Gonna be a semi-permanent thing. Mostly to shoot ideas that start getting clunky.
First, magic ideas:
- Touch related, Elaboration;
Spoiler
touching the grass as it were, basically using gestures (Ie. Fist, open palm, etc.) while touching the ground with said gestures. Mc would have something similar, but for reasons they have a special casting, and no it's not a silent casting like one.
[collapse] - Singing related, Elaboration;
Spoiler
volume, pitch, etc. All play a role in casting a spell, words don't matter but helps focus a idea into a spell.
[collapse] - Chant related, doubt necessity but, Elaboration;
Spoiler
words play a heavy role in casting, a slip of the tongue and fire ball, becomes fire wave. You get the idea.
[collapse] - Glyph related, Elaboration;
Spoiler
symbols and patterns are integral to any spell, one must have steady hands to wield such deadly power.
[collapse]
Second, Editor found:
Thank you to any applicants who offered,or considered offering, their time. Say hello to editor; Bnnuy, I hope they stay for some time.
Third, elemental system or nah (or "how abstract do I make this"):
Currently I'm on the side of nah but I'm open to hearing counter arguments
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First Votes: 3 5.1%
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Second Votes: 9 15.3%
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Third Votes: 2 3.4%
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Fourth Votes: 18 30.5%
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*bap* Your story, you choose. Votes: 27 45.8%
If they can use their finger to create fireballs what other "magic" can their fingers do
Hmmmmmm
hmmm I see you choose that option in the cyoa...
Honestly I didn't see it coming after a more "normal" first few chapters so i suggest having a lore explenation for it prepared. (nothing fancy. a recent scientic discovery, an archeological discovery of an old era, a meteorite of magic material that slowly releases into the atmosphere,...)
Now your actual poll: honestly i'd prefer a mix of a few also think about aided and unaided casting.
The first option makes little sense unless one would be able to activate it through their feet. it would limit attacks to be coming from below or somewhere near the ground and i can only see it looking stupid on its own.
The second is an interesting idea but kinda niche so perhaps make it a rare talent/constitution. I can see it working for a healer or some kinda buff/debuff type.
Now the classic: Chanting i ain't sure about this one... simply because it is too broad... is it casting in any language? would one beable to circumvent the opponent finding out what one chants if one chants in another language he/she doesn't know,... is it a dedicated magical language one needs to learn, are there dialects or other magic languages of different strengths, potencies or elemental alignments,...are the chants universal or can anyone make one, ... it seems the most basic but it is actually the one one needs to put the most thought into.
Lastly: Glyphs. My personal favorite cause i can see it working like magic circles or the like. it also has tremendous potential to be combined with the first. Think rune/glyph traps placed in the ground that turn the battlefield into a minefield or a swamp. Glyphs,Runes or Magic circles i think keep it magical without much in debth explenations till later once one actually thought out a "system" how it works on the inside. It also asks the question if one actually needs to paint/write out the glyphs and or magic circles in the air or ground or wherever and i'd say not passed a beginner stage after which one should be able to "draw them from the mind" but a certain ammount of drawing/writing practice would be needed on paper before one leaves that initial tier.
The mentioned aided and unaided now: First off: don't go the harry potter route... everybody going around with magical twigs is no basis for a magic system other than for little kids. i suggest each one can or wants to use a different tool for it. in a isekai sense: some are talented with the sword, some with spear or bow, some use the weapon as is or duel wield, some use a shield combo,... its all different and individual. In our example perhaps someone with the singing talent for healing or buff/debuff uses a instrument that boosts their magic. The math kid or math teacher might use a pair of compasses, a girl a fancy fan, an artist their brush,... another thing to decide is if the tool is inherently magical (via say the classic of embedded gemstone) or simply a type of tool that resonates with a person well.
Unaided casting depends on your type of magic from above mostly and if you make it weaker or just be the "secret skill" like silent casting usually is.
Other ideas on how to make the magic system would be a "Litrpg" style aka status screens and skill levels but that gets complicated very quickly...
There is also the option of going the route "Isekaid'd Shoggoth" went with a medium (in this example: flowers) which are magical and can be expended/drained of power like ammo.
Next point is how much control the magic system gives the user: can they manipulate at will or does it rely on "fixed spells" that in no way can be altered but one can only learn (and somehow create) new ones to add to ones arsenal. A nice comparison would be "Mushoku Tensei" aka Jobless reincarnation where the character has somewhat fixed spells but can via magical adjustments internally control size, speed and velocity of projectiley for example (but don't think their shape or "nature of the spell").
Last big thingie brought up was Elements. I really dislike a strict element system. Limiting your characters into 1 element is like cutting their power growth short at the root. they'll only be able to advance down 1 linear mostly predetermined path. Think Avatar last airbender: (no offense to the show its inseperable from my childhood) but a earth bender even later on in the series only had the newly discovered variation of metal bender and a rare talent of lava bender. it'd be much cooler if stuff like lava bending would be a combo of earth and fire.
A few examples of good elemental ideas or how it can be used: "Warlock of the magus world". A Chinese novel kinda of the cultivation kind but western-ish has an affinity system. basically each person is born with a talent for 1 element or the other but also has smaller (usually much smaller) talents in other elements. so while they'd be stupid nlt to follow their main affinity they also have other strengths (+ its not like spells of other elements were unusable just not possibly to be their "path" or main thing.)
"Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy". recently had a anime adaptaition. also kinda nails it down that as a magic caster one should not only learn what one is good at to not become predictable to avoid and counter, a one trick pony so to say, and invest in 1,2 or even 3 other elements up to the usable tier to be considered competent.
"Mushoku Tensei" Jobless reincarnation again: MC mainly is a water caster and gets famous for its use, so much even that his favorite tactic of muddifying the ground earns him the adventurer moniker of "Quagmire", but learns other affinities up to definitely usable levels and even tried his hand at swordsmanship even though he never had much talent for it.
Kinda forgot thingie: how will you incljde physical professions, swords and other weapons... noone will stand around and fire elements at each other till one drops out...
Hope i helped out a bit.
Shame there is no content but it is what it is...
I really wanted to get the feel down first when writing the intros, but I will be sure to make a, hopefully, interesting exposition chapter. not right now though.
for the first one, it wouldn't just be using the earth, but touching it as a battery of sorts... so think like: "one uses the worlds magic and makes phenomena through beseeching the world for your cause."
and how it works would be something like: "she punches the ground, opening her palm in a rhythmic pattern, slowly the air starts to solidify and freeze"
hope that gives a idea what my brain was thinking.
second: yeah it would be weird, I may have done some choir but it would take a lot of time to get things right... I do somewhat like the idea of mixing the systems but since it would only increase the time I spend not writing and overthinking things I prefer to go without mixes. still I like your thinking.
third: was gonna do a single magical language, yes I know, "we have one language that is magical in nature woooo", isn't really original but it is stable, plus I would use a real language (google translated as it maybe) so people could guess possible spells and such. yes there would be a structure to how spells are made, magic COULD be made by mashing words together, but structure makes stronger spells and such.
fourth: ye I love Glyph spells for the same reason. magic enough that you don't know, but enough you get it, get it? anyway yeah it is a neat style and has some fun ways to work with it, I always think of stuff that could be used in combat
(ie. "she twirls and moves, her foot dragging in the ground, as they get closer they freeze, fear in their eyes as they see what was done. as they started to run a (insert spell) hits them and (insert thing happen).
aided and unaided talk: agreed. twigs break, swords stab, and baby your gonna die if you can't think quick enough to point your wand towards a arrow. the suggestion of mediums (compasses, girly fan, etc.) is one I considered, and agree with, if your gonna have it do it right. personally I'm going to make it where they aren't required, forcing it to be mandatory hinders the story from my view, since I'm used to RPG requirements that are just mad. MP is a idea I might implement in a roundabout way, wouldn't go for the LitRPG, not my style since I can't keep track of things like that, especially since it can get crazy quickly, and I would have to reveal some of the curses and stuff and that would be boring.
unaided casting would be the base idea, I like it and it makes fights more on wits then pure magical strength (stuff like running and punching the opponent as they try to cast should always be a viable start.)
Abstractness of spells: hmm I was thinking on the same wave length as Jobless, keep the spells identity while pumping it up or lowering it down to be tricksy. I watched 'Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor' and the idea of a "Failed" spell being used as just a different idea of the spell has always stuck with me.
(ie. "if you put too little mana it makes small smoke." -ten chapters later- "*characters use smoke signals to find one another on a field trip that got attacked.*")
Elemental magic: yeah PERSONALLY, I don't like elemental systems, too clunky, BUT wanted to confirm with others, since I overthink things to much and need outside opinions to help slow down and think for a quick second. I was throwing the idea in my head back and forth so I decided to just say "HEY! this is a thing, your guys thoughts?", it is how I want to use author box for the future, it will help me stay close to the fans and help me gauge how badly I rammed my head into a wall.
fights: yeah mages need vanguard and tanks for a reason. I plan to use other schools for it, but magic will be a semi-main focus in combat. a fact I always hate that some stories forget is, MAGES ARE SMART, stuff like "the mage stared in shock" doesn't make sense, they would be working as hard as they can to keep the stronger people ALIVE would be massive and if they fail (if they where trained as a mage at least) would run like hell. sorry if I ranted a little, but I play casters and vanguard so I hate when it seems like mages are just the squishy meat to be beheaded.
you did help a bit, have a cookie
sorry that there is no content, but be aware all of this is helping me plan things out and make things all the better! I was kinda at a road block because I was overthinking this stuff so with ideas settled I can get back to writing rather then thinking.
Didn't want a poll for this but, what Pov would you guys like?
(edit, clarification): next chapters POV. sorry forgot to add this,
Definitely tell the (main) story from the MC's POV but don't limit yourself to it, side characters like the pursuer(s), Maids, other classmates perhaps even parents or teachers are valid for some side chapters. What is important is who it is about: side chapters should either reference back to MC aka a different view on a current or past event, or relate to the main plot (which in this case is MC again unless a bigger overaching plot is planned).
Examples:
A maid recounts changes to the young mistress (pre and post the cyoa start and "memory transfer"/reincarnation or whatever you call it)
Side chapter from the view of a pursuer (perhaps her daily life/family, or she is stalking MC,...)
A parent-teacher conference discussing school marks snd behavior in school.
A shocked teacher mindblown by the talent of a student relevant to the plot,...
MC has a flashback to her first day...
A clothing shop attendant (Or MC's mother or maid) recalling going to town with dressing up MC in cute clothes while salivating,...
Short: endless options when you don't feel in the mood for main story writing. Its a clever way of going off topic/ trying something else while staying surprisingly on topic + adds debth to the story.
Sorry again for writing so much...
Have a good day definitely and do give us a chapter soon (but only when its ready)
Till next time!
(hopefully/maybe)