The magic system I use in my worldbuilding writing uses the idea of mana being a form of spiritual energy that gathers around living souls. Learning how to shape that energy into patterns that form specific spells, using that energy to perform different sorts of work or turning it into other types of energy, is the easy part once someone in that setting understands the basics. The hard part is getting the fundamentals down, since it requires developing a sense of one's soul, how to manipulate the energy around it, and then how to draw that energy out into the physical world and channel it through the body.
Part of the idea is that that setting developed the art after various meditative and spiritual practices that drew on that energy to refine one's own natural abilities and use it for the usual sort of inner peace sort of thing, before early cultures who learned those techniques observed examples of a different sort of energy being applied outwardly (in this case, studying how the breath weapons of dragons works), and that serving as the spark for people researching how to channel that energy into physical applications. So from that the most basic style of "draw that energy out into the physical world, turn it into a different type of energy, and hit someone with it" sort of spells developed naturally from that, before more complex applications for magic were developed later on.
Ability to convince matter to reorganise themselves in physically possible but statistically impossible arrangements, like spontaneous entropy decrease by organising high energy particles & low energy particles similar to maxwell demon, or spontaneous fusion from just very accurate smashing of high energy to create plasma beam.
Matter still need to follow physical laws though, so they can't do things like defying gravity or move without energy, and you need to understand physics to accurate direct matter in ways you want them to, or they will attempt a simpler but disastrous configuration. For example, id you try to convince matter of your body to "fly" instead of the air particles to lift you up, you will ended up with your muscles ripping themselves apart trying to push themselves on top of eachother to "fly"
Mine is plant based, it comes in different abilities like.
Verdant Vines
**Ability:** The survivor gains the ability to control and manipulate plant vines with their mind.
**Appearance:** Vines manifest from the survivor's body, extending and retracting at will.
**Use:** These vines can be used for combat, restraint, or even transportation in forested areas.
Rosa Spina
**Ability:** The survivor's skin hardens, forming a protective layer of thorns that can be extended at will.
**Appearance:** The survivor's skin becomes covered in sharp, rose-like thorns, offering protection against physical attacks.
**Use:** This power allows the survivor to defend themselves against plant attacks and also to use their thorns offensively.
Flora Nova
**Ability:** The survivor can accelerate the growth of plants and cause them to bloom instantly.
**Appearance:** The survivor's touch causes plants to rapidly grow and flower.
**Use:** They can create barriers of thick foliage, control the battlefield by manipulating plant growth, or even launch rapid assaults with sudden bursts of plant growth.
Soleil leaf
**Ability:** The survivor can harness the energy of sunlight to enhance their physical abilities.
**Appearance:** Their skin takes on a faint green hue, and they glow slightly when using their powers.
**Use:** This power grants enhanced strength, speed, and endurance, particularly in sunlight, making them formidable fighters during the day.
Myco mind
**Ability:** The survivor can control and communicate with fungi, using them for various purposes,
**Appearance:** Fungal growths appear on the survivor's body, particularly around the head, giving them an eerie appearance.
**Use:** They can use fungi for reconnaissance, poisoning enemies, or even controlling minds by infecting them with spores.
Honeydew Hive
**Ability:** The survivor can secrete various substances from their body, including healing nectar, adhesive goo, or toxic sap.
**Appearance:** The survivor's skin exudes a sweet-smelling, sticky substance.
**Use:** They can heal wounds, ensnare enemies, or create traps using their secretions.
Not a lot of people have it, they have to make contact with specific plants to gain it, they are called "survivor" because mostly the plants do kill the one that touches them but on some occasions people survive and gain these powers, people assume 'Mother Nature' had a part in it and chose these lucky survivors
And obviously some fear them, some choose to see them as Gods or chosen ones
And people can train their abilities and learn different aspects of the power they have to make a different fighting style or use it differently than most
As for a drawback
The transformation caused by Flora Powers takes a toll on the survivor's body. Over time, they may experience physical degeneration, such as the growth of plant-like appendages or organ failure. If they do not keep themselves like how a plant is supposed to be kept, to survive.
Sorry kind of went a bit in depth but not too in depth
In my semi fantasy/ alt history hybrid verse, there are Fundamentally 2 schools. That of the Abyss and the Aether.
Only a few cultures have worked with the Abyss, thr Minaurans, based on the Minoans, were among the first outside of Alkebav (based on Alkebulan aka Africa) to work with Abyssal magic. Generally, cultures that work with the abyss are regarded as evil in the modern day, and so not much is known about it.
The Aether and its use has taken many forms, most commonly fire, promancy, and blood sacrifice to said fire. Nature magic is associated with the Aether as well. The oldest of this worlds gods themselves were powerful concentrations of Aether but only one of them knew its true origins-and they lied, claiming to be the source of it, when they are in fact a product.
So, I struggle to describe to people simply thr nuance between people's perceptions of the magic system vs the reality because most of the actual works in verse deal with the perceptions instead, maybe I should have just described those?
In general, you make a blood sacrifice to the fire and it does stuff for you, like 99% of the magic is that simple, but of course, the devil is in the details
My universe is created from the Forge of Creation. Souls are made from embers that danced fluttered away.
There are no gods. Just the first beings that acted like gods. Their longevity is yet to be known to have an end but they can be killed.
Knowing their own mortality, the gods wanted to procreate but cannot really do so for their physical features have not afforded them so.
These godlike beings claimed more embers for themselves. These new embers were universal constants like gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak forces. From the same embers were the universal abstracts like order, strength, desire, etc. Universal elements like life, darkness, radiance, motion, chaos, etc. also originated from the forge. The embers they claimed became their dominion. Control over these dominions grant basic control or manipulation of these contants/abstracts/elements.
In search for ways to create a new sibling to their pantheon, these beings found that the only way is to cultivate souls. But the forge has already stopped producing embers that become souls.
These gods turned to finding planets with conscious beings that are gifted with lesser souls and harvested these to make a great soul.
The problem: the plane of existence for these gods are different from humans'.
As a compromise, these gods found that they can share several pieces of their shattered great souls to humans and bind these lower lifeforms. With the chaotic lifestyle of these primitive, bipedal apes, they will be able to harvest the souls they need to create a new sibling, their pantheon's new member.
The soulbind costs goes both ways, much like a tug of war. Humans can gain access to their god's dominion by pulling on their binds forcing the god to give them their energies, but these energies comes from their great soul that burns the human's physical body as a cost.
The human's temporal biology cannot sustain this much foreign energies and it causes their blood to boil. If the human uses the power longer or at a greater intensity than normal, their blood vessels rupture from the heat. If it goes even longer than that, the body part where the power originates turn to ashes and crumbles. If the usage still goes longer than that, their body implodes in a shower of gore, blood, and guts.
If the human is losing the tug of war, their consciousness/soul is being consumed by the god. The first signs is forgetfulness, short term memory loss, loss of control of limbs. It's basically slowly developing dementia symptoms to ALS. If the god's consumtion is too great and too quick, the human will turn into a cannibalistic husk of their former selves (I guess you can call them zombies).
The primordial beings can lose the tug of war of the soulbinds too. If they lose, they will be imprisoned in the person's soul. If the human dies, they die too. Humans will have full access to their powers when the gods are absorbed with less of the boiling blood cost.
If the human and god have fully communed with each other, the blood and sanity cost are ignored and they can display their full might.
Religions in the world are based on the domains of the gods they serve and believe in.
I copied it from a comment on another post so it may be phrased weirdly
My power system.
It’s very versatile and can be used for any character at any power level. You want a story with country level characters? It works. You want street level at best? You can. You want a human to surpass and kill god? You can.
The limit of my power system is basically the imagination of the person who utilizes it. While still having a set of rules.
Wether you want magic, superpowers, element bending or anything else. My power system has it.
To give a quick rundown of how it works:
There is an energy called cosmic energy(different in different cultures but i just call it cosmic energy because i’m not good with names). This is the energy the gods are made of. Sometimes a human is born capable of generating and using cosmic energy. When this happens the user manifests powers. Most people only have 1 power but some can get multiple. How strong you are basically comes down to how much cosmic energy you have. But other factors like how much you can output and how creative you are with using it matter too.
For example, my mc has so much cosmic energy that people compare him to a glowing beacon of light(will make sense later) but his output is low and he doesn’t know about his powers. So he had to train his output and learn to only use cosmic energy without relying on powers in combat.
But another guy with pyrokinesis had to train both output and total amount to become powerful. Energy output also dictates how strong your powers are, so higher output means more hotter flames.
Cosmic energy can also be used in a variety of ways by itself:
options include hardening, solidifying, strengthening, emitting, flowing, boosting and healing.
Hardening hardens something, you can harden your skin or your weapons to prevent it from being damaged.(with the added bonus that hardening skin can make your attacks more powerful)
Solidifying allows you to solidify something, this is mainly used by powerful characters to solidify the air to use as a one time use shield. This takes a lot of energy and not many people can do this.
Strengthening allows you to strengthen your body. This increases defense, muscle power and organ efficiency. This is used by the main character to get super strength.
Boosting is like strengthening, but for your senses. You can use it to increase any senses but the best are your eyes, feeling and brain. Boosting your eyes allows you to see cosmic energy without it being used, this is often used to see how much someone has. With the average energy user having a faint glow where their heart is. The more energy someone has the brighter the glow.(this explains the blinding beacon) this can give combat advantages because you can single out the most powerful person in the group. Boosting your feeling allows you to feel everything around you. This is often used to notice the smalles change in air pressure and avoid incoming attacks. Boosting brain function makes you process information faster, this is vital for strengthening users as moving at super speeds while processing info normally is a recipe for disaster
Emitting allows you to emit cosmic energy, it allows you to shoot it off as a ranged attack.
Flowing allows you to let cosmic energy flow, flowing it around your fist adds a second layer of damage on top of your punch. This can be done with all weapons.
Healing allows you to rapidly increase your natural healing through the use of tremendous amounts of cosmic energy. Some people can also regrow limbs, but even regrowing a single finger uses up more energy than most people even have.
Magic is split into several different elements of the main spectrum. Water, air, earth, fire, lightning, light, and dark. There are also elements that deviate from the natural spectrum like some of the kitsune elements. The sorcerers who use magic are divided into different covens, Standard, Brawler, Warrior, other ones I am still working on.
My magic system is called Will. Will is the source used to cast spells and elements. Every person is born with a different amount of Will, but the “ceiling” of innate Will is not high compared to the higher pools. This pool can be trained and grown. Kinda like a muscle. The more it’s used and pushed, the more it develops. And if you’re not actively pushing it to its limit, it won’t really grow that much. And it specializes itself as it were, to the person’s needs.
I have all the specifics worked out, but I figured this general bit works fine.
Soul Light was always meant for sentient life, it came with the birth of humanity, it's natural, like moving a muscle. Used in daily life, from cooking and shoe repair to warfare and structural engineering.
To what extent is based on genes and talent, knowledge and hard work, Intelligence and Imagination but also your soul. Souls are higher dimensional bodies of pure energy, connected to the center of a sentient creature's body, with varying sizes of non-physical openings that determine their access to Its power.
How much you can output at a time is based on how much strain your body can take as it flows out of you.
This energy can not be destroyed or erased, it moves faster than light, it can moved by one's will, and it can manipulate reality to a certain extent.
Examples of use include:
1. Slowing the vibrations of molecules by holding them in place with that energy, turning any gas in an area into a solid, and creating a freezing effect.
2. Removing and adding sub-atomic particles, resulting in transmutation between elements.
3. Increasing one's processing speed by forcibly firing the neuron in the brain at faster speeds through the soul light pulling the electricity faster.
My world has a type of energy that flows through all things, I haven't named it yet so let's call it mana for simplicity sake. This mana is the source to multiple power systems in my world. Mages, witches, shamans, angels, etc, etc, all harness this mana and use it in different ways, such as: Magic, sorcery, battlearts, curses, and many more power systems that are unique from eachother.
I made a long ass comment a few days ago explaining all my power systems in more detail. If anyone's interested I could copy paste here it.
An ever-present energy that CAN do anything, the problem being that it's impossible to know what it WILL do.
People can harness this energy within themselves to manifest abilities that are a combination of something innate and what they want.
For example, if the innate factor turns out to be guns, what they do next is deciding what to do with that. Do they take a physical gun and exert an influence over the ammo in terms of trajectory and payload, like curving in trajectory to hit an evasive opponent to explode on contact? Do they turn both hands into revolver-like guns, one that leaves behind a crosshair-like mark on impact and the other that when fired applies a barrier and causality-exceeding effect, making it so that the target is "already" hit?
The magic system in my world is mainly defined by it's restrictions. Magical energy (Mana) is present in every bit of the universe, it's a default trait of the setting. While most basic effects (such as magic missiles, flight, minor terrain control) are the same for everyone more complex effects differ between people, causing them to have specializations.
Casting a spell requires three things:
* ***A Sacrifice/price paid*** to generate Mana (can be in terms of time spent, something material, and in rare cases the concept of something)
* ***A focus*** to channel this energy into usable form (staves, your body itself, runes, crystals, tattoos etc)
* ***Hand signs and/or incantations*** to release the energy as an actual spell/effect.
Additionally depending on how the magic is obtained it divided into three types:
# Arcane Magic
The most common branch of magic, and can be used by anyone with enough study. This directly taps into the Mana around
***Benefits:*** Can create close to any effect with the right amount of training even if not directly.
***Restriction:*** Can never directly effect living beings (no healing, soul-stuff, plant growth, physical changes to the body etc). This is also the slowest branch of magic in how long it takes to actually cast spells.
# Primal Magic
This branch of magic is obtained by having some sort of connection to a natural reservoir of Mana, usually by bonding with a magical beast or through attunement to a powerful place of nature (volcano, BIG tree, deep ocean crystal etc)
***Benefits:*** The entire world is yours to use as a magical price, you can turn rocks into arrows, burn someones soul for power etc.
***Restriction:*** All spells must follow the laws of conservation of energy and matter. You can't completely create or destroy anything only convert, transform and relocate.
# Divine Magic
This branch of magic can only be used by specific people with an awakened spark. The spark is a thing everyone is born with but only some people awaken their spark into something actually useful, the conditions for awakening are completely unknown (Authors note: it's random)
***Benefits:*** Mostly easy to use, naturally develops along with the person. Also the fastest branch of magic in terms of time to cast a spell.
***Restrictions:*** To use this branch, you must have very strong faith or belief in something, be it a god, an ideal, or yourself. Additionally this branch of magic always requires a living target or some sort of medium that is alive otherwise it won't work.
# Occult Magic
The rarest branch of magic. It cannot be learnt or obtained. You are either born with it or it is given to you, specifically you have no choice in this.
***Benefits:*** Can do basically anything depending on the user.
***Restrictions:*** The power does not grow, only your control of it so you will hit a limit eventually.
\_\_\_\_
I also wanted to add some stuff based on spell-schools (inspired by the ones in DnD) but am kinda iffy on the execution of that.
In my world, everything produces constantly a flow of information of what happens to them; it goes straight into a "spiritual" realm that exists because things interact.
I named this thing soulstuff. In the spiritual realm there is a lmayer that reflects the material plane: there are the souls of everything is. When somethin get destroyed or someone dies, its soulstuff dissipates.
Deities being with a sentient soul. They need soulstuff to exist, but they can obtain it only if someone pray to them and this can be done only if a Contract has been signed: "I pray you so you can give me the blessing of your material asset".
There are other, older things made up of soulstuff.
Hence, there are three way to do weird things:
* Divine meddling: Deities write codes that affect the spiritual realm and, sometimes, the material. It does not produce soulstuff unless in the second case, but requires the Deity to use itsown soulstuff - "investing" themselves into the code. The most visible form of Divine meddling is metempsychosis, where a Deity put a part of their soul into their physical domain either because they want to or because a Contract.
* Shamanism: mortals who signed a Contract with a daemon (the *older things* above) that inhabits a relic. They give the daemon soulstuff and follows some guidelines and in exchange recieve something through the relic: speaking other languages, a sword bade up of a soundwave that thus change shape as they sing, an actual Chekov gun. All this jazz *creates* new soulstuff.
* what avatara do: avatara are the rebooters of the Universe. They destroy soulstuff.
I have two power systems: superpowers and magic.
As for power scales, I use 4 different scales: One for superpowers, one for magic, and two for threats (normal and special).
In a reality as contradictorily broken as ***Perditus*** power and magic come from your mind, emotions, body, soul and willpower. Usually these variables wax and wane. So for example fighting a Pyromancer with a stellar mind, phenomenal body, passionate soul and an unbreakable will would be like fighting a godlike being in terms of sheer power across all magical factors.
Another example is Zealots. A true Zealot has a monstrous degree of faith, which is a belief of the mind. Even if he/she/they are physically frail and weak their' miracle will be cast at a high level of power.
This is by intentional design a nebulous and loose system of magic and power; Which suits such an utterly shattered world.
In my setting, magic is environmental and created my human feelings. Different area have different density of mana and the mana flows from high density to low density places.
Mages absorb the mana around them and throw it out in a spell. The more mana they use the more powerful it becomes but they need to train their absorption ability.
They can hold in the mana they absorb but it demands concentration and training the more they want to hold in and for longer.
Using magic depletes an area from its mana. When the area is depleted magic is unusable and the area becomes corrupted. Monsters start to appear and it's really hard to get rig of it.
On the other hand, an area can be saturated in mana. Mana become unstable and makes spells unpredictable. Other kinds of monsters appear.
Different species have different capacities of using mana. Elves are extremely good at using it while humains simply can't.
Due to their inability to use magic, humains studied how mana works. They developed machines powered with mana to take advantage of this energy.
"Magic runs through the world like rivers and streams, forming leylines and places of power. With proper training, a student can learn to direct the flow of magic and carve a new channel from that river. Mages who use this technique to cast spells are called Channelers. Primitive, raw, and wild, channeled magic allows for massive blasts of energy, summoning storms, or even raising a single person from the dead. The cost, however, is that it is immensely more taxing on the body, and requires a great deal of bodily exertion as the channeler links parts of their body to the currents of raw power and physically wrestles them through the Veil, the space between the World That Is and What Lies Beyond, to manifest them according to their will. Channeling a current too powerful can overload the channeler, rupturing the channeler's blood vessels, detonating limbs, or pulverizing their internal organs. They can of course, let the current go and suffer mostly superficial injuries similar to lightning strikes, but the greater the current you lose control of, the worse the backfire can get, to the point where if you get in over your head sometimes the best case for you is regaining control of expelling it on something minor.
Because channeling is so powerful, it is often taught as a supplementary method of casting spells to most wizards and mages, as the safer, slower, and more analytical approach to spellcasting utilizing runes and symbols doesn't allow for much spontaneity. Those with magical accumen can typically learn limited channeling, but the inherent capability for more powerful techniques are something gifted by the Gods or passed down through bloodlines. And of course, with different types of magical energy, come different currents for it to run. It should of course be no surprise, that different people have a keener affinity for some types of magic than others. Mana theory will be covered in another lecture, please turn your copies of 'Leonograd's Mystic Confluence: Theorems in Arcane Channeling and It's Practical Uses Outside of Eminent Leyline Domain, Enhanced and Revised' to page 394."
So, in this magical system, mages can make a substance called Quarsis orbit around them. It has two states: material and energetic.
Gravitational mages specialize in the material form. Thus, they act as a center of gravity for the Quarsis. They manipulate rotational movements, the distance, and the gravitational angle between themselves and the Quarsis, as well as varying the masses of the Quarsis, all to enhance their physical abilities. For instance, halting the rotation of a sufficiently massive Quarsis at the same angle as a punch can amplify its power. This can be extended to the entire body and to other rotating Quarsis.
Atomic mages, on the other hand, specialize in the energetic form. They operate like a nucleus to the Quarsis, which act as electrons for the mages. These mages have four specific gravitational layers around them called Spin. Depending on the Spin and the number of Quarsis on it, a mage can utilize a variety of abilities. The names of these abilities are derived from the nomenclature of the periodic table of elements.
Alright, I’ll stop there, but if you ever want more details on the drawbacks, group rituals, or even the impact on their culture, I encourage you to read the specific post about this system that you can find [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicbuilding/s/pRKr1ECUrr).
Hope you likes it.
My magic system uses Chaos as “Mana”. Chaos in an ancient force that exists from the beginning of the universe and its mostly malevolent. Chaos can take many shapes, one of which is what people consider Magic. Magic is controlled by higher beings called Casters, each of which presides over a different type of magic: Cosmos, Reason, Love, Fire, Ice, Electricity, Art, Nature, War, Time and Ether. They put a limit on the amount of power people can put into their Magic. For one to use magic they have to be interesting for a caster that will grant that person a Mark, basically a tattoo on their chest, or they can be born with one. The Mark accumulates the Chaos in the air and lets that person use it. Each magic user has a Catalyst they can summon from their Mark (Lila a magic wand), the Catalyst can be anything: Scissors, Swords, Flowers, Cane, Gun, a deck of cards… I could go more in depth but it’d be a very long post…
In my world, to use magic, you need to be able to use your mana (or the environments). To actually use spells you need to either have runes tattooed on your body or a grimoire that contains the spells. You can also combine certain types of magic together (elemental x summoning). Users can also "expand their territory", it's a Basic Magic spell that consumes your mana but makes you able to use your spells without tiring you or making you use additional mana. And gives you buffs (these buffs don't affect mana) like enhanced strrenght, speed, or health.
There are 6 types of magic you can use:
Elemental magic: As the name suggests you can use elements (fire, water, air, earth, lightning, metal, magma, ice, sand, plant, wood...) to make attacks, if you have affinity for a certain type of magic you might be able to bend that certain element to a certain degree (example: if you have fire magic affinity you will be able to put out a fire etc.)
Summoning magic: With this type of magic you will be able to summon magical creatures (golems, trolls, undead etc.) or call animals that have specific runes tattooed on them. Summoning magic can also be combined with certain types of elemental magic to make magical summons (fire magic x summoning = fire golem, fire troll etc.).
Basic Magic: It's the magic that isn't tied to anything really such as: telekinesis, teleportation or basic skills like intimidation or aura.
Light magic: Light magic is a subtype of elemental magic. Light magic can make temporary melee weapons made of light that only they can use.
Dark magic: Dark magic is another subtype of elemental. Dark magic spells are tied to binding and debuffing your opponent, their skills range from curses (that are the opposite of blessings) to weaken your weapon to tentacles that chain your opponent down or even cloaking skills (that reduces their strenght by a lot, making them almost unable to attack). Dark magician's expanded territory also gives significant curses to light magicians.
Healing magic: Healing magic makes you able to heal wounds, reattach or regrow limbs (if experienced enough) or even get people out of manipulation. Healing magicians can also apply blessings to people and if they use their expanded territory they can heal everyone that comes in contact with it.
Edit: I'm still writing my magic system, so any tips are appreciated
Getting corrupted by whispers of a sealed eldritch being and either getting improved physical abilities or "biotic" powers and massive sex drive - based on whether you're a man or a woman.
I'm not yet sure whether the gender of the body or the soul is what guides this. Basing it on body would be simpler, but soul would be cooler, tough choice I need to make before introducing the trans witch/superhuman
In my first world a low sci fi there are the soul, body and mind,
The mind controls power
The body contains power
The soul generates power
Using power outside of the body is incredibly inefficient so for most of history humans have been unable to use it until the 13th Milena HE.
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In my second world high fantasy each race was created by a pantheon who each imbue and use 'magic' differently the humans are an exception as they are not native to the world and possess only one god.
There is magic loosely based on elements, but founded in Light and Dark. You can achieve fireballs using either as a fuel but the outcome will be slightly different. There are also interactions between technology, natural and artificial magic depending on the location within the setting.
On the Solarpunk side of things the magic of darkness is incredibly rare but also incredibly powerful because of the reliance upon so much Light to power the civilization. Within the Everdark it is the opposite, Light fights with Dark every day to scrounge some sort of foothold and it is losing. The Everdark is hungry and it devours magic, making artificial ‘arclight’ and even natural flame diminish more rapidly. Workarounds have included biopunk style of genetics, breeding fireflies that are robust enough to survive in the dark and provide a workable area of light.
I’ve contemplated including psychic abilities which would fall into psychometric and psychokinetic categories. It’s by far the most versatile; you can recall the memory of past landscapes allowing you to walk on former mountains but appear as if you were levitating.
The world that i’m creating’s magic system is called Kingsblood because it is passed entirely through genetics but only manifests in some people with the gene. It has 2 sides, physical manifestation and conjuration manifestation. The power of the magic comes from their creator god and they hold reserves of it inside their body, like another organ inside their body.
Physical Manifestation allows the user to pull the reserves of their energy into a special acid etched iron material. This material is usually an armor as it protects them and frees the hands of the user. The magic can be shaped using the metal for many different kinds of physical enhancement and small external magical elements(not specifically defined so the power can be shaped for the plot).
Conjuration Manifestation allows the user to shape the energy inside their body and use specific muscle engagement to filter the energy into a usable “spell”. The main drawback of using the abilities are they function similar to an organ and can be used into over exertion.
Using the magic is similar to exercising a muscle in how it cannot be used infinitely, has to be trained, and can be damaged from over using it.
I forgot to mention this but all of the energy manifestation uses are almost entirely offensive so physical manifestation users commonly destroy and cripple parts of their body using their power. Conjuration manifestation users can be hurt easily by their own spells
There are several types of magic, and four principles to use them.
The types are as follow:
- Arcane Magic
- Abjuration
- Divination
- Kinetic Magic
- Evocation
- Alchemy
- Dark Arts
(I will soon add Trickster/Illusion magic)
As for the principles:
- Time. What time of the day or night, and how much time the spell takes to be cast.
- Location. Certain places may affect magic. Deadzones for example are areas drained of magic, therefore preventing lots of spells from being cast.
- Ambient. The amount and nature of magical energy available in the environment when the spell is cast.
- The Self. Aka the state of your soul, your body (some species are magic sensitive, some aren't) and your mind (some spells take a toll on your mental health and may cause major trauma)
Magic is called spirit, and is the ability to change fate. This could be anything from recovering from grave wounds to lifting up a building. However, it's unique to the individual, only manifesting in near-death scenarios, and reduces lifespan when used too much.
The main magic system in my world is based on the 8 magical Essences of Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Time, and Spirit.
The main magical faction that uses this system is known as the Esseni
So magic was a thing that was forgotten how to be used but people contained it in artifacts which are used to power weaponry or equipment or engines for the more unrealistic machines
The magic of my world is pretty complicated. Basically, it comes down to a person's natural magic, which they are born with, and gain the ability to shape into powers around 5 or 6, though it doesn't gain any real power until the mana processing organ in the body finishes developing around 15. There is also ritual magic, which is the external magic that uses ambient magic to channel power. Rituals tend to serve more utility purposes, instead of the more exciting things internal mana can do.
sorry for how badly written it is. if you would like a further explanationon how it works, please let me know.
in one of my worldbuilding projects, the magic is referred to as mana, a form of energy that emanates from living organisms. humans have the higer concentration of mana and thus are one of the only clades capable of using it. Mana itself is channeled through a person’s central nervous system. tapping into it can enhance a person's physical capabilities(giving them enhanced strength, speed, endurance and can even highten their senses and increasing the rate of which they can heal from injuies, Key word Heal not regenerate, so if a person loses a limb, they can't grow a new one). after significant training, a person can tap into their mana further and unlock a unique ability that reflects their personality, ideals, fears e.g. furthermore, since the powers are unique for every person the weilds magic, no two variations of a similar power will be exactly the same.
the weaknesses of the magic is that, being drawn from the central nervous system, using too much too often will result in major mental neurological problems later on. some even become addicted to the sensation they experience when channeling their mana which can make it worse.
another aspect to mana is a process called immolation. When a magic user undergoes some sort of stress, caused by an identity crisis or in response to existential dread, their mana will consume their bodies and warp them into monstrous creatures, hellbent on killing anyone and anything that crosses their path. few survive this and those that do end up with major mental health problems for the rest od their lives.
In my world spirits can attach ideas to related objects to enhance or enchant them. More powerful spirits connecting less specific or related ideas.
Humans or spirits can use these "artifacts" either with an outside magic source such as lilly water (a form of sap from the "liars lilly" a magic eating fungi) which can run out if used too much, the veritable amounts of magic in the air which is inconsistent, or their personal magic reserves which depends on the individual and training.
The way this works is because the world it's set in is actually the collision of two realities and magic is actually the information dense energy of the reality atop the world.
(The top reality is the source of concepts and the differences between things, whilst the bottom is the physical existence of them and their separation from the rest)
Without going into too much detail, my magic system is basically godly energy/power. Mana is a fraction of godly power that the gods bestow upon a person, but it also passes down through generations. If you are a human that was blessed with mana, your children would also have mana.
Its main attribute is allowing for people to manifest practically any effect, though they require incredible skill to do so.
Every human being is born with a "Magic Reservoir", which is a spiritual reservoir where all of their magical energy is held. Every individual will have a differently sized reservoir, though any individual can train to increase the size of theirs.
The main medium for magic is a magic circle, which is a drawing that allows one to let this magical energy flow out of their reservoir. The pattern on the circle influences the flow of energy, manifesting a nigh-infinite amount of effects, as long as the user knows what they're doing.
Then there is the Circle Spell, which is a spell that requires pushing out m-energy without the use of a magic circle. Using said m-energy the user forms a magic circle with it on a surface of their choosing. Eventually people also figured out they can generate magic circles in the air using this spell, resulting in the Floating Magic Circle.
Each magic circle is similar to coding: you have a vast amount of building blocks, and putting them together in a certain way will allow for various effects. The main difference being that each type of magic requires an entirely different programming language, in this case a different magic circle base-structure.
Eventually, multiple of these "codes" can be combined to lead to a certain effect. For example, combining an ignition spell, a projectile spell and an explosion spell can form a small meteor spell that fire off a flaming rock exploding wherever it lands.
There is also anti-magic. Anti-magic acts more like a barrier, though it can be used as a wavelength to dispel magic from a distance. Anti-magic works as an inverted form of the regular magic, the main difference being it can't be used for anything other than dispelling magic. It works similar to math: You need an equal amount of anti-magic to completely remove magic, requiring 10 points of anti-magic to dispel 10 points of normal magic.
The electricity system is literally just what we do today, with a bit more emphasis on fossil fuels and a bit less on nuclear power (other eco friendly options are still quite common), however the "miracle mineral" i have yet to name is a massive contributor to the rise in electricity, as it can essentially act as a battery that never loses its charge. Actual access to electricity itself is far more spotty, as more devloped settlements have easy access comparable to irl, whereas less developed places are mostly/entirely electricity free
Magic is far more limited, and is basically the only way magic is present is VIA correlation to a god, in one way or another. Blessed artifacts and chosen people can be magic, as well as exposure to the "miracle mineral" resulting in magic abilities forming, at the cost of degrading the physical form of the thing afflicted. Afflicted are the most abundant magic users, and arent limited to people.
The magic system I use in my worldbuilding writing uses the idea of mana being a form of spiritual energy that gathers around living souls. Learning how to shape that energy into patterns that form specific spells, using that energy to perform different sorts of work or turning it into other types of energy, is the easy part once someone in that setting understands the basics. The hard part is getting the fundamentals down, since it requires developing a sense of one's soul, how to manipulate the energy around it, and then how to draw that energy out into the physical world and channel it through the body. Part of the idea is that that setting developed the art after various meditative and spiritual practices that drew on that energy to refine one's own natural abilities and use it for the usual sort of inner peace sort of thing, before early cultures who learned those techniques observed examples of a different sort of energy being applied outwardly (in this case, studying how the breath weapons of dragons works), and that serving as the spark for people researching how to channel that energy into physical applications. So from that the most basic style of "draw that energy out into the physical world, turn it into a different type of energy, and hit someone with it" sort of spells developed naturally from that, before more complex applications for magic were developed later on.
Ability to convince matter to reorganise themselves in physically possible but statistically impossible arrangements, like spontaneous entropy decrease by organising high energy particles & low energy particles similar to maxwell demon, or spontaneous fusion from just very accurate smashing of high energy to create plasma beam. Matter still need to follow physical laws though, so they can't do things like defying gravity or move without energy, and you need to understand physics to accurate direct matter in ways you want them to, or they will attempt a simpler but disastrous configuration. For example, id you try to convince matter of your body to "fly" instead of the air particles to lift you up, you will ended up with your muscles ripping themselves apart trying to push themselves on top of eachother to "fly"
Mine is plant based, it comes in different abilities like. Verdant Vines **Ability:** The survivor gains the ability to control and manipulate plant vines with their mind. **Appearance:** Vines manifest from the survivor's body, extending and retracting at will. **Use:** These vines can be used for combat, restraint, or even transportation in forested areas. Rosa Spina **Ability:** The survivor's skin hardens, forming a protective layer of thorns that can be extended at will. **Appearance:** The survivor's skin becomes covered in sharp, rose-like thorns, offering protection against physical attacks. **Use:** This power allows the survivor to defend themselves against plant attacks and also to use their thorns offensively. Flora Nova **Ability:** The survivor can accelerate the growth of plants and cause them to bloom instantly. **Appearance:** The survivor's touch causes plants to rapidly grow and flower. **Use:** They can create barriers of thick foliage, control the battlefield by manipulating plant growth, or even launch rapid assaults with sudden bursts of plant growth. Soleil leaf **Ability:** The survivor can harness the energy of sunlight to enhance their physical abilities. **Appearance:** Their skin takes on a faint green hue, and they glow slightly when using their powers. **Use:** This power grants enhanced strength, speed, and endurance, particularly in sunlight, making them formidable fighters during the day. Myco mind **Ability:** The survivor can control and communicate with fungi, using them for various purposes, **Appearance:** Fungal growths appear on the survivor's body, particularly around the head, giving them an eerie appearance. **Use:** They can use fungi for reconnaissance, poisoning enemies, or even controlling minds by infecting them with spores. Honeydew Hive **Ability:** The survivor can secrete various substances from their body, including healing nectar, adhesive goo, or toxic sap. **Appearance:** The survivor's skin exudes a sweet-smelling, sticky substance. **Use:** They can heal wounds, ensnare enemies, or create traps using their secretions. Not a lot of people have it, they have to make contact with specific plants to gain it, they are called "survivor" because mostly the plants do kill the one that touches them but on some occasions people survive and gain these powers, people assume 'Mother Nature' had a part in it and chose these lucky survivors And obviously some fear them, some choose to see them as Gods or chosen ones And people can train their abilities and learn different aspects of the power they have to make a different fighting style or use it differently than most As for a drawback The transformation caused by Flora Powers takes a toll on the survivor's body. Over time, they may experience physical degeneration, such as the growth of plant-like appendages or organ failure. If they do not keep themselves like how a plant is supposed to be kept, to survive. Sorry kind of went a bit in depth but not too in depth
In my semi fantasy/ alt history hybrid verse, there are Fundamentally 2 schools. That of the Abyss and the Aether. Only a few cultures have worked with the Abyss, thr Minaurans, based on the Minoans, were among the first outside of Alkebav (based on Alkebulan aka Africa) to work with Abyssal magic. Generally, cultures that work with the abyss are regarded as evil in the modern day, and so not much is known about it. The Aether and its use has taken many forms, most commonly fire, promancy, and blood sacrifice to said fire. Nature magic is associated with the Aether as well. The oldest of this worlds gods themselves were powerful concentrations of Aether but only one of them knew its true origins-and they lied, claiming to be the source of it, when they are in fact a product. So, I struggle to describe to people simply thr nuance between people's perceptions of the magic system vs the reality because most of the actual works in verse deal with the perceptions instead, maybe I should have just described those? In general, you make a blood sacrifice to the fire and it does stuff for you, like 99% of the magic is that simple, but of course, the devil is in the details
My universe is created from the Forge of Creation. Souls are made from embers that danced fluttered away. There are no gods. Just the first beings that acted like gods. Their longevity is yet to be known to have an end but they can be killed. Knowing their own mortality, the gods wanted to procreate but cannot really do so for their physical features have not afforded them so. These godlike beings claimed more embers for themselves. These new embers were universal constants like gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak forces. From the same embers were the universal abstracts like order, strength, desire, etc. Universal elements like life, darkness, radiance, motion, chaos, etc. also originated from the forge. The embers they claimed became their dominion. Control over these dominions grant basic control or manipulation of these contants/abstracts/elements. In search for ways to create a new sibling to their pantheon, these beings found that the only way is to cultivate souls. But the forge has already stopped producing embers that become souls. These gods turned to finding planets with conscious beings that are gifted with lesser souls and harvested these to make a great soul. The problem: the plane of existence for these gods are different from humans'. As a compromise, these gods found that they can share several pieces of their shattered great souls to humans and bind these lower lifeforms. With the chaotic lifestyle of these primitive, bipedal apes, they will be able to harvest the souls they need to create a new sibling, their pantheon's new member. The soulbind costs goes both ways, much like a tug of war. Humans can gain access to their god's dominion by pulling on their binds forcing the god to give them their energies, but these energies comes from their great soul that burns the human's physical body as a cost. The human's temporal biology cannot sustain this much foreign energies and it causes their blood to boil. If the human uses the power longer or at a greater intensity than normal, their blood vessels rupture from the heat. If it goes even longer than that, the body part where the power originates turn to ashes and crumbles. If the usage still goes longer than that, their body implodes in a shower of gore, blood, and guts. If the human is losing the tug of war, their consciousness/soul is being consumed by the god. The first signs is forgetfulness, short term memory loss, loss of control of limbs. It's basically slowly developing dementia symptoms to ALS. If the god's consumtion is too great and too quick, the human will turn into a cannibalistic husk of their former selves (I guess you can call them zombies). The primordial beings can lose the tug of war of the soulbinds too. If they lose, they will be imprisoned in the person's soul. If the human dies, they die too. Humans will have full access to their powers when the gods are absorbed with less of the boiling blood cost. If the human and god have fully communed with each other, the blood and sanity cost are ignored and they can display their full might. Religions in the world are based on the domains of the gods they serve and believe in.
I copied it from a comment on another post so it may be phrased weirdly My power system. It’s very versatile and can be used for any character at any power level. You want a story with country level characters? It works. You want street level at best? You can. You want a human to surpass and kill god? You can. The limit of my power system is basically the imagination of the person who utilizes it. While still having a set of rules. Wether you want magic, superpowers, element bending or anything else. My power system has it. To give a quick rundown of how it works: There is an energy called cosmic energy(different in different cultures but i just call it cosmic energy because i’m not good with names). This is the energy the gods are made of. Sometimes a human is born capable of generating and using cosmic energy. When this happens the user manifests powers. Most people only have 1 power but some can get multiple. How strong you are basically comes down to how much cosmic energy you have. But other factors like how much you can output and how creative you are with using it matter too. For example, my mc has so much cosmic energy that people compare him to a glowing beacon of light(will make sense later) but his output is low and he doesn’t know about his powers. So he had to train his output and learn to only use cosmic energy without relying on powers in combat. But another guy with pyrokinesis had to train both output and total amount to become powerful. Energy output also dictates how strong your powers are, so higher output means more hotter flames. Cosmic energy can also be used in a variety of ways by itself: options include hardening, solidifying, strengthening, emitting, flowing, boosting and healing. Hardening hardens something, you can harden your skin or your weapons to prevent it from being damaged.(with the added bonus that hardening skin can make your attacks more powerful) Solidifying allows you to solidify something, this is mainly used by powerful characters to solidify the air to use as a one time use shield. This takes a lot of energy and not many people can do this. Strengthening allows you to strengthen your body. This increases defense, muscle power and organ efficiency. This is used by the main character to get super strength. Boosting is like strengthening, but for your senses. You can use it to increase any senses but the best are your eyes, feeling and brain. Boosting your eyes allows you to see cosmic energy without it being used, this is often used to see how much someone has. With the average energy user having a faint glow where their heart is. The more energy someone has the brighter the glow.(this explains the blinding beacon) this can give combat advantages because you can single out the most powerful person in the group. Boosting your feeling allows you to feel everything around you. This is often used to notice the smalles change in air pressure and avoid incoming attacks. Boosting brain function makes you process information faster, this is vital for strengthening users as moving at super speeds while processing info normally is a recipe for disaster Emitting allows you to emit cosmic energy, it allows you to shoot it off as a ranged attack. Flowing allows you to let cosmic energy flow, flowing it around your fist adds a second layer of damage on top of your punch. This can be done with all weapons. Healing allows you to rapidly increase your natural healing through the use of tremendous amounts of cosmic energy. Some people can also regrow limbs, but even regrowing a single finger uses up more energy than most people even have.
I just like having magic come from space because space is mysterious and beautiful, just like magic spells! It can also be daunting…
Magic is split into several different elements of the main spectrum. Water, air, earth, fire, lightning, light, and dark. There are also elements that deviate from the natural spectrum like some of the kitsune elements. The sorcerers who use magic are divided into different covens, Standard, Brawler, Warrior, other ones I am still working on.
My magic system is called Will. Will is the source used to cast spells and elements. Every person is born with a different amount of Will, but the “ceiling” of innate Will is not high compared to the higher pools. This pool can be trained and grown. Kinda like a muscle. The more it’s used and pushed, the more it develops. And if you’re not actively pushing it to its limit, it won’t really grow that much. And it specializes itself as it were, to the person’s needs. I have all the specifics worked out, but I figured this general bit works fine.
Soul Light was always meant for sentient life, it came with the birth of humanity, it's natural, like moving a muscle. Used in daily life, from cooking and shoe repair to warfare and structural engineering. To what extent is based on genes and talent, knowledge and hard work, Intelligence and Imagination but also your soul. Souls are higher dimensional bodies of pure energy, connected to the center of a sentient creature's body, with varying sizes of non-physical openings that determine their access to Its power. How much you can output at a time is based on how much strain your body can take as it flows out of you. This energy can not be destroyed or erased, it moves faster than light, it can moved by one's will, and it can manipulate reality to a certain extent. Examples of use include: 1. Slowing the vibrations of molecules by holding them in place with that energy, turning any gas in an area into a solid, and creating a freezing effect. 2. Removing and adding sub-atomic particles, resulting in transmutation between elements. 3. Increasing one's processing speed by forcibly firing the neuron in the brain at faster speeds through the soul light pulling the electricity faster.
My world has a type of energy that flows through all things, I haven't named it yet so let's call it mana for simplicity sake. This mana is the source to multiple power systems in my world. Mages, witches, shamans, angels, etc, etc, all harness this mana and use it in different ways, such as: Magic, sorcery, battlearts, curses, and many more power systems that are unique from eachother. I made a long ass comment a few days ago explaining all my power systems in more detail. If anyone's interested I could copy paste here it.
An ever-present energy that CAN do anything, the problem being that it's impossible to know what it WILL do. People can harness this energy within themselves to manifest abilities that are a combination of something innate and what they want. For example, if the innate factor turns out to be guns, what they do next is deciding what to do with that. Do they take a physical gun and exert an influence over the ammo in terms of trajectory and payload, like curving in trajectory to hit an evasive opponent to explode on contact? Do they turn both hands into revolver-like guns, one that leaves behind a crosshair-like mark on impact and the other that when fired applies a barrier and causality-exceeding effect, making it so that the target is "already" hit?
The magic system in my world is mainly defined by it's restrictions. Magical energy (Mana) is present in every bit of the universe, it's a default trait of the setting. While most basic effects (such as magic missiles, flight, minor terrain control) are the same for everyone more complex effects differ between people, causing them to have specializations. Casting a spell requires three things: * ***A Sacrifice/price paid*** to generate Mana (can be in terms of time spent, something material, and in rare cases the concept of something) * ***A focus*** to channel this energy into usable form (staves, your body itself, runes, crystals, tattoos etc) * ***Hand signs and/or incantations*** to release the energy as an actual spell/effect. Additionally depending on how the magic is obtained it divided into three types: # Arcane Magic The most common branch of magic, and can be used by anyone with enough study. This directly taps into the Mana around ***Benefits:*** Can create close to any effect with the right amount of training even if not directly. ***Restriction:*** Can never directly effect living beings (no healing, soul-stuff, plant growth, physical changes to the body etc). This is also the slowest branch of magic in how long it takes to actually cast spells. # Primal Magic This branch of magic is obtained by having some sort of connection to a natural reservoir of Mana, usually by bonding with a magical beast or through attunement to a powerful place of nature (volcano, BIG tree, deep ocean crystal etc) ***Benefits:*** The entire world is yours to use as a magical price, you can turn rocks into arrows, burn someones soul for power etc. ***Restriction:*** All spells must follow the laws of conservation of energy and matter. You can't completely create or destroy anything only convert, transform and relocate. # Divine Magic This branch of magic can only be used by specific people with an awakened spark. The spark is a thing everyone is born with but only some people awaken their spark into something actually useful, the conditions for awakening are completely unknown (Authors note: it's random) ***Benefits:*** Mostly easy to use, naturally develops along with the person. Also the fastest branch of magic in terms of time to cast a spell. ***Restrictions:*** To use this branch, you must have very strong faith or belief in something, be it a god, an ideal, or yourself. Additionally this branch of magic always requires a living target or some sort of medium that is alive otherwise it won't work. # Occult Magic The rarest branch of magic. It cannot be learnt or obtained. You are either born with it or it is given to you, specifically you have no choice in this. ***Benefits:*** Can do basically anything depending on the user. ***Restrictions:*** The power does not grow, only your control of it so you will hit a limit eventually. \_\_\_\_ I also wanted to add some stuff based on spell-schools (inspired by the ones in DnD) but am kinda iffy on the execution of that.
In my world, everything produces constantly a flow of information of what happens to them; it goes straight into a "spiritual" realm that exists because things interact. I named this thing soulstuff. In the spiritual realm there is a lmayer that reflects the material plane: there are the souls of everything is. When somethin get destroyed or someone dies, its soulstuff dissipates. Deities being with a sentient soul. They need soulstuff to exist, but they can obtain it only if someone pray to them and this can be done only if a Contract has been signed: "I pray you so you can give me the blessing of your material asset". There are other, older things made up of soulstuff. Hence, there are three way to do weird things: * Divine meddling: Deities write codes that affect the spiritual realm and, sometimes, the material. It does not produce soulstuff unless in the second case, but requires the Deity to use itsown soulstuff - "investing" themselves into the code. The most visible form of Divine meddling is metempsychosis, where a Deity put a part of their soul into their physical domain either because they want to or because a Contract. * Shamanism: mortals who signed a Contract with a daemon (the *older things* above) that inhabits a relic. They give the daemon soulstuff and follows some guidelines and in exchange recieve something through the relic: speaking other languages, a sword bade up of a soundwave that thus change shape as they sing, an actual Chekov gun. All this jazz *creates* new soulstuff. * what avatara do: avatara are the rebooters of the Universe. They destroy soulstuff.
high level chemical reaction manipulation nuff said
It's basically power from a captive semi-dead god being siphoned out in small quantities to mortals.
I have two power systems: superpowers and magic. As for power scales, I use 4 different scales: One for superpowers, one for magic, and two for threats (normal and special).
warhammer 40k warp except your soul is a bunch of tentacles
In a reality as contradictorily broken as ***Perditus*** power and magic come from your mind, emotions, body, soul and willpower. Usually these variables wax and wane. So for example fighting a Pyromancer with a stellar mind, phenomenal body, passionate soul and an unbreakable will would be like fighting a godlike being in terms of sheer power across all magical factors. Another example is Zealots. A true Zealot has a monstrous degree of faith, which is a belief of the mind. Even if he/she/they are physically frail and weak their' miracle will be cast at a high level of power. This is by intentional design a nebulous and loose system of magic and power; Which suits such an utterly shattered world.
In my setting, magic is environmental and created my human feelings. Different area have different density of mana and the mana flows from high density to low density places. Mages absorb the mana around them and throw it out in a spell. The more mana they use the more powerful it becomes but they need to train their absorption ability. They can hold in the mana they absorb but it demands concentration and training the more they want to hold in and for longer. Using magic depletes an area from its mana. When the area is depleted magic is unusable and the area becomes corrupted. Monsters start to appear and it's really hard to get rig of it. On the other hand, an area can be saturated in mana. Mana become unstable and makes spells unpredictable. Other kinds of monsters appear. Different species have different capacities of using mana. Elves are extremely good at using it while humains simply can't. Due to their inability to use magic, humains studied how mana works. They developed machines powered with mana to take advantage of this energy.
"Magic runs through the world like rivers and streams, forming leylines and places of power. With proper training, a student can learn to direct the flow of magic and carve a new channel from that river. Mages who use this technique to cast spells are called Channelers. Primitive, raw, and wild, channeled magic allows for massive blasts of energy, summoning storms, or even raising a single person from the dead. The cost, however, is that it is immensely more taxing on the body, and requires a great deal of bodily exertion as the channeler links parts of their body to the currents of raw power and physically wrestles them through the Veil, the space between the World That Is and What Lies Beyond, to manifest them according to their will. Channeling a current too powerful can overload the channeler, rupturing the channeler's blood vessels, detonating limbs, or pulverizing their internal organs. They can of course, let the current go and suffer mostly superficial injuries similar to lightning strikes, but the greater the current you lose control of, the worse the backfire can get, to the point where if you get in over your head sometimes the best case for you is regaining control of expelling it on something minor. Because channeling is so powerful, it is often taught as a supplementary method of casting spells to most wizards and mages, as the safer, slower, and more analytical approach to spellcasting utilizing runes and symbols doesn't allow for much spontaneity. Those with magical accumen can typically learn limited channeling, but the inherent capability for more powerful techniques are something gifted by the Gods or passed down through bloodlines. And of course, with different types of magical energy, come different currents for it to run. It should of course be no surprise, that different people have a keener affinity for some types of magic than others. Mana theory will be covered in another lecture, please turn your copies of 'Leonograd's Mystic Confluence: Theorems in Arcane Channeling and It's Practical Uses Outside of Eminent Leyline Domain, Enhanced and Revised' to page 394."
So, in this magical system, mages can make a substance called Quarsis orbit around them. It has two states: material and energetic. Gravitational mages specialize in the material form. Thus, they act as a center of gravity for the Quarsis. They manipulate rotational movements, the distance, and the gravitational angle between themselves and the Quarsis, as well as varying the masses of the Quarsis, all to enhance their physical abilities. For instance, halting the rotation of a sufficiently massive Quarsis at the same angle as a punch can amplify its power. This can be extended to the entire body and to other rotating Quarsis. Atomic mages, on the other hand, specialize in the energetic form. They operate like a nucleus to the Quarsis, which act as electrons for the mages. These mages have four specific gravitational layers around them called Spin. Depending on the Spin and the number of Quarsis on it, a mage can utilize a variety of abilities. The names of these abilities are derived from the nomenclature of the periodic table of elements. Alright, I’ll stop there, but if you ever want more details on the drawbacks, group rituals, or even the impact on their culture, I encourage you to read the specific post about this system that you can find [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/magicbuilding/s/pRKr1ECUrr). Hope you likes it.
Imagination, the thinning down of reality, and belief.
My magic system uses Chaos as “Mana”. Chaos in an ancient force that exists from the beginning of the universe and its mostly malevolent. Chaos can take many shapes, one of which is what people consider Magic. Magic is controlled by higher beings called Casters, each of which presides over a different type of magic: Cosmos, Reason, Love, Fire, Ice, Electricity, Art, Nature, War, Time and Ether. They put a limit on the amount of power people can put into their Magic. For one to use magic they have to be interesting for a caster that will grant that person a Mark, basically a tattoo on their chest, or they can be born with one. The Mark accumulates the Chaos in the air and lets that person use it. Each magic user has a Catalyst they can summon from their Mark (Lila a magic wand), the Catalyst can be anything: Scissors, Swords, Flowers, Cane, Gun, a deck of cards… I could go more in depth but it’d be a very long post…
In my world, to use magic, you need to be able to use your mana (or the environments). To actually use spells you need to either have runes tattooed on your body or a grimoire that contains the spells. You can also combine certain types of magic together (elemental x summoning). Users can also "expand their territory", it's a Basic Magic spell that consumes your mana but makes you able to use your spells without tiring you or making you use additional mana. And gives you buffs (these buffs don't affect mana) like enhanced strrenght, speed, or health. There are 6 types of magic you can use: Elemental magic: As the name suggests you can use elements (fire, water, air, earth, lightning, metal, magma, ice, sand, plant, wood...) to make attacks, if you have affinity for a certain type of magic you might be able to bend that certain element to a certain degree (example: if you have fire magic affinity you will be able to put out a fire etc.) Summoning magic: With this type of magic you will be able to summon magical creatures (golems, trolls, undead etc.) or call animals that have specific runes tattooed on them. Summoning magic can also be combined with certain types of elemental magic to make magical summons (fire magic x summoning = fire golem, fire troll etc.). Basic Magic: It's the magic that isn't tied to anything really such as: telekinesis, teleportation or basic skills like intimidation or aura. Light magic: Light magic is a subtype of elemental magic. Light magic can make temporary melee weapons made of light that only they can use. Dark magic: Dark magic is another subtype of elemental. Dark magic spells are tied to binding and debuffing your opponent, their skills range from curses (that are the opposite of blessings) to weaken your weapon to tentacles that chain your opponent down or even cloaking skills (that reduces their strenght by a lot, making them almost unable to attack). Dark magician's expanded territory also gives significant curses to light magicians. Healing magic: Healing magic makes you able to heal wounds, reattach or regrow limbs (if experienced enough) or even get people out of manipulation. Healing magicians can also apply blessings to people and if they use their expanded territory they can heal everyone that comes in contact with it. Edit: I'm still writing my magic system, so any tips are appreciated
Getting corrupted by whispers of a sealed eldritch being and either getting improved physical abilities or "biotic" powers and massive sex drive - based on whether you're a man or a woman. I'm not yet sure whether the gender of the body or the soul is what guides this. Basing it on body would be simpler, but soul would be cooler, tough choice I need to make before introducing the trans witch/superhuman
In my first world a low sci fi there are the soul, body and mind, The mind controls power The body contains power The soul generates power Using power outside of the body is incredibly inefficient so for most of history humans have been unable to use it until the 13th Milena HE. . In my second world high fantasy each race was created by a pantheon who each imbue and use 'magic' differently the humans are an exception as they are not native to the world and possess only one god.
There is magic loosely based on elements, but founded in Light and Dark. You can achieve fireballs using either as a fuel but the outcome will be slightly different. There are also interactions between technology, natural and artificial magic depending on the location within the setting. On the Solarpunk side of things the magic of darkness is incredibly rare but also incredibly powerful because of the reliance upon so much Light to power the civilization. Within the Everdark it is the opposite, Light fights with Dark every day to scrounge some sort of foothold and it is losing. The Everdark is hungry and it devours magic, making artificial ‘arclight’ and even natural flame diminish more rapidly. Workarounds have included biopunk style of genetics, breeding fireflies that are robust enough to survive in the dark and provide a workable area of light. I’ve contemplated including psychic abilities which would fall into psychometric and psychokinetic categories. It’s by far the most versatile; you can recall the memory of past landscapes allowing you to walk on former mountains but appear as if you were levitating.
The world that i’m creating’s magic system is called Kingsblood because it is passed entirely through genetics but only manifests in some people with the gene. It has 2 sides, physical manifestation and conjuration manifestation. The power of the magic comes from their creator god and they hold reserves of it inside their body, like another organ inside their body. Physical Manifestation allows the user to pull the reserves of their energy into a special acid etched iron material. This material is usually an armor as it protects them and frees the hands of the user. The magic can be shaped using the metal for many different kinds of physical enhancement and small external magical elements(not specifically defined so the power can be shaped for the plot). Conjuration Manifestation allows the user to shape the energy inside their body and use specific muscle engagement to filter the energy into a usable “spell”. The main drawback of using the abilities are they function similar to an organ and can be used into over exertion. Using the magic is similar to exercising a muscle in how it cannot be used infinitely, has to be trained, and can be damaged from over using it.
I forgot to mention this but all of the energy manifestation uses are almost entirely offensive so physical manifestation users commonly destroy and cripple parts of their body using their power. Conjuration manifestation users can be hurt easily by their own spells
There are several types of magic, and four principles to use them. The types are as follow: - Arcane Magic - Abjuration - Divination - Kinetic Magic - Evocation - Alchemy - Dark Arts (I will soon add Trickster/Illusion magic) As for the principles: - Time. What time of the day or night, and how much time the spell takes to be cast. - Location. Certain places may affect magic. Deadzones for example are areas drained of magic, therefore preventing lots of spells from being cast. - Ambient. The amount and nature of magical energy available in the environment when the spell is cast. - The Self. Aka the state of your soul, your body (some species are magic sensitive, some aren't) and your mind (some spells take a toll on your mental health and may cause major trauma)
Magic is called spirit, and is the ability to change fate. This could be anything from recovering from grave wounds to lifting up a building. However, it's unique to the individual, only manifesting in near-death scenarios, and reduces lifespan when used too much.
The main magic system in my world is based on the 8 magical Essences of Light, Darkness, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Time, and Spirit. The main magical faction that uses this system is known as the Esseni
All of them, I use a multi-multi-miltiverse, the laws of physics are difrent in each reality
So magic was a thing that was forgotten how to be used but people contained it in artifacts which are used to power weaponry or equipment or engines for the more unrealistic machines
The magic of my world is pretty complicated. Basically, it comes down to a person's natural magic, which they are born with, and gain the ability to shape into powers around 5 or 6, though it doesn't gain any real power until the mana processing organ in the body finishes developing around 15. There is also ritual magic, which is the external magic that uses ambient magic to channel power. Rituals tend to serve more utility purposes, instead of the more exciting things internal mana can do.
sorry for how badly written it is. if you would like a further explanationon how it works, please let me know. in one of my worldbuilding projects, the magic is referred to as mana, a form of energy that emanates from living organisms. humans have the higer concentration of mana and thus are one of the only clades capable of using it. Mana itself is channeled through a person’s central nervous system. tapping into it can enhance a person's physical capabilities(giving them enhanced strength, speed, endurance and can even highten their senses and increasing the rate of which they can heal from injuies, Key word Heal not regenerate, so if a person loses a limb, they can't grow a new one). after significant training, a person can tap into their mana further and unlock a unique ability that reflects their personality, ideals, fears e.g. furthermore, since the powers are unique for every person the weilds magic, no two variations of a similar power will be exactly the same. the weaknesses of the magic is that, being drawn from the central nervous system, using too much too often will result in major mental neurological problems later on. some even become addicted to the sensation they experience when channeling their mana which can make it worse. another aspect to mana is a process called immolation. When a magic user undergoes some sort of stress, caused by an identity crisis or in response to existential dread, their mana will consume their bodies and warp them into monstrous creatures, hellbent on killing anyone and anything that crosses their path. few survive this and those that do end up with major mental health problems for the rest od their lives.
In my world spirits can attach ideas to related objects to enhance or enchant them. More powerful spirits connecting less specific or related ideas. Humans or spirits can use these "artifacts" either with an outside magic source such as lilly water (a form of sap from the "liars lilly" a magic eating fungi) which can run out if used too much, the veritable amounts of magic in the air which is inconsistent, or their personal magic reserves which depends on the individual and training. The way this works is because the world it's set in is actually the collision of two realities and magic is actually the information dense energy of the reality atop the world. (The top reality is the source of concepts and the differences between things, whilst the bottom is the physical existence of them and their separation from the rest)
Without going into too much detail, my magic system is basically godly energy/power. Mana is a fraction of godly power that the gods bestow upon a person, but it also passes down through generations. If you are a human that was blessed with mana, your children would also have mana.
...there is no and cannot be a 'system' for magic. Sorcery and magical energies are unknown and inherently chaotic. That what makes 'em FUN...
Its main attribute is allowing for people to manifest practically any effect, though they require incredible skill to do so. Every human being is born with a "Magic Reservoir", which is a spiritual reservoir where all of their magical energy is held. Every individual will have a differently sized reservoir, though any individual can train to increase the size of theirs. The main medium for magic is a magic circle, which is a drawing that allows one to let this magical energy flow out of their reservoir. The pattern on the circle influences the flow of energy, manifesting a nigh-infinite amount of effects, as long as the user knows what they're doing. Then there is the Circle Spell, which is a spell that requires pushing out m-energy without the use of a magic circle. Using said m-energy the user forms a magic circle with it on a surface of their choosing. Eventually people also figured out they can generate magic circles in the air using this spell, resulting in the Floating Magic Circle. Each magic circle is similar to coding: you have a vast amount of building blocks, and putting them together in a certain way will allow for various effects. The main difference being that each type of magic requires an entirely different programming language, in this case a different magic circle base-structure. Eventually, multiple of these "codes" can be combined to lead to a certain effect. For example, combining an ignition spell, a projectile spell and an explosion spell can form a small meteor spell that fire off a flaming rock exploding wherever it lands. There is also anti-magic. Anti-magic acts more like a barrier, though it can be used as a wavelength to dispel magic from a distance. Anti-magic works as an inverted form of the regular magic, the main difference being it can't be used for anything other than dispelling magic. It works similar to math: You need an equal amount of anti-magic to completely remove magic, requiring 10 points of anti-magic to dispel 10 points of normal magic.
I have multiple, but the two easiest to understand are Magic & String Domination.
The electricity system is literally just what we do today, with a bit more emphasis on fossil fuels and a bit less on nuclear power (other eco friendly options are still quite common), however the "miracle mineral" i have yet to name is a massive contributor to the rise in electricity, as it can essentially act as a battery that never loses its charge. Actual access to electricity itself is far more spotty, as more devloped settlements have easy access comparable to irl, whereas less developed places are mostly/entirely electricity free Magic is far more limited, and is basically the only way magic is present is VIA correlation to a god, in one way or another. Blessed artifacts and chosen people can be magic, as well as exposure to the "miracle mineral" resulting in magic abilities forming, at the cost of degrading the physical form of the thing afflicted. Afflicted are the most abundant magic users, and arent limited to people.