The Standard Model of Magic · 12:01am Apr 8th, 2013
Have you read a book or fic, played a game, seen a TV series, anime or movie at some point in your life? (Chances are you have, otherwise you likely wouldn't be here)
Has this work contained any sort of magic, otherworldly powers or anything supernatural whatsoever? (Again, probably yes.)
If so, you have come upon an application of the greatest rule to grace authorkind since Murphy's Law was invented:
The Standard Model of Magic. Being the nice guy that I am, this grand supersystem of magical theory I shall now explain to you - in rather brief terms, of course.
According to the Standard Model of Magic, systems of magic are divided into four basic forms by point of origin.
Arcane magic is fueled by an inner source of power within the mage's soul, and commonly drawn out by some manner of foci or incantation; Unicorns and their horns are one example of this, Sorcerers in DnD another. The manner of spellcasting depends heavily on the astral structure of the mage's soul, which is what determines how casting is triggered and what can be cast; this allows for in-verse variation in casting capabilities between beings with astral-structural differences. Arcane mages normally have a finite pool of Mana that regenerates with time, though some may have regeneration rates exceeding what they viably can use up and thus have a virtually infinite mana pool.
Astral magic is similar to Arcane, but draws power from an external source; normally the caster's environment or the astral plane, but the subcategory of "Divine" magic draws purified magic provided by a higher being. WoT's Saidar/Saidin as well as the True Power supplied by the Dark One, DnD Divine magic, Trudi Canavan's magic systems (to name a few) are examples of this. This magic is drawn from the source through a conduit of some kind in the caster's soul, and then woven together to form spells, by thought or incantation. The nature of Astral magic primarily varies depending on its source; one singly type of it normally behaves rather uniformly across its users. Casting is limited by the size and capacity of the caster's conduit, and depending on whether or not the source is finite or not, the availability of mana.
Material magic is the physical answer to Astral magic. Similar in many cases to its spiritual brother, Material magic is mana in physical form; Allomancy in Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series is an example of this, as well as the magic systems in the Eon tabletop RPG. Material magic often exists in tandem with Astral magic, which can often be the source of the Material power; other times they may be of separate origin, or the Astral side totally absent. Nevertheless, Material magic is drawn by mages through the physical objects that embody it; natural elements, crystallized magic, metals, et cetera. Due to the hands-on nature of this type of magic it is generally mostly limited by availability, but a conduit capacity mechanism is often in place as well, particularly when it exists in tandem with Astral magic.
Finally Dark magic is the ambiguously named youngest sibling of the forms. Dark magic draws upon astral energy commonly in the form of emotion and thought, draining non-mana from other beings (or oneself, though this is far less common) and converting into usable mana before casting. Examples are Changeling magic, along with every empathivore ever made elsewhere (please don't make me count them all). Dark magic is thus heavily dependent on the availability of sources, but also on the capacity of the mage to store converted mana. Depending on form this can be done with an interchange of Material magic, changing it into some manner of physical form, or keeping it like a finite source of Arcane energy; both of these cases generally have the caster's magic take on similar characteristics to the forms they seek to liken. The caster can also keep the raw, unrefined non-mana, only converting it to cast; depending on astral structure this can be more or less effective than the alternatives.
Keep in mind that you'll have to do a LOT of term-twisting to make these actually fit in with the themes of whatever universe you want to use them in, but once that pesky terminology is done it shouldn't be too much work (unless you're reading works by me, which normally follow this terminology roughly close). This is the rough outline, but covers most of the important points, I believe.
FiM general covers all of the forms quite nicely. Changelings use Dark magic, with some Material application. Unicorns and most other beings use Arcane magic, and the Elements of Harmony are examples of both Material and Astral magic, and arguments could be made that they use Dark and Arcane magic as well. Cadance's and Shiny's shield thingy was also primarily Dark magic, btw, and Sombra's Actual Dark magic was quite fittingly Dark magic indeed. Gemstones can likely be a form of Material magic as well, and the various applied magitech devices or whatever you have around Equestria are arguably Material magic as well, albeit synthetic.
This is the Standard Model of Magic, and it works on just about anything, afaik.
//N
Pony magic explained
What about magic that isn't dependent on any sort of mana or source of power, but is just basic omnipotence and direct power over the universe?
989204
Hard to classify unless you specify an example, but generally falls under Case 1b of Arcane magic as specified above; a user with a mana pool that is virtually limitless and regenerates far faster than he possibly can expend it. Discord is (probably) an example of this.
989219
That works. I was thinking of magic as used by djinni to grant wishes, which sometimes has rules, but other times is unlimited.
What about someone who, for example Twisted Fate from League of Legends, draws the magic from inside himself but has to channel it through tarot cards? That would be Arcane, correct?
Do you mind if I take these ideas from you?
989914
The SMM is not an idea. It's a law. Newton wouldn't complain about people following the laws of gravity, would he?
989709
TF is actually a case of Divine/Astral magic, since he doesn't have any magic of his own; he underwent an experiment to give him a source of power, which means it's most likely something else than Arcane. The cards are simply his form of incantation.
interestin I'll try and keep this in mind, it looks very good.
990230
Can I see your sources for this "law"? In other words, whatever makes this a "law" comparable to Newton's law of universal gravitation, rather than just your personal "theory" on the matter?
1067782
It is a model of my own construction, so the only source in existence is the one behind this keyboard. The real "sources" on the matter, however, are the countless works of literature and other fiction that I have read, perused and analyzed to determine the Model's validity. I don't exactly have a spreadsheet or anything, but a bit of mental exercise should easily land you with the same conclusion that I've reached: magic systems in fiction are applications of the SMM. All I've done is to codify it, in order to make things easier for the common man.
You're free to doubt and debate the Model if you wish - this is science after all - but unless you have proof of a conflict to the laws outlined in the theory I'd suggest you refrain from simply trying to cast shadows willy-nilly. Nobody gains anything from that, I promise.
1068042
Personally, I would divide them into two primary groups, "internal" and "external"... since the only real difference between "Astral", "Material", and "Dark" are that they come from specific sources, all of them more or less existing separately from the user's person. Although, this entire model is vague enough that you can squeeze all sorts of things in there with a little bit of interpretation, which makes me question how one could consider this a law... take for example "astral magic". Covers everything that isn't physical or emotional, apparently. So... what about magic that comes from immaterial concepts other than emotions? Such as an extension of the aphorism "knowledge is power", as seen in Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe? It doesn't fit into "dark magic" nor "material magic" — even though the source is originally books — because it is the immaterial knowledge held within the books that provides the power, not the books themselves, which are ultimately inconsequential in the equation. So why would something like L-space, which derives magic power from an ultra-literal interpretation of a widely disseminated adage, be considered "Astral"? Merely because it does not strictly fit into the other three categories? That's not now laws work. That's how rules of thumb work.
...Now you've said something quite silly.
• First of all, this would not qualify as a law of science. Maybe some kind of social scientific law, if those actually even exist (still debated), but even then this wouldn't qualify as a social scientific law because it is not in the least bit quantitative. You can't reduce this to a simplified equation.
• Second of all, this topic hardly qualifies as science. The very nature of the topic, "magic", is in fact often considered the opposite to "science":
"Science" is natural, empirical, exoteric, and real.
"Magic" is supernatural, mystical, esoteric, and conceptual.
The very nature of the topic would make it highly incompatible with the notion of "science". Magic can literally be anything the writer wants it to be because it lacks the rigidity of science due to not having any defining laws or realism.
• Third of all, requesting your sources for verification of your claims is certainly not "trying to cast shadows willy-nilly".
Now, having reasonable doubt as to its status as a "verified law", one that you apparently felt compelled to impress upon someone else, as though it were universally-accepted as the standard model, however... that I will freely admit to doing.
So... yeah, I didn't land with the same conclusion as you.
I clearly must have done something wrong along the way.
Anyways, this is not really important enough to continue discussing, to be honest. Really, I just wanted to point out that your comment...
...seems kind of conceited and elitist.
Nobody gains anything from a comment like that.
1068255
Wow, I must really have rustled a few jimmies with this post. What is wrong, dude? Do you not stand in harmony with the Triumvirate?
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It is not the status or acceptance of any work that defines it as science, it is the approach with which man takes his treatment of it. In approaching this matter, I did not sit down and jot down a few words about magic which I thought were appropriate, cool-sounding and otherwise to my liking. I analyzed the works of myself and others, and tried to, as well as possible, come up with a super-system that - as close as possible - unified them all. And I found that it worked surprisingly well.
The example you gave above - Pratchett's L-space - is, first of all, not quite correctly cited. Were it indeed a concept of metaphysical level (that is, actual 'knowledge') I would likely classify it as Arcane magic (or possibly Dark, depending on one's interpretation of the term "emotion"), the mage's knowledge of the world (I suppose) acting as the internal vein of power from which he draws his "mana" or whatever you wish to call it. HOWEVER, L-space is a property of the written word, making it blatantly clear that material magic is what we're looking for here. Simply define whatever conditions you wish to set for this phenomenon to occur, and you're done - though since this is Pratchett, the world will most likely never know quite what makes it tick.
Your understanding of Astral Magic is quite apparently not complete, so I will reiterate the major point that differentiates it from the others: Astral Magic originates from outside the user, and on the astral plane. It is the act of drawing power from an external source of spiritual power and fueling your magic with it. Pretty much, at least. So yes, it has a wide scope. But what of it?
Please use correct grammar, and don't write sentences that are too long for you to avoid getting lost in them. You won't see much success in making your point to others that way, rustled jimmies aside.
In any case, I understand the basic sentiment of your post. You're irritated at me barging into a thread with a pretty condescending tone (which, I admit, wasn't the best of moves), and trying to pass off (what you see as) my own personal truth as a generally accepted norm of fantasy writing. And that's okay. Any controversial subject is bound to have opponents, after all - and if the concept that all supernatural powers ever convinced by the human imagination can be summed up and categorized into four pretty distinct orders isn't controversial, I don't know what is.
And maybe that's how it is. Maybe that's how it will be. Maybe I am the only author on this planet who will ever accept the SMM for truth. Bar the invention of a mind-reading device, I may never learn the truth. But my ambition is to explain this to the world, debate its verity, and gain acceptance; much like Einstein's ambition for his own revolutionary theories, for that part.
Sure, call me a megalomaniac for comparing myself to Einstein. Sure, call me overambitious. Sure, call me a liar - not that it will do much good, but hey. But if you wish to stand against my claims, please - don't just stand there in a corner flying banners saying "your ideas are wrong and you suck". That's how religion works (or more accurately, doesn't work). Share and explain your own ideas as I have shared and explain mine, and I will make an honest attempt to understand them and the truth behind them; and maybe I will find something in there that makes me realize I was wrong.
For that is what science is all about. The sharing and discussing of ideas and concepts, the acceptance of faults, the revision of the old and introduction of the new; and the constant quest to discover the truths of the world. A mindset - not a set of facts.
EDIT: I also realize that, bar the one offhand instance in the comments below, I've never actually referred to the SMM as a "law" in the first place - and certainly not a verified one (despite your insistence in my claim of it being such). And call me retconning, but all I meant with that statement was that much like the laws of gravity or whatever else you may come up with, a scientific model like the SMM isn't exactly intellectual property like a story or piece of music. Rather, it is a gift to the public domain, to help the people understand the truths of the world around them - or in this case, the worlds inside their own heads.
EDIT 2: Seeing as you're stealth-editing your posts in response to my challenges rather than actually replying - and still haven't fixed the glaring grammar/comprehension issue I quoted - I can only assume you're not going to take this any further. Which is a pity - debate is always good, as long as it is done in good humor. I am always open for ideas, however, so if you find your courage in the future, I will welcome you with open arms.
989204 that would be arcane magic with an unlimited mana pool, with a bit of dark magic if you go into energy conversion.