Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things

Rules of Magic

1.Creating something original is about damn near impossible

2.Creating something that makes sense and is plausible (as much as magic can be) can turn into a treatise on the mechanics of the system rather than a nice supporting character in the big story

3. Striking a balance where the magic doesn't overshadow or subvert the characters is every bit the challenge that creating rich characters is. (I would argue that magic is a character much like setting).

Here are some very important questions you should answer before continuing to write a world of magic:

What things can magic not do? What are the limits to magical power? How do magicians try to get around these limits?

What is the price magicians must pay in order to be magicians — years of study, permanent celibacy, using up bits of their life or memory with each spell, etc.? Does anyone ever try to get around the price of magic?

Is there a difference between miracles and magic? If so, how are they distinguished?

Where does magic power come from: the gods, the "mana" of the world, the personal willpower of the magician? Is magic an exhaustible resource? If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?

How does a magician tap his/her magic power? Does becoming a magician require some rite of passage (investing one's power in an object, being chosen by the gods, constructing or being given a permanent link to the source of power) or does it just happen naturally, as a gradual result of much study or as a part of growing up?

What do you need to do to cast a spell — design an elaborate ritual, recite poetry, mix the right ingredients in a pot? Are there things like a staff, a wand, a familiar, a crystal ball, that are necessary to have before casting spells? If so, where and how do new wizards get these things? Do they make them, buy them from craftsmen, inherit them from their teachers, or order them from Wizardry Supplies, Inc.?

Is there a numerical limit to the number of wizards in the world? What is it? Why?

How long does it take to cast a spell? Can spells be stored for later, instant use? Does working spells take lots of long ritual, or is magic a "point and shoot" affair?

Can two or more wizards combine their power to cast a stronger spell, or is magic done only by individuals? What makes one wizard more powerful than another — knowledge of more spells, ability to handle greater levels of power, having a more powerful god as patron, etc.?

Does practicing magic have any detrimental effect on the magician (such as becoming addictive, fomenting insanity, or shortening life-span)? If so, is there any way to prevent these effects? Are the effects inevitable to all magicians, or do they affect only those with some sort of predisposition? Do they progress at the same rate in everyone? Are they universal in all species, or are some races (dwarves, elves, whoever) immune to these detrimental effects?

How much is known about the laws of nature, physics, and magic? How much of what is commonly known is wrong (e.g., Aristotle's ideas about human anatomy, which were wrong but accepted for centuries)?

What general varieties of magic are practiced (e.g., herbal potions, ritual magic, alchemical magic, demonology, necromancy, etc.)? Do any work better than others, or does only one variety actually work?

Are certain kinds of magic practiced solely or chiefly by one sex or the other? By one race or another? Is this because of inborn ability, natural preferences, or legislation?