Author Topic: Magic Systems  (Read 16417 times)

Xegnma

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #60 on: December 01, 2009, 06:12:58 PM »
Also what is the consequence of possesing to many souls...i mean your body would be "filled to the brim".
That reminds me of a Highlander episode...can't remember which though...

mtlhddoc2

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #61 on: December 02, 2009, 01:39:34 AM »
the last movie, End Game - other personalities came out of Duncan as he fought the last battle.

Curious

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #62 on: December 02, 2009, 06:30:25 AM »
Regarding my magic system, it would be really cool if absorbing someone's soul gave you all their memories, skills and experience... What if you could allow them to temporarily control you in order to do things that you couldn't do, but in return that would graft the soul you stole to yours a little bit more? If you stole enough souls, you could have the skills of an assassin, an artist, a king (that is, if you could get your hands on one)... Maybe that's powerful enough in and of itself.

It would also be interesting if people had forms of magic unique to them that you'd inherit if you stole their soul.

To answer your question Kaz, absorbing too many souls could cause you to lose control of your identity. Having too many could cause them to all collapse into each other and become one person... who knows what that would do to you. If many different sets of memories and skills mixed, it would most likely cause you to go insane and maybe act like you have dissociative identity disorder (darn, that's too much like Rand). And if you have that many souls compressed inside you, the power of your abilities would most likely multiply.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2009, 06:34:32 AM by Curious »

Xegnma

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #63 on: December 02, 2009, 03:10:24 PM »
the last movie, End Game - other personalities came out of Duncan as he fought the last battle.
It wasn't one of the movies, but an episode where this other immortal had too many malevolent souls inside him and after Duncan killed him he had to purify himself or become evil himself...

Patriotic Kaz

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #64 on: December 02, 2009, 07:01:41 PM »
But if you fill a wine skin with too much wine it can only expand so far it eventually breaks.... not too mention some vessels are stronger than others and so are souls/ personalities
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Curious

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #65 on: December 03, 2009, 05:37:19 AM »
Having too many souls would cause problems with what's controlling the body, but it wouldn't cause your head to explode. ;) If you stole the soul of someone stronger than you, there would probably be danger of it taking over your body. However, the less you called on a soul's abilities and memories, the harder it would be for it to take over you, the less leverage it would have--and the opposite is true, too. Calling on any one soul too much would put you in danger of allowing it to take over you, particularly if it's a strong soul.

I'm making this up as I go along, but this is really turning out to be a fascinating magic system! :D I loved magic systems even before Sanderson. In fact, I loved them even before RJ.

Plasman

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #66 on: December 03, 2009, 09:30:03 AM »
my thoughts on magic systems are that they don't necessarily have to be complicated, but they do need to be well thought out, and the ways in which people interact with the magic are always complicated, but should still make sense.

For example, right now i am developing a story that revolves around the "magic" of a god "blessing" his people with the knowledge of how they are going to die.  the concept is simple, but the ramifications are enormous and need to be thought through.  it would make sense for the government to train all the people destined to die in battle for war, since that where they will be when they die, but a more clever leader might send all the people destined to die of old age to war, creating a force that could be captured at worst, but never killed.  and if this is a religious gift how does it tie into religion?  what would the clergy think of their Lord's gift being turned into a weapon?
also, within the society, how would this knowledge of how u r going to die affect how people interact? would a person be more likely to marry a person destined to die of the plague or someone destined to be murdered?  would a person destined to die of old age have a higher or lower social status then someone else?  how would a person who knows they will eventually be murdered act?  How would people from other cultures view this gift if it consistently proves to be accurate?

but yeah, that's what i'm working on right now. any thoughts?
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happyman

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #67 on: December 03, 2009, 03:11:56 PM »
my thoughts on magic systems are that they don't necessarily have to be complicated, but they do need to be well thought out, and the ways in which people interact with the magic are always complicated, but should still make sense.

For example, right now i am developing a story that revolves around the "magic" of a god "blessing" his people with the knowledge of how they are going to die.  the concept is simple, but the ramifications are enormous and need to be thought through.  it would make sense for the government to train all the people destined to die in battle for war, since that where they will be when they die, but a more clever leader might send all the people destined to die of old age to war, creating a force that could be captured at worst, but never killed.  and if this is a religious gift how does it tie into religion?  what would the clergy think of their Lord's gift being turned into a weapon?
also, within the society, how would this knowledge of how u r going to die affect how people interact? would a person be more likely to marry a person destined to die of the plague or someone destined to be murdered?  would a person destined to die of old age have a higher or lower social status then someone else?  how would a person who knows they will eventually be murdered act?  How would people from other cultures view this gift if it consistently proves to be accurate?

but yeah, that's what i'm working on right now. any thoughts?

My first thought was "Wow!  That's a clever idea."

It is, it really is.  My second thought is that you would have to take some care as to what stories you would place in this context.  It's a good gimmick, but I think it needs something more to get real mileage.
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melbatoast

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #68 on: December 03, 2009, 08:35:34 PM »
For example, right now i am developing a story that revolves around the "magic" of a god "blessing" his people with the knowledge of how they are going to die. 
I like this idea. A few thoughts for you:

Quote
and if this is a religious gift how does it tie into religion? 
When do they find out how they die? At birth or maybe some type of coming-of-age ceremony?

Quote
also, within the society, how would this knowledge of how u r going to die affect how people interact?
How would people know how everyone is going to die? Is there a public registry or does only the government know?  Could people lie about it?
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Plasman

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #69 on: December 03, 2009, 11:36:15 PM »
The way i've thought about it is that you find out at a coming of age ceremony type thing in which you get a kind of symbol tatooed on your arm that tells you how you will eventually die. because this is very personal information, normally it then is up to that person who they show their mark to, but the member of the clergy who performs the ceremony will always know. the history leading up to the story i'm developing involves the government taking control of this process in order to find the Age Mark super soldiers needed for conquest.  The story begins with the nearing of an end of an Age Mark generation when, for some reason, no more Age Marks are being given.
as for whether someone could lie about how they are going to die or fake a mark, it's possible i suppose...
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melbatoast

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #70 on: December 04, 2009, 12:00:58 AM »
Very interesting ideas. I hope you keep going with this story.
"She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain." - Louisa May Alcott

Curious

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #71 on: December 04, 2009, 12:29:07 AM »
Plasman, your idea is awesome but I'd like to know one important thing. Is someone's death set in stone, or can they change the future based on their actions? Is it like fate in The Wheel of Time where certain things happen certain ways no matter what, or is it like atium in MB?

Plasman

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #72 on: December 04, 2009, 01:56:55 AM »
The fate divined by the participating member of the clergy is absolute and will happen no matter what, but like i mentioned earlier it may be possible for a mark to be faked. plus, there is no absolute assurance that a person's divined fate is the same as the tattoo they are given. some members of the clergy may have been corrupted when the government took over...
Duct tape is like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.

Curious

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #73 on: December 04, 2009, 05:02:47 AM »
So, if someone was told they would die horribly and decided to take their own life, it wouldn't work? Would fate prevent them from taking their own life, or would they be immune to dying entirely? Or, would it prevent them from wanting to take their own life?

I guess if fate took into account that people would know their deaths but it happened the way it was predetermined to, it could be very interesting. There would be some very interesting twists if people didn't die the way they thought they would, such as Macbeth's death.

Plasman

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Re: Magic Systems
« Reply #74 on: December 04, 2009, 08:16:01 AM »
you keep asking questions that have me reveal more and more of my story, but then i shouldn't be complaining, at least someone is interested.
one of my characters is actually an Age Mark who at one point in the story goes suicidal.  as for whether she succeeds or not, i did say that a person's fate is absolute, but then it may be possible her mark is a fake.
Duct tape is like the force, it has a light side and a dark side and it holds the universe together.