Worldbuilding

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Hard magic systems? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago by early_riser@lemmy.world to c/worldbuilding@lemmy.world

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I've always had an odd relationship with "hard" magic systems, that is systems that seem to be... well systematic, stuff you could analyze and explain almost like a hard science.

On the one hand, as a creator it's really fun to think of different rules and how those rules interact or how they can be worked around and manipulated.

On the other hand, as a consumer of media I never liked overly explained magic systems because they cease to feel magical. I like the feeling of unknowability about magic as a concept, like we're chimps setting off a nuclear explosion. We see it, we feel its effects, but nothing on earth could make us understand how or why it is what it is because it involves forces far beyond our ken.

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[–] Andonome@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Hard magic seems like an unavoidable perspective. Once someone casts spells daily, those spells become familiar.

Tolkien avoided this problem with limited spells. Le Guine leaned into it so hard that the method became enchanting. The reader could see Sparrowhawk's point of view and start to wonder more about the rules of magic as they trickle out slowly.

[–] justdaveisfine@piefed.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

I tend to prefer hard magic in my own designs - But much like technical studies in real life, no one is a master at it, and even the very best mages still discover new things that surprise them.

This way you can have very knowledgeable mages who know many technical specifics but miss the forest for the trees, while a total amateur mage might accidentally tap into doing something that's never been done before.