Helping Authors Build Marvelous Magic Systems One Stage at a Time
Welcome to Part 11 of Building a Viral Magic System Damn, Daniel. Back at it again with the Viral Magic! The last couple of times we worked the viral magic system, we did everything in our power to break it before working just as hard to fix it. Do you know what that means? We have finally completed our first iteration of Stage 3: Definition for this system! It may
Welcome to Part 10 of Building a Viral Magic System Aaaand we’re back. Don’t ask “back from where”; it doesn’t matter. Plausible deniability is the only real edge we have left, so you’re better off not knowing. When we last looked at the viral magic system, we spent a whole lot of time figuring out how to break it. We’ve worked hard to get here, putting blood, tears, and brain-sweat
Welcome to Part 9 of Building a Viral Magic System Guess what? We’re finally nearing the end of our work in Stage 3: Definition. It’s taken a lot of work getting here. If you’re just joining me, you can check the series intro for more information and links to the rest of the posts. As for stage 3, we’ve explored the magic system variables, identified system boundary conditions, and tried
While rational magic systems can provide a lot of benefits to your story [reasons for RM], today we will cover 7 simple reasons you might need a nebulous magic system in your story.
They serve as guidelines for exploring the vast and murky middle-ground between boundaries. More than that, they help me connect with the magic variables and conditions in new ways so I can better understand how things work.
At least… that’s normally how things go.
You already know limitations are essential for a powerful magic system. We’ve talked about this in the past, but I need make sure I’ve given their importance the proper emphasis. Let me give it to you straight. Without limitations on your magic system, your story will have zero conflict, contain boring, overpowered characters, and destroy emersion. I know you’ve worked hard on your craft. You’ve got the story structure nailed
You might already know, but let’s review what limitations are and some of their many forms. From there we can discuss exactly why you need them and end the day in perfect, harmonious agreement regarding limitations and their importance.
There’s something important I want to talk about with you and I’ve put this off long enough. If you’re part of the mailing list, you already know some of this, but I want to lay everything bare.
Something big has come to disrupt your regularly scheduled magical goodness… I am writing a workbook to help you with your magic systems.
Let me see if I’ve got this right. You’re building an extraordinary system for your book, game, screenplay, or interactive blood-puppet show. Thanks to some previous reading, you know the importance of building your magic and story to support one another. You’ve also done the work and decided if you need a hard magic system or need a soft magic system. After everything you’ve been through, you can’t decide whether
