If you’re designing a magic system for a fantasy novel, here are some more questions you might want to ask.
My last post gave five questions you might find useful to ask when designing a magic system for a fantasy novel. Here are five more questions that should have been in that post but weren’t because it was getting long.
What is the downside or cost of magic and how long do any negative side-effects last?
If magic is free, life will be too easy for your protagonist. They might love you for it, but your readers won’t.
So magic must come at a cost.
Maybe magic is forbidden, and if a user is discovered she risks being dunked in boiling butter.
Perhaps the cost of magic is lifespan–each spell cast shortens the practitioner’s life by a month.
Or each spell cast means someone close to the spellcaster will randomly die in a horrible accident.
Continue reading “Questions to ask when designing a magic system, part 2”