18 Ways to Write Unique Magic Systems

Bro ur channel is awesome

Great! Many thanks! Your video as always is very useful, truly inspiring, extremely motivating! BRAVO!!!

Just purchased "Across the Broken Stars" the other day, can't wait to read it!

Umame is a taste 😊

2. Canablism

This is the most somebody has stirred my brain EVER in my life. I have so many ideas now! Thank you so much!

This gives me several ideas on ways i can make subcategories for magic in my novel. Already have some for the vampires and fairies next can be some of my originals

Hmm

You forgot blood-magic. The ability to make use of different blood types to gain certain attributes on your enchantments and spells. The more strong the caster, the more established the casters blood-type. You could add in the drug theme or doping theme in sports. There certain blood magic treatments are forbidden, either because they are too powerful; belonging to a family or too dangerous. Or simply all of the above. You can also make it class related, that if somebody gets vanquished, his bloodmagic gets outlawed and his blood becomes fuel for others magic to be offered as tribute. etc. You could add the maddness effect, if somebody manages to obtain more bloodtypes than one. In real life, blood clots together, but it could be like in Ben10 universe, with Kevin E. Leven, who goes insane, if he absorbs too much substances and energy. It could open your religion there in the beginning of time, there was an ancient wizard who broke the rules and became a demon by combining all of the blood types and thats the reason why certain things cant be done anymore, although you can still find artefacts and buildings of the lost times or a champion who defeated the ancient evil by doing so and left a sword or tome or ritual behind, should the evil return etc.

I'm creating a world where magic is based on philosophy and bloodline. There's nature magic with fae bloodlines and druids, celestial magic with angel bloodlines and clerics/paladins, and artificers who infuse magic into machinery. Main character is descended from both bloodlines and raised by an artificer.

This is so interesting and helpful. My magic system is so random, that even i don't understand how it work.

This isn't really 18 methods but more 18 examples.

I currently work on a magic system that is only composed of different types of transformation and the use of those types vary by different cultures. Some people use pelts of animals to transform into those animals, others animate statues for different purposes. A wandering wizard manipulates the smoke of his pipe, while merchants use magic to alter the size of objects. Even some animals use magic, some monkeys have the ability to solidify air temporarily, while some lizards can change the shape of their feet to either long sharp claws for climbing or wings to glide for hunting.

A huge variety of magical abilities only based on the principle of “Metamorphosis”
Feel free to comment any questions, criticism and suggestions!

My Hero and Naruto are killers at unique magick systems

For an ancestral based magic system, what happens when each ancestor only has so much magic to bestow so frequently. Does that mean if you have a greater number of descendants, you’ve got less to give to each of them?

Does anyone else realize how broken synesthesia would be in a taste based magic system?!

The true method is to make magic unique to your experiences. Make it relate or function like something you already know.

Art-based magic is the basic premise behind the anime DNAngel. The Hikari Family was a family of very skilled artists, so skilled that their art took on a dangerous magical quality. The Niwa Family was a family of phantom thieves that stole the artwork so they could seal the power away, lest it wreck havoc. The Hikaris were planning their greatest work of all, The Black Wings. However, they grew afraid of its power before it was finished, and they tried to seal it. Problem: The Niwa heir tried stealing it during the ritual, and the power of the artwork split into two beings, Dark and Krad. Dark became bound to the heir of the Niwa family to be passed through the heir's bloodline, and Krad was likewise bound to the heir of the Hikari Family. Give the anime a watch. You may like it.

Taste based magic, so a gnome who's mastered this would be called a Gastrognome?

It's interesting and informative, advice is greatly appreciated.

I thought there were going to be actual creative techniques here to help us design our own unique magic system. This is just a list of unique magic system ideas you've come up with. The fact that they're yours, not ours, and maybe more than one person here might actually use them, means these are not unique in the slightest.

#7 is so good. Placing limitations on magic is necessary for tension in your story. It's one thing for the reader to not understand exactly what the magic can do--that can inspire awe and wonder--and another to create constant deus ex machinas because now that the MC finds herself in a fiery pit, she just so happens to be able to create water to put it out.

working backwards from conseqeunces and the very last ones make the video honestly. Even if those two were the only ones in here it would have been worth it.

I admit, I find super hard magic systems less interesting than ones with some softness. When mages know EXACTLY how long a spell will last down to the millisecond, or exact percentage of a spells costs, its no longer magic, to me, but fantasy science. Which is fun in its own way, but if there is no history of HOW mages figured out all this exactness, it will feel hollow to me. If so much is known, it should be like our world, with magic principles named after those who discovered them, and figures like Newton and Einstein being so well known as to have become part of even non-specialists's general knowledge. Unless the magic came with a handbook or instructions from a god, there must be a long history of experimentation in order for anyone to have such a perfect grasp of how magic works.

Hm, I quite like place based magic. Some places where there are helpful magics, like food-making magic, or lifting-heavy-object magic, or healing magic, would be places where people would live and build cities, while places with harmful magic would be avoided, unless there was a war and you wanted to force or trick your enemies into that location. It would bring a whole new layer to controling land.

I really really love elemental magic but I'm quite afraid of using it in my story since I don't think there's anything more cliche than that. It has been everywhere from anime, books to movies...it has been done to death and I doubt there is even a way to make it interesting and distinctive.

I’m working on homebrewing a TTRPG world that can be used by multiple systems so my magic system on a fundamental level is pretty openly represented in the story as to fit two or three different game systems, however you made me think of ways the world could interactively modify the systems already there to give players a feel of uniqueness in a very familiar magical environment. Such as null magic zones or surging magic areas that cause weird effects to change up normal spells. Maybe potions and spells in one area of a country is done through food so when the bard learns a healing spell it’s given to someone as a conjured cookie because that’s the only way they could know how to teach him. Overall you definitely gave me some interesting ideas on how to texture and define some more fun ways to convey magic in the setting even if I can’t change how it works directly. Thanks for the ideas

I have tried a magic system multiple times, but I have one that I like now, Alchemicon Ralma's System: A magic system built entirely on the existence of a fictional element, Arcanium.
Arcanium is highly magneticly repulsive(maglev=magnetic levitation/suspension), highly thermoconductive(can change from solid to liquid to gas to plasma within seconds but also vice versa), Arcanium is in the atmosphere and is edible and lightweight, allowing the existence of larger creatures, hover-vehicles are possible now, in solid form, it floats at least slightly less than half a foot off the ground, in liquid form, it sits on the surface of water, in gas as well as plasma form, it evades tactile interaction. Different chemical reactions with other elements creates different things, I'm not good at chemistry, so as of now, I'm just saying, Hydrogen+Arcanium(Plasma)=A controllable fire that avoids touch and would actually be more close combat-short range, Nitrogen+Arc.(Solid, Powdered)=Nature/Flower which wouldn't be used in combat but for farming or even defense(plants evolved to collect Arcanium, which is more common as gas or plasma, as a result, they are rubber-like, so good defense against magic), Cobalt+Arc(Solid)=Earth, I think Earth would actually have more range because of the magnetism thing and it would shift the ground if you simply put your hand out(you need tech to do magic), Oxygen+Arc(Gas)=increased air pressure to make Water float, Helium+Arc(Gas)=Wind, hot air balloon stuff, make people float, Neon+Arc(Gas)=Spirit, I don't remember why, but I remember searching through Google for info about gases going through small spaces to explain intangibility stuff, so, Hydrogen+Neon+Arc(Plasma)=Light, Hydrogen+Gold+Arc(Plasma)=Lightning, Hydrogen+Sodium+Arc(Liquid)=Explosion, Hydrogen+Iron+Arc(Plasma)=Sun, Hydrogen+Chromium+Arc(Gas)=Illusion, Hydrogen+Silicon+Arc(Molten)=Nether/Volcanic, Nitrogen+Potassium+Arc(Gas)=Healing, Nitrogen+Carbon+Arc(Gas)=Fungal, Nitrogen+Phosphorus+Arc(Plasma)=Life/Soul/Essence(Essence is a fictional part of the body that spreads through like blood and Soul is the heart), Nitrogen+Arsenic+Arc(Plasma)=Dragon, Etc

This is brilliant. And so helpful.

Thanks for the helpful video 👌

I'm writing a place specific magic where if you take care of the forest, the forest will move to your will and give you magical abilities while inside it. It will also endow your weapons and tools with its power.

This seem less like a list of ways to make unique magic systems and more like a list of unique magic systems

One of my favorite Syfy shows is The Magicians. Though I have to say they do end up flip flopping a bit or maybe they just changed how magic worked in it. 16 and 17 are both used in Avatar the last Airbender.

I'm a musician, and I'm creating a music based magic system for a fantasy world I'm working on. It's a middle magic system - hard in some ways and soft in others. The whole thing is going well except for one thing. How do you make it beautiful to the reader using only words? I want them to experience the joy of this system, but I don't have sound as a medium.

I love all the creative ideas for magic I'm seeing these days. I've seen several systems in the last few years that really impress me. And of course yt is filled with great videos like this. No one should ever want for inspiration anymore. Time however is another matter. (i don't think you mentioned that magic system...)

This has gotta be the least creative dude I have ever seen

Ancestral based magic. Both Priest and Thief by Matthew Colville are incredible representations of this system. Such an underrated series (Ratcatcher)🔥👍🏽

I created a character for my world that was like John Constantine in the sense that they had to eat some gross stuff to do certain spells👍🏽

2 is straight up the worst lamest thing I have ever heard

Hey I just made another power system idea!

So it's something known as limited soul synchronization would first takes place when a person can find a relic.

Relics are sacred items found around the world and through finding one if a person manages to catch the attention of that soul they will give you their heritage.

A heritage is basically filled with all of their abilities along with that you would get the soul or spirit as a companion and you can utilize an ability known as limited soul synchronization which follows you and the soul fusing and also maximizes your abilities.

Unfortunately it comes with a massive stamina cast no matter what and since you can't really control stamina itself most people decide not to use it unless they absolutely need it.

There is also true soul synchronization however after that a person would basically be crippled but when using it a person would also basically become a god.

Let's say you could control fire and you use your true soul synchronization, suddenly that fire will turn into an infernal flame on the levels of the blazes inside of purgatory, soul burning basically.

Your abilities can also gain different properties depending on what percentage your synchronization is.

Unlimited synchronization is 1% to 50% meanwhile a true synchronization is 51% to 100%.

Although if a person does a true synchronization at 51% or maybe 9% above it won't really do any actual damage excluding the very much massive stamina cost.

Point 12 is what I use in my power system because losing your sanity is one of the things that you can rarely regain. Limitations are more interesting than powers so you have to vary them across your story. I also use point 17 because my world has 3 moons that are the cause of the worlds power system, so whenever one of them is full, the magic user becomes twice as powerful. Anyway, thanks for the tips and I hope to see everyones writing improve from them!

I'm sorry but this video doesn't make me want to buy your books in slightest.
To be precise your classification is chaotic and sloppy, and basically just threw random ideas and call it video.

Please make a video about lord of the mysteries.

The last bit, about niche interest, gave me an idea. Keto magic. Ketone bodies can be used to fuel spells. The more ketones someone's liver produces, the more powerful spells he can cast. Of course in the fantasy setting no one has knowledge about nutrition, so most people don't know they can access magic. In the old times everyone had it, but "the gods took it away" (after agriculture everyone started eating grains so ketosis is almost non existent).
Some mages fast for a few days-weeks so they can access powerful magic constantly, but there is a limit - you can't fast indefinitely because you will end up starving yourself (and possibly dying). Some people drink a lot - which for a short time gives them access to very powerful and highly unpredictable magic. The same can be said about the few chosen ones, who die shortly after this sudden surge in power (alcoholic and diabetic ketoacidosis). Everyone can do some very very weak magic in the morning, after the overnight fast.
The event that sets the story in motion - some race or nation discovers that they can eat a lot of fat and access powerful magic indefinitely, without fasting. This creates a power imbalance and will definitely lead to a magical war/conflict etc.

This is so stupid XD