Who wants to help me with my magic system?

[Truthwatcher Ferring]

Basically my magic system involves Attractors, my magic users, who are able to magically bring together groups of natural particles. These particles intensify the attributes that they are named for.

There are 2 basic types of particles, Mental and Physical, and 3 types that are made from a combination of these more basic types. Physical and Physical make Force (Having to do with the interactions between physical objects), Mental and Mental make Social (Having to do with the interactions between minds), and Mental and Physical make Connection (Having to do with the connection between the mind and the world).

 

-Mental: having to do with the mind

---Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Joy

 

-Physical: having to do with the actual physical world

---Heat, Light, Motion, and Sound

 

-Connection: having to do with the connection between the mind and the world

---Time (specifically your awareness of time), Awareness (the senses), Chance (the likelihood that coincidences will happen. Good and/or Bad), and Intuition (Our sense of the future)

 

-Force: having to do with the connection between physical objects

---Gravity, Friction, Conduction (the movement of energy through matter), and Cohesion (force that holds thing together)

-----(Note: The Particle of gravity effects the objects in the particle mass most powerfully, although anything in this mass is slightly more attracted to the earth. This means that a Gravity attracter could walk up a cliffside by causing the gravity between it and him/her to increase.)

 

-Social: having to do with the connection between people

---Empathy (ability to know what someone is feeling), Trust (making people act based on your feelings), Insight (ability to know what someone is thinking), and Will (ability to make people do what you want)

 

 

Attracting these particles intensifies the attributes for everything and everyone around you. For example: If you attract empathy everyone in your immediate area will be better able to tell what others are feeling (Although since the Attractor is in the center of the mass of particles they are affected most)

 

These particles naturally dissipate and an attractor cannot make them do so faster. Groups of attractors can also effect others without effecting themselves by standing apart from each other and pulling particles into a group between themselves.

Attractors aren't born with the power to attract it comes from first attracting into themselves the raw energy of the universe (a process that usually only happens once). It always occurs when the soon to be attractor has an open mind, when they're sleeping. 

 

I'm thinking about having each Attractor having power over one group or having power over one particle out of each group.

 

 

Please tell me what you think! I'd love some advice!

Edited October 2, 2014 by Truthwatcher Ferring

[Lindel]

I don't have the time for a thorough critic right now, but what you've got looks really good so far! I'll see if I can check back in this evening, or sometime tomorrow. I don't think the post was too long at all. In fact, a few more specific examples of uses for the various powers might be helpful. 

[Truthwatcher Ferring]

Thank you! I really appreciate the comment.

 

 

Here are some examples for what each particle can do:

 

Mental Particles are fairly basic (And I think I might change them so feel free to give ideas.). They intensify the amounts of each specific emotion everyone in the area feels. Because the attractor is at the center of the mass of particles they often gain great self control as they practice their powers (making everyone around you terrified is of limited use if you're wetting your pants). Mental particles take some skill to manipulate subtly. Any apprentice attracter can overwhelm those around them with emotion put using the power to manipulate others to do what you want is more difficult. 

 

Physical Particles are also basic.

Motion particles intensify kinetic energy. Ex. If you throw a rock at someone and attract this, the rock will accelerate and hit with much more force. This is generally the most useful physical particle.

Heat intensifies well, heat. Other than keeping yourself warm it has limited use because attracting too much will cause you to burst into flames (I guess it would be useful for suicide bombings).

Light intensifies light around you. Since there will always be some small amount of light even if you can't see it you can use it to light your way anywhere. You can also use it to blind attackers.

Sound makes everything louder. It's pretty simple.

 

Connection particles are more useful.

Time particles speed up your awareness of time (basically giving you all the time you need to aim or make a decision). This doesn't make your body any faster, just your mind.

Awareness enhances your physical senses (Sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and balance. Not pain) It basically has the same effect as allomantic tin.

Chance is based on the theory that a collective human subconscious manipulates events to cause coincidences. This is the force that orchestrates you meeting a coworker on your vacation to Hawaii. Attracting this makes totally unlikely coincidences much more likely. This can result in good results, bad results, or both. For example: this may allow you to trip, thus accidentally dodging an arrow to the heart only to be helped to your feet to the son of a man whose father you killed who then recognizes you because you have 6 fingers on one hand who then proceeds to stab you.

Intuition is someone's sense of the future. This particles effects aren't nearly as effective (at least in the short term) as atium but they can defiantly help in a fight. However this particle is focused on emotional events, both in the immediate and distant future. However, in this universe, the future isn't set in stone so you may have the intuition that this women in front of you is who you're going to marry only to be killed by a runaway horse because you stopped walking.

 

Force Particles are particularly fun.

Gravity particles can be used to run up walls (if the wall has enough mass) or if you suck at sports you can make a baseball attracted to your body (if baseballs existed in my universe). 

Friction can be used climb up walls or help things remain in place (I guess you could trip people with it).

Conduction makes energy run through objects faster. It can help you absorb the heat of the fire (boring). It can also make objects more translucent (allowing them to conduct light), help kinetic energy run through an object more easily, thus destroying it (very fun), or allow you to hear perfectly through a wall.

---Conduction can be combined with physical particles to focus the effects (only effecting light, sound, motion, or heat)

 

Social particles are also very useful.

Insight enhances your ability to sense what people are thinking (I'm basing this on the show Lie To Me if you've seen it). Empathy allows you to more easily feel what other people are feeling. Trust is the sense that compels others to act on your feelings (Like when you see your friend crying and go to comfort them). Will is the ability to force others to agree with and act on your words and opinions. (You've probably known people have such strong charisma that others natural deferred to them. Think of it like that.)

 

One more thing I forgot to say in the first comment:

 

Some percentage of particles cling to objects and people even after they leave the bubble. So you can effect yourself without effecting others (it's just not nearly as powerful).

 

 

 

Nothing is set in stone.

[Lindel]

Interesting. So the effect is most powerful for the Attractor, who is at the center, but it effects everything in a bubble around them as well? 

 

For mental, does it only effect emotions, or might it be able to effect other aspects of mental processing, such as the formation of memories, clarity of thought, perception, response time, etc? 

 

Attracting Kinetic Energy speeds up the movement of everything in the area correct? So it'd take some practice before the sudden burst of speed after throwing the rock wouldn't throw you off balance. It could also be used to throw unsuspecting enemies off balance. If it doesn't change the amount of friction involved, it might actually be quite dangerous to move while Attracting kinetic particles. 

 

When you say it speeds up your awareness of time, do you mean you'd basically see everything in slow motion? Also, why doesn't awareness increase your sense of pain? Pain is one of the senses. Another less commonly addressed, but very important sense is Kinesthesis, the sense of the position, movement,and tension of limbs and muscles. Also the sense of when you need to relieve yourself. That could put Connection Attractors in a delightfully awkward position, especially assuming that all senses are increased simultaneously. In order to see and hear with perfect clarity, you also have to endure glaring reminders that your bladder is nearly full, and waves of pain from your stubbed toe. Best take a trip to the bathroom before a battle. And if you have any real injuries, enhancing your Awareness would be entirely out of the question. 

 

So gravity increases the gravitational pull between all objects inside the bubble? In that case, wouldn't the pull downward still outweigh everything else, thus just making everything heavier? That actually gave me a thought. Are there Repellers in this universe? It'd have the opposite effect of Attracting. Repelling gravitational particles would make everything in the bubble much lighter. Repelling light would make things darker, etc. Not sure how well it would work with some of the others, like Time. Just a thought. 

 

Friction sounds fun! Could let you move quickly without worrying about slipping. Attract enough of it, and your opponents start moving as if through heavy snow. Use a whole ton of it, and everything sticks in place. You'd have to be careful with conduction. Going with your idea of breaking objects with this, the Attractor's bones would be like glass. 

 

Social sounds fun! I see the distinction between Trust and Will more now. 

 

Overall, I really like the organization. Perhaps have each Attractor have access to a set of two types, giving them enough tools to play but leaving room for variety?

[Truthwatcher Ferring]

First of all I wrote this entire comment and then my mobile device reloaded my page so I had to write it again >. So I'm a little mad but I love that you responded.

Thank you for your ideas and comments!

On Motion:

Yes, it would be delightfully dangerous in untrained hands.

On Time:

Yes, your perception would speed up so everything would seem to be in slow motion.

On Awareness:

I think you're right. It would make more sense if it enhanced all senses (Plus kinesthesis would be fun to explore in a fight). But, I'd like my characters to be able to use the power without extreme discomfort (Pain or bladder related). How about this; Awareness enhances your senses and your ability to handle the information like Atium, at least to an extent (I am completely stealing this idea. I have no regrets). Eventually the senses would overwhelm you but, you would still be able to use the power. Am I being too nice to my characters? Do you think I should keep the limitation? (It could certainly provide some comic relief (Pun intended (Yes I put parenthesis inside each other.)))

On Gravity:

You're right. You probably couldn't use it to walk on walls . I guess if you had 2 gravity attractors you could flatten and destroy something in between them.

On Conduction:

A foolish attracter could shatter all their bones. I think I'll leave that limitation in. Commence evil laughter..

I was thinking that an attracter could could have power over mental particles (meaning they could control mental and social particles since social particles are combinations of mental particles), physical particles (physical and force), or mental and physical particles (physical, mental and connection but not social or force).

Thanks again for your help!

Edited October 9, 2014 by Truthwatcher Ferring

[Curiosity]

What about Trust being something of sharing of emotions? You let your emotions imprint on the other person, but you don't feel the same as them. I guess this would be like Soothing/Rioting, where you're making people do what they want to do (but you made them want to do it since you are the one who made them want it. 

[the winter system]

Pretty interesting. This could be a real Cosmere world, but if you intend it to be like the Cosmere, I'd add a Spiritual part of this. (Or is Social Spiritual? If so, then Cognitive) Of course, you might not want it to be Cosmere like.

[Truthwatcher Ferring]

Thank you for taking an interest Curiosity and pir2h!

Curiosity:

This is how I originally intended empathy and trust particles to work:

Empathy is what actually allows you to feel what others are feeling but it does not necessarily make you want to assist them.

Trust doesn't allow you to better understand their emotions, it is the force that compels you to respond to those emotions (but not necessarily in good ways).

So in response to your comment:

Empathy is the force that "imprints" emotions onto others or shares them and it works both ways (effecting everyone equally is one of the core principles of my magic system.)

But everything is open to change.

Pir2h:

I hadn't originally intended for this to be a cosmere magic system (although I drew heavy inspiration from Brandon's books).

[the winter system]

Thank you for taking an interest Curiosity and pir2h!

Curiosity:

This is how I originally intended empathy and trust particles to work:

Empathy is what actually allows you to feel what others are feeling but it does not necessarily make you want to assist them.

Trust doesn't allow you to better understand their emotions, it is the force that compels you to respond to those emotions (but not necessarily in good ways).

So in response to your comment:

Empathy is the force that "imprints" emotions onto others or shares them and it works both ways (effecting everyone equally is one of the core principles of my magic system.)

But everything is open to change.

Pir2h:

I hadn't originally intended for this to be a cosmere magic system (although I drew heavy inspiration from Brandon's books).

Oh, it just reminded me a little bit of one. Because there is a Mental and a Physical.