ไม่สามารถเล่นวิดีโอนี้
ขออภัยในความไม่สะดวก
Ghibli Magic System Creation : Worldbuilding Tower
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 พ.ย. 2020
- What makes Ghibli's and Miyazaki's worldbuilding, and particularly magic systems feel so different from your usual hard VS soft magic discussion? How can they be so unique?
Here's my proposal on how to draw inspiration from Ghibli's work and make some unusual magic of out own.
If you're feeling daring, write your own version of the exercise on the comments below and please interact with other worldbuilders too!
- - -
I finally created a Worldbuilding Tower playlist, here it is:
• Worldbuilding Tower
If the name Worldbuilding Dojo sparked your curiosity:
• WorldBuilding Dojo - C...
- - -
If you wanna help me believe this can be a real future for me, here's my Patreon page. I will never forget my first 10 patrons.
/ joriamramos
Subscribe here =)
/ @joriamramos
Twitter!
/ joriamramos
- - -
Soundtrack:
Dwyer - Things Will Probably Get Better from Here
He's an amazing artist! Check his work out: d-w-y-e-r.band...
- - -
#ghibliworldbuilding #miyazakiworldbuilding #magicsystems #ghiblimagicsystems
![[LIVE] สิ้นสุดการรอคอย | พี่ดู๋ สัญญา คุณากร | #คุยให้เด็กมันฟัง EP.44/1 (10/08/67)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/rBNZCh-QEYE/mqdefault.jpg)
Any daring worldbuilder would care to share their own version of the exercise here? ;) Find your peers!
Gonna give it a try. English is not my first language, sorry in advance if I make mistakes along the way.
The world is about attunement of the elements, but for an individual to be "attuned" the element must exist in matter form and it must be correlated for one of its senses (vision, hearing, taste, etc.). Ice and water is the same element, but fire cannot as it has not a physical element (it is a reaction. So we have Air, water, soil, sand, iron, anything that is an element.
I thought about the periodic table, but since steel, water and sand is not an element, i discarded it.
For fire, there's the phlogiston, but since the ancient times It has been banned from this world (working out on a 'why').
There are dragons. Ancient beings that have known the times of the phlogiston and have attuned to it, but since its ban, they have learned to attune tô new elements. The dragons have the forms of gigantic dragonflies, damselflies (for forests), antlions (for desert) and so on. They are intellingent and can be reason with, but despise the humans since they refuse to attune to the elements.
Its not that humans cannot attune to an element, but rather their sense needed to attune is the taste, and humans refuse to lick everything only to learn the element they are attuned to. Dragons use their vision because of their bigger eyes (dragonflies).
Since there are no fires in this world, humans learned to cook in a lot of different ways, like cold smoke, glass oven, and so on.
Edit:
I forgot to say what the attunement with the element does... Silly me.
So the elements helps life to thrive. It helps the individual attuned to it for what they seek, provided it can help. For example, a tree is attuned to the soil by its touch, the soil in return helps the roots of the tree by guiding It to water and nutrients. A fish attunes to water by its sense of equilibrium (the sense to know what is up and down), in return the water helps guiding through the currents.
The same occurs with predators, the water guiding then to their prey, even If the prey is attuned to it. Shark and fish. And so on.
Since humans dont attune, they cannot prevent or prepare ahead, most of the time, catastrophic events, like storms and tsunamis, volcanos and so on
@@tokimotois Love the idea of a sense-based system - and that humans' main sense is taste! Never seen anything like it! I also dig the image of a gigantic dragonfly-dragon is a powerful one!
I like how you made it very whimsical without the need of characters :) great job!
Let's give making this magic system/metaphysical system/power system , please give any pointers and advice where needed:
Let's imagine a magic system that is based of thoughts,ideas, beliefs, perspectives and imagination
There exists two worlds,the world we live in and a world of thoughts,ideas,beliefs and imagination.All living things have a thought,idea,belief or have an imagination in one form or another(for example,a predator can think that it is not worth the effort to after a specific prey, animals thinking that they should run when they feel threatened or any example you can think of).(This paragraph is to set up how the world is built up)
Let's call the world we live in "the real world" and the world of thoughts, ideas, beliefs and imagination the "imagination world" for now.(This paragraph is to name the parts of the world)
The real world is the normal that is experienced by its inhabitants.The imagination world is the world is a world of pure thought,belief,ideas and imagination with it being made from the thoughts,beliefs,ideas and/or imagination of all things.(This paragraph is to emphasize on the structure)
Due to the world of imagination being abstract and the real world being concrete they don't directly interact with each other usually,this seperation is caused by a metaphysical barrier they ensures that they can't interact with each other akin to a 3D object being unable to directly effect a 2D object(for example,a pencil drawing a picture of a 2D apple),even though there is a separation between these worlds there are some cases where they can interact with each other with dreaming being the most common way(still figuring out the other various ways of interaction and how to explain how all these interactions work).(This paragraph is set up the rules of interaction between worlds)
Now let's determine manifestation.When a living being believes,thinks or imagines something it manifests in the imagination world as an entity or structure.Once there is enough belief in something or if a sufficient amount of living beings believe in something those things can then affect the real world as a manifestation of some kind(for example,an urban legend becoming real because there is enough belief in it or a theory about the world itself being proven real because enough belief it).This means that the that everything in the real world is by product of imagination;this also means that the real world exists because of the imagination world and vice versa.All livingbeings contribute to this in one way or another.All living beings can innately affect the world through imagination but due to the relationship between the real world and the imagination world they do so unknowningly and as such these changes to the real world happen subtly overtime and these changes can even affect history
Sometimes entities from the imagination world can manifest physically in the real if there is enough belief in them or if they are very important to the stabilisation of the real world or the beliefs of those in the real world.These entities are referred to by many names but humans call them Spirits.These "spirits" will manifest in a way that relates to whatever manifested it although they have many forms but all of these forms will also manifest according to what manifested them.Some of these "spirits" can gain agency and consciousness and thus they can imagine(still thinking about how this happens), humans refer to these "spirits" as Grand Spirits.These spirits do embody what manifested them but they also gain their own thoughts,ideas, beliefs, perspectives and imagination.Due to their nature their thoughts, ideas, beliefs, perspectives and imagination are very unique and as such their can affect the real world on a grand scale.
(This is just an attempt so please don't judge)
This reminds me of Adventure Time’s “magic system”, where the “amount of magic” in the world changes over large periods of time, and the events of the show just happen during a high-magic era
the earth was essentially magic-less until “the great mushroom war”, where the humans employed nuclear weapons that flooded the earth with magic
The world building in that show is very messy but in a way that works really well for a sci-fi fantasy cartoon
Oh my, I forgot how deep the Adventure Time lore went. You're very right indeed, they managed to create quite the unique system that is soft enough to create that 'everything is possible' vibe, but also has a history and inherent rules.
I might research it a bit more and try to write a script about it! If you have any references to point me, I'd be super keen to check :)
I’ve never clicked on an advertised video that was actually good
This is the only exception so far
Thanks for writing this 😭 it means a lot. I still feel a bit yucky about the whole ad thing, but I've gotten 3 or 4 comments like yours that makes me think I'm not crazy.
I'm not spending a lot of money, just like 10 euros/month, and targeting people who searched for veeeery specific writing/worldbuilding sentences - so I guess that's how you got here :) If you see my ads, we're already kindred spirits!
True
I'm gonna give this a shot. So my metaphysical system is centered around the idea that similarities breed reality. That's just a fancy way of saying if something *looks* like another thing, the lookalike morphs and takes on traits of the image.
Some examples of this could be:
- A tree with knots in the shape of a face would slowly gain sentience, as it takes on human-like qualities.
- Likewise, if a human styles themselves as something else, say they paint their skin like fur and wear an antler headpiece this person would take on deer-like aspects such as the aforementioned fur and antlers.
- One last example could be that a rock shaped like a turtle, becomes a turtle but an incredibly slow one.
I'm not sure what defines specific images, like how the rock knows it's "turtle" shaped instead of "tortoise" shaped, but maybe this system has a hierarchy of traits, like for example going back to the turtle-rock: it starts off with "shelled creature" if the rock has a shell-like shape, and then the natural geometry of the rock influences what type of shelled creature it becomes, or even perhaps if the rock isn't specifically defined enough it remains a "blurry" image, like halfway between multiple images.
That's just my half-baked quickly-whipped-up idea that this video inspired me to make. Keep up the great work Joriam and anyone else feel free to critique my idea!
Oooh I really love this idea, especially the sentient tree. I wonder how humans would interact with these sentient beings...like, would there be laws protecting them? Could people create sentient pets from objects around their house? Can people interact with them or is there any way of communication between humans and sentient beings? Are they intelligent? Do they have to eat? Can they die? So many questions!!
Ooooooh I love this, there's so much possibility there! Katie's questions are also great!
In this world, being a sculptor is kinda like being a wizard, though magic happens slowly. I also imagine that 'making new things' to the level that they are included in the magic system could be a big deal.
This feels really eerie and exactly what I was proposing here! Imagine looking at your living room thinking you can 'edit' anything there by giving it some extra characteristic. Imagine breaking one your wardrobe's support legs and thinking "oh, I'm gonna dress this wardrobe like a crab until it grows its leg back again" - heck, imagine having this sort of thoughts for humans!
Love this :) thanks for sharing
That was ridiculously good how the hell 😂
How about if situation or sercomstance helped or effected the out come like to use your example to become a sea turtle if its on the beach or in water but a lumbering tortes if in a desert or on a grassy plane or up a mountain but it can't become a living moving thing if it's under the ground with out first being exposed to an place where a thing could see it and it be a able to know it looks like a turtle then the rock knows it could be a turtle the more it looks like one the more it is seen as like one the more it knows it is like one the more it becomes like one the more it looks like one and the it is not a rock as it now knows it is a turtle even if it has no mind to think turtle it reflects the idea of a turtle now
I love that idea, especially because it messes with humans' habit of seeing familiar things in everything. That's really good!
Only about 3 minutes in and I can tell this is gold. Subbed.
edit: It is, in fact, gold.
So nice of you to add this comment here, thank you!
Would love to check out your version of the exercise, if you want to share a bit of your imagination =D
In my own worldbuilding I use a metaphysical system based on this wish-animisim beliefs you talk about. I don't know if you have already seen the anime Noragami, but I recommend it. It helped me to understand more about animism beliefs and the wish-based japanese shintoism.
I haven't seen it yet, thanks for the rec :)
I'm happy to hear you're using a system similar to mine! Of course it's fun to explore those exercises, but you can only know if something will indeed work if you put it to test right? Happy to know a wish-based metaphysical system is already being tested and used!
Would love to know more about it!
First time on this channel, the content is really good :D
Aw thank you, it's made with a lot of love =) Hope to see you more often and let me know what you think (even when it's negative)
Same
Same
Thanks for putting up the ad, dont think i would've found your channel otherwise. I absolutely love Princess Mononoke and I've always wanted to integrate the same vibe into my world.
Absolute top-tier content! Thanks alot :)
Thanks for the encouragement! I all feel a bit odd about putting the ads up, but I'm happy they reach interested people like you! :) I made the ads mega-specific, so they'd only get to kindred spirits!
Incidentally, I'm currently writing another Ghibli episode just now! Hope to see you there when it's posted next week :D
@@JoriamRamos I'll be here :D
I'd like to add that in Howl's Moving Castle, there is talk about a magic academy, so magic is very much a craft. Yubaba and her sister in Spirited Away also seemed to have had many years of practicing and mastering magic as a craft. And if I recall correctly, the hermit from Earthsea is also someone who has studied magic.
Only in Princess Mononoke, PomPoko and My Neighbor Totoro, is magic not something commonly studied and practiced by humans, but comes from nature. Then there is also Kiki and the bad guy from Ponyo, who seem to have been born with innate magical abilities, but still need to practice in order to get better, or rather in Ponyo it's both from nature, but can be practiced.
Hey, that's an interesting observation! :)
Let's add a bit more nuance to it! From the movies you listed:
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Kiki's Delivery Service
- Earthsea
Are adaptations from other people's work! Miyazaki didn't write the original stories - he just wrote the film versions of them.
- Spirited Away
- Mononoke
- Pompoko
- Totoro
- Ponyo
Are original Miyazaki stories through and through.
That makes me think that, while Miyazaki accepts that in some way magic can be a craft, his own personal preference is that magic is something that exists in nature, only partially being 'tamed' by humans.
Still, I must say I'm happy that he's not too fond of this opinion as to not adapt those wonderful narratives :)
@@JoriamRamos yes, that puts it into perspective. Good catch!
Spirited Away is kinda inbetwen those, I think. While Yubaba and Zeniba are also Kami, like all the other non-human characters in the movie, and therefore nature spirits, they appear human and seem to have studied the magic they use. Kinda following the image of witches, in our real world lore.
Giving it a shot, so here's a rough one
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It turns out that dancing is the very thing that holds the universe together.
Everything dances.
The earth dances around the sun, the moon around the earth. And in turn they all dance with each other. When the earth dances with the sun we get day and night. When oceans dance with the moon it creates the tides. The winds all dance together, practically in a melee, and it gives us the weather. Bees dance day and night, this is why such ridiculous creatures can fly against all logic. The Platypus, is for sure the result of some very drunken dancing that really got out of hand, and the platypus continues this bizarre dance to this day. Even trees dance (Although they do it so slowly you'd hardly notice) and that's why trees grow so giant and live for so long.
When things dance together, with unified thought and movement, it creates a Melody. This melody contains everything the dancers want to achieve. Once created it leaves the dancers and joins the symphony of the sky, and in doing so adds its contents to the fabric of the universe. But with so many Melodies its easy for a single one to be drowned out, so for the change to stick, the dance has to be done again and again
People can dance for a long time, but eventually they'll get tired, lose focus. So they can send off Melodies, but they never last. Not like the planets who can dance forever. But it means that even by yourself you can dance around like an idiot, and you make little difference for your self. If only for a moment.
Oh that's interesting! You also went the art-route :) which is totally my jam!
Tell me, what's with the Melodies - do they have at least a chance of shinning and altering the fabric of reality?
Does it make any difference if the dance itself is beautiful, or is it just a matter of wishing fervorously?
I absolutely love the idea of planets dancing forever! Reminds me of that Blue Danube scene in 2001 A Space Odyssey :D
I'm not 100% sure with the melodies, since the whole concept was just a quick mock-up. I think that they are like instruments joining and leaving an orchestral piece.
Whilst they're present they add flavour, texture, and timbre, but don't overtly change the tone of the piece. And when they leave the flavour, texture, and timbre changes again. So when you create them, and they are added to the fabric of reality or the "Symphony", it changes reality for as long as the melody plays. Sometimes only a short time is needed, others times it might require ages.
The objective beauty of the dance doesn't matter really. You could be the worst dancer in the world, as long as your dance is passionate and without inhibition then it will work.
I did watch 2001 a fair bit growing up, so it definitely left an impression.
It's a great prompt you gave, very fun to think about. Ta :)
Glad I started following you. I study literature here in Italy, and I'd like to start a project that mix literature critic and the things that I love (movies, animation, games, ttrpg). I think you're great at what you do and I'm looking forward to see more. Thanks.
Ciao Francesco
Oh my goodness, that sounds amazing! I studied such boring stuff hahaha wish I had been as fortunate as you are!
If you ever feel like contributing both your critic's eye and/or your imagination here, feel more than welcomed to do so :)
@@JoriamRamos Grazie, you're so kind, and I love how you're building your project. I'll certainly do so, see you soon.
I usually dislike these youtube videos because they are vague and unhelpful. When you started to talk about the ghibli characteristics, I was like "ok, so useless then" but then you practised what you preached and made an awesome magic- i mean, metaphysical system just like that. Awesome, 10/10, instant subscribe. Now I want to read a story that has your magic system! Like a competent wish granter who was about to get to the top gets a wish of a lazy kid or something, and he motivated the kid to get better and stuff like that, then the kid grows up to get his dreams. Maybe an antagonist along the way who also wants to be top wish giver. I'm sorry I doubted you!
Thank you for giving my format a chance! I'm super glad you enjoyed it - and hey, I know not all of my videos will be good, so if you were feel there is something to criticize, I'm also open for this!
I'm mostly using this youtube channel to practice as I write a longer piece (I'm editing my second draft of a novel), but once that's over - who knows! I might draw inspiration from those little exercises :)
Glad to see you here and hope you stick around!
@@JoriamRamos definetly will, if you ever finish your story, hit me up!
It's not quite a magic system, but a fun idea I had in mind was imagining the different objects & such in your house as nations or landscapes. Ex. The Republic of Ooshamp, located within the land of Utb-Tahb. Its allies are North Ition, The Dominion of Recam, and the city state of Boshymp.
Different rooms could be worlds, with ways to ascend or descend realms down accessible but tenuous paths that could be a breezy, though draining flight or deliver severe harm to you, or passing through nearby worlds by bargaining with large wooden guardians.
Quite silly, but a fun and creative exercise that allows you to see worlds within your own.
This feels very much like the Ghibli short movies! I can see some thread little citizens from the 'chair nation' having a maturity ritual that's about climbing the colossal sofa nearby hahaha
How would you build the relationships between those nations and the people who actually live in the house? :)
@@JoriamRamos They'd either be worshipped as major gods, probably something Lovecraftian as they skirt through worlds and realms without any effort. Or as horrendous beasts, crushing or stealing from the various item people to suit their own needs or just to be gluttonous; sacrifices could be made, Greek mythology-esque.
@@Kye9842 Oh this is really cool!
Using this horror tone and horror-like language to describe the simplest thing people do (like eating) could add a strong comical sense to the whole narrative!
Now I'm seeing some little thread beings seeing humans remove their shoes and put on slippers and going all "wooooah, so grooooss, they're putting new feet on" hahahaha
metaphysical system:
In a contemporary system the world is infused with natural laws. If you start something then there is power in finishing it, if you do a kindness for someone and never tell them about it then they owe you on some karmic level. Inspirations behind this are from Narnia when White witch was talking to Aslan about some "old magics" that are sort of like cosmic laws. In addition it's inspired by in Harry Potter Dumbledore has access to some kind of meta-magical knowledge like when he talks about how harry was protected by his mothers sacrifice and when he reads into Voldemort's secret door that it asks for a blood sacrifice. The magical metaphysics is influenced by concepts of Daoism.
Some of the newer Kami that exist are taking on animist properties of funny new objects that occur in our contemporary time. There have been sightings of a vending machine kami and a clothes iron kami. A toy bird Kami is always trying to fly so that it can join the migration of other birds but can never get off the ground and it doesn't understand it's not a real bird.
All the living animals are slowly leaving the earth to disappear into another world that we can't follow.
(yours has lots of juicy bits in it, I was very impressed with wishes having to compete in a spirit world and being influenced by the real world actions of the wisher - I would read that story)
Oh my, I'm totally entranced by the vending machine kami! The whole idea of spirits that look like objects we normally consider anti-spiritual is really good stuff. Thank you for sharing that world.
Lemme nudge you just a bit further: in this world you created, can you imagine some evil spirits? How would they manifest in this contemporary fashion?
I've always been quite interested in magic systems based on psychological ideas and having those ideas manifest in the world. Like the idea of gods only being born because people believe in them, or with places transforming into how people perceive them, or desires and fears becoming real. It doesn't really work for things like wizards throwing fireballs, but more like an ever-present dimension of magic that influences our own world.
What i love about more than a few the miyuzaki films, is that they could easily take place in the same universe. With Nuassica Valley of the winds being the mid point between the human and magic world.
My magic system is inspired by the way Warlocks or Clerics of Dungeons and Dragons (so distinctly un-Ghibli lol). My setting is sci-fantasy so I needed a dynamic magic system that remained interesting across an adventure spanning a galaxy. All magic is basically procured from a patron, which are generally close to Star-Sized beings which have certain properties, for example the origin of all other patrons is a massive semi-Zeus inspired skeleton that is filled with (and randomly shoots) lightning, and magic-users may harness it's power to cast lightning-oriented spells. There's also a beholder inspired patron of the same size which is encased by a matrioshka brain, and nearby planets don't only use it for magic but also the energy it produces.
I really like the idea of 'sources of magic' that you can interact with or even dialogue with. It gives socially adept and/or manipulative characters a whole new flavour as they can, in a way, convince destiny.
But hey, I'd also be interested in what you could come up with within the boundaries of the exercise! Your system is pretty imaginative, I'm sure you have plenty of ideas for different scenarios :)
Love the info! Keep up the good work, happy to be climbing the Worldbuilding Tower with you!
Happy to have you along for the journey :) hope to see your ideas floating around soon!
Loved the video. Will be exploring more videos over this weekend or next (time has a habit of slipping from my hands.)
Anyway, nice coming across another writing channel.
All the best!
Ah a fellow writer, super glad you liked the video, hope the exercise was interesting!
Let me know what you think of the others and, if you're feeling daring, what creations come out of your braaainz :)
Cheers,
This is one of the best ads I've ever clicked on.
Oh that's super nice of you, thanks! :)
Joriam, the quality of your videos is amazing, to the point that it makes me jealous 😂
I love your energy so much and this was such a great video. I can 100% see your channel growing very big. Keep it up!!!!
Also I've never seen any of those films before but now I HAVE to. They look so magical... wow.
Oh Owen, I'm sure you're gonna loooove Ghibli! And honestly I think Mononoke is a great introduction :) they're all on netflix (on most countries)
And hey, you're a super creative guy! I'd be delighted to see your own version of those exercises whenever you feel the inspiration flowing!
Also, you're too kind hahaha I've only reached your level in the past 2 weeks!
Soul-shapes:
All life is filled with mana, this is the fuel of life, the source of life, and the power source of all magic. The bio-chemical nature of a life-form is crucial to it's core functions like what types of foods it needs, and how it reproduces. However, the physical shape of the life form is based on the shape of the mana within it, this is the soul's shape, and it also radiates an aura. A soul may not be tied to a life form, it could simply exist independently, with an aura, and the capacity for affecting the world through magic, but not otherwise. All souls can create magic, even the souls of rocks and streams, the souls of animals and plants, or the souls of sentient beings. In this setting, the ability to sense souls, to heal souls, or even hide one's soul are crucial to even the most basic life forms. Sentient creatures can learn to shape their auras to imitate other types of souls to better communicate with them, gain their traits, or even transform their bodies. Advanced manipulation of souls and mana can create magical tools, new types of life, and more beyond.
I like this! I wonder if there's some space in there to work with complimentary shapes - forms that naturally fit each other! Could be something like finding your magic-other-half :)
This is fantastic dude. I love this
Thank you! New Ghibli video next week :) hope you like it too
Glad I clicked your ad.
This is a take I had not heard before and I will be keeping it in mind going further.
Glad to be of service :)
I'm still figuring out my world's magic system and this video helped a lot with thinking how it could work! Thank you! ❤❤
Super happy to be helpful! Hope you figure it out soon :D
nice video man!! glad i clicked on this advertised video
Oh thank you! I'm always a bit yucky about putting up those ads, but if it brings nice people like you, then of course it's all for the best :)
i am really glad you called it "magic" , NOT "magic system"
Well, if you look at it literally, it is a magic system (just because it's a system that involves some kind of magic), but I think this term became synonymous of something a bit more specific right? Something like Sanderson's Allomancy or maybe the Pokémon types. I didn't wanna go into that territory, so I chose my words accordingly :)
@@JoriamRamos tbh i dont know what the whole magic system means, i just know that a fantasy with magic and a fantasy without it.
Your own magical world was lovely and inspiring, many thanks :>
Also it is prime anime material :>
Clicked on the ad thinking 'no way this is actually good'
I was wrong
that's very nice of you! Thank you :) I hope you stick around for the next videos!
Good first impression so far...!
Oh thank you :) glad to have you around!
i love your videos man thank you for all the help you bring for my writting.Your channel is way too unknown and it shouldnt be
That's very nice of you, thank you!
I'm doing my best to grow the channel, but youtube is a slow grind :) would be great to have you for the ride since the beginning!
@@JoriamRamos I wish I had found your channel a year ago when it was started im definitely going to stay around,the content is really helpful.Im exited to see where youre headed.
btw,I dont remember if the guided meditation wss in this video or another but that was really neat
Love this
Thank you! =)
Support!
Thank you =D
What a lovely video and exercise! It has definitely given me some ideas for my magic system ^-^
In one of my worlds, I always explain magic as a “growth” on the universe, as in a fungus on a tree or clover sprawling through the dirt and air, so a metaphysical system would be something likened to the care of the land…
This system can be tended and utilized by both the world and sapient beings: it can be cared for and grow well, like a beautiful garden or well-tended forest, it can be let to run wild which leads to some very interesting formations like lumr jade (a type of stone that, when in contact with air, produces heat akin to its size: a small pebble is enough to burn you hand and singe wood, a rock the size of a loaf can act as a forge-fire). It can be cultivated into large mono-cultures that choke on their own size and slowly destroy everything around them, it can be seeded with weeds and grow treacherous and dangerous, and it can, with enough work, be wiped out completely. It does have natural connection to the land, and usually mirrors it. One of the most dangerous places in this world is a forest that goes on forever, deeper and deeper like an ocean. The system and the forest are viciously dangerous to the lil squishy humans, though neither the system or forest have any meaning of “will” behind their viciousness, just like water has no will to drown a human.
Humans do not have any natural affinity to this system, even less control than we do over the land. A bit like trying to tend a wild, overgrown forest with no tools but your hands and feet- it’s impossible. However, when the correct tools are made, humans can use this system and cultivate it how they see fit. It will fight back, just like the land fights back, it is not a tame thing. It can be caged, put into little prisons to bolt and grow and twist in specific ways. But because humans do not need control of this system to survive, unlike how we need to tend gardens and forests to feed ourselves, the cultivation of magic is rarely done with good intentions. The creation and use of these tools to cultivate, harvest, and use this system is called “magic”.
Mages, the other sapient beings of this world, have a natural affinity to the system. It is said they come from the stars, that they are formed from starstuff that falls into deep wellsprings, that they come into the world able to bend it to their will. Mages are attuned to the system in a way that humans are not, and their health coincides to the health of the system. I guess you could call them the “kami” of this certain system. Mages are called “magical” by humans, because the system effects the mages and the mages effect the system, although in a vastly different way to the land, because unlike the land, mages are beings of Will and freedom of choice, and thought and trauma and strength. A mage who experiences trauma can sometimes “retreat” into the system, becoming less and less human and losing more and more freedom as their will is overgrown by the “magic”. The system is dangerous to mages, but in a vastly different way than it is to humans.
After the fading of the mages, there came the mage-touched. Mage-touched are neither and both human and mage, and have just as complicated a relationship with the system. They can bend the system to their will like mages, but they have much less control or “power” as humans would say. They are dangerous to humans, as well as sought after by humans, because when a part of the land coinciding with the system becomes too wild or rotten or overgrown, mage-touched are the only ones who can easily tame it, especially in more “system rural” areas where magic is not highly practiced. Mage-touched are not in-tune to the system like mages, but they have natural “tools” that allow them to shape the system.
I am at a bit of a strange crossing, as I want to capture the feeling of a very wild and untameable, and completely natural magic, but I also need it to be fairly “hard magic” because this world is being developed for a ttrpg campaign that has the players playing as mage-touched in the age after the mages and great human contraptions. Usually, magic systems in games slowly lose their power because a player character can eventually Master Magic, which is definitely not something I want this game system to do. I hop, eventually, that using this metaphysical system alongside some other faint ideas I have, I will be able to create a game magic system that is both useful and fun for the players to interact with, as well as staying wild and not fully, well, a tool.
big yay for 10k!
I am now emotionally attached to my hoshili and I don't care if it doesn't fullfill my wishes as long as it comes back safe🥺
you know what KimWitt? Your comment was so adorable that it made me rewatch this video for the first time in over a year - and I hope all your hoshilis are ok
@@JoriamRamos my hoshili are probably having a rough time out there but i know they'll do fine. Their wish maker just needs a little motivation. And sleep.
Which what makes me love this video. I've been finding it hard to sleep recently and tried almost everything. I figured it's more of a mind thing.
And one time, i just decided to world build while i wait to fall asleep AND I ACTUALLY DID. But as the days went on it was a hit or miss:( I couldn't get the hang of the world building thing so sometimes it doesn't really work for me. So im glad i found your channel!! I think it'll help me get on track with what i want to do with my 'world-building' and make life easier for me xD or sleeping at least.
The past few months haven't been easy so i had an idea to write some fantasy sci-fi crap to deal with my stress and worried AND YOUR CONTENT WILL FOR SURE HELP A LOT.
I couldn't make a good metaphysics world-rules or something:'< since im not really good with those i admit
But i hope your hoshilis will get to the wishing tree as soon and as safe as possible!🥺
This is my magic system, it’s called "stone craft" (Tolad language: L'ndith /ləndiθ/):
-Stone craft can have many potential uses, both necessary (transportation, medicine) and trivial (cosmetics, entertainment), but it is seldom used (usually only by elites and scholars) because it can be dangerous. Stone craft manifests itself through precious crystals, called "wizard stones" (or 'khridhvel’nt' /χriðvɛlənt/ in the Tolad /tɔlad/ language). Users summon Stone craft by properly reciting Tolad incantations while making physical contact with wizard stones. If used properly, Stone craft can help its users solve problems and give the user powers such as teleportation, healing, disguise, etc.
-Stone craft is mostly used by elites and scholars, as they have the resources to obtain wizard stones and learn incantations in Tolad. Although extremely rare, a handful of individuals (regardless of class) are predisposed by birth to contain quantities of wizard stones in their blood streams, which enables such individuals, called the "stone-blooded" (or 'l’ndrogh' /ləndrɔʁ), to use (or be used for) Tolad incantations without crystals.
-Natural wizard stones is a limited resource which is strictly guarded by henchmen who work for the elites. However, some scholars can secretly synthesize artificial wizard stones by using fragments of natural crystals to convert other matter into it. Elites consider this conversion theft, and make attempts to persecute scholars and the stone-blooded for their usage. Stone craft can become addictive if used multiple times during a short period. For incantations, unrounded vowels require two wizard stones (for height and backness) while rounded vowels require a third for roundedness; length and stress also warrant more. Voiceless consonants require two (for place and manner of articulation) with voice and ejectivity also warranting more. Users can be defeated by simply running out of it or using it incorrectly.
-After being used for an incantation, wizard stones quickly sublimate into an odorless, toxic gas which can cause temporary paralysis/vision impairment if inhaled (although this usually isn’t fatal and lasts on average temporarily for ten-15 minutes). Large scale sublimation can cause pollution and collateral damage to ecosystems. The stone-blooded are sought after and are particularly vulnerable to abduction/slavery for their natural abundance of wizard stones. Criminals are often punished with harmful incantations (in addition to the temporary paralysis/vision impairment). Wizard stones can be used to cure debilitating illnesses, but there is a price to pay; that illness must be transferred to another lifeform (usually to the aforementioned criminals). Anti-elitist possession of wizard stones is often severely punished by the elites, who fear class mobility from its usage by lower classes.
-Wizard stones were created naturally by “paramount comets” (or 'k’al’nv’t' /kʼalənvət/), which impacted and their supernatural minerals became embedded within the ground. Eons later, the Tol tribes settled throughout the rugged landscape which was shaped by craters from paramount comets. As the Tol civilization developed, farmers, paid laborers, slaves, and other workers participated in architecture projects and engineering endeavors, including construction, agriculture and landscaping. One day, according to legend, four Tol slaves were ordered by their master to explore a cave in search of fresh drinking water. One of them brought a torch so they could see through the darkness and deep within the cave, they discovered beautiful rock formations covered in crystals. After one if the slaves yelled in amazement, the unstable ceiling caved in and they were buried in an avalanche of crystals. They were wounded and crystal particles became imbued in their blood streams as a result. Only one of the slaves was still conscious afterwards and made cries for help. To his amazement, the stones surrounding his body sublimated and then he passed out from blood loss and the toxic fumes. Hours later, the four slaves regained consciousness in the cave and miraculously escaped from the pile of crystals. Their language, the Tolad language, was the first language ever uttered within the crystal’s vicinity, which triggered a mutation that only allowed the crystals understand Tolad. There may be undiscovered crystals that haven’t been exposed to Tolad and thus available for another language. They were physiologically altered by the crystals, it fused with their dna and several of their descendants became the stone-blooded from the wizard stone's dominant gene. After emerging from the cave, the four men used their new abilities to free themselves from slavery and become a quadrumvirate which would unite the Tol tribes beneath a federation. Their cooperation and even distribution of land to rule within the federation enabled an era of peace and prosperity for the Tol federation, which balkanized after their deaths. During the power vacuum, Tol elites usurped control of separate territories and became fiercely protective of the wizard stones, often warring with each other over the crystals. Scholars were employed by the elites to study the wizard stones so that elites could utilize their power.
-Even today, Stone craft is strictly guarded by the elites and their henchmen, although its existence is no secret. Most people among the lower classes could benefit from wizard stones but most wouldn’t dare try to obtain it from fear of severe punishments by the elites. Additionally, Tolad language resources are scarce beyond the elites’ mansions. Elites and scholars have established a wizard stones society to regulate what Tolad words and phrases can be used for incantations. These approved incantations are recorded in a text called “the canon” (or 't’avdru' /tʼavdru/), which is updated every year. Some rogue scholars illegally practice their own unapproved incantations. Although there is no particular set of clothing that distinguishes users, elites are (needless to say) the most well dressed of the classes and thus, fine linens and robes could possibly indicate usage. However, not all elites can be bothered to learn about wizard stones or how to use it. Additionally, scholars, who are the most familiar with wizard stones, are different from elites in that they generally prefer to stay away from attention. They often disguise themselves among the lower class, which also include some the stone-blooded. The lack of incentive to procure wizard stones or resources to learn the Tolad language has made many lower class citizens indifferent to Stone craft.
tl;dr: rich guys use magic crystals to do stuff sometimes.
Hey David, that's a neat system, I particularly like the attention you gave to the linguistics of it - I wish I had a better understanding of this 'alphabet of sounds' so I could read the words in the proper pronounciation
But I also have the feeling you didn't really try to do the proposed exercise here, right? I see no 'kami' or some version of them. Your system is well packed, but it does feel pretty Western to me
You're an experienced worldbuilder! You clearly put some though into the system you described here. Why don't you give the proposed exercise a go? I'm sure you'd nail it :)
@@JoriamRamos I appreciate your detailed response and thanks for your feedback. I wasn't trying to make a magic system with any bias towards western tolkienism or anime tropes. If my writing conveys a certain culture then it's unintentional. I might get the excersise a go later if I feel like it. I'll have to rewatch this video.
Nice. It's way more in depth than what I would do, but I saw another video about hard vs soft world building and I think that's where we differ but can do the Predator manly handshake lol
For a D&D game but players wanna see it as a manga to sell products I made a magic system that's essentially just blackjack with dice. People roll dice to raise and lower their scores and try to win (or more likely make everyone else lose) and whoever "wins" has their wish granted. Doesn't matter what it is. There's no judgement, there's no explanation, it just happens. This might bother some people because it begs the question why? But I disagree with Nietzsche. I believe a man with a how can endure almost any why. The real question is what if you could have everything you ever wanted and all you had to do was gamble with someone else getting what they want? Yes, perhaps some very bad people...but how much do you desire? Surely if you want it that bad it should be yours. For me this is a jab at religion, at morality as we understand it, so I just call the game Mr. Crowley like the Black Sabbath song.
@@ultraatari9298 That sounds like a really interesting concept! Developing a mystical game with nihilistic tropes could make for a compelling story.
Your video is so awesome and inspiring!
If I knew that hoshili existed, one of my wishes would be that I would want them to be happy because that seems like a lot of work to fulfill someone else’s wish so I’d wish for the hoshili’s wish to come true (hopefully the one I encounter doesn’t have a dark wish 😅)
I have a story for a manga I am working on and I love worldbuilding!
Thank you so much for this video and the exercises!
I've even created a whole language for a species the manga will be all about! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
So I had a uh weird idea for this? There's not actually any physical 'Kami' but I think it's a little Ghibli-esque.
Anything living can do this, but not everything and everyone has the knack. Like with anything really, it just clicks with some and not with others.
How it works is if you 'zone out' enough that you can separate yourself from reality and your spirit gently detaches from your body.
You can see the body (which can only do subconscious actions such as keeping the blood pumping and breathing) but your point of view from the spirit is outside it. So your body is still and you can move your spirit, which can do some unusual things such as flying and being able to survive without oxygen because spirts don't respirate in any way. Nothing non-spirit can sense the spirit in any way. Also, it's only as strong as your physical body. Time moves normally, you can see everyone doing everything as per normal and can fully interact with both non-spirit things and spirit things.
If the body dies without the spirit being separated, both die. But if the spirit is separated, it can only die in 2 ways, old age or being killed by another spirit. (If you were to get lucky and stab a spirit while not separated, it would be hurt just as much but not have any physical injuries. Also, it would hurt the spirit if you stabbed the body but even if the body died the spirit would not). So if the body dies while separated, unless it is of old age the spirit could theoretically live alot longer.
In terms of appearance, a spirit can be seen, heard and felt only by other spirits but can't be smelt or tasted because spirits can't smell or taste. A spirit looks like its exactly like its body, and injuries the spirit gets (inflicted by other spirits) appear on the body. However, if you heal an injury on the body the spirit can be healed. For example, a spirit may cut another spirit. The spirit who has been injured's body is being looked after by someone, who stops the cut bleeding when it appears. The spirit would then also stop bleeding.
In terms of how it interacts with life, it is possible to accidentally separate, especially younger children. Not just zoning out will do it, but you have to zone out to the extent that you're fully unaware of your surroundings. I have done this by accident before but apparently nobody else does so....?
This is grand! And hey, it sounds a lot like astral projecting - have you ever heard of that? Maybe you've done it accidentally, but never delved into the subject?
Well, if you haven't researched, allow me to give you a glorious tip: something similar to what you're describing exists in the real world. There's a practice of separating one's cognition from one's body and going for a strange stroll in a world that's kinda like ours, but also kinda not. Just search for astral projection.
I've never done it myself, but as an avid lucid dreamer, I've heard a lot about it (both communities are very close and often interact), and I'd love to try it one day. I've heard that, just like with lucid dreaming, the beginning is relatively easy, then as you try harder things it gets complicated.
Also, as a writer using lucid dreaming as a worldbuilding tool, I can eeeeasily see many interesting narratives sprouting from astral projection (or something akin to it, just like you described), particularly if the author has first hand experience and can add some of that real-world wonder into the story.
😮 I did something similar but with Lovecraftian beings...
Please tell me about it! :) I'm keen to hear how you made it horror-y
You need a discord my friend.
hey, thanks for the comment :)
At some point, I thought a lot about it, but decided against it. Running an active discord is some work! And as I am right now, I can barely keep up with my videos with everything that's going on in my life.
I think either the discord would end up dead, or I'd make less videos and I'm not keen on either. If one day I manage to go full time creator, or if I find the right people to help me run that discord, then that's a different story - so perhaps one day :)
What is the footage at 3:30 from?
It's a magic the gathering trailer for a card set named aether revolt! :)
Nowadays I do my best to add references, but that one's an older vid... So sorry!
@@JoriamRamos Oh, no problem.. thanks for replying.. good vid btw
funnily enough i could easily see how magic as a craft could work in this system : What if an human wished to enter the spirit world ? Or tried to get knowledge of the trials their own Hoshisi will have to go through to create a strategy, cheese the system or outright cheat ? Maybe create alliances with the Hoshisi of natural forces like mountains or seasons. Those individuals using their intellect to game the system and make wishes come true without efforts or make normally impossible wishes come true with efforts...Wouldn't they make decent wizards ?
You know what, smile? I think you're on to something.
I like this idea of turning a system into a practised craft. It makes me think that eventually somebody would learn how to teach it, and others how to improve it step by step.
@@JoriamRamos it could easily be the basic of a plot point or villain. People who disturbe the balance of the world by gamlng the system or outright cheating.
Sure they get their wishes, but everyone else see theirs loosing regardless on how much effort they make and even natural forces stop working correctly
💯💪
Lol I did just this like when I started working on my world building 3 years ago
Tell me more about it! :0
@@JoriamRamos well it is an elemental system with each of the 7 races having a natural affinity to one of the 7 elements and each of the 7 classes having an affinity to each race
The main culture of each race is based on there element as well
Life,antchant(plant),ranger
Stone,dwarf,guardian
Fire,human,rogue
Death,drak(dragon kin),fighter
Wind,halfling,thief
Water,elf,mage
And in the center of them
First Ones,void,hunter
Life starts at the top and move around clockwise in a circle death at the bottom and void between them all
With void being the absence of the elements because each side cancel there counterparts leaving a void of elements if you really want to know more Skype me at shindoko1
Wooof, finali I spend three days to create this one.
This world is alive, and when I say so I speak not only about animals plants or humans, I speak about every stone every drop of water, every breath of air.
Long ago... or not so long... Anyway there was creatures. Their existing can't be described by words they didn't understand concepts of time and space. They experienced their whole life at ones. And space ...when I say space you think about your comfort 3dementional world, but there more, so much more than you can count.
Later on this creatures will be called Spirits. Everything you can see is their parts that laying in our world like a hand of a man in anthill. Solid materials are slow or sleeping spirits, water and fluids are active spirits, air and fire are hyperactive spirits that ready to move and change in any second.
But it was chaotic world . Ones up on a time some spirits United and stars were born, then solid spirits United and there became planets, and others created atmospheres.
Than there was a child of spirits he could not move and see through dimensions so he stayed in this world. He created grate beasts out of his body thousands ages after childrens of great beasts became animals and... Humans.
Great beasts could change shapes of spirits, because they could speak to them not by voice but by body language. Children of great beasts could not understand this language but they were using it like a man from Chinese room experiment. And people learned form them. They learned to bend the world around them and there began era of humanity.
Yep, I think it's a bit too much. And I'm so sorry for all mistakes I made, it's still hard for me to speak and write in English.
:-D