Building A Magic System, Part I

Magic is one of the biggest problems that a lot of writers deal with. The problem is that there seems to be a lot of moving parts to any decent magic system and it can be hard to figure out all of the parts. Worse, there needs to be some allowing for societal issues: If magic existed, how would it shape society as a whole? It would make ladies' night a whole lot more interesting if the girls could get together to summon demons and throw hexes, wouldn't it? Just imagine which sports would be popular if the athletes could cast spells or use magical equipment.

[Strictly speaking, "magic" is the ability to manipulate forces around the individual with a myriad of effects possible while psychics manipulate their personal power for specific effects. For the purposes of this article, they are the same and you can hash out their differences yourself.]

It's important to consider all of the various aspects of how magic works in your world because it can be really important to how your world works. For now, the exact issues are not going to be worried about, just the system itself. Most people tend to default to several different types of worlds (open magic but limited to some people, it's a secret, or there are two worlds), but that's not important right now; how magic is expressed is. With that in mind, there are a host of issues that need to be debated and considered; those listed are just among the biggest questions to ask.

[It's worth noting that you don't need to worry about what gamers call "game balance": The idea that you need to balance out power levels between characters of equal level. You're not designing a game, you're building a story. This means that your magic-users can range from those whose magic gives them a debatable advantage (the ability to cook food) to the ability to create islands. While they still need bodyguards (they're still fragile humans who can be surprised and need to sleep), they can deal with bigger problems than those protecting them; a soldier can only kill so many people while a wizard can destroy armies, if it works for your story.]

How Does It Work With Your Themes & Symbology

When you start looking at using magic, you need to know what kind of themes and symbols you're playing with. It may not seem so big, but most magic systems are steeped in symbols; it would be a shame to ignore that. If you're using a Chinese system, for example, you need to allow for dragons, a different astrology and base elements, and the overall effect of magic, while a Polynesian system needs to allow for the ocean, the connection between man and sea, and how prevalent spirits are.

The symbology of your magic will reinforce those details of your story and make them so much stronger.

This applies double to themes. Wiccan magic works well for emphasizing female-lead stories while a more hermetic system works better for a more patriarchal system. If I'm working with teamwork issues, rituals are a great system to work with: You need people working together to cast most rituals. If you're exploring sexual roles in society, tantric sex may be worth exploring while more prudish societies may be into white magic. You can even contrast your system of magic (wiccan magic in a patriarchal urban environment) if that helps reinforce your story.

This is where you need to start before you get serious about the rest.

Place in Society

The other consideration is what place magic has in your world's society. In most fantasy, wizards are the elite, with academies and libraries to support them while in others anyone even suspected of having the ability to cast spells is hunted down. In urban realism, the hedge witches are the people others go to for small miracles, like increasing the odds of pregnancy, love potions, and divination; it's all about the effects a little magic can have on people's lives. In more modern fantasy, the magical and mundane worlds are kept separate (sometimes even in different dimensions), with the magical beings prevented from interfering in mortal society by threat of death or worse. In some cases, you even have "magic-user" just being another career, like policeman or doctor.

The place magic-users have in society will determine a lot about the magic system: If magic is treated like a career, the system is more likely to have all sorts of rules; if it's treated like a remedy then the effect is more important than the rules. This is also going to help you through setting up the details of your system: Wizards tend to have expensive items like staves, books, and rare ingredients while a hedge witch is more likely to rely on spoons, pots, and whatever she can find in her kitchen. Thus, take at least a moment and decide what kind of society you have as it will have major ramifications.

Hard Magic is Better

"Hard magic" is when your magic system has actual rules; while it does limit your mages, it provides story ideas. This means that your mages have to follow actual steps to cast spells, there are solid limitations about which spells they can and cannot use, and most of the ramifications of spell use are known. This can also provide some additional inspiration as you debate how a mage would overcome his limitations, find a rare but needed component, or even how two mages would deal with having the specialty. The only problem is deciding on the rules.

However, it does mean that you'll need to stick by those rules; your readers will notice every time you get something wrong, and if your system works well enough you know you'll have people who claim to be bigger experts on your system than you are (which isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least they're talking about it, right?). It also means that you need to do something huge to change the rules, and sometimes those rules will prevent you from doing something cool (you do need to justify everything). This is a great system for those who love details and don't mind doing the homework, as well as love consistency.

Soft Magic is Better

"Soft magic" is when you worry more about the rule of cool ("If it looks cool, we're doing it!"). The magic-users may have normal limits, but there's nothing preventing them from ignoring those limits; there's nothing preventing your ice mage from letting go with a fireball. This is a good system for those worried more about emotional reality, where most of the conflicts are pure emotion more than anything else. Soft magic is more keyed to what you need it to do at the moment than obeying rules; if your magic is more sizzle than steak (you're more about selling the story than the world) or like rebelling against authority, this is your system.

Conflicts here are more about emotional issues than anything else: Why does a particular component work better for one mage than another? When a mage loses his mojo, he really loses his mojo, and needs to figure out how to get it back. Some mages really can't operate without their coffee or teddy bear, but when they have it they're scary. Stories with this sort of system are more worried about emotional conflicts and tend to be more thought pieces than hard magic stories, but they can also be more escapist since you're more worried about making a point than following rules.

What Is the Difference Between a "Vancian System" and an "Elemental System"?

Originally used in Jack Vance's "Dying Earth", the idea is that:

• Spells have a very specific purpose.
• You have a limited ability to cast spells, based on your intelligence, experience, and innate spell-casting ability.
• You must memorize your spells ahead of time, and you have limits on how many spells you can memorize (the same intelligence, experience, and innate spell-casting ability).

Conversely, in an elemental system, the caster has control over a specific element and must manipulate that in his spells, although the caster is limited by intelligence, experience, and innate spell-casting ability. You can also just let the mages cast whatever spells they want, subject to the usual limits or just let them cast spells out of any book/scroll/bad tattoo they find.

[Yes, you can change the stat you use to whatever you want; intelligence is the default more often than willpower, charisma, or even common sense, but it's your system.]

While it would seem that a Vancian system would do best for a hard-magic system, it can also work well for a soft-magic system (no one knows your full range of memorized spells, for example). Conversely, there are no reasons for the elemental system to be limited to soft magic worlds, and the other two can work with either concept.

Pure Thought Versus Physical Foci

Mages tend to be drama queens, and this is where it shows. Most mages need to make some sort of obvious sign that they are casting, be it words of power, gestures, or full-on dance numbers. They also need some sort of physical component, be it a stave, wand, or holding a necklace. Some even need something consumable for power (drugs, powdered gems, even souls). Others can never do particular actions or must do something (no left turns or must always wear green).

They can suffer from all of these or just specific ones; you can even place additional limits on certain spells.

This does three things for you:

1. Their use makes it feel magical.
2. Their lack can create some interesting conflicts to obtain the needed components. 
3. It provided some limitations (thus the reason mages are so often bound and gagged).

You can provide additional limitations if it works with your universe; universes with cyberwear (like cyberpunk and science/magic hybrid universes) limit the spell-casting of abilities of mages with prosthetics. Other systems require that the mage wear all-natural clothes, no clothes, or make-up, or even truly bizarre clothes (like rubber suits). Some even limit the location (either "only here" or "not here") or require a magical circle or pentagram.

Conversely, if you don't want to deal with limitations, you can just let the mages concentrate on the chosen effect and it happens. This doesn't mean you can't place some limitations (like locations or they can't use their abilities while wearing a necklace with tiger's eye charm) on their use, it just means that they don't have all of the limitations you're used to seeing in high-fantasy. Sure, they can do better with gestures, but that doesn't mean the gestures are needed.

Training Rules

Sometimes, you're going to need training to unleash your magical potential. This can either be time at an academy or an apprenticeship with a local shaman. It can even be years of servitude or some sort of initiatory experience (a maze or a demonic contract); the bottom line is that the character's powers come from an outside source and/or need some sort of training to be properly expressed. This is great if you're trying to establish some sort of mystic tradition or that everyone is part of a greater whole, or showing how corrupt power structures are. It's even good to show the importance of rebellion and/or teamwork.

Instinct Rules

However, not all mages are taught. Some gain their abilities through enlightenment or meditation, or even being exposed to some sort of magical substance. In some cases, they are born with their abilities and those abilities have always been with them or they needed to wait for something to happen (usually puberty or some sort of ceremony). While training can help them, it's not necessary; they can get better at their abilities through just using them. This is great for stories of self-reliance, independence, or even persecution.

[Yeah, there is obviously a mix of the two possible: You can be born with some sort of inherent ability (it may even be necessary to have this to cast spells), but you need training to properly cast spells. This does mean that some will have wasted potential. You can even have spells or circumstances (must begin training by their 13th birthday or retain their virginity) where that inherent ability dissipates. Conversely, you can have situations where they need to gain some inherent ability before they can train, such as mutants not gaining powers until puberty.]