Definition
A magic system is the framework that defines what magic can and can't do in your story, who can use it, what it costs, and how it interacts with the rest of your world. It can be rigidly defined with clear rules (hard magic) or left mysterious and awe-inspiring (soft magic). The best magic systems feel like a natural part of the world rather than a convenient tool the author pulls out whenever the plot needs saving.
Why It Matters
Your magic system shapes your plot, your conflicts, and your characters' choices. If magic can do anything, tension evaporates. If it has clear costs and limits, it becomes a source of drama rather than a shortcut around it. Think of your magic system as a contract with the reader about what's possible.
Types of Magic System
Famous Examples
Allomancy is one of the most cited hard magic systems: swallow a metal, burn it, get a specific power. Simple to learn, complex in application.
Magic is tied to true names. Know something's true name and you can command it, but every act of magic disturbs the world's balance.
A soft-leaning system dressed up in hard-magic clothing. Spells have specific effects, but the deeper rules are never fully explained.
Common Mistakes
Give your magic meaningful costs, limits, or side effects. The most interesting magic is the kind that creates problems as often as it solves them.
Teach readers the rules through scenes where characters actually use magic under pressure. Show the system in action.
Establish your magic's capabilities before you need them. A surprise power that saves the day in chapter 20 should have been foreshadowed by chapter 5.
Try It Yourself
Design a magic system with exactly three rules. Write them down in plain sentences. Then write a short scene (one page max) where a character uses this magic to solve a problem, but the rules force them to make a difficult trade-off. Notice how the limitations create the drama.
Track your magic system's rules
Use Novelium's worldbuilding tools to document your magic system's rules, costs, and limitations so your story stays internally consistent from first chapter to last.