The Magic of Magicbuilding: Function Follows Form

Welcome to the Magic of Magicbuilding, our little spinoff feature that focuses specifically on building a magical system for a fantasy setting.  This week, we're taking the cart and the horse we threw together last week and combining them in unusual ways.

Dimensional Magic Made Easy

To summarize what we have so far, we've decided that "magic" consists of accessing, tapping into, and shaping energy from nearby dimensions.  We haven't gotten any further than a vague description of how shaping the energy works, but we have established that each dimension serves as a source for a different variety of magic, and some of the sources aren't always obvious.

The next step in building our magic system is to discuss what magic is used for, and, just like last week, our inspiration serves to steer the design.  Magic should be used to, among other things, create the same kind of technological wonders we see in our everyday lives.  We needn't mimic the same processes that technology uses because... well, because "magic" can excuse a great deal.  Similar results are what we're looking for.

For example, let's consider a car.  Your typical car is powered by an internal combustion engine, which converts small explosions into locomotive power.  Were we to say that the explosions were caused by magic instead of a high-energy liquid like gasoline, not much at all would change in terms of the engine's shape.  The difficult part would be contriving a magical system that allowed for the creation of hundreds to thousands of explosions per minute.

There are, of course, other engines, and the inner workings of the engine (as we mentioned) aren't as important as the desired outcome:  "energy gets converted to motion."  We could look at electric vehicles, which convert energy stored in large batteries into motion.  We could also consider steam engines, where the motion is derived from the sudden expansion of steam instead of explosions.  We could even keep the internal combustion engine, claiming that magic is used to produce the gasoline.

Then again, we can also lean toward the fantastic.  This is magic we're talking about.  We could leash some inexhaustible magical creation and force it to turn a wheel on command, or give the vehicle itself sentience and an urge to move.  We have options.  Perhaps too many options, which is where our discussion from last week comes in.  What we're looking for is an arrangement that combines our Form (dimensional energy that can be tapped into) with our desired Function (make the car go).  Preferably, we'd like to do so without being forced to rebuild technology from scratch.

It's your choice, ultimately, as to how exactly you'll solve this problem.  For our purposes, we'll employ a setup that mimics real-world complexity while taking advantage of the fact that our magic system favors constant use over numerous discrete spells.

Internal Dimensional Engines

When a car is turned on, two portals are activated.  The first, controlled by the accelerator, connects to the Dimension of Fire.  The accelerator, when depressed, increases the amount of energy released from the portal.  That energy in turn heats a small, heavily insulated cavity attached to the base of several piston chambers.  The second portal, controlled by the gear shift, connects to the Dimension of Water.  It releases a preset amount of water into the piston chambers.  The water instantly vaporizes, increasing the pressure in the chamber and driving a piston.  From there, the engine operates normally, with the churning of the pistons transformed into forward locomotion.  To drive the vehicle, the driver simply accelerates by heating the steam even more; past a certain amount, it becomes more effective to also increase the water entering the piston chambers by shifting upward.

For this basic design to work, the driver must be able to cast two spells and keep those spells operating continuously and reliably.  The spells need to be controllable with a pedal and a lever.  This, in turn, dictates parts of the Form that magic needs to take, as well as its Function.  Sustained magical energy is implied by this design to be easier (or at least less labor-intensive) than smaller discrete packets would be.  From this, we can make a few assumptions:

  Magic Replaces Sustained Work.  Anything that we make in the real world to allow for constant use can be reliably replaced with a magical equivalent.  Batteries and motors are obvious.  Less obvious but more impactful: dams and power plants are not nearly as prevalent.  Something similar might be useful on industrial scales, but as long as a single spell can run indefinitely, a single person is all that is necessary to power most technology.

  Magic Is a Force Multiplier.  Even on our world, cars are going to be heavy.  Being able to move one at useful speeds by yourself means that the magical spells powering the car are going to generate more energy than a single person could, even with mechanical aids.  What's more, that energy generation will take little enough concentration that a person can do so while driving without fear of dangerously losing focus on the road.  Presumably, should they concentrate on it, even greater amounts of magical energy can be released.

  Magic Is Near-Universal.  While training is definitely involved before someone can drive a vehicle, there are really only two conclusions for every car being powered by a pair of portals- either our world has a magical teamster's guild that specializes in such magic (which, to be fair, sounds neat) or anyone who can drive can also use enough magic to generate two portals simultaneously.  We're leaning toward the latter for now, although we reserve the right to change our minds later.

  Magical Drawbacks.  Probably the biggest conclusion to be drawn from what we have so far is that one thing magic is not very good at is smaller, discrete amounts of energy.  Starting a fire is easier than hurling a fireball, for example.  Similarly, summoning rain is more straightforward than filling a glass with water.  This provides some interesting implications.  Those who specialize in magic will likely be less impressed with a massive explosion than they would with gently levitating a pencil.

Horses and Carts, Redux

As you can see, we've followed a fairly clear progression when attempting to establish the functions of our magical system:  We start with the Form, move to an established Function, and from there derive what must be true for it to work.  Then it's back to Form, and the process repeats.

As you're following the same steps in your own magicbuilding, be sure to note oddities or seeming inconsistencies.  Some you will want to explain away, but many of them you will want to explore instead... especially if they would seemingly break your system.

Let's take the magical drawback we've just established as an example.  In our magical system, creating consistent magical portals to pull energy from is (apparently) trivial with the right tools in place, about as complicated as starting a car.  Large amounts of energy per person can be generated, and this is much easier than activating many smaller spells.  If we assume that magic use is near-universal, that would mean that the average person is a walking bomb.  Surely that's a problem?

Well, if it were, we might want to get rid of our electronic devices in the real world.  A typical smartphone battery has enough energy to be comparable to a stick of dynamite.

More importantly, the idea that less magical energy is more difficult to produce than more energy is an intriguing one, and rather than try to fix that idea (such as by deciding that magic spells require certain minimums be met, so that a large spell becomes more efficient than multiple small spells) our magic system will become more unique and interesting by running with the problem.  "Less is more" is now a phrase that carries real weight for us, and the idea that specialists work diligently to draw upon smaller and smaller amounts of energy mimics the miniaturization efforts of the real world.

With this, we have a good idea of what the function of magic is:  a ready source of constant energy, which spells attempt to pull into useful shapes.  Basically, magic is a battery with potentially endless storage, and the goal of those who use it is to tap that store in just the right amount.

Conclusion

Now that the rough form and basic function of magic has been established, our next step is to establish when and why magic is preferable to technology... as well as the costs that must be paid that make technology, at least occasionally, the better option.