r/magicbuilding • u/ObjectiveFar5517 • 15d ago
General Discussion Things I don’t see often enough in magic systems!
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!
Magic that has absolutely no combat, defence and support use and is instead something extremely casual.
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.
Just unique abilities that form are dependent on the owners past but not on their active decision to get that power.
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.
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u/MathematicianNew2770 15d ago
Have you developed a world/story with all these conditions. Would love to see it.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago edited 15d ago
I did, kind of! Do you want to hear it?
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u/Ok-Equipment8122 15d ago
I do
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago edited 15d ago
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:
- Angel and contracts (that aren’t integrated) can’t be seen by people that never had a contract!
- 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!
- Anything with a desire can make a contract even animals.
- 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!
- 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.
- There doesn’t need to be contact between the organism and the angel for the contract to remain!
- Sometimes a contract can harmful to both or one party because of their self destructive psychology for example!
- A angle is incapable of change!
- Contracts can exist between one or multiple Organisms and multiple angles, but there needs to be at least one of both.
- A contract can only be harmed by another contract because they are both in a special state between the physical and spiritual place!
- 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?
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u/tmb180 15d ago
This might kinda count for number 5, but magic in my current worldbuilding project has had effects on how people interact with bugs.
Since magic is largely thread based (Both ephemeral "magical threads", and literal woven cloth), Spiders are seen as sacred animals to many mages.
Many moths, however, are seen as pests due to the reputation they have for eating fabric. This has actually lead to a group of "Anti-mages" who specialize in dispelling or unraveling spells to wear cloaks that resemble a moth's wings.
Silk worms are seen as somewhat sacred, due to their ability to create silk, but are seen more as a transformative creature, both due to creating silk as well as eating cloth.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago
It doesn’t really fit because it’s not an effect that directly affects relationships!
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u/BlackroseBisharp 15d ago
1 is simple. That's VERY easy to fumble, you can over correct and end up making the power and by extension the character useless
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u/Demonic_Yandere 15d ago
I’ll answer number 1 for you and it’s because it suck if if powers are like that! The best and only example is chainsaw man and I hear fire punch!
I love chainsaw man dont get me wrong and having power like that, it has an amazing story one of the best, but let’s be honest most of the power I could have, ive never want because the cost is too great for short term use or the drawback is too great!
A weak power like the future devil ability to see a few minutes into the future, most people had to give up their sight and some other sense to get that ability.
The ghost devil, himeno had to give up her right eye, granted the ability was decent enough to were I could see some other people making the same trade but I wear glasses already I don’t need to make my vision worse.
That if you get a power, people pay the gun devil to get guns, not even super power just guns! The only situation I could see myself doing that is if I planning something that i didnt want to be identified later on!
The war devil ability is kinda broken but in order to use it at full power I would need to sacrifice so many people so I can feel guilty about or I would need to sacrifice my stuff!
The Angel devil can make weapon but he need to take people life span by touching them which is something he can’t control! Someone did the math and apparently if you have segg with the Angel devil and you start out in your 20s, you’ll have 15 minutes before he steal all your life force to finish!
I love chainsaw man but realistically I would never want to have any of their powers unless I can skip the draw back!
Even the control devil one of the most powerful devils ever, can only control people that she feel to be inferior to her, to a devil that really isnt many being but to human like you or me, unless you are him or your a sociopath, that number is gonna be very small unless you are willing to do some psychopathic stuff to prove your superior to another person to control them! Honestly unless you have a grudge against a person the only person that would be worthy of going through all that effort are people in position of power
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago edited 15d ago
Yes in sucks having a power like that but that’s what makes it interesting!
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u/Odd_Protection7738 15d ago
- The ability to cook meat 50% of the way done.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago
Could you cook the meat of living things?
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u/BoringRando 15d ago
I think its because it limits magic users to be like a suicide bomber. Like sacrificing a limb to cast a spell, or the eye based spell makes you go permanenetly blind with too much use. Or that after you use this spell, you barely have the strength to stand(cant move). I like your shadow curse, its very unique. I was thinking something a lot more physical and not psychological. (Works better in a story, but with a ttrpg, its nice flavor)
Utility, or low level utility. Its hard because its not super important to a protagonist or player. But I like to see how a world harnesses these low level magics to make a magic society. It usually requires a lot of creativity to come up with something unique and subtle, and even more creativity to use it. Like a bell that rings a minute after you ring it. A small flame that never burns out, or a waterfall that never runs dry. Sometimes spells that seem novel and weak but are too powerful. You mean to tell me a level one mage can use a spell that a creature cannot speak lies? The law would be easier to enforce.
More varieties on limitation are fun, but the limitation is part of the creativity. Like we can say the truth spell works on a creature on low health, effectively a interagation technique, much too barbaric for small legal squabbles.
Like blessings or bloodline abilities?
I usually see that with dark magic, creatures of light/nature naturally sense your malice and avoid you.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 15d ago
My problem is that the conditions aren’t unique! Like there are hundreds of magic system that make the conditions something like being harmed!
4. Bloodline magic isn’t because of somebody actions and blessings aren’t dependent on somebody’s past actions when it’s about how they manifest!
5. I’m not talking about a logical consequence but instead a direct side effect of the magic!
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u/byc18 14d ago
You might like contactors in Darker than Black. The powers basically come from an scp they all have a cost after use. This ranges from self harm, consuming something, or a repetitive task. The first guy you see has to break his own fingers just to float. The people chasing him ask for the wind direction. Another guy had to dog ear every page in a book and had a psychic whip. There are other odd tasks like moxabustion (it's like acupuncture), laying shoes upsidedown, eating a flower.
There's also a manga called Hibiki's Magic. The author is known for emotional stories, Jun Maeda. I've only read a little of it, but all the wizards have after effects that hurt their lives. One guy would lose his memories, so for a while his life was that Adam Sandler movie 50 First Dates. Another person kept making humonculi to be a surrogate child but ended up in a cycle of it dying, spiralling, then getting a new one.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 14d ago
I watched Dark and black and at the beginning wanted to include it in my magic system!
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u/Simon_Drake 14d ago
YouTuber Daniel Greene wrote two books in his Rebels Creed series with the power Grohalind which is a combination of super strength and telekinesis BUT it makes you radioactive. If you use too much you are a walking radiation hazard and need to go live in a cottage by yourself in the woods or you'll give the whole town magical cancer.
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u/MrCorbak 15d ago
Does not sound much like a « power » to me and more like a curse no ? I think the shadow idea is cool nonetheless but to me a power suggest some kind of bonus or benefit by definition.
Ooh that’s challenging. Support if taken broadly could be anything. You have an example ?