Eragon has an interesting magic system i really like. The main magic system uses knowledge as a power as the magic is just a language where every thing you say is true and what happens depends on your imagination, everything costs energy and if u use a spell witch you don't have enough energy for you just straight up die as the spell can't be stopped midway through and will just drain all the energy you have.
What I liked a lot more about that magic system was the way Wizards/Dragonriders fight. Magic is so destructive and so dificult to defend against that if a open fight between two magic users brakes out it is a nearly guaranteed death for both of them. So in reality fights consist of a intense staredown while they try to break trough the others mental defences to stop them from casting anything. Only once somebody has the upperhand, or feels that the other is distracted they actualy attack. It makes for a really interresting dynamic, which I havnt seen elsewhere.
I like how Eragon magic works but despiste how It ended as "I'm the strongest If I know more" and this make the end of the story just an finger snap. Its too "hard magic" in a point that power scaling become a problem to solve more then a stair to climb
You can't just stop with a mythology; exploring the ecological history of magic on a world will bring new understanding of the world as you develop it. It's *very* time consuming, however, but really worthwhile.
@@TheGoldenPhoenix-nm8qe friendship as in what way? I’m designing a magic system that’s specified for duo relationships centered around the concept of keys and locks I would like to hear your thoughts peaked my interest out of all the comments by far plus I love adventure times magic system 😂
I love worldbuilding, and magic systems are a thing I spent a LOT of time on. I like these worldbuilding videos. Gives inspiration and help on understanding some stuff. Eager to see the next one !
I'd argue that Light wasn't changed all that much by the Death Note, but was just given the ability to enact his desires. I mean he's screaming "I am a god" by the end of episode 2
@@CreoSolusIt is interesting because the point is made later when Light loses his memories of the death note how much of a different person he would be without it. While it might not supernaturally twist it's user, the power it offers certainly brings the worst out of them in a way that even the One Ring would envy.
Light is just a case of power corrupting the person, without the death note, he would have grew up a to be a completely normal yet exceptional man, however the sudden acquiring of power altered that fate.
@voice-less I disagree. Even before the note, he viewed himself as a superior person. His ability to make and maintain relationships was all a pretense. He is a sociopath, and lying comes as easily as breathing, while he values himself higher than others at the same time he cannot help but put himself in danger and accept Ls challenge and in the process revealing himself. He wounds everyone around him and even himself. A deeply flawed person to be sure. Though everyone deserves a chance, Light is someone I would not give one. He has lost his humanity after and "ascended to godhood" Edit: I feel I was not hard enough. Near the end, he was a rabid, cornered animal that needed to be put down.
Something interesting I thought about, is how the mage’s style of using magic effects how the magic turns out. A example of this is how people use magic to make traps. This also brought me to magic circles, which made me try to make a circle for different people with each circle being used by different species to suit their needs. Just something interesting I thought of a while back
I like the idea of magic being linked to a person's mind, willpower, and desire. The mind shapes the magic into what you want it to be; imagining the magic you want to cast more vividly and thoroughly results in the magic actually doing what you intend it to as well improving the spell's "fuel efficiency" Your willpower determines how much fuel you provide to your spell to get its job done, in the case of simply imagining a possible spell but not wanting to cast anything, you of course provide no fuel And your desire determines how fast you cram the fuel into the magic you're casting, leading to faster casting times and possibly erratic behavior of spells if too fast Example 1: You want to get up from the couch and grab food from the fridge 1. You imagine pushing yourself up from the couch, standing up, and walking from your current room all the way into the kitchen, navigating to the fridge, opening said fridge, and grabbing a cold slice of leftover pizza (clear imagination of spell) 2. You decide you're going to follow up on your plan and get up, you are determined to do this. (strong willpower) 3. You're really, really, REALLY hungry Result: You practically leap from the couch to the ground, get in a sprinter pose start dashing towards the kitchen. Despite all your enthusiasm, you accidentally trip over yourself halfway through your current room in your haste. After your fall to the ground you literally bounce back up and continue your sprint while screaming "I FUCKING LOVE COLD PIZZA", bumping into walls and doorways as you navigate through your house at breakneck speeds. Within seconds you arrive at your fridge, rip its heavy metal door open, and proceed to fiercely grip a cold pizza from the lower left shelf and cram it into your gullet. Example 2: Same scenario 1. You imagine looking for a bite to eat in the fridge (bad imagination of spell) 2. You decide you might as well get food, nothing better to do anyways (meh willpower) 3. You aren't really that hungry (meh desire) Result: You slowly get up from the couch, start walking towards the kitchen before getting distracted by a heads up penny on the ground. "Oooh, lucky penny", you say while picking the penny up, immediately forgetting what you got up to do. You then proceed to aimlessly walk around your house for a while before you finally remember, "ah, the fridge" and successfully walk over to open it. You browse and mull over your options for a bit before deciding cold pizza suits your current mood best and slowly nibble at it as you focus on other, more pressing matters; like binge watching ATLA for the 17th time.
My favourite magic system is from a ttrpg called Mage the Awakening, there are 10 different arcana (fate, time, mind, space, matter, death, forces, prime, life and spirit) and depending on your mastery of these you can cast spells with various levels of power (players are encoureged to make up their own spells and the storyteller (dm) interprets the rules to decide of they posses sufficient mastery). At a full mastery of an arcanum, a mage can create and destroy phenomena related to it for instance. There is also a dimension of anti-reality, called the Abyss, parts of which can get into our reality if a mage messes up.
While it's cool to be gods on Earth like in that RPG (even though you can't do much due to paradox and incredulity and resort to solve problems 'mmmurica style), magic there is actually a mess and just a Dragonball-like power scaling. But yeah: robbing the master of total -party- kill like I did* is priceless. =) * transmuting 8 olympic pools of air in equal amount of nitroglycerin can, sometimes, do that... =) Matter FTW
I personally prefer that of Mage the Ascension, the one with 9 Spheres of magick. It's pretty similar but I think it's more flexible and I really like the idea of consensus and paradigms. Though, I have to admit, it's possible that part of the reason I prefer it is because I _vastly_ prefer the world of Mage the Ascension over the Awakening overall.
ATLA does such a perfect job of worldbuilding each individual society around the respective bending accessible to them, sub-bending styles are always really interesting how much they can range from extremes like metalbending which was thought to be impossible to minor things like sand benders in the desert
The true strenght of Bending is that its steeped in its cultural Lore of the people practicing it. Its a mirror of real martial Arts, and well they show runners USED real Martial Arts as the source of their bending Move and techniques. Water bending= Tai Chi , a style based on body posture, allignement and flowing movement Earth Bening= Hung Gar,a style based on solide postures and stances anchored into the ground Firebending= Northern Shaolin , Strong style with Dynamic and Powerfull movements Airbending= Baguazhang, style based on movement and turning/repositioning oneself with lots of mobility. Wich makes it in turn Cohesive and easely recognisable, you see them do the moves, you know what bending their practice even before seeing the effects.
The classification of magic sistems into hard and soft had a lasting wound in the type of magic system I made, glad to see the breaking of it^^ The fact that magic systems can impact the personalities of the wielder wasn't something I thought of before, so that was an eye-opener too! Great video as always^^
Classifications are but afterthoughts. Not like people couldn't write magic before. I heard of hard soft before I actually write. But as soon as I do I realise it is just dumbed down doorstep to help babies getting in the house.
If you want a "Magic" systeme that as an impact on the users personalities, then i recommend Hunter X Hunter, the Nen systeme is THE BEST Power Systeme Its Consistant, easy to learn, hard to Master, and has enough leeway to bend the rules slightly to give creative agency and freedom while being Cohesive and easy to explain/understand. Nen is Litteraly the Use of One's Life Energy, their "Aura", wich is influenced by their personalities, habits and biases. A MAster of Nen is not only someone who's Powerfull as an Aura user, but also someone who has a Deep understanding of Themselves and others to the point where Nen Masters battles is as much about Power than it is about Psychological Warfare.
I'd still say the classification has a use. I think what it is really doing is pointing out the coherence of a magic system. In my opinion a hard magic system is one that a third person(not the writer) could design a tabletop rpg ruleset to use, using only the information the writer provides. All it's doing is pointing out the difference in how the system works, and is language readers and writers can use to discuss the work. It changes how the system feels significantly, and I don't think that's bad that we can talk about it. It's fine to chose not to make your system hard, but taking away the language is a little frustrating for writers and readers who have gone out of their way to create hard magic systems. (Same with how some people object to Hard Sci-fi having realistic physics and sometimes even math)
@@Mirsellus i agree with you. But it gets really annoying when people treat it as sacred to follow. Not your case of course. But it is out there. And worst of all, is when it is used as a framework to imitates another work, creating an inbred cycle. And no it doesn't compare to math in sci-fi because math is obvious in real life. And again, may not be your case, but it is out there.
I am currently in book 4 of the Codex Alera series. I love the magic system and the way it is presented. It's an elemental system with fire, wind, earth, water, metal, and wood that's mediated by spirits. There's zero exposition about the limits but we see them when the magic is used. There are no boring info dumps of rules which I really appreciate. It's in this book that the immersion was broken. The one demonstrated weakness of the magic is that it can be broken by salt. Yet for plot reasons, the characters use magic while swimming in the ocean. It makes no sense.
my top favorite form of spell casting is woven/manalines kinds, the ones with circles with texts/symbols inside them as the spell being built and given instructions.
I’m making a magic system and world right now, and you just gave me many many ideas; your characters and especially your branch analogy are super cool (even if that isn’t the direction I’m going) and I’m super excited to see what you do next!!!
Ive been recently reading the Manga Witch Hat Atelier, which has been a really enjoyable magic system to follow. Magic is casted on ink and paper and follows a really hard magic system. Beautiful art as well.
I love this manga, the magic is so in-depth it feels kinda like its own drawn programming language for spells , there are a lot of interesting and clever ways it's used throughout the series. Also I think you might like Magus of the library it has a similar vibe.
My favorite hard magic system will probably always be Mistborn’s system. 16 types of metals, and each one lets you do something different. One pushes on metals equal to your weight. If that metal pushes on something greater than your weight, you get pushed instead. Another pulls metals. One dulls emotions while another incites them. One metal lets you see into the future while another that past. One slows time while another speeds it up.
@@mileskile9520most of this stuff is directly explained in the back of the book and also none of this stuff effects the story for more than a few pages before it’s explained. Knowing how alomancy works doesn’t spoil really anything that happens in the story
There's a magic system that's always been on my mind, the one of Mahouka Koko No Rettosei or translated; The Irregular at Magic High School. the magic system there its just- Fascinating to me, the way it- Just makes sense, every single spell has a fundation on actual physics and interactions you can understand. How it sets its limits on understandable rules such as physics, chemestry and how it kind of redefines the concept of magic to fit the setting, "mana" its not just some mysterious energy that its everywhere, its explained and even delved on, throwing the normal concept of "mana" and even deleting the name completely (Psions and Pushions), but still retaining the escence of the word even if separated into two. The way that magic connects with the world, politics, war, evolution of it and the sheer deepth of it all. Love that magic system honestly.
I've always liked a magic system where you have have to improve yourself in order to safely use it. Not "Get better at magic" but improve who YOU are by resolving dissonance between what you believe and what is true. Magic that needs YOU to be a better more grounded/enlightened person to use it to a positive effect. It's a sub division of "Magic is controlled by emotion/will" that has always fascinated me.
The magic system the series of the witcher shows is one of my favorites, for the fact that you see the effects of the casted magic and not a casting circle or a frase but yet understand what the spell does. Also the touch of an ancient powerful magic known only by a few is something i always appreciate
My favourite magic system is in the chinese fantasy series Lord of mysteries, I could go on forever in all the ways it’s just awesome but I’ll keep it short. You drink potion, you gain that potions power, there are 20 something different starter potions that all gives different powers, each starter potions have their own progression tree where you start as a sequence 9 all the way up to 0. To be able to get the next potion you need to act in accordance to said potions “intent/powers/will” for example if you start with the Seer potion you need to act as a Seer, that can be very abstract or literal. You can’t transition between potion lines so the first potion is very important. Ingredients are also a factor for progression. Then there are all the underlying things like gods/churches/cults, the potions and the magical world as a whole is hidden from the average person because the world is set in a lovecraftian cathulu horror world where knowledge is actively dangerous. Drinking a potion symbolises abandoning the mundane and becoming a part of the horror, a “beyonder” (someone who’s drunk a potion) fights a life long battle with madness and becomes horrifying monsters should they lose control and this gets way WAY worse the further you progress, which correlates nicely with the stronger you are the more you suffer the risk of going completely mad. Whoops this got long, uhhh LoM is a long web serial that I personally love but it isn’t for everyone, especially those who like it more faster paced.
I never really understood the concepts of magic in the Fate anime series, but I love the spectacle of it all. I think Kiritsugu Emiya is the coolest one. He uses the opponent's magic against them. So even though he is a mediocre mage, he uses unorthodox methods to kill that mages aren't equipped to deal with. I also really like the magic in The Irregular at Magic High School. I think it is a cool concept of magic being refined down to programming and you have different factions of modern and traditional magic. There's even room for lost magic in a system like that.
Kiritsugu has a decent understanding of mage craft in general and understanding of the magis mentality as well. Don't let him fool you, El-melloi is a decently powerful magi in general despite his ego. And no Kiritsugu's origin bullet doesn't use his opponent's magic against them. His origin bullet forces the concept of 'cut and binds' onto their magic circuit, causing their magic circuit to break apart and then rebuild in a way that isn't quite right. Just like an electric circuit, even a small random change like that causes it not to function at all or to function irrationally. He needs them to be using their magic circuit at the time he's firing the bullet to cause this to happen.
The magic system of Hunter X Hunter is one of my favourites as it has its limitations but seems infinite in its implementations, relying on the user's creativity and personality for how the magic (called nen) manifests. While a person is born with a specific affinity to one type of nen, they can still achieve proficiency in related types through hard work. I love the show so much.
The kido in bleach is a good form of structure limited by both knowledge and latent power. It also leaves an open end for the incredibly intelligent to create new kido. It’s a very defined structure but also leaves room for potential outliers that might seem abstract. That along with the zanpakuto seem like two separate forms of magic that can mesh well together.
Honestly, my favorite hard magic system is from the Heralds of Valdemar series. A lot of the magic system is how they get power, how they build shields, and how they bleed excess power. It makes mage duels genuinely interesting, and the psychic system is nearly as detailed as the magic system. Different characters have different strengths and weaknesses, and occasionally one of them will impress you with their creativity.
Sympathetic crafting magic is a cool idea to me: sewing symbols into clothes to imbue those garmits with the properties represented by the symbol or material of the thread for instance, or Book Binding, the Grimoire can be used to cast spells because you have literally BOUND discrete phenomena between the pages of the book during it’s creation and with the right words you can open the book up and call them out again
Nice video! Always excited to find a new worldbuilding project to follow. It's pretty cliched at this point but I am a huge sucker for the "weave" analogy and I've woven (pun intended) it into my own story as well. The idea that reality is just a complex tapestry of energies that intertwine in specific ways just makes for such a clear visual analogy of what magic is. In my own world Lifeweavers have the ability to manipulate the weave of their own bodies, drawing energy from certain senses or abilities to bolster the strength of others.
Hey man, nice video! I've 'just started' worldbuilding my own world (really these ideas have been bouncing around in my head for years and I'm just now getting them out.) Also trying out drawing for the first time. Baby steps. Anyways that is to say that I find videos like yours, of other people going through the process of making their own worlds for the first time really inspiring as there are so many pitfalls to find and avoid.
Wow, this is very inspiring! I have been working on world building a world for about a year where magic was one of my biggest deviances and focuses, yet this still helped give me beautiful ideas to make it more immersive
I like the magic system in Warhammer Fantasy. It's like a force of nature blowing from the north pole (different branches are called "Winds of Magic"), and it's unpredictable and dangerous to harness. If you try to cast a spell you need to be careful not to lose control, even if you're a skilled spellcaster. In the tabletop game when you're casting a spell your spellcaster could get a Miscast, which can range from: cast the spell with irressistible force; loses a level; loses a life; opens a portal and is dragged by a daemon into another dimension, exploding the wizard and everyone around them!!!
A magic system I've been working on/off has 13 Attributes, 10 Aspects, 0-9 Tiers of Scaling, and the central Anchor for a Spell Circle that determines the overall function of a Skill/Spell. The intent of the magic system is to allow the creation of a vast variety of customized spells for each Practitioner, but to also be as balanced as possible by making all forms of Magic follow the same exact rules set. Sadly motivation is a weak point of mine, otherwise I'd be much further on.
I think that it really only depends on the story of the book. If you want to have a story about a character who gradually learns magic throught it, you go with Harry Potter-ish approach. But if you want magic only a lesser part of the world you'd go with the Tolkien-ish approach. And personally, my favourite magic system comes from the nordic poemats(Voluspá, havámál, and so on). Magic there is only briefly explained and what is magic and what isn't, is up for your interpretation(also, there the word for 'magic' is 'wisdom' and word for 'wisdom' is 'wisdom', so often you don't know what is 'wisdom' and what's 'magic'). What I mean that you can consider Mimir's well magical, but it's not in the magic system more a part of the worldbuilding. The only magic we know was there is the 'Seidr', which was why Odin hung himself on the branches of Yggdrasil, to know seidr. So you can throw everything under seidr, but not everything is ever said to have a link to seidr. That's why I love it, it's for you to interpret. Also, that's a great video! Keep it up!👍
For constructed magic and how it affects society there's The Wheel of Time series (the books by Robert Jordan): magic is done by channeling an extra dimensional source of magic power and by weaving the five elemental aspects of that power (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) to create various effects, it's not almighty and has a lot of limits. For the society influence, that's the basis of the series: 3000 years before there was a cataclysm due to the fact that the male counterpart of magic was tainted by a god of destruction and all male channelers are destined to become more and more insane; before that cataclysm the society was like a futuristic society with magic everywhere. For military use it's complicated: the female channelers refrain from using magic for military purpose first because they wanted to regain the trust of common people and after it almost became a tradition (but they still lacked thr trust). But when the time comes to go to war: totally devastating and it's also used in conjunction with new technologies to gain tactical advantage. There's no mana but normal fatigue: a mage becomes more and more tired the more magic (or more powerful magic) is used, then there are different level of power that are an innate charatersic of each person (and that allows to use more or less powerful magics). Another example of magic for military purposes it's Raymond Feist books: do the exact opposite. 😂 It has the most moronic explanation I ever read for why mages aren't used in conflicts: "a mage uses a spell and the enemy mage uses a counterspell and responds, so the first mage uses a counterspell, too and so on, until the cavalry arrives and kills the mages" (seriously) and everyone accepted as the most insightful thing was ever said, no one realised that that explanation could be applied for basically EVERITHING in war but it deosn't prevent from not fighting only with fists. I mean, it's not that we dont' use jets because there's anti-aircraft weapons and don't use tanks because there's anti-tank weapons: it's always a race on who is better at what to gain an edge (in non-asymmetric wars, at lest)...
I've wanted to pick up the wheel of time just haven't had the time. Thanks for taking the time to write a well presented recommendation. Really Appreciate it. Im really hoping to incorporate the military properly into my story.
I really enjoy the magic in the rune lords books. There is more traditional magic and wizards each with their own unique twist. the main magic that is explored is making runes that allow you to take an attribute from one person and give it to another. For instance you can gather the strength of 5 lumber jacks or farmers, the grace of 3 dancers, and the beauty of a model. One of the more interesting aspects of this is that the person you take from has to remain alive, if they die you loose their attribute.
Whether Blue is better than Red depends on the circumstances and usage. I would say the same for Hard vs Soft Magic, different stories and settings have different needs.
Blue is better then red (and vice versa) depending on the scenario. Just think of colour theory. If you want your yellow to pop you arent gonna use red. You use blue. The same can be said about magic systems. One isnt "inherently better" then the other, but it may be more suited for the world you are trying to build. And just like some people like blue more then red, some people like certain magic systems more then others
@@CreoSolus I've written more than ever and my story and it's magic is developing so well. Bc of your advice to tie it to everything from day to day improvement to politics
A few books I've read recently with really amazing magic systems! The Dead Take The A Train: The main character stiches spells into her skin and hurts herself to use magic, ripping muscles and fat out of her body for powerful spells The UnWanteds: Component based magic that requires signs and words to cast spells The Alchemist (Stories of Nicholas Flemmel): The energy in your body [nutrients and what not] are used for spells and fit into elemental archetypes Renegades Trilogy: Prodigies have specific powers granted to them based off of life experiences
A couple ways I like to visualize mana is either a pearl white mass with oscillating colors, or if it's from the soul, mana could take on different colors and forms dependent on the user, the environment, the user's emotions, and how you're applying the mana, whether it be enhancement of an object or direct combat
Here’s my idea of a magic system: To cast magic, an individual must precisely envision constantly shifting magic circles over the duration of the casting time. The only limiter is one’s mental capabilities and memory. Individuals will all have slightly different magic due to quirks of their minds’ eye.
I read a series recently called “enchantress” and the magic system requires a special kind of ink (essence) and a knowledge of specific runes to create different kinds of effects, like one type of magic animates objects, where another allows a piece of armor to cloak the user. It is an incredibly strange and intriguing way to run a magic system.
To me, from this video, the meaning of magic is entangled with the nature of ' skill '. It can be either/ and/ or something you train (set rules, you can do innately (talent), or is given (inheritage) Skill can have many sources, but recognizable end results / forms Skill and form go together :) Inspired off the quote: "Tolkien's LOTR and Silmarillion are prime examples of this, but man does it take TIME and SKILL to create your own believable mythology" - 8:31
0:54 even tho ridiculous, it can actually be a good logical exercise that can lead to what people find better, what "better" means, and how we categorize the attributes of whats better.
My whole book is about different magic systems kind of in one world, and personally I think building magic systems is amazing and important to a story, but it's also interesting how you could make different magic systems interact, and what exactly would happen when 2 users of different magics try to create a spell together.
I like that you mentioned star wars. The way it was with its soft magic sistem was more then perfect, unfortunatelly today force turned into downright devine magic and you can do whatever you want with it and if there are still limitations you go in a pocket dimension that allows you to change reality.
I have a bunch of magic systems that I like: Alchemy from the Atelier Series, blastia from Tales of Vesperia, Materia from FF7, and the charms from Hollow Knight. Why, yes, I do like external magic more than genetic magic.
I realy enjoyed the game Outward, where no one is born with magic. Instead you have to travel to a leyline and offer up a part of life energi to gain mana =]
I'm sure this is a bit too late for a suggestion, but in terms of detailed and unique magic systems, the way it is handled in "That Time That I Got Reincarnated As A Slime" I think is really unique, as the magic in the world is split between 2 main varieties, spirit magic which is more conceptual and less understood by the characters of the world, and then physical magic, which is learnable and relies on a more scientific approach, by learning how to manipulate a different type of 'molecule' unique to that world which is abundant in nature and naturally produced in some species. The Anime doesn't do the best job at detailing how the magic works, but there is a ton of detail put into it in the light novel series.
one of, if not the best magic system I have ever seen is from the light novel supreme magus, one of the most famous light novels. It is so incredibly interesting because to give you a quick run-down of what it is about: it is basically an isekai, but done in a really cool way. The main character Lith (his reincarnated name) is born into the world as a baby and finds out that magic exists in the world, but because he's from a poor family he knows absolutely nothing about magic and it's secrets. Even the books about magic are simply too expensive for him at the start. So he straight up has to discover everything on his own and experiment with different ideas. It is really comparable to mushoku tensei at the start. So if you liked the start of mushoku tensei you will love the start of this novel (first 72 chapters im pretty sure) Also not even mentioning the amazing magic system, the characters are all really well-made (yurial the goat). Try reading the description of it, if it sounds interesting you can give it a go.
I think frierens magic system is the one i like the most so far. It just came closesest what i would create myself with a beautiful combination af hard and soft aspects. But also the magic in the dresden files aswell as in the tabletop games from "world of darkness" are very intriguing to me
My magic system is literally "Light and Shadows" Everyone wields both types of magic, or just one, haven't decided yet Shadows are the worst version of yourself, they follow you around and try to convince you to do things you don't wanna do People who actively wield Shadow Magic are very much discriminated The more you use Shadow Magic, the stronger your Shadow becomes and the more stuff it can do to take advantage of you It don't have to be complicated!
Have you seen The Magicians show or read the book trilogy? That one had a fascinating magic system built on the idea of subtle hand gestures manipulating the energy source almost like you are weaving a spell with your fingers. The concept took a step beyond when the first major villain grew himself extra fingers specifically to cast more complex spells usually inaccessible to humans. The other magic system example I'd offer is that of Witch Hat Atelier. Currently only a manga, getting an anime next year. The biggest secret witches keep from others is that anyone can do it. There's a lot of limitations on what can be done that are all based on witch society laws, otherwise, in truth you could do seemingly anything. However casting a spell is an act of drawing. You draw magic circles, the symbols inside dictate information on the effect the circle has. You can even manipulate the size, length, direction and repetition of the symbols to manipulate their effect while the variant of magic ink you use can augment the effect. Because the secret of casting must be kept secret from regular humans, apprentices aren't allowed to cast in public until they are able to draw perfect circles without looking as witches hide the act of drawing behind the cloak they wear.
I have seen a bit of of it. As for witch hat everyone in the comments has recommended it so I've started reading it. Thanks for taking the time to recommend some awesome content.
I really like when the power source for magic is well defined and limited. Especially when it’s not just mana from the casters own body/soul. A great example of this is mistborn where people need access to purified metal to activate different magical effects.
I have put a LOT of thought into my world's magic systems. Currently I have 3 systems. The most complex one is called heritage. It is a system where innate abilities are passed down from parents to children. But there are exceptions to the rules. It is a very soft magic system. The second one is conduits and catalysts. In addition to heritage there exists background magic. While heritage is exact the background magic is broad. Through the use of conduits everyday people can use the background magic around them. The newest system is called anchor. It is a hard magic system where a person or object cannot be destroyed so long as it has an anchor. These are not achievable by everyday means and usually exist for the gods and and the world. There exists 3 sets of world anchors and 1 set of god anchors.
If you haven't already, you should read some of Brandon Sanderson's series. He makes unique and interesting magic systems and I think his are some of the best
Big fan of the magic in The Dresden Files books. the main character has a very slow power creep through the books, and 'strength' is akin to building a supernatural muscle, and the 'rules' are largely based on physics. tools and implements to make casting easier as well as group and loci casting.
I prefer soft magic systems where magic remains both mysterious and familiar. It’s not something to be studied like a school subject but rather a force that allows characters to subtly connect with the world around them. That said, I recognize that many people enjoy hard magic systems as well. I also believe that there isn’t a strict division between a Light Side and a Dark Side; there is only magic-like the Force-and those who seek to corrupt it. Dark magic, in my view, is akin to a cancer that must be eradicated, not balanced. Additionally, I believe that power levels aren’t the determining factor in magical conflicts; with the right strategies, anyone can overcome their rival or enemy, regardless of their magical affinity.
Hey, a book I read some years ago had a great magic system and one, I would consider unique: "Das Geheimnis von Askier" I don't know if it is available in English, but the titel means something along the lines of "The Mystery of Askier" In this book you can separate the magic in three categories, there are the gifts from the gods, then the ability to use magic and lastly special abilities. The gifts from the gods are special, because they will somewhat correspond to the kind of god, that will gift reward you for your believing, but these are also only "temporary". So they might gift you an item with special abilities, but then these are bound to the item and not the user, or they help to get out of a situation, but this is just this act or there is a ritual required and the god might not answer the ritual every time. The Magic is a bit more interesting in my opinion, the ones that have the ability to use magic can manipulate energy. But not everyone can channel the same amount through himself, this is just an effect on how strong your ability to use magic is. Still this isn't all to the topic, because you need the energy, this means if you want to warm something up, you need to cool something down and because you need to link these two acts together you need exponentially more concentration for stronger magic, which limits the inherent strength of a magician. So they require training, or they wont be able to balance their magic, if not their spell will be fuelled by themselves and they will destroy themselves in something like a black hole, that just consumes till the cost for the spell is fulfilled. To aid the magicians there is something like the world river, it is an invisible flow of energy underground, from which you can get energy and the river will balance it through the whole world. (But to use it, you need to be in proximity of the river). Another darker way of wilding magic is by consuming life energy. So magic can also be used by committing mass murder or for more advanced mages on this end of the spectrum by draining the life of their surrounding. The last category are the abilities and technically magic falls also under it, but these abilities are stuff as necromancy, to consume souls and get all abilities and knowledge from the consumed. But mostly these are simpler things, as the ability to never miss the nail with a hammer, or to inherently understand what someone tells you even if they fail to communicate it properly. It may also just be something silly, like one character who forgot his shoes for a marching exercise or the sword for sword fighting training. These abilities range from handy stuff to somethings one might consider just a talent in an area. I hope you find this insight interesting and I am happy to answer questions to the best of my abilities. :)
On the subject of creating a believable mythology I refer you to Edgar Rice Burroughs' _Gods of Mars_ and Richard Adams' _Watership Down_, both of which feature in-setting creation myths.
Personally my favorite magic trope is the Science=Magic trope, where magic is a set of techniques learned about how to manipulate the environment in some specific way. In particular The Irregular at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei) comes to mind as doing this really well. Despite the characters offten being quite boring I found myself enthralled by the worldbuilding in the light novel as it goes into excessive detail of the impact of magic on society and politics.
If you ask me the best magic systems are the ones that are both clear and concise and understandable with rules as to how they work but was interesting and underlying Mysteries that still come from how deep the abyss of the knowledge that can be learned from the magic system is and how that massive Gap in what is shown and what we know there is more to learn about the magic system being what is the true magic namely being knowing that there's so much more to learn but it's so incomprehensible because it doesn't necessarily make sense to our common human senses or inferences about how the world is supposed to work and to come across someone who has seen those depths and understood them is what makes them so amazing and more importantly both mystical and mysterious but also terrifying as you don't know what they know beyond what you could ever imagine.
Rimworld has an amazing magic system. Extremely advanced AI called archotechs become so powerful they essentialy become machine gods, capable of manipulating the very laws of the universe. Some humans can use archotech devices to form a psylink where they can call upon the abilities of these archotechs to their advantage. Maybe a benevolent archotech will teleport some water to extinguish fire, wheras an angry archotech that wants to eliminate humanity will be happy to manipulate the minds of your enemies and drive them berserk.
I think the metallic arts from mistborn are a really great magic system. The entire system revolves around a sort of “equivalent exchange” logic. Where the power “pushes” or “pulls” on something. Whether that be your physical or mental abilities, literally pushing on metal with your weight, or even pulling on time itself. Read mistborn 🙏
My main thing about the magic i make for my stories is i try making it reflect some of the messages of the narrative they acompany as well as making types of magic ive rarely or haven never seen in any media before, i like when magic isnt just limited to being combat (nothing wrong with combat systems, I love em) and instead could be about other things, like a magic system around talking or seeing spirits and even communicating with them, magic focused on artificial life-forms (golems, homunculus, and my favorite concepct, where magic is actually a branch of cooking where you can cook food with all sorts of effects such as enhanced strenght, night vision, or even speelcasting only being acheivable by eating such magical foods.
You've got a really open minded approach to fantasy which is awesome. I completely agree with magic being a connect part of the narrative. Good luck with your future writing.
Lord of the Mysteries is doing quite a good job at it : -otherwordly powers have a source. -they are scaled correctly, with each "magic" pathway being capable (however, some are, to be fair, much better than other ones) -they are limited, since the more potions you drink (and the higher sequence of "magic" you go) the more you're exposed to madness, but also (spoilers !!!!)the more likely you will encounter other people of the same pathway, and because ingredients (espacially at higher sequences) are very limited and often involves killing people, it's very dangerous. Also (spoiler) you can be influenced by the "god" (sequence 0) at the top of you pathway. -they are all very different, (spoiler) even if some are adjacent (you can switch between pathways) and carry related powers, you can really see that it's quite rich : some are focusing on mind powers, others are skilled in instigation and seducing, while some at getting pregn... planting crops ofc :) -a lot of other things make LOTM cool ---> read it ! :)
There's this game I love and I think it might interest you, Outward has magic systems and lore that I really like. While not quiet being completely thought through, they add a lot to the world answering some and creating more questions, the understanding of this or that thing and the theories I and other people come up with about stuff is pretty fun to discuss, game's got an official discord with devs keeping in touch and joining the discussion now and then. But anyway, I really like the different things and the way they clashed in the past and what current state of the world is creates some good intrigue of what will be going on later in this world ) Also game's music is great!
I love the designs and ideas of your magic system! you should look at an anime called the ancient magnus bride as well as a light novel called Grimgar. Both I feel could give you some inspiration. keep up the good work!!
Hey I'm just passing by but I saw that you used clips from other shows such as overlord and would like it if you put them somewhere in the description. And good luck on the world building ❤
I have an idea for a kind of magepunk style world, with extremely high magic which is very accessible (low floor high ceiling) but I’m struggling with how much the reader needs to understand about the magic system. Obviously I’ll know how everything works, but I think the hyper-stylization punk brings to a world will allow for a crazy fun and cool system.
So two related things worth considering is how many magical abilities does any given practitioner posses and what are ranges of what any one power can do? For instance in something like DnD a wizard might know a hundred or more spells but each of those spells does one very specific thing with power being the only varying factor (either caster level or using higher level spell slots depending on the edition), now take a sorcerer who might only have twenty toe thirty spells but would have a greater range on exactly what each one could do. Alternatively if you look at a lot of the Xanxia/Xanxia adjacent/LitRPG, you can see full practitioners with as few as 2 very flexible powers up to something like 25 powers being actually useful in combat with some more being of use in some very niche situations. I would put something like FMA very clearly at one corner of this with everyone technically only having one incredibly flexible power, with something DnD on the other end where there are hundreds of incredibly rigid spells to choose from.
@@CreoSolus not exactly you also have thing's like say x-men where everyone has one power, and while it may get slightly stronger through training and they can certainly learn to use it in slightly different ways the power it's self does one thing. You can also have bunches of powers and have them all be super flexible with training but that get's much much harder to make interesting because then anyone can do anything wheeeee! which makes it both for bad games and hard to make interesting in fiction most of the time. Though having that DnD wizard but going with one of the current sub-classes (scribe's wizard) to let them specifically modify the spell's damage type comes close to that by giving them a narrow way in which they can modify any of there plethora of abilities.
I have a few personal Loves with magic. My biggest one is with the separation of magic from self, something me and my group refer to as Artifice. The user is about as inert as a rock, but with careful and methodical tool use, The limits are only the gear and the user's knowledge how to use it effectively. In short it is a more fantastical analog to Electricity in this state. Runestones charged with magic, invoked together to cause magic, A wand hooked up to a backpack filled with liquid mana to create a flamethrower, Using your skills create Miniture Automatons to help you with your tasks. Truely the sky is the limit the runner up for me is Voice. Eragon or Skyrim for example, Words that uttering cause real things to happen. Eragon overshot this magic and it felt DBZ ish at one point, Skyrim undershot it with its mechanics, The last category Is more of a personal one. What if wizards all had a Different UI for how they interacted with magic? Say for example, Mozart, What if he interacted with magic through music? He could see the strands of power in the form of Notes and by creating such grand scripts of music He could cast spells that last forever. The tragedy is then revealed that those that witnessed the magic only experienced half of it. They only heard the music, they did not see Play invoked by the sound. Those sensitive enough may catch glimpses of his intent in their minds, but not to the degree he wanted. His work would be remembered forever, even if the full extent of the spell was lost. That is just off the top of my head but it is my jam
idk, my favorite magic system would be something like Black Clover, even if I'm not the biggest fan of the franchise. What I like about it is that everyone gets predetermined mana reserves, that are used to cast magic (they probably refill after the character rests for a while) and their magic control (even if you know the strongest spells and have vast amount of mana, your magic can fail/miss the target). The part that I like the most is growth, character can learn new spells (they are limited to their attribute) and improve their already existing ones by increasing power output and control itself. There are also some character that have abilities that bend the rules (like anti-magic or time-space slash), which I find really cool, but I don't really like the delivery and power scaling of said characters, but it's not a big minus for me.
Bleach's system I also find pretty cool. Even if you have instant-death ability, it wouldn't work on an enemy that has more spiritual pressure (read: power level) than you (I'm pretty sure this only works if difference in power is very big, not if you are close in terms of spiritual power). I'm not really fan of weak character with niche abilities, so this aspects takes them out of the picture when fighting a major villain.
Eragon has an interesting magic system i really like. The main magic system uses knowledge as a power as the magic is just a language where every thing you say is true and what happens depends on your imagination, everything costs energy and if u use a spell witch you don't have enough energy for you just straight up die as the spell can't be stopped midway through and will just drain all the energy you have.
Thanks for the reminder, it's been years since ive heard of Eragon.
@@CreoSolusI haven't read them, but he actually made more, including a Murtagh spinoff.
What I liked a lot more about that magic system was the way Wizards/Dragonriders fight. Magic is so destructive and so dificult to defend against that if a open fight between two magic users brakes out it is a nearly guaranteed death for both of them.
So in reality fights consist of a intense staredown while they try to break trough the others mental defences to stop them from casting anything. Only once somebody has the upperhand, or feels that the other is distracted they actualy attack.
It makes for a really interresting dynamic, which I havnt seen elsewhere.
I like how Eragon magic works but despiste how It ended as "I'm the strongest If I know more" and this make the end of the story just an finger snap. Its too "hard magic" in a point that power scaling become a problem to solve more then a stair to climb
It’s pretty much the earth sea magic system
You can't just stop with a mythology; exploring the ecological history of magic on a world will bring new understanding of the world as you develop it. It's *very* time consuming, however, but really worthwhile.
Definitely, world building can be a bottomless pit at times.
WE'RE GETTING WORLDBUILDER'S DISEASE WITH THIS ONE!!
I like the idea that Magic is a living entity. You can't control it without it fighting back, but you can't let it run wild either.
When you have to choose the magic but it also has to choose you. Good type for stories about fate.
@@CreoSolus In a way, yeah. I'm mainly thinking of Friendship being one option.
@@TheGoldenPhoenix-nm8qe friendship as in what way? I’m designing a magic system that’s specified for duo relationships centered around the concept of keys and locks I would like to hear your thoughts peaked my interest out of all the comments by far plus I love adventure times magic system 😂
Stormlight archive’s magic system is elite imo and very good to look at
Thank you for the recommendation
Stormlight is the goat imo. Kingkiller Chronicles and Mistborn are both good examples of physics based magic systems.
Stormlight archive is fantastic, their magic system is so well thought out and explained!
Exactly what I was thinking about while watching this
I love worldbuilding, and magic systems are a thing I spent a LOT of time on.
I like these worldbuilding videos. Gives inspiration and help on understanding some stuff.
Eager to see the next one !
Glad you like them! And thank you for the motivational comment.
I don't even do world building and stuff and i love these videos 😂
I'd argue that Light wasn't changed all that much by the Death Note, but was just given the ability to enact his desires. I mean he's screaming "I am a god" by the end of episode 2
I agree /\. also, I've never wanted an MC to suffer misfortune or die more than Light, truly an ignorant fool till his last bloody breath.
Yeah I guess you're right he was kind of a psycho before hand.
@@CreoSolusIt is interesting because the point is made later when Light loses his memories of the death note how much of a different person he would be without it. While it might not supernaturally twist it's user, the power it offers certainly brings the worst out of them in a way that even the One Ring would envy.
Light is just a case of power corrupting the person, without the death note, he would have grew up a to be a completely normal yet exceptional man, however the sudden acquiring of power altered that fate.
@voice-less I disagree. Even before the note, he viewed himself as a superior person. His ability to make and maintain relationships was all a pretense. He is a sociopath, and lying comes as easily as breathing, while he values himself higher than others at the same time he cannot help but put himself in danger and accept Ls challenge and in the process revealing himself. He wounds everyone around him and even himself. A deeply flawed person to be sure. Though everyone deserves a chance, Light is someone I would not give one. He has lost his humanity after and "ascended to godhood"
Edit: I feel I was not hard enough.
Near the end, he was a rabid, cornered animal that needed to be put down.
7:01: "emphasis on the book part" cracked me up
Can't be to careful
Something interesting I thought about, is how the mage’s style of using magic effects how the magic turns out. A example of this is how people use magic to make traps. This also brought me to magic circles, which made me try to make a circle for different people with each circle being used by different species to suit their needs.
Just something interesting I thought of a while back
Good point, really nice way to make your magic system unique.
I like the idea of magic being linked to a person's mind, willpower, and desire.
The mind shapes the magic into what you want it to be; imagining the magic you want to cast more vividly and thoroughly results in the magic actually doing what you intend it to as well improving the spell's "fuel efficiency"
Your willpower determines how much fuel you provide to your spell to get its job done, in the case of simply imagining a possible spell but not wanting to cast anything, you of course provide no fuel
And your desire determines how fast you cram the fuel into the magic you're casting, leading to faster casting times and possibly erratic behavior of spells if too fast
Example 1: You want to get up from the couch and grab food from the fridge
1. You imagine pushing yourself up from the couch, standing up, and walking from your current room all the way into the kitchen, navigating to the fridge, opening said fridge, and grabbing a cold slice of leftover pizza (clear imagination of spell)
2. You decide you're going to follow up on your plan and get up, you are determined to do this. (strong willpower)
3. You're really, really, REALLY hungry
Result: You practically leap from the couch to the ground, get in a sprinter pose start dashing towards the kitchen. Despite all your enthusiasm, you accidentally trip over yourself halfway through your current room in your haste. After your fall to the ground you literally bounce back up and continue your sprint while screaming "I FUCKING LOVE COLD PIZZA", bumping into walls and doorways as you navigate through your house at breakneck speeds. Within seconds you arrive at your fridge, rip its heavy metal door open, and proceed to fiercely grip a cold pizza from the lower left shelf and cram it into your gullet.
Example 2: Same scenario
1. You imagine looking for a bite to eat in the fridge (bad imagination of spell)
2. You decide you might as well get food, nothing better to do anyways (meh willpower)
3. You aren't really that hungry (meh desire)
Result: You slowly get up from the couch, start walking towards the kitchen before getting distracted by a heads up penny on the ground. "Oooh, lucky penny", you say while picking the penny up, immediately forgetting what you got up to do. You then proceed to aimlessly walk around your house for a while before you finally remember, "ah, the fridge" and successfully walk over to open it. You browse and mull over your options for a bit before deciding cold pizza suits your current mood best and slowly nibble at it as you focus on other, more pressing matters; like binge watching ATLA for the 17th time.
My favourite magic system is from a ttrpg called Mage the Awakening, there are 10 different arcana (fate, time, mind, space, matter, death, forces, prime, life and spirit) and depending on your mastery of these you can cast spells with various levels of power (players are encoureged to make up their own spells and the storyteller (dm) interprets the rules to decide of they posses sufficient mastery). At a full mastery of an arcanum, a mage can create and destroy phenomena related to it for instance.
There is also a dimension of anti-reality, called the Abyss, parts of which can get into our reality if a mage messes up.
Sounds really interesting, the only board games I'm familiar with is Catan and dragonology.
While it's cool to be gods on Earth like in that RPG (even though you can't do much due to paradox and incredulity and resort to solve problems 'mmmurica style), magic there is actually a mess and just a Dragonball-like power scaling.
But yeah: robbing the master of total -party- kill like I did* is priceless. =)
* transmuting 8 olympic pools of air in equal amount of nitroglycerin can, sometimes, do that... =)
Matter FTW
I personally prefer that of Mage the Ascension, the one with 9 Spheres of magick. It's pretty similar but I think it's more flexible and I really like the idea of consensus and paradigms. Though, I have to admit, it's possible that part of the reason I prefer it is because I _vastly_ prefer the world of Mage the Ascension over the Awakening overall.
ATLA does such a perfect job of worldbuilding each individual society around the respective bending accessible to them, sub-bending styles are always really interesting how much they can range from extremes like metalbending which was thought to be impossible to minor things like sand benders in the desert
It is a really well done story and world.
The true strenght of Bending is that its steeped in its cultural Lore of the people practicing it.
Its a mirror of real martial Arts, and well they show runners USED real Martial Arts as the source of their bending Move and techniques.
Water bending= Tai Chi , a style based on body posture, allignement and flowing movement
Earth Bening= Hung Gar,a style based on solide postures and stances anchored into the ground
Firebending= Northern Shaolin , Strong style with Dynamic and Powerfull movements
Airbending= Baguazhang, style based on movement and turning/repositioning oneself with lots of mobility.
Wich makes it in turn Cohesive and easely recognisable, you see them do the moves, you know what bending their practice even before seeing the effects.
The classification of magic sistems into hard and soft had a lasting wound in the type of magic system I made, glad to see the breaking of it^^
The fact that magic systems can impact the personalities of the wielder wasn't something I thought of before, so that was an eye-opener too!
Great video as always^^
Thank you, XD yip it's just too over used.
Good luck with your future magic system.
Classifications are but afterthoughts. Not like people couldn't write magic before. I heard of hard soft before I actually write. But as soon as I do I realise it is just dumbed down doorstep to help babies getting in the house.
If you want a "Magic" systeme that as an impact on the users personalities, then i recommend Hunter X Hunter, the Nen systeme is THE BEST Power Systeme
Its Consistant, easy to learn, hard to Master, and has enough leeway to bend the rules slightly to give creative agency and freedom while being Cohesive and easy to explain/understand.
Nen is Litteraly the Use of One's Life Energy, their "Aura", wich is influenced by their personalities, habits and biases.
A MAster of Nen is not only someone who's Powerfull as an Aura user, but also someone who has a Deep understanding of Themselves and others to the point where Nen Masters battles is as much about Power than it is about Psychological Warfare.
I'd still say the classification has a use. I think what it is really doing is pointing out the coherence of a magic system. In my opinion a hard magic system is one that a third person(not the writer) could design a tabletop rpg ruleset to use, using only the information the writer provides.
All it's doing is pointing out the difference in how the system works, and is language readers and writers can use to discuss the work. It changes how the system feels significantly, and I don't think that's bad that we can talk about it. It's fine to chose not to make your system hard, but taking away the language is a little frustrating for writers and readers who have gone out of their way to create hard magic systems. (Same with how some people object to Hard Sci-fi having realistic physics and sometimes even math)
@@Mirsellus i agree with you. But it gets really annoying when people treat it as sacred to follow. Not your case of course. But it is out there.
And worst of all, is when it is used as a framework to imitates another work, creating an inbred cycle. And no it doesn't compare to math in sci-fi because math is obvious in real life. And again, may not be your case, but it is out there.
I am currently in book 4 of the Codex Alera series. I love the magic system and the way it is presented. It's an elemental system with fire, wind, earth, water, metal, and wood that's mediated by spirits. There's zero exposition about the limits but we see them when the magic is used. There are no boring info dumps of rules which I really appreciate. It's in this book that the immersion was broken. The one demonstrated weakness of the magic is that it can be broken by salt. Yet for plot reasons, the characters use magic while swimming in the ocean. It makes no sense.
my top favorite form of spell casting is woven/manalines kinds, the ones with circles with texts/symbols inside them as the spell being built and given instructions.
I’m making a magic system and world right now, and you just gave me many many ideas; your characters and especially your branch analogy are super cool (even if that isn’t the direction I’m going) and I’m super excited to see what you do next!!!
Ive been recently reading the Manga Witch Hat Atelier, which has been a really enjoyable magic system to follow. Magic is casted on ink and paper and follows a really hard magic system. Beautiful art as well.
I love this manga, the magic is so in-depth it feels kinda like its own drawn programming language for spells , there are a lot of interesting and clever ways it's used throughout the series.
Also I think you might like Magus of the library it has a similar vibe.
I've got to check it out then, thanks for the recommendation.
Update: love the art style. Looking forward to reading it.
My favorite hard magic system will probably always be Mistborn’s system. 16 types of metals, and each one lets you do something different.
One pushes on metals equal to your weight. If that metal pushes on something greater than your weight, you get pushed instead. Another pulls metals. One dulls emotions while another incites them. One metal lets you see into the future while another that past. One slows time while another speeds it up.
Agreed, the mistborn trilogy is an awesome set of books
Bro you’re spoiling mistborn a lot with this comment
@@mileskile9520most of this stuff is directly explained in the back of the book and also none of this stuff effects the story for more than a few pages before it’s explained. Knowing how alomancy works doesn’t spoil really anything that happens in the story
@@meamcatnm knowing about their being 16 metals is pretty big in my opinion
There's a magic system that's always been on my mind, the one of Mahouka Koko No Rettosei or translated; The Irregular at Magic High School.
the magic system there its just- Fascinating to me, the way it- Just makes sense, every single spell has a fundation on actual physics and interactions you can understand. How it sets its limits on understandable rules such as physics, chemestry and how it kind of redefines the concept of magic to fit the setting, "mana" its not just some mysterious energy that its everywhere, its explained and even delved on, throwing the normal concept of "mana" and even deleting the name completely (Psions and Pushions), but still retaining the escence of the word even if separated into two.
The way that magic connects with the world, politics, war, evolution of it and the sheer deepth of it all. Love that magic system honestly.
I've always liked a magic system where you have have to improve yourself in order to safely use it. Not "Get better at magic" but improve who YOU are by resolving dissonance between what you believe and what is true. Magic that needs YOU to be a better more grounded/enlightened person to use it to a positive effect.
It's a sub division of "Magic is controlled by emotion/will" that has always fascinated me.
The magic system the series of the witcher shows is one of my favorites, for the fact that you see the effects of the casted magic and not a casting circle or a frase but yet understand what the spell does. Also the touch of an ancient powerful magic known only by a few is something i always appreciate
Witcher games are truly awesome, i enjoyed the first season however I felt they strayed a bit too far from the source.
The faces though simple work really well, think of it as adventure time almost. Also, awesome magic system,
Thank you. Gald to here that. I was aiming for it to be similar to adventure time
This is probably the 8th magic system video that I've watched in the past week and it is by far the best
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
My favourite magic system is in the chinese fantasy series Lord of mysteries, I could go on forever in all the ways it’s just awesome but I’ll keep it short.
You drink potion, you gain that potions power, there are 20 something different starter potions that all gives different powers, each starter potions have their own progression tree where you start as a sequence 9 all the way up to 0.
To be able to get the next potion you need to act in accordance to said potions “intent/powers/will” for example if you start with the Seer potion you need to act as a Seer, that can be very abstract or literal.
You can’t transition between potion lines so the first potion is very important. Ingredients are also a factor for progression.
Then there are all the underlying things like gods/churches/cults, the potions and the magical world as a whole is hidden from the average person because the world is set in a lovecraftian cathulu horror world where knowledge is actively dangerous.
Drinking a potion symbolises abandoning the mundane and becoming a part of the horror, a “beyonder” (someone who’s drunk a potion) fights a life long battle with madness and becomes horrifying monsters should they lose control and this gets way WAY worse the further you progress, which correlates nicely with the stronger you are the more you suffer the risk of going completely mad.
Whoops this got long, uhhh LoM is a long web serial that I personally love but it isn’t for everyone, especially those who like it more faster paced.
It sounds really unique and interesting. Thanks for the brief intro to it. I'll have to check ot out some time.
Damn fr? That sounds really cool, gotta give it a try.
@diavolojaegar yes! I just couldn’t get into all the cool ways it intersects with the world around it
.... me stealy stealy
RAAAAAAAAAAAAH LOTM MENTIONED 💥💥💥💥💥🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣💯💯
I never really understood the concepts of magic in the Fate anime series, but I love the spectacle of it all. I think Kiritsugu Emiya is the coolest one. He uses the opponent's magic against them. So even though he is a mediocre mage, he uses unorthodox methods to kill that mages aren't equipped to deal with.
I also really like the magic in The Irregular at Magic High School. I think it is a cool concept of magic being refined down to programming and you have different factions of modern and traditional magic. There's even room for lost magic in a system like that.
Both are very unusual and nicely portrayed.
Kiritsugu has a decent understanding of mage craft in general and understanding of the magis mentality as well. Don't let him fool you, El-melloi is a decently powerful magi in general despite his ego. And no Kiritsugu's origin bullet doesn't use his opponent's magic against them. His origin bullet forces the concept of 'cut and binds' onto their magic circuit, causing their magic circuit to break apart and then rebuild in a way that isn't quite right. Just like an electric circuit, even a small random change like that causes it not to function at all or to function irrationally. He needs them to be using their magic circuit at the time he's firing the bullet to cause this to happen.
Nen (HxH) is the best magic system for me, perfect internal logic and manifestation of the psychology of the characters
Agreed its very nice system
how does this not have more views
Thanks for that XD, enjoy the first comment PIN
@@CreoSolus i commented that halfway through when I looked at the view count. but seriously this is really high quality.
The magic system of Hunter X Hunter is one of my favourites as it has its limitations but seems infinite in its implementations, relying on the user's creativity and personality for how the magic (called nen) manifests. While a person is born with a specific affinity to one type of nen, they can still achieve proficiency in related types through hard work. I love the show so much.
Nen is pretty awesome ngl
The kido in bleach is a good form of structure limited by both knowledge and latent power. It also leaves an open end for the incredibly intelligent to create new kido. It’s a very defined structure but also leaves room for potential outliers that might seem abstract. That along with the zanpakuto seem like two separate forms of magic that can mesh well together.
Interesting, however im not very familiar with bleach.
Always nice to hear of new characters out there.
Honestly, my favorite hard magic system is from the Heralds of Valdemar series.
A lot of the magic system is how they get power, how they build shields, and how they bleed excess power. It makes mage duels genuinely interesting, and the psychic system is nearly as detailed as the magic system.
Different characters have different strengths and weaknesses, and occasionally one of them will impress you with their creativity.
Sounds fascinating, ill check it out.
Thank you.
Sympathetic crafting magic is a cool idea to me: sewing symbols into clothes to imbue those garmits with the properties represented by the symbol or material of the thread for instance, or Book Binding, the Grimoire can be used to cast spells because you have literally BOUND discrete phenomena between the pages of the book during it’s creation and with the right words you can open the book up and call them out again
That is truely awesome. Love this idea.
Nice video! Always excited to find a new worldbuilding project to follow.
It's pretty cliched at this point but I am a huge sucker for the "weave" analogy and I've woven (pun intended) it into my own story as well. The idea that reality is just a complex tapestry of energies that intertwine in specific ways just makes for such a clear visual analogy of what magic is. In my own world Lifeweavers have the ability to manipulate the weave of their own bodies, drawing energy from certain senses or abilities to bolster the strength of others.
XD nice one, sounds awesome best of luck with your world.
Hey man, nice video! I've 'just started' worldbuilding my own world (really these ideas have been bouncing around in my head for years and I'm just now getting them out.) Also trying out drawing for the first time. Baby steps. Anyways that is to say that I find videos like yours, of other people going through the process of making their own worlds for the first time really inspiring as there are so many pitfalls to find and avoid.
Thats awesome we've all got to start somewhere.
Best of luck for your future writing.
Wow, this is very inspiring! I have been working on world building a world for about a year where magic was one of my biggest deviances and focuses, yet this still helped give me beautiful ideas to make it more immersive
Glad to help. Good luck with your world and hopefully you'll create an awesome magic system.
@@CreoSolus Thank you, and I hope so too!
I like the magic system in Warhammer Fantasy. It's like a force of nature blowing from the north pole (different branches are called "Winds of Magic"), and it's unpredictable and dangerous to harness. If you try to cast a spell you need to be careful not to lose control, even if you're a skilled spellcaster. In the tabletop game when you're casting a spell your spellcaster could get a Miscast, which can range from: cast the spell with irressistible force; loses a level; loses a life; opens a portal and is dragged by a daemon into another dimension, exploding the wizard and everyone around them!!!
Indeed warhammer is awesome. Your pfp has got me in the mood to watch sinbad
A magic system I've been working on/off has 13 Attributes, 10 Aspects, 0-9 Tiers of Scaling, and the central Anchor for a Spell Circle that determines the overall function of a Skill/Spell.
The intent of the magic system is to allow the creation of a vast variety of customized spells for each Practitioner, but to also be as balanced as possible by making all forms of Magic follow the same exact rules set.
Sadly motivation is a weak point of mine, otherwise I'd be much further on.
Sounds complex but awesome. No Motivation is the enemy of us all XD.
I think that it really only depends on the story of the book. If you want to have a story about a character who gradually learns magic throught it, you go with Harry Potter-ish approach. But if you want magic only a lesser part of the world you'd go with the Tolkien-ish approach.
And personally, my favourite magic system comes from the nordic poemats(Voluspá, havámál, and so on). Magic there is only briefly explained and what is magic and what isn't, is up for your interpretation(also, there the word for 'magic' is 'wisdom' and word for 'wisdom' is 'wisdom', so often you don't know what is 'wisdom' and what's 'magic'). What I mean that you can consider Mimir's well magical, but it's not in the magic system more a part of the worldbuilding. The only magic we know was there is the 'Seidr', which was why Odin hung himself on the branches of Yggdrasil, to know seidr. So you can throw everything under seidr, but not everything is ever said to have a link to seidr. That's why I love it, it's for you to interpret.
Also, that's a great video! Keep it up!👍
Nice point of view. Thanks for the well written recommendation I'll have to check out their work some time.
Thank you.
For constructed magic and how it affects society there's The Wheel of Time series (the books by Robert Jordan): magic is done by channeling an extra dimensional source of magic power and by weaving the five elemental aspects of that power (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) to create various effects, it's not almighty and has a lot of limits.
For the society influence, that's the basis of the series: 3000 years before there was a cataclysm due to the fact that the male counterpart of magic was tainted by a god of destruction and all male channelers are destined to become more and more insane; before that cataclysm the society was like a futuristic society with magic everywhere.
For military use it's complicated: the female channelers refrain from using magic for military purpose first because they wanted to regain the trust of common people and after it almost became a tradition (but they still lacked thr trust).
But when the time comes to go to war: totally devastating and it's also used in conjunction with new technologies to gain tactical advantage.
There's no mana but normal fatigue: a mage becomes more and more tired the more magic (or more powerful magic) is used, then there are different level of power that are an innate charatersic of each person (and that allows to use more or less powerful magics).
Another example of magic for military purposes it's Raymond Feist books: do the exact opposite. 😂
It has the most moronic explanation I ever read for why mages aren't used in conflicts: "a mage uses a spell and the enemy mage uses a counterspell and responds, so the first mage uses a counterspell, too and so on, until the cavalry arrives and kills the mages" (seriously) and everyone accepted as the most insightful thing was ever said, no one realised that that explanation could be applied for basically EVERITHING in war but it deosn't prevent from not fighting only with fists.
I mean, it's not that we dont' use jets because there's anti-aircraft weapons and don't use tanks because there's anti-tank weapons: it's always a race on who is better at what to gain an edge (in non-asymmetric wars, at lest)...
I've wanted to pick up the wheel of time just haven't had the time. Thanks for taking the time to write a well presented recommendation.
Really Appreciate it.
Im really hoping to incorporate the military properly into my story.
I really enjoy the magic in the rune lords books. There is more traditional magic and wizards each with their own unique twist. the main magic that is explored is making runes that allow you to take an attribute from one person and give it to another. For instance you can gather the strength of 5 lumber jacks or farmers, the grace of 3 dancers, and the beauty of a model. One of the more interesting aspects of this is that the person you take from has to remain alive, if they die you loose their attribute.
Try fate
@@leonardozapeta2054 what kind of media is it?
I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation.
Whether Blue is better than Red depends on the circumstances and usage.
I would say the same for Hard vs Soft Magic, different stories and settings have different needs.
Blue is better then red (and vice versa) depending on the scenario. Just think of colour theory. If you want your yellow to pop you arent gonna use red. You use blue. The same can be said about magic systems. One isnt "inherently better" then the other, but it may be more suited for the world you are trying to build. And just like some people like blue more then red, some people like certain magic systems more then others
Well said. Totally agree with you.
Nah blue and red are terrible, green is objectively the best color.
@@bbodyboi was that the most creative colour you could come up with? Because green is not a creative colour
@@jismeraiverhoeven oh sorry I meant celadon lol
Thank you sir. You have helped me a great deal. I am your newest subscriber
Thank you, always happy to help.
@@CreoSolus I've written more than ever and my story and it's magic is developing so well. Bc of your advice to tie it to everything from day to day improvement to politics
A few books I've read recently with really amazing magic systems!
The Dead Take The A Train: The main character stiches spells into her skin and hurts herself to use magic, ripping muscles and fat out of her body for powerful spells
The UnWanteds: Component based magic that requires signs and words to cast spells
The Alchemist (Stories of Nicholas Flemmel): The energy in your body [nutrients and what not] are used for spells and fit into elemental archetypes
Renegades Trilogy: Prodigies have specific powers granted to them based off of life experiences
Thanks for the recommendations, The dead take the A train. Sounds amazing. Magic with brutal consequences. Sign me up.
"Not magic, air bending!"
-- Avatar Aang The Last Airbender
XD nice one
Good presentation of valuable information! Subscribed.
Thxs and Welcome aboard!
A couple ways I like to visualize mana is either a pearl white mass with oscillating colors, or if it's from the soul, mana could take on different colors and forms dependent on the user, the environment, the user's emotions, and how you're applying the mana, whether it be enhancement of an object or direct combat
Sounds majestic,
I like the designs of your characters, they look really cool. I like stories that use cosmic/space-like magic, so magic for Destiny or warframe.
Thank you, man destiny and warfare are awesome examples of fantastic world building.
Here’s my idea of a magic system:
To cast magic, an individual must precisely envision constantly shifting magic circles over the duration of the casting time. The only limiter is one’s mental capabilities and memory. Individuals will all have slightly different magic due to quirks of their minds’ eye.
Interesting
I read a series recently called “enchantress” and the magic system requires a special kind of ink (essence) and a knowledge of specific runes to create different kinds of effects, like one type of magic animates objects, where another allows a piece of armor to cloak the user. It is an incredibly strange and intriguing way to run a magic system.
To me, from this video, the meaning of magic is entangled with the nature of ' skill '. It can be either/ and/ or something you train (set rules, you can do innately (talent), or is given (inheritage)
Skill can have many sources, but recognizable end results / forms
Skill and form go together :)
Inspired off the quote: "Tolkien's LOTR and Silmarillion are prime examples of this, but man does it take TIME and SKILL to create your own believable mythology" - 8:31
Totally see your point. Agreed.
You've got to give people credit when it's well deserved.
0:54 even tho ridiculous, it can actually be a good logical exercise that can lead to what people find better, what "better" means, and how we categorize the attributes of whats better.
Indeed
Mana from the Larry Niven books and spell energy in Harry Potter. Both are Psychic powers that come from the spirit.
My whole book is about different magic systems kind of in one world, and personally I think building magic systems is amazing and important to a story, but it's also interesting how you could make different magic systems interact, and what exactly would happen when 2 users of different magics try to create a spell together.
I never thought of having 2 systems simultaneously. Thats got to be tricky to manage.
Best of luck with your story.
@@CreoSolus more of 10- but yeah-
I like that you mentioned star wars. The way it was with its soft magic sistem was more then perfect, unfortunatelly today force turned into downright devine magic and you can do whatever you want with it and if there are still limitations you go in a pocket dimension that allows you to change reality.
Yeah it's wack, they've gone completely off the rails with it.
The Force let you shoot lightning from your fingers and come back from the dead in the 80s, I'm not sure what limitations you thought there were?
'Ramus'... now i know what to name... something (I ain't telling) of my magic system. Arigato :3
No problem
this is amazing man i can totally see this blowing up in the future i just subscribed keep up the good work 👍
Really appreciate it. Will try to keep up the quality
I have a bunch of magic systems that I like: Alchemy from the Atelier Series, blastia from Tales of Vesperia, Materia from FF7, and the charms from Hollow Knight.
Why, yes, I do like external magic more than genetic magic.
Awesome references
Magus Supreme, Martial Unity, and Bro I'm Not An Undead are gems that have some of my favorite magic systems
Just with a name like that I've definitely got to check it out now.
Huge fan of liches and necromancers.
Thxs for the recommendation.
6:49 ngl this is the first time I’ve seen someone reference fgo/ the fate series in a world building video
Yeah it's not to widely seen or mentioned. A shame.
I realy enjoyed the game Outward, where no one is born with magic. Instead you have to travel to a leyline and offer up a part of life energi to gain mana =]
in my opinion, the powers system and world building of skyland is what comes the closest to subtle perfection
An absolute classic, for sure.
@@CreoSolus make a review video about it👀
I kinda like destiny 2 «magic». Especially after the last few dlc’s. We actually get a good explanation of how it works and what it is.
I loved destiny 2 but i haven't play any of the latest expansions.
I'm sure this is a bit too late for a suggestion, but in terms of detailed and unique magic systems, the way it is handled in "That Time That I Got Reincarnated As A Slime" I think is really unique, as the magic in the world is split between 2 main varieties, spirit magic which is more conceptual and less understood by the characters of the world, and then physical magic, which is learnable and relies on a more scientific approach, by learning how to manipulate a different type of 'molecule' unique to that world which is abundant in nature and naturally produced in some species. The Anime doesn't do the best job at detailing how the magic works, but there is a ton of detail put into it in the light novel series.
one of, if not the best magic system I have ever seen is from the light novel supreme magus, one of the most famous light novels. It is so incredibly interesting because to give you a quick run-down of what it is about: it is basically an isekai, but done in a really cool way. The main character Lith (his reincarnated name) is born into the world as a baby and finds out that magic exists in the world, but because he's from a poor family he knows absolutely nothing about magic and it's secrets. Even the books about magic are simply too expensive for him at the start. So he straight up has to discover everything on his own and experiment with different ideas. It is really comparable to mushoku tensei at the start. So if you liked the start of mushoku tensei you will love the start of this novel (first 72 chapters im pretty sure)
Also not even mentioning the amazing magic system, the characters are all really well-made (yurial the goat). Try reading the description of it, if it sounds interesting you can give it a go.
Interesting, I'll check it out. Thank you
I think frierens magic system is the one i like the most so far.
It just came closesest what i would create myself with a beautiful combination af hard and soft aspects.
But also the magic in the dresden files aswell as in the tabletop games from "world of darkness" are very intriguing to me
I think a balanced mix is a great way to go
My magic system is literally "Light and Shadows"
Everyone wields both types of magic, or just one, haven't decided yet
Shadows are the worst version of yourself, they follow you around and try to convince you to do things you don't wanna do
People who actively wield Shadow Magic are very much discriminated
The more you use Shadow Magic, the stronger your Shadow becomes and the more stuff it can do to take advantage of you
It don't have to be complicated!
Nice and neat
Have you seen The Magicians show or read the book trilogy? That one had a fascinating magic system built on the idea of subtle hand gestures manipulating the energy source almost like you are weaving a spell with your fingers. The concept took a step beyond when the first major villain grew himself extra fingers specifically to cast more complex spells usually inaccessible to humans.
The other magic system example I'd offer is that of Witch Hat Atelier. Currently only a manga, getting an anime next year. The biggest secret witches keep from others is that anyone can do it. There's a lot of limitations on what can be done that are all based on witch society laws, otherwise, in truth you could do seemingly anything. However casting a spell is an act of drawing. You draw magic circles, the symbols inside dictate information on the effect the circle has. You can even manipulate the size, length, direction and repetition of the symbols to manipulate their effect while the variant of magic ink you use can augment the effect. Because the secret of casting must be kept secret from regular humans, apprentices aren't allowed to cast in public until they are able to draw perfect circles without looking as witches hide the act of drawing behind the cloak they wear.
I have seen a bit of of it. As for witch hat everyone in the comments has recommended it so I've started reading it.
Thanks for taking the time to recommend some awesome content.
I appreciate the time and thought you put into you videos
Thank you. I appreciate the appreciation XD
I really like when the power source for magic is well defined and limited. Especially when it’s not just mana from the casters own body/soul. A great example of this is mistborn where people need access to purified metal to activate different magical effects.
It is truly a good book series
I really the art style and world dude. The art style simply made but I love it. I draw in a similar way. I love this world of yours. Keep going.
Thank you, for the motivational comment.
Good luck with your art.
Thanks for this video. It is interesting, extensive and informative for me.
Glad it was helpful!
I have put a LOT of thought into my world's magic systems. Currently I have 3 systems.
The most complex one is called heritage. It is a system where innate abilities are passed down from parents to children. But there are exceptions to the rules. It is a very soft magic system.
The second one is conduits and catalysts. In addition to heritage there exists background magic. While heritage is exact the background magic is broad. Through the use of conduits everyday people can use the background magic around them.
The newest system is called anchor. It is a hard magic system where a person or object cannot be destroyed so long as it has an anchor. These are not achievable by everyday means and usually exist for the gods and and the world. There exists 3 sets of world anchors and 1 set of god anchors.
Sounds awesome, balancing multiple systems can be difficult. Good luck.
If you haven't already, you should read some of Brandon Sanderson's series. He makes unique and interesting magic systems and I think his are some of the best
The Path of Ascension by C mantis, has a very good and defined magic system.
Thanks for the recommendation
Big fan of the magic in The Dresden Files books. the main character has a very slow power creep through the books, and 'strength' is akin to building a supernatural muscle, and the 'rules' are largely based on physics. tools and implements to make casting easier as well as group and loci casting.
Full metal Alchemist - hard magic system
Frieren beyond jorney's end - soft magic system
The absolute perfect representation.
Really amazing shows
Honestly with my most honest opinion my favorite interpretation of magic is the magic system from the manwha called infinite mage
Sadly I'm not familiar with it. I'll have to read it sometime.
I prefer soft magic systems where magic remains both mysterious and familiar. It’s not something to be studied like a school subject but rather a force that allows characters to subtly connect with the world around them. That said, I recognize that many people enjoy hard magic systems as well. I also believe that there isn’t a strict division between a Light Side and a Dark Side; there is only magic-like the Force-and those who seek to corrupt it. Dark magic, in my view, is akin to a cancer that must be eradicated, not balanced. Additionally, I believe that power levels aren’t the determining factor in magical conflicts; with the right strategies, anyone can overcome their rival or enemy, regardless of their magical affinity.
It is nice for keeping the fantasy element alive
Hey, a book I read some years ago had a great magic system and one, I would consider unique: "Das Geheimnis von Askier"
I don't know if it is available in English, but the titel means something along the lines of "The Mystery of Askier"
In this book you can separate the magic in three categories, there are the gifts from the gods, then the ability to use magic and lastly special abilities.
The gifts from the gods are special, because they will somewhat correspond to the kind of god, that will gift reward you for your believing, but these are also only "temporary". So they might gift you an item with special abilities, but then these are bound to the item and not the user, or they help to get out of a situation, but this is just this act or there is a ritual required and the god might not answer the ritual every time.
The Magic is a bit more interesting in my opinion, the ones that have the ability to use magic can manipulate energy. But not everyone can channel the same amount through himself, this is just an effect on how strong your ability to use magic is. Still this isn't all to the topic, because you need the energy, this means if you want to warm something up, you need to cool something down and because you need to link these two acts together you need exponentially more concentration for stronger magic, which limits the inherent strength of a magician. So they require training, or they wont be able to balance their magic, if not their spell will be fuelled by themselves and they will destroy themselves in something like a black hole, that just consumes till the cost for the spell is fulfilled. To aid the magicians there is something like the world river, it is an invisible flow of energy underground, from which you can get energy and the river will balance it through the whole world. (But to use it, you need to be in proximity of the river).
Another darker way of wilding magic is by consuming life energy. So magic can also be used by committing mass murder or for more advanced mages on this end of the spectrum by draining the life of their surrounding.
The last category are the abilities and technically magic falls also under it, but these abilities are stuff as necromancy, to consume souls and get all abilities and knowledge from the consumed. But mostly these are simpler things, as the ability to never miss the nail with a hammer, or to inherently understand what someone tells you even if they fail to communicate it properly. It may also just be something silly, like one character who forgot his shoes for a marching exercise or the sword for sword fighting training. These abilities range from handy stuff to somethings one might consider just a talent in an area.
I hope you find this insight interesting and I am happy to answer questions to the best of my abilities. :)
"There are no hard rules." Brandon Sanderson would like a word xD
XD
On the subject of creating a believable mythology I refer you to Edgar Rice Burroughs' _Gods of Mars_ and Richard Adams' _Watership Down_, both of which feature in-setting creation myths.
Thank you for the recommendations ill be sure to check them out.
Personally my favorite magic trope is the Science=Magic trope, where magic is a set of techniques learned about how to manipulate the environment in some specific way. In particular The Irregular at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei) comes to mind as doing this really well. Despite the characters offten being quite boring I found myself enthralled by the worldbuilding in the light novel as it goes into excessive detail of the impact of magic on society and politics.
Interesting, haven't seen it.
If you ask me the best magic systems are the ones that are both clear and concise and understandable with rules as to how they work but was interesting and underlying Mysteries that still come from how deep the abyss of the knowledge that can be learned from the magic system is and how that massive Gap in what is shown and what we know there is more to learn about the magic system being what is the true magic namely being knowing that there's so much more to learn but it's so incomprehensible because it doesn't necessarily make sense to our common human senses or inferences about how the world is supposed to work and to come across someone who has seen those depths and understood them is what makes them so amazing and more importantly both mystical and mysterious but also terrifying as you don't know what they know beyond what you could ever imagine.
Well said. Thank you for this great addition.
Rimworld has an amazing magic system. Extremely advanced AI called archotechs become so powerful they essentialy become machine gods, capable of manipulating the very laws of the universe. Some humans can use archotech devices to form a psylink where they can call upon the abilities of these archotechs to their advantage. Maybe a benevolent archotech will teleport some water to extinguish fire, wheras an angry archotech that wants to eliminate humanity will be happy to manipulate the minds of your enemies and drive them berserk.
please do check out danmachi's magic system too!! i just love how mythology is deeply incorporated in the world building
Will do
I think the metallic arts from mistborn are a really great magic system. The entire system revolves around a sort of “equivalent exchange” logic. Where the power “pushes” or “pulls” on something. Whether that be your physical or mental abilities, literally pushing on metal with your weight, or even pulling on time itself. Read mistborn 🙏
u need way more appreciation. love ur vids
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
My main thing about the magic i make for my stories is i try making it reflect some of the messages of the narrative they acompany as well as making types of magic ive rarely or haven never seen in any media before, i like when magic isnt just limited to being combat (nothing wrong with combat systems, I love em) and instead could be about other things, like a magic system around talking or seeing spirits and even communicating with them, magic focused on artificial life-forms (golems, homunculus, and my favorite concepct, where magic is actually a branch of cooking where you can cook food with all sorts of effects such as enhanced strenght, night vision, or even speelcasting only being acheivable by eating such magical foods.
You've got a really open minded approach to fantasy which is awesome.
I completely agree with magic being a connect part of the narrative.
Good luck with your future writing.
Lord of the Mysteries is doing quite a good job at it :
-otherwordly powers have a source.
-they are scaled correctly, with each "magic" pathway being capable (however, some are, to be fair, much better than other ones)
-they are limited, since the more potions you drink (and the higher sequence of "magic" you go) the more you're exposed to madness, but also (spoilers !!!!)the more likely you will encounter other people of the same pathway, and because ingredients (espacially at higher sequences) are very limited and often involves killing people, it's very dangerous. Also (spoiler) you can be influenced by the "god" (sequence 0) at the top of you pathway.
-they are all very different, (spoiler) even if some are adjacent (you can switch between pathways) and carry related powers, you can really see that it's quite rich : some are focusing on mind powers, others are skilled in instigation and seducing, while some at getting pregn... planting crops ofc :)
-a lot of other things make LOTM cool ---> read it ! :)
Thats for the recommendation and brief introduction to it
Nice considerations!
Thank you.
There's this game I love and I think it might interest you, Outward has magic systems and lore that I really like. While not quiet being completely thought through, they add a lot to the world answering some and creating more questions, the understanding of this or that thing and the theories I and other people come up with about stuff is pretty fun to discuss, game's got an official discord with devs keeping in touch and joining the discussion now and then.
But anyway, I really like the different things and the way they clashed in the past and what current state of the world is creates some good intrigue of what will be going on later in this world ) Also game's music is great!
Sounds cool thanks for recommendation it, plus im a sucker for a good soundtrack.
I love the designs and ideas of your magic system! you should look at an anime called the ancient magnus bride as well as a light novel called Grimgar. Both I feel could give you some inspiration. keep up the good work!!
I've watched it, i really enjoyed the first season.
Thank you for the recommendations I'll check grimgar out.
Hey I'm just passing by but I saw that you used clips from other shows such as overlord and would like it if you put them somewhere in the description. And good luck on the world building ❤
Thanks for the suggestion, I should probably have done a bit more detailed description instead of just adding the main shows.
Great Video!
Thank you
I have an idea for a kind of magepunk style world, with extremely high magic which is very accessible (low floor high ceiling) but I’m struggling with how much the reader needs to understand about the magic system. Obviously I’ll know how everything works, but I think the hyper-stylization punk brings to a world will allow for a crazy fun and cool system.
Getting that balance right is tricky
Nice
Thanks
Nen is my fav magic/power system.
HxH has some crazy cool power systems
So two related things worth considering is how many magical abilities does any given practitioner posses and what are ranges of what any one power can do? For instance in something like DnD a wizard might know a hundred or more spells but each of those spells does one very specific thing with power being the only varying factor (either caster level or using higher level spell slots depending on the edition), now take a sorcerer who might only have twenty toe thirty spells but would have a greater range on exactly what each one could do. Alternatively if you look at a lot of the Xanxia/Xanxia adjacent/LitRPG, you can see full practitioners with as few as 2 very flexible powers up to something like 25 powers being actually useful in combat with some more being of use in some very niche situations. I would put something like FMA very clearly at one corner of this with everyone technically only having one incredibly flexible power, with something DnD on the other end where there are hundreds of incredibly rigid spells to choose from.
Good point, seeing it like a skill tree. Comparing branching out or maxing out a specific set of skiils
@@CreoSolus not exactly you also have thing's like say x-men where everyone has one power, and while it may get slightly stronger through training and they can certainly learn to use it in slightly different ways the power it's self does one thing. You can also have bunches of powers and have them all be super flexible with training but that get's much much harder to make interesting because then anyone can do anything wheeeee! which makes it both for bad games and hard to make interesting in fiction most of the time. Though having that DnD wizard but going with one of the current sub-classes (scribe's wizard) to let them specifically modify the spell's damage type comes close to that by giving them a narrow way in which they can modify any of there plethora of abilities.
I saw u sneak Nifty in the intro
Yip
I have a few personal Loves with magic. My biggest one is with the separation of magic from self, something me and my group refer to as Artifice. The user is about as inert as a rock, but with careful and methodical tool use, The limits are only the gear and the user's knowledge how to use it effectively. In short it is a more fantastical analog to Electricity in this state. Runestones charged with magic, invoked together to cause magic, A wand hooked up to a backpack filled with liquid mana to create a flamethrower, Using your skills create Miniture Automatons to help you with your tasks. Truely the sky is the limit
the runner up for me is Voice. Eragon or Skyrim for example, Words that uttering cause real things to happen. Eragon overshot this magic and it felt DBZ ish at one point, Skyrim undershot it with its mechanics,
The last category Is more of a personal one. What if wizards all had a Different UI for how they interacted with magic? Say for example, Mozart, What if he interacted with magic through music? He could see the strands of power in the form of Notes and by creating such grand scripts of music He could cast spells that last forever. The tragedy is then revealed that those that witnessed the magic only experienced half of it. They only heard the music, they did not see Play invoked by the sound. Those sensitive enough may catch glimpses of his intent in their minds, but not to the degree he wanted. His work would be remembered forever, even if the full extent of the spell was lost.
That is just off the top of my head but it is my jam
These are some really nice points, thank you for the insightful comment
idk, my favorite magic system would be something like Black Clover, even if I'm not the biggest fan of the franchise. What I like about it is that everyone gets predetermined mana reserves, that are used to cast magic (they probably refill after the character rests for a while) and their magic control (even if you know the strongest spells and have vast amount of mana, your magic can fail/miss the target). The part that I like the most is growth, character can learn new spells (they are limited to their attribute) and improve their already existing ones by increasing power output and control itself. There are also some character that have abilities that bend the rules (like anti-magic or time-space slash), which I find really cool, but I don't really like the delivery and power scaling of said characters, but it's not a big minus for me.
Bleach's system I also find pretty cool. Even if you have instant-death ability, it wouldn't work on an enemy that has more spiritual pressure (read: power level) than you (I'm pretty sure this only works if difference in power is very big, not if you are close in terms of spiritual power). I'm not really fan of weak character with niche abilities, so this aspects takes them out of the picture when fighting a major villain.
I haven't had the chance to watch it unfortunately