The Complete Guide to Writing Magic and Power Systems

Play video Open on YouTube

Create the Foundation

Power systems and magic systems are a vital piece of fantasy storytelling in nearly all fictional mediums. You can create any kind of power system you want step by step.

The first thing we want to do before getting into the rules is to create a foundation for it. We can easily do this by using the access and source method.

The access is how characters use their powers. Maybe they fight with objects like swords or power flows through their body with martial arts.

The source is the fuel for your power system where the powers come from. You take one item from the access list and one item from the source list and combine them to create a new power system.

Let's say we choose objects from the access list and entities from the source list. Your power system would now be entities that fuel objects which grant characters power.

Types of Access

First, we have access through objects. Power is used through physical items like weapons, tools, artifacts, or technological devices.

Second is access through knowledge. Power is used through understanding rules, principles, techniques, formulas, or incantations.

Third is access through your own body. Think martial arts, your physical form, gestures, biological features, bloodline traits, or bodily substances.

Fourth is access through a familiar. This is where characters have a connection with animal companions, spirits, or symbiotic entities.

Fifth is access through the environment. Characters would use powers through location-based abilities or environmental conditions.

Sixth is access through emotions or mental state. The user's psychological condition, willpower, or beliefs are what unlocks the powers.

Seventh is hybrid access. This is where you combine multiple types of access from the list.

Types of Power Sources

The source is what fuels the powers. Self energy means powers come from the user's internal energy, magic, emotions, or life force.

Psychic powers come from the mind itself through telepathy, telekinesis, or esper style abilities. External energy taps into ambient energy outside the user, like cosmic energy or natural forces.

Supernatural forces involve otherworldly entities that exist in reality, like demons or spirits. Objects can also fuel powers through magical artifacts, special minerals, or crystals.

Technology provides power through advanced machinery, special gadgets, or cybernetic enhancements. Bloodlines or genetics pass down powers through DNA.

Effort or training allows characters to attain power through discipline and hard work. Consumables require eating or drinking substances like potions to gain abilities.

Gods or entities grant energy to their followers or champions. Contracts or permissions grant abilities through binding agreements with external entities.

Bonds with a familiar mean power comes from the relationship itself. A gift or blessing permanently grants abilities without ongoing conditions.

Rituals or ceremonies give users powers through specific procedures. A sacrifice or cost requires giving up something valuable like health, lifespan, or memories.

Emotions or trauma let users draw power from specific feelings like rage or fear. The environment or planetary cycles provide power depending on locations, lunar phases, or seasons.

Hybrid power sources combine multiple fuel sources together.

Classify the Powers

Next, classify the actual powers themselves. Imagine the power system you are writing as the tree and the classifications as branches of that tree.

If your power system allowed people to control magic, the classifications would be the types of magic that users would be able to control. Your classifications can be based on personality traits, skill level, or anything you want.

When you are creating classifications, ask yourself if the category has its own philosophy or worldview. Consider how dedicating a life to mastering this classification would change a person.

Give Your System a Name

The name of your power system is how characters will recognize and remember it. A great name is short, easy to pronounce, and carries emotional weight.

These names are memorable because they roll off the tongue and feel natural in dialogue. If you do not want to give the power system itself a name, you can give the users of the power a name instead.

Choose a name that makes the audience curious. Try to avoid names that are too long, awkward sounding, or too similar to existing power systems.

Define the Scaling

Scaling is what your characters can do at the lowest level and what they can do at the highest level. Scaling determines how your system grows and evolves over time.

This is important because characters need room to improve. At the lowest level, a character could spark a flame, but at the highest level, they burn an entire nation to the ground.

Figuring out your scaling early on lets you use foreshadowing in unique ways. The best power systems have multiple dimensions of growth.

Establish Rules and Limitations

Rules and limitations keep your system believable. Rules define what is possible, while limitations create tension.

Without rules, you have chaos. Without limitations, you have boredom.

Together, they make fights much more interesting and victories feel earned.

This is where most amateur writers fail by creating a power system with vague rules for flexibility. That flexibility destroys tension, because if anything is possible, then nothing matters.

The best fights in fiction happen when characters are forced to work within strict limitations. Your power systems limitations should make your characters creative.

When a character cannot just punch through a problem, they have to think their way through it.

Simplify Your Power System

Cut the excess. Your fictional powers should be easy to understand at first glance, even if it has deep layers underneath.

A simple power system is easy to introduce, leaves room for growth and surprises, and does not overwhelm your audience early on.

Ask yourself if you can explain this power system in one sentence. It should be easy to understand but hard to master. Start simple, then build complex.

Add Advanced Techniques

Advanced techniques are forbidden spells, hidden transformations, and ultimate moves. These are the pinnacle of your power system.

Advanced techniques can act as plot devices and game changers. The key is that advanced techniques should feel like natural extensions of the power system, not random additions.

If your power system is about manipulating fire, the advanced technique should not suddenly be ice manipulation. There must be a brilliant reason for it if it diverges.

Test the Logic

Now, we tear it all apart. Put your system into every difficult scenario you can think of.

Let your villains exploit loopholes and let your heroes push its limits. The number one rule of writing a power system is never break your own rules.

If an author allows a character to do something that completely goes against everything they have said previously, it ruins the story. Logical consistency builds trust.

Run thought experiments, create battles, and find the weak points before your readers do.

The Protagonist Advantage

You can use the optional step of giving your protagonist an advantage. In a world where everyone uses the same power system, your protagonist should have something unique about them that allows them to overcome the odds.

The advantage should not break the rules. This edge can also apply to villains, rivals, and secondary characters.