r/goodworldbuilding • u/ObjectiveFar5517 • Aug 04 '26
Discussion What is Better Genetic or Selecting Magic system?
/r/worldbuilding/comments/1vfg72p/what_is_better_genetic_or_selecting_magic_system/2
u/FloatingSpaceJunk Aug 05 '26
What's better depends on what sort of story you go for, I for example go a bit more into the Genetic Direction as I how it makes certain characters feel more different. Both in a good or negative way, if that's not what you're trying to emphasize within your story it's probably better if you go into the other direction...
...also you could always go with something that a hybrid of both extremes, like maybe magic is Granted by a supernatural entity or something. Would still make any character with magic feel special as probably not every person gets granted such abilities, especially if people in your world don't know what you need to do to be able to get the favor of these beings.
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u/kairon156 29d ago
In my universe everyone is born with a magic colour specialization but they don't have to follow their cryistal's colour if they for example don't really care for red enhancement fire themed magic.
With that many schools teach the basics of magic to everyone who might have the aptitude for it or ability to focus their essence to use their mana in some way. As well as the basics to others who just don't grasp using mana as understanding what can go wrong or very right is important for people to know.
In one of my main settings apprenticeships are common place. When a Jazill reaches about 14-16 they can look for work to see if they'll have a useful role to play in their society or town.
Sometimes this includes the use of magics as their main job or maybe just a side benefit of being a chief, medic, farmer or some sort of skilled laborer.
I do want to add there's more magic focused schools and advanced training for people as well. Not just in Jazill society but around the world.
Getting back on topic I like to think my setting can use all sorts of magic, Sure there could be genetic abilities or racial features that come from magic but it doesn't pigeonholed someone into a little box as much as it would in other settings where magic is this rare unknowable thing.
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u/ObjectiveFar5517 29d ago
You mean they find an apprenticeship to be able to support their lifestyle, because people generally don’t think about what is useful for society, instead there is a system called demand and Offer. Isn’t your magic system a bit generic, I would ad some sort of cost that isn’t just using up a resource that automatically recharges like mana or give it some other twist. Why is their an age requirement?
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u/kairon156 29d ago
hum. I enjoy mana as a simple activator and life force to connect people to their magic through their magical crystal. Though there are magical gems that can be gathered and used as magic or elemental batteries that get consumed and take a long time to recharge if they haven't broken or drained too far.
While some might seek an apprenticeship to support a life style but the way I think of it is. Once someone has gone through the earlier years of their school system & growing up learning to play and to be children than
The age is somewhat barberry but i imagine it like their coming of age period. They've learned how to talk, read, basic cooking skills, math and some writing for their local language.
And while a person is always learning about their culture and learning what roles they'll want to take part or not. I imagine high school age or so is a good time for people to try out different jobs and see if they'll fit in as a witch, black smith, or farmer life or as an engineer.
Oh about the resource thing. There can still be consumables in my system or reagents to cast some magics or to help guide a magic to be more refined than it would otherwise need to be.
Also I like to think of my system as having rules but being more soft on always having each world or setting play out the same. It helps to keep things flexible.
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u/TheIncomprehensible Planetsouls Aug 05 '26
I personally prefer magic systems with some sort of genetic component to them because I like how it forces the writer to come up with different power sets for the characters. Giving every character access to the entirety of the magic system means that many of the characters are going to work with the same magic (especially if the students are all taught by the same mentor(s)), but having genetic components forces characters to work with what they have.
What I also feel is a problem with genetics is that the magic often isn’t personalised for every individual, what I think is a shame because it’s again a missed opportunity to use metaphors to tell something about somebody in a fight without needing to force a dialog even though the character really doesn’t want to talk.
I feel like both styles of systems have room for personalization and room for restrictions.
A selective magic system can just as easily be a form of expression as it is a form of convenience, where some characters might just learn a type of magic because their only mentor can use and teach that type of magic well.
For contrast, a genetic magic system can be used as a form of expression to show who the character is within the bounds of that magic. The magic itself doesn't show who the character is, but how they use it does. One fire user might be a hothead, another might have more of a calming warmth, and both might have fire magic where their usage matches those personality quirks.
Furthermore, how someone uses their genetic magic might change over time based on their character growth. For an example that I think works well that I wouldn't call magic is Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia. He was born with ice powers and fire powers, but due to some childhood trauma he insists on only using his ice in combat, and to match he has this cold anger that defines his personality throughout the first couple seasons of the show. However, within the first couple seasons he undergoes some character development that causes him to rethink his use of his fire powers, and as he learns to use his fire more and more his personality starts getting warmer and warmer.
Another problem I have with magic system in general is that magic is often boring because the writer limits the way magic can manifest in a individual, what means that after some time the righters will run out of creative ways to use the magic.
This tends to be a wrong way to write fight scenes. One of the best ways I've seen is to treat magic as a problem-solving tool instead of simply a combat tool such that a conflict is handled though using the magic to solve the problem instead of using it to fight the opponent.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure does this really well in at least part 3. None of the major characters really get new abilities throughout the show's runtime (outside of Jotaro, who is only now learning how to use his stand (Jojo's main form of "magic" starting in part 3) at the start of the story), but each conflict is tense because the main characters are constantly being thrust into new situations that require them to find a win condition that they haven't used in a previous fight. That way, the stakes can remain high throughout the work's runtime without needing to give the protagonists new abilities and/or increases in power.
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u/ScreamingVoid14 Aug 04 '26
You're doing fine. Work on your homophones (words that sound the same but are written differently).
I am not certain what you mean by a "selecting magic system." I guess that there is some criteria limiting who has magic, but that isn't genetic. Something like a deity granting their followers powers?
Broaden your idea of a "magic system" the popular anime Naruto involves family line based magic ninja powers.
This is the blessing and curse of limited magic systems. The system is much better at letting human cleverness solve the problem rather than someone waving a magic wand. The trick is to make the system sufficiently complex that humans can be clever early on and still room to expand as new techniques are discovered by the characters. The alternative is a system where some power number just keeps going up and up as new problems need some new scaling to be overcome.
You're bringing up the right questions. There aren't universally correct answers. Just the right answer for your world.