Hello all,

This is my first post in the topic section on this forum. I am working on my first fantasy based story. I just finished two of Brent Week's novels, one of the lightbringer and one of the night angel. I was really impressed with how he used his own magic systems in his works. Now, I am not well read in all of the magic lore of this genre but do you feel I should go with my own "Unique" magic or would it be acceptable to pull from the established realms (elements, classes, artifacts, etc)? I would like a crack at making my own magic system but I am not too familiar with what has already been done before.

Thank you all in advance for you thoughts!!!!

I think the best way to go about it is to read magical things. That will expose you to a lot of different methods that you can mold into your own system. One that I found very interesting was from Inverloch where elemental magic came from the environment as well as the mage's particular ability, while dark magic required energy from the life force of the mage, or others.

Both of those are perfectly acceptable options. I've had stories where I used elemental magic or similarly established systems, and I've had stories where I created it myself. If you want to try to create your own system, go right ahead! It can be pretty fun.

Like Rin said, you could read up on what other people have done, but I think you could also just try to do it. You'd be a little less influenced by what others have done, but it might also be harder to come up with something if you feel you don't have any sort of guidelines. It's up to you. And if you ever want help or brainstorming assistance in developing your own system, feel free to PM me.

Thanks for the input! I shall work on looking at different systems. I'm in the middle of listening to a Terry Brooks book. And Leandra, I was worried about being "too" influenced if I started looking at what others had done. I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the offer to help

Another thing to do would be to read up on old legends and religions. They weren't right, but they may have some ideas that you can combine with whatever you come up with.

This is a good idea. I did make some stuff from different myths, etc. Thanks!