Why Consistency is So Important with Magic/Power Systems
If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series, the title probably won’t mean anything to you. Thus, allow me to explain. Throughout the book series, the wizards and witches have been able to conjure food and drinks out of thin air. Mrs. Weasley does it in The Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore does it in The Half-Blood Prince, and so on.
Yet, in The Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and his friends are unable to conjure food out of thin air when they are hiding in the wilderness. Is it because you need to have a certain power level or know a certain spell to conjure food? Nope! Gamp’s Third Law of Transfiguration is the explanation Hermione Granger gives. It basically says that you cannot conjure food out of thin air, but can alter what food you already have.
The Third Law of Transfiguration sounds like it would be good and it effectively places stress on Harry and his friends. However, we’ve had no hint of this law before and, what’s more, we have multiple examples of wizards and witches conjuring food out of thin air. So, did Gamp’s Law Get discovered when the plot requires the situation to be more desperate?
In a later blog post, I’ll be discussing why and how to avoid throwing in new things that don’t follow your story’s consistency just to carry the plot along. Yet, I’m going to use this inconsistency to talk about how magic and power systems should be consistent.
Consider this: Let’s say you have a story. Your magic system is one that a person gains different powers based on the type of chair they’re sitting in. (Bear with me). Let’s say that sitting in a rocking chair removes fear and stress from your mind completely, while sitting in a poof allows you to mind-control someone in your sightline.
You have this for the first book. Then in the second book, your main character, sitting in a rocking chair controls the mind of his adversary to prevent himself from being stabbed!
In that instant, most people reading it will notice the break in your established magic/power system. When you build a magic system, there naturally has to be some rules. You can use these powers, but only if you are of a certain bloodline (The Kane Chronicles). You can only use a wand if you have magical blood (Harry Potter). And so on and so forth.
But, can’t I add new stuff to my magic system?
Absolutely, as long as it makes sense with what you’re already established. For example, with the magic chairs example that I gave, you wanted to add powers based on the material that the chair is made. For example, if poof is made of metal (ouch!), you can mind control everyone in your sightline, not just one person.
That would be an example of you expanding on the magic system while still building on what came before. If you introduce changes to your system without it connecting with what came before, your reader will notice this change. You’ll be (correctly) seen as inconsistent and lazy for not making a magic system that follows an understandable and logical order.
Speaking of lazy, I will (again) expand on this more in my next blog post, but avoid making drastic changes to your magic system just to make the quest harder or easier for your protagonist.
Take Gamp’s Law of Transfiguration. If it didn’t suddenly take effect in The Deathly Hallows, would it have been quite as hard for Harry and his friends to hide out in the wilderness if they could conjure food at anytime as previously established? Nope! Indeed, it would’ve been significantly easier. Yet, the plot required there to be tensions in the friendships, so Gamp’s Third Law of Transfiguration is “magically” established.
You see how adding news laws that break you established magic system give you a sense of laziness? Also, putting limits on your magic/powers helps establish the sense of tension in the story. If you know what your protagonist and your antagonist’s limits are, you can understand the stakes and it becomes exciting when they clash.
Let’s say your protagonist can suddenly discover new powers on the fly without reference to your world's system? You don’t really care about the story because there’s basically no risk. If your protagonist can generate new powers out of the blue, nothing can hurt them.
To use another bad example, in Rise of Skywalker, force ghosts can hold objects in the physical world and use the Force to lift objects, both of which they couldn't do before. If they can do this, what would stop all the Jedi force ghosts from appearing where Palpatine is and just killing him right there? The Resistance wouldn’t need to do anything! Just let the force ghosts take out Palpatine and the First Order.
Basically, keep your power/magic systems consistent within the rules you set. If you don’t like where the plot is going with your powers, maybe you need to adjust the plot. The magic or laws in your would
Below is the summarization of my general points.
1: Keep It Consistent. Create a magic system with rules and follow those rules.
2: Build, while Keeping the Foundation. Add new things if possible, but not if they will break your already established rules.
3: No Gamp’s Third Law. Never add any new power or magic system just to carry the plot forward! If you need to change bend the rules of the world to make your plot, you need to change the plot.
Farewell for now, and I will be speaking with you again next Blogsday Thursday!
