Creating a Magic System (Part 2)

(Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash)

Last week we started our three part series about creating magic systems. We discussed the overall feel of the magic, and the strengths and weaknesses of how much you define your system. This week, we are going to be discussing the shape of your magic system, and how the types of limits you can place on your system can change how it is used.

The Shape of Magic

The type of limitations your magic has is what makes it special. Magic is defined more by what it can’t do than what it can do. Think of Harry Potter. When describing what it’s magic can do, you just have to say… he does magic. But when you start talking about the limitations—you need a wand to do it, and you need to know the spell you want—and it gets much more interesting. Coincidentally, this is Brandon Sanderson’s Second Law of Magic.

Placing limits on your magic is what keeps your hero from turning all the villains into frogs, and otherwise magic-ing the problem away. If your heroes can do anything, there is nothing stopping them from completing their goal. If there is nothing stopping them from completing their goal, then there is no conflict. If there is no conflict, there is no story. Magic needs limitations.

Limitations

Putting tight limits on your magic system make it more interesting and, in my opinion, better. They force you and your characters to work more to solve problems, and use more creative solutions.

Take a standard power, the ability to control fire. What if your character can’t create fire, only control it, like Pyro from the X-men? He has to carry a lighter around, to create fire that he can then manipulate. Maybe your character can control fire, but he also can get burned by it. Now there is a sense of danger every time he uses his power. He may get too close and get burned. Or what if he can only control fire if he is angry? Then his emotions are directly tied to the plot, plus the danger of what he will do with the fire when he is angry.

Be creative with choosing limits for your story. Create situations where characters can/can’t use their powers. Use materials that characters can’t cast spells on. Take an existing limitation, and narrow it further. The more constraining, the better. For example, the limitation of having to touch an object to manipulate it is good, but having to touch it with your elbow is better. It means more potential problems for the character, more potential conflict, and it is just way more fun. Just make sure the limitation makes sense to your reader, as a natural part of the setting.

The best limitations are strong, specific, and simple. Overly complicated limitations can confuse readers, and too many rules are hard to keep track of. It’s better to have fewer strong rules than many weaker ones.

Costs

Costs are a subset of limitations. They add value and weight to a magic system.

The cost of magic is what it costs the character to use their abilities. Not all magic systems have a cost, and when they do, it is almost always energy, such as in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. In an energy-cost system, after a magician casts a spell, he gets tired. I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve read that had a cost other than energy. This means that energy-cost systems will likely be familiar to your reader, which may be what you want, but by having an unique and creative cost, you can instantly make your storyworld a more interesting place for your reader to visit.

What does an unique cost look like? Costs can range from a high cost, (deformation on part of the caster) to a low cost (fatigue) and everything in between (pain). The severity of the cost depends on how widely you want magic to be used by the characters. Having a high cost, (a drought will come and strike your home if you use your abilities) means that almost no one will use magic, and only in extreme circumstances, with high emotional turmoil. Is casting the spell worth paying the cost? In stories with lowers costs, magic will be more commonplace, and characters have greater freedom to experiment with their powers.

But physical cost isn’t the only thing to consider. If the story takes place in a society that has banned magic, then the cost of using magic, especially openly, could mean being burned at the stake. As when there is a physical cost, characters will have to judge whether it is worth the risk to use their powers.

In addition to physical and societal costs of magic, there is material costs. Some magic systems use up materials when spells are cast. If those materials are rare and expensive, it may be hard to replenish your supply, causing characters to ration spells. In Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, characters gain powers by swallowing metals. Some metals, such as gold, were harder to find, and thus the powers gained from that metal were rarely used, and the need to find rare metals furthered and deepened the plot.

Costs can be woven into the theme of your story. For example, if the cost of magic involves someone else paying the cost, that might be a moral dilemma for the hero. He may be unwilling to pay the cost of physical injury of another person, but the villain might have no problem with causing another person harm to gain power for a spell. Or perhaps an unbreakable superhero, like Superman, discovers that every time they escaped from a fight unscathed, another person was injured where the hero should have been. Does the hero continue fighting even if another person is punished for it?

Not all magic systems have costs. The Harry Potter series, for example, is a magical world where there appears to be no cost to the user for casting a spell. But adding a cost adds value and shows that their special abilities aren’t to be taken lightly. If you choose not to have a cost, then having strong limitations becomes even more important.

The limits you place on your magic make it what it is. Choosing the right ones shape the way you can use it. Next week we will be talking about how the magic system influences the world it resides in.

What book has your favorite magic system?

Happy Reading!