Magic System, Part 2: Language-Agnostic, Intent-Based Magic

Published: 2020-11-20

Tags: magic-system

In the last post, I covered some issues plaguing other magic systems. Starting with this post I'd like to specify how certain things in my magic system work.

Language-Agnostic

What does "language-agnostic" mean? Basically, my magic system isn't based on any one language. You can give spells in Greek, you can give spells in Scottish Gaelic, you can give spells in Russian; basically any language of sufficient age will have some way to do magic. Not only that, but every language has a way to express every spell. This prevents a culture of I-can-do-things-you-can't-because-of-our-magic-types, and instead promotes a culture of different-tools-that-do-the-same-job. Also, as a bonus, this also sidesteps the issue of "what language does a bat's wing speak to a blue corn moon", because literally anything will work.

So, how do I figure out what spells do what? Simple:

A System of Intent

Intent is a powerful thing. Sarcasm, for instance, is entirely based around saying words while intending their opposite. For this reason, I chose intent as the basis of my magic system. That is to say, you utter a spell, you intend a meaning behind that spell, and then you utilize your mana to make that intent reality.

For instance, the intent behind the Greek "koimámai" is largely the same as the intent behind the Scottish Gaelic "cadal": sleep. Specifically, this person I'm targeting the spell at is asleep. A little bit of applied mana later, your target is dozing off, completely unaware of anything out of the ordinary. Another example is the Greek "aspída" and the Scottish Gaelic "sgeath": shield. There's a shield in front of you; at least, once you apply your mana there is.

This also doubles in not needing to overly specify spells, because one "incantation" can have multiple intents. For instance, instead of needing a spell for "exploding projectile" and "explosion", you can just have one spell: "ekrixi" (blast).

Conclusion

In the next article, I'll cover how the different techniques of spellcasting are handled in this system. I know this isn't a long article, but I figured I'd put out something.