Art by Alison Hunt
(Enjoy this excerpt from Do I Need to Use a Dragon? It’s available on Amazon as a $2.99 eBook and a $20 paperback.)
First is a hero who grew up never knowing magic existed will not swiftly accept it and begin using such power without a care in the world. There will be some level of apprehension and fear. On the other side of the spectrum, a warrior who lives in a world that has magic around every corner is highly unlikely to disbelieve the use of spells. Of course, there are plenty of levels in-between and beyond, but character acceptance levels can be one of the greater influences on your system.
You should add something that explains these reactions, especially if you’re going for the extremes. For the first example, you can establish that they’ve read tales of magic, which they think are fiction. This still puts the possibility of acceptance in their head. As far as the second hero, you can write them as someone who feels all magic is fake regardless of the evidence. I would say the second one is a bigger challenge because the character has to deny what they and the audience are witnessing. This becomes a bigger issue as they are exposed to more and greater magical events. Readers can get frustrated with a character who refuses to believe what is in their face because it can slow down a scene and overall progress. This happens quite often when authors create magic systems and then add characters who refuse to accept this energy is part of their world.
That’s why you have to think about how it fits into the world first by considering these opposing factors:
- High or Low Concentration– High magic concentration in this sense is powerful energy that is everywhere. The world is filled with magic and people use it on a daily basis. Your average denizen won’t be amazed by a fireball any more than we would be in awe of a firework. In contrast, low magic concentration means the energy is rare or non-existent. It could have been that way since the beginning or an event erased/limited the magic of your world. Maybe a group has hoarded it or only a handful of special beings can use it. The point is that people think of it as a rumor, extinct, or have never heard of it in the first place. There are hundreds of gradients you can use here. It isn’t only high or low, so you might be more comfortable in the middle.
- Worshiped or Feared Magic– Again, there are different levels here. As you can guess, a world where magic is worshiped means it is held in high esteem. The elite of society are the ones who cast spells, which can be done in either a world where it is seen everywhere or rare. People grow up with the hope that they can use magic and become a caster, which will change their station in life. The opposite is a society where magic is feared and considered a subversive entity. It could be everywhere, but nobody is sure how to safely use it, so accidents are common. Maybe only evil figures have found ways to use magic. In a low concentration world, magic can be feared since most of the denizens have no experience with it. After all, people, human and otherwise, tend to fear what they don’t understand.
- Natural or Trained– This pairing deals with how a person is able to use magic. Some authors go with it being a natural ability. If you weren’t born with it, you have no chance of gaining it. This can seem pretty harsh, which is why natural casters get used in worlds where they are feared or hated. Unless they live in a world where everyone is born with magic and those without are the minority. A trained caster is one who can be in a world where every person has the potential as long as they get lessons. That and studying, so it’s like school with more explosions and a high death count that never gets the place shut down.
That’s only how your world will view magic and what your characters will think when they encounter or use it. We haven’t touched on categories of magic in terms of origin.
Legends of Windemere 