Source
r/magicbuilding•
CreatorCreature

Magic System Intro

Magic, magic, magic... over the years it has lost its meaning... a good thing, considering the fact that it’s still being used, to this day. Nobody would believe you if you tried to report the use of magic. I might as well explain it to you. Won’t be of much use, considering the fact that you’ll never use it, and you’ll never leave this room alive. So sit back, my magicless friend. Squirm in your chains. I’m about to tell you about my world.

We’ll start off with Body magic. It’s sturdy, versatile, powerful, and pretty popular. Obviously, it deals with control over your own body. From regeneration to growing extra limbs, it is not to be messed with. Bone blades, muscular tendrils, fleshmelding, it can be gorey stuff. And don’t get me started on what you can do when you’re controlling the body of another. Just inject some of your blood into ‘em, and their life is in your hands. It all starts with breathing, imagining your consciousness flowing into your cells with the air you breath in. Anyway, let’s move onto a more refined form of magic, shall we?

Ah, Mind magic. Powerful, but heavily restricted by magical law. It’s hard to use but extremely useful when wielded by a competent mage. It grants many abilities, like reading thoughts, affecting said thoughts, and even controlling another’s mind. It can be scary stuff, especially when you know that the urban myth of the “Slender Man” was based off of a Mind mage tapping into the fear of others, his mind tendrils so dark and terrifying that they could be seen as black tentacles. It all starts with imagining the mind as a churning spring of water, and streaming some of that “water” out of the mind and piercing the mind of others with your probing tendril.

And lastly, you’ve got Soul magic. Sounds like hippy stuff, until you see ‘em talking to ghosts. The soul is apparently a metaphysical thing that latches to consciousness and gives people their identity. It makes them them. When you die, your soul will remain floating around as a ghost before moving on to some other life. It’s hard to explain, but it starts with turning your consciousness inward to “see” the soul, allowing yourself to see and interact with other souls. Spooky, ay?

Anyway, I hope you’ve soaked all that information in... because I’m gonna leave, and you’re gonna stay here for a long, long time... goodnight, buddy.

And to whoever’s watching me right now... I can sense you. Leave any questions in the comments, and I’ll answer them. Goodbye stranger.

Posted Mar 8, 2021, 8:37 AM UTC

589
ElectricalCell3233•

Hhmm... Very interesting I'd like to know more about each specific magic in future posts so u can go into more details about limitations and whatnot

Like how they tap into this power

What energy they use

Can they be combined or is it confined to one aspect

And most importantly what is it for and against whom

Hope to hear more from a potentially expansive system and the world if there is one

6
CreatorCreatureOP•

Ok! I will post each type of magic and try to explain how they work soon!

3
KuzcoWiTheGroovesco•

Man, what a cool way to introduce your magic system! I have a similar "body mind soul" thing in mind, and I've seen other people talk about it, but I like the creative ways you've done yours! Yours seems a lot more dark and gorey, ripe for a dark fantasy or somesuch. Couple of questions:

  1. How is the powerful magic enforced?

  2. What happens if said magical enforcers go rogue?

  3. What does soul magic entail? You described what a soul is, but not quite what q perso can do once in control or in sync with theirs.

  4. Can some people use multiple magic types in conjunction with each other?

  5. What are the downsides to using magic? Like, running out of energy or requiring sacrifices or something.

  6. If a person were to use body magic to forever make themselves young/immortal, what would be the consequences? For example, would they be mostly skin and bones, barely able to move? What if they also had kind magic, and used telekinesis or something to float everywhere? Actually...

  7. Can mind magic be used on bodies to influence them, kinda like body magic? Or is it not as flexible (heheh, body pun ;p)?

  8. Does using magic affect the aging process at all? What about sanity?

  9. What are the boundaries to learning magic? I. E. Time, energy, natural skill, laws, fae, eldritch gods, etc.

  10. Can the soul of a living person be controlled by another, and are their consequences to this magic (whether from laws or from the magic itself)?

I might have other questions later, but as of now these are all the inquiries I have, O... mastered one? Unsure on how to address you, but thank you for your time.

2
CreatorCreatureOP•

Thank you! I was trying out a new style and hopefully it worked well!

1: The rules of magic are enforced mostly by common sense. If any powerful/government organization found out about magic, magic would be restricted even more and would cause more problems for the world. Also, many mages have taken it upon themselves to enforce magic and make sure everyone plays fair.

2: Since most enforcers have strict values and moral codes, they very rarely go rough, and if they did they’d quickly be brought down by other enforcers.

3: Soul magic is esoteric and mysterious. I kinda left it vague for the mystery factor, but essential if you control the soul of someone, you control their individuality, their spark. You could wipe their soul clean, you could imbalance it, you can do many dubious and illegal things.

4: Yes. It is rare and it is harmful, but some can use multiple magic types. Necromancy is an example of all three being used together.

5: Body magic requires strength and can cause cancer, Mind magic requires intelligence and mental strength, and can cause brain damage, Soul magic requires calmness, and can cause your soul to become lost.

6: Mind magic can’t really be used to make oneself immortal. Actually, it will shorten your life. If you wanna live long, eat your veggies.

7: Mind magic can only be used on minds. It cannot preform telekinesis.

8: No. While it does have negative affects, it does not directly affect aging in any way.

9: You need to be born with the ability to do it. Everyone produces magic but only some are born with the ability to use it. Everyone has the same magical capabilities, but only some train hard enough to learn them.

10: Yes. An experienced Soul mage can control the soul of another and even steal it. However consuming souls prevents you from going to the next life. Your soul will painfully grapple with the souls it has consumed for almost eternity.

Thank you for the questions! And by the way, the person who’s point of view this post was from was a magicless innocent who was held hostage by a criminal in the mood for exposition.

2
somethingX•

What magical laws are in place to regulate magic, and how are they enforced?

2
CreatorCreatureOP•

Since the magical community is a ragtag group of discordant and disorganized crackpots, there aren’t that many enforcers of the “law”. The few that do are very strong mages bound by their own moral code who’ve decided to uphold the law in whatever way they see fit.

As for the laws, they’re quite basic. Don’t use magic on other living humans, don’t use magic in places that magicless people will see, don’t consume souls.

1
somethingX•

So how can mind magic be heavily restricted by magic law if there's not much in the way of law enforcement?

2
CreatorCreatureOP•

Well, while there aren’t many enforcers, the ones that do exist are highly skilled... I’ll have to think on this...

1
CreatorCreatureOP•

u/curujafeia

1