Questions tagged [magic]
For questions that have to do with magic, as opposed to science/technology. Remember to explain any limits.
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How can you appear in an illusion in your own car
In the beginning of my story two girls arrive in their car to a central square of a little European looking town with no single living soul around. They take guns from the trunk, go to a church on ...
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How would a creature evolve a antimagic field? [closed]
I've been designing a group of creatures which one of their defining traits is that magic tends to become disabled once its close enough to them like a anti-magic field. The question I've been asking ...
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How could the ability to produce a negative electric charge without a corresponding positive charge be used to power a basic portable circuit?
Relevant Information
My magic system consists of a fluid (called aura) emitted from the body whose position can be telekinetically controlled (manipulation), whose physical properties can be altered (...
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Star that creates millions of galaxies through a massive coronal mass ejection. Does this make any sense? [closed]
I want to base my novel off of the idea of a star creating millions of galaxies from a gigantic coronal mass ejection. Due to this it spawns the void which threatens to absorb the entirety of space, ...
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Necessary Conditions for Fantastically Large Mountain Range
Desire: In my world, I would like to have a (potentially unreasonably) large mountain range that is so large both in height and width that it is both entirely impassable, and disappears into the ...
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What's the optimal weight of a bladed weapon? [closed]
In my magic system, people are capable of forming weapons out of their aura. The density of aura is naturally around 0.1g/cm3, but can be compressed down to 0.5g/cm. This means that aura can at most ...
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How can I hide a flying city? [closed]
In my writings I've created an island I need to hide. The island itself is around 100-200 square miles in area and the island rests around 12,000 feet in the air and is surrounded by a mountain range ...
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Good reasons the powerful good guys don't fight the powerful bad guys
It's a typical trope in stories, but why don't the powerful good guys fight the powerful bad guys? Usually a group of nobodies need to grow in power to the point that they're able to face the powerful ...
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How to spread a taboo white paper at a large scale in a Renaissance-level, medium magic world?
Context
In my world, magic has been granted to mortals by their gods.
As a result, the Church heavily regulates it, and the only legal spellcasters are clerics and clergymen. Magic use is heavily ...
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How can I translate fencing into a fast paced, high mobility and directional martial art, normally attributed to more aggressive and rogue chars? [closed]
So my main character in my story, is of a more aristocratic type house. Not necessarily in attitude, but in theme. So victorian style long coats and vests etc, while also being rogue/thief information ...
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What is the best way to remove meat from a skeleton for necromantic purposes?
In a specific city in my D&D setting, necromancy is incredibly commonplace. Undead are generally very common; however, skeletons are favored by the government of the city as soldiers, and by the ...
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What could be a compelling reason for an incestuous race to diversify into clans? [closed]
I'm writing a litRPG novel and have created an incestuous race called Purus (a temporary name). Purus are a long-lived race that can live for up to 1000 years. They possess unique magical powers, ...
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Can thermo-transferring mage create wind?
I am considering a magical system where a mage can manipulate temperature of objects he/she touches. Either transferring heat from other objects or directly affecting target. The trick is that they ...
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Creating magically binding contracts that can't be abused?
I'm toying with magically binding contracts existing. For now I'm trying to figure out if such can exist without being either leaving loopholes, being easily abused, or otherwise resulting in a very ...
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If magic is accessed through tattoos, how do I prevent everyone from having magic?
Magic is based on symbols tattooed onto one's body. The types and number of tattoos determine what magic the users can perform.
Since tattoos in our world are easy to obtain (especially with methods ...
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How can I explain magic theory in this scenario [closed]
I have been trying to write a magic and fantasy novel and I always come across this problem where I am unable to explain the working of spells. For example, when a lighting spell is cast electrons ...
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How to balance time-slowing magic?
I like toying around with systems of magic, and I recently had the idea of a system of magic where someone could slow down the flow of time (by a factor of, say, 500) for everything except their brain'...
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Can I Make Glass with just Pure Quartz Sand and Magical Heat Powers?
Okay, I've been researching how to make Glass for a character with powers that include Sand and Heat. But, I keep getting results about soda–lime glass/soda–lime–silica glass. Along with purities of ...
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Modern era with magic that will stop gunpowder from igniting, what weapons are used instead?
One of the annoying problems with most urban fantasy series I've read is that they seem to mostly try to avoid discussing the fact that most of their fearsome magical foes could be felled with a ...
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Would a freeze ray be effective against modern military vehicles?
Similar to my previous thread. In my setting, wizards from a pre-industrial fantasy world come to real life. One of these wizards is a cryomancer recruited by the US military and tries out his talents ...
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Assuming that most of the human experience is based on the body's biological makeup, what would someone experience if they were just a soul [closed]
In my story the main character has their soul removed from their body and sealed away for a very long time. Assuming that the soul is just a carrier for someone's memories and personality what would ...
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Could I keep buildings heated during multi week long hibernation?
In the world of a story I'm writing, there is not normal night and day, nor are there seasons. Instead, the world is governed by magical lights, which occur in several week cycles - the light Dawn has ...
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What if you could shut off the pull of gravity on your body?
I have an idea for a magic system where the one wielding magical power can shut off gravity for their body. However, anything on them (clothes, accessories, etc.) will still experience regular gravity....
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How can I make the rules of my Faerie Portal free from contradiction?
On the hilltop in the field near my house, there lives a coven of witches. Or, more accurately, there is a coven of witches living in a pocket of the Faerie Realm which has recently become attached to ...
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IF you had a territorial struggle based on magic, how would it play out? [closed]
A large part of the political power in my world building for my book is based around a concept called "grinding" where a faction would gradually amass influence and natural resources by ...
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Would lightning bolts be effective against modern military vehicles?
In my setting, wizards from a pre-industrial fantasy world come to real life. One of these wizards is a destruction mage recruited by the US military and tries out her talents against modern forces. ...
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How would zombies affect trench warfare?
After thousands of years the mightiest of magic uses have finally cracked the code to revive the dead... Kind of. The resurrection spell, while restoring the body to a basic capacity, leaves them a ...
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What is a word for the arcane equivalent of a monastery? A place where magic is studied and practiced? [closed]
I'm trying to come up with the label of an isolated location on a floating island where wizards go to practice magic in peace. I've already come up with the name, Skytower, but Skytower what? Is there ...
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What would it be like for a human to maneuver while at supersonic speed?
The person is superhuman. There is both magic and sci-fi involved in the setting. They have the physical strength required to accelerate to supersonic speeds. They have the ability to latch ...
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How can I give my character purple hair without hair dye?
Basically, I have a character that I'm working on in a futuristic-fantasy type of planet. She's supposed to have purple hair that she was born with.
What is a magical explanation for this phenomenon?
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How should I order the categories of my magic system? [closed]
In my world where intelligence is everything, the study of magic is divided into different categories. The type of intelligence you have will affect the kind of magic you use.I’ll come up with names ...
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How to counter bulletproof plate armor with 19th Century technology? [closed]
I'm writing a timeline where the Russian Empire figured out how to make magical armor. By fully immersing plate armor in holy water, that plate armor is now fully bulletproof. No projectile will ...
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How to build a giant city in a harsh environment?
In my world, there is a magic civilization. They are on a far away continent, but it is harsh and snowy. In the current time, they have now giant cities, the main ones being a mix of both steam and ...
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Making magic into a science in a science fantasy setting? [duplicate]
Lately I've been thinking a lot about science fantasy settings, specifically the inclusion of magic within it. It feels most fitting for, in a society where technology is highly advanced and magic is ...
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How to stop water runoff on floating islands that lack an available surface
I am building a world with islands floating in air, and I'm looking for solutions to loss of water from runoff/erosion (think rivers emptying off the side of the islands). The islands vary in size, ...
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Question on gravity and its relation to weight and force
I'm working on a character for a story that has the ability to somewhat play around with gravitational forces, mainly weight reduction stuff but I'm sure there's other applications. Practically this ...
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Why is there so much unused mana flowing in my mana economy?
I asked some questions about creating a stable economy that uses mana as currency.
I'm stuck on a new problem trying to use it, why is there so much mana circulating in the economy already? I want ...
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If someone was suddenly subjected to a vacuum would they sh*t themselves?
If someone has the magical ability to make a vacuum(no or minimal matter/atmospheric pressure) on earth around someone would that person in the vacuum then sh*t their pants? If so would it have to be ...
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How does having super strength/speed but similar mass to a regular person change close combat fighting?
How does having super strength/speed but similar mass to a regular person change close combat fighting?
This world is a cultivation world. That's a world where people can cultivate abilities by using ...
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Footwear for my invisible fantasy race
My setting (urban fantasy set in 1998 America) has a variation on the classic movie monster of the "invisible man". Here this species (tentatively called the neverthere) has a physical body ...
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In a world where magic can only be used for baking, how can this be exploited to naturally lead to invention of space travel? [closed]
basically what the question says. Of course, magic must preserve the conversation of energy. Baking is defined in the normal way:
the action of cooking food by dry heat without direct exposure to a ...
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Assuming a person has water/ice magic, is it even semi-possible that they'd be able to create various light effects with their magic?
Like, forming water into ice prisms and using those to perfectly reflect the light. Limits are that the water is just normal water, the ice is normal ice, and the light itself can't be changed (...
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How could magic slowly be destroying the world? [closed]
Hypothesis: A world with magic users is (unbeknownst to them) slowly dying because of magic usage
Question: What would be the underlying cause of this slow decay?
Conditions:
The magic in this world ...
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How can a magic civilization stop their sun from dying?
Hypothesis: In application of the laws of thermodynamics (conservation of energy) it could be that the sun's energy was (almost) depleted to perform feats of magic (energy was taken from the sun).
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How Long Would It Take a Party of 3 to Get 1000 Miles With a Wagon and a Horse [duplicate]
So I need to know how long it would take a party of three or four to get 1,000 miles with a fairly heavy wagon and one or two horses. Without stops I know walking will take around 14 days. There are ...
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What is optimal for a government to encourage people to wish for to boost economic growth? [closed]
A world with a similar tech level to ours has discovered that randomly magical beings will have random encounters with magical beings who will offer wishes for some service or kindness. These wishes ...
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Objectively most efficient way to increase focus?
If resistance is how long you can go doing physically exausting stuff before you die or get overtraining fever
then focus is the analogue to magic, your ability to perform magically exhausting stuff ...
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What would be the major effects of heating wood in particular and other common materials anaerobically?
I'm essentially working on a book in which the magical system involves people converting an energy source into a mimicry of an "element", complete with most of the properties but not ...
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How would a medieval society look if food was not a factor to consider? [closed]
The Context
To give a short context of the question, my world is called Atmos, and it's a world where continents float above a layer of clouds. They aren't just floating islands, there are landmasses ...
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Exploring a Black hole sci fi possible/not possible
I'm currently creating a universe and in that universe is the human race which has been around for about 37000 years. I am currently trying to figure out what tech they would have access to what would ...
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