Patrica C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions

Rules of Magic

• What things can magic not do? What are the limits of magical power?
• Is there a difference between miracles and magic? If so, how are they distinguished?
• Where does magic power come from: the gods, "mana" (cf. Larry Niven's Warlock stories), the personal will-power of the magician, etc.? Is it an exhaustible resource?
• How does a magician tap magical power? Does becoming a magician require some rite of passage (investing one's power in an object, being chosen by the gods, constructing or being given a permanent link to the source of power, successfully summoning a demon, etc.) or does it just happen naturally, as a result of study or as a part of growing up?
• What does one need to do to cast a spell -- design an elaborate ritual, recite poetry, mix the right ingredients in a pot? Are there things like a staff, a wand, a familiar, a crystal ball, that are necessary or useful to have before casting spells? If so, where and how do wizards get these things?
• How long does it take to cast a spell? Can spells be stored for later, instant use? Do spells take lots of long ritual, or is magic a "point and shoot" kind of thing?
• Can two or more wizards combine their power to cast a stronger spell, or is magic done only by individuals? What makes one wizard more powerful than another--knowledge of more spells, ability to handle greater quantities of mana, having a more powerful god as patron, etc.?
• Does practicing magic have any detrimental effect on the magician (such as being addictive, slowly driving the magician insane, or shortening the magicians life-span)? If so, is there any way to prevent these effects? Are the effects inevitable in all magicians, or do they affect only those with some sort of predisposition? Do the effects progress at the same rate in everyone?
• How much is known about the laws of magic? How much of what is "known" is wrong (as Aristotle's ideas about human anatomy were wrong, but accepted for centuries)?
• What general varieties of magic are practiced (e.g., herbal potions, ritual magic, alchemical magic, demonology, necromancy, etc.)? Do any work better than others, or does only one variety actually work?
• Are certain kinds of magic practiced solely or chiefly by one sex or another? By one race or culture or another?
• Does a magician's magical ability or power change over time -- e.g., growing stronger or weaker during puberty, or with increasing age? Can a magician "use up" all of his/her magic, thus ceasing to be a magician? If this happens, what does the ex-magician do--die, retire, take up teaching, go into a second career?
• Can the ability to do magic be lost? If so, how -- overdoing it, "burning out," brain damage due to fever or a blow, magical attack, etc.?
• Can the ability to do magic be forcibly taken away? If so, how and by whom? (Traditional example: certain spells could only be worked by virgins; raping such a witch robbed her of her power.)
• What is the price magicians pay in order to be magicians--years of study, permanent celibacy, using up bits of their life or memory with each spell, etc.?

Skip to: Top or page information.

Donate by PayPal!

Donations are not tax deductible and do not buy access, products, or services.