Search the Community

So, this is an idea I've been tossing around in my head for years, and I finally got all the math worked out to the point I feel comfortable putting it out somewhere. (Yes, you heard me right. There's math in this bad boy.) The concept started off as a way to quantify different Elemental Powers in BIONICLE, and quickly spiraled out of control and recently sucked in some color theory to help bind the whole thing together. Since I'm not active on any BIONICLE fansites anymore, I figured I'd might as well post it here, since some of you all appreciate complicated rules-based magic systems. It's in a Google Doc, so here it is: The Elemental Tetrahedron: Twenty-Five Elements Explained and Codified I'm still toying around with some minor images in the doc, but it shouldn't make a difference in understanding it. Assuming you read the whole thing (now's your chance...), I figured I'd try to fit this into the Cosmere somehow. So, this is Harmony's magic system if he ever Invests in Nalthis. There's a balance between all the Elements; Primary Elements being of Preservation, Anti-Elements being of Ruin, and the other seventeen Elements all due to the balance between the Elemental Sources. Color is the focus on Nalthis; to use an Element, you must match its color. Right now, I'm thinking Initiation would involve bleaching your skin and dyeing it to match that color to give you powers, although I might be open to a hereditary ability that lets you consume flowers of a particular color and burn them like metals on Scadrial. (That actually might make a nice parallel... Elemancy? Colormancy? Allocolorelemancy?) Anywho, I still consider this to be a Work in Progress, especially with naming many of these Elements. So, feel free to pitch in suggestions.

In another topic we asked if a Misting may burn other metals (of course he can't obtain any power from them) or sense them as source of power at all. There talks made me think a lot about the Metallic Arts (and when I will find the time I want to write a complete topic about) but today I will talk only of the Misting's Allomancy alone. I asked this to Peter Ahlstrom (https://twitter.com/PeterAhlstrom/status/725031315863658497) and I recive this answer: Then I got no other answer, I waited for some days hoping in a new reply but nothing. Anyway also if He didn't explicit answer, He seems to me imply that a Misting can't sense any other metal and probably neither a bad alloy of his own metal. This made me think that Misting's Allomancy is protected by an "out of parameters" use. This is more in-line with Preservation's Power and I think it's because Allomancy as a Magic System spawned as "misting only" magic. The exsistence of Mistborns (and probably Full Feruchemist, but here we know nothing) is the result of some Allomancy's Hacking (we know for example the overwriting effect of Lerasium) or other aberations that somehow happen in the popolation (the same mutation that happens also in the real world....but without the Superpowers). In the end Preservation may be created the whole Mistborn concept as a tool for his masterplan aganist Ruin, pushing the allomancy to its limit. Mistborn are more "experimental Allomancer" they may try to burn everything with the hope to obtain some magical effect (I will be no surprise if they are capable of burning other than metal Invested's substances gaining some magical effect) and they can't harm themself with their power. Any thought about ? PS: We have some WoB-like words to refer as Peter's quotes ?

Like the title says. Does the Emotional Allomancy work on Animals (or other species) ? I lnow it works on Hemalurgic Costruct but they are beings Human-based or Mistwrath-based (and in the end the Mistwraths are Human based).

Hi, new member her. I was wondering if we ever got a definitive answer on what Teods local magic system was. Its been about 6 months since I read Elantris but I don't remember seeing what Teod's Magic system was (elantrians had Aons, fjorden had dahkor) While reading I thought that maybe they didn't have a Magic because it was on a different continent. But now I know that the emperors soul is on the same continent as Teod and they have forgery. So I have looked everywhere, even the copper mind, and haven't found an answer. Does Teod have a Magic system? If not why? thanks!

Alright, I just had a crazy thought about another purpose of magic (or at least a side effect) in the Cosmere. I was just reading a transcript by Blightsong while at OdysseyCon earlier this year. At one point, Blightsong asks Brandon if magic occurs on Sel because there was a stronger cognative presence in certain areas than others. Between that and Brandon's answer, that threw me off into a tangent about the nature of the storms that renews Stormlight across Roshar. On Roshar, flora especially has evolved to survive the hurricane force power of the storms; the farther away from the initial landfall, the less mutated the flora has become. In Shen, the grass is just grass like we know it instead of the flora capable of hiding whenever anything brushes against it. I believe that magic in the Cosmere acts as a catalyst for life and diversity. It is a method through which evolution perpetuates survival on not only Roshar, but on every planet in the Cosmere. On First of the Sun, an invested parasite exists that we know promotes survival traits in various species of birds. It is also likely there is another parasite (if not the same one) that allows other creatures to hunt by sensing thought patterns. Nalthis exhibits (to our knowledge) a single jungle environment which has culminated in the Tears of Edgli, a plant capable of producing superior dyes in a world where magic uses the pigmentation of color as part of what powers it. This effect of magic seems to be further exemplified in worlds where there are either no Shards or worlds where shards have been shattered. In such places, the Shardpools that exist seem to act as points where life and change are kicked into overdrive. Again, on First of the Sun, it is only at Patji's Eye that the magical parasite exists. On Elantris, Devotion's Shardpool acts as a focal point around which the Shaod effects those tied into the region (those with Arelon blood). On Roshar, the Shardpool in the Horneater Peaks allows only those with Horneater blood to enter and live. It seems likely that Rock's ability to see spren and whatever else he can do is associated with that Shardpool. As spren play a strong role in the magic of Roshar, it is probable that the abilities Rock possesses will aid in the survival of the Horneater people and all of Roshar because of an evolution of Rock's people we haven't seen yet. So there it is - my crazy, wild idea about a side effect of magic in the Cosmere. Feel free to rip it apart now!

First off, hello to you all. You probably don't know me, but I've been inspired by several writers to start writing my own story. What I'm about to share with you is close to being a finished first chapter (at least so far), but knowing me, I will likely end up rewriting at least parts of it before I am done. The working title for this story, or novella as it probably will end up to be, is "The Eleven Potentials". Potentials are a magic system that essentially push the physical body beyond its limits, for a short time. But there's always a price for the actions you take, and at some point of the user's choosing (or during sleep) the body accumulates Wear. This continues until the body can no longer sustain the Potentials, and using them beyond this point becomes extremely dangerous. As you can see, the magic system is not at all fleshed out. It's just an idea sitting in my head. So, as this is the Creator's Corner, I turn to you readers. While I don't ask you for ideas, they could be helpful to this project. Even if it's just you imagining what each Potential does - or even what other Potentials there are - they could help propel this project forward. (God, this sounds like begging for ideas, doesn't it? Well, do as you wish!) *gasps* Formatting that was gruesome. In a very, very grueling way. I'd really like to hear feedback on this. Any sort of feedback that you can come up with. Thanks for your time, fellas.

Everyone likes a gang of Mistings, assuming they can be on your side. Whether you want them for security or for raiding, or for some other purpose entirely, there is a great deal that can be done with the full set of sixteen powers. In one of my projects (several, actually, but I digress), I have a magic system where each practitioner has a unique talent. But despite three years of pondering, I've not built up a full set of powers. So I turn to the wonderfully diverse creative minds that wander this forum. I'm going to give you the list of talents that I'm planning to use. I am not going to give you the number of blanks to fill. All I ask of you is to create a bunch of convoluted projects (heists or vaults, for example) that involve the use of large numbers of magic talents in concert, and add (or subtract) as many powers as you need to make your design(s) work. You may also ask questions and concoct abuses of individual talents, if that suits you. With any luck, I'll get the inspiration I need to fill out my worldbuilding for this project. Thanks for participating. Commonalities of the System: > Talents can be used on what you are touching. > A user can only use so much talent before their fuel supply is exhausted. One grand use or many small uses are options. > Many applications of talents can be undone, reclaiming spent fuel. You can only undo your own deeds. Some Magic Talents: > Proxies - Enchant a matched pair of objects such that by touching one, you are "touching" objects in contact with the other. > Stealing magic - Soak up another user's fuel, and gain the ability to use their talent while it lasts. > Power battery - Your fuel is a wildcard that you can add to any other user's supply. > Cloning - Make a full size, independent simulacrum of an object. After a few hours, it fades and vanishes. If a living simulacrum is undone, the user will share its memories. > Tracking - Enchant an object and you will know which direction it is in. > Alarm ward - Enchant an object and you will know when it is touched or modified. > Emotion control - Enchant an object so any sapient beings who perceive it (by any sense) feel an emotion of your choice. > Instinct control - Enchant an object so any living creature perceiving it (by any sense) has its instincts react to a stimulus of your choice. > Heat sync - Enchant a matched pair of objects such that their temperature is linked and changes as an object of twice the mass. > Light transfer - Enchant a matched pair of objects such that light striking one is reflected from the other. (Refracted and absorbed light is not transfered.) > Surface retexturing - Change the texture of an object's surface to any state. If two surfaces are in contact and both are changed at the same time, the surfaces fuse and cannot be magically undone. > Temporal shifting - Reach back into an object's recent history and make it skip the intervening time. Any physical changes during that window have not occurred, until the enchantment is undone.

Here is the first chapter of my NaNoWriMo novel, an epic fantasy entitled To Look Skyward. The premise: In a massive city built on and between two mountain ridges, the upper (literally) class oppresses the lower class, and through a magic that allows mind control based on elevation, has forced the lower class into virtual slavery. I'll let the rest of the book speak for itself. I've never tried this before, but I thought it might be cool, instead of uploading a file, giving a link to the Google Doc version of my chapter, in which you can make suggestions directly in the text that I can later correct. Mostly, I am looking for emotional reactions to things, such as "this part is cool" or "this joke wasn't very funny". Stuff like that. Not really grammar stuff, though if you find that go ahead and give me a heads up. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy! https://docs.google.com/document/d/15y5ChcUzzbgIk9aU5KviFTyAXzrXQcN8BsfHwX7ORWI/edit?usp=sharing

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!

EDIT: Some information about another part of the world has been added in a new post. In a time long since forgotten, the Eidolons walked this world. But that was long ago, long before their wrath was kindled against mankind, before their children, the fledgling gods, these our Wandering protectors, rebelled, and were cast down from the Lune. Before the cycles of Skyfire began. It is a miracle that we continue to stubbornly cling to life on this blasted, scarred world we call home. Civilization should have ended that day, when our own gods turned against us. It was the children of those same gods, those beings we now call Wanderers, that came to our aid that day. Funny, how little we know of our saviors now. We rely wholly on them for our survival, just as they rely on us for our Hearts, and yet they are totally alien to us. They walk in the shape of a man, but they are as akin to a man as we to the stars, or the sun, or the Lune. It's strange to think that cities once covered the surface, where nothing but savage bands of Heartless now roam. Entire cities, built on the ground! No wonder so many historians felt the need to travel. Naelus is a world that literally rains fire and brimstone. A constant hail of deadly meteors shower the surface of the world, raining destruction upon anyone and anything unlucky enough to be caught in a Skyfire fall. Civilization as it had existed could never have continued in such conditions. The Skyfire is not constant, but it is consistent enough to make a static city impracticable, as it would be torn apart by meteors on a regular basis. The inhabitants blame the disaster on the wrath of vengeful gods, believing the Eidolons of their myths to be responsible for this terror. Anyway, civilization lives on, literally borne on the backs of a race of titans known as the Wanderers. The Wanderers are vast creatures of stone, shaped roughly like men, but towering as high as mountains. Cities are built on the shoulders of the Wanderers, who are able to safely navigate the Skyfire, keeping their inhabitants safe by constantly moving ahead of the meteors. Naelus has several moons, as well as a planetary ring dubbed by the natives the Lune. A more literal translation would simply be "The Curve" or "the Arch". The Lune can be seen as a series of closely bunched pale white bands filling nearly the center of the sky and running from east to west. Naeluan mythology often depicts the Lune as basically a "bridge to heaven", or a gate dividing the realm of the Eidolons from the mortal world. The Eidolons, the ancient gods of Naelus, are often seen as living beyond, above, or at the top of the Lune. Back to the Wandering cities. Be aware that I'm using the terms "city", "Wanderer", and "Wandering city", interchangeably. On Naelus, the word city refers both to the living Wanderer, and the city it carries. Each citizen on a Wanderer is equipped with a harness as they come of age. This harness is fused to the skin of their back, and designed to adjust as they grow. Each harness holds a single Blazeheart, a metallic sphere carefully harvested from the molten Core of the Wanderer. A Blazeheart forges a powerful connection between the person and their city. Blazehearts are what sustain the souls of the Wanderers. Each Heart bound to a city grants it a measure of power, so a city's strength is directly tied to its population. A city with few Hearts will move lethargically, while one holding many is quick, strong, and agile. This presents a danger, as a famine or war that leaves a city low on Hearts will often also leave it stranded under a Skyfire fall. When two Wanderers cross paths, they will sometimes simply ignore the other, each continuing on its way. Occasionally they will fall into step alongside their fellow Wanderer, travelling together for a time. During times like this, travel and trade between the two cities is common. Once in while, however, for reasons that unclear to their human inhabitants, the Wanderers engage in a sort of battle. When this happens, it can create massive devastation for both sides, and each fatalities meaning one less Heart to power the city. In a case like this, often the only choice is to join the fight, rushing the enemy city in an attempt to force them into surrender, bringing their citizens back as Heartless war prisoners. The outcome of these battles is generally the death of one of the two cities. For when a city has no Hearts left, it dies, no longer having anything to sustain its lifeforce. Dead cities stand motionless, their eyes, once blazing with an inner flame, now hollow and empty. The citizens of the conquered city are usually given the choice to join the new city, taking on Hearts from its Core and bolstering the victorious city's power.

I've been working for some time on a "magic" system for my universe. This system was built to support a more mystical element of my story for readers, but I needed to understand it's limitations clearly as the author. So, I'm wondering. If I give you guys three rules, could you tell me, if you had those abilities–what would you be able to do? Some background. In my universe, there is a discovery of a particle that effects the status of elements. Meaning, these particles are what tells elements what they are and where they are (imagine the code in a computer. Change it and you change the program itself). Here are the abilities: Manipulators can... Aggravate/Adjust the location of these particles inside atoms, resulting in the movement of the entire particle. Can force a shift of particles from one element to another. Repair decaying atoms and rejuvenate them by renewing their structure from another source. The constraints (Most important part and they correspond with their listed power. 1 to 1, 2 to 2) Aggravation means that you can speed up or slow down particles, resulting in hot/cold. (restrictions tie into #2 as to cascades) Particles can be moved if their location is changed, but only a specific distance. So you could move an object 100 kilometers away, then another 100, then another 100. It is restricted to 100 kilometers per shift Shifting an element is easier if it cascades. So you could take a block of 26 Fe: Iron and shift it fairly quickly to 25 Mn: Magnesium or 27 Co: Cobalt. But changing a whole block of composite stone would likely fail because of different particles. You could change pieces of it though, one at a time. Decaying atoms take the energy from other compatible sources. So a plant could be kept alive if you have another plant near it that you transfer energy from. Two more things. Adjusting the particles is tasking, meaning that burnout can happen quickly the less training and skill you have. Also, Manipulators live for a long time, roughly 250 years because of their abilities to rejuvenate. But they go insane. There is no known cure. This is a lot, but if you have questions, just send them my way. I'm excited to hear what awesome stuff you could do with this! Have at it

So, you want to write a fantasy, and you want to have a magic system. Perhaps you've never tried this before, perhaps you don't like how that last one turned out. What ever your reasons might be, you might have come here looking for ideas on how to proceed. Or you might have come here looking to help someone else build a magic system, in which case, you are also welcome here. I've noticed that this section of the forum has a regularly reoccurring request: I need help with my magic system. Recently, Cstryon asked a slightly more interesting question. He asked for help with the process and the documentation of a magic system. I thought that was a really good question. Mostly because I've designed quite a few magic systems, and most of the inside the last two years. And yet when I put my fingers to the keyboard, I found that I didn't know how to respond. I have magic systems, but they just . . . happen, I guess. Several times over. Whenever I want them too. That answer did not satisfy me one bit. I listen to Writing Excuses. I hear professional writers dissect their writing process on a regular basis. And here I sit, on the edge of a yawning chasm full of swirling mist in the middle of my world building process. I hesitated for a day. Then I dove in. My rules: 1) Start from scratch. I cannot analyze what I did if I'd already done it. I had to find a combination of ideas that I had never even considered for a magic system before. Luckily, I managed to scrounge up a couple of interesting seeds in somewhat short order. 2) Write down EVERYTHING. I do a lot of world building and character design while I putter around doing menial jobs at work. But this time, I needed notes on everything. So I had to force myself NOT to think about the project unless I had it up on my display. 3) Analyze after. Corollary to rule two. I needed something close to stream of consciousness notes. I had to focus on the building and the writing. Finding the order behind the process could wait. The rest of this post is what I learned about my process, along with the notes from my sample. I hope that those who want advice can find something useful. I am open to absolutely any type of feedback people want to leave. Including the people who want to have fun building a world from the magic system presented here (if this is you, the orderly presentation is under the Spoiler in Step 6). Step 1: Concept Like most everything in writing, I wasn't going to start without something cool. And more than that, I like to work on the intersection of multiple cool ideas. I took a plot conflict that I'd been sitting on, and the magic power of an old magic item I'd crafted for a role-playing game, and set to work. Grab an idea, or several, that makes you say "OOOooooo." Saying "The claw!" is optional. Step 2: Broaden Next, I went over the ideas and asked myself what they meant together, and what all the pieces meant by themselves. I prowled around with a shovel, turning everything over and looking at what was underneath. Two cool ideas can set a direction, but I was out to build a road. Why are those ideas cool? What parts do you like? What does that imply? John Brown talks about a technique he calls list and twist. This is the list part. Step 3: Define Now that I had a pile of ideas and concepts, I tried to carry them farther. I went through the concepts and tried to fine dependencies and mixtures that maintained that cool factor. More than that, I wanted ideas and combinations that sounded cooler than what I'd began with. And beyond that, I wanted the things that mixed with the original and took cooler up to awesome. Compare the ideas to the original direction. Set your path toward the most fun. Bring in other ideas you want to use, like character elements and plot conflicts. Remember that your magic system is there to add to the story. I put a {research note} into this section. If I were doing this to write a story, that is when I would have started cross-referencing my ideas. Since I didn't, I wound up running with four different system ideas trying to find a solid direction. In the John Brown list-and-twist, this is the twist. Step 4: Focus As I said before, The magic system needs to add to and support the story (or the gameplay, or whatever your objective is). I knew this was coming back at the {research note}, and now, it was time to buckle down. Ever heard of world builder's disease? It's bad enough with only one world. I wasn't going to do four. Ideas are cheap, so piece together what is working now, and toss the rest in the bin for later. The first steps worked on the breadth, next comes the depth. Time to pick one. Step 5: Refine This is where I got into the gritty details of the magic. This is the part where cool ideas become powers with costs, and limitations. This is when the magic becomes a system. How did I do it? I've mentioned this part in answer to other threads. Ask questions, look for consequences. Pick answers arbitrarily, try them on, throw them out. Find themes, use them for guideposts. And this time, my advice comes with examples. Be warned. This section gets deep. Over 5,100 words deep. There are a bunch of cool ideas in here, but be prepared for a lot of reading. Step 6: Summarize Did you try to read that example above? I don't recommend it. That's how I thought the system through, but there is no way I'm going to be able to use that as a reference while I'm writing the story. This is where the ideas need to make sense, not just in your mind, but on the page. This part was not written as a stream of consciousness. This part is methodically arranged for clarity. It is a bit dry, but I prefer my system rules that way. I aim for them to give shape to the ideas in my head. Then I add in sections for examples, or write the examples in my other design documents. Feedback? Did I miss something? Want additional explanation? Found a hole in the process or the system? Wondering how Sanderson's Laws are applied? Want to springboard off of something I said and build your own system? Want to make use of the systems I dumped in step four? Want to ask for applied advice for your own system? Found some horrible grammar in my "clearly written" system manual? Want to tell me to stop asking so many questions? =) Sorry, it's compulsive.

Many of the threads in these parts are requesting help with building a system out of a particular power. I have the opposite problem. I have no trouble building systems. I tie them into the world, make schemes for how people handle the system's limitations, identify points of misunderstandings, all of that good stuff. Most of these systems are based around magic users with specific, limited abilities, rather like Mistings or superheroes. The trouble is that I often find one or two interesting powers that fit my schema well, and then I can't find enough similar ideas to fill all of the other slots. And with three, four, five, . . . lots of magic systems under construction, I have lots of slots to fill. And so I come to you, asking the question in this thread's title. What would you do with magic? Let's do a little brainstorming together. Think along the lines you might for a "If you were a feruchemist . . ." only throwing the doors wide to anything. Need some starting points? What's something tedious that you need to do regularly? An activity you find distasteful? Something that would be nice if it could be done faster? Something that you can't quite achieve in reality because of one little technical detail. For example, I've built powers out of the following ideas: Carving stone with your bare hands. Sealing an object inside a seamless crystal sphere. Repelling insects without chemical repellants. Weighing things without a scale. All ideas submitted to this thread may be used by any reader as they please. Ideas are cheap. Limitations are more interesting than powers. Your limits almost certainly will vary, so stop worrying about originality and help me build a nice repository of launching-off points for aspiring writers. Feel free to suggest twists of other peoples ideas. Mix and match. Whatever floats your boat. Hmm . . . floating a boat . . .

I get the feeling that Yolen was the "first" planet and the place where Aldonasium were shattered. All the original shardholders were yolish and the humans were originally from there. This feeling comes this: 1 - On the Ars Arcanun its is made some paralels using Yolish magic system as base. And it is called original system, if my memory serves me right. 2 - The original shardholders weer acquainted to each other. So there had to be a prior civilization where they could interact. 3 - The humans on all planets are a lot alike. It is granted that every shard that invested on their creation did so based on their preferences. But the end result looks like thare was some template to refer to. 4 - All the magic systems have the same underlying 'spiritual physics' that are somewhat customized by each shard influence. Your thoughts?

So, I'm in the process of outlining a book I want to write, and I want to get to making its magic system. The book has a large focus on the conflict between living a life that is free, but hard or that is easy, but controlled by the government. It also has a focus on the philosophy of "the ends justify the means." I'd like the magic system to reflect this in some way. I've played around with several ideas, but I could never come up with a system I thought would work. Do you guys have any suggestions I could build on?

I've been agonizing about not having a very good magic system for my novels, but several months ago, that finally changed. Below is a set of guidelines and lists for my magic system, known as the Nine Disciplines. This is the magic system I am using for the epic fantasy trilogy I am writing, The Proanadi. The way it works is thus: any known magic-user has access to one, several, or all of these Disciplines. All "magic" as people know it derives itself ultimately from the Nine Disciplines. Where magic-users differ is WHERE they get their power from--their power source. There can also be differences in areas of focus, and ways that they use the different disciplines (because, the possibilities within the Disciplines are almost unlimited). Here are the Nine Disciplines below, grouped as they would be commonly, with three groups of three: Material 1 Physical (change in physical matter) 2 Sensory (change in perception) 3 Elemental (manipulation of the elements) Ultramaterial 1 Influential (change in feeling) 2 Intellectual (change in thought) 3 Essential (manipulation of life energies) Supernal 1 Continuous (disruptions in space or time) 2 Creative (creation of new energy or matter) 3 Potential (manipulation of force) Examples of something being done with each Discipline below: Physical: Enhances your (or another's) strength Sensory: Tricking another individual's perceptions, making you effectively invisible Elemental: Shooting fire from your hands Influential: Providing a morale boost to your comrades Intellectual: Tampering with someone's memory Essential: Bringing someone back to life Continuous: Teleportation (space) or slowing time (time) Creative: Creating food and water out of nothing Potential: Throwing up a wall of pure force Now, there are many different limitations and tricks associated with each Discipline, and points where they overlap, but different Disciplines work better in different situations. Please feel free to comment with ideas for changes, possible abilities within each Discipline, or discrepancies as you see them. Where the line is drawn between the different types of magic-users in the world comes from one major thing (though there are other, less important differences): Power Source. Where do they derive their power from? Below is a list of some D&D classes (not all of these are actually going to be used in the books, as that would kind of be plagiarizing, but it provides a good example for how different magic-users get their power) and some other magic-users and their power sources: Wizards – Power through learning (words and rituals that channel the energy) Clerics – Power through prayer* Sorcerers – Power through lineage (having some form of magical creature’s blood in your DNA) Favored Soul – Power through divine connection* Dragosamns (reptilian humanoid shamans) – Power through dragon totems (similar to Stewardic power)** Roshi (short reptilian humanoids) – Power through Chaos** Druids – Power through natural connection and energy Talir-Knights (though the original users of this form of power source are many of Serragon’s “monsters”, such as dragons) – Power through one’s own energy Demons – Power through destruction (breaking down of matter or energy) * Both Clerics and Favored Souls gain their ultimate power from the Stewards (gods). Only the means are different. ** Although both Roshi and Dragosamns gain their abilities through their dragon blood, their actual power sources come from outside their bloodline, unlike sorcerers. If you have any questions about who or what these types are, feel free to ask. That is the extent of it, I guess. There is much more to nail down, obviously, but that is why I post this on here, FOR IDEAS! Thanks for all of your time, and God bless!