Bizzare Writing and the Concepts that Follow

Home Made Magic

Home made magic can be a interesting concept that some writers don't invest in or think into too hard, which is a rare case for experienced writers but for new writers of fiction magic systems or magical rules or home made spells aren't too well written or looked into for itself.

In some forms of writing writers have been known to use thermal dynamics as a tool in their writing for magic or perhaps the mixing of elements, such as earth and water making mud. In other cases magic has been used with a contract system or a trust system, where two beings make a mutual contract with each other with the ability to put each other on equal footing, which in fiction has allowed the most outlandish things to occur such as a monkey beating God.

But for new writers who are blank on the ideas of how the magic of a charactor can be unique I can give some simple tips, the simplest type of magic stystem is a mana and skill system, sort of the type you would find in any basic anime or video game, this system is the easiest to understand and figure out as most people already have personal experience with it. The Skills of the system are simple to follow as well, not many people are born with great talent for magic and must learn to use it more professionally from books, teachers, and personal on hand experience with the magic. With skills you can make a characters strength develop over the course of the story and with that their character can bloom as well, would they become more arrogant? Or would they become more excited at their unexpected growth of potential? This would be up to the writer on how their mind and power matures.

Of course with mana you also get to select what happens to someone when they run out of Mana, the simplistic choice is that they would pass out from the exhaustion, as they have spent all of their energy from their body, another choice to this is death. They simply fall over dead as their organs shut down slowly... Or how ever you wish to put the details. This nuclear option is more suggested if they go past zero and into the negative numbers for their mana, you can say they are draining the actual essence of their life force from their bodys which in turn is causing their death. A sort of last ditch effort sacrifice type deal.

And lastly and yet most interesting, they become sluggish, exhausted, and can't cast spells atill they rest or regain their mana in some manner or method. This one can be to me can be the most interesting, what will they do without their spells? How can they help their group now? Or what can they do to defend themselves from their enemy? It leaves room for the charactors character, it could show how cowardly they are or perhaps or brave instead. It is up to them as a person on how they can act without their magical powers.

And now for a new topic on Home Made Magic, a charactors unique magic. Now a suggestion from me personally is that no matter what don't go route where a charactor has a edgy or brooding power that isn't well made. Some people have in the past messed up by making their charactor a edge lord with the power to control blood and some sappy backstory with a poorly detailed power, a overpowered ability.

[For those who don't know. A overpowered ability is to where a ability is completely unfair or breaks the rules of the abilitys of that world.]

When a ability is overpowered or poorly detailed it can cause viewers to distain the charactor or find them lacking in most ways. When this happens that entire charactor could be ruined on that ability alone. That's why you have to make a very important thing when it comes to a charactors power... Drawbacks, every good charactor in fiction always has a drawback to their ability, Goku's Kioken for example puts incredible stress on his body and can even cause it to destroy itself if over used. Luffys gear 4 disables his Haki for ten minutes.

Another really good example is Jackie's powers from The darkness, it is a Xbox 360 game from 2012. His abilitys are around the idea of using the dark itself as a lethal power. But in direct light it becomes nullified or useless quickly. The light even blinds him.

Drawbacks add a weakness that the enemy could exploit or use quickly against them to gain a unfair edge or to make certain abilitys a trump card that shouldn't be used that quickly. Infact if you wish to be funny you can stack multiple drawbacks to make a ability completely unfair to use, or it could be making it fair...

A way to make a magical system or one's own magical problems/skills more interesting is not just a twist but also a understanding of the human body and simple science, such as how can mana effect people? Or how can mana effect the environment? These two questions are what you should ask yourself as you come up with a charactor or a story! In some fictional settings magic is seen as commonplace but in others magic is rare or hard to master, and some people or creatures can't use it at all like the common goblin or raccoon. What you need to worry about mainly is how for a person views their own abilitys and how it effects their body or the body's of others. This is a way to make a ability unique from my own experience.

You can however make your own magical events as well, such as Wild Magic, or a Mana Storm. And so on.

[WILD MAGIC: A special type of event of my own making. It happens when magic is used excessively or alot over time and the spare or wasted mana comes together to take a form, normally it does not last long but it can mutate people or the environment where its at. The more wasted mana it gains the stronger the effects. And more randomized.]

One important thing in any type of system around magic is the value and uses of what can be considered a magical item. In most simple settings magical items are stuff like enchanted swords or enchanted armor or jewelry [such as necklaces and rings]. Most of the time the jewelry don't have many downsides and usually have mostly pros over cons.

For weapons and armor they would either have simple pros and no cons or normal pros and normal cons [such as mana drain when activated ect] to major pros and no cons/serious cons. It really just depends on the eye of the beholder and how the item is used as well. Plus one of the important things when it comes down to magical items is complexity in your world, someone could for example make a portable stove top burner but it's powered by fire magic, this could make it a valuable item. Or someone Flys around in a hot air balloon that uses wind magic, or someone made a robot but it's actually 6 mana crystals in a suit of very very thick armor. [Head, arms, legs, torso=6]

It all depends on your creativity and the world you are making, if magical items are simple but someone made a magical item that seems like something of the real world [such as a phone or a blender] it would be considered priceless and legendary.