Some help with a magic system?

[Atilium]

Hello everyone! I’ve been having trouble with a particular magic system (that still lacks a name) for a while now, and I’ve finally decided to ask my fellow Sandefans for help. So here goes…

 

In my world, there are these things called Eyes. Spheres, made of a glass-like substance, about the size of a small child’s head. (or maybe a bit smaller? I haven’t really decided yet.) Inside the spheres swirls… smoke? Mist? Something along those lines. Once there were hundreds, even thousands, now there remains only three. A red one, a blue one and a green one. Or maybe a silver, blue, and gold. I haven’t really settled on three colours.

Anyway, owning, or rather possessing, an Eye grants you certain colours, depending on which one of the three you have. One of them adds, the second removes, and the third changes.

Lets say you own the one that changes. If someone were to attack you with a sword, you could change the sword to a small book. Or if you own the one that adds, you could ‘add’ a huge iron block on the end of the sword that unbalances the attacker. Or if you have the Eye that removes, you could simply remove the blade altogether, leaving the attacker holding only the hilt.

The way this works is, everything in this world has a… soul thing? The best description would probably be a soul which is their identity. Like a stone’s soul will tell it, “You are a stone. You stay in one place. You do not soak up water.” Or a flowers identity would tell it, “You are a flower. When it rains, you grow bigger. When it is hot, you wilt.” Etc etc. The Eye’s are, effectively, captured nothing. They contain the soul, the identity of nothing. Therefore, they have the ability to be anything. When, through your Eye, you command the sword to become a book, the Eye is changing that swords identity, so it believes it’s a book. Adding or removing is similar, except instead of changing the items entire identity, it simply… removes part of it?

 

A person who owns an Eye is called an Eyeholder. When one “bonds” with an Eye, you are, effectively, merging your own soul with the nothing-soul of the Eye. This merging changes your eye colour to that of your Eye. (Confusing sentence, I know.) This is, of course, because one’s eyes are like… well, you know that clichéd expressing “the eyes are the window into the soul?” Yeah, kinda like that. (I’m busy building a religion – and a side cult - around this.) If you give away ownership of the Eye before you die, you go blind.

 

There are, of course, rules to the magic system. Firstly, you can not access the Eye’s powers unless the Eye is touching your skin. So if the Eye were sitting on a table when you were attacked, it would be useless to you. If someone else were holding the eye, it would be useless to both of you. Since you’re the Eyeholder, the other person will be unable to access the power, however, since it’s not touching your skin, you cant either. (if that made sense… er…)

Secondly, you can only affect one thing at a time. So if I were to change the sword into a book, if I then changed the attacker’s clothes into chains, the book would become a sword again. So nothing affected by the Eye’s power is permanent – unless, of course, you never again use the Eye after changing/adding to/removing something from something.

And lastly, the Eye’s powers do not work on humans. If I were to try and change the aforementioned attacker into a banana, it wouldn’t work. This is because a human’s soul has more than just a frail identity – it has memories, ambitions, etc.

I’m not yet sure weather or not the Eye’s would have an affect on animals, or plants. My original idea was that they wouldn’t work on things that are living, but now I’m not so sure…

The thing I’m really struggling with is what happens when an Eyeholder dies. My original idea was that the Eyeholder has to be alive to give the Eye to the next Eyeholder, but what if theres some sort of accident? What if the Eyeholder commits suicide?

There are a few more details, but they’re not really important to the Eye’s, which is what I want help with.

As I’m sure you can see, the magic system has its basics, but lacks a lot and has several obvious problems.

My biggest worry is that its too similar to Brandon Sander’s Soulcasting. Anyone have any opinions on that? How can I change it to make it less similar, but still have it hold its basic essence?

I’d appreciate ay feedback I can get! Please feel free to point out any problems you see – and maybe some speculations as to solutions?

 

Thanks <3 Atilium aka Aimee

[Haradion Drogon]

Hmmm... I like this. Though in my head, it is more of an "Essence Capture." You "Capture" the Essence of an object, allowing its identity to be manipulated. Releasing the essence causes the item to revert back to its previous state.

 

Keywords with Capitals, would be

 

- Essence

- Capture

- Release

- State

- Identity

- Revert

 

?

 

I think it might be best to have two or three different types of "Eyes", rather than soley three. Having only three makes the magic rare, and might creature problems for the story? I like the terminology however. The Eye is the window to other object's soul. 

 

The Idea of an Eye that completely Vanishes an object from existence sounds interesting, it could be used for storage or transportation? How big a thing can you vanish? A wagon of arms? A Warehouse of food? A ship? A greatsword? A suit of armor? The possibilities are interesting for concealment?

 

The idea of an "Add" Eye sounds a little redundant though. In order for it to be that distinct from the change Eye, it would need to be extremely overpowered. Perhaps there could be an Eye which forcibly undoes the changes made by other Eyes?

 

In all, I like the system, though I think it is quite limited with just the three sphere... A hundred spheres, belong to a cult or priesthood of three distinct types might be an interesting thing to work with.

 

Also, I would shrink the size of the Eyes slightly. Maybe the size of a fist? Ever seen Pokemon? The size of one of those balls perhaps?

Perhaps (if you go with more eyes) you coul have them of various sizes, with the larger sphere capable of greater feats, or removing/changing more than one object at the same time?

[Atilium]

Hmmm... I like this. Though in my head, it is more of an "Essence Capture." You "Capture" the Essence of an object, allowing its identity to be manipulated. Releasing the essence causes the item to revert back to its previous state.

 

Keywords with Capitals, would be

 

- Essence

- Capture

- Release

- State

- Identity

- Revert

 

?

 

I think it might be best to have two or three different types of "Eyes", rather than soley three. Having only three makes the magic rare, and might creature problems for the story? I like the terminology however. The Eye is the window to other object's soul. 

 

The Idea of an Eye that completely Vanishes an object from existence sounds interesting, it could be used for storage or transportation? How big a thing can you vanish? A wagon of arms? A Warehouse of food? A ship? A greatsword? A suit of armor? The possibilities are interesting for concealment?

 

The idea of an "Add" Eye sounds a little redundant though. In order for it to be that distinct from the change Eye, it would need to be extremely overpowered. Perhaps there could be an Eye which forcibly undoes the changes made by other Eyes?

 

In all, I like the system, though I think it is quite limited with just the three sphere... A hundred spheres, belong to a cult or priesthood of three distinct types might be an interesting thing to work with.

 

Also, I would shrink the size of the Eyes slightly. Maybe the size of a fist? Ever seen Pokemon? The size of one of those balls perhaps?

Perhaps (if you go with more eyes) you coul have them of various sizes, with the larger sphere capable of greater feats, or removing/changing more than one object at the same time?

 

Ooh, I like that interpretation. I might implement something like that in...

 

I love all your suggestions! And those terms are very cool, I like the whole "Release" and "Capture" thing. You have a point about the Add Eye... was the thinking the same thing. Oooh, what if, instead of Adding, it.. Duplicates? Like, makes an exact copy of something - that would of course then cease to exist the moment one duplicates something else. (if that makes sense.)

 

Honestly, I don't know why i resisted having more than three Eye's for so long. I think I'll go with your idea of about one hundred or so Eye's, and I'll also make them smaller, more convenient to carry around.

 

I've had an idea floating round for a while about an Eye that can make things alive. This would, essentially, make them immune to Eye's. Of course the object would only stay alive until the Eyeholder either Released it or Captured something else in it's place. Oppinions on that?

[Haradion Drogon]

How about this? Duplication is a must!

 

The Eye of Duplication

The Eye of Animation

The Eye of Transformation

The Eye of Transportation (Vanishes)

 

Perhapes if you wish to make an Eye protect an object from manipulation, you could create an Eye of Negation?

 

And its oposite? An Eye that reverts back to its previous form?

 

That Which Destroys/Removes

That Which Protects

That Which Changes

That Which Reverts (Removes Duplicates)

 

You have a nice duality there...

 

I sense a lot of Hiest style writting here...

 

 

I don't know what kind of story you are planning but it sounds like the making of copies, forgeries, smuggling, disguising etc could be extremley useful.

Vanish a barrel of flamable oil, and have a portable flamethrower.

Create copies of gold ingots you can vanish from a distance.

 

Endless fun here.

Please, tell me more of the story?

[Atilium]

 

How about this? Duplication is a must!

 

The Eye of Duplication

The Eye of Animation

The Eye of Transformation

The Eye of Transportation (Vanishes)

 

Perhapes if you wish to make an Eye protect an object from manipulation, you could create an Eye of Negation?

 

And its oposite? An Eye that reverts back to its previous form?

 

That Which Destroys/Removes

That Which Protects

That Which Changes

That Which Reverts (Removes Duplicates)

 

You have a nice duality there...

 

I sense a lot of Hiest style writting here...

 

 

I don't know what kind of story you are planning but it sounds like the making of copies, forgeries, smuggling, disguising etc could be extremley useful.

Vanish a barrel of flamable oil, and have a portable flamethrower.

Create copies of gold ingots you can vanish from a distance.

 

Endless fun here.

Please, tell me more of the story?

 

 

Oh, I love those names you have! Though i feel The Eye of Transformation and The Eye of Transportation are too similar to "Transformation" and "Transportation", two of the ten Surges in the Stormlight Archives. What if instead of Transformation, we say.. Eye of Alteration? Or... Eye of Transmutation?

I'm thinking the Eye's themselves could kind of "undo" their effects, rather than there needing to be Eye's that do it for them. 

I like the idea of an Eye of Negation... how would it work, though? 

But where does an object go when it Vanishes?

 

Hm... I wasn't originally planning a Heist story, but there being a hundred Eye's instead of just three has impacted it quite a bit.. the possibilities Eye's could over to thieves is endless!

 

Do you want to private message me? We can chat about the story there (:

Edited April 23, 2014 by Atilium

[Swimmingly]

Where did all the Eyes go?

That's my main question. If they were destroyed, how and why? If they were lost, where and when?

[Atilium]

Where did all the Eyes go?

That's my main question. If they were destroyed, how and why? If they were lost, where and when?

 

Major plot point there It has to do with the origin of the magic (kind of)

[el_warko]

If you go with these suggestions which are good, or keep the originals how about when the eye is activated it changes colour to its opposite on the complementary colours wheel (gold for silver). Maybe affects eyeholders eye colour or tinge to hair / complexion if you wanted to be more subtle.

With regard to passing on the eye vis prem death / suicide you could cover that with rites that could range from a - simple statent if you want one to pass to a peasant(something anyone could say) or complex arcane ritual if you wanted to keep it in the priesthood.

Blindness could occur if the eye is forcibly removed with colour blindness occuring if the eye passed on by rite (unless that's a plot point).

[Swimmingly]

What if a minor side effect of holding an Eye is being colourblind to all light in that colour, because your irises are somehow absorbing it?

[aeromancer]

Ooh, creepy thought! When an Eyeholder dies without bonding to an eye, the Eye must be Relinked. This is accomplished by the new Eyeholder replacing one of his eyes with the Eye. 

[Swimmingly]

That'll make it hard to get dates.

[Kobold King]

That'll make it hard to get dates.

 

I was going to make a joke about "seeing" someone in a romantic way, but then I got too completely creeped out to finish.

[Atilium]

Ooh, creepy thought! When an Eyeholder dies without bonding to an eye, the Eye must be Relinked. This is accomplished by the new Eyeholder replacing one of his eyes with the Eye. 

 

I love that! Adds a slightly gory side to the magic system...

 

What if a minor side effect of holding an Eye is being colourblind to all light in that colour, because your irises are somehow absorbing it?

 

Ooh, interesting idea! Or maybe everything in that colour is "deeper"? I'd have to research the science behind that... 

[Bunnyburn]

I had an idea, you can take it or leave it or twist it to your purpose.

Manipulating an objects identity could be an ability seperate from the Eyes, but the different Eyes are what allows a person to 'see' and understand different aspects of an identity. Identity is a very abstract thing and these Eyes would provide the enlightenment necessary to comprehend and alter these abstractions.

I am also a fan of an idea mentioned by another user (forgot your name, sorry) that bonding an Eye requires replacing one of the eyes. This would allow for a person to technically bond 2 Eyes perhaps? But without the vision and interpretation normal eye-vision provides these dual-Eyed individuals could have very strange, abstract, and possibly twisted views on reality.

[Atilium]

I had an idea, you can take it or leave it or twist it to your purpose.

Manipulating an objects identity could be an ability seperate from the Eyes, but the different Eyes are what allows a person to 'see' and understand different aspects of an identity. Identity is a very abstract thing and these Eyes would provide the enlightenment necessary to comprehend and alter these abstractions.

I am also a fan of an idea mentioned by another user (forgot your name, sorry) that bonding an Eye requires replacing one of the eyes. This would allow for a person to technically bond 2 Eyes perhaps? But without the vision and interpretation normal eye-vision provides these dual-Eyed individuals could have very strange, abstract, and possibly twisted views on reality.

 

Interesting ideas! Ooh.. yeah, that could work... what would prevent non-eyeholders from trying, though?  

I love the two-Eye's thing... don't want to veer to close to Mistborn's Inquisitors, but I'll definitely consider it!

[Bunnyburn]

In my idea, non-Eyeholders wouldn't be able to understand the concepts that make up identity.

I am imagining somethong like computer code= identity. Anybodu with a keyboard can alter the characters, but if you don't know the language you will just break the program.

[Atilium]

In my idea, non-Eyeholders wouldn't be able to understand the concepts that make up identity.

I am imagining somethong like computer code= identity. Anybodu with a keyboard can alter the characters, but if you don't know the language you will just break the program.

 

A cool idea! Thank you