How to create a magic system that makes sense

You've probably read that a magic system requires rules. That's true, but it's just the beginning. Rules are the skeleton, and like with a human, you need to add more to the bones before you have something that lives and breathes.

You should also consider what magic means to your world and the people who populate it. In other words, magic makes more sense when you explore the relationship between it, characters, and story.

Rules make a magic system consistent, which is an important starting point. But the lived experience of magic users and magic's effects on the world make it real.

 

Why "just add rules" doesn't create a magic system that makes sense

Naturally, your magic system needs rules in the form of what you can and cannot do with it. Magic with no limits makes the story too easy after all. But rules and limits alone aren't enough to make a magic system feel real.

Think of it this way: You crack the seal on a new board game and read the rules.

You can kind of visualize the game, but you don't know what playing will look or feel like yet. You don't know if you'll enjoy it. Maybe it'll spawn in-jokes and treasured memories with your friends or cause Jannis to flip the board and block your number.

You have the rules, but you have no experience of the game or personal meaning attached to it yet. It's all abstract.

Similarly, rules are the basis of a magic system, but they're not enough to make it real.

The questions that actually matter when creating a magic system

To make a magic system feel real and logical, embed it into the lives of your characters and your world. The degree to which you do this depends on the type of magic system you're creating. For example, if magic is common among everyday people (think Avatar: The Last Airbender or A Darker Shade of Magic), then you'll weave magic through every part of your world, society, and even personal relationships.

If your magic is limited to very few people, then you'll focus on how it affects those individuals, their place in the world, and their subculture or society. Even in this case, magic will have effects on the wider world in the ways that people view it, treat magic users, or don't believe in it at all. This can differ among different groups of people in the same world.

Take Star Wars, for example. In a galaxy of trillions, Jedi are rare. But some people— the galactic senate and the clone armies, for example—regularly interact with them, making their magic a part of galactic politics and war.

Others— such as Andor—doubt that Force users are real. These characters don't meet any Jedi, making magic a negligible part of their everyday lives. (Yes, the Force might still be acting on characters like Andor. But he's not aware of it, so from his experience, magic isn't a thing.)

In short, whether your magic is common or rare, it will have wide-ranging effects on your characters and world. This is where your magic system becomes real or falls flat.

When designing your magic system, ask yourself:

Who has access to magic and why?

How do different groups view magic and magic-users? Why do they hold these views?

What effect does magic have on different parts of your world, from the environment to technology to politics? Depending on your system, magic might not affect everything, but it should change some aspects of your world.

For help crafting both your magic system's rules and its impacts on the world, check out our hands-on worksheets.

How your magic system connects to your characters

Magic makes sense when it has real effects on the lived experiences of your characters—both those who use magic and those who don't. It will shape their views of the world, themselves, and their personalities.

For example, in The Last Airbender, Aang struggles with being the most powerful magic user in his world because it comes with a heavy responsibility that is both too much for a young kid and conflicts with his natural carefree personality. He fears wielding his full power in case he hurts someone.

In A Darker Shade of Magic, Kel is the only one who can use blood magic and travel between worlds. He often hides the mark of his power—an eye that is completely black—because of the way people treat him when they realize who he is.

In both cases, the magic user has a complicated relationship with their powers that grounds their abilities in real human emotions, concerns, and experiences. Magic makes more sense and feels more real when combined with experiences we can relate to.

That doesn't mean your magic users must have a love-hate relationship with their abilities. Avatar Korra revels in her powers and enjoys using them at every chance. That's a human response too, since who doesn't like showing off something they're good at?

For your magic users, ask yourself:

How do they feel about their abilities?

What does using magic cost them? What is the limit to their powers? How do they feel about that?

How do they experience their abilities? How does it feel physically to use them, and how does it feel emotionally or mentally?

How do their abilities affect their everyday life? Their relationships?

For non-magic users in a magical world, ask yourself:

What do they know about magic?

How do they view magic and magic-users?

How does magic affect their daily lives? How do they believe it affects their lives? (These might not be the same!)

When around magic, what do they feel physically and emotionally?

The common pitfalls to avoid

You can design your magic's rules, its effect on the world, and its impact on characters and still create a system that doesn't make sense if you hit one of the common pitfalls.

Magic solves all problems: Magic can absolutely solve problems for your characters and world. But your characters still figure out how to use magic to address challenges, struggle with their own limits and flaws, and find clever solutions. Characters who can solve everything with a wave of their hand are boring, after all.

Magic with no cultural weight: When magic has no impact on its society, religion, and culture, it feels disconnected from its world. You can think of it like technology in a way. Smartphones changed almost everything about our world, from relationships to language to politics. The same with cars before that.

Magic should do the same, relative to how common it is in your world. It should change society, cultural beliefs, and everything in between (unless, of course, nobody knows about magic in your world).

Where the Essential Worldbuilding Blueprint helps with magic system development

The Essential Worldbuilding Blueprint and Workbook covers all aspects of magic development from rules and limits to character beliefs and effects on the world. It includes helpful advice on developing your magic system and practical, hands-on worksheets that ensure your magic is rich, complex, and feels real.

For magic-using characters, our Essential Character Creation Workbook includes worksheets that help you dig into the ways magic and other abilities shape your characters and their story.