What the Hell is a Magic Meta-system?

We know what a magic system is. We talk about the magic system of Shadowrun, the magic system of Sanderson's Elantris, the magic system of the "Harry Potter" novels.

We compare and contrast them, and describe what characteristics we'd like to see in our ideal system. We complain when they're not magical enough, or when they're too "vulgar". Fantasy authors design theirs, and fans debate the characteristics of their creations.

Boiled down, it's this: A magic system is the set of laws that governs magic in a specific setting.

That's it. The magic system answers the question "What is Magic Like Here?" ("Here" meaning "this game world", "this novel", or anyplace else.)

Destiny doesn't have a single magic system, universal to all settings. Each setting has the magic system appropriate for it. What makes this possible is that instead it has a magic meta-system.

The magic meta-system, called The Ages of Magic, takes all of the various magic systems—fiction, non-fiction, video games, novels, movies, RPG's, and so forth—and organizes them in a coherent, internally consistent progression from least advanced to most advanced.

What GURPS' Tech rating does for technology, the five Ages of Magic do for spellcasting.

Using this meta-system, we can describe what level of magical advancement a given world is at. We can compare it to other settings, and characters from one world can interact with those from another. (The raison d'etre of Torg and other settings, such as GURPS' Infinite Worlds or Nexus: The Infinite City.)

And, like Bloody Johnson's game design thread, this framework forms a chronicle of magic systems, a record of what has come before. It can help those trying to build their own to discover concepts they've never encountered, to build a system more interesting than they imagined.

More, if you so desire, you can build a history of magic for your world. Like human technology developed from the Stone Age to the Space Age, your magic systems can develop from primitive superstitions to powerful wizardries.

You could make is so that, 100 years ago magic was weak and obscure, but since then it has advanced by leaps and bounds. Society is now in the throes of a Magical Revolution. Cutting-edge magical developments appear regularly, and are disrupting society, causing both elation and fear. Toffler's Future Shock, caused by magical innovations. (Shadowrun does this in setting details, but omits the theoretical and mechanical background behind its "Mana Revolution".)

And you can use your own mechanics, not mine. The Ages of Magic is game system agnostic.

This powerful and flexible framework allows for all that. Let's start with a general outline.

The Ages of Magic

Not all magic systems work the same. Some forms of magic are precise and controllable, others obscure and imprecise, and some are mere superstitions. Depending on the setting, magic is sometimes weak and unpredictable, and at other times is is powerful and exacting.

These disparities make it seem as if devising an overarching scheme for magic is impossible. It isn’t, for behind all of these differences there is a discernible order to magic, a path to its development from something weak and difficult to control to something powerful and easy to control. This path can be broken up into five separate stages, the Ages of Magic.

The Age of Superstition

In its earliest forms, magic is unknowable, uncontrollable, and unreliable. It manifests as good and bad luck, superstitions, good luck charms, omens, fortune-telling, and curses. Folklore and superstitions are the only source of magical knowledge.

The Age of Mysticism

Mystic magic is obscure, ritualized, undependable, and limited in effect (though usable by anyone). It is difficult to discern the principles of mystical magics, and comprehensive, well-understood systems of magic are unknown. Magical learning is taught by tradition, as rituals handed down from person to person. New rituals may be unearthed from time to time, but this is a haphazard process of trial and error.

The Age of Arcana

Arcane magic is specialized, controllable, and exacting. The principles of magic are known and understood, allowing for a comprehensive body of magical knowledge. This body of knowledge allows spells to be created and used, but only with intense study. This limits spellcasting to specialists, variously referred to as sorcerers, wizards, magicians, mages, and so forth. Magic can be dramatic and powerful, and can have a great deal of impact on the daily lives of many.

The Age of Mastery

Magic is no longer an esoteric discipline, it is a ubiquitous tool that anyone can use. Common people can learn cantrips, minor spells of great utility, and mages can learn spell formulae, allowing them to surpass the rigid restrictions of spells. The fundamental essence of magic has been identified, and mages can use magic more flexibly than ever before. Innate magics, or talents, are possible, meaning some can work magic because it is a part of who they are.

The Age of Myth

Magic can be worked by the pure application of desire: magicians can wish for something and it happens. At the apotheosis of the axiom, anyone can use wish magic, and everyone does.

Applying the Meta-System

These five Ages form the backbone of the meta-system, and define the path it takes. Nearly all systems of magic, from fiction, the real world, or other games, can be placed into this progression somewhere.

Examples

• Dungeons & Dragons magic (in Third Edition and earlier) revolves around magic-users learning and casting spells. Magic-users are specialists, and not everyone can be a wizard. These are all prime attributes of the Age of Arcana.

• Magic in Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris and the Mistborn Trilogy revolves around innate abilities, channelled through external props (in Elantris, magical sigils, in Mistborn, pieces of metal). Innate magical abilities belong to the Age of Mastery.

• Shadowrun's magical spells are equivalent to spell formulae, mages choose how powerful a spell is when they cast it, which affects how draining it is to cast. This is a prime Age of Mastery setting.

The Ages of Magic is the basis for an entirely rewritten Magic Axiom for "Storm Knights" (and hence Torg). There is a far more detailed version of the Ages, broken down into 22 distinct levels (0-21). Those interested in this can find it here.

The full article goes into much more depth about the differences between various Axiom levels, presenting a developmental path that could take magic from superstitions to wishes. It also explains some more about the terms used in the above descriptions (omens, and the like).

So, that's the magical meta-system of Destiny. Thanks for reading.