hmmm...From where are you pulling these definitions and why are they containing your imagination? You completely missed the point of my post, which actually references and summarizes some of the video's content.
@@BTsMusicChannel Definitions are from dictionary and you completely miss the point that I was trying to help you, asshole. I sincerely regret that now 0_0
In my own magic system the magic is very easily accessible by everyone. Even animals can hold magic within their system! After consuming a crystal in any from (very unoriginal, i know) the magic is than contained within your blood stream. If to much magic is present than these crystals will began to form in your blood and essentially work like blood cloats, if their is an impossible amount of magic your blood vessels may even burst open to allow the crystals to continue growing. Because of all of this it is against the law to let the magic in you body reach a certain point but as long as you stay below that point it is perfectly legal I have never seen this idea before but if someone else has thought of this before, which they definitely have I apologize
really enjoy your stuff Chris, and have been really motivated to realize my dream to make a living telling stories. i know my questions don't relate to this video, but hope to get a response. The first one has to do with "write to market." Is there a way to figure word count on Amazon. I've done the usual estimates like 250 a word page, or Marshall's method of counting lines on a full page, times number of pages, times 9 = word count. But this isn't always possible with a kindle book that only shows positions in book. So i was wondering your method. #2 has to do with writing in scrivener. I use 2 computers, my desktop and laptop. But scrivener is very difficult to use, and frustrating to swap between the two. Do you have an easy fix for this, besides having to use dropbox. or do you just write on the one computer. Thanks for your time sir, and keep the vids coming.
There's no way to accurately measure word count, as that's based on the formatting of the individual ebook. The best we can do is ballpark, and I use the 250 words a page number as my benchmark. It isn't 100% accurate, but it gives you some idea. I write using Dropbox to sync my Scrivener documents. Myself and my wife both need access to the file, as she does the formatting and exporting. We've never had a problem doing it this way, and I can write from literally any computer in the world. Unfortunately, it does mean having to have Dropbox =/
I have a question regarding your view on Magitech, when it comes to things like enchanted guns, like your spell-rifle, do the weapons draw energy from the world around them, from natural auras? or do they have a more tangible "munitions" cache, such as a crystal or powder they draw from, or is it possible to distill magic into a fluid for use in such things? I have an issue with most people who use Magitech in their worlds because they often just go "Magitech, I aint gotta explain cause it's Magic" where it's also tech, which means they do have to explain, they have to explain how an inorganic thing draws on the magic in their world. Additionally, if the weapon is just imbued with magic, is it possible for that magic source to run out? why/why not?
I guess the short version is maybe take a peak at the website magitechchronicles.com where I've got the entire magic system laid out. The longer version is that I have the same pet peeve. There's no hand waving in my books, and there's a corresponding roleplaying system backing it up (I used Pathfinder with some homebrew tweaks). Magitech can amplify an existing spell, but it has no power source on its own. It pulls magic from the wielder, and when the wielder runs out of magic the gun is effectively useless. This is why many mages prefer a spellblade, or carry both. Then they can keep fighting when their magic is exhausted. There are things like magical potions, which are drawn from the blood of dead gods, or from other highly magical materials. These can allow healing, and can even replenish magic, but they're expensive and most people can't afford more than one or two.
I came here looking for writing advice and motivation, and I'm leaving with an overwhelming desire to read Tech Mage. Curse you and your awesome sounding new series, Chris!
I would point out that while it is true in the Original Trilogy, Jedi are indeed quite rare as they had only just been hunted into extinction, however at the hight of their time there was, according to Obi Wan, 10000 Jedi Knights. Jedi however are usually only plucked from the Republic's population since they are easy to find there and most Force Sensitives in the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions are unaccounted for, making the true numbers of Force Wielders in existence ultimately unknowable. Also the Sith of the OT and PT adhere to the Rule of Two which demands there be only 2 Sith in existence at any given time. There are other Force Using entities in the SW universe, the Dathomir Witches, Orphne, the Inquistors(who work for the Sith), The Ones of Mortis, the Bendu and so many more.
You're drawing from the extended universe quite heavily, and the problem with this is that none of this information was in the movies I'm using for examples. There was all sorts of information about Gandalf and his abilities in the Similarion, but I don't count that because a reader shouldn't have to familiar themselves with a massive body of lore outside the book to be able to appreciate it. Take everything away you've read from other books, and just look at A New Hope as a standalone movie. Think of how Jedi our portrayed at that exact moment, not at the height of the Republic. That's what I was talking about =p
+Chris Fox Rhe Dathomiri witches and the Mortis Forse Aspect guys are absolutely canon. So is the rule of two the old Sith Empire and Sith wars, and there being numerous trained jedi in the Old Republic.
I I think you need to add one more question which is what are the consequences of magic. Does it drain the Mana of a person does it drain their life force if they cast a fire spell do they get burned they cast a nice spell do they get Frozen if they bring somebody back does somebody else have to die? Sorry I'm just really curious I'm trying to figure this out and I think that would be a good question to add in
about the jedis being warriors, not monks, i'd love to discuss that. the jedi as warriors/soldiers of the republic are of course the most well known, popular part of the jedi order, and especially in the clone wars era it was their main purpose to defend the republic. in the orders old days though, there were many eras during wich the republic had an army of their own and the jedi were monks, not soldiers. not only the grandmasters (yoda) but most jedi were philosophers, that dedicated their lives to deepening the knowledge about the force and the galaxy. in fact the very origin of the Jedi was an order of monks that discovered and studied the force. this philosophical and academic aspect is, though often overlooked, the core and foundation of the jedi order. oh and the thing about LOTRs magic being very weak: the scope of magic in middle earth (and all of arda for tha matter) is immense, incomprehensible. it is not as up-in-your-face but subtle, quiet. gandalf never throws around fireballs, teleports or summons a demon but he is one of the most powerful beings in arda. In LOTR magic is easily perceived as weak and rare, but it is just often overlooked because it is so mysterious. there are no rules, no system, magic is never explained, not even mentioned in fact. but if you look into it, magic in Arda is boundless.
I"m very interested in the world building topic. I think your questions and points would have a parallel role to play when someone is building a "real" world. Say, life in the 1650s.
Yes! :D Also the really famous "you shall not pass" seems a lot like he's casting a kind of barrier spell. Oh and he makes cool magic fireworks, and controls smoke in ways that startle bilbo implying that's also magic
My eyes keep getting drawn to the massive space above your head. Have you considered moving your camera down a bit? or just kind of tilting it a little?
I like these questions. Though at least for me I would have liked to see them written out on the screen all together. either at the beginning or end of the video or through out the video highlighting each one as you were talking about it. I would love to learn more about magic systems. I watched videos before but they were a while ago.
What about the elves summoning the magical horses or Glandriel speaking in minds or Gandalf using magical protection or Gandalf and Sauraman's epic show down of FREAKING BLASTING EACH OTHER AROUND THE ROOM FLINGING GANDALF TO THE CEILING THEN SUMMONING EGELES! ... No magic in the Lord of the Rings please. But you have some very good ideas.
The magic isn't actually magic, it's called gia which is a substance controlled by the mind of the ones who possess it. It exists within all living things and can be harnessed by all living things. Gia is literally everywhere and anyone can use it, but there are many ways to counter it such as anti-gia tactics or items. Gia is learned through training as if you were training a new muscle. First you learn where it is within yourself and once you learn to sense it within, you can bring it outward and begin to use it. It takes about a month to learn its basics, but 2-3 months to get a basic handle on actually applying its abilities. Gia can do most anything within the range of human capacity and comprehension. It cannot be used to affect time or space because those two aspects are beyond human capacity. On a basic level it can be used to: 1. Enhance one's physical abilities including sight, thinking power, strength. 2. Propel it as a projectile. 3. Create barriers. 4. Turn into items or weapons. 5. Be altered into different substances like fire, glue, or light. 6. Manifest physical objects or spirit-like entities. 7. Absorb the gia of another gia user. 8. Infuse gia into other things including non-living things. It looks like a glow around the body that feels like having a vapor constantly flowing around the body and leaking out. Anyone can see the aura that this produces and everyone's aura is a different color based on the type of person they are. I'm not a particular fan of magic systems in fiction just because I don't really like how vague and vast they end up being without a believable explanation. It's really just a bias built up from watching stories with magic that felt too contrived and convenient for my tastes.
I have two magic system. One is inborn, rare and powerful. It's mostly self-taught by experimentation and abilities can be modified over time as the user gets more familiar with their own style of doing magical things. It usually runs in certain bloodlines. -----The second is spell based, and while it is common in the religious culture of that country, it's hard to learn. Some have only one spell that they have mastered, so there are casts of "magicians" based on the number of spells they can do. ----One thing that is important in my world is the COST of magic. What happens physically or mentally when you use it? How much can you do before exhaustion? How vulnerable are you after a certain number of spells? (especially important for battle magicians.) Etc.
all of mine are different for each type. I can't figure out the commonality one though. magic comes from a fundamental force. Magic is learned based on a persons ability and you can't learn it without looking for it and you learn it based on a power level. The commonality i haven't figured out except that not everybody can do it. The fourth one is so complex because out of the four different types, (Sensors, Molders, Comics and Elementals) have fundamental differences in ability, the only real commonality is that they are all four bound by the first law of thermodynamics. The visibility of the magic goes from most to least is: Molders, Elementals, Comics and sensors.
Thanks for the feedback! I feel comfortable not making the distinction in the video, since we've never seen a consular in any sort of staring role and you either need to read EU fiction or play the video games to see one.
This is kind of completely aside the point but the Lord of the Rings films were different from the books in terms of magic (if I heard right anyway, I haven't read them myself, so it's kind of weird even saying this). I'm pretty sure that Peter Jackson said he hated trying to film magic so it got a bit underrepresented, like in the siege battle I heard he fireballs the shit out of a few of the trolls that come through the gates but he runs out and more just keep coming. But that goes to show you how drastic a few moments are for the audience's interpretation of your world's magic.
A great example of a magic/power system is HunterXHunter's Nen System. It taught me about the importance of balance and limitations.
Actually, that is something I never understood. How does putting limitations on abilities make them stronger? The way it is explained, it is like rigging your car up with a turbobooster, but if you are using in any other situation but to chase Mexican bankrobbers, the engine will explode.
i liken it to Naruto. he gets these awesome abilities/ninjutsu but he can't use them often or at all because it shortens his life/etc.
the more powerful, the less/limited situations you can use it to create a balance in the world.
Christian Griffis Boku no hero academia also has a interesting power system.Some powers they have like ranged quirks can put pressure on their bodies and limit usage, other powers cause massive recoil damage, some quirks require the user to know what a substance is made up of to use their quirk, other quirks can limit your senses once activated, some have time limits and so on.
Its not about making the spell stronger but creating a good magic system where you have to accept certain drawbacks for great power.
Lennartlau In Hxh Gon made a contract for power to defeat a strong opponent but in the end he was heavily hospitalised and nearly died cause of his contracts conditions as a cost foe that power or in Fullmetal alchemist where Ed and Alphonse tried to bring back their dead mother but ended up losing Ed's arm and leg and Alphonse's body because there is no price that can be put on a human soul.
If we're strictly talking the movies, Gandalf also knocks around Saruman in Orthanc, creates a magical shield against the Balrog, collapses the bridge with magic, obscures his identity with light, deflects Legolas and Gimi's attacks, turns Aragorn's sword red hot, sends out a magic whistle to call for Shadowfax, drives Saruman out of Theoden, blocks a fireball, breaks Saruman's staff, and drives away the Nazgul with a shaft of light. He casts quite a few spells.
LOTR magic is...quieter for lack of a better term. More worldly and intuitive weapons that never lose their edge rope that forms unbreakable knots and unties itself when you're done. A brighter sunrise at your back.
Wade Blaylock it's a soft magic system. More akin to myth than modern DnD combat system.
Magic in ME seems to be a series of investments- that in order to evoke an effect, one must invest a part of their "life energy" into it. So rather than casting spell after spell Mickey Mouse wizard apprentice like, it's much more efficient to invest once in an artifact. Those with "more" life in them can cast bigger spells and make shinier baubles, but in doing so, a part of their personality is also imbued into the artifacts. This also affects who may use said items- those with life energy equal to the energy imbued can manage, those who are lesser begin to suffer. In most instances, the "life energy" invested can be recovered, however, creating too powerful an item can scar said life permanently, and the maker is permanently connected to the item. There's a lot more to this idea, but that's a wall of text- Great discussion btw
What is LOTR
@@smartart6841 Lord of the Rings
6:15 Gandalf is a divine being and has the ability to conjure rains of fire, among other things. The movies didn't really show any very active magic uses (except in the fight with Saruman), and let it look like small tricks and complex rituals with subtle effects. But the books make it clear that magic can do quite a lot.
Good advice. Just one thing. Gandalf also lights a fire on Caradhras. Remember? Gimli, nor Legolas could get it started, so Gandalf did. He also used that spell around the group when the wargs attacked their camp.
Yeah, and there was a spell used on the river to wash away the Nazgul. This is what I get for making hyperbolic statements ;)
Can't count the one on the Nazgul, that was mostly Elrond. Hyperbole is kind of like sarcasm. My bad for missing it.
There are a bunch of comments, and I received some emails all calling me to task about the magic in the Lord of the Rings. I stand corrected haha.
There are more instances, at least in the movies.
- Arwen summons a wave to wash away the Nazgul (I think in the books it was Elrond)
- Gandalf casts an invisible barrier, withstanding a blow from the Balrog
- Gandalf casts a lightning bolt at the Balrog (Flashback in Two Towers)
- Saruman summons a storm
- Gandalf and Saruman have their telekinetic battle
- Gandalf gives a moth a message to carry to the eagles
- The Witch King destroys Gandalfs staff
- Gandalf drains Saruman's influence out of Theoden
- Also, not to forget his magical fireworks
- and last, Gandalf is never later, nor early ;)
I deny the reality of the movies. They ruined Aragorn and Faramir. How could they?
Your "goddess" is "Lunar Goddess Diana" from League of Legends, but someone put it on a different background.
I like all the points you raised for defining a magic system. Most of us when we come up with one we just go "it'll be like this." But if we use your questions it will let the story remain the same throughout and avoid the problem of magic behaving one way at one time but differently at another. These questions also let us think of a lot of different story ideas/ plot points to help our story along or take it in ways we hadn't thought of before.
Thank you for sourcing the image. I'll add that to the description. =)
I love this series, watching your practical demonstration along with the questions. I much prefer your list of questions to Brandon Sanderson's laws, because there are no limits, you just need to make it logical within your world.
I feel like Sanderson's Laws could compliment this very nicely, especially his first law. Ultimately, from what I understand, Sanderson doesn't use his laws to build a magic system, but to govern it. He wants to ensure that his readers understand it, and that its power doesn't get out of hand, creating a deus ex machina situation.
I'm with Craig. I have a very similar set of rules, but mine are much more codified than Brandon's. I use the same roleplaying systems I've been gaming with for decades, mostly Pathfinder / D&D these days.
In these settings the uses and limitiations of magic are very well defined. What bonuses you get to hit and damage, how far you can throw a spell, how many people it can affect, etc. Knowing these things makes writing combat super easy for me, plus a ton of fun.
However you insert them, guidelines for governing power levels are critical. I tend to run something called E6, which caps the level of characters at 6th. Normally they'd be able to go to 20th, but by the time they've reached 11th they can reshape the world. By 17th they can create whole other planes of existence. Allowing that kind of unbridled power makes a setting very difficult to accurately write, because your antagonist could just magically nuke entire planets, including the protagonist.
Great videos and information. I've run a home brewed fantasy RPG for over 30 years. When I built the magic system I listed the initial questions that needed to be answered. Having a solid foundation allows you to be creative and helps you answer future questions more easily. Although RPG rather then writing specific, here was my initial list-
What is magic?
Where does magic come from?
Are mages generally combat or combat support?
When cast, how does magic manifest?
How does magic affect its target?
What protections are there against magic?
Can mages wear armor and does it affect casting?
Does magic affect armor of its targets or surrounding inanimate objects?
How is magic in general and specific spells learned?
How is a mage’s magic depleted and restored?
Is there an upper limit on a mage’s power?
Can mages’ combine their power to cast more powerful spells?
How does an individual resist or avoid a spell?
(See How does magic affect its target? above)
Can a spell fail or be interrupted?
Can a spell cause or critical hit or be fumbled?
This is super helpful, thank you!
@@sentesues9383 I'm happy to hear that. Good luck and create something amazing!
This series has actually SUPER helpful for me and generated some ideas that better flesh out the world I'm working with and enable some plotpoints that I'd wanted to do, but just couldn't figure out how to get them to fit. So thanks for putting this together, Chris!
So here's what happened. I started writing an epic fantasy themed story about a year ago. Recently (like, three days ago), i went back re-read what i wrote. Needless to say, what i wrote was bad enough to amke a viking weep. So, here i am, browsing youtube for videos on writing stuff that dont suck ass! (i am also currently reading the Wheel of Time series, i am on the sixth volume, the Lord of Chaos, at the part were the Tower Aes sedai are visiting Rand in Cairhien. This bit of info may seem irrelevant but keep reading.) So, here i am, coming across a video thats titled how your magic system works.My thoughts: "cool, lets watch it" So i hit play, open up a notebook and start taking notes. Halfway through the video, this dude hits me with Rand al'Thor building a black tower. Mind you, the only place i have seen that name is on the picture of a map from WoT online... Half in tears, i stop the video mid sentence thinking that I must have angered the gods, somehow...
Haha nice. I’ve actually been wanting to write a manga based around a character I created when I was 11. I’m 16 now and i have so many ideas but not really any set ones at the moment. Hence why I’m watching this video. I already have some characters both hero and villains, a power system that I’m still working on, some powers for certain characters, etc
I love unique magic systems. For me, the use of metals etc. that are ingested in the 'Mistborn' series by Brandon Sanderson, was incredible. I've seen so many 'elementals', wand wavers, force users etc. The idea of having to eat something specific to use your particular power was so unique. I also loved the idea of Higher Magic and Lesser Magic that Raymond E. Feist used in his book 'Magician'. The idea that someone from one type of magic couldn't learn the magical practices of the other type made for a great story. You instinctively knew that Pug had to be able to use magic and felt his frustration when he couldn't learn what Kulgan was trying to teach him. Similarly, the relief you feel when you realise that Pug aka Milamber has gained far more magical power than he ever expect to be able to wield, simply because it was the right type of magic for him. Absolute masterstroke for pushing Pug/Milamber's story along.
You could also ask if all magic is the same. For example, both a wizard and a fairy use magic, but is it the same kind of magic? Does ir work the same way? Is it performed differently? Does it have different limitations? Etc
In my world anyone can learn to cast spells, but it requires years of study. It's also limited by the technological and scientific level of knowledge of the people in my world. There are very few, if any, healers who use magic because so little is understood about the human body. In order to cast a fireball the mage has to know what fire is made of.
However, there are a number of wizards (inspired by the colour-based wizards from LotR, but with less facial hair) who wields what is considered divine magic. That means there are very few limitations to what they can do. Most people believe their powers came from the gods, but that may not be true...
The first paragraph of your comment really reminds me of FMA!
So the magic system is essentially knowledge is power person fined.
I think something missing a bit from this is the aspect "What can't magic do?" and in general a discussion of how adding more powerful magic to your world will limit your actual storytelling in that world later (e.g. in a world with ubiquitous telepathic communication a storyline about getting information to someone will not work very well).
This helps so much in refining anyone's magic system. Makes you think about all these different angles of how this magic system effects the world
These are great questions to keep in mind, and I'm glad you went through your magic system. I love the idea of interlinking sigils you came up with, and the mythology.
Thanks I've been tinkering with the magic off and on for something like...wow...20 years? I've got a massive pile of notes haha
Gandalf does more than just a light spell! He changes the colors of the Smoke Rings In The Hobbit to amuse the party, he disguises his voice to trick the trolls with magic and let's not forget about the magic fireworks in The Fellowship of the Ring on Bilbo's eleventy first birthday just to name a few.
I once come up with the idea, that in an alternate dimension where all life is now extinct, a highly advanced race of the past created incredibly powerful, multidimensional robots that operate when commanded to do something by voice, and can hear throughout all dimensions. Magic is first discovered when someone accidentally says something that sounds like a word in the language of the robots in such a tone that they mistake for a command, and they perform "magic". Eventually people start experimenting with made-up words, trying to find new "spells", and some actually do end up creating new commands. Eventually, some people start to become aware that there are patterns in the words, and that they form an actual language. The wisest and most educated eventually compile as complete of a dictionary and books about the rules and grammar of the languages as they can. It is unlikely that anyone would ever realize that multidimensional robots would extraordinary powers were following their commands from another dimension, but I think it's a very interesting idea.
It is an interesting idea ^^
Maybe you an I can give etch other writing tips and ideas, it would be fun...
Actually, Gandalf does throw fireballs. In the Fellowship of the Ring (the book, though they put it into the first Hobbit movie) Gandalf lights a bunch of pinecones on fire with his staff and shoots them at the wargs to drive them away.
Wow! I have never been so inspired to write about magic.
Really cool vid, I really like this Worldbuilding series so far
Hey now. Gandalf and Sauruman definitely threw each other around a bit with some magic. He also talks to moths. I'm calling that magical. He also has some pretty fancy magical smoke ship powers... :) I think Bilbo was impressed.
They threw down in the movie, much less so in the books =p. Though I have to agree about the awesome fancy smoke powers.
Watching this video kinda helped me wrap my head around how I want to write magic in a world I’m working on
What is magic:
Magic in the world is known as vibes. It is the influence that every living creature has on the world simply by having the ability to feel, and express themselves. The vibes that livening beings give off effect the world in minor ways. Positive vibes bring nature to life bless land with ore and is also implied to even have an effect on the vary concept of luck. Negative vibes on the other hand in large portions bring about and attract monsters, which in this universe can range from simple small imps to house sized monstrosity’s. Bad vibes also cause an area to begin being consumed by black wood, a vile wood like material with a red almost bloodstained looking interior which slowly overgrowths the area. While positive vibes are usually just referred to as vibes , negative vibes are referred to as feral vibes and feral vibe users are referred to as the feral
How common is magic:
Vibes are in a sense everywhere in this universe but those who actually have the power to influence it are smaller in numbers but that all depend on were your from. The still unnamed steam based kingdom keeps any and all users kept under check, which leads into the next question
How do you learn magic:
Be capable of using any kind of vibe energy is as simple as being born with a connection to a Certain vibe or in some case growing especially attached to it in your early youth. For most vibe users an emotion typically runs in the family emotions. Learning how to use your vibe effectively all boils down to you as a person. Being able to focus on your vibe while also staying battle savvy and logical is a major consern which then leads over to the next question
What can magic do:
Vibes for most users boil down to being a rallying point for the fighting spirit basically. Focusing on your vibe and fighting through it can increase your strength or endurance but if you want any real shit that’s were vibe cry’s come in( incoming Jojo influence) vibe cries are sacred words that allow vibe users to Chanel there vibe into elements of nature, cry’s like VORO VORO VOROSHO allow you to bend the very wind currents themselves GARO GARO GAROVEI allows you to Chanel’s flames into your attacks. There are still many more that I would like to make but this is still just a work in process, as for learning these It’s not so simple for standard vibe users it takes intense understanding of yourself and how links to your vibe to even be able to speak these words, and even then you need to basically be blessed with them or find some relics that inscribed the words into your very being. Feral’s on the other hand have it slightly easier, they can absorb the feral energy from powerful monsters and learn there vibe cry’s through absorbing them.
What does magic look like
Vibe energy doesn’t really have a distinct look when someone uses VORO it simply creates powerful gusts of wind in the flow of there attacks. GARO just kind of ignites flames in whatever your vibe is being channeled through if your channeling it into a punch your fists will burst into flame as you pummel your opponent while going GARO GARO GARO. Magic for as cheesy as it is in this universe Isn’t very flashy,
So far I still think vibe energy needs more work but that’s what criticisms for. Also an important thing to note is that in the story in question the main character is a feral and the main villain is a positive vibe user!
(Edit)
That’s a lot of spelling errors but I kinda rushed as I was writing this.
Not to be hyper-technical, and I'm sure someone probably said this already, but Gandalf uses a bunch of spells, at least in the novels. In the hobbit, he sets things on fire with magic (making pine cone fireballs), kind of summons his horse through magic during LOTR 3 (at least it seems like it), and somehow, as a frail old man, survives the massive fall down Mt. Doom (I'm calling some sort of magical shenanigans), among other examples.
In my Rage and Frustration of seeing how your writings in your examples is very similar to ones I've been writing the past 3 years, I have decided to buy your book just to know how much in my own I need to rewrite. I guess it just shows I've procrastinated too much and/or just not that uniquely creative. If anything, it's already a valuable lesson and am finding all these vids helpful and think it will be a good read regardless. Thank you for sharing and can't wait to read Tech Mage.
Hundreds of thousands of geeks grew up on Warhammer 40k, Spelljammer, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Shadowrun, World of Darkness, Farscape, Marvel, and Dungeons & Dragons. It isn't surprising that many of us have similar ideas, and that's a good thing. Think of it from a reader perspective. If I write a great space fantasy and you come along with a similar great space fantasy...people will just read both. Get writing man =p
@@ChrisFoxWrites Understood. thanks for the reply and small kick in the ass. Still can't wait to read Tech mage.
Also, the price of using magic could be interesting point
Chakra (well, sort of magic) from Naruto is tied to body, expending it all causes fatigue and possible death and there are weapons or abilities that can strip it away from a target. Bunch of abilities can lead to users death too, either by actually killing him (Reaper sealing, 8.th inner gate, resurrection) or exhausting him so much he will be KO for the rest of the battle (Inner gates 1-7, any abilities that rely on tug of war with enemy)
On the opposite side of spectrum from gaming, magic on Azeroth (Warcraft universe) is both powerful and... relatively safe to use... relative is accurate terms since some magic types can fill you with darkness and chaos.
If someone expends all "mana" he can still fight on with weapons, mana also regenerates naturally and constantly compared to chakra which regenerates by resting for longer periods of time.
In the movies of Lord of the Rings, in the third movie Saruman casts a fire spell at Gandalf, whereas Gandalf retaliates with (another anti magic light bubble spell) with his staff and "Saruman your staff is broken" spell with his voice. Also in the same one the Witch king destroys Gandalf's staff.
i'm legit happy that i managed to answer all of those questions when it comes to the magic in my story. I take a lot of pride in the way I made my magic function
As opposed to what does it look like try what does it feel like. Having the ability to describe how magic is woven or focused and even concentrated gives the creator a better understanding of how they want their characters to act or feel when they perform it
Elementalists can align their auras with auras of the creatures that inhabit the world and access the same abilities as those creatures. All people have the potential to become elementalists, but there are genetic dispositions that come around with what element you can most easily allign to, but not really helping very much with learning (you'd be very slightly accelerated), but you also find all the other elements more difficult. The main reasons for the magic not being more common is a lack of time and lack of teachers to share the methods to allign your aura. Most people who do it now a days do it by accident because of their life choices and sudenly find the power coming to them.
tysm for this video. I've just started crafting my magic system for a book that i've been procrastinating for a while and your video gave a really clear guide.
The Wheel of Time example is two-sided. Although Rand and his Black Tower learn quickly, women traditionally took something like 6 years to be raised from a brand new Novice to a fully trained Aes Sedai at the White Tower.
I really love it when writing tutorials like this completely describe what I'm already doing. That's not sarcasm, it lets me know I'm doing something right!
I really love hearing from people, both when they have a different method, and when they are using the same. It's validating, and / or I learn something new too =)
In my world there’s a particle called ”magitron”, which comes from another universe that have wierd effects on the world, and mages can learn to control them. Learning simple things, like moving objects can be fast, However, pretty much everything is possible, you can travel through dimensions and devour worlds but it takes many tens or hundreads of years to learn that, so it’s really rare.
Hi Chris, I want to thank you again for everything, you are such an inspiration! Do you perhaps have some tips on training your writing "muscle"? I have days where I go great and write a lot of words but then I'm completely burned out for several days after. Keep up the good work!
If you burned out at say 2,000 words, then I'd reduce the daily quota to 1,500 for a few days and see how that feels. On the days where you feel especially burnt out try for 500. The trick is to not take days off, even if you only write a few words. Keep that momentum going until the draft is done.
After the draft is done? Take a break =D
This was extremely helpful. Thank you so much Chris!
One of my favorite 'magic' systems are the Devil Fruits from the manga One Piece. For reference the world is about ~85% water. probably more. There are 3 types of Devil Fruits: Logia (able to turn body into an intangible ELEMENT. Fire, Lightning, Sand, etc), Zoan (Turn into an animal with 3 stages, human, human-animal hybrid, and full on animal. Falcon, Woolly Mammoth, and even a Human!) and finally Paramecia (Literally everything that isn't logia or zoan. Permanently turning your body into rubber, ability to touch people and they turn into toys, and turn any part of your body into a musical instrument) The kicker is that 1)DFs taste terrible and 2) you lose the ability to swim. Which is a big deal considering the story is about pirates on a planet that's mainly water.
The reason there are so few Jedi in the original trilogy is due to the fact that those who were on Jedi levels of power didn't have anyone to train them. At the end of the sequels, there were about 10,000 Jedi. Still very, very small in comparison to the amount of people in the SW universe, but more definitely more then a handful. Most Jedi also spend the majority of their lives in study and peaceful arts; the only reason Jedi in the movies fight a lot is because conflict makes good stories.
Now onto LotR correcting.
Gandalf has cast a light spell, but he has also cast fire spells(Lighting pinecones on fire, lighting a fire on Caradhras), blasting spells(Blasted orcs when the dwarves were captured) and a locking spell(On the door when stalling the orcs so the Fellowship could escape.) Magic in LotR is, in fact, incredibly powerful, we just don't see any characters who both have that power and can unleash it in grand fashion.
Overall, I'd say this is good advice, but your knowledge on these fandoms could use some work.
Thanks for sharing Chris! I enjoyed today's content and would love to see more! The new book is looking awesome!
Thank you! I'm really proud of how Tech Mage is turning out. This is so much fun to work on.
The Wheel of Time is my all time favorite series. It’s crazy that it doesn’t have a bigger following
Thank you for this wonderful series. As a new story writer, it is really helpful to me to generate an overarching outline of how I will design my adventure.
Diana! Love that champion skin.
I finally figured out that she's a character in LoL =D
I
You beautiful man! This is exactly what I needed.
I am working on a series of Film Noir style PI books. The stories are set in LA in the late 1940's after WWII.
So my world building completely different than the one you talk about for Fantasy, Science Fiction. Most of what I've been working on is getting details right, ie, right car, buildings mostly small stuff. A big part of my World Building is a firm backstory for the main characters.I have two main characters who's the first story revolved around events that happened long before the first story takes place. So for me, A big part of my world building has been building a timeline of the major events of their lives, and events that occur during the stories.So some discussion of building back stories and incorporating them into the "Stories" would be of interest.
*jots down notes* I think I can work this into a video too. Thanks, Kenneth.
One of the magic symbols is a smiley face when you look at it the right way :)
I wish writers to be sceptic with templates like these. For example: If you use question number 3, your magic will be used by people. This is by no means nesseary for a magic system, but the question presupposes it. I don't think you need to answer any of these questions to make a magic system. Create yourself! Even the templates to create with!
Other than that it's a nice video. Thanks :)
An idea I have about a countermeasure to magic is that dead or decaying organic matter blocks or absorbs magic, which makes cementaries the best place to hide valuable items if you don't want wizards to steal them.
this idea is super cool actually
Agreed. This is a great idea.
Thanks! I'm glad you both like it.
wouldn't that also make necromancers extinct as a profession?
You just reminded me why I couldn't get more than a few pages into The Wheel of Time - I just couldn't bear a writer bad enough to call his main character "Randall Thor"!
rand al'thor* and it's a very good series, and brandon did a good job of finishing it.
psammiad "Luke skywalker."
So you think the series isn't good because of a characters name? Man, this is the best fantasy serie ever
In Lotr there is a lot of inferred magic. Descriptions of wills literally affecting people, hinting at magical abilities here and there... also I don’t mean to be that guy but Gandalf does a lot more than the light spell. He blocks the Balrog’s sword and breaks it, he reads peoples minds, on some occassions events happen that seem likely he is like summoning storms and stuff.
Mahalo nui loa for this. I have magic in the story I'm working on, but I never bothered to define it like you did before writing. This was really useful, but I think you should also emphasize what Magic can NOT do in your world as a companion to what it CAN do. I feel that saying magic can do almost anything is easy, whereas coming up with the actual limits of the system help ground it in a "reality" that makes sense.
I have a video planned about the limits of magic. I think establishing them is important, and complex enough to be worthy of its own video. Beyond that, you want to detail a cost to your magic. How many spells / abilities can you use before running out of power? How is that power replenished? Do you have to go to a holy site, or can you just sleep? Hopefully the next video covers this topic well. Any additional suggestions are appreciated.
this video helped a bunch at wrapping my head around creating magic systems for RPGs
about the what magic can do part
I often find myself a bit annoyed at settings with pre-made spells. See the Harry Potter series and similar universes or most RPGs with vancian magic: doesn't matter what the magic user is trying to do, either they have a spell that is fit to solve the problem somehow or they are screwed. Doesn't matter how amazing magic is, there just isn't one spell for helping the manuscript kiddies with whatever it is they need. In these settings you rarely see a caster make up an improvised spell on the fly, I really wish I could find some solution for it that wasn't super complicated
Sounds like your book would make a cool VR game. I'll read it, thanks for the video. :)
Hello, I am a medical student, M3, and i have never writen any novel (or anything other than papers for that matter), but i have so many ideas that i put by for years for a fantasy novel, and i'd like to start writing for the first time. The thing is that while world building and story outine is not that hard, i struggle with writing per-say. Do you recommend that i enroll in a writing course ? or an english language course ? if yes for either, do you have any recommendations ? Thank you 😀
I like your magic system :) very cool and inventive! (nice Diana pic :P)
some of your symbols, by the way, looks like japanese characters :o
Very perceptive! I freehanded the sigils, using the lightpen tool in Procreate. I drew Hirigana characters, slightly modified =D
IMO, setting practical limits to the "power" is important too. One of the issues I've often had with authors that adopt magic, particularly in a series, is they eventually reach a point where the power of the magic is so overwhelming that there's almost nothing the wielder can't do. As a reader you end up constantly wondering why the characters are doing certain "normal" mundane or trivial things when magic makes those these silly to bother doing. Some tech based SyFy falls into this trap too, when tech gets so overly powerful that many things the characters are doing make no sense anymore.
Mind/magic based teleportation is problematic. Excessive telekinetic ability is problematic. Mind reading/future sensing is problematic. Mind/magic generated beam/laser weapons with Gigajoule output is problematic (also true with small handheld devices based on tech).
A silly example is one of the X-men, Cyclops. I'm willing to suspend belief and physics for much of what the X-men can do, but in recent movies the shear power of the laser beam he could shoot out of his eyes, (yet held back by sunglasses), just got stupid. OK, he has laser eyes, but where is the megawatts of power in that beam coming from? Where in is body could that much energy be stored.
That's a thing that took me out of Star Wars The Clone Wars. In the comics and books, Jedi and Sith are capable of using the Force to hurl entire moons and planets and even constellations as weaponry against one another (See: Darth Plagius), yet in The Clone Wars, even the masters struggle to slightly move spaceships and trains.
I agree john, but I felt power level was a big enough topic to be worthy of its own video.
I agree...for the most. Sometimes the author does have an explanation, but doesn't explain it well enough to the audience. In the case of Cyclops, his eyes are portals to another dimension, thus power generation is only limited by the dimensional output (a dimension of pure energy).
That's like asking how Storm is able to control one specific portion of the sky with her powers, or if her powers are TRULY storm related and not just elemental, ie: water for rain, air for tornadoes, etc, and why the lightning she generates doesn't kill her, and why her eyes get hazed over (dos she have cataracts?! /s) And how about Angel? What muscles are he really using to control his wings? That's actually impossible if you think about how the mutant Angel manipulates his wings. Controlling such massive wings with nerves alone isn't sufficient, and he'd probably need bigger wings and a different set up to be so agile in air, his legs would create crazy drag ...
You have to suspend belief, deeply, at some point, and stop getting so damn technical about fantasy/sci-fi. You could nitpick about ALL the mutants like this all day, if you want. Don't get me started on the mutant Rogue, fantasy dragons, the Unicorn from the last Unicorn (Unicorns casting spells, WITH THEIR HORNS? GIMME A BREAK!!!) The White Walkers and Zombies, on a whole.
Maybe fantasy isn't for you, m'dude, if you can't just enjoy the ride. I get what you mean by being overpowered, but your example wasn't really the best. Use DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc for power scaling issues, if anything.
+daniraptous...You missed my point. I explicitly said I was will to suspend belief TO A POINT. It's when the powers get so unbelievably powerful, out of all proportion, that the problems start for me. It's when the powers become so fantastic that other things they do, and other characters become completely irrelevant in comparison.
X-Men is just an example, but you have major characters that fight and punch, an stab like Wolverine, but yet Cyclopes can release a sustained laser from his eyes that can slag a battleship. Or Magneto can use his power to lift a stadium in the air, move it, and drop in on a city and the other characters. It's just too much, and makes so many of the other characters irrelevant.
The thing that kind of bothers me about a lot of magic systems is there doesn't seem to be much of any limit to how much magic a character can channel within a set amount of time. I get that a practices mage can probably throw out a lot of spells before seeing any real fatigue but that rarely seems to be shown in any meaningful way. The one book series I have read parts of that at least attempts to show this is the Shannara Chronicles. It is damaging to the caster to overuse magic and it appears to be pretty detrimental. Course, they also have spells that help for recovery and longer life so it's hard to say just how much of a hinderance it really can be.
What I have seen in basically every work featuring a magic system that I consider a classic, is that they never call their magic magic. And they dont treat it like such. Its always some organic element of the setting, and more of an art or profession.
Love these videos man, really helpful tips - thank you for sharing them!
Your world sounds amazing!
I'm having a ton of fun building it. I just finished polishing the first novel, and have started the 2nd =D
Was thrown off a bit at 9:06 to see Diana from League of Legends haha. Interesting video though!
Does this sound any good?
Since I know there are many religions in real life, I want that to also reflect in my story.
.
.
1) What is Magic?
-Magic is people's connections to their god/gods.
2) How common is Magic?
-Varies per place, more religious places have much more magic users while places less religious will have less to no people.
3) How is Magic learned?
-Being connected to a god/gods. Giving sacrifices to them, pleasing them.
4) What can Magic do?
-Varies per god. The goddess of nature will have nature based magic, god of war will have fire based or weapon base magic, the god of the ocean may Grant hydrokenises or other ocean based magic, etc.
5) What does Magic look like?
-by default everyone eye's glows. (Depending on the part of the eye depends on the type of connection) The colors show each god. Some gods' colors over lap due to different religions existing. Because of this some people have markings that glow with their eyes.
Cameo Shadowness it does, but maybe you could also add other things, does the environment affect them? Are there consequentes? Is there a point where you can misuse it? What are the flaws?
There is a 3 part series on magic here what may help you: ua-cam.com/video/iMJQb5bGu_g/v-deo.html
I found these questions to be very helpful with fleshing out my magic system, especially considering my world revolves around it
This is incredibly helpful!! I can understand the magic system I want in place now so much clearer, and can really start delving into ideas more! Thank you!! :)
Great stuff! I'd love some more on World Building.
Thank you so much for your time and help. This is awesome.
I sorta want my magic system to be based in how 'free' someones mind is.
Its hazy, but a drone who tills fields or grinds an office job without questioning things is not going to be very in touch with this magic.
However, someone who becomes enlightened through deep meditation won't be the same type of powerful as somebody in a bezerker trance or who has developed a unique philosophy or even one who really likes math puzzles or whatever.
A lot of good systems or lore details have some thematic element to them first with the details filled in later. But that isnt the only way
In my setting, there is two magic systems, Arcane Magic and Religious Magic. There was a war in the past where the Arcane Magic "wizards" won but with heavy losses.
I have three "good" Arcane casters, one "evil" Arcane caster and only one "good" Religious caster
Im using a system where its as common if you want to put the work in. You want allowance, you do chores. You want to use these abilities, you have to gain favor of the divines. (Explanation for resource costs in the RPG)
Great videos man. Looking forward to read your books. And you have a amazingly charming smile, 8:28! :D
In Wheel of time most people take years to get good. The main characters take months to learn and get good over several years. its just the audience is not with them for every day- because travel is done realistically a character could be on the road for months while the book follows another character doing something interesting.
Most of the main characters have some sort of help so that they learn faster than normal but still they progress over several years time.
The Asha’man in the Black Tower had to learn how to channel (do magick) before they could learn powerful skills.
So they took tome to learn how to use magick but new skills could be learned quickly
9:06 almost made me spit my drink as a former Diana main.
Could a mage write down the spell array they write into the air on paper or other objects and use that to caste spells? Or could they like have this array place on clothing as protection of some sort?
A mage can store spells, but it requires an object capable of storing and discharging magical energy. The most sought after are dragon scales, which are used in many different kinds of enchanting. Instead of a scroll, you might have a dragonscale with a fireball spell in it.
Making something like a protective garment requires enchanting (air, life). You can only enchant magical materials, but you can make pretty much anything. If you had say enchanted silk from a spider god, or cotton from a life god, you could weave magical clothing and instill it will protective enchantments.
Absolutely! Those things would be less common than dragon scales, but could be found near say a life god that had enchanted cotton. =)
If I had a piece of a dead dragon god, could I set up some kind of roach motel to put it in to attract primals, get them turned into dragons, and then slaughter them industrially while they're still weak for a supply dragonscale to keep making more stored spells with? How hard is it to perform magic? Can I cast fireball all day, or do I get tired after one or two? Can I make dragonscales of fireball all day? Is it harder than casting in the first place?
You'd need the dragon god's full body, but if you could someone kill the guardian and control the Catalyst then you could absolutely set up your dragon scale farm. Every mage has a pool of energy. Aran's at the beginning of the first book is 9. A 1st level spell costs one point, a 3rd costs 3 points. Sleeping will replenish the well of energy, and the more the person uses it the large the well grows. Voria's pool is 21 at the beginning of the 1st book.
The technical term for what you are describing is a "sigil" or (if you're more into Norse mythology) a "rune". There is in fact a long tradition of people making such things, and examples of sigils still exist!
I'm a year too late, but Rand knew what he was doing because he was Lews Therin Telamon reincarnated, and also he had Asmodean who knew stuff from the age of legends captive.
Hello Future Me (channel) has a very good video on magic systems. I believe the first and most important question when creating a world, is to decide how releveant magic is to your world. How does magic affect the world, and how well does your magic system fit in the storyline as a whole. There is a very strong difference between soft magic systems and hard magic systems, and the choice to which one you would use totally depends on how you want to use the magic to begin and end the story.
This video actually sold me on your book more than it gave me any advice. Only because I already had the advice. XD
2:45 uh Jedi aren't the only force users in the Star Wars universe, though. The odds of you being on the same planet as a (accomplished or not) force user is actually pretty high. Of course, in the entire area covered by the stories, at some points in history, there's about a few hundreds of properly trained force users, but there's always hundreds of thousands of people born with the potential every day.
And, side note, The Force is a semi-sentient thing. It has an agenda. It will actively create as many users as necessary and lead them to completion for some sort of balance to be reached. It's a weird concept but I kinda love it.
It is never clearly established which force theory is closest to the truth, and the most prevailent one in any given story will usually be what serves that story best. But if we are talking A New Hope, thennyes, the Living Force is probably the most accurate.
The "critical questions" -- What is magic (where does it come from)? How common is magic? How is magic learned? What can magic do? What does magic look like?
There are three definitions of magic:
1) Magic as unknown, what include Clarke's Law so alien tech.
2) Magic as paranormal, what is self explanatory.
3) Ritual Magic, what is definition of actual occult.
Rest is derivative. Like how common magic is tie directly to genres of High and Low Fantasy (with its highest point being Fairy Tale and lowest Paranormal Investigations). Way of acquisition is also relatives as it usually align with class of magic users (wizards learn, sorcerers born with it and warlocks acquire it through contract with religion being also indirect form of contract). And magic by definition can do everything, so the actual question is about the skill and systemic limitations (what say only about rituals not magic itself). Concepts of Hard and Soft magic are specific approaches to a systems, what also indirectly tie to form of used magic (Wizards by definition do hard stuff, when Sorcerers the opposite).
@@TheRezro Hmmm...From where are you pulling these definitions and why are they containing your imagination? You completely missed the point of my post, which actually references and summarizes some of the video's content.
@@BTsMusicChannel Definitions are from dictionary and you completely miss the point that I was trying to help you, asshole. I sincerely regret that now 0_0
In my own magic system the magic is very easily accessible by everyone. Even animals can hold magic within their system! After consuming a crystal in any from (very unoriginal, i know) the magic is than contained within your blood stream. If to much magic is present than these crystals will began to form in your blood and essentially work like blood cloats, if their is an impossible amount of magic your blood vessels may even burst open to allow the crystals to continue growing. Because of all of this it is against the law to let the magic in you body reach a certain point but as long as you stay below that point it is perfectly legal
I have never seen this idea before but if someone else has thought of this before, which they definitely have I apologize
really enjoy your stuff Chris, and have been really motivated to realize my dream to make a living telling stories. i know my questions don't relate to this video, but hope to get a response. The first one has to do with "write to market." Is there a way to figure word count on Amazon. I've done the usual estimates like 250 a word page, or Marshall's method of counting lines on a full page, times number of pages, times 9 = word count. But this isn't always possible with a kindle book that only shows positions in book. So i was wondering your method.
#2 has to do with writing in scrivener. I use 2 computers, my desktop and laptop. But scrivener is very difficult to use, and frustrating to swap between the two. Do you have an easy fix for this, besides having to use dropbox. or do you just write on the one computer. Thanks for your time sir, and keep the vids coming.
There's no way to accurately measure word count, as that's based on the formatting of the individual ebook. The best we can do is ballpark, and I use the 250 words a page number as my benchmark. It isn't 100% accurate, but it gives you some idea.
I write using Dropbox to sync my Scrivener documents. Myself and my wife both need access to the file, as she does the formatting and exporting. We've never had a problem doing it this way, and I can write from literally any computer in the world. Unfortunately, it does mean having to have Dropbox =/
I have a question regarding your view on Magitech,
when it comes to things like enchanted guns, like your spell-rifle, do the weapons draw energy from the world around them, from natural auras? or do they have a more tangible "munitions" cache, such as a crystal or powder they draw from, or is it possible to distill magic into a fluid for use in such things?
I have an issue with most people who use Magitech in their worlds because they often just go "Magitech, I aint gotta explain cause it's Magic" where it's also tech, which means they do have to explain, they have to explain how an inorganic thing draws on the magic in their world.
Additionally, if the weapon is just imbued with magic, is it possible for that magic source to run out? why/why not?
I guess the short version is maybe take a peak at the website magitechchronicles.com where I've got the entire magic system laid out. The longer version is that I have the same pet peeve. There's no hand waving in my books, and there's a corresponding roleplaying system backing it up (I used Pathfinder with some homebrew tweaks).
Magitech can amplify an existing spell, but it has no power source on its own. It pulls magic from the wielder, and when the wielder runs out of magic the gun is effectively useless. This is why many mages prefer a spellblade, or carry both. Then they can keep fighting when their magic is exhausted.
There are things like magical potions, which are drawn from the blood of dead gods, or from other highly magical materials. These can allow healing, and can even replenish magic, but they're expensive and most people can't afford more than one or two.
I came here looking for writing advice and motivation, and I'm leaving with an overwhelming desire to read Tech Mage. Curse you and your awesome sounding new series, Chris!
*fist pumps* Yes! This is exactly what I love to hear. Let's hope other people are excited too. I'm really proud of how this series is turning out.
I would point out that while it is true in the Original Trilogy, Jedi are indeed quite rare as they had only just been hunted into extinction, however at the hight of their time there was, according to Obi Wan, 10000 Jedi Knights. Jedi however are usually only plucked from the Republic's population since they are easy to find there and most Force Sensitives in the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions are unaccounted for, making the true numbers of Force Wielders in existence ultimately unknowable. Also the Sith of the OT and PT adhere to the Rule of Two which demands there be only 2 Sith in existence at any given time. There are other Force Using entities in the SW universe, the Dathomir Witches, Orphne, the Inquistors(who work for the Sith), The Ones of Mortis, the Bendu and so many more.
You're drawing from the extended universe quite heavily, and the problem with this is that none of this information was in the movies I'm using for examples. There was all sorts of information about Gandalf and his abilities in the Similarion, but I don't count that because a reader shouldn't have to familiar themselves with a massive body of lore outside the book to be able to appreciate it.
Take everything away you've read from other books, and just look at A New Hope as a standalone movie. Think of how Jedi our portrayed at that exact moment, not at the height of the Republic. That's what I was talking about =p
+Chris Fox Rhe Dathomiri witches and the Mortis Forse Aspect guys are absolutely canon. So is the rule of two the old Sith Empire and Sith wars, and there being numerous trained jedi in the Old Republic.
I I think you need to add one more question which is what are the consequences of magic. Does it drain the Mana of a person does it drain their life force if they cast a fire spell do they get burned they cast a nice spell do they get Frozen if they bring somebody back does somebody else have to die? Sorry I'm just really curious I'm trying to figure this out and I think that would be a good question to add in
about the jedis being warriors, not monks, i'd love to discuss that.
the jedi as warriors/soldiers of the republic are of course the most well known, popular part of the jedi order, and especially in the clone wars era it was their main purpose to defend the republic.
in the orders old days though, there were many eras during wich the republic had an army of their own and the jedi were monks, not soldiers. not only the grandmasters (yoda) but most jedi were philosophers, that dedicated their lives to deepening the knowledge about the force and the galaxy. in fact the very origin of the Jedi was an order of monks that discovered and studied the force.
this philosophical and academic aspect is, though often overlooked, the core and foundation of the jedi order.
oh and the thing about LOTRs magic being very weak:
the scope of magic in middle earth (and all of arda for tha matter) is immense, incomprehensible. it is not as up-in-your-face but subtle, quiet. gandalf never throws around fireballs, teleports or summons a demon but he is one of the most powerful beings in arda.
In LOTR magic is easily perceived as weak and rare, but it is just often overlooked because it is so mysterious. there are no rules, no system, magic is never explained, not even mentioned in fact. but if you look into it, magic in Arda is boundless.
this is very helpful, thanks!
I"m very interested in the world building topic. I think your questions and points would have a parallel role to play when someone is building a "real" world. Say, life in the 1650s.
very interesting world as well
You forgot that Gandalf could shoot lightning out of his sword at the Balrog.
Yes! :D Also the really famous "you shall not pass" seems a lot like he's casting a kind of barrier spell.
Oh and he makes cool magic fireworks, and controls smoke in ways that startle bilbo implying that's also magic
Black Company is a good example of magic you will never look at the sleep spell the same way again.
My eyes keep getting drawn to the massive space above your head. Have you considered moving your camera down a bit? or just kind of tilting it a little?
Thanks for this. Been trying to develop a system and these questions were helpful!
I like these questions. Though at least for me I would have liked to see them written out on the screen all together. either at the beginning or end of the video or through out the video highlighting each one as you were talking about it.
I would love to learn more about magic systems. I watched videos before but they were a while ago.
What about the elves summoning the magical horses or Glandriel speaking in minds or Gandalf using magical protection or Gandalf and Sauraman's epic show down of FREAKING BLASTING EACH OTHER AROUND THE ROOM FLINGING GANDALF TO THE CEILING THEN SUMMONING EGELES! ... No magic in the Lord of the Rings please. But you have some very good ideas.
woohoo! this is super useful. Thanks!
The magic isn't actually magic, it's called gia which is a substance controlled by the mind of the ones who possess it. It exists within all living things and can be harnessed by all living things.
Gia is literally everywhere and anyone can use it, but there are many ways to counter it such as anti-gia tactics or items.
Gia is learned through training as if you were training a new muscle. First you learn where it is within yourself and once you learn to sense it within, you can bring it outward and begin to use it. It takes about a month to learn its basics, but 2-3 months to get a basic handle on actually applying its abilities.
Gia can do most anything within the range of human capacity and comprehension. It cannot be used to affect time or space because those two aspects are beyond human capacity. On a basic level it can be used to:
1. Enhance one's physical abilities including sight, thinking power, strength.
2. Propel it as a projectile.
3. Create barriers.
4. Turn into items or weapons.
5. Be altered into different substances like fire, glue, or light.
6. Manifest physical objects or spirit-like entities.
7. Absorb the gia of another gia user.
8. Infuse gia into other things including non-living things.
It looks like a glow around the body that feels like having a vapor constantly flowing around the body and leaking out. Anyone can see the aura that this produces and everyone's aura is a different color based on the type of person they are.
I'm not a particular fan of magic systems in fiction just because I don't really like how vague and vast they end up being without a believable explanation. It's really just a bias built up from watching stories with magic that felt too contrived and convenient for my tastes.
This is great.....I seem so blind to all of this.....writing this down as fast I can
I have two magic system. One is inborn, rare and powerful. It's mostly self-taught by experimentation and abilities can be modified over time as the user gets more familiar with their own style of doing magical things. It usually runs in certain bloodlines. -----The second is spell based, and while it is common in the religious culture of that country, it's hard to learn. Some have only one spell that they have mastered, so there are casts of "magicians" based on the number of spells they can do. ----One thing that is important in my world is the COST of magic. What happens physically or mentally when you use it? How much can you do before exhaustion? How vulnerable are you after a certain number of spells? (especially important for battle magicians.) Etc.
all of mine are different for each type. I can't figure out the commonality one though.
magic comes from a fundamental force.
Magic is learned based on a persons ability and you can't learn it without looking for it and you learn it based on a power level.
The commonality i haven't figured out except that not everybody can do it.
The fourth one is so complex because out of the four different types, (Sensors, Molders, Comics and Elementals) have fundamental differences in ability, the only real commonality is that they are all four bound by the first law of thermodynamics.
The visibility of the magic goes from most to least is: Molders, Elementals, Comics and sensors.
I know it's superficial but the Jedi did have many scholastic type Jedi in the order. These were Jedi consulars.
Didn't consulars still carry lightsabers and practice forms though? I haven't read any of the extended universe in forever, so I could be mistaken.
Yes however their primary focus was not on combat.They did partake in combative actions but their main focus was the study of the force.
Thanks for the feedback! I feel comfortable not making the distinction in the video, since we've never seen a consular in any sort of staring role and you either need to read EU fiction or play the video games to see one.
Chris Fox hey no problem it's not that important.
Nice video by the way. It was very informative
Thanks, man =)
This is kind of completely aside the point but the Lord of the Rings films were different from the books in terms of magic (if I heard right anyway, I haven't read them myself, so it's kind of weird even saying this). I'm pretty sure that Peter Jackson said he hated trying to film magic so it got a bit underrepresented, like in the siege battle I heard he fireballs the shit out of a few of the trolls that come through the gates but he runs out and more just keep coming. But that goes to show you how drastic a few moments are for the audience's interpretation of your world's magic.