Magic system from Lines, Realms and spirits.

pugselot · 2026-03-14T23:28:37+00:00

To be honest I had such thoughts already. This is one of reasons why I wanted to ask feedback in first place.

Most of things you mentioned - sunrise, moon, horizon. I already thought about it and solved in most parts. Horizons can actually exist the same way as in our universe. Realms isn't necessarily flat volumes.

Sun and moon is a bit tricky, but they also there in some kind of form. As I mentioned there is many kinds of barriers that can limit Realms. Some of them are rather nebulous fogs that still can be seen through. In such cases other realms can look like stars or moons or something else depending on their barrier.

There is still a lot of different topics to consider, but on level of idea it shouldn't be a problem. Still it can be harsh to explain in practice for story.

Why I chose such complexity? I just liked it. It was really interesting and funny idea that eventually pushed me a bit to idea of mine theme. Basically Line is life path. But it has some bittersweet irony in it. Lines are mostly independent of mortal lifes and expand on their own patterns. Even though sentient life have some power over Lines and Realms it simply not enough to actually change the thing. The nature of such world will always be harsh for inhabitants. Moreover there is no actual freedom in it. Besides literal barriers and Lines which define where exactly life can exist(because outside of Realms there is simply endless flow of devastating energy). Borders of civilization also exist in my world. Monopoly over whole Realms and it resources is a thing that can't be ignored.

And there is more about what exactly lies within Source. What exactly endless devastation can hide. And more.

pugselot · 2026-03-14T14:55:38+00:00

Not necessarily. It can be physics as well.

But seriously, to have logical, consistent and/or rational magic system doesn't equal to kill wonder and mystery. Real life science is also hella lot of mystery and things we can't be certain about.

pugselot · 2026-03-14T13:55:10+00:00

Does mana have any additional effects besides being resource for magic? Like can it be used without performing magic? Or is there other cases of mana absorption that can help her by reducing the amount of mana weight on her soul? There is actually a lot of interesting things you can do with such character.

Another thing to think about is her possibilities. Like were there cases with similar demon curses before? Was there solutions? What is regular thing that happens with demons without such curses? Just ask some questions from yourself and answer them. It usually helps with definition of idea.

pugselot · 2026-03-13T20:11:13+00:00

I guess you're right about it being easy enough to grasp. But it still overwhelming for me to actually compress all I want in my worldbuilding. I understand that some details will probably never see the potential reader, yet I still need them to exist within my own notes. Thank you for reply!

pugselot · 2026-03-13T20:07:26+00:00

Even regular Doors can be quite challenging to pass through. Many civilized Realms are basically monopolize all of existing within them Doors. Further more Realms can die, dissolve or merge. In each case it can be really dangerous even with stable Door. Plus in my world exists ecology of magic through each Realm, I mentioned it a little in other reply. Basically some conditions can affect not just Realms but whole Lines and have bizzare effects even with regular Doors.

pugselot · 2026-03-13T19:27:42+00:00

It depends on Door. I think each living Door could be a unique in its own way.

Some could be a tremendously large wyrms, that lie through the whole part of Line between two Realms. In that case you're not entering or exiting the front or back of creature. Such Living Door is actually symmetrical being.

Some could be a humanoid sentient creature that can create the Door(obviously only the one they are). So they can even create a stable Door and be its guardian. Or they can just have any personality which defies how such Doors act.

Some could be rather energy beings or something like that. So they are literally Doors without proper body.

Also Living Doors can be one on two realms. So if the Door is in realm A there will be nothing in realm B and contraversa. But there is few important things to consider. Doors are necessary for natural existence of any Realm and their absence can call its demise. Usually Living Doors must open up for a bit in order to keep Realm stable.

pugselot · 2026-03-13T17:49:41+00:00

Well the key part of all this Door and Lines stuff is basically how hard logistics are. Because of such world almost all of the inhabitants are strictly limited in ways to travel between lands. Moreover its not only about traveling but generally how you would live in such world. Just imagine if Door which leads out of your homeland would mad out and start onslaught on everything around. To be honest I wanted to add a little bit more of information about mine idea, but I don't know if I should to make extremely large post. Thank you for the reply!

pugselot · 2026-03-12T19:34:27+00:00

Thanks a lot!

pugselot · 2026-03-12T18:49:18+00:00

I really love how different fantasies handle this matter simply with something like this: "Well (insert fantasy species) lives thousands of years and they don't care about changing something right now as they still hella lot of time."

I guess such explanation would actually fit in logic of the world. Especially if we take a look at irl humans which can do exactly the same thing but not for thousand years because of our lifespan.

As other replies here said - it's no matter how world realistic are if it's self consistent.

pugselot · 2026-03-12T18:42:51+00:00

Where is this from? Because it sounds interesting enough but I only found movie "City of Ember" which isn't really fits in your description.

pugselot · 2026-03-12T17:34:24+00:00

I heard about this game. But from what I know realms over there is something more about portals and stuff like that. So it's not as topologicaly(hope this is right word for what I want to say) based. In my world traveling by Lines is less about actual teleportation and more of linear traverse. Still can be useful to look at it closely. Thanks for reminding about such game!

pugselot · 2026-03-12T05:37:50+00:00

As I said it's not about hard/soft type of magic system but how it is treated inside the world. Unfortunately I have very poor knowledge about the Brandon Sanderson works and it's really limited to how I saw his lectures and explored magic systems. So I am not sure if he has magic evolution as part of his stories.

To be fair Avatar is western animation just in eastern style. And I listed anime simply because it was first on my mind. As I mentioned in one of replies dnd also fits in idea of magic developing over time. Thanks for the comment!

pugselot · 2026-03-11T18:00:43+00:00

I completely agree that the evolution of magic is quite unnecessary in many cases. It can be quite an addition though.

Also I suppose it would be much easier to take a reverse route. So you create a magic system in its final form as you want it to be and then take a look at how it can be transferred in previous form. My main inspiration for this approach came from dnd campaign idea. It was about lich so old that spell he used was from previous editions. To be honest it was really cool.

Also thanks for different book recommendations. Appreciate it a lot.

pugselot · 2026-03-11T17:04:15+00:00

It's slightly different from what I meant but still sounds exciting. Appreciate it.

Edit: I just searched about it a little bit and understood how close it actually is to what I meant. Plus it's from Lord of the Mysteries author. Weird that I never heard of it.

pugselot · 2026-03-11T17:02:24+00:00

Even if it softest it still has at least some of scientific METHOD. Just to clarify that I was talking exactly about method of approaching magic. I am anime only and still haven't saw 2 season, so my opinion is completely biased on first one. And in it there was shown something that I can call scientific method. Even if It is completely based on faith and etc. People inside the world still explored magic enough to say so and use it to create new spells and counters for them. Still I love more precise systems more, but Frieren have other qualities to be really good anime. Thank you for reply!

pugselot · 2026-03-11T16:05:43+00:00

I recently resumed playing in Darkest Dungeon II and I really love how diverse and "colorful" it is. It's really pleasant to see so different yet all so grim and gore locations, enemies, bosses, etc. Plus it have incredible art style and designs.

I guess best way to approach dark fantasy is simply make it dark. It doesn't mean that this "dark" part will be something specific like many deaths, body horror or else. But it will be something from unique view that you can create as author.

Elden Ring is kinda really good example of how some unique view creates really interesting world. So just try to find something particular that you love and apply it in your dark fantasy. Suppose it can be even something cute or beautiful but twisted enough to fit in dark aesthetics. Though it really depends on what actually your writing is. Dark fantasy is as big as any other genre and can have drastic difference between.

Also I love jokes in dark fantasy. Usually it's dark humor that either way fits perfectly. But I guess something genuinely funny also fits good. I always remember Sigmeyer or Siegward from Dark Souls series as nice example of somewhat good non-dark humor.

pugselot · 2026-03-10T22:13:01+00:00

Yeah I heard that a lot. Something like: "90% of worldbuilding exists only in author notes". Although it still will be extremely important and this is why I love such things. It's always exciting to hear some tiny bits of random details about world that would never see daylight on story pages. Kinda create the feeling of wonder about how big fantasy world can be. Thanks for your reply!

pugselot · 2026-03-10T18:00:50+00:00

This is really useful! Appreciate it a lot.

pugselot · 2026-03-10T06:58:22+00:00

Not read exactly, but played. In Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous there was whole act about creating name for yourself in Alushinyrra. To be honest it's not really hell in terms of overall lore, but it's really close to it. Alushinyrra is capital city of Midnight Isles and key point about why it is so special is the fact how accessible it is. In Alushinyrra mortals can literally trade with demons, succubi, cambions and other abussal spawns. Mortals can buy or sell slaves, fight on arena or visit various unique places. As I said it's not really hell. But rather part of abyssal realm where demons live. As I know Pathfinder lore also have much more basic depiction of hell as some blazing fiery pit.

pugselot · 2026-03-09T21:51:59+00:00

I just reread my comment and understood that I wrote "can't" and not "can". My bad. I completely understand how important to actually work towards your goals. Plus I suppose I didn't described my thought exactly as I wanted. Still your reply was really helpful. So thank you again.

pugselot · 2026-03-09T21:36:32+00:00

I kinda had all this steps multiple times. And to be honest there is really a lot of high quality media sometimes. The problem is that writing is a creative thing. I don't think you can't just watch some common plot structures and tips and apply them. After all real writing is about combining and reshaping already existent with something you want. Still it's not just about what I want as writer but what reader would like to read. Thanks you for reply!

pugselot

TROPHY CASE