# Types of magic...



## Davana (Sep 2, 2012)

My story revolves around Magic but there are different types of Mages. There's the Mage, who either uses White or Black Magic. There's the Elemental Mage, who controls the elements. Then there's the Necromancer who uses death magic. Then there's the Shapeshifter who has the powers of a Mage AND can Shapeshift into any living being on the planet. There are also Wizards and Witches who use wands and scepters and are a lot more traditional. 

These are all the types of Magic I have, do you have any other types of Magic?


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## Potty (Sep 2, 2012)

The thing about magic is there are no limitations. The power to create life, the power to bring drawings to reality, the power to control others, the power to turn small rocks into bigger rocks etc. The only limitation to magic is your own imagination. Why stick to magic that has already been done? Think up some new and amazing form of magic.

The power to remove idiots from the world... though this is easily done by obtaining a firearm.


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## Isis (Sep 2, 2012)

Potty said:


> The thing about magic is there are no limitations. The power to create life, the power to bring drawings to reality, the power to control others, the power to turn small rocks into bigger rocks etc. The only limitation to magic is your own imagination. Why stick to magic that has already been done? Think up some new and amazing form of magic.
> 
> The power to remove idiots from the world... though this is easily done by obtaining a firearm.


While this is a good attitude to have when first brainstorming the magic system for your world, I also think it's important for magic to have limitations. Not in an "everyone has X amount of manna" way as in seen in many RPGs (though I guess that could work) but in a way that keeps your characters human, gives them obstacles to overcome. In many fantasy worlds, an individual magic user can only access one or two types of magic, and that access is in their early training, their heritage, etc. In other worlds, magic is learned over the course of many years. In others, it is accessed through a command of objects or animals or words, all of which require a certain set of skills. When thinking of the many types of magic, it might be good to also put thought into what that magic can't do (or the prices one must pay for certain skills or powers - time, energy, health, a pinkie toe, you name it).

EDIT: I think you might like reading Limyaael's Fantasy Rants, which taught me a lot about writing fantasy (and reading it critically) back in the day when I was a new writer. Here are a couple that might be relevant: 

Rant on elemental magic
Limitations on magic
Magic, Pt. I
Magic, Pt. II

She wrote so many of these, and if you have time to bop around in the archives there is a wealth of ideas about fantasy -  what works and what doesn't. Though these are one author/reader's opinions about the genre, I think they are also a great starting point, if not authority, for thinking more deeply about aspects of your own work.


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## Cran (Sep 4, 2012)

In general terms, thaumaturgy is likened to miracle working or blood sorcery. However, Lyndon Hardy (in Master of the Five Magics) likened thaumaturgy to sympathetic magic (imitative magic - like affects like; similarity and contagion).

Illusion (prestidigitation or "juggling" in its older form) tends to be treated separately from any other form of magic. 

And then there's alchemy, which is the craft of manipulating the elements, but again usually treated separately from anything which might be called elemental magic.


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## Staff Deployment (Sep 8, 2012)

Davana said:


> My story revolves around Magic but there are different types of Mages. There's the Mage, who either uses White or Black Magic. There's the Elemental Mage, who controls the elements. Then there's the Necromancer who uses death magic. Then there's the Shapeshifter who has the powers of a Mage AND can Shapeshift into any living being on the planet. There are also Wizards and Witches who use wands and scepters and are a lot more traditional.
> 
> These are all the types of Magic I have, do you have any other types of Magic?



I personally use a pseudo-chemical and physics basis for magic. Sorcerers can manipulate heat and pressure, effectively mimicking telekinesis, pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, and LASER BEAMS because laser beams are awesome and shut up. There's also some other stuff about _sensing anomalies and disruptions in the balance of nature_ which just means they can track other sorcerers. Using too much of any of this tires them out considerably, to the point where if they're stuck in a battle with another sorcerer as skilled as them, both sorcerers are likely going to die from the exertion.

If the success of Harry Potter, Eragon, the Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons, and limitless other intensely popular fantasy stories and media have taught me anything, it's that people in general prefer a clearly defined set of rules to their fantasies, oxy-moronically. The point is, there's a clear sense of logic to it all.

*Devil's advocate time.* It seems to me as if there is not a clear sense of logic to your magic system. Let's break this down.

These are all of your forms of magic. As far as I can tell they are mutually exclusive:
White (Healing)
Black (Harming)
Elements (Fire Water Earth Air, most likely)
Death (Death)
Shapeshifting (Shapeshifting)

Here are all of the questions and issues I have with this:

What ties these together? What is the common theme that allows magic to be broken down only into these five areas of study?
Why have you separated White, Black, and Death magic, especially considering a Necromancer is merely an incredibly specific type of healer?
Shapeshifting is a wild card, and doesn't seem to make sense or have the same basis as the other forms of magic. Where did that come from?
Why can't a white mage learn how to reverse the effects of his spells to harm someone, and vice versa?
Where do the elements come from; how is their impact in battle different than a black mage's impact? And if the manipulation of a human being's overall health is split into white magic, black magic, and death magic, why isn't 'the elements' split into fire magic, water magic, etc?
Shapeshifter is OP. Nerf Shapeshifter. L33t Haxx0rz.
Ia ia cthulhu fhtagn, phng'lui mglw'nafh cthulhu r'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn?

The basic idea is that I don't see any sort of set of logic that governs how your magic is organized or used. There does not seem to be a consideration of how well each section complements each other.

Because I'm cursed with psychicism I know that you're going to reply with answers to all of those questions, justifying your decisions but _that is not the right thing to do._ The right thing to do is to self-evaluate. In fact, don't reply at all, and _do not think of any justifications._ Just keep in mind all of those questions when you write, and see if you can find ways to smooth it over.

The easiest way would just be to concisify your system to a few different sects, and be creative within the limitations rather than find ways to expand these limitations.



Isis said:


> I think you might like reading Limyaael's Fantasy Rants, which taught me a lot about writing fantasy (and reading it critically) back in the day when I was a new writer. Here are a couple that might be relevant:
> 
> Rant on elemental magic
> Limitations on magic
> ...



Yes. I am in agreement. Read all of these.


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## Olly Buckle (Sep 8, 2012)

> I also think it's important for magic to have limitations.


Good point from Isis, I always think that Ursula Le Guin has this beautifully in the 'Earthsea' trilogy, starting with 'Sparrowhawk', well worth a read if you are dealing with magic.


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## Davana (Sep 9, 2012)

Thank you all for these fantastic answers!


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## grimrose (Oct 19, 2012)

I wanted to right a story that involved magic that has evolved into practical forms we can use today......one of my characters had a power that could sense money....useless right....wrong....it is about teens who were abandoned and found they had powers that could help them.....of course i was going to include some reason they had to use it for something larger then personal needs. Maybe this will push your ideas somewhere else who knows


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