Magic in stories

[Tiger]

Yes, yes! I love fantasy stories. As many well know, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. As of late I have also gotten into L.E. Modisette, Jr. He's an awesome fantasy author indeed. It's too bad movies haven't been made of any of them, because he is awesome. The Reclude series is more about magic from within using order, chaos, or a combination of the two. As the names suggest, chaos is more or less considered evil while order is considered good, yet order is "dark" while chaos is "white". In the Spellsong Cycle, it is about the magic of music, some music being "clearsong" or that which does not manipulate the living directly, or "darksong", which means more direct manipulation of what is living or was once living. In both series, magic takes a heavy toll on the wizard, sorcerer, etc. In his books, magic is quite complex as it is based in nature itself to a certain degree, while the Harry Potter magic is basically free of nature (aside from potions) and in generally increases the life-span of the witch or wizard. Thus, when deciding to write a story with magic, there are choices. But regardless, there should be rules and limitations of some kind, whether by some form of government or the heavy price one can pay for using magic.

 

I have a story in my head, but I do not know where to start when crafting the rules. Personally, I do not think magic in my magical universe should be life-threatening or life-shortening, but I see it being somewhat more limited than in the Harry Potter universe. Thus, it is somewhere in between. I do not think magic would be an inexhaustible force and could easily tire the user, because the magic is through the person in general. I know I need to do some research on magic theory as the basis of magic in my story and the rules that will be in this magical universe, but where should I start? Also, are there other great fantasy writers I should read (particularly any series that include a great deal of magic)?

[Nephylim]

Some of the universal rules of magic.

 

Magic is about the manipulation of energy... energy is neutral, magic is neutral, it is the intent of the practitioner that colours it black or white.

There is no such thing as evil... only shades of black and grey

Whatever you send out comes back.. the law of rebound... either three seven or ten times

As above so below... what happens in the microcosm happens in the macrocosm... in other words if you change the world around you you change yourself.

All magic starts with a thought which is made real by various means

All magic causes a ripple effect

The law of conservation of mass, although it affects magic does not confine it as energy is an open system and not a closed system.

Magic is about consequences and responsibility... do what you want as long as it hurts none... OR do what you want as long as you are prepared to accept the consequences of what you do.

Generally thought a bad idea to interfere with free will... sometimes categorised as black magic but, in actuality just screws with karma.

 

That's what came off the top of my head. Depends really whether you want information about real magic or fantasy magic. If you are talking about fantasy magic then you pretty much make up the rules as you go along.

 

Real magic is pretty much divided into two categories... those who rely on ritual and those who don't. For the ritual magician it's all about the props... the wands, swords, colours, candles, cloths etc. For the natural magician it all flows from within, visualisation, intuition etc without the need of any external paraphenalia, although they do often use one or two pieces of equipment and can use ritual sometimes.

 

I'll stop boring you now in case this wasn't what you were looking for.

[Graeme]

L.E. Modesitt Jr is one of my favourite authors His science fiction is just as good as his fantasy. One thing, though, is that he is heavy into alternative societies -- he works out all the details of what makes a society work and what underpins it. You can see that in his fantasy stories (the societies that have evolved have magic as part of those societies -- it's not an add on) but it's much more obvious in his science fiction stories.

 

Rather than reading fantasy stories, I would suggest researching fantasy roleplaying games. These games almost always come with a magic system, and rules associated with that magic system.

 

eg. In Runequest, everyone has magical ability, but the amount that is present in any given person is variable. Those that have a high magical talent may choose to specialise in that and improve it even more, and then move into areas where they can use items to store magical power or spells to make them even more powerful.

 

In Ars Magica, there are three broad categories of magic:

1. Spontaneous magic where the magician grabs the raw components of magic and then manipulates them to do exactly what they want. Very versatile, but limited in power and tends to make the magician tired.

2. Formulaic magic which is more powerful than spontaneous, but only has a set outcome. eg. This incantation produces blue fireballs. If you want green fireballs, you have to create a new formula, which takes time, and then you have to memorise it.

3. Ritual magic. The most powerful, but they take a long time to do (ie. you couldn't do one while wandering down the street). It's the sort of thing you would always plan ahead to do.

In addition, there are ten basic types of magical power: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Animal, Plant, Human, Mind, Illusion/Images, and Magic itself.

Finally, there are five techniques for manipulating magic: Create, Destroy, Change, Move and Understand

 

So, a fireball would use the Create technique with the Fire magical power. A spell of reading minds would use the Understand technique with the Mind magical power. You want to put out a fire, you could use Destroy + Fire, Create + Water, Move + Fire (to move the fire somewhere where it can burn anything), Change + Fire and Air (to turn the fire into smoke and nothing but smoke).

 

Why would you use one over another? Because every magician has skills in each of the fifteen components (ten basic types and five techniques) and thus will have strengths and weaknesses. They would use the combinations that they are strongest in, because they would have the best chance of creating strong effects when using spontaneous magic.

 

Ars Magica has the most complex magical system that I've encountered so far, and I really like it, but it's a difficult game system to play. It's a good game system to write about, though

[Tiger]

Those are all interesting scenarios. I have you agree with you about L.E. Modesitt Jr. He's an amazing author. I love the complexity of magic and of government in his stories. I love how his heroes are always in conflict with what they must do but ultimately do what needs to be done and that they eventually know what they must do even at the risk of their own lives. That's my favorite kind of character. And of course, the magic just makes it that much more exciting.

[David McLeod]

I do not think magic would be an inexhaustible force and could easily tire the user, because the magic is through the person in general.

 

You have just written the first "rule" for magic in your universe. See, you know more than you may have thought!

 

Now, consider what Nephylim wrote: What other rules do you want in your universe? The only thing I might add is that your rules should be consistent and logical within the framework you create. In other words, avoid the "deus ex machina," the all-powerful mage/wizard/witch who comes in to save the day without any rational reason for (1) doing so or (2) even existing in your world.

 

Some of the universal rules of magic.

Magic is about the manipulation of energy... energy is neutral, magic is neutral, it is the intent of the practitioner that colours it black or white.

There is no such thing as evil... only shades of black and grey

Whatever you send out comes back.. the law of rebound... either three seven or ten times

As above so below... what happens in the microcosm happens in the macrocosm... in other words if you change the world around you you change yourself.

All magic starts with a thought which is made real by various means

All magic causes a ripple effect

The law of conservation of mass, although it affects magic does not confine it as energy is an open system and not a closed system.

Magic is about consequences and responsibility... do what you want as long as it hurts none... OR do what you want as long as you are prepared to accept the consequences of what you do.

Generally thought a bad idea to interfere with free will... sometimes categorised as black magic but, in actuality just screws with karma...

 

Graeme's thoughts about adopting the rules from a FRP game are excellent...I readily admit that years wasted on AD&D were the inspiration for many of my stories.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with.