Types of Magic in Fantasy: 40 Kinds by Source and Effect, and How to Build a Magic System

Types of magic in fantasy can be sorted two ways: by where the power comes from, such as talent, study, gods or a pact, and by what it does, such as fire, healing or illusion. A magic system is the set of rules that ties the two together and says what magic costs.

This guide lists 40 kinds of magic along those two lines, explains hard and soft magic, and then walks through the questions you need to answer to build your own system. The worked example is the earth magic in They Say I'm a Dark Mage, but All I'm Good At Is Digging Dirt, the story in TypeTak's Web Novel Course.

At a glance

1. Sort magic by source (where it comes from) and by effect (what it does).
2. Hard magic has clear rules readers understand. Soft magic stays mysterious.
3. The cost and the limits of magic make better stories than the power itself.
4. Answer seven questions and your system will hold up for a whole series.

Magic by source

Magic by effect

Elements

The classic Western set is four elements: fire, water, earth and air. Many fantasy worlds add light and darkness, and some add lightning, ice or wood. East Asian traditions often use five phases: wood, fire, earth, metal and water, where each one feeds one element and overcomes another.

Pick a set and decide two things: whether a person has one element or several, and whether elements beat each other in a cycle. Both make fights easier to follow.

Hard magic and soft magic

• Hard magic has rules the reader understands: what it can do, what it costs and where it stops. Because the reader knows the rules, a clever use of magic feels earned.
• Soft magic stays mysterious. The reader never learns exactly how it works, so it brings wonder and dread, but it can't solve the plot without feeling like a cheat.

Writer Brandon Sanderson put the trade-off this way: an author's ability to solve conflict with magic grows with how well the reader understands that magic. Most stories mix the two, with hard rules for the hero's magic and soft magic for the old powers at the edges.

Seven questions for your magic system

1. Source. Where does the power come from? Who has access to it?
2. Cost. What does magic take: energy, health, years of life, money, memories?
3. Limits. What can't it do? Limits matter more than abilities, because they force choices.
4. Learning. How is it learned, and how long does it take to get good?
5. Place in society. Who controls magic? Are mages nobles, soldiers, outcasts, or tools of the state?
6. Names. What do people call spells, schools and ranks? A consistent naming style makes a world feel real.
7. Taboos. What is forbidden, and why? Forbidden magic is where plots start.

Worked example: earth magic in a world that fears darkness

In They Say I'm a Dark Mage, but All I'm Good At Is Digging Dirt, Clay Rowen is a farm boy with little mana. At the entrance exam for Belkadia Royal Academy of Magic, the judging stone announces his element, and the hall hears “dark magic” instead of “earth magic.” Here's how the seven questions shape that story:

• Source. Each person is born with one element, revealed by the judging stone. So one misheard word can mark a whole life.
• Cost. Mana runs out quickly, and Clay has very little. He can't win with big spells, only with small, clever ones.
• Limits. Earth magic moves soil and stone, nothing more. That limit pushes Clay toward digging, building and farming instead of fighting.
• Place in society. Dark magic is feared, earth magic is looked down on as a farmer's trick. Clay is caught between two kinds of prejudice.

The magic itself is modest. What makes the story is what people believe about it.

Copyable magic system sheet

[Magic system]
Name of the magic:
Source:
Who can use it:
Cost:
What it can't do:
How it's learned:
Ranks or levels:
Elements or schools:
Place in society:
Forbidden magic and why:
Naming style for spells:

Keeping your magic rules straight in TypeTak

TypeTak is an AI writing editor where you write alongside an agent. Use it to set your magic's costs and limits once and keep them from bending in chapter 80.

• Your rules live in one place — the source, cost and limits of your magic sit in your World next to the characters who use it, so you can check a rule without rereading old chapters.
• Spells you invent mid-draft don't slip through — when a new spell or school appears in the manuscript, TypeTak points out that it isn't in your lore yet and files it when you click.
• A broken rule gets flagged — Feedback checks the passage on screen against your lore. If Clay suddenly casts a fireball when you decided each person has only one element, that line shows up on the Consistency card.

For the rest of your setting, see Worldbuilding, the Fantasy Classes List and Fantasy Races.

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