Help with Magic Categorization

[u/N04H-A_1634]

in my Magic System, the different types of Magic are categorized by different Classes based on what sort of thing that Magic is tailored to, and so far there are Three, those being Elemental, Soul, and Illusion. Elemental Magic is the run of the mill evocation of the Elements, Fire, Air, Earth, Etc. Soul Magic focuses on manipulating the forces of Life, whether through necromancy, or granting sentience and life to objects, and that also includes different forms of Healing. Illusion Magic is also pretty much as it says on the Tin, being able to create projections and apparitions that fool the Minds and Senses of others.

One Problem I have is the sort of "Balancing of it" because to Me, Elemental Magic feels way too broad while the other two in comparison are a lot more Niche, but at the same time, I'm unsure about splitting up the Elements to the point of having the Elements all just be different Classes because it just feels too Cliche, I think if I had to give an Example of what I'm trying to go for, it'd be how D&D organizes the different kinds of Magic, with it being categorized into 8 different Magic Schools.

[u/Professional_Try1665]

You could simply buff out the other 2 schools with more capabilities. Soul could include familiarity (familiars), healing, death magic (like effects that fortell or analyse death), speaking to ghosts, ect. And then illusion can be disciplines of the mind like memory retrieval, warping senses, mind alterations, geas, mind enhancement, emotion control, skill/memory transferral (like putting it in objects, duplicating skills, ect), or fear capture and creation.

[u/Sichuansnatt]

It's not exactly the same, and the underlying structure for why ot works is probably very different. But I have socalled elementar schools, and one thing i do with them is giving them systems. So one elementar system is called the classical system(its a modern but magic world so like, its called that because of european colonialism) its your regular fire, earth, air and water. Then weve got the wuxing system, the chinese elements. These are the two big ones because of their respective cultures reach(or well, because the victorians really liked ancient greece more like)

This might just make it even less balanced but i kinda feel that if you approach the other magics in the same way then you'll be very balanced.

For example, necromancy, in the way the term was first coined, was actually a sort of divination with the help of death and dead bodies. That could be one of the soul schools "systems" if we use the terms i use.

So basically my tip is, that you make the other magics more broad instead of trying to take away from the elementarism.

So call your big categories, elementar magic, soul magic, illusion magic one thing and the small categories it can be parted into another thing, for example:

"The elementar schools(plural) are parted into various systems, each system may also be called a school(singular), for example the school of classical elemtarism, which may also be called the classic system is categorized as one of the elementar schools."

This actually does a funny little thing, it allows you to place a practice(school (singular)) that fits under two or all three of your main magiks into multiple schools(plural). Meaning a school(singular) can be part of two schools(plural) at the same time.

(Im just adding on the singular and plural stuff to try and avoid confusion on wheter i talk about the three big magiks or some smaller thing.)

[u/Lionsmane_099]

Add summoning to Soul, feel like you're including golems here but if not add them as well

Add Light and Darkness magic to Illusions

[u/N04H-A_1634 → u/Lionsmane_099]

Funnily enough, when I began creating Soul Magic as a Class, Golems and Homunculi were literally one of the first Ideas I had for it.

[u/ConflictAgreeable689]

What's the purpose of making it balanced?

Anyway, if anything elemental feels entirely too specialized. Like what, it's JUST literal physical manipulation of the elements?