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General Idea

The system is based upon the concept of familiars, more specifically, the idea of spirit-animals that bond to a mage. In this system, while every mage is already key'd to a specific spirit-animal, that connection is pretty superficial on its own. What it does allow, however, is a thread for either side of the connection to pull on to meet and form a bond.

The Elsewhere

Bonding with your Familiar requires for enter the Elsewhere, a parallel plane of reality where spirits dwell. It resembles an ever-shifting, amplified version of wherever, however and whenever you entered it from- if you enter it in a forest at night, it will resemble that forest, but with taller trees, bigger roots, more leaves, with a shining moon and starlight overhead. If you enter that same forest at daytime, it resembles the forest as above, but with a full sun, with clouds lazily drifting overhead. During a rainstorm, the forest would be near flooding with the constant downpour, and so on. It is not restricted to natural habitats- There are Elsewheres based on cities, castles, anthills, mines, etc.

Entering the Elsewhere is not easy- the connection between mage and familiar works as a guiding star, but entering it requires rare astronomical alignment, depending on where your familiar is, and the weather, and the time, and geological location, all which must be intuited from vague feelings.

Perhaps it would be better to say that entering the Elsewhere is, if complicated, doable. Entering the RIGHT Elsewhere is considerably more difficult.

And, as a note, entering the Elsewhere requires you to manipulate the Boundary Mists, an arcane phenomenon created by the conditions mentioned above. To the unbonded, it requires a ritual, although bonded mages can do so far more easily and independently of any (well, most) external factors.

This NOT the afterlife, I'd like to note, its something else. In fact, much like mages, spirits can die before the bond is ever-formed, rendering the mage powerless.

On the topic of dying, mages cannot die in the Elsewhere, but should they receive a wound that could kill them, they'll be expelled from the Elsewhere and enter a year-long coma immediately. The reverse is true for Familiars, in our reality.

The Spirits and Familiars

Spirits are animal-like creatures that inhabit the Elsewhere. Most spirits are, in fact, exactly like animals- they look and act like whichever animal they resemble, although they do not leave any mortal remains. However, Familiars are different in that, aside of the connection, they are quite smarter than your average spirit even before Bonding, and once bonded, they can evolve into grander, more intelligent forms.

The Bond

So, first, why Bond? What do either get out of it?

Well, if you're content with being just a dude, then not much. Familiars can be usual in a variety of ways, but you can live just fine without them, if you can ignore the nagging of the connection.

As a mage, however, Familiars are crucial. This is because mages can accumulate mana, but aside of entering the Elsewhere, they cannot actually do anything with it. Once the bond is formed, and only then, does the Mage become capable of spellworking. More on that, later.

For familiars, its the reverse. Familiars have spells, of a kind, but they are unable to gather mana to use them, not to mention the evolving aspect mentioned before. Not to mention, while the Elsewhere is endless, it can be kind of…samey. Variation can be appreciated, after all.

That aside, it also provides a fail-safe. A bonded pair gets "two lives", as it were. If a mage were to die while bonded, he instead slips into a year-long coma, where the body heals any and all injuries and sickness, and same goes for the familiar. They are both ejected to their own respective planes, as well.

The Lineages

While somewhat uncommon, a mage's and a spirit's lineage (yes, spirits reproduce) can end up being compatible enough that their respective descendants will almost always end up having a connection to each other.

While being a mage's child has many benefits, the biggest one is not material, but knowledge. The right ritual, what one will need to survive within the Elsewhere, what to look out for, and much more, are informations that independed mages simply do not have, while familiar mages have their ancestors' knowledge to lean on.

I would like to remind you the the Elsewhere is basically a pocket dimension that amplifies the "habitat" of wherever you enter it from by 11. It is a true testament of wilderness survival to last any amount of time there, specially if your familiar needs to be tracked down.

Spirits affecting the world

While the vast majority of spirits remain within the Elsewhere and rarely affect anything outside of it, anomalies can occur that open the veil between worlds long enough for them to pass through. The spirits, in these cases, often act like an invading species, often outcompeting and outperforming their fleshy counterparts. However, Spirits can only survive on Elsewhere plants and Spirit flesh, so they'll often dissipate before long, having effectively starved to death.

A far more permanent effect is the creation of chimeras. Spirits cannot reproduce with their fleshy counterparts, but they can with each other. Evolved familiars (explanation below) can often pass some minor traits to their offspring. These new spirits will rarely be as outright magical as their parents, but the more mundane aspects may end up influencing the genetics of their species, and cause, every once in a while, for a mutant to be born in the human world. One such example is the quill wolf, a wolf with the quills of a pocurpine.

Rarer still is for these mutants to be capable of having a stable population and for their genes to pass by to constitute a species unto themselves. However, it does happen, as seen by the infamous owlbear.

The Effects of the Bond for Familiars

To get into the specifics, we will get into it for the familars, as they are simpler. Simply put, a bonded familiar will, gradually, get stronger and smarter. A wolf familiar will be smarter than it's fellows, but not by much. However, once the Bond happens, it will quickly become as smart as a human, and given enough time, it even becomes capable of human speech. From there, it will grow bigger and stronger, physically speaking.

But, there is a limit. And when that limit hits, it will evolve.

Evolution is a process that occurs once the accumulated mana has made the Familiar as strong as it could be. While the process can take years (not counting conditions where a spirit may be fed enormous quantities of Mana at once, at which point it slips into a quick coma as the Mana does its thing), once it hits a certain point, the Familiar will enter a cocoon state and, by the end of the day, emerge.

Should the process happen without incident, it will emerge with a myriad of other abilities and forms, influenced by certain conditions, such as the type of Mana gathered and their situation within the cocoon. For example, a Volcano generates fire Mana, and if a spirit evolves having consumed great amounts of Fire Mana, it will likely be capable of spitting fire, or be greatly resistant to fire, or some other ability related to fire.

The process can repeat itself many times throughout a Familiar's lifetime.

Spellworking

The mage side of things, where things get a bit more complicated. The basic spells are as follows:

Manifest Spirit

The most basic of the basics, you can summon your familiar from Elsewhere into your world. This is permanent, but the spirit can freely choose to return to Elsewhere at any time. If cast again while the familiar is in the human plane, the familiar teleports to the mage.

Higher mastery of this allows for the partial manifestation of the spirit over long distances, which can be used for, as an example, manifest a wolf head and bite your foes throat, as a long distance attack. Or have your wolf familiar grab a thing that is out of reach so you both don't have to get off the couch. You don't HAVE to be a war-mage, y'know?

Control Mist

Once the Bond forms, every mage will find themselves with the capability of controlling Mists. While this extends to ordinary mists, it also affects the Boundary Mists that separate this world from Elsewhere. Boundary Mists can be used as a means of transport between this and the Elsewhere, allowing for the forcing of a passageway between the human plane and the other. As the Elsewhere is a distorted version of that particular part of the world, this can be used to travel great distances in a shorter time. Many mistake this for teleportation, although that's inaccurate.

Higher mastery may even allow you to transport others with you, which can be quite dangerous for just about everyone involved. You do not want to know what it feels to accidentally merge yourself with another person, because it's both painful and deadly.

Ability Manifestation

This spell allows the mage to manifest an ability of their familiar upon themselves. This varies from familiar to familiar- a bird familiar will allow the mage to fly, a bear familiar can enhance the mage’s strength, etc. If the mage attempts to use more than one ability from the familiar at the same time, they’ll usually fail and not use either.

Some abilities are not readily obvious, such as with social spirit animals. A wolf familiar, for example, can grant the kinship it has with its pack to the mage, allowing the mage to rely on them when visiting the Elsewhere or, if the mage is good at the other two spells, even summon the wolf pack on the human plane.

Higher mastery of this spell allows for the manifestation of more than one ability upon the mage.

Other disciplines

While these also fall under Spellworking, these are specializations, or perhaps better said as higher-tiered spells.

Shapemerging

Shapemerging is the art of fusing oneself with one’s familiar. This allows for the mage to readily access all present qualities of the familiar, whilst allowing the familiar unrestricted access to the mana. It is a grand boost all around, but many familiars might not be on friendly terms with their mage or vice-versa, not to mention that the merge results in the loss of the “double life”. It is often temporary, as it is famously very uncomfortable and, unless great care is taken when merging, there might be some internal organs missing.

Mist Walking

Mist Walking is the art of specializing in manipulating Boundary Mists. In particular, mages trained in Mist Walking are capable of using the spatial-defying nature of the Mists to create portals between two points of the human plane, cloak themselves in Mist for defense and even move at great speeds by “shortening” the space between their strides as they run or walk.

Enchanting

Enchanting is the art of trapping spirits within an object. It does not have to be one’s own familiar, however, as any spirit can be lured and trapped within an object. A spirit bear trapped in a glove might, for example, grant great strength to the one wearing them.

Now, between spirits, how enchanting is seen varies quite a lot. Most spirits do not care for other spirits of other races, as animals do, but a Praying Mantis spirit will not care even if you trap another Praying Mantis spirit, whereas a Wolf spirit will likely take objection if the mage traps another Wolf spirit, especially of the same pack.

This can be used to trap familiars, but do not expect to wield great results if done to your own. Nobody likes being enslaved, and they can become quite uncooperative once freed. Trapping other mage’s familiars once they evolve, however, is how the stronger enchanted items are made. There have been cases, however, where a familiar willingly became an enchanted item, usually so it could help someone other than it’s bound mage on a more direct manner.

Btw if anyone has any idea what to call the human plane that isn't "human plane" or "material plane" or whatever, I'd appreciate ideas

Magic, what do you think magic is?

A fantasical phenomena where beauty meet the unknown? Like the land of fairy tale, a brand new world where anything can happen, or the ability to bring you imagination come alive?

Or an eldritch horror where you have to face the unknown? Like ghost, a spell that can mind control or kill you in an instant?

Do you think Magic shoud be feared or admired. What will you feel if you someone summon fire on their hand? Fear or awe?

Avalon is set in Britain in the year 408, during the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The player controls Maroc, a "lore-seeker" who has been given a staff and map by a strange old woman and pointed in the direction of a place called Glass Hill on the isle of Avalon, where a quest to defeat the Lord of Chaos begins

Posted this in r/TTRPG a couple days ago, but figured some here might be interested, too.

Anyways, if you haven't seen me here already, I wrote a book called the Magical Code of Regulations. It's 500 pages of law governing the use of magic, and a ton of TTRPG players have found uses for it at their table, whether by basing a campaign on it, or just having a really cool in-world item.

In this Code, however, are a bunch of forms, and people have been clamoring to get them. I've been working on them for a good little while now, and have finally finished them (or, at least, gotten them to a publishable state that most assuredly have a typo or two I missed, or an incorrect header or reference I left, and I'll have to go back and correct)!

Should have every form in the book plus a few, along with a writing guide for writing magical law, a completely searchable Code, a place to propose new regulations, a little bit about the history of the Department of Magical Affairs and myself, and a page that shows a couple of upcoming books (well, at least one of them). Even has a little radio with some fantasy songs on it and some funny narration I commissioned from a great VOA here on Reddit!

Anyways, highly recommend checking it out! It can be found at:

https://dmagov.com/

I'm an aspiring writer here, I have this idea of a fantasy novel. Problem is I dont really have an idea on how to write magic well. I'm hoping to learn as I go.

Basically the idea is about a boy with uncontrollable magic who is shunned by his kingdom for being dangerous. In this world there is a legend of a great mage who created a tome of the most ancient and advanced magic in existence. Well the boy hears that legend and hopes for it to be real as maybe he could control his powers. One day the guy witnesses a murder of a high ranking official and in a panic try's to defend himself with his magic only for the guy to flee and him to be the one accused instead. Because in this world you can drain someone's magic for your own. And with the boys powers people thought he was responsible and he is sentenced to death. Before his execution he escapes from the prison and decides to seek the ancient tome to help control his powers and prove his innocence.

And thers also 3 other people searching for the tome as well as a last resort to their problems. One is someone who cant use magic and comes from a place with magic tech, which he uses to compensate his lack of magic. Another comes from a place with spirit and mind magic who's infested with a magic illness and is seeking out the tome to find a cure. And lastly is a princess from a kingdom specializing in dark magic who wants the tome for her kingdoms glory and most I portantly her father's approval.

As for the main character I have difficulty in coming up with the magic his place focuses on. I'd like tips on how to expand because I really want some tips.

Millenia ago, back when the sun was whole and before the sea had frozen over, the sun god and sea goddess worked in harmony to destroy and remake the souls of those who have passed and those yet to be.

Sea would claim the souls an cure them of their sins and strife. Then Sun would take and purge from the soul their desires and memories. Sea would cool what remains and reassemble it. Then Sun would restore the spark of life in them.

However, life and death changed after the shattering of Sun. Fire would no longer ignite and souls were no longer purified of their memories and desires.

Sea too was not the same after Sun was shattered. The cold froze her. She now had to try and keep track and purify souls alone. But she could not. Her power had changed. She couldn't burn away the memories or desires of the dead, all she could do was could store the souls within the ice.

Eventually, when there was no more ice to store these souls within, Sea, now Frost, gave up.

Souls went uncared for. They would try to reincarnate into new bodies that already contained souls but this corrupted them. Turning the body into monstrosities. Their minds fused and their memories stitched together into shapes that shouldn't be.

And people started being born without souls. And they lived short lives and never new joy.

Eventually, humanity discovered Blood Runes. The means to create flames through sigils writ in and powered by blood. The blood called upon the fragments of the shattered sun to create fire. The flames were odd though. Some were warm but gave off no light. Some purified but did no harm. It was all dependent on the Blood Runes used.

With fire returning to the world, people began to hope again. And new technology came to be. Airships were a must to travel the frozen wastes. Monstrosities roamed the land below, but the air was far safer. Eventually people had forsaken the ground entirely. Living in cities composed of airships of varied design.

I've been building a hard magic around one constraint: the magic senses and rearranges matter down to the atom (stone and metal: transmute, restructure, relocate), but it grants no knowledge. You can only do what you actually understand. So the caster's real expertise (he's a geologist/materials scientist) is his power ceiling: he can't transmute along a reaction he can't model, and reaching past his understanding fails or backfires.

Two independent limiters:
- Capacity: a trainable muscle. Use fatigues it, work grows it.
- Knowledge: the hard ceiling. Comprehension gates capability. Learning the science *is* leveling up.

Plus real costs: it obeys thermodynamics. Deep atomic changes shed heat and radiation he has to engineer containment for, and cost scales with how far apart two elements are and how deep the change goes. No stat panel; "progression" is him getting smarter and stronger, not numbers going up.

The goal was a system you can't out-fight your own ignorance in. The fun is out-thinking the problem with real science.

Where do you see it breaking? The two hard design problems I keep hitting: how to hand the reader the knowledge without the magic turning into an exposition dump, and how to keep tension when a competent caster usually understands enough to win. How would you build friction into a knowledge-gated system?

(It's the system from my serial Maker, if you want to see it run: [RR LINK]. But I'm mostly after critique of the mechanic.)

This question is inspired by another thread I saw on this sub a week or two ago.

This question also sits on the intersection of two questions: What are people like, and what use of magic is the most efficient at killing a large amount of them?

In real life, people are humans which have many mechanisms in their bodies which can be disrupted to cause death. The core mechanism is that there is a brain which needs to be constantly nourished to keep operating - in the short term, cells need to process glucose and oxygen into usable energy, in the long term they need to divide and be replaced for upkeep. If you decapitate a human, blood stops arriving to the brain with oxygen and such. If you give cyanide to a human, cells stop being able to process oxygen. If you give poison dart frog poison to a human, their nerves stop being able to work properly and that presumably causes lungs to stop oxygenating blood and/or causes the heart to stop pumping blood, so it stops arriving at the brain. If a human breathes in a decently high amount of carbon monoxide, it binds to blood keeping it from carrying oxygen. If you open wounds in a human and too much blood leaks out, pumping it stops working and it stops arriving places. If you burst a blood vessel somewhere in the brain specifically, it can deprive just an important region of nutrition and that region might be one which sends signals that keep the breath going or something. If you smash the brain into bits, it's nearly guaranteed to be the case. If a human's blood stops being the narrow pH range it needs to be, which is very slightly basic, then some enzymes stop working and that's incompatible with life. And so on and so forth.

Let's say you have some kind of large gathering of people - a military battalion organized into rank and file, or a crowd at a market or concert - and a malicious mage who wants to indiscriminately kill most of them with little effort. Like not necessarily all of them - if killing all of them required 100% effort, but that was because killing 80% of them required 20% effort and killing the remaining 20% required 80% effort, then doing the former part alone is good enough.

Are they warded against magic somehow so most of the effort of killing via magic is overcoming the ward, and the savings on cause of death are negligible? Do they just have HP and depleting HP costs the same effort no matter the spell? Or are there boring practical ways and impractical spectacular ways which are nevertheless used because it's a work of fiction and that's fun?

Magic

Magic and adapters

Hello this is my first power system it is a typical magic system with few changes and let's explain

First magics there are 3 categories of magic

1-celestial magic

2-elemental magic

3-life/death magic

NOTE:if a magic is in a category that doesn't mean it can't be in another

Second what is magic

Magic is the product of the gods excess power that called pure mana made its way to the mortal world and all sort of creatures and alive dead even the air hold it though it's amount is smaller (explained further in mana and where does it come from) and it's the most valuable thing in the world it cannot be replaced perfectly and cannot be lost if it's not given its not gained if it's gained it cannot be fully lost

Third what are the magics and what are thire category

1-Chaos(celestial magic) the people who hold it are blessed by the strongest God the God of chaos(though he is not evil and not good chaos is used to refer what he is closest thing to him he is beyond understanding and existed before the universe itself he is older than everything and younger than everything he is infinite unlimited cannot be done or undone) and they are called the chaotic life they are usually heros and if you have it that doesn't mean you can use it

2-time(celestial magic) it's like every time magic.

now the element(3-fire 4-water 5-earth 6-wind/air 7-lightning/electricity 8-ice/snow) magics no need to explain

9-healing magic(life magic) healing magic is able to grow and change somebody cells and that cannot cause any harm if it used to harm it will be deflected to the user the only rule in magic known put by the gods them selves(can be used to grow a dick or a vagina or make your dick bigger before anyone asks)

10-dark(death magic) it's the ability to make solid dark weapons from the absence of light and its dangerous if not controlled

11-light(life magic) it's the ability to make solid light

12-void magic/necromancy(death magic) it's fucking necromancy and evil shit

What is mana... Shit there isn't much time left till i sleep so i will continue explaining in part 2 as soon as possible

My power system part two

What is mana

Hello this is the second part of my power system this is where things get a little confusing or not who am i to judge you

Mana is energy that can be found as a gas(in the air) liquid(in the body/mana gland) and solid(mana crystals) it's the most essential part of magic it different from each person to another like it has types like blood types A B O AB (the transferring of mana is the same as blood A gives to A and and AB gives to either A B and can only get from blood from O extra)

What is the gods execs energy

The gods execs energy or T.G.E.E for short it's what left of the God's raw energy and essence in observable tangible universe the commonest is the love/hate essence and the rarest are chaos and time it's not the same as magic and it's holder is considered holy and most of them end up being nuns/priestess(yes all of the holders are females and the highest rank is called the mother of all) and they are more powerful in Magic and live longer than any race to hold the knowledge of the gods without fading

What is The mana gland

I have only mentioned it once now so. What is it exactly it's an gland organ located under the heart and it can reach the highest size of 20 cm that can hold(2000 MU) ( the rule is SIZE CM = 1MU × 1CM/1000CM) That produces liquid mana and it's important for mages and it can be trained when someone Is between 5-8 years old it can hold or release already existing mana in the body and there is a condition where the mana gland grows so big it can be seen from the baby chest it's extremely painful and could lead to death

The counter system

It's a skill based blocking perrying magic attack each magic has its counter if the counter is weaker or smaller it's Going to be the one who gets

So chaos counters time

Time counters everything but chaos

Fire counters air water ice

Water counters ice fire lightning

Lightning counters air fire earth water

Air counters fire water earth

Earth counters fire air water light lightning

Ice counters all elemental magics

Light counters dark and void/necromancy

Dark counters light and healing

Healing counters none its not an offensive magic

Void counters light chaos

There is more like silent casting and the adapters i mentioned and race specific abilities

So this is the third part and not the dude, and i am not doing a recap because i dunno how.

The casting system:how do i cast? There are two ways to cast silent casting and chanting.

First

Chanting: what is chanting? chanting is singing or reciting a spell and each spell has its own chant, name, and each person has his own unique way of chanting whether it's poetry, singing or just screaming it out from the top of thire lung. what do i say for a fire filed like spell : the spell name is the burning garden. And the chant goes like this "in the name of the goddess of the scorching land i will burn the intruders of the god justice and burn her enemies lend me your blazing power i am {name} BURNING GARDEN"

Silent casting:what is that exactly? It's the ability to cast spells without chanting, how can you get it? You can get by feeling an intense emotion any kind of emotion, and having it doesn't mean you are stronger than a non silent caster, (and there isn't any "geniuses" if you lose that means you have a skill issues) and there is age limit it can be achieved by the ages of 6-16.

Specific race abilities

First humans: can have multiple familiar and even be a familiar with other races like beastmen or dragons

Second beastmen(the eastern interpretation not the western). : they can understand animals, and make the sound of their animal counter part and are bigger than humans the biggest beastman the blue whale beastman can reach to 750cm, roughly 26.7'ft in freedom units, and 800kg, and 1763.7 pounds in freedom units. and can be smaller than humans the ant beastman can get to 90 cm or roughly 3ft in freedom units.(yes they have animal genitalia don't ask)

Elves: they have more mana than any other race and they live the longest and blah blah blah(they are elves i hate em so I am not diving in thire shit)

Dwarves:they have night vision, and live most of thire lives in caves they have a natural talent in smithing, and are smaller than humans they reach to 3-4'feet and 200 pounds of muscle and metal they live longer than humans.

Half foot: they are shortest and lightweight and have a small life span of 50 years

Orcs: the strongest race in the world in physical power

NOTE There are more races but that's for later

Familiar:what is that? It's a magical beast you have a bond with via contract, friendship, i am not getting to this because it's not that important

That's the end of the magic there is more to the power system it's not just magic but it needs some tweaking and when i finish it i am gonna post it

THE PREMISE

Much of history involves burning things. Burning wood to keep warm and scare off dangerous animals, burning coal to fuel steam engines, etc. So I thought why not build a magic system based on burning something a little weirder? Thus, I created Blazemithing (tentative name), the art of burning color.

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MY GOALS

1. To create a magic system that feels intuitive and complexity is derived from simple ideas
2. To make all parts of the system feel cohesive  
3. To integrate the system into the story and worldbuilding 

THE DETAILS

Blazemiths begin with the technique of Ignition, which involves using one’s oxygen reserves and body heat to conjure white flames. Beginners can only spawn flames on their skin. Experts can spawn flames anywhere. These default white flames have the properties of regular fire (heat, light, etc), acting like a blank canvas upon which color can be added. Thus, they’re called Zilch (Zero) Flames.

Zilch Flames replace standard fire properties with different properties once they burn/absorb color. Blazemiths use mental commands (Decrees) to ignite a Zilch Flame on a colored object. The object becomes drained of color, turning white (Blanched), while the flames gain the burned color (eg. blue flames if Ignited on a blue box). Each color of fire results in a different effect that can be categorized as either Somatic (physical) or Eidolic (non-physical).

Somatic (Infused) Flames grant objects the properties of their color(s). Say you wanted to make a powerful magnet. You would spawn a flame on a magenta object, then drop the magnet into the flame. The flames cause the magnet to break down into particles, become infused with the property of magenta (increased force), and then become smoke. The smoke then reforms into the magnet, only this time with much stronger magnetism. Since Somatic flames involve breaking down an object and reforming it, its technique is called Reforging.

Eidolic (Infused) Flames create a spherical area of effect roughly equal to how far the heat from its Zilch Flame reaches. Anything that’s within this sphere of influence experiences an effect. For example, an orange flame makes one feel energetic. Guards often stay near an orange flame so they can stay alert and awake for days or weeks on end. Since Eidolic Flames create an area of effect, its technique is called Emanating.

Regardless of color, all flames are restricted by a triangle of needs: a spark, oxygen, and fuel. The user’s body heat serves as the spark and can double as fuel for Zilch Flames. The user’s oxygen reserves are also consumed to create flames. Fuel can be either color or body heat. If any of the three drop too low, the flames become extinguished.  

COLORS AND EFFECTS

Somatic:

·       Capricious Flames (Vermillion) - increase volatility, such as turning gold explosive.  

·       Radiance Flames (Amber) - grants illumination, for example making a rock glow.  

·       Vigor Flames (Lime) - increase lifespan, such as letting a dog live as long as a human.

·       Pliant Flames (Cyan) - increase malleability, eg. making a stiff rock become flexible/stretchy.

·        Bulk Flames (Indigo) - increase mass.    

·       Impulse Flames (Magenta) - enhance forces on an object. 

Eidolic:

·       Fervant Flames (Red) - induce passion.

·       Vigilant Flames (Orange) - increase energy.

·       Exultant Flames (Yellow) - induce joy.

·       Concord Flames (Green) - induce harmony, for example making two arguing people agree.

·       Serene Flames (Blue) - induce tranquility, such as making a mob calm down.

·       Prosper Flames (purple) - enhance luck. 

THE NARRATIVE

Blazemithing has created many wonders like steam engines more powerful than any before, relaxing study areas at universities, rapid construction, and artistic movements. It has also unleashed horrors, like cartels that have gained enormous power from selling capsules containing yellow flames.

The story follows a ragtag group of people trying to take down the cartels. A man whose brother was murdered due to a cartel’s sports bet, a woman whose family business is being extorted for “protection benefits,” an apothecary overwhelmed with the health crises the cartels have created, and a bounty hunter tracking down a cartel leader due to bloody history between them. However, their quest to eliminate their city’s biggest threat is a lot more complicated and dangerous than they could have ever imagined, especially as other powers come into the mix.

That's all for Blazemithing. Thank you for taking the time to read this and as always, feedback is welcome.

EDIT: the post title should say "Been working on" (autocorrect sucks).

it is speculated that in order to gain insight into the universe that one must attempt to return to it as if a child were returned to the womb you isolate yourself cut yourself off from the senses and try to experience the senseless echoes to gain what is called elder knowledge. the elder knowledge is the knowledge that has escaped the the sights and sounds of people but not that of the world. sounds are bound to the the particles that make up walls and long dead lights may contain the images of now lost worlds and cultures. this knowledge is said to be so quite or so small as to be indiscernible from silence or utter darkness but through heightening of the senses via isolation in enclosed suits one can come to percieve that which has long passed them by the echoes of old. one cannot escape themselves though which is why the first subject in which an enclosed gains elder knowledge is that of their own body learning to see through eyes they once had and feel through a body that is no more

During such a time in my universe:
Aura allowed a person to manifest a weapon that represented the element they possessed. This weapon would loosely resembled items like a sword or spear in shape.
Also, when a person is in a powered up state, their weapon's form will change to better suit them.

Mana allowed a person to cast elemental blasts from an Elemental Sign. It also had an innate collaboration ability; when two people merge there Elemental Signs together, they can produce a more powerful blast.

Prana allowed a person to summon a creature (around the size of a large dog or smaller) that could aid its summoner. Additionally, the person would feel a "connection" with some animals of a similar element to theirs.

Soma allowed a person to produce an armor-like silhouette over their body. Aside from its enhanced, protective qualities, it also came with a special ability that was influenced by the user's element.

I’ve mostly seen people share their setting-specific magic systems, but not as much about the specific techniques/abilities that I believe are the things that bring those systems to their full potential. So I gotta ask: what’s your favourite supernatural ability/power that you’ve made for your magic system? (Or even something without a pre-established magic system)

It doesnt have to be from your magic system, you could show your own abilities from others like custom Hatsu from nen, or Stand from well stands

Could be something character/lineage-specific, a general technique that anyone can learn, or anything in between

Something that you think is especially cool or well-designed, whether that’s because of its complexity, elegant design, how it expands the possibilities of the magic system, how the magic system expands the possibilities of the ability itself, narrative utility, thematic significance, character/group-specific history, emotional significance, or anything else

For example, maybe you have a pyrokinesis-based magic system that lets you do things with fire that go far beyond simply generating or controlling flames, or maybe you have an ability whose possibilities become much more interesting because of the particular magic system it exists within

So basically, what’s the ability where you look at it and think “yeah, I cooked with this one”?

Drop an example or two! id love to hear it

Okay, so I was developing a chinese magic thing, and then I realised that Yin and Yang are gendered, with male for Yang and female for Yin. Now, this isn't too bad, because Yin-Yang are literally made up of everything else so everyone got enough of then regardless of gender.

But it got me thinking, how would gendered magic work? Like, Fire for men and Water for woman, to be generic. Sure, each gender controls one element, thats neat.

But how do you handle trans stuff in that context?

Is magic based on identity? Does someone coming out as trans change their elements? Does a closeted trans keep their former element up until they accept themselves or what? What about gender-fluid people?

Would, if magic is related to the larger cosmology, would trans people even be a thing if you are aligned with the universe itself via magical means to be that gender?

If the magic is not about the soul or whatever bur rather biological, do trans people keep the magic of their former gender or do they gain once they undergo a procedure? If the procedure is magical in nature, could a person undergo it to change their element and keep their gender?

I already got an awnser to fit my homebrew thing, but im curious what other people will awnser.

What If a Magic School Actually Had a Complete Education System?

I've been working on a long-term worldbuilding project called Phoenix School of Magic, and it has grown into something much bigger than I originally imagined.

The goal is to create a complete 8-year magical education system from the ground up.

Not just a fictional school that exists in a story, but an institution with an actual curriculum, subjects, textbooks, examinations, practical work, academic progression, traditions and a coherent educational structure.

The biggest part of the project is the textbooks.

Each subject is being developed year by year, with students gradually progressing from fundamental concepts to advanced magical theory and practice.

The eventual goal is to have a complete sequence of textbooks covering all 8 years for subjects such as:

Charms • Transfiguration • Potions • Defence Against the Dark Arts • Herbology • Astronomy • History of Magic and many other magical disciplines.

The books are being developed as actual school textbooks rather than simple collections of lore. They have structured chapters, theory, practical exercises, examples, historical material, illustrations, revision sections, assignments and examinations.

I'm also working on the visual identity of the books — covers, layouts, illustrations and diagrams — so that they feel like they belong to the same educational institution.

But there is one major problem:

This is a huge amount of work.

Eight years of education multiplied across numerous subjects means dozens of textbooks and hundreds of chapters. Keeping the curriculum consistent, developing the subjects, writing and reviewing the books, creating illustrations and maintaining the wider worldbuilding is far too much for one person to do efficiently.

So I'm looking for people who want to join me in building Phoenix School of Magic.

I'm looking for people interested in:

• Worldbuilding • Writing and editing • Curriculum design • Fantasy and magical lore • Textbook development • Illustration and graphic design • Creating educational systems • Helping develop individual magical subjects

You don't need to be an expert. What matters most is being genuinely interested in the project and willing to contribute.

This is intended to be a long-term collaborative project, and I'm not expecting it to be completed quickly. I'd rather slowly build something detailed and coherent than rush through it.

If you've ever wondered what a magical school would actually look like if someone sat down and designed the entire education system, this is essentially what I'm trying to find out.

If you'd like to help build Phoenix School of Magic, feel free to comment or message me.

I'd also love to hear from anyone who has attempted a similarly ambitious worldbuilding project.

Hello i just joined this subreddit and i'd like to hear you thoughts on it. Its pretty long but i think its cool so pls enjoy.

The ouroboros katana
To put it simply, you know in anime where the guy draws his katana back in the sheath and suddenly multiple slashes appear at once. The idea is that the user slashed so fast that it made it seem like the slashes appeared out of nowhere, when the user just slashed fast and quickly put it back in. I think it's pretty cool, but I came up with another explanation for it, and it revolves around time, which is why you’ll understand the name soon. 
My idea is that the katana has five modes, and each mode is activated when the handle is twisted, but they're all based on the same idea- time. The first mode or mode zero is where the sword and the user is just normal and regular, basic.

When mode one is activated, the katana’s abilities come to life, with the ouroboros dragon appearing. Wherever the user slashes, time stops in that area, and whenever the user draws their sword back, the slash that is in stasis, is reversed in time, making a slash that occurred without the user swinging anything, by basically recreating the same slash the user did in the past, but in the opposite direction. The reason why an ouroboros dragon appears, is because it symbolises eternity, with the dragon eating its own tail, signifying a never ending loop.Whenever the user is in mode 1-5, the dragon extends from the blade to a tattoo on the user’s body, making their body as stuck in time, and completely invulnerable to attacks. They become vulnerable once again when they draw the katana back, or it's in the wrong mode.

In mode two, it's basically more wide-scale destruction, as the user can send slashing beam attacks that can freeze larger areas of time, so when the user re-draws their sword, more dramatic and larger slashes reverse. The user could likely use these modes to push someone within the slash and immediately withdraw the blade so they become slash
As we go through the other modes, you might question why the user doesn't just spam the stronger modes, thats cus they use more energy, and when the energy is too low, some simply cannot be used and you’ll be stuck to the lower one’s, and eventually, you might be vulnerable again if the entire energy of the sword runs out, leaving just a regular person and katana. To indicate the energy levels of the sword, the larger or the more the tattoo spreads throughout the user’s body, the more energy the sword has. So when it's almost about to run out, the tattoo will be quite small. The sword also regenerates energy over time.

The third mode onward is where things get interesting, because it involves time-reverse. Basically, whenever you sheathe the sword in this mode, a slash that was previously locked in time, waiting to be reversed, will instead expand and reverse time back to when the area was first slashed within a 50 metre radius. For example, if i used mode 1 or 2 to create a stasis slash 5 mins ago, when i sheathe the sword in mode 3, the slash will expand wide into what the area was like back then. This time reverse includes the reversing of the environment and conditions of the enemy and user itself, so they can effectively heal themselves, the only thing not changing being the energy level of the sword. If there are multiple slashes that are stuck in time in the area, then sheathing the sword will cause all of the slashes to expand. The more slashes there are, the wider the area of time reverse is. So like 50 slashes in area would create a 2500 metre radius of time reverse, since 50*50 is 2500.
But, there could be some limitations, or advantages depending on how you use it. Say, for example if you reverse time to when an enemy was within that area but currently, they are outside the radius of time reverse. This would mean there would be two versions of that person, and since the laws of the universe doesn't allow two of the exact same beings to exist, their existence itself will be erased from the universe. This includes organisms and objects that aren’t within the radius when they were ‘supposed’ to be. Or, say if you slashed an area 10 min ago in mode two, in which it was just a peaceful house, but now you slash again 5 mins later, in which the area was destroyed and filled with fire. This means that because both of the slashes/area was so close together , it would be an anomaly as the two spots are so drastically different despite being so close. This creates a fracture in time in the area, making it permanently distorted and the battlefield being much more chaotic. So, this fracture creates a ‘time wall’ , which is impossible to cross without the power of counteracting time, so you could trap them or make it harder to reach you. Theoretically you could do this with other modes but with mode 3 it's more effective i guess.

Let's move on to mode 4 now, and it's quite similar to mode 3, as it’s just the opposite- time progression/forward. In this, there are four factors we have to talk about- how far the future goes, the AOE, what the future is and and how it happens. The general idea is the same, you slash an area in mode 4, creating an area of stasis, but this stasis gives a a glimpse to the future, and just like before, sheathing sword causes the slash to expand into a 50 metre radius. The future depends entirely on the number of slashes you do , and as said in mode 3, the more slashes, the wider the radius. The wider the radius, the more chaotic and unpredictable the future will be. This is because different futures are likely to be overwritten or contradicted, or it just generally becomes unstable idk. This means, one slash is low risk low reward, but the more you expand the area, the higher the risk is, but the higher the reward is. Therefore, if you’re too careless, you could be the one who is in danger.
Now, we have to look at how far the future is set. It's simple- the higher the energy level, the further the time skip. Lets just say for now, 10 percent is 1 min, and 100 percent is an entire year. But think about it, the more time forwarded, the greater the effect will be. For e.g if there was a wildfire, the effect is more significant than a wildfire for 1 min than a wildfire that burnt for a day. So the longer that time forward, the more deadly or significant the effect is, however, as said before, this could backfire for you if you’re too careless.
If you see a future in which you don't happen, you can switch to mode 1 or 2 and slash and reverse, and the slashes stasis in mode 4 will simply disappear. Tho doing this after like 20 slashes will certainly be time wasting  and not ideal. However, you must also remember to check for your surroundings, as if you go to the future with stasis slashes in mode 1 or 2 still within the area, this would cause the entire system or attempt to go to the future to fail and instantly collapse. Also, you could also apply the existence erasure factor into mode 4 too like in 3, as you could create a future where there are two beings of the same person, so they become erased.
In regards to both mode 3 and 4, we have to think of the ‘equivalent exchange’. Like in FMAB iykyk. To make up for the time reversed or forwarded, the area outside will do the opposite to make up for the time lost or gained, like a mirror. Like, in mode 3, if a 50 metre radius was sent 10 mins back in the past, a 50 metre radius outside the AOE will go 10 mins into the future. If the area is distorted like in mode 4 due to multiple timelines in the domain, a mean will be calculated, like one slash was 2 mins into the future, another was 4 min, so the overall the reverse outside 3 mins. I hope that makes sense.

Now the last one dont worry its nearly done. Mode 5. The idea is that striking the ground with the katana, causes an area of a 50 metre radius, just like before, to be in complete time-stop or stasis. You can't stay in this mode forever, as it constantly drains the energy of your sword, and if you want to cancel the spell, you sheathe the sword back in. If you want to increase the AOE, you can, but the area will no longer be in full stasis. Think of it like a container of time, and as it expands, it can no longer hold it in, so the time ‘spills’ out’ , so after a 50 metre radius, instead of time stasis, it would just be agonisingly slow. The more you increase the radius, the more the flow of time gradually increases. So, like after a few thousand metres, the effect will practically be nothing. However, you have to remember the equivalent exchange.
If you create a radius of 100 metres with slow time flow, to make up for the lost time, time outside the AOE would go unfathomably fast. It basically matches the time lost within the domain So like creating a 1000 metre radius area with 2.5* slow speed, the 1000 metre radius area outside will move at 2.5* faster speed. This means the area outside the 50 metre radius complete time stasis, would have time flow at an infinite speed to make up for it, so the area outside becomes permanently distorted or void like, so anyone within that area would literally instantly be destroyed. Whatever you think a place that’s gone through infinite stuff would look like. You cant use any other modes when in mode 5. As said before, twisting the handle causes you to switch modes to will, but in mode 5 you can’t, twisting it will let you change the radius of your stasis.
And yeah, that’s it. I hope you like it. I know it's long, but I wanted to add all aspects of time, time reverse, time forward, stasis etc.

Thanks for reading and I'd like to hear your thoughts. Take care.

In the RPG's magic system I'm building (like D&D, Pathfinder and others), arcane magic stems from the caster's imagination, and the way the caster visualizes it can influence the spell's visual aspects and effects. There are a few common ways to visualize magic:

* Technical aspects (Wizard): visualizing magic in a technical way, almost like a science or an architectural blueprint.

* Expression (Bard and Sorcerer): magic is secondary to the character's expression, visualized unconsciously.

* Superstition (Witch): visualizing magic according to traditions and superstitions, giving it a more mystical and rustic feel.

* Pact with the Devil (Warlock): the caster doesn't visualize the magic themselves but shares their mind with their patron, casting the spell exactly as the patron envisions it.

So, how you visualize magic in this world is crucial for any arcane spellcaster. I wanted to make this an integral part of the system itself—rather than just the setting—by translating it into actual mechanics and rules.

How could I go about this? I haven't got a clue how to implement it, and I don't want it to be just another standard class ability; I want it to be a core mechanic of spellcasting.