Worldbuilding 101: Creating a magic system

One of the most important, and often trickiest, elements of building a fantasy world is the magic system. It is a feat of creativity and logic that needs to spark wonder in the reader, whilst also making sense and being consistent.

However, when done well, a magic system can take your novel from simply good to truly memorable. Here, I explain the different aspects to building a well-rounded and believable magic system that will not only stand out, but support the other elements of your story.

This blog post takes a deep dive into the world of magic systems. You by all means do not need to have answers to all these questions before you start drafting - in fact, over planning might work against you. However, I hope that they help you iron out creases in later drafts, or prompt some ideas when you're faced with a plot hole.

Hard or light

One of the first things to decide when you’re creating a magic system is to decide whether the system will be ‘hard’ or ‘light’.

‘Hard’ magic systems have a concrete set of rules and limitations that your readers and characters are aware of (although they might not know all the ins and outs). Brandon Sanderson’s metal-based magic in Mistborn is a great example of this. Users have to imbibe different metals depending on what magical feats they want to carry out. Like the users, readers have to know which metals do what to understand what’s happening in the plot.

You could look at these systems as being more scientific – like we can’t argue with the rules of gravity, magic users can’t bend magic to their will. Hard magic systems are great because the reader knows exactly where they stand and you can create tension in scenes where the reader knows the characters have run out of options magic-wise. But, in the same breath, you have to put a lot of thought in hard magic systems to make sure you don’t write yourself into a corner you – and your magic – can’t get out of.

‘Soft’ magic systems, although have rules, are more nebulous. The reader isn’t told the limitations or rules of the magic, which gives it a more mystical feel. An example of a soft magic system is the magic in The Lord of the Rings. We’re never told what the One Ring’s power is, or shown exactly what the limits of the wizards’ powers are. Soft magic systems can create a sense of wonder in your world, and give you lots of room to play with, plot-wise. However, they can also lessen the stakes and tension if used too freely, as readers will assume any problem can be resolved with magic. Likewise, having over-powered characters prompts a lot of doubt in the reader’s mind and these characters can become boring instead of awe-inspiring.

Like anything, this isn’t a black-and-white choice. There is a whole spectrum between hard and soft magic systems, and many authors will create something that sits in the middle – a malleable system, if you will. Systems like this have clear rules, but leave a few gaps to lean into the sense of wonder and mystery.

Where does it come from and what does it do?

Just like your characters, you need to create a backstory for your magic. Even if this isn’t expressed word-for-word on the page, knowing where your magic comes from and the history of its usage in the world means that you as the writer have a solid hold on it. Having a clear hold on it yourself helps you to better explain it to the reader during the course of your novel, as well as ensuring you can create more depth and meaning to it as the novel progresses.

Some questions to ask yourself are:

• Is magic a naturally occurring phenomenon or is it man-made (for example, like electricity in our own world)?

  • If your magic is naturally occurring, is there a source? For example, does it inhabit certain rocks or naturally occurring liquids? And where is the source located?

  • If your magic is a fundamental force, like gravity, how does it interact with users and how does it affect the world?

  • If your magic is man-made, how did this discovery come about and how has it altered the world since?

• How has your magic system affected world history? Has it caused wars, or brought peace? Who has gained and who has lost out because of it? What myths, legends or even religions surround it?

• What level does the magic work on – does it change the very nature of something on an atomic level; is there a time limit to any changes that happen?

Rules

Rules are one of the most important things when it comes to creating a magic system. Without them, the reader doesn’t know where they stand, which can lessen the tension and stakes as they won’t know what to expect from characters or what the implications of magical acts are.

Even in soft magic systems, rules are important. Going back to the example of soft magic in The Lord of the Rings, although we don’t fully understand the ins and outs of the magic Gandalf wields, we do understand that only he and his fellow wizards are capable of such feats. This makes him stand apart from the hobbits, men, elves, dwarves and other creatures, and is a hard-and-fast rule that isn’t broken in the trilogy.

You don’t need to explain all the rules of your magic system right from the start. However, it’s a good idea to do some background work yourself so that although your reader (or even narrating character) isn’t aware of everything, you still have a solid grasp on what can and can’t happen and what the consequences of using magic is. This ensures that your story stays consistent, and actions at the end of the novel marry up with what the reader knows at the start of the novel.

Here are some things you can think of:

• The cost – Think of it this way: you expect a warrior to gradually tire throughout a fight, a runner to be out of breath at the end of a race, a person to lose their voice after hours of shouting. Using magic should be the same. In short: it shouldn’t be easy. Getting tired after using magic is a common choice, but there are other ways magic could elicit a cost. It could be transactional – the user must give up something every time they cast a spell, for example – or it could be sacrificial, like the user must give up their way of life and live in secret. Another way to give magic a cost, without it being physical or harmful is to make it a hard won skill. In Harry Potter, magic doesn’t elicit a cost when it is used but children have to spend years of structured learning to grasp how to safely use it, and even after school, they continue their education in jobs and apprenticeships.

• How to create magic – This is a key piece of information your reader needs to know, so that they can notice prompts that someone is using magic. Try to keep the ways magic is created to a minimum, one if at all possible. This means you don’t risk confusing your reader. Methods to inspire you are:

  • Incantations/spells – words create magic

  • Signs – gestures create magic

  • Potions – magic is created by mixing together different ingredients in a specific way, following a recipe

  • Mental – the user must find something within themselves and concentrate, sometimes in a meditative way (like the Force in Star Wars)

  • Objects – the user must be in possession of a specific object that bestows, or channels, power

  • Food/drink – the user must eat or drink something that gives them magical powers

  • Sacrificial/transactional – the user must give up something precious in return for magical power, or even a single use of magic (for example, perhaps they exchange a year of their life, or give up a memory)

• Limits – Just like magic eliciting a cost, it should also have an ending point. Having an all powerful magic system takes away tension, because the reader will simply think that magic will solve any problem the characters get themselves into. Similarly, having a character that has endless power isn’t as awe-inspiring as it might seem as the reader will feel they’re never truly in danger. Limits and costs can be closely related – for example your character might have unstoppable power, but what happens if that power can only be used once a year? Here the cost and limitation of the magic come from the same rule: the cost is no magic until the calendar year resets, and the limitation is that you can only use it once. So despite having an all-powerful character, it creates a huge amount of tension because the reader will be wondering: when will Bobby use his world-shattering power, and will he choose the correct time to use it? Other limitations you should bear in mind are:

  • What materials or elements does magic affect? For example, can wielders only work with water?

  • Is there a time limit for the effects of magic?

  • Is there an age limit to using magic?

  • What skill level is involved to master certain magical actions?

  • How do the methods used to create magic limit its use? For example if your system is based on incantations, the magic is limited to what incantations the user knows

• Who can use it? – This is an important one as it can have big repercussions on the way your society is made up.

  • If everyone can use it, how does this change the way the world works in comparison to our own, and what happens if – shock – someone is born who for some reason cannot use it? Would they become a social pariah?

  • Perhaps everyone can access magic, but it is skill-based. How does this affect the social structure of your world? What happens if people born into power are just not very good at magic?

  • On the flip side, what happens if magic users are rare? Are they feared and exiled, or are they exulted? Or, even, are they imprisoned and used, like magic users in N K Jemisin’s Fifth Season?

• Dangers – Like any power, magic comes with great danger. This might simply be humans using it for nefarious purposes, or perhaps the magic has a dark side in itself. The dangers could be linked to other rules, like limits – if your magic systems demands a high cost, what happens if someone keeps using it? Could they die? Adding dangers to your magic system really sets out the stakes to the reader, ramping up that tension to keep them turning the page.

Who knows what?

This is a fantastic way to create intrigue. By having characters who know more than others, and either letting the reader in on secrets or cutting them out, you can build excitement and tension through your magic system.

It’s good to have a starting ‘who knows what’ base. Whether in your mind or on paper (like in a worldbuilding bible), list your characters, what they understand about the magic system, and why. The why is important because it can inform you on what they need to learn by the end of the novel, and where their potential weaknesses lie. This, in turn, helps you with plotting and pacing.

Choosing what the parts of the magic system to share with the reader, and when, can be trickier. Your reader needs enough information from the outset to understand what the characters are doing and the stakes they face, but you don’t want to overload the beginning of your novel with all the information about the magic system (and other worldbuilding elements) and risk confusing or even boring your reader. Likewise, withholding some information about the magic system can create intrigue, twists and tension.

Questions to ask yourself when deciding what information to divulge and when are:

• What are the very top line headlines about your magic system?

• What does the reader need to know to understand the plot in this particular scene?

• Does the reader need to learn something now to understand the next scene or two?

• What does the reader need to know to understand the character’s motivations and actions?

• Are there any twists later on in your novel and will they make sense if you withhold certain information?

A good way to think about sharing information on your magic system (or any worldbuilding) is to work from the top down. So share those top headlines first, and gradually build a more detailed picture as the novel progresses.

Back The Lord of the Rings, again. We learn that some magic rings were made, but one ring was created to rule over them. The malevolent object is central to helping the main antagonist’s bid for power in Middle Earth. And this, at the start of the novel, is all we truly need to understand. As the novel progresses, we learn that the ring corrupts all who wear it, that it grants the user invisibility, and that Sauron is sensitive to its use and can identify the wearer when they put it on. This information is passed to the reader over time, either through character actions, or learning alongside the characters, creating peaks and troughs of tension, and making the characters change their relationship and motivations when it comes to the ring.

The wider world

Nothing in worldbuilding sits alone, and your magic system is no exception. Whether your magic is central to your world, or something that sits in the background, it will affect and be affected by the world around it. Questions to ask yourself are:

• How has the history of magic affected the opinions of people living in the current day?

• What are people’s views of magic users? And what are people’s views of non-magic users?

• What laws govern magic users? Are there elements of magic that are banned or taboo?

• How does magic affect the academic understanding of the world?

  • Does magic get in the way of technological advancements, or does it aid them?

  • What edge might it bring to philosophical debate?

  • How might people’s understanding of the natural world differ to that in our own world?

  • Can magic aid healing and how might this affect disease prevalence and life expectancy?

• What part does magic play in the day-to-day lives of normal people?

• What is the relationship between magical power and political power?

• Has magic shaped religion in any way (positively or negatively)?

• Has magic shaped the geography of the world?

• How does magic interact with design – does it help sculpt unbelievable architecture or is it used in the creation of clothing or objects?

Not all the questions here will be relevant to your story, but they are all elements that are helpful to think about to help you get a strong grip on where your magic system sits within your world.

How does it affect the characters?

This is where you take the answers from the wider world section and zoom in to an individual level. Natural worldbuilding is far easier when you work from your character’s point of view. Instead of trying to shoehorn in facts and information about the world at large, you can show the reader what life is like by providing specific examples from your POV character’s life and experience.

Ways your magic system could affect your characters in particular are:

• Does magic affect their relationships? Are there people they simply don’t speak to because of magical laws/etiquette? Are they wary around certain people because of magical ability? Does magic have the potential to separate them from their loved ones?

• Are they safe in their world or are there laws or beliefs that put them at risk?

• How do they view magic? What has influenced their opinions?

• How does magic affect their opinion of themselves, and where they stand in the world?

When thinking of these questions, try and work out how the answers affect the way your characters behave and react throughout the course of your novel. For example, a working class person who believes magic is just for the rich and will always be out of reach, might not fully believe it if they’re told they have magical ability. Alternatively, someone who has been told from a young age that they are special because they have magic might have some over-confidence issues!

Links with plot/theme

It’s all well and good having a unique and fascinating magic system, but if it sits out by itself without any links to the main plot or theme, it can feel a bit shoe-horned in or even detract from the main bulk of the story.

By creating a magic system that supports the plot and/or theme of your book, you’re giving your future plotting and drafting self a massive leg up. A magic system whose purpose is to provide stakes, tension and drama means that those action scenes, twists and character arcs start to write themselves.

Take the magic system in Mistborn. The hard system where users have to imbibe certain metals to do magic lends itself to the heist-format of the novel, where planning and strategy are always at the forefront. It also creates tension with the constant risk of characters running out of the substance they need to get themselves out of a sticky corner. On top of this, Sanderson’s magic system forms the basis for the main plot: the crew getting their hands on a rare and valuable type of metal that gives users the power to see into the future.

If you’re stuck about how magic fits into your world, looking at your plot or character arcs is a great way to get started. If you thought up your magic system before you had characters or plot, it’s a good idea to come back and look at how you might focus and refine the system to support these other elements.

Building a magic system that works for your novel is not an overnight task. You’ll probably find that just like your characters and plot, your magic system will evolve with time and drafts – it’s all a process of refinement and growth.

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Watch out for the next in my Worldbuilding Series: Geography.