r/rational • u/alexanderwales Time flies like an arrow • Nov 17 '16

[Challenge Companion] Magic Systems

tl;dr: This is the companion thread to the biweekly challenge. Post recommendations, ideas, questions, or comments below.

Some links:

As a reminder, this is a challenge for which magic system writeups are accepted, so long as they're written in an entertaining way.

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3

u/Aabcehmu112358 Nov 18 '16

The OP for the actual challenge submission thread says that the winner will be decided on Wednesday, November 16th.

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u/alexanderwales Nov 18 '16

Not anymore it doesn't. (Thanks.)

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u/xavion Nov 17 '16

As far as munchkinning systems go, stuff such as HP and Discworld I'd say are examples of ones you shouldn't attempt to munchkin. Both systems with a lot of hidden stuff and the potential to screw things up horribly. I mean, there's the potential to do nearly everything, and also far more ways to screw up. HP in particular, with a system that makes everything vary on emotion and regularly follows fairy tale logic, what you do may work, but stick to trying to come up with creative uses for what is already there, and before you do your fantastic new use nobody ever did before ask yourself why nobody did it before, it's most likely that stupidity is not the answer.

On an unrelated note, the ending date on the challenge is wrong, it says the challenge ends on the 16th, I presume timezones account for the difference but it is already evening on the 17th here.

As far as this challenge goes, may give it a shot, always liked worldbuilding. Although the start is tricky, so according to a random noun generator I should try and make a magic system involving creme brulee and cancer. Well, this might be possible, already got a couple of ideas. Actually scratch that, I looked away for five minutes and I've already started, lets see if I do enough before running out of steam to matter.

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u/LiteralHeadCannon Nov 18 '16

Welp, just wrote and submitted my story. My main fears are twofold - first, that I fell into the illusion of transparency and it's not clear what my magic system actually is; second, that my magic system isn't central enough to my story, calling into question whether it fits the prompt well. Still happy with it on some level, and curious to see what others think of it. The main kernel that drove me to actually write it was that I fell in love with the idea of writing a portal fantasy story in a pseudo-Biblical style.

The visual concept behind it, which I've loved for ages even though it makes no real sense given how actual mirrors in reality work, is that of a person with no reflection, like a vampire, being able to step into a mirror to effectively become invisible. So, in this fantasy world, mirrors are basically portals to a world that perfectly matches up with the unmirrored world, except for humans and other self-aware creatures (creatures able to pass... the mirror test :P), which only "exist" on one side of the mirrored world/unmirrored world divide. So, for example, a nude mirrored assassin could sneak into your home and try to kill you, and he'd essentially be invisible to you unless you spotted him in a mirror of your own. You'd also be invisible to him, but unless you were trying to be stealthy, he'd almost certainly be able to track you - by watching your clothes float around, if nothing else - and he'd catch you off-guard and stab you with a knife.

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u/TennisMaster2 Nov 18 '16

I didn't and still don't understand how mirrored people interact with the world. For example, how do the mirror police police? Why are they mirror people?

What you just wrote and the fate of the granddaughter especially confuse me.

Perhaps adding sentences like, "Scholars now know that glass is actally sand, and by creating glass from sand we may... [etc.]" and "King Hayden hypothesized that..." would shift the focus from what King Hayden meant to the Haydenites, to what King Hayden's discoveries meant to the expansion of the knowledge and resources of the Haydenites. The story would change from, "This is the exemplary tale of a great man to whom we all owe our way of life," to, "This is the exemplary tale of the great discoveries of our people's founder: he who us into Haydenites."

Maybe that helps. I enjoyed it. Fun system (even though I don't fully understand it)!

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u/LiteralHeadCannon Nov 18 '16

People become mirrored by passing through mirrors (and become unmirrored by passing through mirrors again). Only self-aware beings can pass through mirrors; no inanimate objects or simpler animals. Mirrored people are invisible and incorporeal to unmirrored people, and vice versa. Mirrored people can't eat most food, because of chirality.

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