Worldbuilder Tips and Guides

Hard Magic: Ch 7

Exploring Divine/Demonic Magic

            Also known as Celestial Magic, Divine and Demonic magic is tricky. At least, they can be. While how you present your magic system to the reader can destroy a novel or make it amazing, the same applies to Celestial magic. In fact, the rest of your magic system can be amazing and this tidbit can be what destroys the story all on its own.

            It is worth noting that this kind of magic is NOT required for a magic system to exist. In truth, you can choose to ignore archetypes you don't need. However, in the case that you do desire to include it, it should be noted that these can be very dangerous to a novel. Dangerous may seem like an exaggeration, but at least hear me out.

            Most consider Celestial Magic to be Overpowered by nature, and while they may be right, there is still the option of a counterbalance. A simple rule of thumb I keep is that the more powerful a spell is, the more taxing it becomes to the caster. In other cases, the spells may not tax the caster, but cause an event that is outside of their control.

            As an example, in some of my works, there is mention of a plain called Oblivion. A black void designed to imprison whoever ends up inside. For small threats like a warlord or rogue mage on a power hungry spree, this is ideal to trap them forever. But if you were to send a demon or something of far greater power to Oblivion, then something else gets out. Who gets out is unknown, and in most cases, they tend to be far stronger than the one scent in.

            This turns Oblivion from being the magical fix to every threat to a last resort option to solve a given problem. Other methods you can use is to restrict the ability of a celestial to a given set of spells. Amplify the effects to something reasonable for that entity, and provide a cost. That cost can be anywhere from weakening the stamina of the caster to draining life from living things around the caster. It could even just make some random person die! It is all up to you, but the idea here is to make it so your celestial beings aren't walking around with unstoppable answers to all their problems.

            If you are seeking a means to eliminate the need for a counter effect on the caster, you could limit beings like gods to only being able to gift blessings to chosen champions. The stronger the blessing, the harder it is to acquire. Ect.

            The point here is simple really. Do not overestimate the cost of using magic within your work and be sure that it is balanced. This may feel repetitive I know, but I bet you if I had not passed this warning, someone would go on and do exactly what I am warning you against lol.