Magic Systems: 7 Things to Consider When Creating Your Own

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If you’re writing fantasy, then you know how much there is to consider when it comes to worldbuilding. One of the most important things you’ll need to consider is your magic system.

Magic is a fundamental element of fantasy. Think of magic as an equivalent to our real-world technology: it’s a constant factor that’s already a natural part of our lives. Take it away and everything falls apart. Some would even argue that fantasy without magic is not fantasy (but that’s an ongoing debate).

Magic, when done right, hooks the reader into understanding more of your world and how the “physics” of it works. Your system needs to be as foolproof as it can possibly be; leaving holes and gaps will leave your story susceptible to collapse.

It is important to note that there is no “right” way to create a magic system. Everything depends on how magic fits into your story. This article is meant only as a guide to help you find your own system. So et’s begin, shall we?

Essential Questions for Creating a Magic System

Keep these questions in mind to keep yourself on the right track when creating your own magic system. They will help you not only in defining your magic system, but also incorporating it into your story.

1. Who can use magic?

There are three general cases of magic usage in a fantasy story: everyone’s using it, some people are using it, or no one’s using it.

Your case directly affects how rare or common magic is in your fantasy world. Take Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera, for example. Virtually anyone has the ability to command elemental forces called furies. It’s a major plot point in the series when someone doesn’t have such an ability. See how mere magic usage heavily affects a plot?

This can be further broken down into sub-questions, like:

  • Is magic inherited, gifted, obtained, or learned?
  • Is magic allowed to be used freely and openly?
  • Is there an element in the story that restricts the use of magic, or even bans it entirely?
  • How rare are the people who can use magic?

2. Where does magic come from?

The source of your magic can be well defined or left as an abstraction. It depends solely on what works best in your story. Whatever direction you choose, there needs to be a solid backstory to your magic that explains how magic was discovered and integrated into the world.

In John Bierce’s Mage Errant series, magic is sourced from the slow decay of the universe. The weathering of the fabric of the universe itself is what generates “aether”, a necessary energy to cast spells.

As an author, you need to know these things, even if you choose not to include them in the story:

  • Do the people in your fantasy world know where magic comes from?
  • How was magic created and how did people come to use it?
  • Does it only have one source or multiple sources?
  • Is the source limitless or limited?

3. How is magic used?

You need to create a solid explanation of how magic is manifested, controlled, and directed, and what effects it can have in your world. There needs to be a “trigger” to your magic that is easily understood by your readers.

How magic is used also translates to how magic-users function in their society. For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, bending is not only a military or police asset, but also used in day-to-day tasks.

With this in mind, most authors add a “training” sequence to their stories, to further explain and explore how magic is activated in their world. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Is magic activated through a physical or mental process?
  • How does channeling magic feel to its user?
  • Do users need a medium to use their magic?
  • Can magic only be performed under certain conditions?

4. What does your magic do?

You also need to define what your magic can and can’t do. This will establish how your characters will use it, and how it affects your world. Knowing this will make it more consistent, and easier to understand for your readers.

In Brent Week’s Lightbringer series, magic users, or “drafters,” can channel different spectrums of light into magic, with each spectrum having different effects and uses. Most of these drafters can only access one spectrum, thus limiting how they use their magic.

Some of the questions you’ll need to ask yourself are:

  • Does your magic have a physical or mental effect?
  • Do people have different magical abilities? If so, is it innate or learned?
  • Can your characters improve their abilities, or are they limited by it?
  • Does magic follow the character’s will or does it have a mind of its own?

5. What’s the price of using magic?

If you’re not careful, your magic system might become an overpowered element if you don’t balance it with the proper costs. There needs to be something at stake every time someone uses magic in your story.

In Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle, magic is performed at the cost of the user’s energy. although this can be circumvented to an extent by drawing energy from other sources, or by storing energy in gems to use for later.

Think on these questions:

  • Does using magic drain your physical or mental strength?
  • Does improper use of magic have an effect on the user?
  • Does your character need to sacrifice something in order to use magic?
  • Is the cost recoverable, cumulative, or permanent?

6. What are the limitations?

Just like in Question 5, if magic were all-powerful and limitless, it would make for a pretty boring story. After all, where’s the danger and struggle? Implementing rules and limitations to your magic system ensures that it stays rational and believable.

In Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist, the infinite potential of alchemy is limited by the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Simply put, in order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be destroyed. Alchemists can’t just turn rocks into gold, as they’re not of equal value.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

  • Are there certain elements that have an effect on magic?
  • Can magic be dispelled, redirected, or destroyed?
  • What effects does magic generally have (and not have)?
  • Is magic reliable in your fantasy world?

One great technique for fleshing out your magic system is listing down everything that magic can and can’t do.

7. How does it fit into your story?

Now it’s time to get on the story level and figure out how to integrate it into your story. Because if magic’s not going to have much of a role in your narrative, why’d you even bother making a magic system, right?

Of course, this process naturally occurs as you explore your book. It’s something you develop as you progress through your setting, characters, and worldbuilding. But here’s a few questions to consider as you go:

  • Are the societies and cultures from your fantasy world built around magic?
  • Is magic woven into everyday lives, or considered a rarity?
  • What do most people think of magic in your world?
  • What are some of the stories and lore that surrounds magic-users?

Hard and Soft Magic Systems

Now, depending on how you go at it, your magic system can be classified into two things: hard magic, or soft magic.

Popularized by Brandon Sanderson, hard magic systems follow rules and limitations. The narrative reveals the mechanics of how the magic works. In contrast, soft magic systems leave most things up to interpretation. There are no clearly defined rules and limitations, and little is revealed regarding how the magic operates.

Of course, both have their pros and cons. For starters, hard magic systems are more believable and grounded in reality, but they’re also more rigid and easy to anticipate. Soft magic systems, on the other hand, are less believable and sometimes more confusing, but create a better sense of wonder and enjoyment.

Unique Magic Systems to Inspire You

Having trouble starting with your system? Here are a few works of fantasy with delightfully unique magic systems to inspire you.

1. Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson

In the world of Scadrial, magic is called Allomancy. Magic-users, known as allomancers, have the ability to “burn” ingested metals to activate a variety of enhancements and abilities. Most allomancers can only burn one type of metal (called Mistings), while extremely rare ones can burn all of them (called Mistborn).

There are 16 allomantic metals in all, with two “God metals” sitting outside the 16. Each metal has a corresponding ability. Steel can be burned to push on nearby metals, while Iron is used to pull. Using these two together, Mistborn can simulate flying by rapidly pushing and pulling themselves off metals.

2. Godless by Ben Peek

Magic comes from the gods. Well, to be more precise, all the gods are dead, and magic powers can be attained by eating their corpses. Kinda yucky, but it’s definitely unique!

But anyone who’s eaten a god is probably going to die a messy death—because even if the human body is godly enough to manifest magic, it’s definitely not enough to contain such power for long.

3. Powder Mage series by Brian McClellan

Technically, there are three magic systems in this series. There’s an element-based system tied to hand gestures, a voodoo-based system tied to dolls and blood, and the one we’re here for: a system tied to gunpowder.

Powder mages, as they’re called, snort gunpowder like it’s cocaine, resulting in enhanced physical abilities, senses, and reflexes. They’re also able to remotely ignite any sources of gunpowder, control the resulting explosion, and redirect it anywhere they want.

4. The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham

Poets are dangerous in this book. Their magic is based on sorcerous verses that can even ensnare gods. Their powers allow them to manifest living, physical beings called andat from just their abstract ideas, and use the andat’s godly powers for different purposes.

But the andat have their own minds and wills, constantly dancing with the poets that imprisoned them and looking for chances to break free and enact vengeance on their captors.

5. The Earthsea Series by Ursula K. LeGuin

Le Guin’s idea is probably the most ripped-off magic system out there. In Earthsea, everything has two names: a descriptive name for everyday use, and a true name in the Old Speech. Wizards who discover anyone’s true names have power of these individuals.

In order to channel magic, you’ll need to speak the true names of things out loud. But it’s more complicated than that—see, even the smallest pebble has its own specific name. Wrongly uttering an object’s true name can lead to catastrophic results, from creating murderous shadows, to the death of the afterlife itself.

Making Your Own Magic System

As a writer, you want a system that’s enjoyable to write, and as a reader, you want something that’s enjoyable to read. Much as they sound similar, the two are often not the same thing. That balance between writer and reader enjoyment can only be achieved when you take each side’s views into consideration.

It’s hard to create a magic system from scratch, especially when you intend to go on a less traditional route. And of course, you want yours to be unique. But more often than not, you’ll spend a lot of time creating one, only to find that it’s already in use somewhere. It’s a tough process, and one you’ll probably encounter a lot of times.

And don’t forget about your other elements too! Magic systems are important and all, but it’s not the only component that you need to worry about in your story—there’s your setting, conflict, character development, and more.

Have you devised your own magic system? Share it in the comments below!

 

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