User blog:HS664/What is your magic like?

Magic.

Magic is an old concept, used to explain many situations that science couldn't explain at the time. In fiction, it has been adapted into a variety of forces, almost as many as there have been adaptations of dragons (okay, maybe not THAT much).

Either way, everyone has their own unique take on magic. For quite some time here, most people only distinguished magic and Psionics (Kinesis, as it is more commonly known) by the former being magic and the latter being psychic.

The author Jack Vance created the system known as Vancian Magic, where a mage would have to memorize or "prepare" their spells to use them, then would need to prepare them again after casting them. This later went on the become the basis for Magic in the Popular Roleplaying Game series "Dungeons and Dragons".

Since the creation of Dungeons and Dragons, countless gaming series (From Final Fantasy from Dragon Quest to pretty much any fantasy game with magic) has had its own unique take on magic.

Now, I ask. What is yours?

See below for mine.

My take on Magic
Magic in my setting comes in at least 2 flavors (I have only decided on one, so the others are not going to be posted at this time, and I hope I am forgiven).

The first flavor is called "Arcane Magic" (inspired heavily by D&D, DragonFable, and Armaggedon MUD) is commonly called "True Magick. Sorcery, Wizardry, and the Arcane Arts". This magic involves direct manipulation of mana; Mana is a powerful force that flows throughout the world (both Mobius and Earth) in "Ley Lines" invisble energy currents of mana.

Arcane Magic differs severly from Psionics. While one is flexible with Psionics, and psychic energy comes from within, Arcane Magic requires intense study and discipline, and one can not alter their spells on the fly like a psionicist can with their powers; They must rework the powers from scratch. A mage must also "memorize" spells, which involves attuning one's mind to memorize the formula of movements, words, and energy needed for a spell. The more complex the spell, the harder it is to memorize; a spell too complex cannot be memorized.

Second, getting mana out of the air is normally a subconscious process done by the mage "Tuning" their mind. While mana can be gathered faster when a mage focuses, the increase is only marginal, and a mage can only store so much mana inside themselves.

Regardless of how much mana a mage has, they can only also cast spells a certain number of times per day. For Example, Crow, a mage, can only cast Fireball six times per day, maximum. These numbers grwo from experience, as Crow can use a simpler spell, Magic Missile, as many as twelve times per day.

Despite these weaknesses, Arcane Magic is much stronger than Psionics, and mages have the potential to become very powerful over time. Also, their growth in ability expands as they get stronger, allowing them to branch off ideas from spells from older ones, and eventually make newer ones.