Fairy lore has become one of my favourite things to research, and I have also been enjoying the breadth of portrayals of Faeries / Fairies in pop culture. It made me come back to an old topic that most people in the English speaking world (and many beyond it) probably know, to ask a question. … Continue reading Why does iron hurt fairies?
When I started creating my high fantasy world, I stumbled onto a serious issue very early. I went into things with the intention of creating a classic medieval world (spoiler: it didn't happen). But I'd created a magic system that rendered the classic staples of a medieval world defunct. Plate armor, knights on horseback, stone … Continue reading Castles Don’t Make Sense In High Fantasy (a lot of the time)
If you write much fantasy, you know the feeling of trying to come up with terms for your magicians, mages or witches. I put together this resource ages ago for my personal reference. I was just sick of using mage. Sometimes it doesn't fit the feel you're going for, and sometimes you just want to … Continue reading 60 Alternative Words For Mage and Magician
Where do you draw the line between white and black magic? You probably thought of necromancy and curses when black magic was mentioned. But mechanically is a curse any different to a blessing spell? We've talked about developing your magic system but black magic deserves its own blog post. When creating your own magic system, … Continue reading What is Black Magic?
I love magic, which you may or may not have picked up on by now. Magic systems are fascinating, and I've talked about how to make them awesome. But your mages need somewhere to live too! The classic aesthetic when you think of mages is towers. From Hogwarts to Saruman, they just go hand in … Continue reading Writing a Mage’s Tower
When discussing fantasy writing, Hard Magic and Soft Magic are key words many of us know. But perhaps we need one more - Medium.
Need to know how to develop your magic system for D&D or an upcoming novel? Check out this questionaire to help you nail down all the details you need!