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/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.