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As any true fantasy connoisseur can tell you, the key to writing a popular fantasy novel isn't well-developed characters, a satisfying story arc, or detailed worldbuilding. The key to a popular fantasy novel is a unique magic system that nerds can obsess over and work into their fanfictions. A "magic system" is a set of rules by which the magic of the world operates. If your fantasy novel is scrub-tier, magic works by saying magic words and the spell happens. BO-RING! Try this: magic works by collecting magic coins and you "spend" them to "buy" spells from spirits. Stronger spells cost more money and wizards spend their whole lives trying to collect magic coins. BOOM! Now you're cooking with gas! Examples of magic systems include: Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker book has a magic system where souls are transferrable. Everyone is born with one and you can give it away or acquire more. The more souls you have the more powerful magic you can do, but doing magic costs souls. Also something to do with colors it's been a while since I read it. (Brandon Sanderson has a different magic system in each book and that's why he's so celebrated despite being such a mediocre writer.) The spell slot system from Dungeons and Dragons. Spells are sorted into power levels and wizards have a number of "spell slots" of each level they can use in a day. The more powerful the wizard, the more and high levels of spell slots they have. Think of spells as bullets and spell slots as single-use chambers for them. The spell-slot system is loosely based on Jack Vance's magic from The Dying Earth where spells are mathematical formulae so complicated you can only hold a certain number in your head at a time and if you try to memorize too many spells, or too-powerful a spell, your head will explode or something. I'm sure we can do better.
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May 2, 2022 04:21
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spells are minted on the blockchain and consumed on use it goes without saying that they are not fungible
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May 2, 2022 04:22
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There's a limited number of magic spells in the world and they're all different. Wizards travel all over the world seeking different magic spells and guard their collections jealously. They trade their spells like collectible cards. Some spells are similar and there might be something like a periodic table of spells that sorts them by effect, but there's still only one of each spell. If a wizard casts a spell on someone or something, he can't cast it again without first extracting it from the target. The backstory for this could be that "spells" are actually the words spoken by God when He created the universe. The words are indestructible and are bouncing around the universe still.
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May 2, 2022 04:24
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Spells use a form of internal energy known as Ki and you acquire magical energy by yelling and flexing super hard. All wizards are men except for one wizard who is a robot lady and it is violently homoerotic.
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May 2, 2022 04:27
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Magic is based on farts because beans are a magical fruit. Wizards will ingest gallons of beans a day to cast the most powerful spells out there, sometimes spells so powerful their weak mortal bodies can't contain them and they release against all their attempts at holding them in. In time, the magicians learned of other magical food, drink, and medicinal items to add to the history of fart magic. Fartastic Beats: The Silent But Deadly Secret of Voldemort.
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May 2, 2022 04:27
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Use whatever the hell FF8 did, I'm sure someone smarter can explain it better
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May 2, 2022 04:27
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Cum based sorcery (CBS) The more cum you hoard in jars the less likely they are ever going to let you out, but the orderlies don't know your true potential. Not yet at least, not yet.
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May 2, 2022 04:28
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In Weird West to cast a spell you astrally project your soul into hell and try to beat a demon in a game of poker. If you get two pair he'll shoot Magic Missile for you.
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May 2, 2022 04:29
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Outpost22 posted:Use whatever the hell FF8 did, I'm sure someone smarter can explain it better You cram a genie into your brain and they turn memories of being an orphan into lightning bolts so you can be a better child soldier.
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May 2, 2022 04:30
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"Spells" don't exist at all and magic is done by pacts with spirits or demons who carry out the instructions of their masters. "Magic words" are whatever code phrase the magic user gave the demon to know when it's supposed to do its job. That's why magic words are so often gibberish, because you wouldn't want the word or phrase to be something that could accidentally be spoken in casual conversation. So an enchanted lock might have a demon in it who keeps the lock barred to everyone unless they tell it "Wizzale wazzle, open this dozzle." The demons are tireless and live forever but can be negotiated with and might break their pact for a better deal. The most powerful wizards are the ones who know how to network.
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May 2, 2022 04:30
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Magic is built on pain: The more pain you can inflict upon yourself, the more powerful your magic can be. But, if you hurt yourself too much and die, you just die. So, magicians just starting out will put rocks in their shoes and bite the inside of their mouth. The experts will look like Cenobites. Also, all of the pain has to be self-inflicted. You can't try to rules lawyer your way into power by tricking someone into punching you. No, you've got to slam your own face against the wall.
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May 2, 2022 04:33
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Mana is stored in the balls
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May 2, 2022 04:34
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"Magic" is merely the byproduct of humanity's collective gestalt subconsciousness focused into objects and concepts that are universally agreed upon to have powers, and the most powerful concept is that of Creating Joinder, and I have not done so with you, sir, and furthermore the golden fringe on the flag denotes this as a- no I am not in contempt this- denotes this as a naval military tribunal- do NOT touch me sir- and under the Magna Carta *convulses on the floor as three baliffs taze me, despite my many protective wards*
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May 2, 2022 04:36
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It's spelled 'mah'jiq', so you can tell it's really powerful and out there and the normies don't get it like the real mah'jiq users do. When the mah'jiqians gather around the embers to tell their tales of great feats and they hear some commoner go, "Oh, are you lot into magic?", they laugh and grimace at the ignorance of the poor fool.
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May 2, 2022 04:40
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Magic is based on willing suspension of disbelief and the better show you can put on, the more likely a spell is to work. Spellcasting is essentially stage magic that comes true. Do the spell right, and you can actually make small objects disappear (or be transported a short distance), summon flights of doves and all that jazz. The magician is best advised to be able to reproduce the spell using practical effects because even an expert magician can't get the spell to work every time and if you lose the audience's belief then you're hosed. The bigger your audience, the more powerful the spell can be. A magician who knows how to work a stadium crowd can make landmarks vanish and transform boulders into elephants and stuff.
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May 2, 2022 04:41
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The Inner Alchemic magic system is when you convert calories into a prepared magic spellform by focusing intently on what you wish to cast. That spellform sits inside your stomach until it's ready, and the casting process involves pooping it out. The more powerful the spell, the more you poop out.
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May 2, 2022 04:41
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Spells are basically weird quirks of reality, like unfinished code and half-baked hacks by the Creator. It does not take any particular in-born talent to do them but they all have obscenely overcomplicated somatic components that have to be followed perfectly for it to work. For example, a spell might require you to turn 45* and pull the 3rd book from 5th shelf and read the 2nd line of the 5th paragraph on page 111 for it to work. If there are no such things around you, you have to provide your own bookshelf and book of over 111 pages long.
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May 2, 2022 04:43
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Magic spells can only be cast by carving the spells into crystal tablets. The crystal is rare and non-renewable. On the plus side it lasts basically forever and there's cities that have been protected for thousands of years by spells carved on obelisks of magic crystal. Unfortunately people keep chipping off chunks off the obelisk to write spells on.
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May 2, 2022 04:46
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smegmamancy
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May 2, 2022 04:46
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Colonel Cancer posted:Spells are basically weird quirks of reality, like unfinished code and half-baked hacks by the Creator. It does not take any particular in-born talent to do them but they all have obscenely overcomplicated somatic components that have to be followed perfectly for it to work. For example, a spell might require you to turn 45* and pull the 3rd book from 5th shelf and read the 2nd line of the 5th paragraph on page 111 for it to work. If there are no such things around you, you have to provide your own bookshelf and book of over 111 pages long. Do a spell wrong and you might enter noclip mode and fall to the center of the Earth.
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May 2, 2022 04:47
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I cast fist
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May 2, 2022 04:47
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blood sugar sex magic. eat twinkies to restore mana
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May 2, 2022 04:49
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BAGS FLY AT NOON posted:Mana is stored in the balls For women it's the tits and we call it TP.
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May 2, 2022 04:50
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In order to master a spell you have to wrassle with whatever strange creature is associated with it and beat the poo poo out of it. Wanna cast fireball? Better hope you're inflammable and can beat teh poo poo out of a living bonfire. No tricks, folding chairs and tables optional.
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May 2, 2022 04:51
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Hornet magic: you cast spells by getting stung by magic hornets. It hurts like hell. Wizards breed different hornets to cast different spells and might employ dozens of assistants to maintain their many hives. Just be careful the hornets don't sting the assistants or they might cast a fireball spell and blow up the whole house.
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May 2, 2022 04:51
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Das Boo posted:For women it's the tits and we call it TP. Mana is stored in the tits whether you're a dude or a chick and you can tell a wizard's power level by the size of his or her boobs.
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May 2, 2022 04:52
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magic wands but as a suppository. the mightier the spell, the bigger the wand
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May 2, 2022 04:53
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My epic fantasy series will hinge around the mid-trilogy reveal that magic isn't real and never was. All the wizards were really just incredibly good at sleight of hand.
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May 2, 2022 04:57
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Potions only: No spells, only potions. Extract juice from rare creatures to create potions with powerful effects. Drink them yourself for pour them on your enemies. There are potions to dissolve city walls, transform the drinker into different people or things, or be poured on the ground to create portals. Beware: some potions have mundane ingredients and an uncareful cook might end up making something unexpected.
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May 2, 2022 04:58
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Magic spells only work when being read aloud from where they're written down. Saying the words out loud from memory does nothing. Writing them down by themselves also does nothing. A blind wizard shocks everyone by reading a hidden spell written in braille.
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May 2, 2022 05:00
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JediTalentAgent posted:It's spelled 'mah'jiq', so you can tell it's really powerful and out there and the normies don't get it like the real mah'jiq users do. Also, one of the most ancient and powerful techniques is known as "jelqing"
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May 2, 2022 05:02
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Everyone gets one magic word only they can say (multiple people can get the same word, but only people who get that word can say that word). To cast spells, groups of people have to stand in a line or a circle and recite their words in order.
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May 2, 2022 05:04
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Dream magic: "Magic" is performed by dreamers making alterations to the dreamtime that have effects on the waking world. The dreamtime is a shared space so magical battles are contests of will between two or more sleeping wizards.
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May 2, 2022 05:07
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As explained to you by the proprietor of the local Magick Shoppe, every time you suck his "magic wand" and swallow its supernatural emissions, you accrue more and more "magickal karma" in his "spanke bank". One day, "when the stars are right", this will be bestowed on you as amazing supernatural powers. It seems to be taking a long time, so you made yourself some comfy kneepads. Hard daily work, but it'll be well worth it in the end!
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May 2, 2022 05:07
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Lazy CGI magic: When you cast a spell a bunch of glowing runes appear in the air around you for no reason because you're loving bullshit.
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May 2, 2022 05:10
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Drug magic. Harder the drug, the stronger the magic. You could be a powerful wizard but the drugs wreak havoc on your body and mind. Parties stick to light users and tend to avoid bringing full blown wizards along because it's like babysitting a crack addict. You know their bullshit is going to get you into trouble, but to defeat the dark lord that stands between you and your parties goal, you're going to need a heavy user's god-like powers to take him down. So you put up with the nonsensical rambling and violent mood swings.
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May 2, 2022 05:17
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Applewhite posted:Mana is stored in the tits whether you're a dude or a chick and you can tell a wizard's power level by the size of his or her boobs. I'd like to see a story with this where it starts out cute and sexy and by the end you're just battling something like a Dragon Age broodmother and her tits are just loving up all your poo poo.
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May 2, 2022 05:19
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just use Neoplatonism, it's so traditional that it has circled back to novel
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May 2, 2022 05:42
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I dont wanna get way into it but imo there are actual systematized magic systems from as recently as the 20th century and going back to the old kingdom of Egypt and any one of them would be cooler than anything you see in tabletop and crpgs imo
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May 2, 2022 05:44
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| # ? May 12, 2024 22:22 |
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Riot Bimbo posted:I dont wanna get way into it but imo there are actual systematized magic systems from as recently as the 20th century and going back to the old kingdom of Egypt and any one of them would be cooler than anything you see in tabletop and crpgs imo sadly they all tend towards "maybe the real philosophers stone was the friends we made along the way"
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May 2, 2022 05:46
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