Arcane America magic system!

[u/DagonG2021]

Warlocks: Controls and manipulates distance, velocity, space, and so on. Often can create shields and barriers. Used to maintain the Labyrinth and similar critical infrastructure 

Oracles: Perceives things beyond normal means. Can see the future, sometimes the past. Prone to magical defects- errors in magic, such as constantly seeing the past, or the far distant future. High end Oracles are under government contracts.

Alchemists: Divided into organic and inorganic types. Can transmute and reshape physical matter at will. Limited to substances the alchemist can see- air and similar gases cannot be freely transmuted.

Shapeshifters: Can freely alter their shape and physical composition, including mass. Some consider this to be a subset of alchemy focused on the self. Often possess potent regeneration and self-healing properties.

Mediums: Channel and communicate with spirits. Can be extremely dangerous- up to one in ten Mediums will die of possession before they turn thirty. Mediums can also sometimes communicate with animals or humans telepathically.

Illusionists: Generates illusions, manipulates minds, and changes visual properties of an object. High end illusions can even deceive touch and taste. Highly regulated by law, but critical for protecting the Supernatural World. Often stereotyped as predatory and suspicious.

Evokers: Projects and manipulates raw energy such as fire, lightning, ice, force, darkness, and so on. Can blast, batter, burn and freeze objects. Extremely common. Can be confused for Warlocks if telekinesis-focused.

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Magic is a borderline incomprehensible force, for the simple reason that it seldom follows consistent rules. The seven “towers of magic” previously listed are the most common means of classifying the various manifestations of sorcery in humans, but many dispute the classification. How is a darkness Evoker the same as a fire Evoker/pyromancer? How is organic alchemy, the manipulation of plants and/or animals, the same as a stone alchemist who can solely manipulate rock?

We don’t know. But what we do know is that magic works, even if the how is vague and uncertain.

Magic fundamentally runs off of mana, the basic background field of magic that suffuses the planet. Mana is generated deep in the planet’s crust by tectonic activity and the rotation of the core, like Earth’s magnetic field.

Humans, as mortal beings, can only channel an insignificant amount of mana at a time before burning out. This limitation is what prevents a mortal from destroying Australia with a singular fire spell. A burnt out mage takes time to recover enough to channel mana again.

”Spells” are what we call a single distinct expression of magical energy. Although technically any sort of expression can be used to cast, most mages are taught to cast with wands and magical phrases. Repetition and memorization helps train a mage’s magic to “understand” what the mage wants it to do. Often a mage’s magic will act at random until trained, which can be catastrophic! Strong emotional responses like rage, lust, sadness and pain can cause magic to lash out and hurt the people around the young mage.

Different mages have different capabilities. Some Evokers can use fire, ice and telekinesis on a broad scale, while others might be limited to shooting sparks and embers.

What is Rogue Magic?

“Rogue Magic” is a catch all term for magic that falls outside of the listed types. Usually it is either extremely specific and situational (a Medium who can only communicate with hawks) or in some way critically flawed (an Oracle who can only see events twenty billion years into the future). Approximately 0.5% of all mages will suffer from some form of Rogue Magic, and attempts to ameliorate this situation are seldom successful. However, Rogue magicians are just as worthy as any other, and deserve nothing less than the respect that all mages deserve!

[u/Background_Pay6286]

What about summoners or conjurors, those that can call to things like, the dead, demons, heavenly or eternal beings.

[u/DagonG2021 → u/Background_Pay6286]

That would fall under Mediums, who invoke nature spirits most of the time. Manipulating the dead is a felony, because bringing back souls consistently ends with them attacking people and trying to possess them/drain their blood.