The magic system in my book (I'm about to self-publish my first one) is based on how people treat non-magic skills. For example, when someone says "I wish I could draw / play basketball / do hard maths", they mean they wish those skills came naturally to them but they're implying those skills are impossible unless you were born with that talent. In my book's world, people think only those with specific faerie ancestry can do certain types of magic (eg. dryads can only do earth magic). However, it turns out magic isn't limited to bloodlines - it just requires a lot more effort for some than others.
Although it's not a fantasy setting, the scale and complexity of genetic engineering and medical breakthroughs within my sci fi world building project has effectively become a magic system in itself. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic after all aheh. I bring this up because I find that the different professions within this new, enormous medical industry are starting to form into their own soft and hard magic systems. Res Techs for example are very similar to your necromancers! People tasked with rebuilding limbs and organs from dead material, and their unique skills are becoming more and more of a commodity as populations grow, the colonial galaxy expands, and their talents come at a higher and higher premium. Not to mention, the most acclaimed Res-Techs ARE necromancers effectively, being able to perform what's known as a "full-body resuscitation," bringing someone back from the dead, at least in a way. But there's a catch. It's a stated fact that neural pathways are not fully understood, and can only be copied and not altered. Because of this, you will eventually experience full cognitive decay as you reach your peak mental age, resulting in a hard limit to people's life spans. You can clone and rebuild yourself a young body for decades, but after a little over a century, your mind will simply deteriorate, leaving a healthy body behind with no neural activity. Wham! A hard limit has appeared within their medical "magic" system!
Thanks for this and your previous videos. I meant to comment on the last couple videos, but life has been a bit chaotic since Helene, and I find my ability to focus ebbs and flows in unpredictable ways. I really like the approach you lay out here - it's an organic way to develop a unique magical system that taps into one's interests without the pressure or rigidity of a checklist. I have studied and worked primarily in the historical and psychological fields, so my magical system evolved from those two interests. I wove together elements from Jungian dream work, the Renaissance, and symbolism in fairytales. Books like Clarissa Pinkola Estes's Women Who Run with the Wolves have influenced me greatly. My magic wielders are psychics, some of whom later transform into various were-creatures. I love the spiritual symbolism of medial creatures like mermaids who can travel between various layers of reality/consciousness. In my first book, the government and religion had repressed the psychics for centuries by holding trials, witch burnings, etc, so the characters fear their own and others' magical gifts and don't understand their history because of propaganda. As the series unfolds, the characters learn more about the magical system as the reader does, and an ongoing debate starts between the more scientifically-minded and the more spiritually-inclined regarding the history of the psychics and their role in the future. The early modern period in European history fascinates me because of the growing tension between religion and science and the resultant rapid development in the arts, the sciences, religion, and politics. This debate never fully resolves in my books, as it turns out both the science and the spirituality are revealing the same core truths, just from different directions.
In my WIP there are three races and each one derives their powers from the sun, the moon, or the stars. The sun magic is more soft because it involves connecting with nature, whereas the stars is harder because it requires group casting. Moon magic is more of a science like the potion makers you described because their power is a reflection of the other two races, and its effectiveness is influenced by the phases of the moon. They have to find ways to keep their magic stable by storing it up.
on limitations of magic systems. i keep track of what would obviously break my serial stories and make sure not to add that stuff in later. rather than a super hard checklist of what it can and cant do, i just go with a list of what it absolutely cannot be expanded to add later because it breaks what i'm doing with it now. it results in magic systems that are somewhat soft but feel like they have a sense of cohesion under the surface.
this is gonna sound weird but: i love the clutter shots, because it makes me feel normal😌 i'm always surrounded by tack or cow meds or boxes of something lol
I loved your thumbnail and it made me click. (Im subscribed anyway but i'm more of a watch later person than a watch now person). I feel so exhausted trying to nail a magic system down. This really helped me and gave me permission to kind of scale down my focus, think more about how i can use magic to help me explore a theme rather than becoming a slave to making it work completely logically. It was great to hear you talk about using an emotional not a rational logic to make a story work if you absolutely have to (even if we all would prefer both to be in play!) My setting is a British Isles ripoff, except magics from a fey dimension 'invaded' 400 years ago, covered the main island in magic and almost everyone evacuated. Kind of like a mini apocalypse. It couldnt get further than the main island because it is surrounded by salt water. 50 years ago, the magic seemed to be withdrawing so people whose families hadn't been able to succeed after they escaped came back to their homeland and resettled old villages and towns in dribs and drabs. Human magic is a result of contact with fey magic, kind of like an allergic reaction that changed their dna permanently, so it's very new, only as old as the invasion. And it only activates near a fey source so it's useless outside of this one location. Most of it is spent on trying to survive, fight remaining fey, and place general protections and wards in place. So most innovation hasnt happened outside of these contexts and the use of it is not very systematised. But some people are trying to take advantage of the errant winds of fey magic that are still wafting the lands. I'm still figuring it out but i'm trying to put as many limits on it as possible so it doesnt take over! I find that introducing magic really creates the problem in worldbuilding where if a character finds a way to use magic innovatively, my first question is "why didn't someone else think of this before?" Part of my issue as well is I like the idea of magic but it's always an afterthought to my story. I never worldbuild it until i have to and then i find i have gone and written myself into a corner because there are either problems that can be solved with magic i didnt previously worldbuild, or the new worldbuilding ends up logically going in a direction that doesnt work with the existing story. I've never finished anything featuring magic in it as a result. So i am now trying to plot more rather than pants it!
When I’m writing magic in my books, I try to keep a few things in mind that serve as a sort of checks and balances to keep things from getting out of hand. 1: Magic has to have a cost. This could be an individual cost, a societal cost, an environmental cost, etc. This prevents me from writing an individual who uses magic as a go-to to solve every problem or easily conquer every conflict or obstacle. 2: Magic shouldn’t be the first/only solution. This helps me to keep from using magic as an easy way out if I write myself into a corner. More importantly it makes me think about whether magic is the best solution or just the easiest. It also pushes me to come up with situations where magic users might choose alternates to help me develop them as a character and show growth in other areas. 3: Magic should never be the defining characteristic of a character in my stories. It’s easy to have fun and be excited to write about magic, but that can’t be all there is to a character. Usually I come up with characters, their strengths and weaknesses and flaws, and then place them in a societal role so the magic must sort of adjust to them as an individual rather that start with the magic and build a character around that.
working on my magic system has been so convoluted for me. it's, i suppose, soft? it's essentially "philosophical understanding and attunement with the universe allows you to will miracles into existence?" like the spiritual idea of manifestation, but with a heavy focus on understanding and introspection and one's inner peace and beliefs? some people will be more, i guess for lack of better words, intellectually inclined and thus be more skilled at magic, but there was also this physical limitation that i'd put on my characters that make it to where you can be physically torn asunder from creating miracles if your body isn't ready for it. some can be very smart but be cursed to not do magic because it would kill them, others are left with little options due to other combos of factors. some races have no physical limits (but also lack any reason to use their power most of the time), whereas other races have no magical ability at all. i also had this magic system being cooked up based on the dichotomy between Order and Change, and i really wanna iron that out. it had a lot to do with how i imagine the world would be affected. like, construction being achieved through a cooperation of Order and Change mages because of moving bricks and keeping them in place thereafter? but division in society leading to the collapse because things either rot or fall apart with no balance.
In my current project there is no magic. There is something that one would call magic-like - some characters have deeper understanding of reality which gives them abilities that are outside of current (early XXI century) technologic level. Those who don't have this understanding are almost hopeless in cosmic horror situation that they got into. Survival is hard, but not impossible. "Window, bedside table and the bed. Not cozy at all - hard to live. But cozy to die." Yet those who know more have their own problems, because in this time travel story there is no time to lose. Have a nice day.
In my fantasy story, the world isn't industrialized, but there is mass scale production of materials like wands, potions, and other items which smaller businesses have to compete with. The reason for this is that these large companies can produce and sell large batches of potions as they can easily obtain the materials. Some ingredients or resources might be hard to come by. Because of this, individuals and local shops use native ingredients or experiment with recipes. Potions from a brand often use cheap ingredients but they're consistent (potency, duration, effects, etc). I like the idea of better options existing, but since they're just not easy to produce, the big companies favor efficiency and cost over perfection. Usually, the rarest materials make the best potion or wand ingredients, but they are too rare to use in large scale production. All potions have a shelf-life which can vary based on how they're brewed. Self-made potions are hard to predict since there's room for variation or error. Brand potions are almost guaranteed to last the given amount of time. As for wands, it's common for a mage to "burn" through their wand and have to replace it. Again, these can be self-made or store bought. There are also knock off brands.
An important distinction, IMO, is that the difference between a Hard Magic system and a Soft Magic system is the understanding of how it works from the audience's perspective. The more your audience knows the rules, and can therefore predict what would happen in a given scenario if the magic were used, the harder your magic is, and vice versa. Some parts of your magic system can be harder or softer than others (Ex: Gandalf (soft) versus the One Ring (hard)), depending on how well you've explained the rules thus far in your narrative. All stories, therefore, start with completely Soft Magic, which gets harder to some extent over the course of the story.
I have a magic system that is relatively hard. Spells have basically the same result regardless of how they're cast, with little variation, and more specific spells are more complex to cast. You usually have to grind reagents into an ink and write out specific runes to prepare a spell, which is limited by the runes themselves as well as your competence with the runes used. Practicing a spell a lot by using those specific runes a lot or repeating the spell makes it easier to cast with less reagents, but at the cost of your own life energy. If you over draw from your energy the spell with kill you while trying to cast itself. Then my main two characters completely ignore that system. One has random chaotic abilities that she can't control, but she eventually develops incredibly strong fire magic that doesn't follow the rules of regular fire spells. The other uses intuition and a greater understanding of the innate properties of materials to make objects and cast spells directly without practice. Everyone around them is either annoyed by their abilities or fascinated. I find the concept funny of writing a hard magic system and then not focusing on it.
Unexpected video! Interesting! In reading, I like all sorts of magical systems and don't mind as long as they seem to fit and make sense in-world. But, in writing, I do prefer some rules. Something like LOTR would be too loose. Even Harry Potter is a bit flimsy, but not noticeable to me enough when reading.
I had a Story were one of my protagonists was a rare Archmage, which means she could use magic with her will alone without paraphernalia or spells. But since their Society had a Spot of trouble 200 years ago with an Archmage who used blood magic and an ancient religion with human sacrifice to ursurp the throne she is as feared and mistrusted as she is respected. She takes care to never use wild magic, has to be stricter than everyone else in her rituals and has even to be mindful not to wish or desire too much - since every wish could turn into a spell.
Before we lived only a few houses down from the post office, I always had USPS pick up our eBay packages-do they not do that anymore? As I recall it was a free service and was scheduled within the eBay label system. I’m not actively selling at the moment, so I could be wrong, but I know how time consuming those PO trips can get! Settling in to watch the rest of the video now!
Technically you could but the problems with that are: we're close to first on the route so his car usually is full to the absolute brim. (Rural routes, so no mail trucks, just lil' ancient Subarus out here...) And I'm usually not even awake. So I would have to change my entire schedule to get stuff out there before he arrives. But then he wouldn't be able to fit the packages in his car. So it would probably force him to swing back later when his car has more room. And ALL the carriers are now making multiple trips some days, 30 minutes away to get all the packages delivered. So I'm not gonna do that to my poor mail guy.
Hey, Lidiya! I just published my book and got my first review and...it was bad. The girl gave it 2 stars. I was searching for a motivational video from you. Would you happen to remember a video where you touch in this subject? Thank you! (I mean, I get her critics, I didn't get the girl together with the first guy, but It's because I was going to reunite them in the second book... Anyway. And it's an adult book, and he kinda cheats on her, but it has a reason...The girl did not enjoy those aspects of the book. )
It's a bit strange that necromancers are doing organ replacements, not potion makers. If they made doll people, they could probably come up with some kind of limb prosthetics. On the other hand, it could be a question of price
You have some very interesting ideas, but seem to be uninformed about magick. Look into the actual practices of people before you warp them to fit your story. All forms of magick have been practiced in the real world, so when making a new system you have to carefully take this into account. If you want to fundamentally change how it works, you have to know how it's fundamentals work. Otherwise, it's only a crude imitation. Magick is intricately intertwined with humanity, as spirituality is within our nature.
"So I can keep coming up with ways for people to be hot weirdos" has got to be the shared secret reason why all of us write fantasy
The magic system in my book (I'm about to self-publish my first one) is based on how people treat non-magic skills. For example, when someone says "I wish I could draw / play basketball / do hard maths", they mean they wish those skills came naturally to them but they're implying those skills are impossible unless you were born with that talent. In my book's world, people think only those with specific faerie ancestry can do certain types of magic (eg. dryads can only do earth magic). However, it turns out magic isn't limited to bloodlines - it just requires a lot more effort for some than others.
Although it's not a fantasy setting, the scale and complexity of genetic engineering and medical breakthroughs within my sci fi world building project has effectively become a magic system in itself. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic after all aheh. I bring this up because I find that the different professions within this new, enormous medical industry are starting to form into their own soft and hard magic systems. Res Techs for example are very similar to your necromancers! People tasked with rebuilding limbs and organs from dead material, and their unique skills are becoming more and more of a commodity as populations grow, the colonial galaxy expands, and their talents come at a higher and higher premium. Not to mention, the most acclaimed Res-Techs ARE necromancers effectively, being able to perform what's known as a "full-body resuscitation," bringing someone back from the dead, at least in a way. But there's a catch. It's a stated fact that neural pathways are not fully understood, and can only be copied and not altered. Because of this, you will eventually experience full cognitive decay as you reach your peak mental age, resulting in a hard limit to people's life spans. You can clone and rebuild yourself a young body for decades, but after a little over a century, your mind will simply deteriorate, leaving a healthy body behind with no neural activity. Wham! A hard limit has appeared within their medical "magic" system!
That's really cool!
Thanks for this and your previous videos. I meant to comment on the last couple videos, but life has been a bit chaotic since Helene, and I find my ability to focus ebbs and flows in unpredictable ways. I really like the approach you lay out here - it's an organic way to develop a unique magical system that taps into one's interests without the pressure or rigidity of a checklist.
I have studied and worked primarily in the historical and psychological fields, so my magical system evolved from those two interests. I wove together elements from Jungian dream work, the Renaissance, and symbolism in fairytales. Books like Clarissa Pinkola Estes's Women Who Run with the Wolves have influenced me greatly. My magic wielders are psychics, some of whom later transform into various were-creatures. I love the spiritual symbolism of medial creatures like mermaids who can travel between various layers of reality/consciousness. In my first book, the government and religion had repressed the psychics for centuries by holding trials, witch burnings, etc, so the characters fear their own and others' magical gifts and don't understand their history because of propaganda. As the series unfolds, the characters learn more about the magical system as the reader does, and an ongoing debate starts between the more scientifically-minded and the more spiritually-inclined regarding the history of the psychics and their role in the future. The early modern period in European history fascinates me because of the growing tension between religion and science and the resultant rapid development in the arts, the sciences, religion, and politics. This debate never fully resolves in my books, as it turns out both the science and the spirituality are revealing the same core truths, just from different directions.
In my WIP there are three races and each one derives their powers from the sun, the moon, or the stars. The sun magic is more soft because it involves connecting with nature, whereas the stars is harder because it requires group casting. Moon magic is more of a science like the potion makers you described because their power is a reflection of the other two races, and its effectiveness is influenced by the phases of the moon. They have to find ways to keep their magic stable by storing it up.
on limitations of magic systems. i keep track of what would obviously break my serial stories and make sure not to add that stuff in later. rather than a super hard checklist of what it can and cant do, i just go with a list of what it absolutely cannot be expanded to add later because it breaks what i'm doing with it now. it results in magic systems that are somewhat soft but feel like they have a sense of cohesion under the surface.
this is gonna sound weird but: i love the clutter shots, because it makes me feel normal😌
i'm always surrounded by tack or cow meds or boxes of something lol
I loved your thumbnail and it made me click. (Im subscribed anyway but i'm more of a watch later person than a watch now person). I feel so exhausted trying to nail a magic system down.
This really helped me and gave me permission to kind of scale down my focus, think more about how i can use magic to help me explore a theme rather than becoming a slave to making it work completely logically. It was great to hear you talk about using an emotional not a rational logic to make a story work if you absolutely have to (even if we all would prefer both to be in play!)
My setting is a British Isles ripoff, except magics from a fey dimension 'invaded' 400 years ago, covered the main island in magic and almost everyone evacuated. Kind of like a mini apocalypse. It couldnt get further than the main island because it is surrounded by salt water.
50 years ago, the magic seemed to be withdrawing so people whose families hadn't been able to succeed after they escaped came back to their homeland and resettled old villages and towns in dribs and drabs.
Human magic is a result of contact with fey magic, kind of like an allergic reaction that changed their dna permanently, so it's very new, only as old as the invasion. And it only activates near a fey source so it's useless outside of this one location. Most of it is spent on trying to survive, fight remaining fey, and place general protections and wards in place. So most innovation hasnt happened outside of these contexts and the use of it is not very systematised. But some people are trying to take advantage of the errant winds of fey magic that are still wafting the lands. I'm still figuring it out but i'm trying to put as many limits on it as possible so it doesnt take over!
I find that introducing magic really creates the problem in worldbuilding where if a character finds a way to use magic innovatively, my first question is "why didn't someone else think of this before?"
Part of my issue as well is I like the idea of magic but it's always an afterthought to my story. I never worldbuild it until i have to and then i find i have gone and written myself into a corner because there are either problems that can be solved with magic i didnt previously worldbuild, or the new worldbuilding ends up logically going in a direction that doesnt work with the existing story.
I've never finished anything featuring magic in it as a result. So i am now trying to plot more rather than pants it!
I found this really helpful, thank you so much for sharing your process!
When I’m writing magic in my books, I try to keep a few things in mind that serve as a sort of checks and balances to keep things from getting out of hand.
1: Magic has to have a cost. This could be an individual cost, a societal cost, an environmental cost, etc. This prevents me from writing an individual who uses magic as a go-to to solve every problem or easily conquer every conflict or obstacle.
2: Magic shouldn’t be the first/only solution. This helps me to keep from using magic as an easy way out if I write myself into a corner. More importantly it makes me think about whether magic is the best solution or just the easiest. It also pushes me to come up with situations where magic users might choose alternates to help me develop them as a character and show growth in other areas.
3: Magic should never be the defining characteristic of a character in my stories. It’s easy to have fun and be excited to write about magic, but that can’t be all there is to a character. Usually I come up with characters, their strengths and weaknesses and flaws, and then place them in a societal role so the magic must sort of adjust to them as an individual rather that start with the magic and build a character around that.
Your cat's playing is so cute!
I have to make a technology system, actually, so this sociology angle really helps me ponder
working on my magic system has been so convoluted for me. it's, i suppose, soft? it's essentially "philosophical understanding and attunement with the universe allows you to will miracles into existence?" like the spiritual idea of manifestation, but with a heavy focus on understanding and introspection and one's inner peace and beliefs? some people will be more, i guess for lack of better words, intellectually inclined and thus be more skilled at magic, but there was also this physical limitation that i'd put on my characters that make it to where you can be physically torn asunder from creating miracles if your body isn't ready for it. some can be very smart but be cursed to not do magic because it would kill them, others are left with little options due to other combos of factors. some races have no physical limits (but also lack any reason to use their power most of the time), whereas other races have no magical ability at all.
i also had this magic system being cooked up based on the dichotomy between Order and Change, and i really wanna iron that out. it had a lot to do with how i imagine the world would be affected. like, construction being achieved through a cooperation of Order and Change mages because of moving bricks and keeping them in place thereafter? but division in society leading to the collapse because things either rot or fall apart with no balance.
In my current project there is no magic. There is something that one would call magic-like - some characters have deeper understanding of reality which gives them abilities that are outside of current (early XXI century) technologic level. Those who don't have this understanding are almost hopeless in cosmic horror situation that they got into. Survival is hard, but not impossible. "Window, bedside table and the bed. Not cozy at all - hard to live. But cozy to die." Yet those who know more have their own problems, because in this time travel story there is no time to lose.
Have a nice day.
In my fantasy story, the world isn't industrialized, but there is mass scale production of materials like wands, potions, and other items which smaller businesses have to compete with. The reason for this is that these large companies can produce and sell large batches of potions as they can easily obtain the materials. Some ingredients or resources might be hard to come by. Because of this, individuals and local shops use native ingredients or experiment with recipes. Potions from a brand often use cheap ingredients but they're consistent (potency, duration, effects, etc). I like the idea of better options existing, but since they're just not easy to produce, the big companies favor efficiency and cost over perfection. Usually, the rarest materials make the best potion or wand ingredients, but they are too rare to use in large scale production.
All potions have a shelf-life which can vary based on how they're brewed. Self-made potions are hard to predict since there's room for variation or error. Brand potions are almost guaranteed to last the given amount of time. As for wands, it's common for a mage to "burn" through their wand and have to replace it. Again, these can be self-made or store bought. There are also knock off brands.
An important distinction, IMO, is that the difference between a Hard Magic system and a Soft Magic system is the understanding of how it works from the audience's perspective. The more your audience knows the rules, and can therefore predict what would happen in a given scenario if the magic were used, the harder your magic is, and vice versa. Some parts of your magic system can be harder or softer than others (Ex: Gandalf (soft) versus the One Ring (hard)), depending on how well you've explained the rules thus far in your narrative. All stories, therefore, start with completely Soft Magic, which gets harder to some extent over the course of the story.
I have a magic system that is relatively hard. Spells have basically the same result regardless of how they're cast, with little variation, and more specific spells are more complex to cast. You usually have to grind reagents into an ink and write out specific runes to prepare a spell, which is limited by the runes themselves as well as your competence with the runes used. Practicing a spell a lot by using those specific runes a lot or repeating the spell makes it easier to cast with less reagents, but at the cost of your own life energy. If you over draw from your energy the spell with kill you while trying to cast itself.
Then my main two characters completely ignore that system. One has random chaotic abilities that she can't control, but she eventually develops incredibly strong fire magic that doesn't follow the rules of regular fire spells. The other uses intuition and a greater understanding of the innate properties of materials to make objects and cast spells directly without practice.
Everyone around them is either annoyed by their abilities or fascinated. I find the concept funny of writing a hard magic system and then not focusing on it.
Unexpected video! Interesting! In reading, I like all sorts of magical systems and don't mind as long as they seem to fit and make sense in-world. But, in writing, I do prefer some rules. Something like LOTR would be too loose. Even Harry Potter is a bit flimsy, but not noticeable to me enough when reading.
13K subscribers!! nice milestone! :)
My writing is more mystical than magical but this still gives me meat to chew on. Thanks.
I had a Story were one of my protagonists was a rare Archmage, which means she could use magic with her will alone without paraphernalia or spells. But since their Society had a Spot of trouble 200 years ago with an Archmage who used blood magic and an ancient religion with human sacrifice to ursurp the throne she is as feared and mistrusted as she is respected. She takes care to never use wild magic, has to be stricter than everyone else in her rituals and has even to be mindful not to wish or desire too much - since every wish could turn into a spell.
So yeah, the fear of corruption wasn't just in her but in everyone around her too
Before we lived only a few houses down from the post office, I always had USPS pick up our eBay packages-do they not do that anymore? As I recall it was a free service and was scheduled within the eBay label system. I’m not actively selling at the moment, so I could be wrong, but I know how time consuming those PO trips can get! Settling in to watch the rest of the video now!
Technically you could but the problems with that are: we're close to first on the route so his car usually is full to the absolute brim. (Rural routes, so no mail trucks, just lil' ancient Subarus out here...) And I'm usually not even awake. So I would have to change my entire schedule to get stuff out there before he arrives. But then he wouldn't be able to fit the packages in his car. So it would probably force him to swing back later when his car has more room. And ALL the carriers are now making multiple trips some days, 30 minutes away to get all the packages delivered. So I'm not gonna do that to my poor mail guy.
Lord of the rings eagles !!! As far as scalable magics go haha
Hey, Lidiya! I just published my book and got my first review and...it was bad. The girl gave it 2 stars. I was searching for a motivational video from you. Would you happen to remember a video where you touch in this subject? Thank you!
(I mean, I get her critics, I didn't get the girl together with the first guy, but It's because I was going to reunite them in the second book... Anyway. And it's an adult book, and he kinda cheats on her, but it has a reason...The girl did not enjoy those aspects of the book. )
That is a very good topic for a future video and I have had this happen to me more than once...
It's a bit strange that necromancers are doing organ replacements, not potion makers. If they made doll people, they could probably come up with some kind of limb prosthetics. On the other hand, it could be a question of price
Kind of poking at one built around numerology and this overall idea of music and harmony of the spheres so to speak.
Very Pythagorean! I'd like to see that 😀
You have some very interesting ideas, but seem to be uninformed about magick. Look into the actual practices of people before you warp them to fit your story. All forms of magick have been practiced in the real world, so when making a new system you have to carefully take this into account. If you want to fundamentally change how it works, you have to know how it's fundamentals work. Otherwise, it's only a crude imitation. Magick is intricately intertwined with humanity, as spirituality is within our nature.