Original Story Magic System Idea
Added 2023-10-29 18:42:22 +0000 UTCOkay so, I'm working on building a world for an original story to take place in. I was wondering if you guys would be interested in helping me flesh out the magic system some? To help with that I'll tell you a bit about the story without any real spoilers.
First and foremost, the story will be a LitRPG style story. While the RPG elements will be a part of the story, they wont be a huge element that takes away from the immersion. What I'd like your help with, is some magical elements.
To use magic someone needs to be attuned to the element and have enough points in the required attribute, known as Essence. Some people are attuned to more than one, others are attuned to none. The number of elements someone is attuned to determines the circle they occupy in mage society.
In the story there are six main elements and one outlier. The six main ones are what you might expect, Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Light, and Dark. The seventh is a different category, Null. Null spells are spells that don't fit into a specific element. For example, a spell that boosts physical strength doesn't really fit in with a specific element, nor does an Enchanting spell, though it would require an element to enchant and item with, for example, Fire.
I'm also designing it so that someone who is attuned to several elements can used derived elements. For example, Wind + Water = Ice. Here's what I've thought of on my own so far:
Earth
- Metal (Earth + Fire)
- Magma (Earth + Fire)
- Wood (Earth + Water)
- Mud (Earth + Water)
- Crystal (Earth + Dark)
Fire
- Lightning (Wind + Fire)
- Plasma (Fire + Wind + Light)
Wind
- Ice (Wind + Water)
- Sound (Wind + Light)
Water
- Acid (Water + Dark)
- Poison (Water + Dark)
- Storm (Wind + Water + Fire)
Light
- Shadow (Dark + Light)
- Creation (Light + Earth + Fire + Wind + Water)
Dark
- Shadow (Dark + Light)
- Destruction (Dark + Earth + Fire + Wind + Water)
Some things I'm automatically considering to be part of the Null category. Magic that involves buffing/debuffing, spatial manipulations, summoning, and other similar things. If it doesn't really seem like an obvious element, it's probably Null Magic. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know in a reply. I'm sure there's tons of interesting stuff I'm missing and would love to have your input.
Or, just tell me if the magic system seems interesting enough.
Comments
That's a freaking awesome idea. I could definitely see different cultures using magic in different ways. I never planned to go into making specific spells leaving magic more freeform so that would fit in perfectly with what I have planned. I could definitely do a culture that combines martial arts with magic as an homage to bending.
Cody S.
2023-10-31 00:35:33 +0000 UTCThis doesn’t have something specific with elements per say but something you could keep in mind is how people can use these different elements. When you brought up how people are attuned to an element and how they combined I immediately thought of Avatar The Last Airbender. To this day I believe that bending is one of the most well built magic systems in all of media. The elements that you showed are a good starting point but you could divide how they’re all used based on location, culture, groups and whatnot. Bending, spell casting, enchanting… Something to help flesh it out.
Loghead101
2023-10-31 00:32:36 +0000 UTCI chose Dark for Crystal because I see Dark as a more 'Compressive' force while Light is more 'Expansive'. Though I will definitely take what you said into account.
Cody S.
2023-10-30 19:06:18 +0000 UTCI'd split Crystal into Earth+Dark and Earth+Light. Make it work like they allow for mental illusions or binding a darkness field to an anchor for the first and physical illusions or binding a light source to an anchor for the second.
Alex I
2023-10-29 22:52:59 +0000 UTC
