Create a Magic System: Social Implications

Castle (Photo credit: Dave Stokes)

Know the effects that magic use has on society. Unless the ability to use magic is something that everyone has to the same degree, it is yet another personal difference that will set magic users apart. You need to decide both how others respond to this difference and how magic users themselves respond to this difference.

Consider how society views the ability to use magic. Is it a stigma or an honor? And think about why this view is held. Religion might preach against some or all magic abilities. Maybe the religious institutions use the very magic that they preach against but call it something else. Another reason there might be a stigma is past misuse of magic ability. In my world, magic users ruled during one era and nearly destroyed the world. Many, many years later they are no longer persecuted but still cannot hold land or any positions of power other than advisory roles. Reverse these scenarios and you have some reasons for society to honor the ability to use magic.

Decisions made by magic users at one point in history might have major social implications. This is easier for magic users in positions of power. During their era of rule, my magic users mutated natural creatures to use in their wars. This had lasting effects on the already existing societies. Most of the new races died out, but a few flourished – creating new cultures who fight with and hide from, trade with, and are enslaved by the original civilizations. But even magic users who are marginalized can have affect the course of history. I have one such magic user who sought revenge against the gods who used and dismissed him. He stole an artifact and managed to banish the gods from the physical plane. That definitely had an effect on society – besides paving the way for the rule of magic users!

Gender roles might change when magic ability is involved. Maybe magic ability is different along gender lines. This would affect social roles and expectations. Are women who are serious magic practitioners less likely to take time off from study to have children? This would probably go against standard gender expectations. Will men loose the ability to use magic if they have children? Then they probably wouldn't. These scenarios also mean that magic ability is probably not hereditary. Are magic users desirable or undesirable spouses? Do magic users typically marry one another or stay celibate? If you want to make a point about gender, this is a treasure trove of options.

The way magic users are educated can affect society. Large schools require towns to support them. Monasteries would probably provide community service to their communities and countries. The larger the place of learning, the more likely there is to be government influence. Apprenticeship and mentorship systems provide socially recognized roles for the students and teachers. Do parents pay for their children to receive instruction, are the children conscripted, or are they given up freely? This says something about how children and magic use are perceived. Maybe the education process instills a sense of duty to country, community, the balance of things, or other magic users. Any of these would definitely have an impact on the rest of society.

The point is, your magic user – even your group of magic users – does not exist in a vacuum. The greater their numbers and the greater their power, the more effect they will have. But don't ignore the historic potential of the lone rebel! Magic ability is an integral part of your civilization(s) – whether honored or scorned – so consider how the ability has affected that civilization throughout history. At the very least, consider how it affects the present lives of people!

Create a Magic System: Magic User Character Traits

White-haired and -bearded wizard with robes and hat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday we looked at building backstory for a group's ability to use magic. Today we look at how the ability to use magic shapes the typical individual. We look at creating life-styles, personality traits, and common feelings that are rooted in the ability to use magic.

Magic use might foster particular life-styles. The reclusive nature hermit. The solitary academic sorcerer. The head of a magic school. The village hedge-witch. The politically powerful court wizard. The lowly apprentice. The battle-mage. The magic user who tries to hide the ability. All have their stereotypes and all live very different lives. Create an archetype for your typical magic user and you have something to adapt to your particular character.

Magic use might also foster certain personality traits and feelings. Narcissism if magic users have a lot of social power. Shame or rebellion if the ability is considered anathema. Solitary, maybe. Studious or curious depending on the sort of learning that is needed. Maybe hierarchical or respectful of authority, depending on their training and whether their power depends on the existing power structure. They might feel like outsiders in their birth community if the ability is rare.

Finally, consider adding a personal cost for the “gift” of magic ability. Magic use can seem an awesome ability so balance it out a bit. I leave this part to you!

Create a Magic System: Magic User Backstory

Magician. Pierpont Morgan, Visconti Sforza (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Know your typical magic user before you start getting creative. Know who can do it and why, as well as how it affects the character on a personal level. This will give you part of the typical personality, background, and life of a magic user. While these traits might vary between types of magic users, some might be the same. But within a type, what they are should affect who they are. Today is about the who.

Know how common magic users are. This may vary by area – either because some areas produce more magic users or because magic users gravitate to certain areas. These areas might be places of high magic resources, places that welcome magic users, or places that teach magic users. Also consider whether there are non-human magic users with their own set of rules. Some options are gods, intelligent races, magical creatures, and summoned beings.

Know the role of heredity in passing on the ability to use magic. Maybe ability is passed on only through genes. Or maybe some magic users can be born from families without a history of magic. I'llo go ahead and say that if magic ability relies only on a single gene, you will end up with a lot of magic users unless there is some sort of check on the expression of the trait.

Possibly – but not necessarily – tied to heredity is the option to give magic users a shared set of physical traits. For instance, the ubiquitous red-headed witch. But it may be a combination of features. Shape-shifters sometimes are given physical traits that reflect their altered state. For shape-shifters, speech patterns are also sometimes used. But the appearance trick does not have to be restricted to shape-shifters, especially if there is a genetic component to the ability.

Knowing where magic users are likely to be found gives you a choice of likely settings for your WIPs and suggests that the typical magic user makes a journey or aspires to making a journey to a place of learning or acceptance. Maybe there is a place that all aspire to reach but where only a chosen few are welcome. This gives the typical magic user a sense of awe or embitterment towards the elite.

Together, these elements can help shape the backstory of your magic using characters. Tomorrow we will continue to look at the magic user but on a more personal level.

Create a Magic System: Types of Magic and Magic Users

Witch face (Photo credit: miss pink 26)

Types of magic structures and types of magic users are closely intertwined since the first defines how magic is harnessed into spells and the other is partly defined by how they cast spells. Consider creating multiple types of magic users and magic systems. Doing this gives you more freedom to play with ideas and issues. Since the creation of magic structures was covered in the last blog, this blog will outline several types of magic users.

Magic users often have ranks that reflect power and experience/ education. The apprenticeship system is commonly used when referring to magic users that need to learn magic. An apprentice is a student magic user. Some writers have a journeyman rank, these often are advanced students who need to travel or complete a special project to reach full status. A mage/ wizard/ sorcerer is someone who has mastered the basics and is full-fledged in power. An adept has more power and learning. There can be other ranks but these are the basic ones. I think the distinction between mage, wizard, and sorcerer is a personal one.

Magic users can also be classified according to the source of their power. Priests and paladins are given abilities by gods. Hedge-wiches and hedge-wizards typically take their power from nature (earth or air, usually) or do spells with ingredients. The term can also be applied to a magic user of little power. Summoners are only as powerful as the creatures they control. Alchemists typically create artifacts or transform substances. Shape-shifters change form. The ubiquitous mage/ wizard/ sorcerer is the typical spell caster and has no set form although fireballs are a common spell. Channels are people who do not use magic directly but concentrate and focus magic that goes through them. Seers and scriers see the future or across distances. There are fortunetellers and prophets. Bards, dancers, and painters might cast spells only through their chosen medium. These magic users are the ones I have found most often in literature but you can create and name whatever serves your purposes.

There are other ways to type-cast your magic systems and magic users, of course. Maybe good, evil, and neutral magic works differently. Or different races might have different abilities. Or you could divide along gender lines. Or it could be defined by what god they worship. Or the school they were trained in. Surely you can think of other dividing lines. Specialization of magic users and spell systems means specialization of ideas. On the other hand, having universal rules to magic suggests that there are also universal truths to the world. You might decide you want a mix of both.

Write What You Know in Fantasy And Paranormal

Бородатая змея (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Counter-intuitive? Not at all. I write magic and dragons and don't think I have a harder time than a contemporary writer with this issue. If you are writing fiction, you are expected to use a little imagination to bring it to life anyway. I don't think the old adage is meant to be taken literally. Or rather, you know more than you might think.

• Emotions: Whether it is telepathic lizards or werewolves, all characters have emotions. Their motivations might deviate from humans, but the emotions are still the ones humans have. Humans like you (at least I assume). You experience emotions every day so put what you know to the page.
• Motives: I said non-human characters may have slightly different motives but they should still be comprehensible to readers. You know about motives from your own experience, talking to and watching others, and from reading.
• People: You also know how to make multi-demensional characters. The same guidelines can be followed when making nonhuman persons and people. There might be a few superficial differences (a diet of blood, the ability to do magic, or fur and fangs, for instance) but people are still people underneath.
• Important Issues: You know what issues are important to you. Issues have inherent conflict and are well worth tackling in your work. Since it is important to you, you should be aware of multiple sides to the issue and be able to realistically represent them. From bullying to global warming, any core issue can be adapted to your fantasy worlds.
• World-building: Non-fantasy writers often overlook how much research goes into world-building. The land, water, and weather have to align. The types of plants and animals need to be reasonable for the climate. A cat-creature probably will eat meat, not plants. A snake-creature can probably see infra-red.

The adage “write what you know” should also be expanded to “write what you can learn”. I justify this modification by the fact that once you learn something, you know it. Research is probably essential to any story and fantasy/ paranormal is no exception. Write what you know, what you knew, and what you will know. Write your heart out.