Creating Magic Today’s post comes to us thanks to my good friend Stuart Jaffe (of “The Eclectic Review” fame) who emailed me a few days ago to discuss the creation of magic systems. This is something I’ve done quite a bit, and it’s one of the things I enjoy most about writing fantasy. Magic is, in many ways, the defining characteristic of works in our genre. Yes, I know: We often say here at MW that character and plot and voice are the most important elements of good storytelling. But the fact is that fantasy wouldn’t be fantasy without magic. And besides, making up magic systems is really fun to do. But contrary to what some people think, creating a magic system is not an anything-goes endeavor. 1) A magic system has to have limitations. 2) In my opinion, magic should have a cost. 3) And finally, (this is pretty basic) a magic system has to be internally consistent. As writers of fantasy, we ask our readers to suspend their disbelief every time they open one of our books.
Fantasy Clichés to Avoid - What Beginners Do in Fantasy Fiction Fantasy Fiction Clichés to Avoid - What Beginners Do in Fantasy Fiction [First, my profound apologies to the vast majority of readers who don't steal content, but I have to state the following. This article and all content on this website belongs to Val Kovalin, copyright © Obsidianbookshelf.com, except where noted. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from Val Kovalin is strictly prohibited. Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com, I always have to keep these clichés in mind. Architecture.An historic castle is sometimes really tiny! In reality, those castles and keeps were sometimes built small to be easy to defend. Appearance of character.Keep it to a minimum.I'm all for not describing your character at all, and letting your readers fill in their own picture. I realize that writers of romance or epic fantasy will probably ignore my advice. Characters – EthnicityWhy is everyone a Northern European? For example, I have a sergeant. Read Tolkien.
The Writing Café Author C.L. Wilson Blog Double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble... ~ Shakespeare's MacBeth In this long-delayed (and for that I do so apologize. Deadlines, you know) continuation of my Worldbuilding 101 series, we're going to talk about creating credible magical systems for your world. Because magic is by definition the most fantastic element of your created world, creating the specifics of your magic system can either fascinate readers or destroy all suspension of disbelief. I'm big on "discover as you go" but the basics of the magic are the one concrete foundation I absolutely MUST establish from the get go. The Magic Must Make Sense The number one rule when creating magic is this: create your rules, then follow them . It doesn't so much matter how your magic works but that it works the same way, every time . This does not mean you cannot have surprises or have your characters learn new magical techniques. What can your magic do? What can your magic not do? Can magic be counteracted?
Brent Weeks | 2. Writing Fantasy: Tools & Techniques a. World Building i. Tips/strategies ii. b. i.How do you write a bad guy? c. d. e. a. i. A lot of writers have different takes on your question than I do. But my answer is that the story is what matters. There are more and less elegant solutions to the problem of how you set up an entire world and lay the ground rules quickly. ii. I’m not going to be able to do justice to your question about world-building in one short post here. The world-building has to occur along sort of two tracks: first, you need to set up a lot of things that you absolutely know about the world. Secondly, you’re going to have to think about just how the world works. So along that first track of thinking, you, outside of the fiction, need to make all of these decisions about how the world actually works. Third, do things differently. Fourth, now you have to put all of this into practice. Fifth, the biggest thing about world building is that you can talk at length about anything you find fascinating. b.
Alignment Tendencies Anyone familiar with the Outer Planes will have already been exposed to the concept of alignment tendencies. In fact, there are almost as many Outer Planes that exemplify such "in-between" alignments as there are planes for the nine canonical alignments. Alignment tendencies are a further refinement of the alignment system. The Alignment Chart This chart represents all possible alignments. The color scheme shows how the various alignments begin to "shade" into other alignments when Neutrality comes into play. Nomenclature By convention, alignment tendencies are given in parenthesis and are described as being more extreme than a certain neutral alignment not having the tendency. Using Alignment Tendencies A tendency can be used to indicate one or more of the following: "Not Quite Neutral" An alignment tendency could be used to show the preference of an ethically and/or morally neutral character to favor one "side" of his neutrality a little more than the other. "Not So Extreme" "Pious Enough"
How to Create a Unique Magic System for Your Book Edit Article Edited by Jonta, Maluniu, Grendle, Anonymo and 14 others Ever feel that books such as Harry Potter have taken all the good Magic set-ups in books? Ad Steps 1Remember that magic is distinguished from science by the measure of mystery in its elements. 6Write your book and remember to follow your own guidelines! Tips Use abstract thinking. Warnings Use care when borrowing ideas from others. Things You'll Need A source of informationImagination and a lot of time
Fantasy writing tips, how to write a fantasy novel, creative wri Sign up to my mailing list, and choose a FREE EBOOK as a gift. Join here. A Creative Writing Ebook AVAILABLE NOW from $0.99 Forms (WTF) Welcome to White-Wolf.com. White Wolf Publishing has produced gaming universes for over 20 years including World of Darkness, Exalted, Trinity, and many more. White Wolf merged with CCP Games to focus on translating the World of Darkness IP into a massively multiplayer experience, and the North American office is fully dedicated to making this evolution a reality. In order to continue to support our existing RPG and LARP communities, we have entered into a number of partnerships with individuals and groups who can focus their full attention on the art forms White Wolf created and lived in. Digital Publishing and Print On Demand Both new and classic White Wolf products are available for digital download and Print On Demand through DriveThruRPG.com. Tabletop Roleplaying Games Our tabletop RPG publishing continues via Onyx Path Publishing. Live Action Roleplaying Games Our live-action "Mind’s Eye Theatre" publishing returns by way of By Night Studios. Live Action Organizations
Principles of Tolkien's Magic This is an attempt to outline some principles of magic in Middle Earth, with an eye for adaptation to role-playing games. Rather than starting from a pre-existing RPG system, I will go through the canon evidence and proceed into speculation. Within Tolkien's works, we have a number of examples of magic use -- but no explanation of what magic is or how it works. f My aim is not an encyclopedic listing of magic shown in Middle Earth, but rather a system or set of principles which is true to the spirit of the stories. Practitioners of Magic The most obvious practitioners of magic are the order of wizards, the Istari. However, magic may also be done by mortals. However, it is not as clear how good magic is learned by men, or what it would look like. Of course, elves and dwarves also have magic. Limits of Magic Magic in Middle Earth is based around enhancing or weakening the inherent properties of things. Magic cannot burn snow or other unnatural effects. Forms of Magic Crafting Creatures Spells