"make it wow! cool"

That's some vague advice.

What do you want the magic system to do? What sort of capabilities do you want it to have?

I agree with the advice is too vague. I wouldn't worry about the system unless you intend on making an RPG. For story I think you just need to know what the limits and side effects are. Remeber, it's magic, I personally don't care how or why just what.

What can you do?
What does it cost to do it?
What happens if you do it wrong or too much?

Well... to add my even more vague advice:

Your magic system is only as interesting as what you do with it.

Little Ming said:

Well... to add my even more vague advice:

Your magic system is only as interesting as what you do with it.

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How about a magic system that makes toast? After all, how does it get the slice of bread all toasty and warm?

Holly Lisle suggests thinking of magic in terms of cost - what does it cost the user? Blood? Life? Their own life, or that of a victim?

More generally, what are the limits? Can anyone do magic if they study hard enough, or is it an innate talent? What are the knock-on effects to society of this? Are people forced to study magic, or prevented?

Ask yourself lots of "what if" questions and see what you come up with!

defcon6000 said:

How about a magic system that makes toast? After all, how does it get the slice of bread all toasty and warm?

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"Kill it with toast!"

I'm totally using that.

defcon6000 said:

How about a magic system that makes toast? After all, how does it get the slice of bread all toasty and warm?

Click to expand...

You can make toast with my magic system. It's really simple, all it takes is thinking Require: toast.

Little Ming said:

"Kill it with toast!"

I'm totally using that.

Click to expand...

*casting magic toasting missile*

Stormhawk said:

You can make toast with my magic system. It's really simple, all it takes is thinking Require: toast.

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So what happens when you trip and think: "Oh shit!"

defcon6000 said:

*casting magic toasting missile*

So what happens when you trip and think: "Oh shit!"

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It needs the "require" command to work.

What if you're in the middle of a command and you trip? Like: "Require: *trips* Oh shit!"

Personally, I think trying to make something "Cool" for the sake of it being "cool" often backfires. Watch any Michael Bay movie to understand what I mean.

I'm going to gripe about magic in fantasy here: All too often, it seems to me, that writers use a spell or magical object solely for the purpose of being either a MacGuffin or a Deus Ex Machina. Harry Potter was really bad about this, IMO. Don't get me wrong, I loved those books, but all too often it seemed like a spell/potion/magical device had been invented for the sole purpose of writing the characters out of a jam. Maybe it works for some folks, but I didn't always buy it.

To avoid this, what I've done with my work was to make a rigid set of rules by which magic works. A bit like an RPG but much more freeform as there are no balancing or numbers to work around. Each magic-using character has a set number of spells to use, and then I worked their abilities into the story when they were useful.

C. G. Hagy said:

I'm going to gripe about magic in fantasy here: All too often, it seems to me, that writers use a spell or magical object solely for the purpose of being either a MacGuffin or a Deus Ex Machina. Harry Potter was really bad about this, IMO. Don't get me wrong, I loved those books, but all too often it seemed like a spell/potion/magical device had been invented for the sole purpose of writing the characters out of a jam. Maybe it works for some folks, but I didn't always buy it.

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I hear you. It was especially 'bad' when a magic device, be it a spell or potion etc., was introduced early in the book and you just knew that it would save/help their collective butts in the end.

Still, this teaches again that it's all in the execution. The majority of the mass of readers out there doesn't really care about elegantly described or elaborated magic. If you have a strong tale, a simple system which allows you to do cool things with it is good enough.

Think about Harry Potter, incredible out-of-this-world bestseller, and it has probably the simplest magic system out there: magic just exists, is genetic and without any side-effect allows you to do anything from opening doors to creating undead armies (or even splitting your soul, but there are side-effects there lol), the only limitations to your creative powers are five exceptions, like money and food. That's it. And maybe its strength lies in its simplicity.

In my magic system I had to kill a chicken to toast bread. It was uneconomic, all the mages were going to Tesco instead.

AVS said:

In my magic system I had to kill a chicken to toast bread. It was uneconomic, all the mages were going to Tesco instead.

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If it makes you feel any better, I tried to toast bread with my pony stare of DOOM, but apparently, it only works on chickens.

defcon6000 said:

If it makes you feel any better, I tried to toast bread with my pony stare of DOOM, but apparently, it only works on chickens.

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And cockatrices. The Flutterstare also works on cockatrices.

satyesu said:

I was given that advice when I was trying to think of a system of magic for my wip. I know it's probably something that can/t be taught, but said system seems really dull. How can make it cooler/more interesting/fantastic?

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What makes it cool to you? What kinds of things make you gasp "GOSH WOW!"?

Odds are, if you're going GOSH WOW!, your readers will too.

I know a lot of people like to have their magic have a cost, but that doesn't work for all stories. If it does for you--and it works well for Holly Lisle (particularly in The Secret Texts series), I'll agree--then go for it. But it doesn't work in all stories (LOTR is a classic example), so make the conscious choice of what gives you the GOSH WOW coolness factor you're looking for.

Every story, every author, is different. Find what's unique and mondo cool for YOU and don't default into anyone else's standard.

AVS said:

In my magic system I had to kill a chicken to toast bread.

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I quite like this example. I like the notion of magic being dirty, complicated, and generally not worth the bother. When magic becomes easy or commonplace, it completely loses its dramatic impact.

DeleyanLee said:

I know a lot of people like to have their magic have a cost, but that doesn't work for all stories.

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I confess that in my current books, I completely ignored Holly's suggestion of magic having a cost. Instead it has strict limits. Only a few people can do it (though it's not genetic) and then with varying levels of ability, and it can only do certain things - it's more psi/paranormal than wizardry. You want to make toast, you need a fire and a toasting fork - there's no magic in my world that will do it for you.

It goes on definition of what you think is cool. My personal opinion is that a cool magic system is one that is not an end-all system. It will not solve your problems for you. Rather it's just another tool that can do powerful stuff with an application of problem solving.

Mistborn and Name of the Wind's system come to mind, but in simpler terms, think of something like Call of Duty versus Portal. Portal is unique problem solving, so a magic system that accomplishes the same thing is cool in my book.

Pornomancy. I still say pornomancy.
Because with the Internet today, a porn-based magic system would be the most powerful in the universe.

Or maybe just sandwichcraft.
It's late. I'm hungry.

Smiling Ted said:

Pornomancy. I still say pornomancy.
Because with the Internet today, a porn-based magic system would be the most powerful in the universe.

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So how would that work? The more porn you accumulate or produce, the more powerful your magicka is? Or is based on how fast/hard you can rub up against things?

Or maybe just sandwichcraft.

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Witch! Make me a sandwich!

Smiling Ted said:

Pornomancy. I still say pornomancy.
Because with the Internet today, a porn-based magic system would be the most powerful in the universe.

Or maybe just sandwichcraft.
It's late. I'm hungry.

Click to expand...

defcon6000 said:

So how would that work? The more porn you accumulate or produce, the more powerful your magicka is? Or is based on how fast/hard you can rub up against things?
Witch! Make me a sandwich!

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Isn't that the same as sex magic?

Or have I got my magic incorrect?

Smiling Ted said:

Pornomancy. I still say pornomancy.
Because with the Internet today, a porn-based magic system would be the most powerful in the universe.

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Sorry, I think Anita Blake already has that covered.

ETA: And hentai, don't forget hentai. (Google at your own risk)

AceTachyon said:

Isn't that the same as sex magic?

Or have I got my magic incorrect?

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Pornomancy sounds like you don't actually have to be the one having the sex in order for it to work, though you'll probably be aroused by it.