Writing Which would be better?

[Inkwolf]

So I'm doing an odd mix of things. It's a bit like the "Game of Castles" series, where everyone gets a castle, and they do quests while fighting others. And mixing it with what I've read of the Grimoire Thief series, where at a certain age people can try for a grimoire. Note: I'm not taking anything from the books and throwing them in, just the ideas in them.

So my idea is that people get sent to another world and have to compete for something (I'll figure it out later), while using their grimoires for spells. I have a good idea for maybe the ending already cooking.

To the question: Should I have them look for pages to add to their grimoires to make them get different spells, or should I keep a certain type in each grimoire, like one is all fire while another is all water?

 

[BearlyAlive]

Why not both? You could make the books specify the kind of element usable and add in pages as modifiers to amplify or modify the element, i.e., adding a "fire" page to another "fire" page gives more oomph, while adding a "water" grimoire allows for steam magic. It's magic, not rocket science, just go bonkers as long as you avoid powercreep.

 

[Arkus86]

It's magic, not rocket science, just go bonkers as long as you avoid powercreep.

And as long as you keep some internal logic.
Even magic needs rules. They do not need to be explicitly explained to the reader, but they need to be there and apply to everyone.

 

[Inkwolf]

I was thinking of having the mc be a joke person, like she gets light magic and it's just a ball of light, and having another person have corruption. I could make it not talked about or taught, but is part of it.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Maybe they were plucked out of their world to compete for the right to go back home. The book pages actually include clues to do just that without winning, but they are encouraged to fight each other and use the pages offensively to complete little tasks and gain advantages so they aren't likely to notice the subtle hints (at least until near the end, when one of them realizes they could all, or perhaps all but one, get out of this and go back if they wished)

 

[DismaiNaim]

My opinion: decide on what the overarching superplot is—why they're there, who brought them there and why, and use that to guide you.

It will feel more authentic that way.

What if aliens kidnapped the humans and put them in the simulator... nothing malicious, just a an alien middle-school science experiment. Actually NM, that has a lot of room for malice ?