{"id":454,"date":"2011-03-03T10:21:11","date_gmt":"2011-03-03T15:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=454"},"modified":"2014-03-12T13:32:55","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T18:32:55","slug":"creating-a-magic-system-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=454","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Magic System, Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 1<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Part 2<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Part 3<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Part 4<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Part 5<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0Part 6<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the course of the series, I’ve looked at how Strength and Prevalence<\/a> affect a magic system and a setting, how Style and Powers<\/a> shape and define that magic system, and finally how Magical Interaction and Items and Artefacts<\/a> impact the setting and system. Today is the last of the posts in this part of the series, and I’ll be looking at a few bits and pieces that have cropped up during the course of writing. I won’t be marking them as choices, because I don’t think they’re on the same level, but I do think they are rather important all the same.<\/p>\n

Randomness <\/strong>\u2013 Is magic in the setting random? If so, how much? Randomness can be outstanding fun as an author, because it allows your mage to try killing the villain with a massive spell, only to have him turn in a small cuddly penguin instead. But it can also be a crutch, because it allows the writer to conjure wildly improbable effects to rescue the protagonists from trouble, rather than intelligently writing the scene.<\/p>\n

The other way in which random magic can be used is in a grim manner, wherein the casting character is begging and pleading for things to work, but knows that they will not, that most of the time, the magic that he is calling upon will either do nothing or actively harm him in some way.<\/p>\n

It is important to note the distinction between random spellcasting and random spell effects. Random spell effects are usually used in a humorous manner, although this isn’t always true. Random spellcasting often endangers the life of the character or those around him, and is generally the method of choice for grimmer outlooks on magic.<\/p>\n

Sourcing <\/strong>\u2013 Where does the magic come from? I’ve spoken about this a little before, but it needs going into in further detail. Is the power a gift from the gods, dependant on that god still being ascendant, and upon that god’s whim? Is it from blood sacrifice, where only the death of a living creature will call the forces to the caster? Is it from infernal sources, a dark pact with a demon?<\/p>\n

Each of these affects the way the magic is portrayed, and also the reliability of that magic. In general, sources that come from nature (the character, the elements, even blood sacrifice) tend to be stable in usage. Their strength and powers are repeatable. Whereas demonic or religious power often depends on the whim of a malevolent outside force, one who would be all too happy to see the character fail.<\/p>\n

This often ties into randomness, for certain sources are more likely to be random than others. Likewise, it impacts how the character is portrayed. If the power is within him, it is entirely and exclusively his own. If the power is external, he is a conduit for a source greater than himself. If it is demonic or blood related, the character is usually, but not always, evil in nature. Or at least straddling that line. On the other hand, elemental and natural powers imply a close bond to the land, to the outdoors, and so on.<\/p>\n

Range <\/strong>\u2013 How far can the magic reach? At first this sounds like a bit of an odd statement, but it’s a rather important one. If a magician can cast a spell hundreds or thousands of miles (say, through a looking glass), then the writer has created a character who has godlike powers to a greater or lesser degree. He can look in upon characters and curse them, slay them, or bless them as might be his wont for the day. This generally means that there has to be a way to avoid the omniscient gaze, and often much of the story revolves around hiding from sight.<\/p>\n

The other aspect that comes into play frequently is teleporting. If it is that easy for a character to cover great distances, then it is disruptive to the world as a whole, because there is very little information lag, and there is no great need to journey through wilderness. It is an even faster method of transportation than aeroplane, and think of how international flight has changed the modern world. It’s certainly something to consider when designing a magic system and a setting.<\/p>\n

That wraps up my advice on Creating a Magic System. The next two posts will be me exploring the choices raised herein as I design a new magic system as an example. Look for Ferrous Timber<\/strong> in about a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 1\u00a0–\u00a0Part 2\u00a0–\u00a0Part 3\u00a0–\u00a0Part 4\u00a0–\u00a0Part 5\u00a0–\u00a0Part 6 Over the course of the series, I’ve looked at how Strength and Prevalence affect a magic system and a setting, how Style and Powers shape and define that magic system, and finally how Magical Interaction and Items and Artefacts impact the setting and system. Today is the last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[6],"tags":[50,19],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-7k","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":449,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=449","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":0},"title":"Creating a Magic System, Part 3","date":"February 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1\u00a0-\u00a0Part 2\u00a0-\u00a0Part 3\u00a0-\u00a0Part 4\u00a0-\u00a0Part 5\u00a0-\u00a0Part 6 So over the course of the series, I've looked at how Strength and Prevalence affect both a magic system and a setting, and how Style and Powers shape and define that magic system. Now I'm going to examine Magical Interaction and Items and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tips"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":479,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=479","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":1},"title":"Creating a Magic System Final and Contest","date":"April 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1\u00a0-\u00a0Part 2\u00a0-\u00a0Part 3\u00a0-\u00a0Part 4\u00a0-\u00a0Part 5\u00a0-\u00a0Part 6 So it's been a little while since I've updated this series, and for that I apologize. However, in the meantime I've been working on finalizing the contest that will run after this post is over, as well as being delayed by the real\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tips"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=444","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":2},"title":"Creating a Magic System, Part 2","date":"February 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1\u00a0-\u00a0Part 2\u00a0-\u00a0Part 3\u00a0-\u00a0Part 4\u00a0-\u00a0Part 5\u00a0-\u00a0Part 6 Last time, I looked at how Strength and Prevalence affect both a magic system and a setting. This time around, I'm going to look at Style and Powers. First off, a little background on each. Style is how the interactions with magic are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tips"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":440,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=440","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":3},"title":"Creating a Magic System, Part 1","date":"February 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 In my eyes, what sets fantasy apart from any other setting is magic. How it is handled, the strength, the interactions, but mostly its very existence. Magic is the glue that holds a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tips"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":463,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=463","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":4},"title":"Creating a Magic System, Part 5","date":"March 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 1\u00a0-\u00a0Part 2\u00a0-\u00a0Part 3\u00a0-\u00a0Part 4\u00a0-\u00a0Part 5\u00a0-\u00a0Part 6 So, I've spent the last four posts giving my thoughts on how to design a magic system, but I'm sure many of you are curious as to how all of this would work in practice, so I'm going to spend this post and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tips"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":393,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=393","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":5},"title":"Wheels of Persecution","date":"December 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This story is a continuation of Into The Swamp \u201cBugger! Bugger! Bugger!\u201d Ellgis cursed long and loud as the bucket of stones was hoisted into the air. Even with his inventive pulley system, the strain still showed in his back and face. Fryca watched anxiously, slowly paying out a guide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flash Fiction"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}