Creating Your Own Magic and Powers
I've decided to incorporate magic and powers into one section because they are linked and a fantasy story does not necessarily need to have magic. At least not in the typical sense that we see so often in fantasy.
You may be surprised at this thought of not having magic as a main feature, that's if you include it at all, but there are 2 examples that spring to mind where 'magic' is not really used the first of which is The Lord of the Rings. Yes Gandalf is a wizard as was Saruman and Sauron but magic was seldom used. It was a feature of the story and had its place within Middle Earth but was not a main aspect with wizards being very few and actual magic use being limited.
The second example comes from the Wheel of Time series of books where people use the One Power (those that can learn to use it anyway) and 'weaves' are formed using combinations of 5 elements but it is not called magic nor is it used in the traditional sense.
Magic is often the reserve of wizards, witches, sorcerers, mages, sages, shamans, warlocks etc. and this type of character is always few in number.
In order to take magic beyond the ordinary you need to think of a new way for it to be accessed by magic wielders. Magic is traditionally invoked by incantations of some sort, through runes or through the use of songs.
A different take on this can be found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series of books by Steven Erikson where magic used through Warrens. A mage can access a Warren that they have trained in and may be able to access others through training also. They 'open' the Warren and through it can use its powers, Warrens are actually other realms/dimensions that exist within the realm of Chaos, almost like tunnels. By 'opening' a Warren the user can smell things associated with the Warren itself even though they aren't there much like opening a window and coming back to the room and it smells fresh because of the air outside filling the room.
You are probably wondering how do I create something like that? Well, there is no simple answer. You need to look at magic in a very different way and try to think how in your fantasy world you can create something as unique.
Some ideas could include:
- The summoning of spirits of the land, sea, air, dead through the use of objects that are related to it i.e. summoning a water spirit through the use of a vial of water and a chant/incantation. The strength of the spirit could depend on the size of the summoning object.
- The use of magic through hand signals. Spells are cast by moving the hands in certain ways and forming shapes to create desired effects. Could be useful for an order of mute or deaf mages.
- Magic is used through the use of enchanted items. Items are infused with particular powers and can be used by the wielder through an activation word, but no other magic exists only enchantments.
Those are just 3 ideas that I came up with here on the spot, I'm sure you could do better with more time and effort.
Powers
Powers can be categorized as something different to magic because they are used differently. Powers can be inborn to specific races or people with certain talents or they be gained through certain actions or granted as gifts from divine beings.
A power is an ability that the user possesses it is not like magic where the mystical energies in the world are drawn upon and focused, they are a part of the user.
Powers are usually things like telepathy where a superior race can read the minds of others or foresight where the person can look into the future and see what may be.
There is no one thing to define a power it could be anything. It could be the ability to see at very long distances, it could be an automatic shield effect that appears when the person is badly injured.
Once again uniqueness and individuality help you to create a more interesting set of powers that shield idea came to me just now while writing. By trying to think of something different you will think of something different, it may take time and make sure your powers fit into the character and story so it makes sense, don't have random powers appearing out of nowhere with no good reason. MAKE IT FIT!
You may be surprised at this thought of not having magic as a main feature, that's if you include it at all, but there are 2 examples that spring to mind where 'magic' is not really used the first of which is The Lord of the Rings. Yes Gandalf is a wizard as was Saruman and Sauron but magic was seldom used. It was a feature of the story and had its place within Middle Earth but was not a main aspect with wizards being very few and actual magic use being limited.
The second example comes from the Wheel of Time series of books where people use the One Power (those that can learn to use it anyway) and 'weaves' are formed using combinations of 5 elements but it is not called magic nor is it used in the traditional sense.
Magic is often the reserve of wizards, witches, sorcerers, mages, sages, shamans, warlocks etc. and this type of character is always few in number.
In order to take magic beyond the ordinary you need to think of a new way for it to be accessed by magic wielders. Magic is traditionally invoked by incantations of some sort, through runes or through the use of songs.
A different take on this can be found in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series of books by Steven Erikson where magic used through Warrens. A mage can access a Warren that they have trained in and may be able to access others through training also. They 'open' the Warren and through it can use its powers, Warrens are actually other realms/dimensions that exist within the realm of Chaos, almost like tunnels. By 'opening' a Warren the user can smell things associated with the Warren itself even though they aren't there much like opening a window and coming back to the room and it smells fresh because of the air outside filling the room.
You are probably wondering how do I create something like that? Well, there is no simple answer. You need to look at magic in a very different way and try to think how in your fantasy world you can create something as unique.
Some ideas could include:
- The summoning of spirits of the land, sea, air, dead through the use of objects that are related to it i.e. summoning a water spirit through the use of a vial of water and a chant/incantation. The strength of the spirit could depend on the size of the summoning object.
- The use of magic through hand signals. Spells are cast by moving the hands in certain ways and forming shapes to create desired effects. Could be useful for an order of mute or deaf mages.
- Magic is used through the use of enchanted items. Items are infused with particular powers and can be used by the wielder through an activation word, but no other magic exists only enchantments.
Those are just 3 ideas that I came up with here on the spot, I'm sure you could do better with more time and effort.
Powers
Powers can be categorized as something different to magic because they are used differently. Powers can be inborn to specific races or people with certain talents or they be gained through certain actions or granted as gifts from divine beings.
A power is an ability that the user possesses it is not like magic where the mystical energies in the world are drawn upon and focused, they are a part of the user.
Powers are usually things like telepathy where a superior race can read the minds of others or foresight where the person can look into the future and see what may be.
There is no one thing to define a power it could be anything. It could be the ability to see at very long distances, it could be an automatic shield effect that appears when the person is badly injured.
Once again uniqueness and individuality help you to create a more interesting set of powers that shield idea came to me just now while writing. By trying to think of something different you will think of something different, it may take time and make sure your powers fit into the character and story so it makes sense, don't have random powers appearing out of nowhere with no good reason. MAKE IT FIT!