Hard Magic System or Soft Magic System?

[MisterEnigmatic]

I prefer Soft, but I want it to have some concrete rules and mechanics.

 

[Tyranomaster]

I work exclusively in hard magic systems. My brain don't work any other way. Even since I was a small lad, I've always systematized everything.

 

[NotaNuffian]

I prefer Soft, but I want it to have some concrete rules and mechanics.

Yeet.

Rational Magic System Overview

The next part in the magic system series. This time I tackle systems that aren't hard magic, but closer on the hard spectrum to it. I feel this is what many who think of it actually make or want to make.

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Guided Magic Systems and Mystical Magic Systems

So... I was tired yesterday, and I forgot to make a thread here... My bad! I'm working on the soft magic video right now to end this. I'm also going to discuss a bit about bad magic systems in it and parts of the differences between something being soft and something being bad, though I...

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[georgelee5786]

Hard. I want it to make sense, I don't want it to allow some bullshit deus ex machina to save the protagonist out of nowhere. Nature adheres to rules, why wouldn't magic?

 

[Verdant]

Hard, but preferably with less jargon.

 

[Thraben]

Hard magic system that has rules that are very specifically not a mystery to the characters in the story.

We knew about so much of physics before we ever had the tech to observe it for ourselves purely because of math and theory, why wouldn't magic be like any other science in this regard?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

If I want hard magic I will read Sci-fi. Soft is my pick.

 

[lambenttyto]

Then it's not soft,

We knew about so much of physics before we ever had the tech to observe it for ourselves purely because of math and theory, why wouldn't magic be like any other science in this regard?

Because magic is not science undiscovered, magic is supernatural, from the gods. If you look into the history of magic, it comes from the gods, or some supernatural Gaia force. It is NOT science. It's not material, it's spiritual.

 

[BetterNickPending]

I prefer Soft, but I want it to have some concrete rules and mechanics.

My response in similar topic.

Why So Many Crave Hard Magic

So, this is my working theory right now on why so many gravitate to hard fantasy. Which can help inform stuff for people too.

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[DJBaker]

I think the author should always have a firm understanding of how their magic system works, regardless of whether they're going for a hard or soft magic system. The number one thing that will make the magic system believable is consistency in the story. I don't think the author necessarily has to explain the logic behind the magic to the readers, though. I prefer reading stories where the magic remains mysterious and fantastical—provided the author knows what they're doing.

 

[Thraben]

Then it's not soft,

Because magic is not science undiscovered, magic is supernatural, from the gods. If you look into the history of magic, it comes from the gods, or some supernatural Gaia force. It is NOT science. It's not material, it's spiritual.

We thought electricity was spiritual. Supernatural. Something the gods cast down from the clouds to smite things.
Then we developed science to understand electricity, and it rapidly went from being a supernatural thing gods did to being the thing we replaced torches with.
Now we know that it isn't supernatural, or at least, we know enough about it that considering it supernatural is objectively incorrect. We made the immaterial into material purely by understanding it.

If the people in a setting aren't capable of understanding hard magic as a science, I'm forced to assume either everyone in the setting OR the author is incompetent. Pick one.

If the people in a setting aren't capable of understanding soft magic as a science, I'm forced to assume that the magic system obeys no rules and thus can't carry meaningful stakes OR the author doesn't know how to make a magic system with meaningful stakes. Pick one.


Obviously I'm being a bit facetious, but your point is so mind bogglingly narrowminded and exclusive that the only reasonable way I can think of to respond to it is mockery.

 

[lambenttyto]

Obviously I'm being a bit facetious, but your point is so mind bogglingly narrowminded and exclusive that the only reasonable way I can think of to respond to it is mockery.

Magic is supernatural, otherwise it's science. So I'll ask you to "pick one."

Soft magic can carry with it any stakes the writer decides, and legitimately so, now whether soft magic can be used by the characters as a tool to escape danger or utilize to great benefit as a tool or crutch is another matter. In literature, magic has invariably been soft up until the most modern of times, and it's been soft to great affect. It carries mystery, mysticism, tension and conflict and serves to create a world of unexplored dangers. Magic has traditionally not been used as a tool for the characters that the reader understands, but rather a dangerous force used against the characters to create the aforementioned emotional reactions. This is what fantasy should be, otherwise you're just writing alternate-world pseudo-science science fiction. Boring.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

Not too hard not too soft, I like it al dente.