Worlds of Design: The Rules of Magic

Hard magic systems have clear rules about how they work; they are predictable. Soft magic has no clear “system” and tends to lack any kind of connection between one spell and another—more or less random, certainly chaotic.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

“There are only patterns, patterns on top of patterns, patterns that affect other patterns. Patterns hidden by patterns. Patterns within patterns. If you watch close, history does nothing but repeat itself. What we call chaos is just patterns we haven't recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can't decipher. What we can't understand we call nonsense.”—Chuck Palahniuk

Types of Magic​

I only learned a few years ago, while talking with a friend, about the terms “hard” and “soft” magic systems. I knew the idea, of course. You could say that hard systems emphasize the natural and the known, while soft systems emphasize the supernatural and the mysterious/fantastical. But I don’t think that is always true, just a strong tendency.

I recall well-known sci-fi and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson sharing at a Gen Con panel that a fiction writer can’t use the magic system as an important part of the plot unless that magic system has clear rules—in effect, a hard magic system. He evidently enjoys devising such systems.

Hard Magic Systems in Your Campaign​

If you’re going to have a magic system in a game then the rules must be known (to the GM, at least) in order for the players to play. Magic systems in games tend naturally toward the “hard” side because the system has to be codified and explained in the rules. But they don’t necessarily need to be predictable. There can be chaotically random elements.

“Wild” spell casters is a soft system more or less. If you’re not familiar with wild spell casters, after you cast a spell, you roll on a table to see what actually happens. An extreme example of this would be the wand of wonder or wild mages from Dungeons & Dragons. When the wild caster is low-level and casts a high-level spell then it’s likely to really go wrong, while if a high level wild one casts a low-level spell it’s much more likely to behave itself.

World builders are going to tend toward hard systems, I think, assuming they record the results of their world-building rather than keep it all in their head.

Soft Magic Systems in Your Campaign​

For novelists and movie makers, a soft magic system is clearly more useful than hard because you can make it do anything you want to suit the current situation. (I’m especially reminded of Glen Cook’s classic “Black Company” series, where magic is often used.) Moreover, you’re quite unlikely to see a hard system in a movie because there’s not time for exposition in the movie to explain how the system works.

If you want a soft system in a D&D-style game, what can you do beyond something like the wand of wonder dice table with modifications for caster power and spell difficulty? One key is unpredictability. Maybe the addition of a deck of cards of side effects could help.

Perhaps the best way to use a soft system are story-based games, where spellcasting rules are less codified. Alternately, the GM could create their own magic system and reveal how the system works in-game with checks and die rolls. That’s a lot of prework and requires no small amount of GM planning and player buy-in to the concept beforehand.

Your turn: What soft systems of magic have you used in your campaign?

 

[demonsquidgod]

I'm reminded of Mage and Fantasy Hero, both systems in which the player "built" their spells instead of choosing from a list.

Thing was, you then just used those formulas repeatedly to cast spells, because I couldn't (and didn't want to) slow the game down by coming up with a spell on the fly.

When I introduced the basics of Mage spellcasting to a new player, she was overwhelmed by the possibilities and just settled on whatever I suggested. Soft systems work much better in novels because the author is controlling everything, and the spell suits the situation. In a game, there are many other factors determining what makes spellcasting "fun" and they're constrained by meta factors like the time it takes to decide on a spell, determine its effects, etc.

I do love the concept, but in practice I think it takes a group that buys into the system, including non-caster players being patient with the casters.

I initially thought of Mage the Ascension as the premier example of a soft magic system, along with ars magica. A clever player can get away with all kinds of weird things and abusive exploits, but those games don't have to worry about magic stealing the spotlight because literally everyone is using magic. In my mind that's a confirmation that the softer the magic system the more likely it is that magic will eclipse any non magical player abilities.

 

[Von Ether]

I initially thought of Mage the Ascension as the premier example of a soft magic system, along with ars magica. A clever player can get away with all kinds of weird things and abusive exploits, but those games don't have to worry about magic stealing the spotlight because literally everyone is using magic. In my mind that's a confirmation that the softer the magic system the more likely it is that magic will eclipse any non magical player abilities.

One aspect to why D&D magic is popular for it's pseudo-generic-ness is because it simply works enough for GMs who are running game worlds that also fairly generic High Fantasy. The genre itself is like what we do with zombies, vampires and jump gates - you spend more time telling the audience how your version is different because everyone knows what you're already talking about.

i.e., "The elves live on this part of the map, the dwarves live here; Yes there is magic and, yes Bob, you can play your elven ranger. Now roll 4d6, pick the highest." This is a solid part of the customer base.

Also as a GM, spell slots and such are easy to predict and provide limits that make encounter building a tad easier.

But as a player, D&D magic has always disappointed me. Every edition we see house or even official optional rules how ley line magic or using magical animal/mineral/plant parts can impact spell levels or spell slots to make magic an invested part of the setting. Yet they never catch on like Monks, dual wielding Rangers.

 

[CapnZapp]

Soft systems work much better in novels because the author is controlling everything, and the spell suits the situation.

I would focus on how soft systems (i.e. "no rules") work much better in novels because there just are no balance concerns.

The point remains: you just can't use the "rules" for scriptwriting when designing a communal experience like a ttrpg. It's a different thing, it has different needs.

 

[steeldragons]

I use a combo of what, apparently, are termed "hard" and "soft" magic.

The soft part -if I'm getting this- is generally about the in-game descriptions -visuals, sensations, and such. For arcane casters, I generally let the players choose their preferred visuals. Magic Missile creates shards of magic/arcane energy which may be visually very strictly arrows/darts or more vaguely arrow shaped or just plain "bolts" of raw energy. Color is up to player's preference (though is consistent when that caster uses the spell). Does it matter, in game, if when you cast Fireball it is a glowy orange/yellow/red flame? Or can it be green or blue or violet? Sure. Enjoy.

For divine casters, I tend to play a more narrative role - the magic/spell being "granted" by the cleric's deity (in my campaign world pantheon). So things like Spiritual Weapon and Hold Person tend to manifest differently for different clerics. The cleric of the god of smiths? Sure, her Spiritual Weapon is the traditional shaped like a hammer of radiant energy. The halfling goddess of the hearth? That spirit weapon is going to be a cudgel-like bough with pinecones (her holy symbol) at the end. The evil clerics of the goddess of disease and undeath? Entropic "force" shaped like skulls awash in putrid green energies. And so forth. Casting certain higher level spells of the goddess of life & healing, whose symbol is a budding rose, a waft of the scent of roses fills the area. The clerics of the goddess of the sea revel in the sounds (rumbling or thundrous) of crashing waves or a breeze of salty sea air when they invoke their goddess' power. And so forth.

My magic system, if I am understanding the "hard" side of things properly, includes not using 7-9th level spells as a typical spell progression. When you get to that level of power, things get difficult. The fueling of the energies and command of magic required for such lasting reality altering (and/or reality making) effects is no small feat. I refer to them as the "transcendent" spell tiers and/or "trans-tier or inter-tier" spells. "TM" me.

That is, when the spell progression table says you get 1 7th level spell. Per usual, that's the number of slots you have for that level of spells for the day. A bit more "hard," that is the number of spells of that level you can cast that day. That's all. It's not really a slot, unto itself, simply a casting limit.

In order to cast it, instead of just 'using my 7th level slot to cast my 7th level spell," you have to "add up" your 5th or lower level slots to generate 7 "tiers" of magic.

That is, you need to use your lower level slots to fuel the highest levels (7-8-9) of magic. So, you can burn a 3rd + 4th level spell slot and get to use your 7th level spell. That's not generally the way it goes (or necessarily advisable), but in a pinch/emergency situations, certain tough choices need be made. More often, it is burning up your 1st and 2nd level slots to get where you want. So in the above example of a 7th level spell - you'd use three 2nd slots (6) and a 1st (1), or two 2nd slots (4) and three 1st (3), however you get there, you need to add up to 7 to use that 7th level slot.

Not only does this keep the mages from becoming tooooo uber-over-all-powerful. But also gives reason for players to pay attention and use their lower level slots which, ime, when you get to higher level adventures tend to be lost/forgotten/unused...because the threats they're facing, by and large, aren't really going to be effected by 1st, 2nd, in some cases 3rd level spells. Blanket magic resistances. Damage-type immunities. Just plain number of HP/HD. There are plenty of reasons for this. It's not a player's fault, certainly. The system just makes those lower level spells less and less useful for their masters. This, I feel, gives them some new "life." And makes those highest levels of magic really feel "big" and mysterious and difficult. There's a "cost" to their use...if you need to dip into your "transcendent" magics then chances are, things are getting dire.

 

[Umbran]

I'm reminded of Mage and Fantasy Hero, both systems in which the player "built" their spells instead of choosing from a list.

Thing was, you then just used those formulas repeatedly to cast spells, because I couldn't (and didn't want to) slow the game down by coming up with a spell on the fly.

I was wondering when someone would mention Mage.

Mage had the benefit of some hard elements - characters inevitably had specific effects they called on repeatedly (the game called them "Rotes", as the caster knew them by rote). However, whenever presented with a new problem that couldn't be solved by a rote application, you could build something new.

There was also the element of "paradigm" for individual characters. While there were general rules that covered all casters, individual people had different approaches to magic, and believed different things about how it operated, and that could matter in game. For a person who works Spacial magic on the basis of how telecommunications makes the world a smaller place, reaching out to any place with a computer or smartphone might be easiest. Meanwhile, someone who works with the magic of true names might find it easiest to walk off Main Street in one town, and onto Main Street in another town, without crossing the intervening space, and so on.

 

[aramis erak]

Ars Magica, just like it's offspring, Mage, has both rote ("formulaic") and on-the-fly ("spontaneous") magics...

I've run Ars, and found that many players don't cope with the actual limits it has - there are a huge number of benchmarks, and they don't make sense to everyone. Plus, spontaneous magic is much harder.So it's often that players stick to their formulaict

In Barony/Arabian Sea Tales, magic is very "soft." It wasn't a huge issue for the players... but they also kept it very thematic, because they were very comfortable with improv. (Everyone in that group was an experienced and competent GM; it makes a big difference, IME.)

In Hero, it was no issue - players came up with spells they wanted, most of which were variations on D&D magic. (I used the Mystic Masters multipower approach.) No spontaneous, but doing such is possible... lots of players talked about gadget pool as magic, but none have used it in my campaigns.

In DL5A, it was a problem for some, not for others - the mechanics are straightforward, build it on the fly, spontaneous at little penalty... but not directly linked to AD&D magic, and that was the issue for my players last I ran a campaign of it. They saw DragonLance and expected AD&D magic.

Pendragon, like DL5A, it's build on the fly from a short list... but the penalties for magic on the fly are severe... even life-ending. Worse, even prepared magic is slow, so players are reluctant to play it. Tho', done right, it can be incredibly potent, and the few who have played casters have enjoyed doing so, because it laser focuses them on the key problem of the adventure as their magical target.

 

[zircher]

Fate as a game system is favorable to soft magic since most skills/approaches can be used offensively, defensively, and most importantly, to create useful advantages based on the current situation.

If I were to write up one house rule for a traditional RPG magic system, I would have the wizards use energy. Not mana points, but ambient energy (easily drained, slow to recharge), stored energy (portable, but quickly depleted), and life energy (your own life force or human sacrifice via ritual.) That easily spills over into world building with ley lines intersections being the favorite spot for wizard towers, magical dead zones, evil temples, and the reason why most wizards do not mingle (limited energy available.)

[edit]

Oh, I would give mages an innate ability to have a feel for the amount of energy available, kind of like a fuzzier version of detect magic with a limited range (touch?)

 

[77IM]

In the actual Middle Ages, everyone* was convinced that magic was real, monsters were real and lurked around every corner, etc. BUT, they didn't know precisely how these things worked. Magic was incredibly mysterious because the people didn't have easy access to it -- they couldn't figure out its rules because they lacked test subjects. E.g., if the ordinarily rational and trustworthy Uncle Wyfrich swears up and down that he saw the goblins marching through the graveyard, maybe he did, but nobody's able to reproduce this scenario to experimentally verify the properties of such goblins. Instead, people came up with all kinds of superstitions and weird stories about supernatural creatures. Often these stories conflicted. E.g., should you hang the horseshoe toe-up or toe-down? (google it)

To me, this "half-undstanding" is the essense of soft magic. For magic to be soft, you have to kinda know how it works, and but not quite all the way. If it's totally predictable, it's not magic, it's science; but if it's totally random, it's also not magic, it just a thing that happened.

Now, in the real Middle Ages, the reason people didn't have easy access to magic to study it and understand its rules, is because it didn't actually exist.** So if you want soft magic in D&D, you need an in-setting reason for people to not have easy access to magic. But the PCs do have easy access to magic; every single class is either a spellcaster or has at least one subclass in the PHB that does explicitly magical things. Furthermore, the players need to study it and understand its rules, in order to play the game. This leads me to a couple of ideas for implementing soft magic.

1) The ordinary people don't have easy access to magic, so the setting is full of superstition and misinformation. But the PCs are "in the know" and understand how things actually work. This is one of the reasons village innkeepers are always offering adventurers 50 gp each to go route some goblins: the PCs are much more likely to know what sort of strange powers the goblins have, and know how to counter them. Of course goblins don't have very many strange powers but the villagers don't know that.

A low-magic setting would satisfy this criteria but I also think you could do it in a medium- or high-magic setting if the magic were mostly hidden from the public at large. For example in a "Points of Light" setting most of the magic might exist in the wilderness between the points.

2) The players and PCs understand the rules of magic as laid out in the PHB, but that's not the whole picture: magic has very subtle and/or long-term side effects. Think about how much you, personally, understand about modern technology, and then think about all the problems that using technology has caused you. The use of spells, magic items, etc. could affect the PCs in ways far beyond the game-mechanics. Maybe supernatural forces grow angry with the PCs, or covet their items. Maybe a particular spell becomes addictive, or slowly alters the caster's personality or outlook with each casting, so that by mid-levels the evoker wizard has become a straight-up pyromaniac. Maybe a feature that seems helpful eventually becomes a curse; like a ring of warmth that makes you feel uncomfortable while in hot environments, or using Wild Shape too much makes you forget how to interact with people.

This approach sort of mixes hard-magic at the scene/encounter/obstacle level, with soft-magic at the story/plot level. The players and PCs can't scientifically study the plot-level side-effects of magic because these effects emerge so slowly over time, but they can make some good educated guesses, especially after they've been hit with a side-effect or two.

3) The players and PCs understand the rules of magic as laid out in the PHB, but that's not the whole picture: There's "big magic" that is very flexible, but also risky, but also requires considerable effort to pull off. All of the "rituals" that villains are always conducting in D&D are big magic. When you explore a dungeon full of strange magical effects created by a mad wizard, he used big magic to do it.

The big magic is soft magic. The PCs can't analyze it thoroughly because it's too big: performing such rituals requires a lot of time and money, so nobody does it twice just to see if it turns out the same way a second time.

* Disclaimer: Actually, there were lots of skeptics back then who didn't believe in the supernatural, or who at least believed it was rare and distant (e.g. the work of the gods). And, attitudes about this stuff varied wildly between different times and places. I'm presenting here a sort of pop-culture caricature of the Middle Ages instead of something super accurate because a) it makes my point more easily and b) this inaccurate romanticized view informs the pseudo-Medieval cultures portrayed in D&D settings.

** Disclaimer 2: Let us assume for the sake of argument a purely scientific reality since that's the world-view that most D&D players bring to the table.