One of my favourite tropes of all time is magic connected to emotion, especially when it’s rage induced. So yes, I am a big fan of the Wild Magic Barbarian in 5e. This trope is also seen in RWBY and Brigid Kemmerer’s Elementals series. Comment any other media you’ve spotted this trope in!
If you commented my book, Aster’s Coda: Exposure, you are a psychic.
Magic, or casting as it is referred to in my series, I find to be reflective of the character wielding the power. I wanted to create a magic system that reflected this, in part inspired by how magic works in Dungeons and Dragons. I have characters based off of Sorcerers, Druids and Wizards in my novel, just to name a few. Additionally, with my novel taking place between Three Worlds I wanted the magic between each world to have a particular distinctness while still being versatile.
Let’s explore.
Each caster has a particular source or domain from which they get their power from, and while it seems to limit what they can do it leaves room for the magic to be more versatile in each domain. Across the Three Worlds power can be drawn from the elements, nature, sources from energy and even cosmic concepts. The integration between the Three Worlds has even enabled variations and amalgamations on casting.
Let’s start with Faetos. The main power to come from this world is Myst, pure energy which has enabled the Three Worlds to connect in a chain. Casters from here use sorcery, which is defined by being born with the ability to cast in a certain domain and harnessing inner power to put their source to use. Because of this, casting a spell too powerful can be taxing on the user and injury can further weaken the strength of their power. Sorcery is the most malleable casting type and users can forge exact effects from their energy, but the domains they control are typically limited. It is rare in Faetos to not be born with sorcery abilities, but it is mainly used in mundane and daily life. Pure casters usually require many years study of their own abilities and would typically only use their casting in battle.
Corryn is different. They use derivation, which involves drawing power from an external source, most commonly nature. While in proximity of their domain, be it water or the earth, they can control or absorb the element for their use when casting. Similar to the use of spell slots in D&D, this power is expended like pouring water from a bucket. Any derivation caster can store the same amount of energy, but inexperienced casters expelled their power far more inefficiently. Casting in Corryn is typically dependent on the species, but those who can’t cast have the ability to wield Powerstones, which work in a similar fashion and can cast force, necrotic, radiant, lightning and psychic damage. Derivation users can also draw energy from powerstones.
That leaves Earth. Nobody native to Earth is born with the ability to cast, but connections to the Three Worlds have left many deities interested in the lives of people on Earth. Therefore, the only way to cast if you’re human is through bargaining. Deals can be made through deities, malevolent and benevolent, to gain the ability to cast based on the domain of the deity. Similarly to derivation, their power is also a well but it can grow with the bond to a deity. Still, few humans have gotten the ability to bargain for magic. Less than 0.5% of Earth’s population have had the chance. However, bargaining is also of interest to Faetos and Corryn for either the power hungry or those in service of deities specific to those realms.
Woah, bit of an info dump, but more will come to light when reading Exposure and the rest of the series. Check it out next week when it releases, and be sure to pop into the livestream on July 22nd!
Yours in writing
Amy