116 Writers Sent Me Their Magic System Ideas (Best Wins $1,000)

I ran a contest to find the best fantasy magic ideas, and here's what happened...

⏲️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction
00:09 - Round 1
10:58 - Round 2
14:10 - Round 3
29:30 - The Last Round

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Hi! My name's Jed. I'm a fantasy author with three published novels and a bestselling video game. On this channel, I draw from my 10+ years of writing experience to help you become a better writer.

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[Jed_Herne]

My next fantasy novel, Kingdom of Dragons, is out now! Get a signed, deluxe, limited-edition of the book (well before it goes live on other stores) here:

[VandarAlden]

Honestly I was really confident in my idea until I realized the sheer volume of contestants. Statistics were definitely not on my side. I'm happy I made it as far as I did. I had a lot of fun putting it together and I'm really grateful for the opportunity. Congrats to those who made it farther than me and especially congrats to Ethan

[dinosaurkin]

My magic system is that if I cover myself in oil and step outside in the rain, I can fly.

[ashurean]

The memory magic system immediately makes me think of one thing: trauma. How powerful are traumatic memories? Could some evil organization brainwash soldiers and inflict horrific torture on them to turn them into absurdly powerful human weapons? And what would be the long-term effects? Would the mental scars of the trauma linger even after the memory has been used up? Inevitably rendering these people into insane, animalistic monsters that don't even recognize their own reflections? I can see a LOT of interesting conflict arising from that.

[MegaBeeYT]

I honestly LOVED the quote: "Do YOU know yourself well enough to become Immortal?" Like- the system could've been better constructed, but that quote hit HARD

[LordAteag]

Soil of the Ancients has HUGE potential for alchemy. I'd love to see this worked out.

[ShadowMor]

For Alan's Mnemancy/Memory Magic, it would be really cool to see an element of the magic wherein the user must invoke a memory that directly correlates to what they're trying to accomplish; if they want to kill an opponent, they'll have to remember and relive the memory of them killing someone in the past, or of them watching a loved one die. It would be a great way to give character backstory without large info-dumps.

[Putoaduh]

My favorite magic system (still in development) comes from a YouTuber named MonsterGarden.
Magic comes from technology borne of war. A special organ is implanted into people who become mages and it slowly begins to disfigure their bodies, becoming tall, gaunt, and inhuman.
Healing magic uses a disc shaped focus to radiate slow, regenerative waves to those around them, but it can have the nasty side effect of giving the healing mage tumors all over their body as it constantly regenerates their skin.
Destructive magic uses a pinpoint focus such as a gun barrel or a finger cap known as a thimble.
Curses run rampant against those who fight magic users, where the "witch hunters" become far more disfigured than any mage.

[tigretora]

No way! Sarah's credomancy was awesome! Think about how many will turn Machiavellian, while others will focus on defense through idealism. The conflict writes itself.

[exiaax]

3:44 Witch Hat Atelier
3:53 Nurarihyon no Mago, Chainsaw Man (demons get more powerful the more awesome and fear-inspiring they are)
4:49 Valvrave (piloting a mecha costs memories)
5:29 Card Captor Sakura
7:45 Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Riordan books Series, Stand Still Stay Silent
8:10 Soul Eater (soul wavelength resonance)
9:40 Persona game series, Black Rock Shooter,

[joshuastclairmusic]

Been waiting for this!! The true magic system is the magic of the human imagination to devise such magic systems… Brilliant.

[viyusavery]

Ive been studying this video for about 6hrs now main points:

@2:20 include interesting consequences
@6:44 build magic with interesting narrative possibilities
@20:29 think about the visual nature of your magic

The last point to me is the hardest to achieve in all fiction, anime for example is saturated with martial arts visual presentation of magic

It's ultra rare for a different visual presentation like for example Naruto that uses hand signs gestures to activate the magic

[alanstolterfoht]

Honestly... I'd nearly forgotten about the competition. I was grateful to make it in the video at all, nevermind top 8. This was fun. The winner deserved it, though. Looking forward to reading his book when it's done.

[lucasfranke]

I personally really liked the second one about wielders and conduits. There's a lot of potential for character conflicts

[ThisisGlorious]

The fact that the card magic system got so far is crazy to me

[sladewilson]

Bruh Kelly’s conduit idea is goated. So many possibilities for conflict and buddy cop sort of relationship. Just an old dude who’s wise but he’s gotta get his power from moron who never shows up on time 😂

[Donny-G]

Alan's idea of MNEMANCY was awesome!
The idea of memory fueled magic where the memory is erased after its used means that the characters will be actually sacrificing parts of themselves and their personalities to achieve their goals - I feel like that was a very interesting direction that he didn't get to touch on enough. The idea of hypothetical situations where someone blank slates their memories by doing some powerful spell is very interesting. Also the world would be full of adrenaline junkys trying to have powerful enough experiences to make good memories that can fuel future spells - like in this world there would be so many amusement parks and roller-coaster and exotic foods and experiences so that mages can stock up on good emotive memories to fuel their craft without risking forgetting their parents or other important memories... loads of compelling narrative options here that I feel the pitch didn't get a chance to fully articulate or he'd of won :)

[ZexZorNova]

It's so devastating that your typical card magic/pokemon and just a straight-up mythology went further than memory magic. The colored tears magic and heart beat magic where indeed awesome.

[sericsson]

Jan with his Lacrymaturgy was definitely my top choice! I wanna read the book immediately that's such a cool concept and such a powerful scene I almost teared up already!

[m.j.johnsonbooks]

This was so fun to follow. I was ooing, ahhing, cheering, and booing when you made a decision I disagreed with.
At the end I couldn’t decide who I liked more between the memory magic, the heartbeats, and the 12 gods lineage magic. Glad I didn’t have to make that impossible choice! Such a brilliant project. Congrats to Ethan I can’t wait to read his book someday!