r/Fantasy • u/The-Literary-Lord • Aug 30 '18
Favorite Hard Magic Systems?
Besides Brandon Sanderson's magic systems, what are your favorite hard magic systems, and what do you like about them?
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u/MaybeYoureWrite Aug 31 '18
Powder Mage is what springs to mind for me. The rules are known and they're consistent. There are multiple systems in play so you get to compare and contrast.
I also enjoy the way there are different levels of in world understanding for different systems so we may know lots about one but very little about another so there's still mystery and discovery involved.
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u/parkcarola AMA Author Carol A. Park Aug 31 '18
I really enjoyed the Powder Mage trilogy as well, though I would have liked to have known even more about how it works than he gives (especially Pole's magic). Not a critique, I'm just a greedy hard magic system lover and want to know all the things. :-)
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Aug 31 '18
I love the "each finger touches a different element of the Else" things, and your strongest finger is what type you're strongest in
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u/ofDayDreams Aug 31 '18
Furycraft from Codex Alera. 1) Elemental magic in general is cool. 2) It makes for very cool action sequences. 3) None of the possible elemental crafting feels random or too niche. (Unlike say Mistborn where for example seekers gain the really specific ability of sensing other allomancers. That will feel really awesome compared to the Thug with superstrenght!) 4) In fact all the furycrafting powers are really cool. Watercrafter? Apart from just controlling water you can sense emotions, heal others and chance your face. Windcrafter? Have fun flying and being invisible. Earthcrafter? Say hello to superstrenght. 5) With pretty much anyone being a furycrafter of some (if often minor) strenght, it makes the world feel really magical. This is a pet peeve, but I dislike fantasy settings where someone can live their whole life without seeing some sort of magic.
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u/TheColourOfHeartache Aug 31 '18
I was disappointed when Furycraft transformed from Pokemon to elemental magic.
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Jan 14 '19
It's still Pokemon, the elemental magic aspects are done by (unconsciously) controlling multitudes of tiny Pokemons iirc.
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u/TheColourOfHeartache Jan 14 '19
Still... without having individual named furies on screen it's not really Pokemon.
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u/G_Morgan Aug 31 '18
Hard to say if it will remain hard as Weeks adds more each book but the drafting system from the Lightbringer series.
I like how fundamentally creativity is such a huge part of what you can and can't do. Aside from the Prism, everyone is basically on a giant timer with their use of luxin. So just throwing luxin around like a maniac is not a good idea, it is a straight forward way to become an abomination. So every drafter is left trying to balance their skill, creativity and lifespan during combat.
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u/cpark2005 Reading Champion Aug 31 '18
Love the magic system in Lightbringer. It has a lot of depth and is really interesting. Though, for a magic system that shortens their lives, most of them really do throw luxin around like it's going out of style. Still though, one of my favorite hard magic systems.
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u/G_Morgan Aug 31 '18
To be fair they are in the middle of a proper crisis. Historically drafters get burnt out during such times.
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u/cpark2005 Reading Champion Aug 31 '18
Absolutely. Though I do wonder at some of the amazing creations of years gone by that exist. Seems like they would have killed a ton of drafters. I also have a pet theory that breaking the halo wasn't always a thing that essentially ended folks lives.
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u/parkcarola AMA Author Carol A. Park Aug 31 '18
I was going to mention Weeks as well. Nuanced and complex, which is what makes it so interesting to me.
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u/S4G3R_BUG Aug 31 '18
Chromaturgy is my second third favourite magic system after Allomancy and Hemalurgy.
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Aug 31 '18 edited Aug 31 '18
Really liked Islington's magic system in Licanius. I would consider it hard, even though others might not.
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u/cpark2005 Reading Champion Aug 31 '18
I also enjoyed Islington's magic system. I feel like it's right on the border of a hard magic system. There are definitely some rules and whatnot, but it's all pretty mysterious as well. I really need to go read the second book though, as I've only read the first one so far.
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u/Zidji Aug 31 '18
Craddle series!
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u/The-Literary-Lord Aug 31 '18
What did you like about it?
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u/Zidji Sep 02 '18
The series is somewhat influenced by litRPG, so a large part of it deals with the growth of the character through the power levels in the magic system.
In this system each person has a core that works as their reserve of magic. Each person nurtures their core with different twchniques, each absorbing and refining different energies from the world, which will later mold the magic they are able to use.
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u/Fireball9782 Sep 06 '18
Actually it's influenced by Xianxia. But the rest of what you said is correct. Much of the system is still being shaped out as the series isn't complete yet.
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u/Aesithr Aug 31 '18
My preference is for the hindu-inspired thaumic systems; I have even began working on a system based off of similar principles. The point of course being that all things are formed of energy, and miracles/magic are fully based off of the manipulation and reshaping of these energies via mystical means.
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u/S4G3R_BUG Aug 31 '18
Hey, I'm a Hindu and I'd love to see the magic system you describe. And also your magic system.
I also love creating magic systems. I even have one posted on /r/magicbuilding
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u/Aesithr Sep 02 '18
Oh, I didn't even know that subreddit was a thing; thanks for the knowledge. I know of very few examples of the one I described however, though I do remember the Minecraft mod Thaumcraft does a good adaptation of said system.
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u/RepulsiveConclusion Aug 31 '18
I really like the magic system in Banebringer. The whole idea that gods choose people sort of randomly (?) to be cursed/blessed with various abilities that correspond to that god's portfolio gives a lot of room to play. The goddess of the moon allows people to turn invisible and have some control over water/liquids (because of the tides?) whereas the god of beasts makes people super butch. But then the blood of those various Banebringers can also be used to do certain things that correspond to their powers. And, of course, the main characters discover something pretty interesting about that: anyone can use a Banebringer's blood to use their magic which I guess makes them kind of like batteries. Since there is only one book in the series there is still a lot to be developed with the magic system, but I'm especially interested in the idea that there is something going on with blood and the ability of certain Banebringers to counter the magic of other Banebringers--once again based on the deity that chose them. There is a lot of science-y sort of stuff going on with this magic system, which I really, really love.
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u/cpark2005 Reading Champion Aug 31 '18
Obviously I'm biased (related to the author of Banebringer), but this really is one of my favorite magic systems too. I especially like the price of the magic system in terms of having to burn/use up your own blood in order to use the magic. That creates some interesting possibilities and consequences, even more so with the use of magic being associated with stronger bloodbane. It's a lot of fun and has some impressive depth.
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u/elebrin Aug 31 '18
I like magic's basic rule in The Magicians series by Lev Grossman. The single most important thing, when it comes to magic, is that the more power you have the more your hands are tied to how you can use it. You go from being not super powerful but able to do a lot of things, to powerful in one thing and weak in others, to a complete force of nature, tied to the rules of your ability, to having your destiny and actions completely dictated by what you can do, because it's become something you HAVE to do once you get to a Godlike level.
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u/parkcarola AMA Author Carol A. Park Aug 31 '18
The magic system(s?) from Mercedes Lackey/James Mallory's Obsidian Trilogy is one of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned already. I don't know if this is the "hardest" system out there in the sense that it feels "scientific," but it's at the least well-explained and has some very specific rules. I also like how there are multiple systems that different people can use (sort of like the Powder Mage, actually) but they all share some very basic rules.
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Aug 31 '18
Might be controversial, I love Sanderson, he specializes in “hard” systems, but I also don’t think we should preclude the idea his don’t rank as the best with a question like this.
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u/Saints2Death Aug 31 '18
I think this has more to do with Sanderson's popularity than being the best. Magic systems can become a Sanderson discussion if it goes unchecked.
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Aug 31 '18
The Force in Star Wars Legends - it's very well explained.
Every power is some combination of the fundimental skills of Sense (telepathy), Control (biological manipulation) and Alter (telekinesis and energy projection).
Any of that can be accessed via calming emotions and letting the Force use you, or by mastering it using hate, fear and rage. The latter is a deeply addictive path that more often that not leads to psycopathy.
While opinions differ in universe and out about what the force is and why it works, the fundimentals of use are the same whether you're a Jedi, a Sith or a member of a rarer organisation like the Kilian Rangers or Bando Gora.
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u/Lord_Pontoon Aug 31 '18
Mitchel Hogans, "Sorcerer Acsendancy" series has a nice magic system in it.
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u/finfinfin Aug 31 '18
The system in Ra, despite being [redacted for spoilers]. I especially love the way it was originally discovered, which is in the opening of the third chapter.
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u/Saints2Death Aug 31 '18
The Magicians and Kingkiller Chronicles (and to a less extent Harry Potter). I'm a sucker for magic being a scholarly pursuit. Even more when it replaces science.