Writing Tips and Reviews

Creating a Magic System

Magic is one of the most common abilities in media, yet, it's also one of the hardest. Magic is not to be underestimated, it is powerful and can do anything the writer wants. That's why those who use it create a system to specify what magic can and can't do. Otherwise, you end up with people being confused.

About a year ago, I covered I story known as "When the Stars Collide," which was so full of whining from the characters because they got called out for breaking the rules, that the magic system was shoved in a a small sentence that actually didn't solve anything. "I'm a sky dragon" is not an explanation. Despite how horrible that was, modern media has shown me worse depictions of a magic system, because they actually tried and failed. Which isn't worse than not trying at all, but it gives me more to work with.

Miraculous Ladybug:

Going to say it here, I do not hate any of the series I'm about to cover, I quite enjoy them. Mostly I enjoy videos talking about them.

Ladybug's magic system didn't take a drive down to the "horribly written" valley until the third and fourth season, where more miraculous were introduced and the writers seemed to forget how balancing works. Magic needs balance, it can't do everything it wants without consequences because then you end up with a scenario where all other means are useless and what's the point? 

Ladybug suffers from not putting limits on its powers, the show itself says: "you're only limited to your imagination." So, essentially, they can do whatever they want with no repercussions because magic ladybugs fix everything in the end.

High Guardian Spice:

The infamous HGS that the internet hates but loves to mock. Me? I like investigating the writing choices.

Old magic is glyphs and staffs, while new magic is terra spheres. Outside of that, all we get is "new magic can do anything." Which isn't any better than what Ladybug is doing. Magic is so powerful, that it makes people wonder why the characters would use any other form of fighting. Also, can everyone use magic? Rosemary never uses it, nor does Parsley, but Sage and Thyme can. It's never explained and that's surprising since we follow students in a school of magic.

Unfortunately, I can't say more because I don't know more.

What is a good magic system?

There are so mane good depictions of magic systems. But how do you do it?

Explain how magic works and who can use it. Is your character a swordsman? Then maybe they shouldn't use magic or only use it slightly since their main weapon is a sword. Are they a mage? Then they should magic often but also rely on their teammates for support, as magic is not the answer to everything.

Let's bring this to fantasy game terms. Specifically, that of the game Tales of Arise. Magic is known as Astral Artes and can only be used by the Renan species. Or the very rare Dahnan mage. It can heal, attack enemies, and is limited to six elements. This system allows people to fight enemies and help allies, but does not allow them to do anything they want. There's no consequence defying ladybugs or... no, I'm still stuck on what HGS magic can do.

How about potions then? Well, potions can do one thing depending on the ingredients you put in. They can transform you into something else, heal, kill a person. Anything if you have the right ingredients. But how does that differ from Ladybug and HGS' "do anything you want?" Because it takes a long time to prepare and requires knowledge about it first. Characters do not mix up a potion at random and get the result they want.

What about shows where magic can do almost anything? You mean like the Owl House? Magic in that series seems limitless, but is well-defined. You imagine a spell in your head and draw a circle, from there, you can create what you want. The difference is that witches choose a path, or multiple in recent episodes, and stick to learning and mastering that type of magic.

Conclusion:

In all, a magic system needs to be defined, without it, people are left confused on what can and can't happen, or they expect everything to be solved with magic. To me, I've seen it as an add on to the series, it brings color to the world but shouldn't make it an eye bleeding rainbow.