Word-Crafting/Smithing (Magic System)

[Virtual Mayhem he/him]

I've been developing this magic system for the last week or based on the idea of words being able to shape raw materials. Basically, there are the base materials of metals, stone, and wood, which these words are able to shape based on a few basic commands.

The syntax of a Wordsmithery(?) is:

Declare what material you're working with (I'm toying with the idea of giving each different type of metal, wood, and stone a unique name in some fantasy language, but for now...), then give a series of commands defining how the material will be shaped. I'm thinking along the lines of transformation, rotation and some other commands based on 3D modelling software commands. I think that this will lead to cool sequences and descriptions in a book, but my only problem is that it will be too complicated if it's in another language, but if it's just in English it won't feel mystical. So there's that and the worry that it simply isn't a very good magic system for a book. Any ideas for how to make it work/if it will work, or ideas for expanding on the system itself.

[MozytheHealer she/her]

Hmm... I really like the idea. I think words already hold great power, and this is definitely a cool take on normal magic spells. 

 

Other languages are hard, but maybe a coding language? Or something similar. Since you already mentioned software it reminded me, and I bet there could be a cool way to figure out how to make it work. Obviously it would be hard to speak all the symbols in computer code, but if you figured out some spoken thing that was similar, I think it would probably be super cool. Although, the whole idea is a bit weirdly fantasy cyberpunk-y, so though I think it sounds awesome, I don't know if that's what you're going for. 

[Delightful]

What about something recognisable as English, but fancier/more Shakespearean kind of thing?

Or Latin words that are close to the English or something?

(A little High Imperial-ish I guess. As long as you don't end up with totally obscure words like 'abnegation' )

I totally love this idea BTW

[Virtual Mayhem he/him]

 

Hmm... I really like the idea. I think words already hold great power, and this is definitely a cool take on normal magic spells. 

 

Other languages are hard, but maybe a coding language? Or something similar. Since you already mentioned software it reminded me, and I bet there could be a cool way to figure out how to make it work. Obviously it would be hard to speak all the symbols in computer code, but if you figured out some spoken thing that was similar, I think it would probably be super cool. Although, the whole idea is a bit weirdly fantasy cyberpunk-y, so though I think it sounds awesome, I don't know if that's what you're going for. 

 

I wasn't originally going for a weird genre mash of cyberpunk in a fantasy sort of world but now that you mention it I absolutely love it. Will do some work on the idea of including it in a coding language type thing. Thanks for the help!

[Gamma Fiend he/him]

Yeah, I was going to suggest "shortcode" commands, that when spoken sound/look like some kind of magical chant, but the words are just condensed commands. Sort of like a verbal hotkey.

I definitely like the idea of the item being manipulated in terms of 3D transformation, that is a very nifty magic system. If you do go the cyber-punky route, it could still work, giving a way for society to have a reason to have those base materials around and use them (metal, wood, stone), instead of going more synthetic material routes.

[Aleksiel]

I think it could work really well with English words as commands,  If you want a more mystical feeling consider having a different set of English words for each material. Wood may require something more poetic, metal - something short and straight to the point, stone - harsher/dialect words and so on.

[Bunnyburn he/him]

I think Aleksial hit on a good idea. Manually working with wood is much different than working with stone or metal

Wood cannot be reformed, while metal can for instance. Perhaps wood is used for different applications in your world?

.

Also, stone often contains trace metals, maybe that is an aspect that can be manipulated?

Back to Aleksials thought: those 3 materials are manipulated in very different way, I think your syntax should reflect the differences in working with the materials

Edited May 25, 2014 by Bunnyburn

[Aleksiel]

To expand a bit more my idea: It could be a way to tell more about your characters as well. A gentler, more sensitive magic user will easily work with wood, whereas stone will be very problematic. A blunt magic user will be exceptional with metal, but unable to manipulate wood. However, this has the unpleasant potential of creating tons of problems you originally didn't plan on. Perhaps you could cut the poetic wood part if it doesn't work for your story, but overall using different phrases for each material is a nice and neat approach. 

 

If you prefer to have commands that work on all materials, consider doing it Harry Potter style, however I do not recommend basing spells on Latin, because it would be odd. An universal phrase/word could also be problematic: your magic user is behind metal bars in a stone cell with a wooden bed. S/he gives a command - how do you decide which material obeys? By touching it, looking at it, intention? All could work in some cases and all could fail your character in others.

 

Perhaps outline your story and see which method helps your character to succeed when you want them to and prevents them from achieving something when you want them to fail.

 

Also consider what is the price for your magic. If different words are used for each material, persuading the said material to obey can be enough. If it's a universal chant, you should add more than a sore throat as a consequence, else your magic user could be too OP to have trouble achieving their goals via magic and things will just be too easy for them.

[+Slowswift]

Aw, man. I was working on a magic system based on wordsmithing, too. Oh, well.

I agree with all that has been said so far. Wonderful ideas, all of them.