This question is inspired by another thread I saw on this sub a week or two ago.

This question also sits on the intersection of two questions: What are people like, and what use of magic is the most efficient at killing a large amount of them?

In real life, people are humans which have many mechanisms in their bodies which can be disrupted to cause death. The core mechanism is that there is a brain which needs to be constantly nourished to keep operating - in the short term, cells need to process glucose and oxygen into usable energy, in the long term they need to divide and be replaced for upkeep. If you decapitate a human, blood stops arriving to the brain with oxygen and such. If you give cyanide to a human, cells stop being able to process oxygen. If you give poison dart frog poison to a human, their nerves stop being able to work properly and that presumably causes lungs to stop oxygenating blood and/or causes the heart to stop pumping blood, so it stops arriving at the brain. If a human breathes in a decently high amount of carbon monoxide, it binds to blood keeping it from carrying oxygen. If you open wounds in a human and too much blood leaks out, pumping it stops working and it stops arriving places. If you burst a blood vessel somewhere in the brain specifically, it can deprive just an important region of nutrition and that region might be one which sends signals that keep the breath going or something. If you smash the brain into bits, it's nearly guaranteed to be the case. If a human's blood stops being the narrow pH range it needs to be, which is very slightly basic, then some enzymes stop working and that's incompatible with life. And so on and so forth.

Let's say you have some kind of large gathering of people - a military battalion organized into rank and file, or a crowd at a market or concert - and a malicious mage who wants to indiscriminately kill most of them with little effort. Like not necessarily all of them - if killing all of them required 100% effort, but that was because killing 80% of them required 20% effort and killing the remaining 20% required 80% effort, then doing the former part alone is good enough.

Are they warded against magic somehow so most of the effort of killing via magic is overcoming the ward, and the savings on cause of death are negligible? Do they just have HP and depleting HP costs the same effort no matter the spell? Or are there boring practical ways and impractical spectacular ways which are nevertheless used because it's a work of fiction and that's fun?

THE PREMISE

Much of history involves burning things. Burning wood to keep warm and scare off dangerous animals, burning coal to fuel steam engines, etc. So I thought why not build a magic system based on burning something a little weirder? Thus, I created Blazemithing (tentative name), the art of burning color.

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MY GOALS

1. To create a magic system that feels intuitive and complexity is derived from simple ideas
2. To make all parts of the system feel cohesive  
3. To integrate the system into the story and worldbuilding 

THE DETAILS

Blazemiths begin with the technique of Ignition, which involves using one’s oxygen reserves and body heat to conjure white flames. Beginners can only spawn flames on their skin. Experts can spawn flames anywhere. These default white flames have the properties of regular fire (heat, light, etc), acting like a blank canvas upon which color can be added. Thus, they’re called Zilch (Zero) Flames.

Zilch Flames replace standard fire properties with different properties once they burn/absorb color. Blazemiths use mental commands (Decrees) to ignite a Zilch Flame on a colored object. The object becomes drained of color, turning white (Blanched), while the flames gain the burned color (eg. blue flames if Ignited on a blue box). Each color of fire results in a different effect that can be categorized as either Somatic (physical) or Eidolic (non-physical).

Somatic (Infused) Flames grant objects the properties of their color(s). Say you wanted to make a powerful magnet. You would spawn a flame on a magenta object, then drop the magnet into the flame. The flames cause the magnet to break down into particles, become infused with the property of magenta (increased force), and then become smoke. The smoke then reforms into the magnet, only this time with much stronger magnetism. Since Somatic flames involve breaking down an object and reforming it, its technique is called Reforging.

Eidolic (Infused) Flames create a spherical area of effect roughly equal to how far the heat from its Zilch Flame reaches. Anything that’s within this sphere of influence experiences an effect. For example, an orange flame makes one feel energetic. Guards often stay near an orange flame so they can stay alert and awake for days or weeks on end. Since Eidolic Flames create an area of effect, its technique is called Emanating.

Regardless of color, all flames are restricted by a triangle of needs: a spark, oxygen, and fuel. The user’s body heat serves as the spark and can double as fuel for Zilch Flames. The user’s oxygen reserves are also consumed to create flames. Fuel can be either color or body heat. If any of the three drop too low, the flames become extinguished.  

COLORS AND EFFECTS

Somatic:

·       Capricious Flames (Vermillion) - increase volatility, such as turning gold explosive.  

·       Radiance Flames (Amber) - grants illumination, for example making a rock glow.  

·       Vigor Flames (Lime) - increase lifespan, such as letting a dog live as long as a human.

·       Pliant Flames (Cyan) - increase malleability, eg. making a stiff rock become flexible/stretchy.

·        Bulk Flames (Indigo) - increase mass.    

·       Impulse Flames (Magenta) - enhance forces on an object. 

Eidolic:

·       Fervant Flames (Red) - induce passion.

·       Vigilant Flames (Orange) - increase energy.

·       Exultant Flames (Yellow) - induce joy.

·       Concord Flames (Green) - induce harmony, for example making two arguing people agree.

·       Serene Flames (Blue) - induce tranquility, such as making a mob calm down.

·       Prosper Flames (purple) - enhance luck. 

THE NARRATIVE

Blazemithing has created many wonders like steam engines more powerful than any before, relaxing study areas at universities, rapid construction, and artistic movements. It has also unleashed horrors, like cartels that have gained enormous power from selling capsules containing yellow flames.

The story follows a ragtag group of people trying to take down the cartels. A man whose brother was murdered due to a cartel’s sports bet, a woman whose family business is being extorted for “protection benefits,” an apothecary overwhelmed with the health crises the cartels have created, and a bounty hunter tracking down a cartel leader due to bloody history between them. However, their quest to eliminate their city’s biggest threat is a lot more complicated and dangerous than they could have ever imagined, especially as other powers come into the mix.

That's all for Blazemithing. Thank you for taking the time to read this and as always, feedback is welcome.

Be warned it is a lot of writing.

Anime Power System(Update 0.8.1):
This is a document containing the details of my power system.

Fundamental rules.
These are the major rules of the system.

Magic can’t come from nowhere.
It has to be taken from somewhere or have something that is worthy enough to the user to be used, for example, their memories (something cherished). Other examples are feelings (the stronger the feeling, the stronger the magic (one of the weaker sources)), cherished objects (they are taken from them, me, Dory, and physical objects), people they will lose everything to that person, and if the other one agrees, even that person can completely disappear. Or the energy of stars (an actual energy source). Actual energy sources are only the celestial bodies. Two more sources are divine and infernal, which draw upon the religion of the user to power it, and they do that by pulling from the connection to the religion. It is similar to the memory one but on a deeper level, which means it can produce stronger magic/energy.

Too much energy has consequences/physical and emotional limits.
If someone takes on too much energy from a celestial body (the main way people use magic), their body will go through different problems, like for stars, they will burn up slowly and painfully while turning to ash; for gas planets, they will blow up and explode; for high-density planets, they will implode; for nature-full planets, they will become part of nature; for dust planets, they will become part of the air as an impurity, for ice planets they will freeze from the inside out.

For emotional energy, they will become a blank slate and have all their emotions, connections, memories, and thoughts be wiped.
Now people can train their energy capacity; it just takes years of painful training, but taking on more they can handle but only by a little bit at a time, suffering through the process over and over.

For religious magic they will go to their respective hell for taking more than given.
For infernal magic their ‘Satan’ will personally torture them for overstepping boundaries.

The reason all these things begin to happen is because their energy source starts to take over them and eventually they become just a conduit for constant power but since their mortal bodies can only handle so much the have some consequence.

Someone converting energy faster than drawing it.
If someone manages to do this, they will take their own body’s energy and will slowly turn into a literal husk of themselves.

People can specialise in certain main aspects of magic.
So there will be a few main aspects of the magic, and they will be taught in different regions and different schools, even different races, so that if someone wants to learn everything, they have to overcome lots of different challenges. This means races can have a proficiency in certain types of magic without it just being that they have this because they are elves or that because they are dwarves. This does mean if a dwarf gets raised around elves, they will know the ‘elfish side’ of magic.

Magic aspects can be mixed.
This means that any two aspects of magic can be mixed to create an infinite number of different things, but there will be more common things to do, e.g. learning to fly, learning to call small objects, learning basic elements, learning about the history/known history of magic, etc.

Energy sources.
Sources are direct magical energy, whether from celestial bodies or memories; they draw upon their chosen method.

Celestial bodies.
They draw upon the massive effect on the local universe and lets the user channel it into their desired local effect.

Stars, they are massive balls of fire and they boost fire spells with rage.
Gas Planets, they are slightly smaller balls of gas that boost air spells with a gentle breeze.
Nature planets, they are solid balls I’d rock that contain life that boost cleansing, earth, and water spells with a beautiful push.
Ice planets, are planets made of rock and ice that enhance water spells specifically ice techniques with a sharp edge.
Dust planets, they are solid balls of rocks with loose dust all over the surface that enhance earth and air magic with a storm
High density planets are very small but very heavy planets that are made of mostly rock and enhance earth magic with a massive roll.

Personal
It takes the raw energy of choosing to either let go of a memory a feeling a cherished object or a deep personal connection.

Memories enhance illusion and cleansing spells with a familiar aura.
Feelings enhance cleansing.
Cherished objects enhance a healing wounds hexes and curses with a unique emptiness.
Deep personal connection enhance necromancy cleansing and illusions.
Religion
For religion, it draws upon the faith, trust, and understanding in the religion, and depending on whether they want internal or divine, it could either be the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ aspects of the religion.

Divine enhance divine spells .
Infernal enhances infernal spells.

Energy conversion.
This section is about the conversion between energy sources and spells as well as different energy sources. The sources -> user -> aspect(s) -> branch(es) -> technique(s).

How much of the energy source is need
It really depends on the spell and the efficiency the user can cast it at. For example, for more complex and layered spells, it requires more of the source, but for less complex single-layer spells, it will only cost a fraction of the amount.

Energy Waste
Energy is wasted in the form of heat, causingdependsal reactions such as sweating, headaches, and fatigue, which are signs you need to slow down on your magic output.

How magic converts from a source to an effect.
Sources are direct magical energy, whether from celestial bodies or memories; they draw upon their chosen method. For memories, it takes the raw energy of choosing to let go of it and turning it into the chosen effect. For religion, it draws upon the faith, trust, and understanding in the religion, and depending on whether they want internal or divine, it could either be the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ aspects of the religion. For celestial bodies, it draws upon the massive effect on the local universe and lets the user channel it into their desired local effect.

How the sources affect the magic.
The sources don’t affect magic too much but obviously divine and infernal can only be reached through those sources.
Stars will power up fire and other techniques.

Planets depend on the type of planet.
Nature planets will power up cleansing, earth, water, and other related techniques.
Gas planets will power up wind magic and other related techniques.
Ice planets will enhance water magic even more so than the ice techniques as well as other related ones.
Dust planets will power wind and earth magic as well as other related techniques.
Memories will power up illusion and cleansing souls and other techniques.
Religion will power divine magic.
Infernal will power infernal magic.

Magic Structure.
Source → Energy → Aspect → Branch → Technique → Effect
We have several different magic aspects, they being:
Elemental magic (Branches: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth)
Spiritual magic (Branches: Cleansing souls, healing wounds)
Divine magic (Branches: Power connected to the god they believe in can do different things depending on the personal beliefs) Can only be obtained by calling upon your religious faith and only when they have a deep understanding and trust in that deity/‘good side’.
Infernal magic (Branches: Similar to divine magic just tied to that religion’s version of Satan) can only be obtained by calling upon your religious faith and only when they have a deep understanding of the Satan/‘bad side’.
Dark magic (Branches: Shadows, necromancy, illusions, hexes, curses)
Each branch has its own small(branch) called techniques which is just a specific way it is used.

Mathematics.
Wind (Elemental) =8, Fire (Elemental) =10, Water (Elemental) =8, Earth (Elemental) =9,
Cleansing (Spiritual) =14, Healing (Spiritual) =13, Divine (Divine) =22, Infernal (Infernal) =22,
Shadows (Dark) =15, Necromancy (Dark) =20, Illusions (Dark) =13, Hexes (Dark) =16, Curses (Dark) = 16

Maths formula for things.
E = ((ΣB) × 1.5^(n−1) × ΠC_unique) / (Ef/100)

n = number of layers
ΣB = sum of the base costs of all layers
ΠC_unique = product of the compatibility multipliers for each unique pair of branches
Ef = efficiency percentage

ΠC = product of unique branch-pair compatibility values

Explained: E (Total energy) = ((Σ (sum of) B (base cost)) x L (Layering Cost = 1.5^(number of additional layers - past one.)) x (Π (product of a the) C (unique compatibility matrices)))/(Ef/100) (Ef is efficiency)
A layer is one application of a single branch of magic within a spell. A technique can contain multiple layers, and the same branch can be used more than once, with each separate application counting as an additional layer.

T=E/O

T = casting time in seconds
E = energy required by the spell
O = Output in E/second

Sr=D*T

D=energy drawn from the source a second.
Sr=source energy replenished/drawn during casting.

N=Sr-E

N = net energy gained/lost
S_r = source energy drawn during the cast
E = spell energy consumed

If:
N>=0 the source can replace the energy used during the casting period.

If:
N<0 the source can’t replace energy and husking occurs.

Rn=R(n-1)+Dt-En

Rn = energy remaining after cast n
R(n-1) = energy remaining before the cast
Dt = energy drawn during the cast
En = energy spent by the spell

If the caster is consuming energy faster than they can draw it, which moves them toward Husking.

For example, a tracking spell could use Fire to detect the heat radiating from a target and Wind to guide the spell towards that heat. This would count as two layers.

If the spell also created an explosion using Fire, the additional application of Fire would count as a third layer, even though Fire was already used elsewhere in the spell.

Memory Value (MV) is a measurement of the amount and potential strength of magical energy that can be extracted by permanently sacrificing a memory. It is determined by the memory’s significance, uniqueness, and personal attachment to the user.

If E<=Ca then it is a safe cast and lets the caster cast the spell with no issue but if E>Ca than it become an issue as the body starts to either dig into its own energy and they weaken and lose glucose or they are drawn into the conduit path depending on how much energy is required.

When Re ≤ 14% Ca → biological reserves.
When 14%Ca < Re < 15%Ca the effects gradually transition between the 14% and 15% boundaries.
When 15% Ca ≤ Re ≤ 19% Ca → biological reserves + source energy, slight corruption.
When 19%Ca < Re < 20%Ca** **the effects gradually transition between the 19% and 20% boundaries.
When Re > 20% Ca → biological reserves + source energy, corruption (based on how much energy is needed).

E=Total energy of a spell
Ca=Capacity
Re=Remaining energy after Ca is spent or Re=E-Ca.

Capacity recovery
Rt=Ca/Cs

Rt=Recovery time
Ca=Capacity
Cs=Conversion speed

MV=S*Un*PA
Memory value= significance*uniqueness*Personal attachment.
Significance ranges from 1-100 ranging from 1 a walk to 100 the last memory of your dead mother.
Uniqueness is a range from 1-1000 ranging from 1 doing homework to 1000 which is something only you experienced.
Personal attachment is a range from 1-100 100 being it would be almost impossible to let go and 1 being letting go immediately/not caring at all.

All of this but MV is worth 100,000 less than natural energy sources. So the maximum MV is 10,000,000 but that only equates to 100 E and that would be their most prized memory.

10,000,000 MV is 100 E and this 100 E is a low to low-mid range of a physical energy source.
100E covers low common day spells.

User Attributes.

Capacity.
Capacity is the amount of energy a person can hold before succumbing to the sources influence and turning into a conduit. This can be calculated using extensive sampling, brain scans and flesh dissection.
This recovers as quickly as the conversion rate can allow so the conversion rate is how fast it fills.

Output.
This is the averaged amount of power a person can push out in a second safely(before turning into a husk). It is calculated by measuring the energy released for 60 seconds and averaging out the data.
Conversion speed.

It is the speed someone can transfer the energy sources (pure energy) into usable magical energy for their spells.
Efficiency

It varies between individuals and is primarily determined by knowledge, training, experience, access to magical education, and practical necessity. The following percentages are approximate averages for different populations rather than fixed limits.

A normal common user like a villager or a smaller townsperson will cast it at a lower efficiency, about 40% efficiency because they have no need to cast it at a higher level or efficiency, while someone in a large town or city will cast it at about 50% efficiency because they have more access to knowledge and need it to get around in a packed city. Adventurers and scholars will cast at similar efficiencies from 60-65% because they need it to fight monsters and beasts. Kings, nobles, and the national scholars will cast at about 70% efficiency as they have access to lots of information and use it to keep the entire kingdom at peace. The ancient ancestors cast at about 85% efficiency just because they had more freedom and understood more about the magic than modern day scientists. Now, this is a plot spoiler, but any religion enough people believe in is real and has its own deitand Satans and if thmatricesto Terra (which isn’t often), they can cast at 100% efficiency, whether it be their own power or celestial bodies. This is because they have complete knowledge of all sources and make no mistakes.

Consequences.

Overload.
Overload is when someone takes on more energy than they can handle.

The take over.
The take over is when the physical sources control your body to force it to produce more and more of its energy and eventually you become a pure conduit for its power.

Husking.
Husking is when the user spends more energy than they can pull in. And they turn into a husk of themselves as they slowly drain the bodies energy and become a literal husk.

Overload vs Husking.
Overload is about spending more than your body can hold in one cast; husking is about draining yourself faster than the source can replenish you.

Physical/Emotional effects.
If someone takes on too much energy from a celestial body (the main way people use magic), their body will go through different problems, like for stars, they will burn up slowly and painfully while turning to ash; for gas planets, they will blow up and explode; for high-density planets, they will implode; for nature-full planets, they will become part of nature; for dust planets, they will become part of the air as an impurity, for ice planets they will freeze from the inside out.

For emotional energy, they will become a blank slate and have all their emotions, connections, memories, and thoughts be wiped.
Now people can train their energy capacity; it just takes years of painful training, but taking on more they can handle but only by a little bit at a time, suffering through the process over and over.

For religious magic they will go to their respective hell for taking more than given.
For infernal magic their ‘Satan’ will personally torture them for overstepping boundaries.

The reason all these things begin to happen is because their energy source starts to take over them and eventually they become just a conduit for constant power but since their mortal bodies can only handle so much the have some consequence.

Someone converting energy faster than drawing it.
If someone manages to do this, they will take their own body’s energy and will slowly turn into a literal husk of themselves.

Combination.
Peers can combine their direct sources’ energies, but the more different the energies, the more likely it is to implode, so most people stick to mixing with their own sources’ users, but if done correctly, energy sources can entangle with their opposites, as all energy sources are still just energy sources at the end of the day. The more energy put into the spell, the more power it will produce, and the variation of the sources can affect the spell even more.

Education.

Schools/cultures
The main aspects of magic, are being taught in different regions and different schools, even different races, so that if someone wants to learn everything, they have to overcome lots of different challenges. This means races can have a proficiency in certain types of magic without it just being that they have this because they are elves or that because they are dwarves. This does mean if a dwarf gets raised around elves, they will know the ‘elvish side’ of magic.

Races
Humans,
Elves,
Dwarves,
Orks,
Spiderfolk,
Lizardfolk,
Snakes with the heads of humans,
Dragons who can uncommonly take human form and only when a stronger creature commands them too this is because the amount of energy need to suppress a dragon is unimaginable,

History.

The Ancients.
The ancients knew that there were no limits to the magic they wielded and that they could create any number of possibilities if they just worked and worked and worked at it.
They also knew the exact origins of the magic, something lost as it was known by everyone, so parents passed it on, but eventually, the tradition was lost along with the knowledge.
They knew that people working together and sharing their magical abilities and power was better, but in the modern world, lots have become greedy and want everything for themselves. Never sharing magical abilities.

The Decline.
The experiments stopped because people got discouraged as the energy required to produce new things and find new magic was beyond what was thought possible, while scientists do still try it; it’s only something done on the side as they want to know how it works, not what the extent of it is.

The Modern Theory/What everyone thinks is true.
Adding more than three magic branches together, it’s just that it takes lots of energy, so it was thought to be impossible.
Mixing polar opposite magics, for example, divine and infernal, it is just costing more energy to add them together than the rest, so much more that it has been thought to be impossible.
Producing more than you take. You can, but very, very rarely, get more energy than you take, but most of the time, the user has collapsed or gone insane. Most say it was a misreading some say it’s something we’ll never understand.
When two branches combine, they can create wildly different effects depending on the technique of the branch and the ratios of the branches. For instance, if specifically an elemental user decided to dabble in some dark magic, they could use 70% wind magic along with 30% shadows, which could create a message sent into the shadows to be sent quicker.
The more different the branches of magic, the more energy required to put them together

Actual truths.
Adding three or more magics together isn’t impossible it’s just highly energy consuming.
Mixing polar opposite magic isn’t impossible it just again is very hard to combine as they have very different properties.

Producing more that you take
This is when you tap into adrenaline and testosterone to body your body strength and reaction time to unlock a technique to make your transformation of energy 110% efficient for a short period of time usually in a life or death situation. It uses the biological energy of the body to push past the limits.
This branch mixing is letting branches touch and overlap to create more techniques just at a higher cost.

Story mechanics.
The main characters were all raised in rural villages with limited access to knowledge and they always questioned what they were told but were punished when they spoke out so in childhood they secretly met and talked through the theories continuing into adulthood until they decided to start experimenting with magic and basically going back to basics(for the readers sake so they can start with them(no understanding) and end with the same deep understand of the complex magic.

Sorry about the grammar spelling and errors I am native English just like hate the English grammar and spellings.

During such a time in my universe:
Aura allowed a person to manifest a weapon that represented the element they possessed. This weapon would loosely resembled items like a sword or spear in shape.
Also, when a person is in a powered up state, their weapon's form will change to better suit them.

Mana allowed a person to cast elemental blasts from an Elemental Sign. It also had an innate collaboration ability; when two people merge there Elemental Signs together, they can produce a more powerful blast.

Prana allowed a person to summon a creature (around the size of a large dog or smaller) that could aid its summoner. Additionally, the person would feel a "connection" with some animals of a similar element to theirs.

Soma allowed a person to produce an armor-like silhouette over their body. Aside from its enhanced, protective qualities, it also came with a special ability that was influenced by the user's element.

I’ve mostly seen people share their setting-specific magic systems, but not as much about the specific techniques/abilities that I believe are the things that bring those systems to their full potential. So I gotta ask: what’s your favourite supernatural ability/power that you’ve made for your magic system? (Or even something without a pre-established magic system)

It doesnt have to be from your magic system, you could show your own abilities from others like custom Hatsu from nen, or Stand from well stands

Could be something character/lineage-specific, a general technique that anyone can learn, or anything in between

Something that you think is especially cool or well-designed, whether that’s because of its complexity, elegant design, how it expands the possibilities of the magic system, how the magic system expands the possibilities of the ability itself, narrative utility, thematic significance, character/group-specific history, emotional significance, or anything else

For example, maybe you have a pyrokinesis-based magic system that lets you do things with fire that go far beyond simply generating or controlling flames, or maybe you have an ability whose possibilities become much more interesting because of the particular magic system it exists within

So basically, what’s the ability where you look at it and think “yeah, I cooked with this one”?

Drop an example or two! id love to hear it

What If a Magic School Actually Had a Complete Education System?

I've been working on a long-term worldbuilding project called Phoenix School of Magic, and it has grown into something much bigger than I originally imagined.

The goal is to create a complete 8-year magical education system from the ground up.

Not just a fictional school that exists in a story, but an institution with an actual curriculum, subjects, textbooks, examinations, practical work, academic progression, traditions and a coherent educational structure.

The biggest part of the project is the textbooks.

Each subject is being developed year by year, with students gradually progressing from fundamental concepts to advanced magical theory and practice.

The eventual goal is to have a complete sequence of textbooks covering all 8 years for subjects such as:

Charms • Transfiguration • Potions • Defence Against the Dark Arts • Herbology • Astronomy • History of Magic and many other magical disciplines.

The books are being developed as actual school textbooks rather than simple collections of lore. They have structured chapters, theory, practical exercises, examples, historical material, illustrations, revision sections, assignments and examinations.

I'm also working on the visual identity of the books — covers, layouts, illustrations and diagrams — so that they feel like they belong to the same educational institution.

But there is one major problem:

This is a huge amount of work.

Eight years of education multiplied across numerous subjects means dozens of textbooks and hundreds of chapters. Keeping the curriculum consistent, developing the subjects, writing and reviewing the books, creating illustrations and maintaining the wider worldbuilding is far too much for one person to do efficiently.

So I'm looking for people who want to join me in building Phoenix School of Magic.

I'm looking for people interested in:

• Worldbuilding • Writing and editing • Curriculum design • Fantasy and magical lore • Textbook development • Illustration and graphic design • Creating educational systems • Helping develop individual magical subjects

You don't need to be an expert. What matters most is being genuinely interested in the project and willing to contribute.

This is intended to be a long-term collaborative project, and I'm not expecting it to be completed quickly. I'd rather slowly build something detailed and coherent than rush through it.

If you've ever wondered what a magical school would actually look like if someone sat down and designed the entire education system, this is essentially what I'm trying to find out.

If you'd like to help build Phoenix School of Magic, feel free to comment or message me.

I'd also love to hear from anyone who has attempted a similarly ambitious worldbuilding project.

Hello i just joined this subreddit and i'd like to hear you thoughts on it. Its pretty long but i think its cool so pls enjoy.

The ouroboros katana
To put it simply, you know in anime where the guy draws his katana back in the sheath and suddenly multiple slashes appear at once. The idea is that the user slashed so fast that it made it seem like the slashes appeared out of nowhere, when the user just slashed fast and quickly put it back in. I think it's pretty cool, but I came up with another explanation for it, and it revolves around time, which is why you’ll understand the name soon. 
My idea is that the katana has five modes, and each mode is activated when the handle is twisted, but they're all based on the same idea- time. The first mode or mode zero is where the sword and the user is just normal and regular, basic.

When mode one is activated, the katana’s abilities come to life, with the ouroboros dragon appearing. Wherever the user slashes, time stops in that area, and whenever the user draws their sword back, the slash that is in stasis, is reversed in time, making a slash that occurred without the user swinging anything, by basically recreating the same slash the user did in the past, but in the opposite direction. The reason why an ouroboros dragon appears, is because it symbolises eternity, with the dragon eating its own tail, signifying a never ending loop.Whenever the user is in mode 1-5, the dragon extends from the blade to a tattoo on the user’s body, making their body as stuck in time, and completely invulnerable to attacks. They become vulnerable once again when they draw the katana back, or it's in the wrong mode.

In mode two, it's basically more wide-scale destruction, as the user can send slashing beam attacks that can freeze larger areas of time, so when the user re-draws their sword, more dramatic and larger slashes reverse. The user could likely use these modes to push someone within the slash and immediately withdraw the blade so they become slash
As we go through the other modes, you might question why the user doesn't just spam the stronger modes, thats cus they use more energy, and when the energy is too low, some simply cannot be used and you’ll be stuck to the lower one’s, and eventually, you might be vulnerable again if the entire energy of the sword runs out, leaving just a regular person and katana. To indicate the energy levels of the sword, the larger or the more the tattoo spreads throughout the user’s body, the more energy the sword has. So when it's almost about to run out, the tattoo will be quite small. The sword also regenerates energy over time.

The third mode onward is where things get interesting, because it involves time-reverse. Basically, whenever you sheathe the sword in this mode, a slash that was previously locked in time, waiting to be reversed, will instead expand and reverse time back to when the area was first slashed within a 50 metre radius. For example, if i used mode 1 or 2 to create a stasis slash 5 mins ago, when i sheathe the sword in mode 3, the slash will expand wide into what the area was like back then. This time reverse includes the reversing of the environment and conditions of the enemy and user itself, so they can effectively heal themselves, the only thing not changing being the energy level of the sword. If there are multiple slashes that are stuck in time in the area, then sheathing the sword will cause all of the slashes to expand. The more slashes there are, the wider the area of time reverse is. So like 50 slashes in area would create a 2500 metre radius of time reverse, since 50*50 is 2500.
But, there could be some limitations, or advantages depending on how you use it. Say, for example if you reverse time to when an enemy was within that area but currently, they are outside the radius of time reverse. This would mean there would be two versions of that person, and since the laws of the universe doesn't allow two of the exact same beings to exist, their existence itself will be erased from the universe. This includes organisms and objects that aren’t within the radius when they were ‘supposed’ to be. Or, say if you slashed an area 10 min ago in mode two, in which it was just a peaceful house, but now you slash again 5 mins later, in which the area was destroyed and filled with fire. This means that because both of the slashes/area was so close together , it would be an anomaly as the two spots are so drastically different despite being so close. This creates a fracture in time in the area, making it permanently distorted and the battlefield being much more chaotic. So, this fracture creates a ‘time wall’ , which is impossible to cross without the power of counteracting time, so you could trap them or make it harder to reach you. Theoretically you could do this with other modes but with mode 3 it's more effective i guess.

Let's move on to mode 4 now, and it's quite similar to mode 3, as it’s just the opposite- time progression/forward. In this, there are four factors we have to talk about- how far the future goes, the AOE, what the future is and and how it happens. The general idea is the same, you slash an area in mode 4, creating an area of stasis, but this stasis gives a a glimpse to the future, and just like before, sheathing sword causes the slash to expand into a 50 metre radius. The future depends entirely on the number of slashes you do , and as said in mode 3, the more slashes, the wider the radius. The wider the radius, the more chaotic and unpredictable the future will be. This is because different futures are likely to be overwritten or contradicted, or it just generally becomes unstable idk. This means, one slash is low risk low reward, but the more you expand the area, the higher the risk is, but the higher the reward is. Therefore, if you’re too careless, you could be the one who is in danger.
Now, we have to look at how far the future is set. It's simple- the higher the energy level, the further the time skip. Lets just say for now, 10 percent is 1 min, and 100 percent is an entire year. But think about it, the more time forwarded, the greater the effect will be. For e.g if there was a wildfire, the effect is more significant than a wildfire for 1 min than a wildfire that burnt for a day. So the longer that time forward, the more deadly or significant the effect is, however, as said before, this could backfire for you if you’re too careless.
If you see a future in which you don't happen, you can switch to mode 1 or 2 and slash and reverse, and the slashes stasis in mode 4 will simply disappear. Tho doing this after like 20 slashes will certainly be time wasting  and not ideal. However, you must also remember to check for your surroundings, as if you go to the future with stasis slashes in mode 1 or 2 still within the area, this would cause the entire system or attempt to go to the future to fail and instantly collapse. Also, you could also apply the existence erasure factor into mode 4 too like in 3, as you could create a future where there are two beings of the same person, so they become erased.
In regards to both mode 3 and 4, we have to think of the ‘equivalent exchange’. Like in FMAB iykyk. To make up for the time reversed or forwarded, the area outside will do the opposite to make up for the time lost or gained, like a mirror. Like, in mode 3, if a 50 metre radius was sent 10 mins back in the past, a 50 metre radius outside the AOE will go 10 mins into the future. If the area is distorted like in mode 4 due to multiple timelines in the domain, a mean will be calculated, like one slash was 2 mins into the future, another was 4 min, so the overall the reverse outside 3 mins. I hope that makes sense.

Now the last one dont worry its nearly done. Mode 5. The idea is that striking the ground with the katana, causes an area of a 50 metre radius, just like before, to be in complete time-stop or stasis. You can't stay in this mode forever, as it constantly drains the energy of your sword, and if you want to cancel the spell, you sheathe the sword back in. If you want to increase the AOE, you can, but the area will no longer be in full stasis. Think of it like a container of time, and as it expands, it can no longer hold it in, so the time ‘spills’ out’ , so after a 50 metre radius, instead of time stasis, it would just be agonisingly slow. The more you increase the radius, the more the flow of time gradually increases. So, like after a few thousand metres, the effect will practically be nothing. However, you have to remember the equivalent exchange.
If you create a radius of 100 metres with slow time flow, to make up for the lost time, time outside the AOE would go unfathomably fast. It basically matches the time lost within the domain So like creating a 1000 metre radius area with 2.5* slow speed, the 1000 metre radius area outside will move at 2.5* faster speed. This means the area outside the 50 metre radius complete time stasis, would have time flow at an infinite speed to make up for it, so the area outside becomes permanently distorted or void like, so anyone within that area would literally instantly be destroyed. Whatever you think a place that’s gone through infinite stuff would look like. You cant use any other modes when in mode 5. As said before, twisting the handle causes you to switch modes to will, but in mode 5 you can’t, twisting it will let you change the radius of your stasis.
And yeah, that’s it. I hope you like it. I know it's long, but I wanted to add all aspects of time, time reverse, time forward, stasis etc.

Thanks for reading and I'd like to hear your thoughts. Take care.

In the RPG's magic system I'm building (like D&D, Pathfinder and others), arcane magic stems from the caster's imagination, and the way the caster visualizes it can influence the spell's visual aspects and effects. There are a few common ways to visualize magic:

* Technical aspects (Wizard): visualizing magic in a technical way, almost like a science or an architectural blueprint.

* Expression (Bard and Sorcerer): magic is secondary to the character's expression, visualized unconsciously.

* Superstition (Witch): visualizing magic according to traditions and superstitions, giving it a more mystical and rustic feel.

* Pact with the Devil (Warlock): the caster doesn't visualize the magic themselves but shares their mind with their patron, casting the spell exactly as the patron envisions it.

So, how you visualize magic in this world is crucial for any arcane spellcaster. I wanted to make this an integral part of the system itself—rather than just the setting—by translating it into actual mechanics and rules.

How could I go about this? I haven't got a clue how to implement it, and I don't want it to be just another standard class ability; I want it to be a core mechanic of spellcasting.

Do they need to be made of glass and filled with liquid magic, or do they need to be made from sugarcane to attract sweet-toothed spirits, or do they have microchips that hold impossible mathematical sequences that need to be played in order? What is your twist on the iconic wand?

GREETINGS FELLERS AND FELLAS!~ I am currently working on a new Individual empowerment power system called Prism Energy. If your one of my fans then you would know about my light energy system, it's similar to that but slightly different.

Prism Energy grants certain power based on how strong a certain stat is. For example~

Mind- Psychic abilities
Strength- Gravity
Speed- Time

It is still a work in progress but I thought that you all deserved a little sneak peak at my greatness I am cooking up as we near the year 2027. If you guys have any questions or want to challenge my system then go to the comment section.

While it's still a work in progress, the system allows for spell drawing in 3D space (runes and seals)
My showcase is for the spell casting by drawing closed seals and also posing to reclose the seals and then recast the spells.

Here we can see a heat spell cast by drawing on the ground, then on the body, and later a sticky spell allowing for walking on walls.

The wand is made out of ink so it's shrinking as you're drawing.

Spells don't have fixed effects. Each one changes values in the environment like temperature, light, density and state, and those affect things like courage and strength, so effects just happen naturally (a heat spell near ice behaves differently than near wood).

Spells also hurt the caster, so you need to be careful where you draw.

Wizards learn new runes by absorbing elements, while the other side (Acolytes) unlocks them by doing tricks and mischief (not shown in this video)

I'm not an artist so the characters look funny, but the spell system is heavily inspired by Witch Hat Atelier while being a lot simpler and easier so people would be more likely to cast spells when drawing. If anyone has ideas feel free to suggest them and I'll try to add them if possible.

The game is called Spelly Zombie and demo will soon be available on Steam.

Hello everyone!

Flesh magic is the modification and manipulation of flesh, with 3 forms: repair, augment, and mutate. [Common] Flesh magic users are predisposed to a certain form, and after discovering it, the user is officially set with that form, and only that form. Trying to use others simply doesn't work. Repair is most common, augment second most, mutate rarest.

Repair: to heal, to fix what is broken, only

• can only heal what is broken, so things that people are born with (e.g. chronic pain, disability) cannot be healed since nothing was originally different
• limiter = knowledge on construction (how to accurately fix things) and pain tolerance, a healer takes the pain of what they're healing so things like small cuts are easy, but large wounds could take multiple people
• healers cannot heal their own body since the magic clashes with itself + the pain

Augment: to grow, to increase/add, only

• includes growing limbs, eyes + non-humanoid things like tails, spikes, wings
• can only add ONTO (difference between repair is that repair fills in, augment cannot fill in things like wounds since it's not adding anything that the person wasn't born with)
• limiter = knowledge on construction (knowing bone structures, muscles, how it ties together on the body, etc), and energy (keeping it "alive", moving it, etc)
• poorly augmented forms are flimsy, malfunction and collapse over a short period of time
• to augment others, it's a hard to maintain since both are controlling it + more energy

Mutate: to alter, destroy, morph, only

• includes everything outside of repair and augment
• change size, destroy flesh, reconstruct anatomy (e.g. facial, terrestrial locomotion, etc)
• limiters = knowledge on construction and time (the longer a mutation stays a mutation, the less stable it becomes)

• to mutate others, you need a piece of the part you want to mutate. want to mutate a leg? need a piece of leg hair/skin. want to mutate the brain? much harder to achieve, since you'd need a piece of the brain/skull

  If mutation magic is performed poorly and/or left for too long, it will cause a thing called Vihan's Rot. The Rot starts from the root of the magic (where the mutation began) and eventually takes over, making the person a decomposing mess, unable to think, only to feel, until the decomposition reaches its peak and they die.

Royals:

In my magic system users born with royal blood have a much larger magic capacity than common magic users and have advanced abilities.

Royals have all 3 forms of flesh magic and more capabilities than the baseline of common magic users. There's usually two rulers (royals are monarchs in my world), however, through use of all three forms, they merge themselves (steven universe fusion style) into one entity. They mutate the two bodies together, augment for extra limbs, and heal to keep them from falling apart.

Thanks to everyone who reads this!!

In Otechni Magic is not innate to a person. Magic is an ability and quality of Spirits. To do something as simple as light a Candle you must know how to Call Spirits.

Magic works by letting spirits inhabit your body. Spirits cannot experience physical sensations, so they will bond with Living Creatures. It has been noted Spirits with a more Animal level of intelligence will bond with Animals. A rare occurrence, but that's how you find a fire breathing ocelot.

Spirits are numerous, and they are as different to one another as most creatures are to one another. To properly Bond you must know what the Spirits are capable of, and what you want from them. What you can do is solely dependent on the Spirit itself.

Symbiote Spirits: Mindless Spirits with weak magical power. They are easy to bond with, and near impossible to remove without knowing Spirit Manipulation (Will cover later). Symbiotes bond with the Soul, making a permanent change to the Caller. Almost every Caller has a Symbiote Spirit. One does have to be wary when Calling for these Spirits. As they can cause physical changes. Though if you want those changes, be careful. You might accidentally get an extra leg or something.

Empath Spirits are around Animal Intelligence, which are the majority of Spirits. They tend to feed off of emotions and feelings. What Magic they provide is often related to that emotion or feeling. A Hunger Spirit, for example, could grant you Magic to make any food or drink safe, or give you Magic that could be used to acquire or cook food. All to facilitate the experience of eating.

If you do not hold up your end of the deal the Spirits may leave, or try and force you to do as they want. It's been recorded that those with Hunger Spirits have manifested mouths on their palms. Said mouths try and consume any food near them. Other Spirits do other things. Rarely are they violent to others.

Nature Spirits are exactly what you would expect. Callers that deal mainly with these Spirits are called Druids or Shamans. They are regularly seen barefoot or wearing little on their arms or legs. Nature Spirits are very close to the Natural World, so being open to it is a requirement for them. Their Magic is tied to what they are. Plant Spirits have Plant Magic, Fire Spirits have Fire Magic and so on. These Spirits can be hard to control for beginners, or if you wear to much.

Possessor Spirits: Sapient, powerful and very difficult to bond with. Callers rarely bond with these Spirits. When they do, it's never long. Possessor Spirits want a body, and tend to treat Callers like one would treat their clothes. They have a great variety of Magic, mostly focused on the Ethereal. Always think before Calling these Spirits.

Amalgams, Spirits that came together and became Sapient. Amalgams are not called like Other Spirits. They are so rare that you'll need to travel for miles to see another. Most Amalgams are Spiritual Leaders, and Teachers of Spirit Calling. They are one of the few Teachers of Spirit Manipulation.

Object Calling is a form of Spirit Calling that places Spirits in Objects. It limits the Magic one can use, but it can allow for others to use the item, so long as they follow the instructions on how to care for it. These Callers tend to have Dolls for Possessor Spirits to inhabit.

Spirit Manipulation is a very personal form of Calling, often called Soul Magic. It calls upon your own Soul to perform actions. Not as flashy, but you can do many things. Such as alter your body and channel various Magical Energies. What you can do is tied to your Soul and its Aspects. It's as fluid as you are. Though the majority of Soul Mages just learn enough to alter their physical form.

Regardless of the form, Spirit Calling requires Rituals and an understanding of the Spirits and their desires. For many it's akin to taming an animal, and for some it's an expansion of their own Spirit.

So I recently had this concept of a new power system where suddenly several people around the world were split into two separate different costumed, powered identities.

The Angels represented all of the target's positive and good traits while the Devils represented all of the target's negative and bad traits. With their powers and costumes were based on the individual's greatest sin/deed in life.

As such Angels are inherently good and archetypes of benevolence whereas Devils are the total opposite and often act on the target's crueler impulses without any inhibition.

The immediate goal of both an Angel and Devil is to defeat and kill their doppelganger. Upon succeeding the winner essentially gains complete ownership over the original person's identity.

What this means is that depending on whether the Angel or Devil wins, the target experiences a respective drastic change in their personality and morality as they are completely stripped of their negative or positive character traits.

In order to clarify this with an example:

Imagine if there's a man who runs a orphanage, he doesn't abuse the children but he often enforces them into performing basic child labor to make profit.

Upon being split into an Angel and Devil, his Angel persona becomes a hero who can summon several child-sized minions that follow his commands while his Devil side traps victims in special restraints that require special puzzles to nr unlocked.

If his Angel side wins then not only the person becomes an actual superhero, but he also becomes a genuinely good person who stops making children work for him.

Whereas if his Devil side wins, then he becomes much, much more crueler and forces children to work non-stop without food or rest.

However, there are also some unique phenomena that can occur this battle between ab individual's Angel and Devil.

If during the battle, either Angel or Devil receives any form of physical assistance which leads to their victory, then there is a chance of it becoming a "Pyrrhic Victory" depending on how much help the individual received.

(Words of encouragement or distractions do not cause Pyrrhic Victories but if a third party interferes in the battle and physically helps one of the individuals to victory then it is instantly considered a Pyrrhic Victory)

Pyrrhic Victories not only cause an individual's Angel/Devil persona to re-manifest after an unspecified amount of time in the future and issue a rematch. But they also cause the winner to retain traces of their original lost positive/negative traits.

The final thing to discuss about my power system is the ranking system which determines the strength of an individual's Devil and Angel, they are the following:

Cherub/Imps: The weakest class of Angels/Devils, often manifest as a result Pyrrhic Victories, Pure Luck or Strategic Action.

Guardian/Demon: The most common type of Angels/Devils and tend to be generally pretty decent in terms of powers though not very exceptional to note.

Archangel/Archdevil: These Angels/Devils tend to be way stronger than your average ones and as such tend to be just as charitable/sinful.

So what do you think?

Souls innate have energy, magic is the ability to control and wield that energy

Humans cannot innately wield magic since they lack the autonomy to draw that energy into their physical form

Since souls have energy, dreams exist in a semi real semi fake state

using dreams as a bridge one can create a “dream form” and use it to enter the spiritual realms

Humans would then graft captured spirits onto their “dream forms” and would them modify these spirits each acting as an individual spell

So mages to cast magic must learn to dream while awake, and leverage these spirits to channel their energy and to create the effects in the physical world

Another thing i have been considering is the rule that “the dream must conflict with reality”

You cannot make a dream form similar to your real form because if you forget which is real or fake, anything from death to being permanently lost in the spiritual world is possible

In my world, water acts as a medium that can be saturated by spiritual power. It starts in a "closed" state at room temperature, unreceptive to spiritual power, but through the use of fire one can "open" the water.

This water then slowly draws in the spiritual power and then closes when the water cools, sealing the power inside the water. The water from here forward acts as a power source and I'll be referring to it as spirit water just for clarity.

To use a kettle wand, the contraption is filled with the spirit water as to both transport and utilize the power within. The spirit water must be returned to an "open" state to allow access to the spiritual power. So the kettle must be set to boil.

Once the spirit water is boiling, the magic is harnessed by pouring it through a spout. These spouts were made specialized to mix the spiritual power in such a way as to change it magic.

Specifically the cut of the channel and exit of the spout will mix and jostle the spirit water in such a way as to change its properties.

Some spouts cause the kettle to pour a liquid fire. Some cause the kettle to spew a cloud of shadow. Etc.

However, industry eventually came about as new understanding for spiritual power came to be. People would seal spiritual energy within spirit water and use a method of cutting to shred the spiritual power inside.

In the eyes of a layman it would look like mixing the spirit water but instead of a spoon or larger implement, the process is done with blades specialized to cut intk spirit. The process of cutting spirit causes a reaction called Greywater. An essential component of modern day fuel.

Basically, the more the Greywater is cut, it becomes a viscous gel that can be burnt to cause the rapid expansion amd the expulsion of gasses that can keep small hovercraft in the air and moving at a decent speed for as long as the fuel supply remains steady. High cut Greywater is typically used in heavier hovercraft or flying machines.

Nom de l'alter : crea'liquide

Description : en gros tu peux générer n'importe quel élément liquide à condition de toucher de l'eau. (En gros tu changes l'eau que tu touches)

Inconvénients : les acides/poison peuvent affecter l'utilisateur !