magic system

[Pinpoint he/him]

I was thinking about creating a magic system where the people use light to grant them physical abilities. 

Lets say that on this planet everyone is born with grey eyes. However, occasionally someone is born with red, yellow, orange, violet, green, blue or white eyes. The planet has frequent light storms. during the light storms the people with colored eyes can use prismatic filters to recharge with light. they can also fill a special kind of glass with light. this glass would dissolve when consumed. The light storms would consists of waves of bright white light. there are little glass prisms, big enough to fit a single man, that split the white light into different colors, within the prism, a filter would block all but one of the colors. So if you had red eyes you would get yourself a prism house that only let in red light. by sitting in the prism house you could absorb light slowly through the eyes and some through the skin. you can also place little dissoluble glass chunks in the prism house in order to fill them. If you eat these you gain access to the light that filled them.

 

 

the brackets connect opposites.

 

Grey is purposeless because it is a mix of white and black which are opposites. this means that whenever you would use it they would counteract one another.

 

White is useless because it is all the colors at once, since each color has an opposite the powers would counteract one another. The only way you could use white light is if you somehow split the light into different colors while it was inside of you.

 

People with black eyes don't need to absorb black light because black light absorbs. 

 

Every very rare once in a while, someone is born with multi colored eyes, each eye having each color. this would give them power to use all the colors. this would be called tiger light.

 

Any thoughts?

 

[Kurkistan he/him]

Interesting thoughts.

 

There is a slight problem though: Though your system is quite distinct in many important ways, you might be accused of aping Brent Week's Lightbringer series.

[Pinpoint he/him]

Thanks for showing that Kurk! I have actually never heard of Brent Week before.

 Here is an example of how this would work. Lets say you have orange eyes. while using it your eyes would glow orange. you would be able to run faster and speed up the molecules of an object heating it up. then lets say a guy with black eyes comes. woosh and your light reserve is gone. if you had red eyes you can speed up the degenerative process. They could cause someones wounds to infect quickly and speed up the disintegration of a brick. you' ll also notice that there are three primary colors and their opposites in the system. that's not including white or black. this is more on the conversion of energy. it is definitely based purely on the use of light. not anything like luxin 

Edited December 10, 2013 by Pinpoint

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

I was gonna say what Kurk said, does sound a bit like Lightbringer Series. But different enough especially considering not being aware of it. Definitely worth a read though. Is pretty interesting. The magical system was a bit like the one I was working on at the time when I stumbled across it too. Guess Light is a popular magic source nowadays.

[bartbug he/him]

Also, it sounds really similar to SA, especially with the lightstorms, and gem-like glass to tap your light from. The fact that light eyes are also literally special people is also a direct take from SA. Maybe you should rethink it a litlte bit.

[Pinpoint he/him]

Definetely planning on rethinking it, maybe even dumping the whole thing. I am thinking that light is too popular a magic source. also, Bartbug, it wouldn't be light eyes that could absorb light it would be colored eyes. They might have really dark red eyes. the storage capsules aren't gem like at all. they are simply little chunks of a natural black glass that can absorbs the light. it also dissolved when consumed. a lot like natures version of a pill. it wouldn't even look like glass

 

I'm thinking get rid of the storage capsules. how about this. They people with colored eyes could store the light inside their bones. when inside their bones it cannot be sucked out by someone with black eyes. If somebody has white eyes they have to get some of the main bones replaced by glass prisms that would split the light inside their body in order to use each color individually. instead of light storms how about thy have two very small suns. One shines with no heat (that would be is a mysterious oddity to add to the story.) Instead it shines with an extremely bright white light. It only rises one day in every other month. the prism houses would fracture the light and have different filters on them for different colors. People would stay in their houses during the day of the white sun because of its brightness.

 

Edit: I just realized I sort of got ninja'd by Mailliw73. He is way to good at ninjaing.

Edited December 11, 2013 by Pinpoint

[Pinpoint he/him]

Sorry about the double post. This is new information so I think its valid

this is a list I am working on filling out. I am hoping that the categories in the list will lend reality to the story. I don't have them all filled out yet but here is what i have so far. 

 

Magic system

How light beams work

A person who has absorbed their color of light can shoot straight beams of light along surfaces. If the beams hit and edge it is expelled as a colored dust. If it hits a wall you can decide which plane to direct the light beam. They can have it bounce or they can have it go up a wall. They manipulate the distance the beam travels and the place where light imparts its energy by envisioning it in their mind. So a violet eyes could harden a spot on the floor by imagining that spot as the endpoint of the light. So before starting the light beam they would imagine the angles at which the light would bounce in order to get it to its target. However,  if they don’t fire the beam in the right way in order to copy the image in their head the beam will fizzle at the point where the actual light beam ceases to match the picture in the persons head. If a person is skilled enough they can change the picture to while the light is shooting in order to keep the light from fizzling. The farther you have to go to hit your target the less potent the energy will be when it hits the target. Rough surfaces make it harder to predict the pattern of the light. It also takes more energy. You can effect a distant target a lot  if you put a lot of energy into the beam. If you stop feeding energy to the beam is turns into dust. It can affect organics. When it affects organics it takes more energy and leaves a dust. Also the use of beams uses the light that you have absorbed. you can not reabsorb energy once you have expelled it as a light beam.  If you don't cut of the energy that is being fed to the beam before it uses it up, the beam will use your life force in order to reach its target. when it starts using your life force the beam will gradually change color.

How the power works

If someone directly touches someone or something to expel their power the effect is much more potent then a light beam. When someone uses the power on themselves they leave a dust trail. If an orange eyes uses the light to speed them self up they will eject particles of orange dust. It is thought that black eyes have to touch a person to suck out their light. If you are in a room that is the color of your eyes your power will not work. As I said before the eyes effect the color of light you can use.

Paint

A paint can be made from the dust residue left by colored eyes. The paint made from a color will reflect that color. The less dirt and other stuff the light has in it the better it will reflect that color. No matter what the light beams will bounce off of it. Black paint is extremely rare and difficult to see o find. It absorbs light beams.

Environment

Large trees

The trees are big enough to mostly block sunlight. they also ext

Swampy goopy ground

Twin suns

Normal sun

White sun

The normal sun is like our sun the white sun is smaller and closer and lets off very little heat but a lot of light. You know how one part of the year you can see Saturn because it rises at night but during the other part of the year you can't because it rises during the day. it would be the same with this sun except there would be one month a year where it would begin rising before the normal sun. At first a few minutes earlier until the middle of the month when it would rise and set before the normal sun by the end of the month the two suns would rise in unison and you would hardly be able to see it. It would orbit the normal sun on the inside of the planets orbit. You would only be able to absorb the light via prism house when the white sun rose alone. when they are both risen the light mixes and is impossible to absorb. on the one day when the white sun rises and sets before the normal sun rises would mark the beginning of each year. The cards are metal. Paper is useless in the humidity.

Climate

It would be very humid where the story takes place.

Culture

Currency and ID tracking

The tracking system used for identification. When they come of age everyone is issued a finger stamp. this is like a thimble that is placed on ones finger and is worn everywhere they go. the finger translates the pattern of their DNA onto the material that the thimble is made out of. the thimble can only be made of certain materials. The thimbles must be specially made to do their job. Stone and metal are two of the materials. Most people use metal for convenience. the corner games use metal cards. Stone thimbles are going out of style. It is common to decorate the thimbles. Everyone has a different DNA pattern. the patterns are like symbols. When issuing a promise of money it is common to send it on a sheet of stone or metal with your stamp on it. This way you can be held accountable if you don't live up to your promise.

Feathers

For every Ten years of age, a woman gains a feather to put in her hair. The feathers are a sign of wisdom and are considered sacred. If someone has 7 feathers they are to be respected

Corner games

Corner games are like community gambling games. At street corners a table it set up with two our four player strategy games. any one can come and make a move on the board. however, the rules keep one person from making more then one move per game unless the game goes on for more then three days. they can also only vote for one side per game. They would use the finger thimble thingies to stamp a vote card. this would be called a finger vote. there would be different cards for each side. the person would have to submit two monetary units to make a vote and if the side they voted for wins they gain money. if the side they voted for loses they lose their money and it is divided up along with money from the other losing voters among the voters of the winning side. In order to retrieve your money you would use your finger stamp to stamp an kind of primitive ID card and the game overseer would inspect the symbol and then give you the money along with your voting card. 

Politics 

Only Grey eyes can hold political influence. it is said that since the colored eyes already have power they should not be allowed political power. Colored eyes can be part of nobility, but they are a different class of nobility and can hold no direct political influence and cannot become involved in politics. Grey eyes frequently hire colored eyes as protectors. Having many colored eye protectors is considered fashionable. It is a sign of wealth. Political opponents will try to bring each other to financial ruin or will try to damage each others reputation by attempting to buy off colored eye protectors. If a Grey eyes loses a colored eyes protector it is seen as a sign that the grey eyes cannot keep his own bodyguards. it is also seen that he did not treat the man properly. Also, trying to buy someones colored eyes forces the opponent to either up the colored eyes pay or lose some reputation. If he only ups the payment in small amounts at a time, he can be sure that his opponent will be willing to simply pay more. The Grey eyes could slowly lead his opponent to bankruptcy. 

(By the way, i am planning on coming up with different terms for Grey eyes and Colored eyes. Colored eyes is too awkward to even write)

Cringes inwardly at all the time I wrote Colored eyes.

Colored eyes and Grey eyes

The two are equal in all ways except that colored eyes have powers. to balance that out they decided that political influence and power could only be held by Grey eyes.

Life, creatures and races

Derogatory terms

For example: By the white sun! (they would have some cool name for it)

Plot

Characters 

[Quiver he/him]

Sanderfans seen to have a thing about developing magic systems, don't we

I haven't read through this in detail- I'm not great with physics and mathematics, so this sort of thing takes some time to sink in- so consider this initial thoughts. Like Kurk and Gamma Fiend, my first thought was Brent Weeks, which is a tad unfortunate since I really, really dislike his Lightbringer series. Of course, I had a similar response to Warbreaker, since Awakening is so heavily based on it.

That said, if you haven't read Weeks, maybe you should. The idea of the Prism Houses is actually very similar to something in his series; if I read that without you're disclaimer, I would probably suspect something untoward.

What sort of culture is this? The DNA fingers sound sci-fiish, but the feathers sound more tribal, or fantastical. Of course, there's no reason why you couldn't have both.

I'd maybe suggest removing the white eyes, unless you have an interesting way to subvert the tropes associated with that sort of thing.

If you want a derogatory name for coloured eyes, how about "Pigs", as in pigment?

[Mailliw73 he/him]

Edit: I just realized I sort of got ninja'd by Mailliw73. He is way to good at ninjaing.

Haha, I just saw this. Yeah, ours have quite a few similarities.

[Swimmingly he/him]

There are only so many ideas, the challenge is to make old ideas interesting. This is entirely off topic, but read Blood, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman for one of the best examples of this I have ever seen.

[Pinpoint he/him]

How about instead of eye color it is the color of the finger nails. Gloves in this world are prohibited! Is that traditional?

[Quiver he/him]

Nail polish as a medium for magic spells? I have to admit, I've never heard of that before, and it makes me a little curious. I do remember hearing about a number where fingerprints were used to create magic (and being annoyed, since a week before I said to myself, "Hey, fingerprinting magic! Awesome"), but I can't remember the books name.

Hmm. Actually, nail polish magic makes me think of a whole line of cosmetics-based magic enhancements. If you don't use that idea, I might lol.

EDIT: IN case the lol fooled you, I am being completely serious. I've actually spect the day thinking about cosmetic magic on and off, so if you don't want it, I might seriously start putting something together for it.

Edited December 26, 2013 by Quiver

[Swimmingly he/him]

Magic makes you drunk.

[Pinpoint he/him]

Nail polish as a medium for magic spells? I have to admit, I've never heard of that before, and it makes me a little curious. I do remember hearing about a number where fingerprints were used to create magic (and being annoyed, since a week before I said to myself, "Hey, fingerprinting magic! Awesome"), but I can't remember the books name.

Hmm. Actually, nail polish magic makes me think of a whole line of cosmetics-based magic enhancements. If you don't use that idea, I might lol.

EDIT: IN case the lol fooled you, I am being completely serious. I've actually spect the day thinking about cosmetic magic on and off, so if you don't want it, I might seriously start putting something together for it.

 

 

Well, I'm not using nail polish or cosmetics for their power so go ahead and use it. The finger nails would glow according to the color that the person can use.  

 

Since Prism houses seem to be taken I'll change that aspect of the world. Instead they could have Finger prisms. They would buy these at Prism houses. Prism houses would basically be like a grocery store that sells prisms and devices that have to do with light. Finger prisms would be a thimble with a glass insert above the nail. Different types of thimbles would filter different colors of light from the White Sun's light. The nails can absorb light but only their color of light. For example a red nail would only be able to absorb red light. They would have to be exposed to pure red light in order to absorb it. Hence the finger prism. The better the prism quality and the purer the light the more effective it will be. Only white nails and those that can absorb all the colors could absorb white light directly. However, because white light emits all the colors at once each color counters its opposite and nothing happens. The finger nails would always glow whether you are using the light currently or not. 

 

Prismatics are those that can absorb and manipulate each of the colors individually. All the colors except for black. Their nails will not begin to glow different colors until they have absorbed each of the pure colors for the first time. From then on at least each color has to be visible in at least one of their twenty nails. most people keep their toenails different colors allowing them to keep their exposed finger nails uniform. This allows them to stay unnoticed.  

 

Spectrums can absorb and control one color.

 

Brightnails are anyone who doesn't have grey nails.

 

Darknails are black nails.

 

The white nails and the grey nails can hold political power since they don't have physical powers. Prismatics and Spectrums have physical power and thus are not allowed political power. You don't call someone with colored nails a lord or a lady as that implies political power. You call them Spectrums, Prismatics, or Brightnails. 

 

Clothing symbolizes the power you have. People wear the color of their nail and have the choice to wear brown as well. 

 

Here's an interlude I wrote Shalauna.doc  I reinserted the document. The Italics didn't show up last time.

 

Edit: Quiver, you should post your cosmetic ideas in the forum I would like to see what you have come up with. There are quite a few thoughts running through my own mind on that idea.  

Edited December 30, 2013 by Pinpoint

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

That reading was pretty good. I liked it. In writing I could see how you could go with this finger-nail thing. Keep with it.

Although I do still heavily recommend reading the Lightbringer series. Just to see what you can do different. Not saying yours is the same at all. There are a few minor similarities though. But it's still a very enjoying read, so I'd recommend it on that alone.

[Pinpoint he/him]

Thanks for the feed back, I actually just checked out the black prism. I'll see what I find out!

 

The Way of Kings- "What is it we Value?" Wit whispered. "Innovtion. Originality. Novelty. 

I wouldn't want to be unoriginal! 

Edit: that was also a good excuse to share my favorite quote

 

Woohoo I've got Fan art! I bet your all jealous if you don't have an artist for a sister.

 

Here are two quick concept drawings that she did. Gotta love family.

 

Edited December 29, 2013 by Pinpoint