WorldEmber 2024 Pledge – Magic Systems & Items

Hello world!

Over the past 2 years, I have been writing fanfiction on AO3 on and off, primarily for the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy (also known as Three-Body) by Liu Cixin. However, I have never written anything with an original setting and characters (barring middle/high school assignments), nor have I done any worldbuilding before. This changes this December when I will be partaking in the WorldEmber challenge and doing worldbuilding for the first time.

Why I Pledged

University is busy. I am currently majoring in computer science and possibly minoring in physics, and moving into my junior year, I am very stressed out over the workload. Morever, I have other personal issues going on that I will not discuss here, but they all contribute to my deteriorating mental state. LARPing is currently my primary way of coping with all of these, as it allows me to take my mind off the things that trouble me.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am also a fanfiction writer, but I have never written something with an original setting and characters. I have all but stopped writing 8-9 months ago as I became more and more stressed. However, I am considering getting back into creative writing as a way to destress after seeing the positive mental effects LARPing has had on me over the past month, and that's when I came across the WorldEmber challenge here on World Anvil.

Ten thousand words over an entire month isn't that demanding. Writing 500 words a day will allow me to reach the goal in 20 days, leaving 11 days to spare. Moreover, winter break starts midway through December, which will allow me to dedicate much more time to this challenge than I normally could. All in all, I believe that this challenge will be a great way for me to destress and take my mind off of current events while allowing me to get back into creative writing.

About My Topic

It may come as a surprise that I am going to try to design a magic system for WorldEmber this year. After all, isn't magic supposed to be the antithesis of science?

If we use the dictionary definition of magic, then yes, it would be the antithesis of science. In fantasy, however, "magic" is not synonymous with illusion. Instead, it serves as alternative laws of physics that are usually not compatible with our world. In such worlds, studying these alternative laws of physics is completely valid science. In fact, inhabitants of such worlds should study "magic" in order to better understand and harness it, or else they would be forever stranded in the Middle Ages.

Personally, I think that designing a magic system will be a great exercise for me, as it will be an opportunity for me to apply what I know in a creative way. Some of the things I'm already considering include the costs of casting different spells, how these costs can be "paid" (maybe "energy" crystals?), and how are the spells designed and structured. The last point is rather interesting for me, since I've always viewed spells as glorified algorithms, but even then, there are so many ways they could be implemented. Should spells be structured like assembly languages, like functional programming languages, or something else? How fast do spells run, how much memory do they get, and how can these be improved? Are they strictly classical or is quantum-like computing allowed? Are oracles allowed? There are so many questions to be asked, but regardless of what I come up with, it should be interesting and hopefully not just a computer science lecture (although I might include some important CS concepts in there). I am excited to think and write about this topic, and I see a lot of potential in it. And no matter what, it will be a new and exciting experience.

Update (2024/12/18)

Hello everyone:

As of 2024/12/18, I have officially resigned from the 2024 WorldEmber event due to ongoing mental health issues as well as well as stress from college from the first half of the term making it impossible for me to write anything. Sorry everyone.