The Writer's Spellbook

By Lillian Csernica

One of the most important elements of a fantasy novel or a game world is the magic system. A logical and consistent magic system will do a lot to help improve the quality of the story. Pulling a magic item out of thin air cheats both you and the reader of the opportunity to enjoy the search for the item's component parts, the challenge of acquiring the knowledge of their use, and the suspense of wondering whether it might all go wrong with disastrous results. A better magic system means a better story, and a better story means more readers. Strong, well thought out magic is a crucial element for fantasy games. If it's too easy, there's no satisfaction. If it's too hard, that's just frustrating. A system that makes sense and gives the player that sense of wonder will make your game very popular.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lillian Csernica
• Release date: May 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310541292

Lillian Csernica

I'm a professional writer living in Northern California with my husband and two sons. Fantasy in various forms is my reading and writing pleasure. I'm a history buff, a Japanophile, and I love to learn about language(s).

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The Writer’s Spellbook

by Lillian Csernica

The Writer’s Spellbook

Lillian Csernica

Published by Sense of Wonder Press at Smashwords.

The Smashwords edition of The Writer's Spellbook is copyright 2017, Lillian Csernica. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior permission of the publisher, with the exception of brief passages quoted in reviews.

Some of this material was originally published in Speculations, edited by Ken Brewster.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Who's Got the Power?

Magic and Religion: Part One, Four Character Types

Magic and Religion: Part Two, Designing Deities

Magic and Religion: Part Three, Rites of Passage

Laboratory Magic

Military Magic

Magic and Engineering

Medical Magic

Household Magic

INTRODUCTION

When bringing magic into a storyline, the first and most fundamental question that must be asked is why do you need magic? How big is the problem your characters must face?

Finding people, places, and things. Maps can be hard to find or out of date. Magical people or items can be hidden by magic. If your character(s) are stuck somewhere hostile without supplies, potable water will become their first priority. Locator magic saves time and that can save lives.

Making a magic item. This should be difficult and full of obstacles. Collecting each ingredient is a quest in itself.

Capturing and/or defending against a magical creature. If this is the point of the story, keeping the stakes high means making the magical creature rare, hard to find, and living in an environment that makes it almost impossible to approach.

Becoming and/or conquering a magic-user. Either of these could take years, be extremely dangerous, and go seriously wrong. Two words: Harry Potter.

Protecting and/or attacking a large site. The size of this problem depends on the size of the enemy. In Clash of the Titans, Perseus had to find a way to prevent the Kraken from eating his bride-to-be and destroying her hometown.

Forbidden magic as last resort. If it's forbidden, it's probably blood magic. That means killing some living creature, and in some elaborate, gruesome way. Nice gods don't generally go in for this sort of nastiness, so performing such a sacrifice will draw the attention of the darker Powers that Be. Now your characters' minds, bodies, and souls are on the line.

This brings up another important point: the price. In traditional fantasy, be it modern novels or folklore dating back past the advent of literacy, magic must be paid for, either by the user or by some acceptable stand-in. When you're figuring out what you need magic for in your storyline, make sure you also figure out how much, and how much it's going to cost.

With these questions answered, you're ready to start creating your magic system.

WHO'S GOT THE POWER?

Your characters might have to struggle for years before they gain the slightest flicker of real power. Jim Butcher forces Harry Dresden to do things the hard way in The Dresden Files. He must sacrifice love, family, even his human body in pursuit of magic and its enemies. On the other hand, your entire world might be saturated with magic, as is Terry Pratchett's Discworld. By limiting the supply of magic, you thereby restrict access to it. From this point on the possibilities expand dramatically. Are your characters capable of gaining access to the sources of magic? If so, are they able to harness it in any useful way? If not, there could be another group, order, caste, etc. of characters who are able to harness the magic, yet they're forced to depend on those who can actually put them in contact with the raw magic itself. Native talent combined with social Darwinism will create a natural advantage for some characters. See how easy it is to create immediate sources of conflict? If you set things up so not everybody in the story can have magic or use it, the Haves are going to be at odds with the Have-Nots. Such conflict can still arise in a situation where magic is plentiful. It's also a matter of how you structure the society.

Once you've decided on the amount of magic available, start thinking about where it's coming from.

Deities--The usual options are monotheism, polytheism, and pantheism. You can draw on the various mythologies already extant, or make up your own from scratch. The characters will have no power without the deities' patronage. Right there the priest/ess class emerges as the most powerful. The laity will have to find some way to beg, borrow, or steal magic.

Nature--Elemental energies have long been a staple of magic. Magic: The Gathering makes great use of mana. Fire, water, and air tend to have more dramatic potential that the more staid earth. Keep in mind this category encompasses anything organic, anything found in nature, including such