What are the Basic Magic Systems?

It won’t be much of a Magic Blog if I don’t talk about the basics. They're the Hard and Soft Magic systems, a topic covered all over the internet.

I will also talk about the template fantasy game magic system and review it too so it’s not just me saying the same things. With that let’s get on with it.

Hard Magic Systems

Remember when I said that I was going to say the same old thing about the Hard and Soft magic systems?

Well, I want to introduce a more in-depth version of the classic Hard vs Soft system.

I would show it like this:

<Flimsy Soft----Soft-----Fluid Hard------Hard>

Before going over the new additions let’s define the normal Hard Magic System.

Normal Hard Magic System

A Hard Magic System is where the rules and limits are clearly defined for the character and audience. These systems tend to be more unique (universe exclusive) and complex than soft magic systems.

Fluid Hard Magic System

Now that you know the normal definition of Hard Magic, I want to add another layer to it called Fluid Hard.

This is for worlds that have magic systems that have some soft edges and can allow sensible deviations.

An Example is Alchemy (FMA) vs Bending (Avatar the Last Airbender).

Alchemy has very little wiggle room in its system while Bending has a small soft spot when it comes to its spiritual side.

Not a bad thing, just a softer feature of Bending. This soft spot of bending gave mystery to the otherwise hard system. It gave the system much room to grow in interesting ways. Sadly, Korra happened.

Normal Soft Magic Systems

A Soft Magic System is a system where the audience, and sometimes the characters, are unaware of what the magic can or can not do.

Basically, they're unaware of the limits of Magic. Common in stories where study and experimentation are used to find out what magic can do.

This can also include stories that have no magic limit and where the spells are overpowered.

Flimsy Soft Magic System

My addition is Flimsy Soft, and it’s when a magic system is extremely mystical and unknowable.

The flimsy in the title comes in when the writer starts trying to flesh the system out, it tends to fall apart. Best in stories where the focus is not magic but horror or mystery.

But, that’s looking at Flimsy Soft in a positive light. Even in soft magic systems, there are small rules in place that prevent it from falling into plot holes.

For example, if a character has 5 known spells in the system they shouldn’t be able to pull a 6th out of nowhere. A bad Flimsy Soft system would allow him to cast a 6th or 7th spell to get out of a bad situation.

Same with spell effects, if a well-known spell has a different effect for no reason(Fireball shooting out poison instead of Fire), then it would be a bad Flimsy Soft system.

The main point is to not let the spell be a Deus ex Machina, properly set it up even in softer systems.

Basically:

• Bad Flimsy Soft= Many plot holes and contradictions

• Good Flimsy Soft= Mystery and Cosmic Horror.

Template Magic System

This Magic System is one used in many RPGs and Isekai Manga; the Elemental Magic Tree. For RPGs, they focus on the trio; Lighting, Fire, and Ice.

Now there’s nothing wrong with using this and it’s usually supported by other magic types.

If you don’t want to go into detail on how magic works or want to focus on the elemental side then use this tried and true method.

It’s also good for stories that don’t focus on the magic of the world. It’s there in the background not affecting the plot much. It also allows for a rock paper scissor system for RPGs.

The spells here are cast by the mage when they use their mana/MP to bring forth an elemental effect. That’s pretty much it, a simple foundation for more impressive stuff.

It doesn’t need a rating in my opinion because of how basic it is. It’s not bad or good, it’s just the norm for RPGs and many fantasy stories.

Conclusion and Extra Info

More info by other great creators is linked below and on my 2nd YouTube Channel playlist. There’s even a video from Daniel Greene that redefines the Soft and Hard system into Wonder and Rule.

I want to add more layer to his idea called Low and High spell diversity as shown here:

Low and High spell diversity is when a story has either:

• Many different and varied spells.

• A limited and fixed amount of spells that do fewer things in comparison.

Now if these additions don’t make sense then tell me in the comments so I can either improve them or remove them. If that’s not something you can do then you can always ignore my additions.

That’s all have to say about Magic Systems. With that, I’m done.