Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Limitations on Infinite Magic: inspiration & spark

This post is Part 4 of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more mystic content in my Magic Directory.



In Part 1 of this series, I started working on a flexible in-world taxonomy for the magic system of the Known World. I liked the idea of magic equality, so every person has equal access to raw magic ability, and I also liked the idea of unlimited magic potential for each person.

But every single person having unlimited magic was definitely world-breaking, so there had to be some stipulations. Paradoxically, I had to limit the unlimited-ness of magic, or every single person would be way too overpowered and the stories would make no sense.

So I established deep magic, which is truly unlimited. All people can access it, but only certain people actually do access it. I invented a few catalysts that would trigger the access, keeping the power in the few.


Check out this Author's Manifesto for more of my inspirations!


The most well-known catalyst is hearing the secret language of Ryunic aloud; this triggers the access for individuals with an inborn predilection for deep magic. Then I came up with other, lesser-known methods to catalyze access for other types of individuals.

This maintained the equality of limitlessness but also served to keep the power from being actively wielded by every person. I also factored in a person's ethical alignment, so deep magic could be used for good and for evil in equal measure, which in turn gave my Tales of the Known World saga a wide range of contrasts to explore.

Next I addressed the natural magics that all people are born with. Each race had a different combination of magics, six in total. While each of these six was technically unlimited, I gave these magics a natural limit that represented the point at which a person's instinct and intuition would carry them no farther.

As expressed in my Magic Codex, to progress beyond this limit point, a person would have to study their magic academically. This continued the trend of infinite potential in every person, but shifted the impetus of mastery to dedication and determination. Every person can advance infinitely, but it requires the resolve for self-actualization, as well as the wealth and leisure time to devote to academic pursuits.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Adding magics that aren't so infinite...

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.






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