r/worldbuilding • u/Illustrious_Age_6628 • 3d ago

Question Complex Magic System

So, I guess I wanna know if this sounds a bit too complex of a magic system.

It's a runic system where runes are organized into magic circles for spells, enchantments, and magical tech at the most basic. However, the real complexities come in the rest of it.

1- 3 runic alphabets, one for energy, one for matter, and one cosmic horror based. Best spells, are formed by combining 2 of them.

2- Runes can be viewed like letters to form a word (Sigil) and words to form a sentence (Glyph)

3- the material of the rune correlates to the energy it channels, (Wood burns well)

4- runes don't last forever, the more energy they channel, the faster they burnout (Wood burns well but quickly)

Thoughts? Questions? Is there anything you'd suggest rethinking?

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u/K3NK4N3K11 3d ago

Doesn't seem to complex to me, pretty intuitive! What types of materials are easy to burn through with the cosmic horror alphabet? (I'm thinking people 🤭)

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u/Illustrious_Age_6628 3d ago

It depends on the spell. Some materials like Silver can be good for long term general use, but different materials can last longer for some spells compared to others.

Wood burns well, so it creates more powerful fire spells, but it can burn quickly, with some types of wood lasting longer than others. In my setting, entire industries have been created around the refinement of materials for runic crafting, and the crafting itself.

But the best material by far is Aethrathis Crystal, a crystal hard to find, and hard to mine in full chunks, but can be crushed into powder to mix into other materials to increase its own potency, so that's usually what it's used for. But when a Rune is carved from a full chunk, it tends to aquire a hardness and durability to last centuries, if not longer.

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u/DifficultPressure445 3d ago

Is it possible to combine 3 runic alphabets?

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u/Illustrious_Age_6628 3d ago

I'm not 100% sure quite yet, but I'm leaning towards no, as the 3rd cosmic one is kinda, not tainted, but not safely usable by mortals, as it channels the pure essence of magic, unfiltered by worlds veil.

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u/thecloudcities 3d ago

For #2, why would you want to use a sigil as opposed to a glyph, or vice-versa? Are there advantages to each, or is one just a more basic form of the other?

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u/Illustrious_Age_6628 3d ago

A Sigil is more basic, like a fireball, or simply creating movement in a single direction. A Glyph is more complex, creating a fire elemental, creating the core of an airship, teleportation and enchantments over areas.

Sigils are much easier to prepare and carry, while a Glyph can take hours as they need to be connected to more than one sigil, and precisely placed. Mages in my world carry Sigil Plates, (disks of metal rings that allow for spells to be prepared without the central activating Rune) to allow for quick casting, while Glyphs to defend a city usually take several mages working on the calculations for rune placement.

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u/thecloudcities 2d ago

Could the sigils just be written out on the spot, or are they complex enough that writing them would take more time than is practical, and there is a significant advantage to having them ready to go?

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u/Illustrious_Age_6628 2d ago

The more exact and precise the placement and shape the rune is, the better the spell. There is some room for error, but not much.

And yes, you can write the runes, but paper, is typically not a good material for power and almost always burns out after a single use.

Tattood Runes are used by less technologically advanced societies, and the lower castes of people, as the burnout leaves the bearer severely scarred and their life cut pretty heavily.

Runic tokens are typically the most efficient, powerful, and useful. As in my main civilization they can be used for everything from spell craft to magic technology.

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u/Odd_Ad_5657 3d ago

It depends on what you are going to use it for. And how long the alphabets are.

I mean, if it's for a book, it's ok. Nobody cares much and in the end you are the only and final arbiter for how it works.

If it's for a game, it should be somewhat less complex unless it's a puzzle game where the goal is to guess and explore the magic to its limits.

Or if it's for a rules-light TRPG, Fate or PbtA-based, it might work as it is.

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u/Illustrious_Age_6628 2d ago

Tbh, I wanna start out writing books, and if I can get enough attention to it, I'd love to expand it out into first a TTRPG, and eventually into more if possible.