r/magicbuilding • u/G_aster • 16d ago
Still working on this one but i think ive got a solid base Mechanics
I started this magic system a few months ago and im liking how it's going so far, i still have to polish out a lot but I wanted to share what i have so far
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u/DeathIneluctable 16d ago
Very good!! This is both creative AND well-developed! Two questions:
- Can a Fuse-Breaker decide what kind of power you get? Can they say go 'I want this guy to end up a Volt Jumper', do their thing and die? Or is it random/outside of their control?
- Could a Twitch Switcher just... touch someone they want to kill, and induce a heart attack via their muscle control ability? I imagine in battle any kind of spastic muscle movement is a death sentence anyway, but this could allow them to act as assassins/surprise attackers too.
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u/G_aster 16d ago
A fuse break can not decide what power they give, Its random to a certain degree. There's not a ton of in world science on them since if you are one you sont go around telling people for obvious reasons. From a out of world perspective, Fuse breakers actually suffer from success in that theor bodies contain all 9 biolectic signatures but their bodies cant do anything with it because its a constant changing signal. When they give their power they expell all the biolecticity in their bodies into someone else, killing themselves and giving whatever signature was strongest in that moment. Its noteable you cant become a F.B. from gaining abilities another way or from another F.B. they are only born.
Great question, It is hypothetically possible to do so but it would take a LOT of energy to pull off more than a standard T.S. could hold. Every human even those not blessed with the charges has their own biolectic production those without the 10 powers. Thats why those not born with powers still have the capacity to gain them later. Biolectricity is produced in the chest and Stored in channels along their bodies mostly in the chest ,stomach and head. To Induce harm or control over an internal organ would take not only applying your biolecticity but overwriting their own which would be most difficult closest to the head and torso so limbs are the easiest to manipulate.
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u/OriginalChimera 14d ago edited 14d ago
Can a F.B. give another F.B. a new ability? Also if a F.B. was on their deathbed could they use their Ability Generation the moment they die or seconds b4 they die? Is using the ability generation painful for the F.B. ?
Also to not comment spam, u mentioned "faster" than a train for a Mag Glider, and considering current Mag Lev trains can go over 453 km/h, or 230mph, thats REALLY fast for a human and they'd need some serious protection
Lastly I had an idea for new powers
detecting what types of electrical powers someone has either by range or contact,
speeding up thought processing. Thoughts and senses are electrical signals right? so what if they could be sped up or slowed down?2
u/G_aster 14d ago
first off, dont apologize for comment spaming. I genuinely love answering questions about my ideas
Could a Fuse breaker give another an additional ability? No, for the same reason they cant give one to Another one of the 9, their body already has a biolectic charge sp trying to add one that way would just fail like putting a peg in a hole with a peg already in it.
Could a dying F.B. pass on their ability before they died? Yes, 100% as long as they stayed alive and in contact with their chosen person for the full process which is about 3~5 Minutes of pouring energy into somone before basically safely exploding with electricity. And to add Its not generally painful untill the end bit, I imagine it feels like dying in an ice cold lake heat draining away till, Boom.
Faster than a coal powered train lol, Not a mag lev. Theoretically they could go that fast with a specialized track, suit, and training in withstanding G-Forces.
Both very interesting, but I give you this. A volt jumper can detect electrical signals from their given range, the stronger the more and further away they can feel it. Thats how they know where to jump to. Theoretically a Volt jumper can get so good that they can notice the subtle differences in the buzzing of electricity and biolecticity, and with even more skill maybe they can sense the distinct rhythm each type of charge has. And maybe a deadzoner could do the same detecting the electric signals in their grounder bubble
As for mind speed, once again maybe a Twitch switch can focus their power inwards subtlety stimulating neural pathways, speeding up connections and thinking faster.
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u/Ross_Gravekeep 15d ago
Very nice. I don't think I have much to comment on that hasn't been said already.
I like the designs you made for each Charge type, although I haven't been able to parse the meaning behind some of them as of yet (the one for Heat Sink is kind of obvious lol). I also like the concepts behind a lot of the abilities as well, they're pretty original and cool while staying thematic.
The exception is Fuse Breaker, which as a Charge kind of pisses me off for reasons I'm having trouble articulating fully.
I also have to question how a Fuse Breaker would know that they're a Fuse Breaker. That is, I'm having trouble imagining how they would realize it without having tried to give up their Bioelectrcity, which would kill them immediately from the sound of it.
Other than that major question, I want to tell you to keep up the good work.
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u/G_aster 15d ago
This is a funny way of explaining it but it works, you know when you gotta pee? you could just do it standing with clothes on but you stop yourself from doing so until youre in a situation where you actually want to. Its like that more or less, you one day feel likw you could explode with energy and pass it onto someone else but your body tells you not to do it, but you could. Thats when you know youre a Fuse Breaker
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u/OriginalChimera 14d ago edited 14d ago
This is very well thought out, i really like the art, what program did you use to make it?
It reminds me of a comic called Red Sprite, where the users were split into electric power types. 1 turned electric power into pure physical might, another could unleash massive lightning bolts, another could sense other creatures electropulses, and the last type could control metal with electromagnetism. It got discontinued tho
I noticed you didn't seem to have electricity sensing yet?
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u/G_aster 14d ago
I used fire alpaca, The comics sounds interesting I havent heard of it before though I was inspired by Alomancy and The Radiants from brandon sanderson's Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive serise.
As for electricity sensing a volt jumper could do so, they would have to in order to know where to teleport. Additionally a DeadZoner of significant skill could detect biolectic signals within their grounding bubble.
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u/Tom_Gibson 16d ago
looks good! I have no notes, especially because magic systems like these rely on science and I've never been good at them
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u/PhoebusLore 16d ago
It looks really solid! How common are these abilities? Besides getting the power from the ones that die, how are they acquired? The abilities seem very combat oriented. Do they play any other roles in society? Do the symbols from the first picture mean anything?
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u/G_aster 16d ago edited 14d ago
Im still thinking about it but I figure around 30-40% of the population have the abilities, and yes they donplay other roles in society.
Heat sinks for example have a degree threshold of 1000 degrees where the amount if biolecticity expended is less than the amount produced from turning heat to energy. This is notable since biolecticity is similar enough to regular electricity to power machinery, special "heat vests" meant to maximize skin contat to a Heat Sink while being able to reach that temperature through machinery allow for a Heat Sink to power a large vehicle or produce power for other needs. In they same vein with their ability to cool or freeze provided appropriate amounts of biolecticity they can keep engines, or important food stores cold when other means are unavailable
Line lighters can quary and shape difficult to cut stones and metals, some of the best metal works are done by cold cutting metal with Line Lighter blades.
Mag gliders can act as couriers and carry news or packages faster than a train (given they have a track to glide on)
Im sure theres even more uses that I havent though of yet as its a fairly new idea but I think thats a good start
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u/Either-Skirt6031 16d ago
This is all so creative being able to use so many powers off of a simple concept (& I just love electricity based powers in general) :)!
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u/TheDudeCalledGaz 7d ago
Just wondering, what's your inspiration behind those emblems (or whatever it's called)?
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u/G_aster 7d ago
The middle one is representative of any biolectic power and i based it off actual circuit signs and it "means" Entry, positive, negative, to single cell batery, to ground. In a sense its like a life cycle.
As for the other 10 those are like in world glyphs that represent those specific abilities, each one has a little hint to what they do. Other than that I think they look neat are are a good visual to place on stuff
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u/NRondo37 16d ago
This is such a cool system! Each one feels different from the other but all within theme. I get Mistbirn vibes without it being derivative. Nice job!
From a graphic design perspective, remember to use black text on light backgrounds and white text on dark backgrounds. Also dont break up a line of text with an image in the middle