Make Magic Make Sense (And Why Sometimes It Shouldn't) | Worldbuilding

Episode 22: Magic
In this video we discuss worldbuilding magic, looking at the types of magic systems that work for different worlds, and how you can implement a magic system of your own into your worldbuilding projects.
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WORLDBUILDING CORNER: www.worldbuildingcorner.com
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[@luciussakura5031]

LOTR is interesting because it used to be (and to some degree still is) a high magic setting, but the main stories take place after most of the magic has left, leaving us with a mostly low magic setting with some middle magic still around.

[@Zack-fu4lo]

i feel like most high magic stories usually feature a lost civilisation that is at least 10x more powerful than the current one. similar to how sci fi stories have super advanced alien civilisations. convergent tropes I guess

[@commandereclipse5373]

Game of Thrones as well.

[@magnum567134]

I had a similar idea for my own universe. It's a predominantly sci-fi setting, with virtually no spell casters. Most magic that exists is channeled through artifacts left behind

[@Nazuiko]

@@Zack-fu4lo hence the sci-fi quote about sufficiently advanced science is just fancy magic

[@silasrock4663]

WoT too. I really like the vibe of this.

[@draugarnatt3816]

It's quite astonishing, almost to an uncanny level, how the both of us have created a rather similar (though NOT identical of course) magic system completely independently, while also being set on a circumbinary planet. While also mostly Low Magic, my system is more eldritch/Lovecraftian and less predictable, but can also result in otherworldly entities manifesting, ranging from incorporeal spectres that might as well be hallucinations all the way to eldritch abominations that can cause massive catastrophes. Despite the differences, or maybe because of them, you inspired me to rework some of my ideas to make my world even more unique. Your channel truly is a treasure trove.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you for the positive feedback! I am glad you are enjoying :) I absolutely love eldritch/Lovecraftian systems, that flavour of uncertainty and horror makes things so interesting. Very cool! Good luck with your system!

[@mathewunknown8266]

That is nothing unusual I would say. The more you boil things down the bigger the chance. Also most of us create based on things we seen, taking bits here and there to build something somewhat new. But over enough iterations you are bound to run into similar outcomes.

[@samcartwright6338]

Lmao I’m doing a similar thing😂

[@draugarnatt3816]

@@samcartwright6338 and we all likely copied it from H.P. Lovecraft and R.E. Howard (who copied it from mythologies) 😅

[@ludvercz]

Awesome as usual. One thing I'd like to add is that prevalence is not the only way to determine whether you have a high or a low magic system. For example in the game UnReal World you can ask the local spirit of the lake to bless your fishing net for a slightly better catch, or pray for the god of healing so your wounds heal slightly faster. It doesn't cost anything, you just say the words, and anyone can do it. So that would be a low cost/high prevalence system, yet the effects are so subtle (they don't even really break the rules) that it's generally considered a low magic world.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Definitely! And that's a very cool example of another way of determining high/low magic. High/low magic aren't 'strict' settings either, you can definitely mix and match and create something that doesn't fit the usual mould.

[@daniel_rossy_explica]

A slight correction: In FMA, transmutation allows the user to turn the materials of a thing into the thing itself, or to give the thing a new form, but it cannot alter substance, like in your example, turn water into gold.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Definitely correct! I wanted more to illustrate that the 'science-based' element of FMA Alchemy would lead to stricter 'hard-magic' rules, which perhaps ironically led to me incorrectly using that example, which wouldn't work within those rules!

[@manwiththeplan300]

Technically you can turn water into gold if it's seawater

[@dinoseen3226]

It's only a matter of time once they figure out subatomic particles.

[@muntu1221]

​@dinoseen3226 They already know how to do it. Alchemists who see the gate of truth, especially more than once, can recall complex concepts since they had access to all information. The issue is that they most likely don't know how to harness that kind of energy without a philosopher's stone. Father could create fusion energy, and using alkahestry, you could do some really weird things, especially if you combined it with regular alchemy.

[@Carewolf]

You also need separate low/high magic on abundance and power. For instance LotR is low magic in abundance, but high magic in magic capabilities. Many RPG settings are high magic in abundance (most players can do magic) but low magic in magic capabilities (but they can only affect things locally).

[@Schattennebel]

My take is kinda a mix of everything: - Magic is a (super)natural force, brought to the world by its creation by godlike beeings - Godlike magic use is unexplained (Soft) - Normal beeings using magic is fully explained with rules and restrictions (Hard) - Depends on the species it can be low (Humans), middle (Dwarfs) and High (Elfes) - but every species have a limit how strong their magical power can get at maximum (maybe at a regional level at best) - they also prefer different types how to use their magic (enchanting items, crafting magical materials into a new kind of magic, spells, potions) - rituals are rarely used because of their unpredictable effects - other magic is more reliable and drains someone on a mental level - magic "grows" on your experience and mental stability (all races) and also craftsmanship (if you are a elf or dwarf) - different types of magic with different use and rules and effects

[@andreassjoberg3145]

My favourite magic is: "Magic is quantum entanglement cascade effects caused by nanites. Ability to control the nanites gives you magical powers." Works for Hard high Sci-fi settings

[@Schattennebel]

@@andreassjoberg3145 Thats also a good concept.

[@lunar9342]

Magic in my current project is split into three forms. One is a heavenly pure energy, another is corruption given form, and the final is worldly magic, responsible for natural disasters and the overall state of my world. My world is largely chaotic. The land is constantly changing, and is slowly being stabilized by the intelligent races of the world. There's a lot more to it, but I don't tend to share much, since it's been a project of mine for five years.

[@DavidGlenn]

I tried to figure out a magic system for one of my stories, but I couldn’t so I gave up. I do like the more science fiction approach I took. I will say my world does have a deity that the people worship, and in my current draft he did help my main character by giving him the ability to understand the language of this new world, and be understood in return (though he hears English) I probably will have to develop a magic system for another story that involves fairy tale characters

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

An absent (or mostly absent) deity could still be present in a very low or even no magic world. Though the question (which you've already answered) would be why include a deity at all in this case. Does the deity in your draft have a motive for assisting the main character? Though even now that I've asked the question, it's not necessary to answer it, gods can be capricious and almost random by nature. Fairy tales have some of (in my opinion) the most 'beautiful' magic, not in terms of eloquence or logic but in terms of wonder and whimsy, but can also be really dark, seen in the original Brothers Grimm tales. Very cool sources of inspiration!

[@sharky977]

I've been going through your series the past few weeks to expand my methods of worldbuilding. These videos are really high quality and I was incredibly surprised to find out you only have about a thousand subscribers! (+1 now) Loved this explanation of magic systems; they're often my favorite part of fantasy.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you for the positive feedback! I only started a few months ago, but growing steadily :) Glad you are enjoying everything, stay tuned for more content to come!

[@worldforger0]

Another great video! I think your magic system is badass, from the consumption of magical flora, to the classification of magic based on that flora, to goddamn lovecraftion breachers.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you! Breachers are definitely Lovecraftian haha, I imagine them as truly otherworldly and even horrifying. Glad you are enjoying :)

[@TTMS-Khaz-kun]

'Tis a crime, sir. A crime I say that you have just 2k subs for what you have produced! I co-create a hard magic story and have ( rather inconsistently ) been working to set things into stone for the past couple of years or so and worldbuilding and the magic system has been a tough one to do, but I think you have done a brilliant, *brilliant* job with explaining the magical side of things here! Definitely subbing and saving this video to help with the process of getting something made of this story! Thank you for your work and I will be checking your stuff out!

[@willholt9536]

I think it's worth pointing out that the magic system hard/low dichotomy is a fluid guideline more so than two individual options. Magic exists on a spectrum; All soft magic systems have some hard elements, such as "when a wizard waves their arms, magic happens" and all hard magic systems have their softer points, as it's a near impossibility to fully outline a magic system that functions within the real world forces that we do not even understand fully. Don't feel pressured to make hard magic systems perfectly understandable, and don't be scared to put limits on soft magic systems, it's all just guidelines!

[@RTOmega]

There are also Skill Systems that are magic systems that are generaly hard coded to know what someone can or can not do.

[@QueenAleenaFan]

The biggest issue to me is that whether your magic system makes sense or not, that people don't ask pretty much every time your wizard doesn't do something why they didn't do it. People will forgive a lot of dumb shit but they won't forgive a character who could intervene and doesn't

[@thecyanpanda241]

I think the best way is to make it clear that the wizard themselves is either out of combat(injured or out of whatever resources they use to cast) or they only have a simple selection of spells, hence they can't just do whatever but have to get creative. Either that, or it is made clear that they had an issue with taking action(ie they are speechless and petrified as the villain kills someone) which can then be used as character development

[@jamesadamsfl]

The answer to that is kind of built into the video 1) Mages are fairly dependent on consuming magical plants (while some might have innate magical abilities, it’s implied those abilities are limited to a single “flavor” of magic, like conjuring fire or turning invisible). So, the mages are dependent on their supply of magic-fueling plants as well as having the time to both ingest and utilize them. 2) we have the fear of Breachers. Wizards in this world self-limit to avoid releasing these powerful, deadly creatures into the world.

[@TrueWolves]

The weave is an interesting case. It's a divine construct meant to interface with a far more esoteric "natural/wild" magical energy so it can be shaped into spells. But the weave is not naturally occuring, but is tied to a diety of magic that sustains it. Which means the weave as a construct can be manipulated or damaged and this has been an element in numerous plots.

[@austinlawrence6987]

To use my own works as an example, i group magic into different styles, each style works in a unique way.

[@kanokun18]

A system i'm rather proud of making and hope to one day finish writing a story about is simply called "Soulfire" A hard-leaning, High magic system that shaped nearly every aspect of the world, Lurei. Every living being from insect to human, and the more fantastical creatures, all have a connection to a metaphysical mass of energy that is constantly recycling itself via the sun. This energy is taken in by the sun, through the planet, into the core, and finally into the Metaphysical mass called by some religious groups "The Sea of Flame" or "The Sea of Souls". From there the energy splits off into all living things or as explained in universe "The Sea is the source of all Soulfire, each and every living thing a small river, carving it's own path in life, taking some of the water with it. Some rivers are little more than a trickle of water, while some are so wide you cannot fathom crossing it. Eventually, all rivers find their way back to the great Sea where the water settles, but always new rivers will be made so long as there is water to flow." As for how Soulfire manifests on an individual level there are three primary forms of it, the building blocks upon which magic is used in world. To access soulfire a person must first taught how to summon it out of themselves. The common practice is to picture your life, all of it, as a massive flame. Every breath, step, and action you take uses the power of your body. Not just the energy food provides and sleep restores, but also that spark the inhabitants of Lurei have from the connection to the Sea of Souls. Picture that flame, reach out, let it latch onto you, and pull it from inside yourself into reality. While pulling the fire out there is a conscious choice to make, though sometimes it can be instinctual, to chose how the fire manifests. Red, Blue, or Yellow Soulfire all have different effects as you pull them out and the way to choose is by understanding what each does, and imagining that purpose becoming the energy that you are calling on in a sort of quick mental ritual. I can think "I need strength" and so my fire would come out as Red, the Flame of Might. That process is called "Ignition". The result is a translucent glow corresponding to the type of soulfire you pulled forth. Each color of Soulfire has a different internal (Burning) and external (Latching) effect. Red acts internally as an adrenaline boosts to the burner and makes them physically stronger while Latching Red onto an object makes it much more dense and resilient to damage, most commonly it is latched onto weapons in battles and such. Blue while burning starts to change the physical appearance of the burner to their "Sense of self" this acts as a sort of healing but very odd as it does not heal you, it makes you as you believe yourself to be while Latching Blue changes a substance into another material so long as it does not have a sense of self. Yellow while burning enhances the senses of the burner, making all 5 senses sharper and more keen while Latching Yellow creates a translucent object that the user imagines. The objects made with yellow Soulfire are rather fragile and slowly fade away after a few minutes. There is so much more I don't think I can even cover in one KZbin comment. Melding the fires together, specializing in a singular flame color and how that changes some of its properties, how using Soulfire for extended periods of time affects the user, how the Sun has frequent solar flares and how that creates anomalies on the planet, ETC! But this is the basics of the Magic system I've made over the last year.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

That is so cool, I absolutely love your descriptions that you have attached to each aspect of your system, I was able to really feel attached to them as I went through. I particularly like the Burning and Latching system, it is reminiscent of Allomancy, if you are familiar with the Mistborn series. I hope you are putting this system into a novel or tabletop campaign, because this deserves some spotlight in use! Thank you very much for sharing, and good luck with your project :)

[@kanokun18]

@@WorldbuildingCorner Allomancy was an inspiration for the internal and external effects. I wanted to make a magic system that was as internally consistent as the Mistborn series and thought of Soulfire as a fuel for dragon fire in a world but then the ideas spread out and became what I have today. I have been trying to write a novel with Soulfire at it's core but I always feel disappointed about it, I just have no real experience writing a fully fleshed out story. At the current time I'm writing a different story to try and get a feel for writing first with a low-to-medium Hard magic system.

[@Mag_ladroth]

@@kanokun18 If you do write a novel please post a link here

[@Magikarp_With_Dragonrage]

@@kanokun18 I agree with the other reply, if a book is written I would love to read it!

[@jamesadamsfl]

That’s a pretty cool Magic system. Well done.

[@lazulenoc6863]

I like the story of your world building process more than I actually like your advice, which was why I clicked on your videos.

[@rmt3589]

Your magic system isn't too far from mine in the main world I'm working on. Effectively, almost any living thing can use magic, BUT typically it's in extremely low amounts. Like, you might use what you can produce daily to survive and help a houseplant grow, but something like a fireball would be out of the question for almost everyone. (I swear, I was inspired by this by the new Puss in Boots movie, but it sounds like starwars) In this world, eukaryotes evolved with a bacteria able to use the magic in the atmosphere, instead of the ancestor of mitochondria. Unless this is unevolved, all living things comprised of "true cells" can use magic. The goal of a magic user would be to find ways to store the magic they generate, either eternally or externally. I have a hard time describing this as just low-magic or high-magic, but the video helped. I will definitely take some inspiration from this though. While this is the main world I'm working on, my dream game will have 4 other main worlds. 2 of which don't have their own magic systems. One of which is higher magic, using Tar, which is predictable but unexplained. Like an eldritch & alien substance that you canonically don't want to think about. The other is called Energy, which is a needed resource for survival, generated by pyramids, and transfered to obelisks where it can be harvested. Civilizations in this world are built in tight-packed structures around these, as going outside the range of your charge means certain death without consumables. This one is canonically a videogame, and a bit softer magic, like it's false history that was cannonically created by a historic figure. Three intentionally distinct, incompatible, but complementary magic systems makes the game work. Well... I guess one of the 2 does have its own magic system... but it's the same as Earth's, so does it really count?

[@nekokoishi]

Now that I think about it, I did balanced out the magic system in my story by making everyone share the same weakness. That weakness being bleeding or getting wounded. Which makes weapons like swords or even ranged weapons like bow and arrow or a firearm very effective when it comes to opponents who have a rather overpowered ability. Battles can also end quick since the deciding factor for who wins is the one who managed to wound their opponent first.

[@Seafaringslinky]

I just randomly found this episode in my recommendations and now i will have to go back and watch all of it. What a splendid video.

[@smoati9ap309]

In my worls, magic is tied to its three moons just as the ocean is - it's ebbing and flowing with the movement of these celestical bodies, and there's such thing as 'magical weather'. It is realized as a table of random effects like magic wind, rain, storm, heatwave etc. that can happen sometimes and somehow buff or debuff players for a portion of an adventure. Magic particles are always present but they are often on the move, merging or dispersing on the whim of nature (or DM, or even players who can control magical weather). In this sense, it is a bit like radiation, too, spurring random changes in places and at times where and when it's most potent, leading to occurences of magical anomalies and gene strings.

[@gabrieleriva_bboykappside]

I'm creating a world of my own some years ago and I probably got addicted to worldbuilding, which is a double-edge sword in my case. So basically the magic system is a soft one, and is a premise belonging to the past to then see an evolution into a power system based on that. It's called Faithful Magic, with the main concept of creating virtually anything material or not based on the amount the user has. It's innate but people can acquire the predisposition to have that for future generations, and those who have it can get it by eating (other life forms get it as well but it's more effective on humans), drinking or breathing air/absorb it by skin, but the most efficient and constant way is training. How you can use it is really up to you, but common forms are manipulation or using your voice (some make the ground shake, some manipulate say great boulders for example). It's designed to be as broad as possible, so that 4 people called the Ancients with the most Faithful Magic out of everyone can decide the forms and the reasons regulating its usage. Lore stuff happen and two forms of FM evolve to fight eachother, one ancient made it so that you can have a bit of that magic even if you weren't born with that, this made possible by sacrificing its own magic. People who need to defend themselves awaken powers called Radecores, which appearances and skills are based on their style and what makes them unique/what they like the most. Thing is we now have a power system that has established categories and since it's based on faithful magic it might be seen as a hard magic system itself, because of strict categories you're put into, such as Cyberades mainly involving weapons or weaponry control, Beastrades having stamina, power and endurance on their side, Thornrades effectively using pricking in many cool ways, Brickrades being powerful tanks who can also deal lots of damage, Speedrades being fast but also very scenic to look at, and Magirades, being the ones who retained the most of the initial magic feature of liberty of use and versatility and being the most powerful category, but also the most difficult and hard to stabilize. Also you cannot really choose which category you're set to be

[@Spartan_Creeper]

i like a mix of hard and soft magic systems, similar to avatar, in which the basic rules r clear, but kind of vague, which allows for creativity for example my newest project has a high hard magic system with soft aspects, but for the humanoids in it its prevalence will be low, or middle in some parts where they will be figuring it out more than the rest in that project there r multiple runes which encode certain stuff for example the veins of leaves have the shapes of the rune of light and absorption, which help them absorb more light or one of the earliest magic users, a kind of fish, figured out that by swimming in a certain pattern they dashed forward which helped with escaping predators the humanoids (which i still gotta make) will have all kinds of symbols helping with things, but they themselves wouldnt have figured it out except for some

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

That sounds really cool! I absolutely love the idea of non-sapient life figuring out magic, not necessarily cognitively but through evolution. For me it really adds to the 'realism' of magic.

[@WizardKingMinato]

This is a fantastic video, man. Great job!

[@Axiie]

Its interesting to see the explicit magic topic on this project, as I've found myself thinking more about how it would apply specifically to TTRPG's. I find myself thinking more on this video about how these rules and in-world systems can be applied mechanically whilst stepping away from other systems in games, such as Vancian Magic in D&D or Powers in Cypher System. I don't know if you play any TTRPG's, but if you do, I'd enjoy hearing about your thoughts on the 'gamification' of your worldbuilding project.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

The majority of my worldbuilding experience actually comes from TTRPG's! As part of this series I am attempting to broaden my own horizons by viewing worldbuilding in its totality, rather than explicitly for gaming purposes. That said, in regards to 'gamification', I always imagine how something I'm creating could be used in a TTRPG setting. In my mind, this occurs in two main ways. Firstly, as descriptors designed to give flavour and build immersion, such as a DM describing a colossal gravity defying tree with its branch-dwelling inhabitants, or a tundra aglow with magically luminescent mosses and lichens, while equally stunning auroras dance overhead. Settlement names that invoke feelings and hint towards culture, etc. Secondly, I imagine what would be appealing to play, or play against. For this video regarding magic, I imagine what a powerful mage on Locus could achieve and work backwards. A villainous Silarin lightning mage wrapped in electricity, able to transmute elements, spawning breachers in their wake as they move across the land. For gamification, this villain would need 'stats', but what stats they are will depend on the gaming system ofc. In my mind I try to keep things system-neutral, like "high-level", rather than "level 14 sorcerer". I hope this has answered your question! In the future I'd like to talk in-video more explicitly about converting worldbuilding into 'usable' formats like writing and gaming.

[@Axiie]

@@WorldbuildingCorner Brilliant response, thank you very much. I'm teethering on the edge of doing this myself, having created the landmasses (plates, climates, that sort) a couple of times as experiments, but not exploring the areas of worldbuilding past and future of that step phase. Your videos are definately an inspiration for me to really dive in deep. The one thing I would love to try is to work with the speculative development & evolution, but to also turn that process into a sort of 'game'. Not sure if you've been explosed to Microscope RPG, but similar to that. Its kind of turning into the go to point to combine this urge to go through a whole organic and logical process of worldbuilding with my recent facination with SoloRPG's. Who knows, maybe I'll turn it into a video series :P Either way, stay cool and keep rocking. I hope you find the time to keep making these videos, as they are truely peak worldbuilding content, and I look forward to more of your content and more interactions.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

@@Axiie I will have to look into Microscope RPG, thank you for the resource! And thank you for the positive feedback, I am really enjoying making the content, so stay tuned for more to come :)

[@TheRealMrWolf]

This was fantastic. While being in fantasy fiction for decades, I already knew every single thing, you hit basically everything and provided fantastic examples. Good job. You earned a sub 🙃

[@Kadesx1]

Bro, your channel is fantastic. I've been learning a lot with these videos and even got inspired to get back to a story I've abandoned some time ago due to poor worldbuilding. This video especially helped a lot since the world is magic based. Thank you!

[@skailargaming366]

Thanks that helped me refine my magic system a lot!

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@Darkohakux]

Finally catch up with the new videos, really excellent work Matthew, great and fun ideas in your world. Stay awesome!

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying :)

[@astralnekomimi]

I'm creating a relatively hard middle magic system for a world I'm working on based on color theory. You've helped me flesh it out into a full system! I didn't really have an idea for the sources of magic generally and in practice, but now I do. Thank you!

[@zidaryn]

My current favorite series, that I'm reading, starts off with the protagonist thinking they're in a no/low magic setting. By book 5 we realize it's a HIGH magic world. Magic is prevalent everywhere and plays just as much of a role as physics, but it's a hard magic system. Magic users are the nobility of this world. Name of the series: Ascendance Of A Bookworm

[@katka8490]

and developing magic as a peasant is a rare but exceptionally deadly problem to have.

[@DND20]

There are more dicotomies: Soft/Hard: As you said, soft/hard is how well the rules are defined *and known by the reader* . Rational/Irrational: How much as system can be extrapolated. Superman is a hard and irrational systems since we know well what he can and cannot do, but we cannot infer from one power he has other powers. Limited/Unlimited: How much powerful the magic is, limited magic cannot do powerful stuff while unlimited can go wild in power. Low/High: How much magic is present in your world, how much people know about it. The cuthulu example you gave is not a part low part high, but a Low and Unlimited magic system (also soft and irrational). Bedning is Hard-Mid, Rational (you can predict sweat, blood, and mental bending as a viewer, and the powers follow one another) Harry potter is also Hard/Irrational - it's clear how each spell works, but you cannot infer new spells or abilities from existing ones.

[@merwalkure1853]

Thank you very much ^^: This video will help me a lot.

[@Toist]

Thanks lol, you made my day and helped me alot with my writer's block

[@bumbread5989]

Maybe not for its lore, I like the game design implications of magic in pokemon or genshin impact, though genshin has a better implementation of it by far. The idea is that elements can combine in order to produce additional effects, like fire melting ice, or grass creating blooms on water, dealing additional damage of some sort. If pokemon is mostly about matching the type of pokemon to types of attacks, genshin goes way further and instead of enemies being a certain type, enemies simply have status effects. So you can do water attacks, and your enemies will become wet. If you attack a wet enemy with ice, they will freeze. The other factors in the world influence status effects too: during the rain everyone gets the wet status effect, if the enemy is standing in a campfire they get burned status effect. Sometimes you can power-up your wind attack if you stand near campfire, the wind will also deal heat damage. It gives encounters in the game so much more variety just by making context matter, which is what makes it so good, regardless of its lore. I've seen a statement in one of the videos it went like "the magic system is as good as its users". I guess my point is that if you're adding magic to your world you should make sure its well integrated. This is especially true in mid and high-magic worlds, where magic is bound to have some effects on everyday life, history, politics etc.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Great point! I'm not very familiar with Genshin Impact but it certainly sounds interesting. Also sounds similar to the way magic is gamified in Divinity: Original Sin. I do believe a 'gamified' view of magic does tend to produce very solid results, especially for hard magic systems'.

[@PrismNova7]

I was thinking about your world and how you talked about having magical flora and then I came up with an idea that I think would fit really well into your world. It would be a tree that utilize gravity to allow itself to grow to unimaginable sizes and anyone who ingested parts of the tree would be able to lower or even completely cancel out gravity.

[@TBsentmehere]

Great content as always! I hope you come back to the topic of magic when fleshing out your cultures, as there's definitely a lot of potential for strange practices and taboos when dealing with it, especially when you factor in the Breachers. Also, I would like to know more about the rituals for advanced magic. What are they like? How do they work? Do you plan on expanding on that in the future? Anyway, very inspiring work so far!

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Magic is definitely something that will continue to be explored as we move forward! Breachers especially will have huge cultural implications. The specifics for rituals are going to be influenced by culture, though to properly answer your question, functionally so long as the caster has appropriate mastery over magic, and appropriate reagents to fuel the casting, their intention will bring forth the desired effect. Intention without fuel would cause the spell to fizzle, while intention without mastery is a great way to summon a breacher. What rituals look like and what incantations are said will depend on culture and I do plan on establishing that more as we move forward :) And thank you for the positive words, glad you are enjoying! :)

[@streeksxg]

You helped me sooo much with you break rules paraphrasing but thank you

[@kalleendo7577]

Awesome!

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you!

[@kovi567]

Inb4 folks realize they can do a doomsday scenario, or at least really mess up their immediate surroundings by messing up high tier magic on purpose and summoning breachers. Inb4 they make a cult out of it and dedicate their lives to make communion with these entities of pure power and chaos.

[@PjotrFrank]

Bravo. A very nice compilation of magic worldbuilding. Do you plan a follow-up episode on the influence of magic on society and the physical laws of nature (e.g. entropy)?

[@jamesadamsfl]

I love the magic system you made. It’s really different than most of the ones I’ve seen in the past, it makes sense given the rules established about the world. Since it’s a hard magic system, there’s lots of fun stuff we can infer. For example, I like to believe that since Magic in this world comes from plants, the reason wizards carry wands and/or staves is because they’re carved from magical wood that can aid in their spellcasting. Likewise, there are probably a few “magical” animals that get their powers from eating specific plants. That would imply that the magical species of this world are mostly herbivores with a fair few omnivores, but not so many carnivores.

[@copyplanter]

I'd love to see the biblical angels of Locus! Also, could you explore some of the alternate universe? Or is it just functionally an energy reservoir/sinker to allow magic use?

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

If I was a better artist, I'd love to draw and present what I have in mind for breachers. I hope one day I can work with an actual artist to bring them to life! I very much imagine them as awesome but horrifying. The alternate universe is something I have played around with a lot behind the scenes, but at this stage I haven't settled on which direction I'd like to go with it. It's kind of the 'mystery behind the curtain' haha, but one day I will go into it more!

[@Sarx-vw5oq]

The defining difference between hard and soft magic is if it can be used to solve problems in the narrative and less if the inner workings of it are explained. The One Ring of LotR for instance is an example of hard magic, the effects(invisibility, longevity) and costs( corruption, ring wraiths hunt you, Sauron notices you) in how it affects the narrative are very clear but the inner workings of how it does that are a mystery. Sauron did some stuff who know how.

[@mjrtaurus2714]

I've always wanted to make a magic system based on astrophysics. Energy, Vacuum, and Gravity being able to be harnessed and manipulated... Definitely more SciFi than fantasy, but I think it's an interesting idea.

[@Nerdnumberone]

Another possible cost for ritual spells in this setting could be parts of magical organisms, potentially after being carefully distilled. This could push beyond daily limits or personal power, at the cost of rare resources and increased risk of breachers. Perhaps a ritual could be made safer by carefully balancing the types of magic performed (synthesizing one thing while severing another) to decrease the strain on reality. Another possibility is to spread the ritual across a wide area so that you can evenly draw power rather than stabbing down at a point. Both of these would probably require either multiple casters working in parallel and/or a magical mechanism, such as an array of implements that can somehow automate the mechanics of a spell.

[@marxtheenigma873]

Mine, definitely hard magic. I like to understand things. Its exotic(magic) particles and multiple layers of reality. One's consciousness exists on a different layer than the physical world. The magic particles can be used to bridge the mind and physical reality and allow the mind to interact with the physical reality directly (without having to move the body to interact with the environment). The most basic stuff is pushing/pulling/lifting things, and slowing down or speeding up molecules to make things warmer or colder. Magic particles enter reality through rifts from another universe. However, in the physical reality it is unstable unless it binds with energy. The energy is used up when magic is performed to do work. The magic particles then decay and one must find a usable(surrounded by energy in the form of heat or light) rift to refill. Magic is not evenly spread. Some places have more rifts than others, and of different intensities.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Sounds very cool! Sounds like it's taken some of the cooler aspects of the force from Star Wars, and dialled up the 'hard magic' to make it more logical. I love the idea of rifts as 'refill points'.

[@Cryodrakon2]

Literally same for my world.

[@marxtheenigma873]

@@Cryodrakon2 I've since decided that magic should carry its own energy, or else rift affected areas would be dark and cold and lifeless due to all the energy it absorbs. This change also adds the interesting option of places where photosynthesis is impossible to have plants powered by magic energy instead.

[@joseywales6168]

I never summoned you, I conjured your glorious image upon my shining crystal orb

[@powerofanime1]

I absolutely love hard magic systems. One point to make: Visible Light is just a specific range within the Electromagnetic Spectrum. So scientifically, at least, Photonics would be in the same category.

[@tristanmitchell1242]

I just saw a video about knot theory and came back to this video. One idea might be to have "magic particles" by making your world use a vortex ring atomic structure. Maybe the material of the vortex rings can change the magic properties of the atom. Unaligned energy might make neutral or normal materials, while various conceptual or elemental energies could produce other materials.

[@DragonKingZero]

One thing I wish more works would explore is how the presence of magic affects the development of science, technology, and civilization as a whole. (like the orbments in the Trails series, Symbology in the Star Ocean series, and the "magic-industrial revolution" in Lost Odyssey). Especially since when in a civilization's history it appears or is discovered could determine the difference between magic _breaking_ the laws of physics and reality, or magic being an _aspect_ of them.

[@dan_man3087]

I must say that it's the first video from this channel that i ever watched, and it was *exactly* what i needed. It's REALLY interesting to look at your own mostly finished magic system that was established years ago through the lens of this video. It looks like i have somewhat hard-ish, middle to high(still mostly leaning to the middle side of the spectrum, tho), semi-natural magic on my hands in the world, where two kinds of sentient live co-exist with one another: Humans and Bestials(humanoid animals). While former usually can never use magic naturally(i.e., without some ancient artifacts) and have frail bodies in comparison, they are mentally much more durable, have innate defenses to some types of magic and most importantly - they can adapt to *ANYTHING*, no matter the odds. Bestials, on the contrary, are usually exclusively rely on magic even on day to day basis, are much more physically durable and can be really powerful casters(and they can wield dangerous artifacts with less trouble than humans), but since they are humanoid animals - they can be prone to the "primal breakdown" - a dangerous condition, when due to high levels of mental damage and\or stress that said bestial can temporarily "loose" their sentient part to the pits of rage, despair or fear, becoming nothing more than a cornered animal for some period of time... making bestials less likely to adapt to extreme situations. Magic that Bestials use is bound by certain rules: for example, the exact form of magic they can use is determined at birth, and it's commonly depend on the type\form of magic their parents have, with some exceptions like being born under a certain circumstances or just being a certain "race". Plus, there's three main "types" or "schools" of magic, that interact with each other similar to the rock-paper-scissors. And it's cost is similar to the AtLA's system of using the limits of the caster's overall combination of physical strength, inner will and mental capacity, but with a little twist of each magic type drawing it's power from one of those three virtues while the other two are function more like a "support energy wells". There's even some nuance to it, like when two different types of magic still can have the same "purpose", while operating differently... Wish i had the opportunity to make my story into something more corporate than almost 5 year RP in my DM's with my girlfriend. But i'm not an artist, and writing literature is less... "noticable" to the public eye that rarely even reads these days(especially considering that english isn't my first language ). And i wanted to make a game series out it too, while knowing *nothing* about programming... (╥﹏╥)

[@fred_derf]

I've been working on a system (on and off) for magic that varies the amount of magic available, from none (most of he world) to high, with the amount of land (or water or sky) area for each "level" being a geometric retrogression. Then there are four types of magic, Innate, Talents, spells, and rituals. - Innate powers are simply powers that creatures have and use but don't "control" or "manipulate", like having a sixth sense. Creatures that need high levels of magic to survive (e.g. a giant has an innate magic ability to support it's own weight) are limited to areas of high magic. - Talents are abilities some people have that allow them to manipulate reality naturally, like an person having the ability to throw an object. They get better at it with practice. Different individuals have different talents, some having one, some having more than one, most having none. Talents have to be discovered. - Spells are learned processes that involve words (sounds) and motions to focus magical energy into various, very specific affects. Spells are more powerful than Talents but while talents are more general (e.g. heal) spells are very specific (e.g. Heal Femur). - Rituals are learned processes that involve preparation, possibly various materials, and long periods of chanting (i.e. hours). Rituals have the highest magical effects, the bigger the effect the longer the ritual and the more complex / difficult / rare the materials. A unique feature of rituals is that more than one magics user can be involved performing it. The more people involved the shorter the period of time, but on a less than linear scale. - Spells have short durations. - Rituals can have permanent durations. Rituals are required to make magic items. - Spells can be embedded on an object (with a specific trigger) and carried around prior to "going off" when triggered. Wands can have multiple spells that are triggered individually (with the same trigger) in a FILO order. Such spells can be triggered (but not made) in non-magical areas. - A limited amount of magic energy can be stored in the body for use with talents (but not innate magic, spells or rituals) and used in non-magical areas or as a supplement in low magic areas. Recharging takes time in a magical areas. Staves can be manufactured that are linked to an individual and store additional magical energy (think magic battery) for use with talents but the user but must be in physical contact with it to use it. - The power of a talent or spells is dependent on the amount of magical energy available, more powerful spells require more magical energy. - The distance a spell or talent is used at also requires more magical energy, with magic affecting the caster using the least, someone or something the caster is touching needing more and the further away the target is the more magic is required. - Spells vary from simple, (being easily learned), to complex (being difficult to learn ands requiring years of prior experience). This makes magic (potentially) very powerful but in limited areas and adds variety. Talents are weak but general, spells a powerful but specific and rituals are very powerful but slow to cast.

[@xxxyz721]

I’d recommend reading “Harry Potter and the methods of rationality” as a fantastic fanfic that takes an alternative look at the HP universe from a sceptical mindset :).

[@TrueWolves]

I think one interesting side effect or question of breachers existing is... does this process work in reverse? And what would be the dangers of this process?

[@aoihitori]

Thanks for this, due to my love of reading manga/manhwa/novel and seeing magic system that never explain but instead a lore dump but then ended up explained as "It is Magic" which is for me is kinda lazy way to incorporate magic, I wanted to make my own story with Magic System that make sense to my Worldbuilding.

[@Xplora213]

It’s very interesting to consider changing the system experienced by the audience through the story. Indiana Jones 4 was a crime against humanity until I realised the Ark had lightning, the Thuggee cultists removed hearts and the Holy Grail quest granted eternal life (or death!). Most of the movie is very reality based then the series sneaks the crazy stuff at the end. Star Wars is similar. (LUCAS!!!) My own world has been particularly low magic but I think going more high magic as they focus on a particular plot thread makes sense. D&D in general works best as an archeological mystery. The wizards of old are an interesting diversion for characters needing to stop an evil Necromancer, especially if they are low magic themselves.

[@Shukaldes]

A bound "life synthesis" being would be very important to healing and agricultural efforts.

[@dinoseen3226]

Funny how you mention waterbenders moving metal when that exact thing happened in Korra with mercury lol.

[@foxonfire7]

This has been helpful but i am on the fence about a few things about my magic system. Namely wheter or not if it classifys as soft or hard magic. And if it's high or middel So here is how it works: there are two tipe of people in this world (yet to be named) One of them the mages : they have the more obvious form of magic out of the two. Magic is a part of them, their source of magic being fused with their souls so thigtly separating it by force is not in the realm of possibility. It can happen as a cost of resurecting someon, and it dose happen when they die ( more on this later) The way they manifest their magic and how much they have varys from person to person. The main types being _Sight_:the user visualizes what they want to happen. - Severing a rope for example by imaging that their gaze cuts trough it as they glance over it. -Lifting things by focusing on it and willing it to move when they move their eyes. - Changing someon by visualizing their form shifting and forming into something else. This can range from something as harmles as changing someon hair color to purple temporali as a joke to something as malignant as making a hole trough their chest or making their skull cave in or the like. The above example of slashing fits here too if used on living things. - _World_: the user manipulates things by speaking. Less powerfull or inexperienced users may use poems, songs, or tongue twisters to do this. Most likely to have a spellbook filed with them, they can be their own work or someon elses. More powerfull and experienced users can do things by simply making a demand Ie: One user may make a patch of flowers grow by singing to them about sunlight, rain and spring while another may simpli asks them to grow or makes the statement that the flowers grow. When used on things with a higher level of sentienc ( animals humans) the user can chose to simply make them belive that the ting they say is true or can make it true. For example: using less power making them belive that they have snakes for hair, using more power turning their hair into snakes. They may also manipulate them to do something. Sing, dance, be happy, cry give them something, tell them their worst secret, fight their own army, and so on (you can fill in the blanks). A subcategory of this is sound magic where much of the same things can be acomplished by playing an instrument or imagining a certain sound apearing, changing or stopping. _Touch_: The only type of magic that has a phisica, visibel, tangibel manyfestation, oposed to the two other types where the effect directly and offten imediatly affects the subject. This manifestation can look like tendrils of light, a flow of firework like sparks, fire, water or glowing ribons, colorful smoke or living and moving darknes. It's apperanc and color is different from user to user and it may vary slightly depending on their mood. Where the root of it manifest when used works much the same way: some it may bloom out from their back or chest like wings or petals of a flower. Others may concentrat it in their hands and either move it as extensions and additions of their fingers or trow it (yes like a fireball expect you have control over where it gose and how fast ) others may be complety or partialy engulfed by it. The user reaches out by their magic and manipulates things this way, the name of it comes from the fact that it serves much like an extension to their body and needs to be moved much the same way and the user feels what their magic touches. In case of less powerfull spels less than they would have touched it by hand in case of more powerfull spells this sensation my be more intense than anything they could feel with their phisical body. In exchange for its drawbacks touch magic can not only change, shrink or stretch matter but can make it appear or disappear. This is only limited by the power of the user as it draws from their life force. Touch magic is the most versatile of the main types. For example while the other two may be helpful in healing touch magic is the only one that can heal things by itself. It is the base of shade magic ( necromancy with a bit of added spice) Ultimatly it depends on how one can best control their magic and what they have a natural talent in, there are blood lines with one type of magic being more common or having more raw power. A mage can gain more power trough practice and age but the one that comes with the most rapid and strong power boost requers me to introduce the other tipe of humans _*The anchors/ northeners*_:( they are named after what they role in magic is and where they live for now, bear with me, figuring out names has been the bane of my existence) They average state in muscle strenght, is that of a normal human ( mages in this world) high on adrenalin and this can be enhanced by training ( or being high on adrenalin) They also have the healing factor to match so their bodis can withstand the sheer force they use. They heal faster and can naturaly heal completly from injuries that would leave a mark on mages, for example torn tendons, crushed bones,even nerve damage to some extent. Their injuris hardly and rarely leave a lasting scar. They have more stamina and get tired slower than a mage they also need les rest and food than a mage would. They do not have magic within them but they can absorb and use it either trough a ritual or having a bond with a mage ( more on that in a minute) Because the resons mentioned above if they have a deep bond with a mage they can help them cast more powerfull spells by: - sharing their life force. -Absorbing and storing the magic if the mage needs to draw out more force to cast the spell than what they can control by themseves. - Helping the mage cast the spell for example chanting with them in the case of world magic or taking up some of the sensation and helping with control in the case of touch magic. - When doing shade magic helping the mage's soul stay tetered to their body and protecting them from the malovelent creatures drawn to both phisical and astral form by such spells. In exchange the mage helps the northener by - enhancing healing factor reflexes and senses enabeling them to use more brute force - Charging wepons or the northener themself with magic letting them use simple magic - using magic to benefit them. These bonds are formed when the mage and northener in question are compatibel in terms of what kind of magic they can use and endure,and have a deep emotional bond which can be friendship, a felling of brother/ sisterhood, a mentor student relationship or romantic feeling ect. Mages and northeners can help others than their bonded mate ( in rarer cases mates) in this maner but after a certain point in differenc in power level and compatibility it can do more harm than good. Especialy if either of them have been bonded with someon else for a while. The resons of whic i will list below After such bond is formed the two party will rapidly gain power. Such pairs will work out tecnices and develop skills to help eachoter in the most efficent way to handel the new surge of power. Thus someon outside the bond may not be able to ( or dont know how to) handel the power used. This presents a problem when the two individuals are separated as they can't handle their own power. ( Uncontrolabel, unpredictabel magic, healing factor not strong enough to handel strenght used, being vulnerabel and clumsy because lack of helping magic they are used to) Shade magic is a complex study of magic that enabels the user to bring back things that once were, creat living vessels and control and sumon peoples souls and shades At the height of it is true resurection in whic the mage creatse the body of a decesed person, calls back the soul to inhabit it and bonds it together perfectly to bring back the person from the dead. _Shades_: the imprint of a persons life, they are not souls but they posses the decesed characteristics and personality, they exist to help the living grive and have a conection to their ancestors, they perform simple tasks that the person loved to or longed to do in life, some may tend a garden, others guard the forest or their favorite library, they may help their loved ones in the kitchen or soften peoples fall when they trip. In case of mages they are visibel and take an uniqe form influenced by the persons magic, circumstances of death and personality. They can be found by the living easily and they can be comunicated with althoug they can't speak and have a hard time sending signals indirectly to their loved ones, can't be sumon and need to be lead to the created body in case of an atempted resurection They can only perform tasks tied to a single purpose although that purpose can be complex. They are considered also called a person's final magic as they take form using the magic fused with the mages soul until their death and can be given a purpose by the dying mage in their final moments In case of northeners they are invisibel and harder to find but they are more easily sumoned and can send indirect signals ( clouds, flowers, leaves, colors in a sunset...) or apear in dreams They can perform many tasks and are not tied to a purpose but these are much more simple The soul of the person can sometimes use them to see their loved ones in both cases. In both the cases of northeners and mages they are needed if someon wants to sucesfully resurect a person. I could go on about how resurectio works and what magic creatures and potions exist but this is alredy a very long comment and the grammar and sentence strurcture makes it hard to read( english is not my mother tongue, sorry)so if someone wants to know more just let me know and i will gladly tell. Thank you if you read untill this point. Have a great day ^⁠_⁠^

[@hikarihitomi7706]

First, your definition of magic needs work. Gravity for example, is magic under such a definition. Second, Sanderson's Laws of Magic. Definitely important to cover. He even goes into WHY you would need soft or hard magic to get the impact you want.

[@bjorncorvin4568]

I am pretty sure my magic system is a hard magic system as different types of Arcani (magic-users) are defined by their abilities and styles of casting. For example Druids are able to shapeshift and manipulate the four elements (think the Avatar but with shapeshifting), while Mages can do these things but their style of casting is very different, using runes and phrases (think The Dragon Prince) while Druids just need intent to throw a fireball at someone. Also can u do a video on the abilities of Mages?

[@quakxy_dukx]

I have more story ideas in development than I really should (about 60) but somehow I have completely unique and interesting hard magic systems in a bunch of them. For example, a chemistry-based magic in a pseudo-ancient greek/medieval world but it’s treated as nothing more than the most basic of scholarly subjects due to lack of understanding of how it works and therefore lack of any practical use. Or an unknown type of energy with odd properties relating to density that’s discovered by a biochemist who struggles with it not being within his field of study

[@CaedenV]

On the one hand, the person consuming content WANTS to be decieved. They are looking for escape. This gives the writer a lot of leeway to have flexibility about when magic works, or dramatically stops working at an inopportune time, or when something new comes into play to dramatically save the hero. That being said, there are limits of disbelief. If the rules are broken... But only for the hero, or only against the hero, then it can take the viewer out of the world as being "wrong" or "unfair". In my life i love the dichotomy of understanding how technology works, but still being blown away by yhe fact that it works. Like when you flip a lightswitch, you dont think about the power plants, and load balancing, fuel sources, and network of wires, and electronics in the led bulb, or R&D to make brighter or more efficient light bulbs. Of the literally trillions of dollars of research, development, infrastructure, and decades of building on improvements and compatibility... You flip on a switch and the light turns on, and it costs you next to no cost in time effort or money to have a light on in your room... And that is a lightswitch... We have mich more complicated things than lights lol. So on the one hand it is important to have magic taken for granted. It should be common, mundane, and people just use it, because why wouldnt you? The magic or technology becomes part of you and your behavior in the world. But on the other hand there should be a sense of wonder... Not that it is impossible to understand, but that those who do understand it dedicate a lot of their life to it. How does a lightswitch work? Its effectively magic. It doesnt mean there isnt an explanation, but it doesnt mean that you have to understand it to use it effectively. And where "magic" ends and "technology" begins is an eternally blurred line in shifting sands. One is the study and implimentation of the natural world, while the other is pulling from rules of a hidden plane or alternate existence. But both seek to modify the world to the will of the user. I like in LOTR how the magic of the hobbits is their very nature of not being ambitious. It prevents golumn from being fully turned even at the end, and allows the hobbits to carry the ring to the destination. Yhe mercy of frodo in not killing golumn is effectively a spell which allows gollumn to regain a part of his humanity (hobittity?). In harry potter it is a mothers love itself which provided the source of deep magic that protects him. In lion the witch and the wardrobe it is the old magic manifest in aslan which powers all magic in all worlds, and dark magic is just small corruptions of that base magic used towards ones self interest... In a lot of magic systems there is that raw emotional baseline of magic being this ineffable primal force behind nature itself. It is the Ether or bozen soup of base reality which all things are built on which makes even basic material things essentiall magic. When magic is a mcguffin slapped on top of the normal world, it looks like a bright pink bandaid on a dark skinned bouncer at the club... It stands out. You need to blend and integrate it into the world. Magic itself cant be special, the type of magic used is what makes it special, or the way it is used makes the character special. Magic should tell the same story in parallel with the story you are telling. You may have a well thought out deep magic system behind the world you create... But if it doesnt add to the story to explain it... Dont. Granted, dont be so coy that it looks like a deus ex machina when magic makes an appearance, but dont focus on it if it isnt pushing the story forward. Avatar isnt one of the best written shows because it exhaustively explains all of the worldbuilding... What makes it great is that it is a fun and emotionally impactful show. That it makes more and more sense the more you pick it apart is just icing on the cake. Some of avatars worst sections are where it leaves the story behind to explicitly world build, like explaining the turtles. If you have to go that far out of your way to explain the world for the story yo make sense... You arent doing a good job at story telling. Having the story of the first avatar as a side novel or mini series would be fine... But that the story arc of korra didnt stand on its own is just bad story telling.

[@shadowdevil126]

probably wont see this but i love the idea of a group of mages gathering in an enemy stronghold or capital city to pull off a massive ritual to deliberately summon breachers to destroy it for them

[@auranecropolis2848]

I like the magic Systems from Chinese literature about cultivation. It is mostly a mix of hard and soft magic, cultivators scale the ranks up to greater and greater power in their path - may it be the sword with its deadly swordlight or even more magical moves; an Array used to protect a sect of cultivators confounding enemies or even outright killing them after entering, body cultivators which bodies are as hard as artifacts - breaking swords with bare hands, or even the mysterious soulforce users, able to interrupt the thoughts of enemies in the middle of the fight to create an opening…. There are so many more and I can just recommend reading more fantasy from other cultures. Here are also some literature recommendations: the desolate era, warlock of the magus world, upgrade specialist in another world, the experimentation log of the crazy lich, against the gods

[@garethwatts2941]

okay, been awhile since you made this vid, but I've got a question and ideas about the breachers... the way I understand it you said that too much magic being used can cause the veil to become thin and cause the breachers to come into one or both of the universes, and that a breacher can essentially be a manifestation of synthesis or severance. so, my question is, would that mean if there is too much severance magic happening a synthesis breacher would appear? and the same in reverse, with access synthesis magic causing a severance breacher? now that leads onto my idea. if in my question I was right, I kind of imagine that breachers would kind of be equalisers, trying to balance the energy between the two universes. so if too much severance magic is used in universe A, too much energy would be in universe B, so a synthesis breacher would appear in universe A or a severance breacher would appear in universe B in an attempt to drag the access energy from universe B back into universe A. if that was the case, then I got the idea from the image you showed at 16:29 that the breachers kind of look like flying rays or something, but more particularly are like black and white holes. a severance breacher could be similar in appearance, maybe not in shape, to black holes as they suck energy into the other universe. and on the flip side, a synthesis breacher would appear in the same way, but as we theorise white holes would, but instead of projecting light, it would project energy from the other universe into the universe it is in. sorry if that's a bit long and doesn't make much sense XD.

[@Andrewtr6]

I have a modern fantasy story with some strong sci-fi elements mixed in and an "otherworld" fantasy story set in the same universe (but a different world, if that wasn't clear) so, these stories use the same magic system. However, there are some key differences between the story. In the modern world, a low fewer people are capable of magic, so it is kept hidden. In the otherworld, around 80-90% of the population can use magic meaning it has become part of the culture. Back to the modern world, the magic here has become weakened due to the massive industrialization which can mess with magic (mainly electricity). The otherworld has not industrialized to avoid this happening there as well. The magic is also explained in more detail in the otherworld story compared to the modern world. Since both these stories use the same magic system, the cost of magic is pretty similar despite one being closer to high magic and the other low magic. Since the modern world will have less magic to go around, the spells are weaker, and casters use up more energy to cast them. In the otherworld, the casters can cast stronger spells without using too much energy (however, the antagonists or conflict is more likely to be magical in nature and harder to solve). The main cost of the system is the requirement of magic energy (mana) which is expended upon using magic. This often has a physical toll on the caster but can also be emotion or spiritual. Casters must also train academically and physically to use magic.

[@GoblinLord]

I think of magic as a spectrum between philosophy and physics. Physics is like FMA, a set of Alternative Physics that are not shared with our own reality. While Philosophy is similar to Physics in that it has some rules, it's not quite so mathematical, it is practical yes, or else it wouldn't be done, it's just that the system is more based in abstract concepts like adopting aspects of a creature through association, as opposed to Physics Magic which tries to explain it with logic, such as using a personal energy source to transmute matter. In essence FMA is akin to Chemistry but kickstarted by sheer willpower, while say, The Force is powered by either tranquility or emotion, and simply does thing. Though the Force becomes more Hard once Midichlorians are introduced so essentially, Hard Magic is Alt-Science, and Soft Magic is like poetry

[@craz2580]

Ok, thank you, really, i just realised that in my world there is middle to high magic, the whole world is shaped by some, but still, the people who live in it use magic, but they sort of blend it with science

[@zeehero7280]

I like how magic tends to work in Final Fantasy, it's part of the natural order, the science of Aetherology and manipulating aether with knowledge, sometimes tools like a focus, and ones mind, is using Magic. in FF14, some level of "personal" aether, or spare life force, is needed to use magic, with those of the Garlean race being biologically incapable of doing so, and thus developed advanced magitek to even the odds.

[@commandereclipse5373]

Hell yeah, I've been going through these from the beginning, but this is the video that introduced me to your channel. Amazing work, and I can't wait to see how Synthesis and Severance affects your world! You've definitely given me some things to think about regarding magic. My magic system is somewhat hard and relies entirely on reagents that need to be harvested. I think you've given me something to consider for dimensional invaders.

[@fangslore9988]

my own magic system i'm working on is quite unique, magic flows from a natural energy from mana which flows through the world like a stream and a mage draws power from their own reserve of mana but overcasting can firstly lead to exhastion and further attempts to cast when tapped out of mana can lead to draining one's own life force affecting their health. for the more powerful spells mages need to congregate and combine efforts by channeling each other's power. as for the mages themselves they're mostly viewed with contempt and fear by most but some look at them in awe. and to protect themselves and to maintain a mostly tolerable image the mages forged a mages guild which acts to regulate magic and provide magical services for money thus being somewhat tolerated. the mages guild probably has at least around 500 members per chapter hall within a city of around 50,000+, and mages have to Proform magical services for income such as enchanting, spell breaking and curse breaking and enchantment breaking services or even dealing with dark mages such as necromancers death mages, dealing with monsters and undead. for a mage who ran out of mana in my setting, mana replenishes over time but can be replenished faster through meditation or sleeping

[@dinoseen3226]

Not to be mean, but I kept reading hoping to see the unique part and never found it. Maybe it needs some more weirdness added to it.

[@fangslore9988]

@@dinoseen3226 magic is only as weird as what is done with it or how far one pushes it in the setting you create

[@azazelgrigori9244]

I would say that my magic system would be hard. It's based off of 7 cosmic forces represented by and named after the astrological planets. Sol is light, Luna is spirit, Mars is war, Mercury is mind, Jupiter is will, Venus is nature, and Saturn is death. I've also drawn inspiration from the color pie in Mtg. My system is meant to have certain rules so it doesn't get overpowered. For example, summoning, which is typically built around Luna. You can't just summon a minion to fight for you. Luna controls a branch of magic called Theurgy, which lets one interact and traffic with spirits. Summoning a spirit requires a sympathetic link (like a sigil or item of belonging). You have to perform a ritual which only contacts the spirit in question. It can refuse the summoning, so you might have to force it. Summoning rituals can't be done in combat, so you can't summon spirits just to fight for you. Especially considering that they don't have physical bodies to fight with. Typically, summoning spirits is done to gain some sort of boon from them, like channeling their power into a talisman. It is possible to channel a spirit into in battle, but that would obviously come with some risks. It is possible to bind a spirit into a mechanical body, but this practice is called techno-theurgy. All in all, this is a process that takes up time, effort, and resources. I'm also of the opinion that magic loses its value when it becomes too common. People who use it have to take it up as a profession, which means they'd need to recieve some form of education just like with anything else. Not to mention, there's also the problem of what kind of level technology would this world have? I'm trying to create a balance between magic and science. Then there's the practice of mysticism in which mystics do not directly interact with the seven arcana, but instead forge covenants with spiritual benefactors. These covenants can take on different shapes like priests who serve their gods to warlocks who make pacts with demons.

[@AnotherDuck]

This sounds very much like worldbuilding for worldbuilding's sake. More theorycrafting than practical use. It explains more _what_ you can do than _why_ you should do it. I prefer a more story-focused approach, where I determine what I need from the magic system based on what the story and themes are going to be. These are also not hard categories, but rather points on a scale. I think that should be clarified.

[@N0noy1989]

True. Many people get caught up building a world before they can even proceed with their story.

[@damonhawkes2057]

Yeah confirmed, best worldbuilding channel on youtube.

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thanks! I am inspired by other good quality channels, nice to hear this channel is counted among them :)

[@jellocat9244]

I’m writing a story where the magic comes from writing and carving, called scripting/script magic. Magic comes from wiring/ carving a word, phrase or symbol on a surface and when the word is completed the effect of the magic happens. So for example you write the word burn on a piece of wood and the wood will burn. Simple things like this is used by everyone in everyday scenarios. On the other hand there is a profession call script smithing, there are for more complex words and symbols usually carved into small objects for protection and other things. There are also scripts only used by certain noble families, passed down through generations. These families have their own members do all the scripting for their family. This form of magic, when used for combat, scripts have to be carved ahead of time on a weapon, this is because you can’t just being out paper in the middle of combat to draw scripts. You can also only script on a material not in mid air like some. So the production and buying of script smithed in tools and charms are common, from anything such as protecting yourself to military use. There are special pens and carving tools used for scripting. Mana comes from the person writing, flows into the pen or tool and then into the material. When touched by another the effect of the script will activate, even though they didn’t draw it themselves. The amount of mana inside of a scripted can run out if not supplied with mana after a period of time, and the script can fade from an object, needing to be rewritten. There are also special materials that can be scripted on. As everything in the world has an amount of mana no matter how large or small. This includes animals and plants, therefore the more mana an object had when alive the more mana that can be used by a script carved into it. For example if you use a type of special paper made by the bark of a tree with high mana, you can write high mana usage scripts on it. It puts a cap on how strong a scripted object can get.

[@rigfiercemen4104]

I have a sci-fi setting where the level of magic depends on where the planet your species is. If a magic Rift is located near your species Homeworld your species will evolve being able to manipulate this while other species would need special technology to be able to manipulate the magic in the same way

[@LWolf12]

I created a magic system I use with a friend. It's part of a world that's evolved from simple people into a space faring race & they use magic to help them. They learned how to create crystals they use in generators a field of magic radiation that acts as a type of power. They also created a coding langue out of spell runes & symbols so says something like a gun can fire a firebolt instead of bullets so long as they are in the magic fields. However, outside of generated magic fields their magical equipment loses power.

[@alananimus9145]

A deity is a patron, and clerics are warlock's.

[@ERGSunshine]

This setting is going to be 'Dragon Age' as hell

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

I love the Dragon Age series, especially Origins!

[@TheConnectedWorlds]

What happens if a mage of your travels to another universe that is mostly the same but does not have law of energy transfer like for example our world?

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

In the 'cosmos' of Locus, the only other universe present has the same energy transfer, but I think what you are asking is if a mage of Locus was somehow taken away from that? In theory, they would not be able to use magic at all, unless a similar system is in place in the new universe. Even though some magic on Locus is 'innate', this natural power is simply a natural access to the universal energy transfer. It is not 'stored' within the individual. Without the universal energy transfer available, they would have to follow the laws of whichever universe they are now present in. Good question!

[@Zero-4793]

what do you call a hard low magic that is more of a consistant reliable force of the universe. imagine something between star wars force and avatar element bending. but even more strict

[@logannichols5848]

I see technology as ways to bend the laws of physics, souls and what not. and magic as something that breaks those law.

[@alexvandal4094]

What can possibly be a limitation in Locus for complex magic is the after effects. For example, a spell that requires little training and understanding doesn’t affect the world around as much, being on a scale of, say, magic spark (being able to ignite materials) that can cast a bright light by inexperienced user as a side effect. For spells on a scale of a fireball or firebomb, experienced caster, who understands how it works, will be able to avoid said side effects, but if an inexperienced mage uses fireball, it can also be more volatile, not charging in a set direction, or producing loud deafening sound or a blinding flash (as with a Spark example). This way, any magic user can cast a complex spell, but the lack of experience makes the spell more dangerous for caster and his surroundings, than for an intended target. And, as a follow up, using magic without proper training can be viewed by cultures as barbaric and be strictly prohibited.

[@daewynharrison3553]

This was really awesome Anyone know communities to share writings?

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

Thank you! I would recommend reddit for already established worldbuilding communities. If you are wanting to share fantasy writing specifically, check out the conlang subreddit!

[@childofathena9420]

Because of the intro am now imagining an edgey kid group making a summoning circle and a bald middle aged man shows up looking like he is about to head to the office.

[@radicalredgrave-wz4wl]

Damn I would love to hear his thoughts on "Mother of learning", in my opinion it's better than HP

[@adamshafeeq8685]

A few days ago, i asked for critiques and most of them sayed my system was complicated (in a bad way). I thought my Technopathy was pretty simple and straightforward. Anyway, about Technopathy How's it obtained? Technopathy is obtained (more like created now thay i think about it) via nanites called Ultinites. It's original purpose was to enhance and improve human physiology like strength, durability, senses, etc. In one of my stories which is sort of a prequel at this point, Ultinites are upgraded which makes Ultinites able to be passed down. The Ultinites also end up spreading to almost all humans on Earth and even my world's colonies How's it learned? A Technopath first needs to understand regular engineering to truly get a grasp on Technopathy. What's the difference between regular engineering and Technology? Engineering requires the use of the mind to think about how to build upon scientific principles (even fictional ones) in order to create products, while technomancy doesn't. The latter is straight up true "magic". Why true magic? Because even in the majority of fictions a sorcerer/mage needs to built upon the scientific principles of their universe (which we call magic) to create new spells. Very rarely do we have mages who will create new spells into existence without any need to think step by step. There is some form of telekinesis and alchemy in Technopathy as well (sorry if that part felt jammed in) Protocols (a.k.a the "elements" of Technopathy) Volts (Electricity) Hertz (Sound) Resolution (Pixels) Newtons (Gravity) Hi-tech abilities (anything relating to devices and machines Self-Cleaning: Device will clean itself over time. Sense (electricity, microwaves, radiation, radio waves, technological devices) Shielding vs. technopath influence or hacking. Spoof electronic sensors - causes sensor to sense or display incorrect information Tap communications land line Visualize blueprints - The ability to see in your mind all the various parts that make up a device, without taking it apart. Any missing parts will be missing from the vision. Entering local networks via telepathic link. Regenerate pieces of a technological device over time. May require materials or substances that the device is made of. Enhance the abilities of a technological device. Ex: added sensors, better accuracy, better heat dissipation, better traction, efficient power consumption, EMP shielding, greater power, greater range, higher speed, waterproofing, etc. Jury rig - Technological device just works despite missing or damaged parts, lack of ammo, lack of fuel, or lack of power source. Weaknesse Disabling Ultinites (EMP / strong electrical shocks / strong magnetic fields) - knocks out nanites. A person used to working with nanites for a long time wont be used to functioning without them. Hacking - Another technopath might be able to hack your Ultinites. Total loss of ability to use technopath powers / Hacker controls you like a puppet / Nanites attack your internal organs Overuse - Ultinites have to draw power from somewhere. Using them too much in a short period of time can drain the host body of energy and materials. Symptoms: Weakness, Fatigue, Malnutrition Some of this I did take a superhero approach with making this. With how the Technopath themself uses it, i have a character that uses electricity to power his gauntlets to emit thermal heat like an oven. I know, this is confusing, I'm still an amateur

[@WorldbuildingCorner]

This is a cool system! If I may give some feedback... The system reads like a soft magic system on the surface, where X abilities are present but there is no explanation given for how it works. Which is 100% fine, though the implementation of science and scientific forces suggests something a little more structured and rational (i.e. hard magic). It is not detailed how the nanites affect those forces. Do they increase/decrease them, similar to magic on Locus? Do they disrupt them, or bypass the scientific laws entirely? Do they work entirely within the scientific laws, making it technically not magic but advanced science? If your nanites work through 'soft magic', you don't really need to justify how they work. There can be streams of nanites (like Newton's etc that you mentioned) and they can affect and disrupt scientific forces without question. This is the simplest path. But if you're wanting it to work rationally with the sciences they're connected to in a 'hard system', then a user (and therefore a reader) would need to understand how the scientific forces are affected by the nanites for it to make sense. Also, depending on the depth you go into, this can be a huge burden of knowledge for the average person who is not an engineer or scientist. In short, manipulating scientific forces is fine, but given the complexity of the nanites in the system you are striving for, if you don't want your readers to have to be scientists to understand the system, try a softer system where they affect the scientific forces 'just because'. However, just because some others find your system complex doesn't mean it's bad! There's no shortage of people out there who love complex and in-depth systems. I've certainly learned that from the comments on my videos haha. Good luck with your project!

[@adamshafeeq8685]

@@WorldbuildingCorner of course i don't want things to he complicated but at the same time i don't want it to be shallow. Like i mention, i tried to go for a superhero approach with this system

[@dinoseen3226]

Intentional breacher summoning seems very exploitable for terrorists. It's not a bug, it's a feature!

[@mrsato7508]

I want to share the magic system for my comic: There are two dimensions: real and imaginary. In the real dimension all "physical" things exist, or in terms of my story, "everything that can be found". In the imaginary, therefore, "everything that can be imagined." Beings with a mind can attract these two worlds to each other until they touch, which allows imaginary things and phenomena to materialize in the real world. This magical system is limited by the knowledge of the one who uses it. There is a term "rigidity of thought", which reflects how well thought is prepared for manifestation into reality. If the embodied thought is not "rigid" enough, then the laws of the real world will push it back. For example, just imagining fire to create it is not enough. It is also necessary to carefully consider its properties like temperature, and how it could ignite by itself in reality. This can be done just like regular words, but physical formulas can also be used - this will make the spell many times more powerful.

[@carlborneke8641]

I feel like I need some help with my magic system even though I have the core concepts figured out. For starters magic in my setting was created as a result of extremely advanced alien technology. However even after this technology was deactivated or destroyed magic still exists since it has become a part of the natural world. There are countless ways of using magic in my setting but they all follow fundamental rules that simply cannot be broken. The 2 most important ones of all being that energy cannot be created or destroyed and entropy will always increase in a closed system. There are also 2 important concepts that all magic is based on. These are Form and Essence. Form is physical material and usable energy while essence is the pure information which gives anything its identity and properties. So in order to cast a spell you need the raw material, the energy and the knowledge how to shape it all into what you want. What I struggle with is how people learned how to use these powers and how they interact with them. For example how hand gestures and strange words and symbols effect something so ethereal and distant. I don’t want it to be as simple as “all you have to do is think very hard and it will happen” because that’s stupid. Right now my best looking idea is that the first magic uses gained their connection to the ethereal realms directly from the alien technology and that later this connection was either passed down to their descendants naturally or they directly passed it on to their successors through some sort of ritual. In that case after the technology was lost it would be possible for magic to completely disappear if all magic users became extinct. Perhaps the gradual extinction of magic could be a major plot point in my setting. What are your thoughts on it?

[@amehayami934]

My world is high magic. But it effects people and races in my world differently. The ones who can't do magic tend to have really high magic resistance. And is immune to a damage subtype like Piercing, slashing, or blunt. And most of the time end up becoming warrior gods and goddesses. Theos who can do magic can do it one of can use Mana, Psyonics, or Ki/Chi And people can cast it in different ways. Internal: Can't cast spells but imbue their magic in materials and items. Basically build things these are the magical engineers, The extremely powerful of these are known as Techno Mages and they can make godly artifacts and things that's considered SCPs. They can also imbue tattoos, art, buildings pretty much anything. As long as it's created by hand. Innate: there is two types timed and will. Timed is exactly that you cast a spell you might have to wait a few seconds or hrs to be able to use it again maybe days or years?. Innate will you draw off your own power but and the more you deplete that power from you the closer you get to exhaustion. But everyone grows so you can still hit God level eventually, if you live long enough. Then there is vampiric Basically you draw things from around you there is two types natural and blood. Nutrual will draw Magick and life killing anything around a radius that won't be able to grow back unless fixed by magic . Blood magic you gain it directly from. Blood even people who can't do magic. Because they're still magical they just use it in a different way. And there is Ancestors where you call upon your Ancestors for your power. Wich can be quite powerful think of how much Ancestors you might have, some of them being extremely powerful magic users and when they die theor magic got added to the pool of magic you use. This is more for witch's, shamans, druids and religious folks it doesn't always have to be Ancestors it can be congregations. Like covens or a God gives you some of their divine power. However better keep to the rules or it can be taken all away. Yes magic is complicated in my world.

[@Zack-fu4lo]

could magic systems themselves 'upgrade' in a world? as civilisations learn more about magic, developing spells that are more powerful and complex and also spells that are more convenient and simple, and try to get usage of magic to increase due to its usefulness, the world will go from low magic to medium magic a story set in that transition might be interesting.

[@syvajarvi2289]

In my world building, the world is middle to high magic. Everyone has access to magic, but not everyone has the skill or is predisposed to use high magic. People can learn ritualistic or hermetic formulas to a certain point. Artisans who know the formulas can create wondrous items to a certain degree, but the blessed can forge miraculous things of high power. Those who were blessed by gods can use magic through will alone, but there is a cost in personal energy and the blessing can be taken away. An example of the cost, if the characters use magic against their character it physically drains them. The blessed congregate in circles or covens that align with their focus to do great things and protect the world from eldritch horrors. Most of the temples and libraries are built on the conjunctions of lay lines or “hot spots” that were discovered in antiquity when the gods walked the lands. Everyone else live relatively normal lives, some can do minor magic innately akin to a soft magic system with little to no cost and it is less effective and more erratic in whether it works or not. Lay lines also have an effect on the consistency of the innate magic use but the average person is not aware of it.

[@Furyhound]

My own magical system is actually very basic, but allows me to seamlessly integrate other magic systems without clashing. Magic is subject to control, and in a naturally non-sentient energy. So, i gave it one singular rule. Thought, creates effect. So if you think magic works a certain way...

[@Carewolf]

GoT has hard margic for magic taught to main characters such as warging. Though magic that isn't, such as red priest's powers are very soft magic.

[@neogennorma3217]

Hmm, I do create magic power systems Call Duminia Source. It's the thing I create in the world story build that I'm make call 'Calamity Wave'. I assume it's a legit power magic but I don't know, I need an opinion from you guys.

[@zekejanczewski7275]

If Magic is making improbable things more likely, then it makes sence to have a magic system around luck. And it gives a default starting point for almost any action; things that are more unlikely are harser to cast. A raindance that works 6 days later is much easier then one, which works immediately, which is much, much less likely than shooting lightning out of your hands to hit someone. Luck has a unit; entropic skew mesured in bits, which I took from information theory, which took from thermodynamics. Imagine lining up every possible outcome of an event and ordering them using some methods. Ordinary, you would pick one world, and that would be what would happen, but entropic skew of 1, you select 2 worlds and choose the best one, 2 and you select from 4 worlds Entropic skew is gathered by objects with very specific shapes, honed through trial and error. The huristic events selected for are written nearby in a very poetic language with very limited vocabulary, similar to toki pona. Because of how many double meanings and flowery metaphor there are, getting exactly what you want is extremely difficult. You can set up the world into a line of percentiles according to some hurristic, and skew that distribution. Most luck has aplications in large industries like farming and insurance guilds and is seldom powerful enough in combat, because most wars are fought