I'm currently working on my magic system, with my main focus being to make something that is complex enough to not be boring, simple enough to be understandable, and finally satisfying enough to where it's enjoyable to read about, where a reader would actually want to imagine that they're in my world using my magic system.

So I'm just trying to get people's opinions and thought processes as research

I have an idea for a power system based on truth and lies, but need help creating it. Any ideas?

Here’s the premise

Have you ever woken up with the feeling that you forgot something important? Dreams so vivid that it seems impossible not to remember them, or even small details from everyday life that vanish from your memory, leaving you in a state of confusion.

Every night you close your eyes, lose consciousness for a few hours, perhaps with a thought you’ll forget by morning, and then you wake up as if nothing happened. It’s something so ordinary that no one questions it.

Everything seems to be in order.

But what if it isn’t?

After all, no one remembers what happens at the exact moment we fall asleep. How sure are you that the person who opens their eyes is really you?

An almost identical copy of you, born every time you wake up. With your same face, your voice, your memories, your mannerisms. It believes it is you and would never suspect that it isn’t. How could it?

The copies are born at the exact moment the body wakes up. They appear, inheriting not only memories but an entire life they never lived. Every embrace, every moment of embarrassment, and every promise, yet without having experienced them themselves. Among all the things they haven’t lived through, there’s one thing that gives them away completely: they’ve never dreamed.

Dreams teach something that no copy has ever experienced: that something can feel completely real without ever having happened. And whoever knows this can affirm one thing while knowing another. That’s why they aren’t capable of lying, or at least not the way we do.

It’s not that they can’t fantasize or imagine; rather, the copies simply make mistakes: poorly recorded memories, distorted words, and lapses that shouldn’t be there. They don’t know this: they firmly believe they’re telling the truth, because for them, that is their truth.

No one knows what happens to the original within the dream, nor what process erases it. Only the result is known: the vast majority end up falling prey to that process.

Though there are exceptions.

Some, somehow, survive that process without being erased. They don’t avoid sleeping, they continue to sleep every night, but the dream stops replacing them.

They wake up as copies: the original was lost long ago, but they are copies that carry on, copies that remember, copies that, for the first time, dream. Through dreaming, they learn to lie; the copies make mistakes, but they lie intentionally.
They are called Dreamers. They are not the originals and never will be, but now they know they are not the original they are something new.

There are also the Witnesses. They are people who have no need to sleep, the only ones who were never copied. The originals.
Their memory is continuous, without breaks or failures. Their truth is an unbroken line. It is absolute.

If the Dreamers can lie because they have learned to impose fantasy, the Witnesses can uphold the truth because they have never ceased to be proof of themselves.

Maybe dreamers can impose impossible rules in reality, like, fire doesn’t burn or something like that. But I have no idea how to represent truth in this system.

Was just experimenting with the concept of mana warriors and realized this.

You can emit in a specific direction to generate thrust. You can radiate it to generate an atmosphere around you that feels more pressurized and have a powerful-looking aura. You can condense that radiation into a film around you to produce something like a protective field. You can condense it in your hands to make them heavier and to make them hit harder. You can concentrate it throughout your whole body to make you heavier and harder to push back with hits. If you have enough then make yourself heavy enough you'll compress the ground around you, and when you are actually knocked into the terrain you're likely to leave a crater as well. Emit it in a thin concentrated line and it's a beam. Spin it and make it flat and it's a blade. Compress it into a sphere and it's a bomb because it's going to want to decompress rapidly.

For the parts that are particular to my system, they send mana through their weapons to make them heavier and hit harder, or to send out energy slashes, but I just found it interesting that I could very easily have scenes that at least slightly resemble dbz stuff.

Gliders are the typical transport in my world. Be they simple gliders like the one present in the image, or something more complex like carriers or starships. The plasma is used to hover and propel the vehicle. But the machine has the unusual fuel source of blood.

Blood Circuits are cut into the inside of the Glider and have a series of distributive tubes or channels to distribute blood. Blood being the trigger when introduced to the source circuits.

This is all based on the Blood Runes of the Broken Flame magic system. But the circuits are an evolved version of the Blood Runes that were discovered as knowledge of magic expanded. Basically, the Blood Runes were an imperfect version of the Blood Circuits and with experimentation people learned more efficient methods of using magic.

The basics of the Broken Flame magic system is that the fire god was shattered millennia ago and his fragments are attracted to and completed by blood. However, Blood Runes seem to determine how the spiritual fragments present themselves. Some are flames that exude light but do not burn, some are warming flames that don't destroy, some are destructive flames that are pitch black.

By mixing Blood Runes people learned to make unique fires that can do all sorts of strange things. This of course led to the Circuits which are more advanced.

The symbol in the image is one of many circuits used to generate the plasma.

I was thinking of making a Ideal based magic system, but don't want to copycat Brandon Sanderson's Way of Kings. It's the only ideal based system I have to go off of, and it feels like it's a really tough one to do properly so I'm gonna do it at least as a brain exercise.

I did a rough draft of what it'd look like...

Ideals are made in a process of being tested by one god or another. To swear an Ideal is to make an oath to that god to uphold it, and the power/responsibility that comes with it.
For each god, there is a progression of three ideals; Morality, Responsibility, Faith, and Sacrifice.

The wording differs between gods. Morality for one might be "I will not suffer the harm of innocents", leading a person towards the path of that god's flavor of power. Or another Ideal of morality might be "I will punish the unjust"
Both are legitimate paths to the gods, but they have very different meanings. And they are both inherently subjective on purpose, leaving interpretation to the person swearing the ideal.

I have a lot more work to do on this, I think most of the differences will be on the rest of the worldbuilding bc Ideal systems seem so ridged. but any ideas would be appreciated

To use magic one must enter a special state where instead of breathing in air they breathe in magic, this magic can then be used to speak incantations manifesting mystical phenomena into reality those who practice this technique are called wizards, this magic could also instead by absorbed into the blood stream channeling it throughout the body reinforcing it and granting superhuman speed and power those that practice this technique are known as warriors, while magic is incredibly useful it equally dangerous because to use magic one must also stop breathing air thus using magic for to long can cause suffocation or even death.

I’m creating an elemental magic system and thought it would be cool to have cross breeds between the elements. There are six elemental types, fire, water, earth, air, flora, and shadows. For example if a fire mage and earth mage came together, they would be able to use lava/magma magic. However, I want to make the combinations more unique than water and earth make mud magic. Would love any help

Here is what I got
Elemental Cross Breeds

Fire x Earth = Lava/Magma

Earth x Water = Mud

Shadows x Fire = Ash 

Flora x Air = Pollen

Water x Shadows = ???

Air x Earth = Gravity

Fire x Water = Steam

Shadow x Earth = Metal 

Water x Flora = Ethereal

Fire x Air = Electricity 

Flora x Fire = ???

Shadow x Air =  Void

Earth x Flora = Fauna 

Air x Water = Storm

Flora x Shadow = Poison

Source

Mana originates from the Earth; the Earth itself generates mana. Mana exists everywhere within the planet, including in the air, and also powers the leylines. The Earth naturally replenishes a mage’s or alchemist’s mana supply once it is fully exhausted. A mage’s mana pool typically lasts around 24 hours, or up to 48 hours, before it needs to be restored through rest. Mages are unable to cast spells when they are away from the Earth.

Mana

Mana is a supernatural energy that allows mages to cast spells; it functions much like a cost or payment required to perform magic. The higher the tier of a spell, the more mana it consumes. Mana exists within all living beings, though whether someone can access it depends on whether they are able to unlock their Spiral Core.

Leylines

Leylines form an invisible network of mana generated by the Earth that spans the entire world. Connection to this source of mana is strongest when someone is on or near a leyline, and grows weaker the further one travels from them. The Mage Foundation is built directly upon the leylines.

Spiral Core

The Spiral Core acts as a lock that restricts access to a person’s magical potential and ability to cast spells. It exists within all living beings, but without the proper “key” to unlock it, no one can use magic. The Spiral Core symbolises the rotation of the planet.

The Pathway

The Pathway is the key that allows ordinary people or nobles to unlock their Spiral Core, opening the way for them to become mages and alchemists. This key takes the form of a card depicting a human figure holding a floating sphere that resembles the Earth, signifying that the Earth has accepted that individual. Once obtained, the Pathway automatically unlocks the holder’s Spiral Core. There are two ways to acquire a Pathway. The first is through a specific ritual, though only the Mage Foundation knows how to perform and teach this ritual, and it is granted only to those approved by the Foundation to become mages. The second way is through natural manifestation: the Earth may occasionally produce a Pathway on its own, though this is extremely rare. Finding and using an unauthorised Pathway is strongly discouraged and is very dangerous. Those who do so are labelled rogue mages. Since they are not affiliated with the Mage Foundation, they are hunted down, captured, and in some cases killed. However, if they can prove their worth, they may still be accepted as mages even without going through the Foundation’s ritual.

The Corrupted Pathway

The Corrupted Pathway appears nearly identical to a normal Pathway. It will still unlock a person’s Spiral Core and grant them the ability to use magic, just as a regular Pathway does. However, its card depicts a human figure holding a sphere that resembles the Earth, but with a visible crack running through it, as if the world has been split in two — this signifies that the Earth rejects the individual. The ways of obtaining a Corrupted Pathway are also similar to those for a standard Pathway. First, a Pathway may become corrupted if its associated ritual is interrupted. Second, the world may naturally produce a Corrupted Pathway on its own. Once someone comes into contact with one, they have no choice but to accept it; like a normal Pathway, it automatically unlocks their Spiral Core. Those who use a Corrupted Pathway are known as the Corrupted, and being marked as such is effectively a death sentence. They are hunted and killed immediately unless they can somehow survive. The Mage Association prioritises hunting the Corrupted even more than they do rogue mages. A Corrupted Pathway grants powerful but unstable magic, and gradually corrupts its user. There are several stages of corruption. In the first stage, the individual will experience severe headaches and frequent vomiting. In the second stage, they will develop a high fever as though burning from within, and their eyes will turn blood red. In the third stage, the word “corrupted” will appear as a mark beneath their wrist. Using this magic also carries severe backlash: while the magic produced may be potent, it is highly unstable, and the mana cost is tripled, as the Earth essentially resists and repels the user like an intruder.

Magic

Magic is a supernatural ability that mages wield once they have supplied the necessary amount of mana to cast a spell. There are many different types and forms of magic available to mages. Magic relies heavily on both mana and focus, and a variety of tools may be used to channel it. Some mages use a staff, others a wand or a grimoire, while others cast spells using only their hands. The strengths and weaknesses of a spell depend entirely on the type of magic being used. For example, a fireball spell can easily be extinguished by water magic. If a mage uses too much mana, they will experience a series of worsening symptoms. The first stage brings simple fatigue and exhaustion. In the second stage, their body may feel numb, as it is unaccustomed to operating with so little mana remaining. In the final stage, they will lose consciousness entirely.

Magic Types

Elemental Manipulation

Alchemy and Chemistry

Spiritual and Conceptual Evocation

Curse Arts, Mental Interference and Domination

Herbology

Transfiguration

Material Transmutation

Defensive Spells

Animagus

Metamorphmagus

Legilimens and Occlumens

Magic and Attribute Ranks

There are five primary ranks used to measure the power and quality of magic or magical attributes.

Gate 5 = Weak

Gate 4 = Standard

Gate 3 = Powerful

Gate 2 = Rare

Gate 1 = Legendary

There is, however, one exception to this system: Gate 0. Most magic does not function in space, as it is tied to the Earth and loses power the further one travels from it. Gate 0 is reserved for those who can overcome this limitation entirely.

The Door

The Door is the key that grants access to the Archive. It lies deep within the Earth, at the centre of an ancient palace built exactly where all the world’s leylines converge. It is an enormous portal that leads into a place known as the White Realm. Beyond it stretches a long bridge, at the end of which sits a throne. Whoever reaches that throne becomes the ruler of the Archive, a title known as the Arch-Librarian. It is said that an ancient emperor once sought access to this knowledge, and so he constructed a great palace over the convergence point of all leylines, channelling their power to activate the Door. He became the first person ever to enter the Archive. However, the emperor became greedy, seeking to claim all magical power for himself. This ambition sparked a great war between his empire and an alliance formed by five other kingdoms to stop him. When the war ended, the five kings sealed the Door and set forth a pact. The Door would only open when a chosen heir bearing royal blood from one of the five kingdoms gathered the pacts from the other four royal bloodlines and placed them upon four obelisks surrounding the gateway. Furthermore, the trial to claim the Door could only begin once the previous Arch-Librarian had passed away.

The Battle Royale of the Five Kings

This trial involves exactly five participants, and takes place across a vast area surrounding — but not including — the ancient palace at its very centre. Visually, imagine two concentric circles: the region between them forms the contested territory, while the palace sits safely within the innermost circle. Each participant holds the title of “King”. They begin placed separately across the five assigned regions, and are free to fight alone or form temporary alliances. The goal is to gain control of all five regions, either by defeating the opposing ruler or forcing them to surrender. When a king falls or surrenders, their Royal Pact appears for the victor to claim. If one king defeats another who has already conquered others, they immediately inherit all that ruler’s territories and Pacts. This continues until only one king remains. That survivor may then enter the central palace and open the Door.

The Archive

The Archive is an immense library that preserves every magical record that has ever existed on Earth, from ancient times to the present day. It continues to expand and grow as new knowledge is added.

The Arch-Librarian

The Arch-Librarian is the guardian and ruler of the Archive, and holds enough power to protect — or threaten — their entire world. Similar Doors and Archives exist not just on Earth, but on countless other worlds as well. Each planet’s Archive is unique, shaped entirely by the magic and history of that world alone. Every Arch-Librarian represents their own planet (May be called as Arch-Librarian of Earth, etc.), and holds a power ranking of Gate 0. This means their magic is not limited to their home world, and can be used anywhere in the universe. Because of this, the Arch-Librarians of different worlds are naturally viewed as potential threats to one another. While an Arch-Librarian possesses far more mana than any ordinary being, that power is not infinite.

Red Gathering

There are 5 Lords of the Mage Foundation with royal bloodlines. Usually, the leadership throne is passed around among each Lord in a circle every 5 years. However, if the Lord currently controlling the Mage Foundation is terrible at leading and causing many problems, the remaining 4 Lords can issue a Red Gathering, but only if the power of the vote is higher. A Red Gathering is a tournament for the power to lead the Mage Foundation and can only be issued among the Lords themselves. The remaining 4 can only choose one of them to fight the current leader of the Mage Foundation, and if the current leader loses, they will have to step down for the new Lord of the Mage Foundation. If the challenger loses, they will temporarily lose their authority and control within the Mage Foundation for 3 years. Usually, it ends with the person surrendering or being badly wounded. However, sometimes it can end with the death of one of the two Lords.

I've made this system of magic, which will be explained below. I was looking for more ideas with which to enrich it. For now, these are just the Arcane Magics, but I would also appreciate more Kindred Magic ideas.

The underlying mechanism

Mana, the mysterious energy that powers all magic, exists everywhere. Every living being draws in Mana via breathing, an inefficient method. Not to mention, most never really use it, simply accumulating mana until death.

There are two “systems” of magic in Argonia: One is Arcane Magic, and the other is Kindred Magic.

Arcane Magic is the system of manipulating mana without relying on built-in biological mechanism, usually done via Dragonic Favor or by being bestowed an Insight by another Arcane Mage. The most notable Arcane Magics are the Runic Discipline, Starlight Discipline, Souldrinking Discipline, Necromancy Discipline and Knotwork Discipline.

Kindred Magic, also known as Innate, Biological or Physiological Magic, are the innate magics possessed by each race. Everyone is a Kindred Mage, but to cultivate the magical gift into something notable requires proper training and study, not unlike becoming an athlete. These are, fittingly, the most common type of magic. As these are deeply related to cultural stuff, and are often versatile to have offshoots, I’ll cover them later.

How to obtain Arcane Magic

Arcane Magic is not only hard to study, but the ability to bypass one’s own biology and interact with Mana directly is something that must be given. There are two ways:

First, The Twelve Dragons are their own beings, in terms of magic, operating on a grand tyrannical scale. Dragonic Magic theoretically encompasses all magic, and must surpass it in some aspects, as they can freely bestow Dragonic Favors. The reason varies from dragon to dragon, but this is often done to further their own experiments of magic. The Favor is no different from Insight of Arcane Mages, except that it cannot be passed on, does not incur the loss of Kindred Magic and can be rescinded by the dragon that gave it, whenever convenient.

The Insight is another method of obtaining Arcane Magic. The Arthur Academy, founded by Arthur Blackstone, houses an Astral Body that fell within the Arthurian family’s noble state. It is said that those who behold the Body and its indescribable color will have their eyes turned into glass, not unlike stained glass, and gain the ability to wield Arcane Magic, at the loss of their Kindred Magic. Arthur Blackstone, sensing the opportunity, quickly hid it away and built the Academy on top of it. It is now a learning hub where young aristocrats can go to become Arcane Mages, should they prove themselves capable of handling the sight of the Astral Body.

Particularly skilled Arthurian Arcane Mages can impart the sight of the Astral Body upon others, although the practice is frowned upon, in large part by the immense cruelty that an unprepared mind suffers, and is often enough to incur the death penalty.

Arcane Magics, also known as Sorceries

Sorceries are new methods of manipulating mana freed from the biological constraints of the Kindred Magic. However, without the path that biology grants, they must be built up from the ground-up, a far more tortuous, slow and complicated process than many think. No two Arcane Disciplines obey the same principles, so wide is the gap between each. Raw Arcane Magic, without a Discipline to guide it, is a very localized and weak reality-bending, unable to create any great effect.

Thus they must follow a Discipline, a theme, which will underline all of their following applications within the Discipline.

As for what they are, and the groups that created them…

Arthurian Sorcery

These are the sorceries that were created by the Arthur Academy, on their research of Mana and the Astral Body. Many years were poured into developing these two, and although many ideas have been studied, these are the ones that have been properly developed so far.

Runic Discipline

Made by the Arthurian scholars to attempt to categorize mana phenomenon, which ended up being far more than that. The runic alphabet is instrumental in many rituals and enchantments, as it has proven a considerably reliable and long lasting form of binding magic onto reality. However, its danger comes from inexperience, as it is very easy to accidentally create a bomb in place of whatever effect one wanted. Additionally, a lot of mana must be accumulated to achieve any effect of note, and a considerable amount of runes required for full safety.

In practice, the Runic Discipline treats the Mana as a contractor, and rituals as contracts. Runic circles and the like are, in effect, magical contracts with the forces of Mana itself. Mana is not sentient, but a ritual is nothing more than persuading a non-sentient force to abide by the terms of a contract, which does allow for results, not all of them good. Mana, it seems, has a tendency to abide by the letter of the contract, not any more or less.

Starlight Discipline

One of the crudest applications of Arcane Magic, also created by Arthurian scholars, is an attempt to recreate the color from the Astral Body. From within this concept, there arises three aspects: Madness, Scourge and Power. 

Madness, in its yellow color, is the aspect used for illusions. At lower levels, it is merely visual, but as mastery grows, it will eventually encompass all of them. At its highest levels, madness can bend information retroactively, allowing for the phenomenon known as Censoring, effectively erasing oneself from the world’s history and consciousness.

Scourge, in a red color, is the offensive aspect used to burn away the foes of the caster. At lower levels, it resembles a fiery laser, capable of burning like fire does, but as mastery grows, its capability of burning increases. At the highest levels, the red light ceases to merely burn, but to Scourge, which can charitably be described as “careful deconstruction of the target”.

Power is the final light that one can yield. It is only taught to the most trusted mages, as it simulates the light of the Astral Body, allowing for the gifting of Insight to others outside of the academy.

Dragonic Sorcery

As mentioned, Dragonic Fervor does not incur the loss of Kindred Magic. This somewhat limits the Disciplines that are theoretically available, but the resulting Disciplines tend to be far more developed and powerful than the Arthurian arsenal, and also impossible to simulate with pure Kindred Magic. Thankfully, only a few Dragonic Sorcerers, as they are called, exist.

Souldrinking Discipline

Sacrificial magic is a common undercurrent among all magics, regardless if they are Arcane or Kindred. All beings accumulate Mana, and killing others to empower a spell is quite common knowledge, even if illegal. However, the Souldrinking Discipline takes it a step further.

Imagine killing someone. That person would have, otherwise, lived 15 more years. You, by killing that person, have effectively compressed those 15 years of potential into a single act. Souldrinking Discipline is about turning that act into something more, a ritual that greatly empowers the user with stolen potential, stolen at the time of killing.

This discipline was brought into existence by the Sorcerer Nashoba, via mix of Spirit Kindred Magic, from the Orcs, and the Black Dragon Favor.

Necromancy Discipline 

Blood houses a variety of things. The Vampires of Korriban, the Night Isles, know it well. They, too, have been given the Black Dragon Favor. With it, they have modified the blood itself, giving rise to the Bone Worm. The bone worm is a breed of worms, modified by Korriban Dragon Sorcerers, which eats the spine and cranium of creatures, parasitizing their bodies and piloting them. They also produce larvae, which stay floating in saliva and blood, and will cause another bone worm thrall upon those who consume either.

Bone Worms can also yield a measurement of death itself, rotting their foes upon bite and claw. The only way to kill a bone worm is to destroy the head, where the greatest concentration of mana is- it is comparable to a metal helmet, but the unstable energy will grow volatile and burst open should the “bone” be cracked.

This Discipline was brought into existence by Sorcerer Malan, with a mix of a subsection of Blood Magic and the Black Dragon Favor.

Knotwork Discipline.

The Kyz, a spider people from the underground, have always been famous for their weave work. Capable of illusions and extreme complexity, they could even weave themselves a suit to resemble a human, and none would be the wiser. With the Favor of the Blue Dragon, the Weave Kindred Magic can be trained into seeing and manipulating fate. At first, mere hexes and blessings of good and bad luck, but with enough training, even the Thread of Fate can be woven into new directions.

This Discipline was brought into existence by the Sorcerer Krrtrz, and her many daughters, with a mix of the Weaver Magic and the Blue Dragon Favor.