What is the goal of your magic system? A brief description of said system would be nice too.

[J_Chemist]

I made my system by combining a bunch I've already seen and by going by what I naturally feel makes sense. I have a few rules I keep to but in general, there are no limitations on what's possible. As long as it can be explained in a reasonable manner, it works and I add it to the magidex.

Though there have been a handful of comments from readers trying to make some sense of the random bullshit I put together and I laugh because there's no sense to it at all. I write what makes sense to me, what I feel is correct, and send it. While magic is integral to my MC's growth and his capabilities as a Battle Mage in the future, it's not the magic that's the focus. It's his growth and how he overcomes the challenges of that growth that is the highlight of my writing. My explanations of the magic are secondary to that. Readers who fail to notice that always bring me a chuckle.

 

[AliceShiki]

I am always really loose with magic, because my stories don't have any reason for having a deep and complex magic system.

My system is always like... "You can do basically anything you want with magic, but it consumes mana to cast spells."

Maybe I can say some people can only use specific types of magic, or you need a magical affinity to be able to use spells at all or whatever, but the base concept is always really simple.

Fundamentally speaking, magic is just a part of my narrative as like, a plot device or something? Some people can use magic, they use magic to do things that the plot demands... That's it.

Of course, if your story wants to dive more deeply into the intricacies of magic, or is going to have people deeply study magic, or do magic confrontations or whatever, then you might need a more complex system.

Me? I don't need any of that. I write my slice of life and the intricacies of magic are as relevant to the plot as the intricacies of sword-fighting (as in, they aren't).

 

[Jemini]

The top-down approach of my magic system is as follows.

At the top-most level of it, it's a system which explains the multiverse as all being made up of 3 base forms of energy. Matter energy, mind energy, and life energy. These 3 base forms of energy go by many names, in the primary world my story takes place in they are matter, spirit energy, and mana. (The latter is all that is told to the reader in-story.)

Matter, of course, is the physical substance of the world. Spirit energy is used for the cultivation system of the world setting, and mana is used for spellcraft.

Mana is further sub-divided into many different types of elemental mana. That is where we get into a lot of minutia that would take way too long to explain here in this brief summary.

Spirit energy also has many applications aside from just it's use in the cultivation system. As mentioned at the top level, it's the energy of thought. As such, it causes several powerful effects. One which struck a chord with me that I really wanted to include in this story is the idea of a concept avatar. That is to say, a person can become the avatar who represents a concept, such as embodying the outrage felt by the people in some form of revolution. It was our current political environment in the world that gave me this idea. The idea is that a concept avatar's power would increase both the better they embody a concept and the more people who back that concept and see them as a representative of that concept. This, of course, when applied to a cultivation world also makes this a path to godhood.

So, that's the idea. The system is simple at it's core, but there are many aspects of it that can be expanded upon almost infinitely and many ways these base concepts can be applied.

 

[Notadate]

Soul bullshit = magic bullshit.

I have the whole document saved somewhere
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I found it.
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My system is based of the two major foundations that can create a soul. Will, and Matterless-mind, these are the most prominent to bring forth a soul, and then consciousness.



My magic uses mana, slightly different, but around the same concept. Mana by it’s self is empty, hallow, only able to copy, imitate, and mimic the world. It can also be transform into other forms of energies. It’s just a tool for mages to make magic. (Im not going into its deep lore or anything… yet). One will need essence & intent infused into mana to create a elemental spell.



Will is what controls mana. Its a foundation found in the soul. To use it… it has been described as flexing a invisible muscle. Which is why it’s shown that training this muscle allows for better “dexterity“. Will is force which be leaked out, and intertwine with the mana, allowing the mage to move it like another part of them.



Matterless-mind is just the brain of the soul, holding memories, allowing thought, etc… any maybe the reason why certain acts of mind tomfoolery can be allowed, but no need to worry about that.



Side notes: To use Will usually one needs channel. A channel is something that allows one to, well, channel their Will into the said energy. For mana usually a wand, staff, orb, core, magically adapted cells, fragment, etc will suffice.

Will is also constantly radiating out, colored by emotion. This is why the web theory exist in my world. Its pretty much Will is constantly weighing down on the universes ”web”. Mages use Will to ripple upon this web to control aspects of the universe, nulls are outside this web, and trapped are stuck in the web unable to control it, but able to sense the ripples.

P.s: I forgot to add structure, and unstructured magic. It’s practically one is wild, and brought forth from intent & desire, while the other is more refined, and is only need to be formed and be fed mana to be used. The latter is less flexible, but less demanding on mana consumption. While, the other is more free, and unfiltered; growing stronger along with emotion, desire, intent.

Practically just sorcerers & wizard’s. Unstructured magic came first, and was refined into spells, which wizards used.

 

[ElijahRyne]

The top-down approach of my magic system is as follows.

At the top-most level of it, it's a system which explains the multiverse as all being made up of 3 base forms of energy. Matter energy, mind energy, and life energy. These 3 base forms of energy go by many names, in the primary world my story takes place in they are matter, spirit energy, and mana. (The latter is all that is told to the reader in-story.)

Matter, of course, is the physical substance of the world. Spirit energy is used for the cultivation system of the world setting, and mana is used for spellcraft.

Mana is further sub-divided into many different types of elemental mana. That is where we get into a lot of minutia that would take way too long to explain here in this brief summary.

Spirit energy also has many applications aside from just it's use in the cultivation system. As mentioned at the top level, it's the energy of thought. As such, it causes several powerful effects. One which struck a chord with me that I really wanted to include in this story is the idea of a concept avatar. That is to say, a person can become the avatar who represents a concept, such as embodying the outrage felt by the people in some form of revolution. It was our current political environment in the world that gave me this idea. The idea is that a concept avatar's power would increase both the better they embody a concept and the more people who back that concept and see them as a representative of that concept. This, of course, when applied to a cultivation world also makes this a path to godhood.

So, that's the idea. The system is simple at it's core, but there are many aspects of it that can be expanded upon almost infinitely and many ways these base concepts can be applied.

Here's mine:

There are 2 basic magical forces: Mana and Aether.

Aether can only be used by specific races. It's basically Mana but more potent and recovers slower. It can also be used to counter Void mana (which I will explain below)

Now we come to the Mana part.

Mana is divided into 3 basic attributes: Void, Normal, and Holy.

Void mana is basically responsible for corrupting people and stuff. (typical evil magical source).
Holy mana is basically Void mana but uhh... good?
These types of Mana cancel each other out. They can both be converted to Elemental mana (which I will explain below).

Normal mana is... normal mana. It is divided into subcategories called 'Elements'. Basically you got fire, wind, ice, water, earth mana and everything you can think of.

Mana as a whole can also be divided into 3 big categories: Disruptive, Neutral, and Constructive.
Constructive mana is used to construct and conjure spells.
Neutral mana is used for misc stuff like mana-engineering or mana-reinforcement.
Disruptive mana is used to destabilize and cancel out Constructive mana.

So basically, Disruptive mana counters Constructive mana. Constructive mana counters Neutral mana. Neutral mana counters Disruptive mana. (rock paper scissors basically.)

Since every lifeforms are either Mana-based or Aether-based, you can use Disruptive mana to basically delete something out of existence.

Now on how to cast magic.

To know this, we'll have to categorize Mana once again into 2 categories: Innate and Atmospheric.

Innate mana is mana that resides in your own body. You must emit Innate mana to influence the Atmospheric mana if you want to cast spells.
Basically, spells are formed using Atmospheric (Elemental) mana. And to wield Atmospheric mana, you need to expend Innate mana.

The density and quantity of Atmospheric mana depends on where you're currently at. For example, there's a lot of Atmospheric Ice mana in a tundra, but there are very little Fire mana there.
So, if you want to use Fire magic in a tundra, you'll have to convert your Innate mana into Fire mana, emit it out into the environment, and use more Innate mana to control the Fire mana you've just emitted.

Anyways, that's all for now. If you didn't understand anything, see this messy chart.View attachment 16053

The point of my magic system was to create a multiverse where I could theoretically have any story or setting and have it make sense. After studying a lot of settings, the base I came up with was this:

Spoiler

Chaos is an ever-changing thing, everything and nothing at once. But if Chaos is everything, then it's also Order. The first bits of Order stuck and started multiplying, eventually becoming realities and souls. It's all sorted out, with Chaos that was everything being filtered into Order that is strictly defined.

Now, a soul is a fundamental piece of Chaos/Order. It can't be destroyed or created, and such. Even if it's reintegrated into Chaos, it's still strictly defined on some level. The most notable thing about souls is that they record everything they are, see, or do, and that record can't be erased or destroyed.

A soul that manifests usually has four parts that cling to it and form its 'perspective'. A Body, a Heart, a Mind, and a Spirit. The Body is made of physical matter and affects reality. The Heart is made of emotion and affects mana. The Mind is made of logic and reason, and affects causality. The Spirit is made of faith, luck, and self-determination and affects fate.

Some realities follow different Laws, and every time a choice is made, a new reality is made from each possible choice. Since souls and realities exist at about the same level, a soul is capable of existing in multiple realities, and tracks its own progress through them. Naturally, the intention is to create a sort of ballooning effect, where the more stuff that exists and gets recorded, the more Chaos is converted to Order.

That expansion of Order is resisted by Chaos, with realities on the border between the two in a constant state of conflict as the Order tries to tame the Chaos.

I see, it seems like we are comrades. Starting with the smallest or most simple, before gradually working up in complexity. Did you guys also look into quantum mechanics and particle physics to gleam general ideas, before backing out when they introduced the more complex formulas, only to barely incorporate any of that in the final system?

 

[Notadate]

I see, it seems like we are comrades. Starting with the smallest or most simple, before gradually working up in complexity. Did you guys also look into quantum mechanics and particle physics to gleam general ideas, before backing out when they introduced the more complex formulas, only to barely incorporate any of that in the final system?

Mine is complexed

 

[ElijahRyne]

Soul bullshit = magic bullshit.

Oh yes, I also went down that road. Here are my notes.




There are three fundamental substances that constitute all things: the Aether, Void, and Quintessence. A long time ago the three substances were separated yet created a whole. The Aether was above the Void and Quintessence, like a shell. It wanted to condense into a ball, but was restrained by the Quintessence. The Void was the core, it continually tried to expand, yet, it too was restrained. Quintessence was in the center inert in its movement. It bound the Aether and Void to itself while keeping them separated from each other. The Void continually tried to expand, and the Aether tried to condense. This caused the Quintessence to experience immense pressure, which caused the Quintessence to merge with itself, creating Souls. The Souls, like bacteria, could and would move freely within the Quintessence. They first reached the Void, when the Souls tried to move into it they were slowly dissipated into Quintessence. Next the Souls reached the Aether. When they moved into it the Souls began to crystallize, unable to move themselves. Gradually the Souls began to avoid the Void and Aether. Even so, eventually the crystallized Souls created a wall that was impassible to the other Souls. The souls began to bind to and absorb each other. This caused them to mutate randomly. Eventually, a crystallized Soul was brought to the Void. Catalyzed by the meeting of Void and Aether, the crystallized soul began to transform.

Aether properties:
Condense
Crystallize

Void properties:
Expand
Dissipates

Quintessence properties:
Bind
Inert
Transform

Soul properties:
Bind: Able to bind things either to itself or to eachother. The various energies can be bound.
Perceive: Able to perceive the world around it.
Move: Able to move itself and things it has bound.
Transfer: Able to transfer, to different parts of itself, things it has bound.
Store: Able to store energy.
Mutate: Able to mutate and gain/lose properties.
Living: Souls are, like bacteria, alive. They can grow and become more complex, similar or exceeding humans.

Mine is complexed

I agree

 

[BearlyAlive]

Mine is a soft magic system lightly inspired by classic alchemic teachings. There's the four base elements fire, water, wind and earth and every magic is made up of certain parts of those. Ice magic is half water and half fire to remove all heat, lightning is half wind and half fire magic, gravity is half wind and half earth, illusion is same parts fire, wind and water and so on. Healing is half water and half earth, scrying half water and half wind, and so on.

Magic uses most of the parts of the brain that normally aren't used, so mages tend to be grumpy, sleep-deprived and addicted to either caffein or sugar, if not downright alchoholic. They also thend to be influenced by their favorite elements, making it easy to notice which element they're good at just by watching them a bit.

Every humanoid being also has a Talent that manifests when they come of age, which is a crystalization of their personality, so even different people with identical experiences will result in different Talents.
A hot-headed person might be able to set part of their body aflame and a calculating one might get extra processing power.

Then there's the magic of the Churches, which is something else entirely. The Oratory of Order uses magic that binds others to do their bidding and the Church of Chaos increases one's magic to uncontrollable degrees for a while before losing it completely, making it necessary to retrain everything again.

 

[Notadate]

Oh yes, I also went down that road. Here are my notes.




There are three fundamental substances that constitute all things: the Aether, Void, and Quintessence. A long time ago the three substances were separated yet created a whole. The Aether was above the Void and Quintessence, like a shell. It wanted to condense into a ball, but was restrained by the Quintessence. The Void was the core, it continually tried to expand, yet, it too was restrained. Quintessence was in the center inert in its movement. It bound the Aether and Void to itself while keeping them separated from each other. The Void continually tried to expand, and the Aether tried to condense. This caused the Quintessence to experience immense pressure, which caused the Quintessence to merge with itself, creating Souls. The Souls, like bacteria, could and would move freely within the Quintessence. They first reached the Void, when the Souls tried to move into it they were slowly dissipated into Quintessence. Next the Souls reached the Aether. When they moved into it the Souls began to crystallize, unable to move themselves. Gradually the Souls began to avoid the Void and Aether. Even so, eventually the crystallized Souls created a wall that was impassible to the other Souls. The souls began to bind to and absorb each other. This caused them to mutate randomly. Eventually, a crystallized Soul was brought to the Void. Catalyzed by the meeting of Void and Aether, the crystallized soul began to transform.

Aether properties:
Condense
Crystallize

Void properties:
Expand
Dissipates

Quintessence properties:
Bind
Inert
Transform

Soul properties:
Bind: Able to bind things either to itself or to eachother. The various energies can be bound.
Perceive: Able to perceive the world around it.
Move: Able to move itself and things it has bound.
Transfer: Able to transfer, to different parts of itself, things it has bound.
Store: Able to store energy.
Mutate: Able to mutate and gain/lose properties.
Living: Souls are, like bacteria, alive. They can grow and become more complex, similar or exceeding humans.

I agree

No literally, I got my document and posted it

 

[Zakuro]

Achieve nirvana.
Or die trying.

 

[bulmabriefs144]

I just think magic systems should be cool and provide mechanics for how things work in the story. That is, magic is technology (and vice versa). How does your character get around? He flies on dragons, he uses a Gate, he time travels, or sometimes he walks (alot). Ditto for fighting.

My magic works with about two or three systems. Magic was set up like English grammar, with rules that all have exceptions.
1. The main concept though is that magic is supposed to be constructed by inner energy (I used the dantian system of wuxia stuff) which interacts with magical particles in the air known as runes. The runes basically combine during casting, leaving window where a spell can be countered. Also, runes are basically ink writing, so they slide off slick creatures, and break down in heavy rain But there are variants of magic. Some magic is silent, some can't be countered, some magic is solid rather than like ink, etc. Also, magic can enchant objects, but it either isn't permanent (weather can make it mundane like anything else) or it is. The bad news about permanent enchantments is that it basically locks part of the mana of the caster. If a caster makes 100 or 1000 or whatever their mana point limit is, they basically run out of magic due to it being locked up in enchantments.
2. Psionics. Like magic but can't be countered. Often has a limited territory where it can be used, but within a psionic's territory, they can basically warp reality like Tuners in Dark City. Too much psionics creates nosebleeds (or brain explosions in extreme cases, but you typically lose consciousness first).
3. Alchemy. Basically FMA/Log Horizon rules. They also can draw from ley lines, which means stuff like soil depletion. Lastly, alchemy has a fair amount of chemistry involved, so brewing and making stuff like anti-poison charms (via hidden antidote syringe) and cement isn't out of the question. You also can't alchemy food because it tastes like components (soggy wheat for example, instead of bread).

I tried my best to explore how this affects the economy. For example, unlike our electricity costs for things like cellphones, permanent items are single purchase. But they're many times as expensive because more spellcasters don't like risking their magic, and figure out clever tricks to pull that energy from something besides themselves. Alchemy is more repeatable, but risks polluting the land. And most people don't even have psionics.

 

[Jemini]

I see, it seems like we are comrades. Starting with the smallest or most simple, before gradually working up in complexity. Did you guys also look into quantum mechanics and particle physics to gleam general ideas, before backing out when they introduced the more complex formulas, only to barely incorporate any of that in the final system?

My world, quantum mechanics is the deepest minutia level of the matter energy side of things. As such, it means I can pay about as much attention to that matter as people do IRL. In other words, it only matters if things start getting really sciency.

Matter is straight up the material world we know on Earth. Spirit energy, the energy of thought, is supposed to be something that has influence on Earth as we know it, but not as tangibly as it does in other worlds. Mana, the energy of life, is confined to only performing it's most basic function of animating living things on Earth and can't exhibit it's elemental properties as it can on other worlds.

I should probably also state, the 4 basic elements of my system are not the classical Greek elements. Or rather... at least not in reality. A lot of people in world misinterpret them that way.

Earth = solid state of existence.
Water = liquid state
Wind = vaporous state
Fire = plasma state

In reality, the base 4 elements are the 4 on the right, but most people mistake them as the 4 on the left and erroneously call them as such. Also, there is a distinction between fire, which is a phenomenon that occurs during combustion, and "true fire," which is what the people of my world call the fire of the sun and such. (In other words, actual plasma, where as the flames of a fire are not actually plasma.)

(Yes, in my series, there's a whole lot of information that's filtered through the ignorance of the speaker. You actually can't trust everything you're told about the magic system if it's said by someone in-world. The only resource of mine you actually can trust to be telling you the truth of how the magic system works is my world bible.)

The sub-elements are high and low energy states of the base 4, as well as mixtures of 2 base-element combos in various ratios. There are 4 stable states and 1 unstable state for every combination of 2 base elements depending on energy level and concentration.

(For instance, the water-earth combo. High energy, high earth, low water = plants. Low energy, high earth, low water = ice. High energy, low earth, high water = magma. Low earth, low energy, high water = poison. The unstable 5th state is actually an equal balance of both elements and an average energy level. The unstable state is ooze/slime, which is the failed state that is produced by attempts at using this unstable magic state for a spell.)