Board Thread:Series Discussion/@comment-4848837-20150121024809/@comment-4848837-20160127212039

Magic in These Befallen Nothing much on Kevin here btw.

Magic. I hate magic. Magic is the most popular of deus ex machinas, even if you don't care to look at it. It lets (oftentimes) anyone do whatever with very little in the way of set restrictions. At most, fiction tends to posit that you need to practice, yet some are naturally strong with it. Take Gwen for example; she is an amateur magic user with some talent for quickly getting better -- because she's a main character. What spells she uses are really up to whatever word the writer wanted translated to Latin; and the capacity of her powers are really up to whatever the writer determines is her max.

If all else fails, there's always the Anodite form. Suddenly, she's a tank and can manage impressive feats without any known or shown practice. She just seems to know all and be able to accomplish all. Worse, for her, there's no strategy; worst, for her, is it doesn't make any sense. She doesn't have to use spoken incantations -- hell, we have no understanding of why users speak incantations sometimes and don't others.

To These Befallen, magic is as significant as time was in Back in Action: a (possibly, the) central element. The lore hinges on it, and magic users have existed since before the burst that brought life into the universe. Very few are limited in what they can do with magic, but all must use incantations (however quickly they may speak them). Even the incantations have backstories to them. And the Anodites are no longer a species. The Anodite form is more like a state, taking all of your mana and all your mana in a substantial area unto yourself to maximize your output with pursuant spells. It's the product of spells so far they drain not just the user, not just the people around them, not just the planet they're on, but the universe as a whole.

I want magic that still makes sense: Spells that repeat and are practiced by their users, just like Ben with his transformations. Not a get-out-of-jail-free card. Limitation is key.

-- COKE ( C S T ) 21:20, January 27, 2016 (UTC)