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The Art of World Building > Book Blog > Archive for Volume 3 (Page 7)

Category: Volume 3

Magic Systems: Where to Start

May 10, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

Early decisions to make in creating a magic system include what types of magic we want to include in the setting, how prevalent each is, what the source is, and whether mortals need spells to do it. These choices will Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

Inventing Spells: Words

May 6, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

The mystery of magic is often the viewers’ inability to understand what a wizard is doing, or how, and finding out that the words mean something unimpressive ruins this. So we may not want to decide them for every (or Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

Inventing Spells: Materials

May 3, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

Whether creating spells, potions, or magic items, viewing ingredients as like those for a recipe is a useful analogy. Everything has its purpose, or it isn’t there. The combination of water and flour make dough, which is needed for anything Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

Inventing Spells: Gestures

April 29, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

As we all know, spells are a combination of words, gestures, and ingredients. One way to invent spells is to decide that each of these serves a different role in each magic system. If we can’t make up our mind, Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

The Pros and Cons of Magic

April 26, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

Even magic systems have pros and cons, which is one way to further define our system(s). Some pros have little to do with the type but rather the society. For example, if training or materials is widely available or cheap, Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

Limits on Magic

April 22, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

A system is all about limits. Whether we’re doing hard or soft magic, we must still decide on limits unless we genuinely want an all-powerful being. There are arguably two kinds of limits: those imposed by the universe/gods and those Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

What Do Wizard’s Wear?

April 19, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

The default attire many audiences have in mind is the robe, with the color or something else denoting the type of magic or skill level the practitioner has attained. There’s no real reason for the robe other than cliché, but Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

A Wizard’s Life

April 15, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

Height of Power When wizards are in their prime, we should determine their options in society. Deciding on magic prevalence once against helps us decide their prospects. For example, if magic is common and accepted, they might begin to instruct Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

Magic Training

April 12, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

Even wizards who can do magic with will power, not spells, can benefit from training. One element that distinguishes mankind (at least on Earth) is the ability to learn from predecessors. And wizards are likely the elite, having more specialized Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

How Magic is Gained and Lost

April 8, 2021April 6, 2021 Randy Ellefson

We won’t look at how a wizard, shaman, or other type of practitioner spends his day so much as the phases of his career, from how the ability is gained and lost, their training, what life is like at the Read More …

Book Blog, Volume 3

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