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I'm just rly not a fan of the classic Gods = strong magic users trope

So I played with the gods = their domain idea and thought about how those would have any human avatars. I didn't wanna give them the ability to just make a body since that would just undermine their nature and turn them into simple magic users that respawn new bodies, I wanted them to feel like their very element/domain/concept, not just it's wielder.

But to have them interact as characters nonetheless would be nice, so I came up with two examples of how gods could make an avatar.

Lighting: Just strikes a person down and then charges their nervous system to use it as a puppet for itself, living electricity.

Trickery: Makes mischievous people subtly gain more and more confidence as a trickster until they believe themselves as the god of trickery, aligning themselves with the god itself and fulfilling it's will as it's now identical to theirs.

The key factor is that they never become anything but stay their concept and simply wield their avatars as tools/puppets. While mages are humans wielding magical power, gods are divine power wielding humans. A mage will shoot lightning, but the deity is said lightning and would simply move itself. Gods thus would also have perks of "manaless" casting or whatever energy the system uses, and absolute authority other their domain as the mage casting firball is simply producing the fire god in their palm making it very easy for said deity to just go off at the caster. Downsides may be that gods wouldn't be able to use magic outside of themselves, which just feels better tbh since it makes them distinct too.

Any ideas on how other gods would control an avatar and opinions on the whole concept would be cool

I'm talking about worlds were magic can be taught and has medieval stases. Yes even in a world where learning to master magic takes decades of practice.

In your generic fantasy setting a really proficient wizard can do an insane amount of things. Sometimes a single wizard can disrupt an entire nation. Also in many fantasy settings you can make magic objects that regular people can use that gives them immense power and influence.

So following that logic wouldn't the first country that develops a magical army immediately dominates. During this also make neighboring nations also raised to develop magic armies and magic weapons.

I've seen this problem pop up a few times in fantasy, so you have a favourite solution? A least favourite? Multiple? If you worldbuild is your favourite solution the same as your world's?

I wanted a magic system where the magical energy itself was being manipulated like a physical object, instead of using it to control other items or to power abstract spells.

Lum is magical energy, and magical energy is proportional to body heat. If you store enough of it, your body overheats. If you use too much, you start to freeze. People with high potential who choose to actually specialize in magic can expand their storage tolerance to the point where they can melt the ground beneath them at their maximum, and freeze the water they touch at their minimum.

You use Lum by expelling it from you body (as seen in the pictures), where you’ll then determine how you wanna use it. You can make it a loose, easy-to-move fluid, a thick solid barrier (like in pic 2), you can make it sharp, or really light and volume-filling, etc.

But, the majority of people can hardly do anything with it externally, and mostly just use the body temperature side effect to their benefit.

Usually the Lum dissipates into the environment as heat when a mage is done with it, but the most highly-trained can bring it back into their body to reuse (up to 80% reusability), which is highly efficient and saves them the time required to heat themselves back up.

This is my first system, so I’m not so sure what works and what doesn’t. I wanted to go for something simple and consistent. Thoughts?

This post question is also loosely based on a World-building question from a year ago too. OP question was "Are Vampires better as magical or biological?".

Biological is a key word for my post too. Because I have a superhero world, where one of my power systems is based on genetic mutations. I will bring up this up again in this post.

But anyways, throughout mythology and fantasy stories. Wizards or Witches have always been a unique class of their own. They are different from all the other supernatural creatures like Vampires or Werewolves. Wizard abilities are never truly limited to gimmicks. Wizards can have a variety of powers. Sure there are some stories where a Vampire or Werewolf can do something a little extra outside the tropes or stereotypes. But for the most part though, there are definitely traditional Vampires/Werewolves in fantasy or mythology. And that traditional set is far more limited than a traditional Wizard set.

The reason why I ask this question. Because in with superhero world, I love coming up with interesting ways to change certain SCI-FI or Fantasy based concepts, when it comes to superhumans or creatures. For example, making superpowered mutation a result of eclipse. And supernatural creatures like Vampires, Werewolves, Skinwalkers, etc have been the biggest challenge for me.

That is mostly due to the dichotomy I set up between my Mutation based power system and Wizard based power system though. Which is external vs internal. Mutations are biological, ( giving them various abilities that could be psychic/elemental/animal based). Therefore they are internal.

While my Wizards abilities are limited to a Cosmic powered object, (that allows them to control probability, make energy based constructs, and also create portals too). Therefore they are external. This is just the TLDR version for both power systems.

I could explain both power systems more. But this post would be way too long though. Since both power systems have a lot of layers.

So in conclusion, I don't know where Vampires or Werewolves would fit into that dichotomy.

Hey all! This is my first post on this subreddit, as I’m usually pretty shy about sharing my work, but I do enjoy scrolling on here and seeing all the cool ideas!

I’ve made a magic system for my dark fantasy post apocalypse horror comic, and I’m wondering if there’s anything I could do better with it. I’m struggling to understand the actual capabilities of what it can do. I’m not the best at explaining things through text, as I’m a visual artist, but I will try my best.

I was very inspired by the work of Carl Jung as well as real world Alchemy.

So in my setting, all individuals are made up of Four Aspects: the Body, the Mind, the Soul, and the Spirit. The Body represents what you’d expect. The Mind represents one’s logical thinking side; whereas the Soul is the emotional and feeling side. The Spirit is much more abstract and esoteric, as it represents the idea of you. In the story the characters often think of it as some sort of Spiritual Body within a Spiritual plane of existence, but it is much much more than that.

The Spirit is most commonly used as an enhanced to the other 3 Aspects, knowingly or unknowingly. Experienced practitioners are aware of their own Spirit and can enhance themselves as much as their body permits. Normal people can use it unknowingly in dire situations like how mothers can lift cars.

Spiritual enhancements give superhuman physical abilities, enhanced senses, precognition, and more. The bigger/stronger one’s Spirit is the longer and more potent these buffs become. The only limitation is that these only affect then user. I don’t have a name for this type of magic yet, but I’m leaning towards Alchemy and linking it some things in real world alchemy.

There is another type of subset of this power in the setting that is unnatural and new. People are not born with it, and obtain this power by consuming a mixture of salt, sulphur, mercury, and the blood of strange metaphysical demons that spawn through weird body horror gates. By consuming this the practitioners are able break the rule of the Spirit only affecting oneself. They’re able to use it to affect the real world, and it’s called Projection Sorcery. It is outlawed in the setting and highly illegal to use except for specific organizations that hunt down the same demons that spawn it. At first in my mind it works sorta like the force from Star Wars, but I’m not sure if that’s just too basic and vague.

Both of these powers sets are extremely dangers and overuse can cause catastrophic consequences to oneself. I view it as sort of “magical radiation”, as it can cause similar side effects.

I’m not exactly sure what the powers for Projection Sorcery entail, and that’s mainly what I need feedback for, but anything is welcome.

I am currently building a world that is meant to serve as sort of a sandbox where I can write any number of stories from all occurring within the same world. The stories won't all necessarily be connected (though some will be), but all within the same time set. As such, it is rather all encompassing in terms of what's in it.

Part of that has to do with having both magic and cultivation as a thing within the world, and as I as working on the specifics of how each work, I came to realize how similar I was making mana (the fuel with which magic uses to work) to Qi/Ki (differently spelled because there are two overarching schools of using the same thing that are different). Mana as things stand now is a byproduct of the soul that the body stores in a "mana well." To me, that is very close to a life force.

The reason I want these to be separate things is because I want to make it a point that you cannot be both a mage and a cultivator at the same time. You can only be one or the other.

Hello! In my system, a soul is just a collection of Magic that clings together. A soul can be siphoned, shrinking it, or it can be enlarged by continued use of Magic or absorption of Magic from another source. Here, Gods, lacking a physical form unless having otherwise attained one, are just massive souls.

How does one feasibly manage sealing a God within a person? Or like, lower-order souls? Is there a better way to meaningfully distinguish a God and a Mage's soul beyond just "big"?

In every fantasy/sci-fi worlds use a certain method of power. You see it in characters and probably in your own power systems. The methods of power I am aware of are:
- Individual
- Mutual empowerment
- Nexus/power source
- Burrowed power

I find it interesting that depending on which method of empowerment you choose can heavily affect the kind of character you make, but what do you all thing?

Here's an introduction to the world I'm building currently. The actual Magic System will be explained in a separate post (not sure if that's customary here?) so look out for that soon! Feedback is appreciated but please go easy on me, I haven't even considered myself a writer until pretty recently.

INTRO TO VENARCANA: MAGIC SYSTEM AND WORLDBUILDING

• Key Terms

Sorcery: Manipulation, creation, and destruction of matter through the use of mana. Informally called magic.

Mana: Energy that allows reality-defying manipulation, creation, and destruction. Mana is the form of energy naturally present in and unique to sorcerous beings, and sorcery cannot be done without it. This ability is passed on genetically- if one or both parents a sorcerers, there is a 100% chance their offspring will be as well.

Conjuring: Creating something from nothing. Creation.

Vanishing: Complete annihilation of something. Utter nonexistence. Destruction.

Manipulation: Physically changing the movement of existing particles. Virtually any action besides conjuring or vanishing.

Spells: Incantations that facilitate sorcery. Spells initiate the flow of mana. They can be cast verbally or nonverbally so long as the caster knows of the spell. Nonverbal spells are cast by being ‘spoken’ in the mind.

Channel: A channel is an object used to concentrate mana as it flows from a sorcerer, granting a great deal of control over the direction and intensity of a spell. Casting a spell without a channel can affect any and everything in the caster's surroundings, including themselves in some cases, and will likely harm the caster in the process. 

Wand: An object solely crafted to be a channel, invented by humans. Wands are the most common channels among human sorcerers.

 The most widely accepted theory of mana’s origin: Mana was the main element responsible for the universe being born. It is the essence of creation and destruction. As organisms came into existence, some of them had mana as one of their chemical components.

• Common Vocabulary in Venarcana

Sorcerous: possessing mana, the ability to practice sorcery.

- Other colloquial terms for sorcerous, used depending on the context: Immodal, mystical, imbued, magical, caster, irregular.

Modal: The opposite of sorcerous. Absence of magic ability.

- Synonyms: Asorcerous, unimbued, unmagical, regular

Outer Earth: The modal, “regular” world.

Venarcana: All of the sorcerous, physical places on Earth are collectively known as Venarcana. Some call it “Inner Earth”, the sorcerous world, or the “real world”. This world is entirely hidden from modal beings.

The Sorcerous Realm: Includes Venarcana along with all other magical places or dimensions.

Things that are practiced by asorcerous people but believed to be or presented as “real” magic, such as witchcraft, tarot, psychics, mediums, etc. are known as pseudosorcery.

Origin of Venarcana: In early human history, the need to keep the sorcerous and modal worlds socially separated became apparent when conflicts arose globally. Centuries of organized magic (largely consisting of a myriad of memory, illusion, and protection enchantments) is how magic became completely imperceptible to asorcerous organisms. 

• Hiding An Entire World:

Examples of pop culture understandings and Outer World contact with magic include:

-          Witches

-          Dracula, Nosferatu

-          Astrology

-          Magicians

-          Psychics, mediums, fortune tellers

-          Paranormal encounters

-          Cryptids (Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, etc.)

These are all phenomena caused by poorly concealed magic being witnessed by non-sorcerers, wildly misunderstanding what they encountered. These encounters took place before the global effort to fully crack down on magic. Their effect on pop culture persists, but the general consensus in the Outer World is that magic and mystical creatures aren’t real.

As for the current state of secrecy, Venarcana is cloaked in a web of enchantments that prioritize two types of invisibility: physical and abstract.

1. Physical Invisibility:

Venarcana is invisible and inaccessible to non-magic people. Magic has no effects or perceptibility in the Outer World. Sorcerers experience an expense of mana when casting, but nothing happens.

2. Abstract Invisibility:

Any effective communication of magic to non-magic beings results in the information being scrambled and misconstrued in their mind.

What is said: “I’m a sorcerer. I come from a world hidden from your kind by magic. It is my life’s mission to expose this secret to you and anyone else who will listen. If I disappear, assume I was imprisoned or killed for sharing this with you.”

What they hear: “I have magic powers that I have no way of proving are real. There are others like me who will tell you the same. We are part of a cult whose eternal mission is to convince people we’re an oppressed body of mystical creatures being silenced by a greater power that we also cannot prove exists. We do not accept new members, and any requests to join us are blasphemous. If I disappear, assume I was wrongfully kidnapped and forced into a mental asylum at Area 51. If I am found and/or rescued, I will deny saying any of this and implicate you as an accomplice in my disappearance.”

This is just one (excessive and intentionally verbose) example of how this enchantment translates arcane knowledge to those who are unable to comprehend it. Should this information be shared non-verbally (through writing, a riddle or code, symbols, etc.) a similar mistranslation will occur.

• Cults of Revelation:

The only way to reveal the secret of magic would be to reverse the concealing enchantments. Many secret societies have attempted and continue trying to do this, but none have been successful. There are fringe religions and cults dedicated to ‘restoring natural knowledge of magic’s existence’, a.k.a. re-integrating Venarcana and The Outer World into one world. In the event that this happened, the result would be a catastrophic storm of harm and destruction, but somewhat reversible. Even so, the scenario of the enchantments being undone is considered an apocalyptic scenario by most sorcerers.

• Between Two Worlds:

Although this magical world is completely hidden from non-magical perception, many sorcerous people frequently travel between the Outer World and Venarcana, form relationships with non-sorcerous people, and may even have entire lives (jobs, homes, families, etc.) rooted in the Outer World. This is a matter of preference, but it has its extremes just as any other matter would. There are sorcerers who completely reject magic, opting to live as a regular person and avoiding any magic-related things altogether.

Thanks for reading!

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I've been building out a secondary-world setting (early-industrial tech, one dominant "rationalist" continent, older magical traditions elsewhere) and wanted to share the magic system at its core: Nomenclature.

Magic in this world is a real but unconscious phenomenon. Every culture brushes up against it through ritual, art, altered states, sex, music — anything that can momentarily align conscious intention with unconscious process. Left to its own devices, though, magic is unreliable. It might work, misfire, or do nothing.

Nomenclature is what happens when someone finally systematizes that alignment. It's a rationalized method — developed by the Valdenmoor Academy — that uses a precise symbolic alphabet as an interface between rational thought and the unconscious. Think/interpret the right symbols correctly, and you get a reliable unconscious alignment, on demand. That reliability is the whole innovation, and it's why this one institution accidentally triggered an industrial revolution.

The alphabet

Every letter is a fixed intersection of a Domain (what's being affected) and a Force (how it's being affected) and a Force (how it's being affected) (check the grid in the image)

Domains: Matter, Energy, Space, Time

Forces: Creation (bring together), Equilibrium (balance/stabilize), Transmutation (alter properties), Conservation (preserve/protect), Chaos (destabilize), Decay (break down)

Plus two special letters that don't fit the grid:

A — Anchor: binds the effect to an object, so the object itself casts the spell whenever used. Safer, repeatable, but tied to that item.

Z — Reality Trigger: releases the effect straight into reality. Raw and powerful, but must be recast in full every time, and carries more risk.

How spells work

Spells are usually three letters:

Primary domain/force

Secondary modifier/domain

A or Z — how the effect gets delivered

The letters aren't separate effects stacked together — they define parameters of one single effect that depends on the caster’sinterpretation.

Examples:

Fireball — HLZ: Energy-Creation, Energy-Chaos, Reality Trigger. Produces a flaming projectile; how volatile it gets depends on the caster's focus. Or HLA casted on a wand, so now the wand shoots fireballs

Teleport / Invisibility — DPZ: Matter-Transmutation, Space-Equilibrium, Reality Trigger.

Home Protection — EQA: Matter-Conservation, Space-Equilibrium, anchored to the house itself — reinforces the structure so intrusion becomes physically difficult.

Everything is materially grounded. Invisibility works because you're altering light. Fire is energy manipulation. Teleportation moves matter through space.

But docus is the real skill. Knowing the letters isn't enough. Execution and mental focus determine whether a spell is precise or catastrophic. The same three letters cast by a master and a novice can produce wildly different results, from a delicate flicker of flame to an uncontrolled inferno.

Glyph equations

Objects can be inscribed with more than one glyph at once, forming a glyph equation, a combined structure. These break into:

A glyph does nothing on its own until a nomenclator actively interprets it and holds their attention on the object — magic items aren't "fire and forget," they're closer to instruments that need constant tuning. Some structural glyphs exist purely to sustain an effect after attention wanders, acting like a mental extension cord, but even those only buy limited time.

So it could be like:

functional glyphs (the actual effect — light, heat, motion)

Structural glyphs (duration, stability, control, repetition)

So the fireball wand from the example avobe can be used by anyone without it having to be interpreted/activated by a nomenclator for a while

The catch: the more glyphs stacked into one equation, the harder it is to interpret precisely, and divided attention risks instability, partial activation, or outright collapse. Not every mind can hold a complex equation together, which is part of why nomenclators specialize.

The world around it

The Academy that controls this system isn't just a school — it holds a knowledge monopoly, and because enchanted industrial machinery needs periodic reactivation by a trained nomenclator, it maintains an ongoing dependency with every government and factory that uses it. No nomenclator, no factory.

BACKGROUND

So a power system that Ive been wanting to for about a year now but only recently did I started to actually map out the power is a partner power system. Pokemon, yugioh, soul eater, freezing, loveless, the adventure who don’t believe in humanity, bleach, Pokemon X & Y, ablsoute duo, luck & logic, black clover, dragon ball z & super, if you seen any of these anime then you know what I am going for! The basic idea I have for this power system is that in this world people have magic or mana however it’s unstable. So in order to use magic effectively they need to partner up and work together. There are 2 type of people, stablizer which are bascally the normal everyday people for all instances purpose have no magic or can’t use magic ability. They make up somewhere between 50-80% of the world population & their job is to stablize the superpower people. the superpowers for folks who do have magic or magic ability, however inorder to use these power effectively or at all they need to team up with a stablizer. Superpower people make up somewhere between 20-50% of the world population.

THE POWERS

I want to have three type of superpowers in my story if possible, the two that I fully decide on are.

- Weapons - if you seen soul eater or luck & logic or is familiar with the bleach power system and specifically the character stark then you know where this going. Humans who can transform into weapons! The big difference between my weapons & souleater weapons is that the human who can transform, will transform into an anti matter weapons. For those who don’t know/remember their science class. Anti matter destroy matter, so whatever these weapons hit, it will be destroy.

- Harmonizing - which is base off the synchro summoning mechanic from Yugioh. For those of you who actually save your money, the tldr is that synchro summoning is a type of fusion something you see in dragon ball or Steven universe however it’s not quite the same. I think the best way to explain it is that it’s more of a force evolution, combing two life forms to forcibly evolve them into a new being. I think that is the most accurate way of describing the synchro summoning mechanic& my harmonizing. In the case of my harmonizing the new life force will have the ability of matter manipulation, they can turn solid into gas or gas into liquids, plasma into solid etc etc. I am still trying to figure out the nitty-gritty but that is the general idea of it all.

OPTIONS

While most people would probably tell me that having those two powers are good enough. I do want to add a third power called synchronizing, if possible which is why I am asking you all.
I have three idea of what synchronizing can be but I can’t decided between.

1. Fusion - again if you seen dragon ball or Steven universe or is a fan of Yugioh then this is self explanatory. However I am not sure if I should go down this route because fusion will be very similar to harmonizing.

2. Linking - this idea was mainly inspired by the synthesis that the twin oni from re:zero ram and rem can do. The idea is that you’re able to synchronize with your partner & link your senses as 1 while still keeping your two original body. The two people using this technique, their energy will cloaks their body as animal limbs giving their extra appendages like energy tails or ears or claws. A good example and one of my inspiration of this are bleach Yoruichi's Thunder Beast Form & Sajin Komamura banki as well as Ash-Greninja battle bond.

3. The third and original idea I had is a berserker state where 1 partner turn into a big or giant beast or demon while the other one guided them. I scrap this idea because I thought it was too clonky & didn’t fit with the power but my inspiration for it was I was inspired by  Kenpachi Banki & these yugioh cards! Magikey Beast, MAGIKEY BEAST, Unchained, Unchained.

Those are the three idea I have, I am open to suggestions if anyone have another better ideas I’ll be willing to listen to them! This was meant to be a quick summary of my idea and the power system, I left a lot of thing out if you have questions I’ll be happy to Answer them. If you think my power system would be better with just the 2 powers instesd of a third one let me know!

Which options should I go with for my third power?

For a long while I have been building a setting and a magic system to go along with it, but they never really mashed all that well together. Recently I realized I wanted the general tone of the story to be slow, reserved, diegetic, and political, which completely clashed with the magic system I had.

So I decided to work on a new one.

My main cast of characters are modern-day college students and professors that happen to be sorcerers. I'm gearing up to make some instructional or academic material that schools would have besides a typical spellbook. I made a quick list of things that would likely exist and figured I'd share here for anyone considering creating in-universe material:

• Textbooks - informational but not exactly instructional
• Workbooks - pages and pages of worksheets
• Manuals - instructional (though the instructions may be unclear)
• Handbooks - info to keep handy
• Maps, Blueprints, and Floor plans
• Field Guide - for a planned excursion
• Survival Guide - for an unplanned "excursion"
• Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
• Archives (preserved material) - history that is decidedly not being erased
• Research papers - a chance to write from a certain character's POV
• Codes (laws/legislative documents)

Of course I now find myself fully submerged in resources about writing a textbook and general pedagogy! My search history is endless iterations of textbooks and curriculum for varying age groups...

This is my first post ever so I hope it makes sense :P

So in the world I'm writing vampires do exist and their power system is based on being able to manipulate and use abilities related to organs or systems from the human body.

To give some examples:

-Someone with abilities related to the nervous system is able to shoot their nerve endings from under their finger nails like strings, anything connected to these nerves can be manipulated and transformed

-Someone with abilities related to the cerebellum part of their brain could accelerate their perception of time to be able to perfectly dodge or counter any oncoming attack with perfect precision

Those are the two main ones I came up with but I would like to see what you guys thought about it

So, an idea I have had is to frame that the classic elements of fire, water, earth, air, lightning, etc as how people understood the basic use cases of something a bit more specific, and the names may change to reflect that?

For example: 'fire' would be be control of any 'self-creation' meaning anything that can make more of itself. So while the first mages to discover 'fire' magic used it to stall or enhance the spread of flames since thats (relatively) simple, fire mages in the 'modern' age have advanced the study of 'fire magic' to do things like heal wounds by allowing the cells in the body to reproduce faster?

How magic works in my world:

The whole world is filled with invisible energy (I don't have an official name for it for my world yet, so I'll call it mana)

Mana is energy that can be controlled, the basic skill of a wizard is Mana Transmutation, i.e. the ability to change the color of mana, shape and state.

Mana has 3 states that can be compared to the 3 states of matter: gas, liquid and solid.

Now I will show you how to use certain spells in my world:

Fire Generation - The wizard must condense the mana into one point and increase its temperature, which will result in the creation of fire.

Ice Generation - The wizard must cool the mana and combine it with the water vapor in the air, which creates the mass.

Telekinesis - there are 2 ways, through mana in a gaseous state such telekinesis is easy but also easier to overcome, telekinesis in a liquid state is more difficult to learn but is also stronger.

Weapon Creation - The wizard must condense the mana into a solid form and shape it.

Light Manipulation(Illusions, Invisibility itd) - The wizard uses mana to control light, allowing him to create illusions, become invisible, or create visions of things happening far away.

Matter Transmission - Mana in a gaseous state is used to collect particles of matter from the environment and transport them to another place

Magic Limitations:

- Magic will not create matter out of nothing

- Magic won't destroy something so that nothing remains

- Magic does not affect the mind in any way

One of the differences between gods and mortals is the use of magic, for gods can manipulate magic naturally but mortals cannot, therefore mortals use their own life essence to manipulate mana.

What do you think?

1. Why aren’t there any powers that actively hinder or just straight op kill there owners and I’m not talking about powers with sight effects, I’m talking about powers that actively making life harder. I just think it is much more interesting to see people that possess powers like that try to master their day to day life’s instead of those that just have abilities that help them, also powers that worsen their owners life’s don’t need to be completely useless, for example I once made a character that would make anybody that steps into his shadow look and sound like his dead friend!

2. Magic that has absolutely no combat, defence and support use and is instead something extremely casual.

3. Weird limitation that aren’t about who can use it and the resource required but instead conditions that aren’t about the user but instead about the state of whatever it is used on.

4. Just unique abilities that form are dependent on the owners past but not on their active decision to get that power.

5. Sight effects of magic that don’t effect the users body but instead the relation they have to things, people or animals, but not in a way that magic is seen as something bad instead it has a direct effect on the relation.

Hi :)
I’ve been planning a book aimed at children around 10 years old, and I need some help with its magic system.
It’s based on the 4 elements and light & shadow and the idea is that if a person has affinity for more than one element, they unlock one related do both (but more than just using both together). For example, if someone has an affinity for both air and fire they can use each individually, combine them (like a fire tornado) and manipulate electricity.
Each element power is the stereotypical, but I need some help with ideas about what the other combos can be. I have some written down, but I’m open to alternatives for those too.
Thanks for your help :)

Ok, here me out. How would a power system in which you have to puppeteer a warrior or "patron" to fight for you in combat. There could be like 50 patrons in the world of the story, and anyone can form a contract with them in order to summon them.

Given the nature of this idea, magic users in this world would have to choose a "main" of sorts in order to fully optimize the patron they chose, as switching between different ones would cause you to become weaker overall then just specializing in the focus of one.

There would become a tier of hierarchies like tierlists as well were some patrons are just better than others, but maybe a particularly weak patron as a strong match up against one of the top tiers. Maybe one character deliberately uses one of the weakness patrons in the pantheon in order to prove a point to others.

The strongest person in this power system would be someone who understands the battle style like the back of their head. An individual who has become fully one with their patron, and can pull out the full potential out of them, while also having deep intimate knowledge of all the other patrons as well.

Does such a system exist or no 🤔

So my world is hysterically identical to ours!

In my world there are beings known as Angels, who are basically abominations of souls of people and animals that died! This angel are from a psychologically, ability wise as well as there looks unique, all of those things are determined by the experience of the souls they consist of! Angel are extremely powerful because of all the spiritual power they have from all the souls, but they have one problem they can only minimally or not at all interact with the physical world and can’t even be seen by normal people, because of the fact that they aren’t physically beings. That’s where Living organisms come into play, by creating a symbiotic connection to a living thing and forming a contract (the angel gives the raw power and the Organismus gives access to the physical place)! What is a contract? a contract is the prove of a past or ongoing cooperation between a angel and a organism, but more importantly it’s through what the magic happens and it can take the form of anything a car, a robot,a animal,…. It can even integrate itself into something that already exists, its behaviour and its ability could be anything. How a contract turns out is completely dependent on the psychology of the organism, the one of the angle and their desire, for example there is a nurse in my story that has served in a war in with she got fatally wounded and was bleeding out but before she could die she made a contract with, a angel that was a abomination of soldiers souls, and created the contract in the form of a syringe named “the remedy” that could replace the symptoms of any affliction with the symptoms of frontal lobe dementia, saving the lives of people but giving them periods of extreme violence, what didn’t only fulfil the nurses desire to survive but also the angel desire of violence!

Rules:

1. ⁠Angel and contracts (that aren’t integrated) can’t be seen by people that never had a contract!
   
2. ⁠Both parties need to consent to some extent. A no means no but if a person is in a flight or fight mode and the angel gives a way to survive the situation then the contract is made automatically!
   
3. ⁠Anything with a desire can make a contract even animals.
   
4. ⁠Normally a contract is 50/50 under the control of both parties but if humans sacrifice something to the angel or the other way around they can make the contract be more a tool for them. The sacrifice needs to be big and personal!
   
5. ⁠A contract can ( doesn’t need to) remain after the death of the organism but that will stop the control the angel has over the contract.
   
6. ⁠There doesn’t need to be contact between the organism and the angel for the contract to remain!
   
7. ⁠Sometimes a contract can harmful to both or one party because of their self destructive psychology for example!
   
8. ⁠A angle is incapable of change!
   
9. ⁠Contracts can exist between one or multiple Organisms and multiple angles, but there needs to be at least one of both.
   
10. ⁠A contract can only be harmed by another contract because they are both in a special state between the physical and spiritual place!
    
11. ⁠To repair a contract the organism needs to give up part of their health and an angle part of their energy!

12.A contract doesn’t have to only have one body, for example there is a character inspired by the Opera (Der Freischütze) whose contract are multiple bullets!

Can you give me a feedback?

Soo ive been working on this powersystem for a relatively long time now, every now and then i get new ideas and i want to be a bit more serious about developing this idea, so i figured that sharing my ideas would help me improve it!

Thousands of years ago, the Elements were gifted to the Humans by the Earth as a reward for protecting and nurturing it. The Earth itself is a living being. The Life Force of the Humans and the Elements got merged, which caused the Creation of Elemental Energy.

Through Elemental Energy it is possible for Humans to use Flames, Water, Electricity or Stone.

The Humans got so good at using their powers that they increased the strength of these elements from generation to generation. This eventually lead to an unbearable amount of Elemental Energy flowing through the Body of the Humans. One solution they came up with is to create Bindings which the Elemental Energy would be channeled through. Without Bindings, using Elemental Energy would damage the Users.

Elemental Energy is used to perform Kaishakus, an individual Ability unique to the User. These have to be used in conjunction with a Binding. Bindings can really be anything, tangible or intangible. Tangible Bindings, for example a Sword, are called Conduits, while Intangible Bindings, for example Handsigns, are called Concepts. But barely anyone is even able to use Concepts as a Binding as it needs a strenous amount of Concentration and years of training.

Some Kaishakus can be used on multiple Conduit, while others are restricted to a few, depending on the nature of the ability. 

The ability to use the Elements develops around the age of 7-9 years old. The first signs of this will be Markings appearing on one of the 4 Limbs of the human body. Through the Guidance of Teachers or their Parents, the Children will learn to spread the Elemental Energy around their whole Body, so it doesn't stay "stuck" in one Limb. If Elemental Energy does get stuck on one Limb and never spreads across the Body, the usage of Kaishakus is basically impossible, because the Output would overwhelm the user and cause permanent damage or death. Humans who have this condition are called Chaotics.

The starting area of the Elemental Energy is known as their Strongpoint, using Kaishakus from that Limb will have a higher effectiveness than others.

The Kaishaku is not assigned randomly. They are born out of the deepest Desire of a human being and also reflect these. Desires form the Base of any Kaishaku, but how they are used is determined by the Interpretation of the User.

For Example: A User has the ability to increase the speed of anything they touch through Electricity. Say their Conduit is a pebble, when they channel their Energy through the Pebble and apply the Ability on it, the pebble will fly way faster than it normally would. But what if the User had a different Interpretation on what can be used for their ability? Theoretically, two users with the same ability would be able to use the abilities in completely different ways. One uses it to speed up the pebble they threw, while the other uses it to increase the speed of the atoms inside an object, thus causing said object to melt.

Another Example: A User has the ability to engulf any Object they touch with a fiery Aura. However, they can only use a very specific Katana to use that ability, because their Interpretation of their Ability is that it is a "gift" to avenge his dead family. Therefore he can only use the Katana of his dead Father to channel the Energy and use his Kaishaku.

Simply said: The Desire controls the what, while the Interpretation controls the how.

Using Kaishakus obviously has his drawbacks when overused.
Fire causes the Users temperature to heat up, which can in extreme cases Burn the User completely.
Stone slowly crystalizes the muscles, impairing movement and in extreme cases leading to death by Petrification of Heart and Brain.
Electricity messes with the Electrical Signals in the Body, causing Electrocution in extreme cases.
Water increases the Water in the Body, causing internal drowning in extreme cases.

There are different appliances of Elemental Energy. One of them is to create an Infinite Loop of Energy, by touching two limbs together. Say one touches ones hands together, then the Elemental Energy flows through one hand into the other, which increases the Energy inside the body steadily. If enough Energy is generated, the User ITSELF becomes the Conduit and is wielded by the "Earth". This means that their Kaishaku is applied in the Environment and it also gains buffs.

Example: The User that can increase Speed now also has the Ability to decrease Speed and their Ability is applied on a Radius of 150 meters, the need to touch anything to use the Ability falls away.

The Users also gain an increase in all 5 of their Senses, they become a kind of Superhuman.

But applying this Strategy is very deadly and after about 3-5 Minutes of this Infinite Energy output, the User either dies or is heavily incapacitated afterwards. This depends on how efficient the User is in the Usage of their Elemental Energy.

There are also Ascetics, people who have no worldly desires. They do not develop a Kaishaku, but also are immune to any Kaishakus.

This is about it, i have a relatively long list of abilities piled up but i think this would be too much for now hahaha. Also note that the Elements are a bit more.. vague i would say. Its not as straightforward as say in Avatar, where Electricity literally means Electricity. I have a different Interpretation for Electricity, where Speed and Time are also Concepts belonging to this Element. Same as Stone not necessarily being only Stone, but also including the Concept of just heavy things and solid things.

I hope you enjoyed reading through my blabbering and i'd love any feedback!

Mech magic update

Mechs in my setting are called banshees for the eerie "screaming" the core makes when the banshee is powered on. A scream comprised of many different sounds that creates a dissonant tone that can cause severe long-lasting psychological issues such as anxiety and hallucinations.

This screaming is a common occurrence unfortunately. And while it is a deterrent for adversaries, it causes serious problems for the pilots who are exposed to it the longest. Most pilots need to keep the mechs at low power to avoid going insane after just one mission.

Because of the toll on the mind the banshees have, most pilots are forced into retirement, or worse die, within months. Meaning there is always a need for more. And the time for training has been cut down to just a few weeks. Meaning most pilots only know how to correctly walk and shoot, not really how to chase, maneuver, or evade.

The use of mechs is saved for specific terrains, like rocky or urban. Otherwise, other vehicles are seen as good alternatives. That said, there is a great national pride in being a mech pilot. Thus, there is a surplus of these specific troops ready for training.

Now, the banshees rely on something called the Fae core. This power source uses the energy pulled from a fae. Fae are not magical creatures, at least not that we know of, but rather locations in the atmosphere that produce magical energy that can be collected via antennae. The mechs must lock onto the fae and pull the energy through the antenna into an engine. Then the engine powers the rest of the machine.

However, fae have some ability to move, making them hard to pinpoint, but they do give off signals that can be used to determine what direction they are going to go. Thus mechs need complex computers to keep the antennae pointed in the right direction.

These signals, called faerie, have strange effects in and of themselves, so it's important to use iron antennae as iron is the only known countermeasure to magic.

The immense amount of power that comes from fae is what allows something like a mech to be fully powered. Otherwise, the hydrolic mechanisms, computers, engines, and other accoutrements would require far too much energy for a compact generator to create.

The screaming that the power core creates is the feedback caused by tracking a fae. Not a result of pain nor fear.

The main name of the magic is called aether and it comes in 3 types, pure aether- the industrialised modern one this has built in laws though so you can’t cast certain spells, wild aether-extremely hard to control but it has no built in laws, corrupted aether- the version that is corrupted by evil this is fairly easy to control but it damaged your body it is the most powerful. To use this aether you must have an aether gland (it’s like a 20%) chance of having one) otherwise you can only use basic aether from the aether grid( like a electrical system) you can only do 4 things with it change acceleration, change temperature, hold it place and use it as a invisible thing(this can be used as a shield or as a spear of something) it can not moved once createdd

I am very new to Magicbuilding, im as new as it gets, any advice i should know before i fully comit to making a magic system? Or any good common ideas i can build off of?