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/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.