The Smart Guide to Writing Magic Systems in Fantasy — Part 2
Set rules and abide by them religiuosly
In the previous part, I mentioned that I used three steps to create magic systems in my stories. The first step is about choosing your magic wisely. I’ve already discussed that in Part 1, so feel free to read it if you haven’t done so.
In this part, I’ll be talking about the second step:
Set rules and abide by them religiously
When I was younger, I read stories that portrayed magic and all kinds of fantastic creatures. I enjoyed it so much that I decided I wanted to write my own stories too and fill them with as much magic as I could possibly think of.
It wasn’t only because I liked fantasy, but also because I thought it was easy to write. After all, didn’t I only have to think of the most outrageous powers for my characters and let them use those powers to solve all their problems in the stories?
It turned out I couldn’t be more wrong.
Just because characters have magic doesn’t mean that they can automatically use it to solve every problem.
Imagine reading a story about a young woman with incredible sword skills and powerful fire magic. Now, you’re about a hundred pages into the book, and everything points out that this woman can manipulate fire and use it in so many ways. But her power is only limited to fire.
On her journey to find the villain, she meets the villain’s lackey; a monstrous creature immune to fire. Oh no, how does she fight a creature who only gets stronger the more you burn it?
Obviously, using her fire magic to fight will not be wise. But you, the reader, will not lose hope. You know there’s still a chance because the young woman can fight. You’ve already seen her pummel a tavern full of bandits with nothing but a stick — and she didn’t even use her magic. With her excellent swordsmanship, you’re confident she will give this monster a run for its money.
So you read on with bated breath, waiting for the legendary fight to begin.
She unsheathes her sword, glares at the monster, and then suddenly, with a booming voice, casts a spell to summon a raging storm that tears the monster apart before teleporting herself into the villain’s castle.
Wait, what? What the fuck just happened?
Since when did she have the power to summon storms or teleport? And wait a minute… nowhere in the book did we see other magic users casting spells to use magic.
What the hell is happening?
Can she use other types of magic then? Can she shapeshift? Can she raise the dead? Can she shoot lasers from her eyes while rapping the lyrics to Rap God underwater?
What’s the limit of her power? Holy shit, why did her mundane best friend suddenly gain the power of foresight? Didn’t the writer say from the beginning that people are born with their magic in this world?
What the hell is happening?
You quickly shut the book and toss it off a cliff before combusting into flames. How dare the writer so blatantly lie about their own made-up world?
You see, when people read fantasy, they’re willing to suspend disbelief mostly because the writer does a good job of making unbelievable things believable. Once the reader starts asking questions like the above, they are pulled right out of the story because everything now sounds like pure bullshit.
Not just any bullshit, but the purest kind that makes people feel like you’re trying to make a fool out of them. Making a fool out of a reader is something you shouldn’t do.
Yes, readers of fantasy know that people can’t conjure flames out of their hands in the real world nor can they see the future. But in the world of fantasy where people can do anything, there’s an order to these things. It is the order within the chaos that makes incredible things credible.
This is why rules are important.
You need to set rules and abide by them. The rules don’t have to be complex. They can be as simple as saying that magic is something one is born with. Once you imply that rule in your story, you simply cannot make someone who wasn’t born with magic suddenly have it.
That is unless you have an excellent explanation for that. Even then, your explanation must be believable or your readers will no longer take you seriously. Hell, you may not even have readers anymore.
Mechanical and mystical magic
All magic systems have rules, but some have more grounded rules than others.
If the rules are clear-cut, such that the reader knows the inner workings of magic and how it can be used to solve problems, then it is known as hard magic, as coined by Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn Trilogy. I prefer to call it mechanical magic.
On the other hand, if the reader doesn’t completely understand how the magic works, although they can see it play out, it’s known as soft magic, or what I call mystical magic.
Mystical magic creates a sense of wonder in the reader. We see it at play, but we don’t truly understand how it comes about. An example is seen in Lord of the Rings. The magic used by Gandalf and the other wizards is hard to explain. So is the magic in Game of Thrones. It seems like anything can happen because the reader doesn’t really understand how it happens.
But as wild and undefined as it sounds, there’s still order to it. For example, in the Lord of the Rings, a hobbit or human cannot become a wizard. This isn’t something one learns to become — you either are, or you aren’t. It may not sound like it, but this is a form of a rule governing the use of magic in Middle-earth.
It will come as a shock to the reader if somewhere along the journey to Mount Doom, Frodo Baggins suddenly grows a beard and becomes a wizard with a staff and everything.
As for the mechanical form of magic, it is the exact opposite of mystical magic. Readers know how it works and therefore know immediately when the writer is spouting bullshit. With this magic system, there are hard rules that have to be followed. Magic isn’t a mystery since we know the mechanics within it.
For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, we see that benders can only manipulate one of the four elements. So a firebender cannot manipulate earth nor can an airbender manipulate water. Only the avatar is capable of bending all four elements.
Break this rule without a valid reason, and the story ceases to be believable. If readers can’t suspend their disbelief while reading your story, you’ve lost them.
Other books and movies where mechanical magic is used include the Mistborn Trilogy and Fullmetal Alchemist.
In the Mistborn Trilogy (spoilers ahead), allomancers ingest metals and burn these metals to produce desired effects. Different metals give different effects. The vast majority of allomancers can only burn one specific metal to produce a specific magical effect. These allomancers are called Mistings, while those who can burn more than one metal are called Mistborn.
Now a Misting who burns tin to heighten their five senses cannot suddenly burn pewter to enhance their physical capabilities and make them stronger. It doesn’t work like that. The moment someone is able to burn more than one metal, then they are definitely not a Misting but a Mistborn.
Moreover, in the Mistborn Trilogy, the reader gets to know the effects of every metal. A metal like atium which lets an allomancer see a few seconds into the future will not suddenly have a different effect like strengthening the body. That will be against the rules of magic in the story.
Readers will notice it and they will chew your ears off if you don’t stick to your own rules.
Mechanical or mystical: which is better?
That is not the right question to ask. Rather, ask yourself which one will work best in your story.
Some people act like mechanical magic (hard magic) is better than its soft counterpart. As a fantasy writer, you shouldn’t think like that. Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your story, one might work and the other wouldn’t. Or it may even be advisable to use a hybrid — a combination of the two.
Whatever you choose to use though, make sure you, the writer, know how it works. You can’t convince others to believe your story if you’re all over the place. Even if the magic in your story is mystical and chaotic — which is what magic usually is — it should still have a semblance of order even if readers don’t really understand how it works.
Magic shouldn’t simply be in your story because you want it there. It should be organic and flow naturally with the plot.
In Part 3, I’ll talk about how to incorporate your magic system into your story without committing the grievous sin of deus ex machina.
