The ONLY Magic Systems Every Fantasy Author Needs to Know

Gina Kammer Author

Apr 09, 2025 |

Discover the 4 essential magic system types every fantasy author must know to craft immersive worlds readers can't put down.

Stop wasting time trying to figure out your magic system from scratch. You can have a more immersive magical world for a marketable book if you use just two of the four core types every magic system in fantasy falls into—and I’m going to break those down for you today.

When it comes to writing a magic system, you have a lot of freedom—but you also have a lot of responsibility to make it consistent, meaningful, and captivating. A strong magic system doesn’t just exist in the background; it helps drive your story along its thematic arc, enhances character development, and immerses readers in your world.

So how can you make sure your magic system covers each of these keys? One of the best ways to craft a magic system that supports your story is by plotting it on a chart of the core types to give you a solid template to work with.

Understanding the Magic System Quadrant

To effectively craft your magic system, it's helpful to visualize it not simply as types, but on a quadrant of the types. This provides a solid template to build from and makes it easier to understand how your system can best serve your narrative.

The four core types, or categories—soft, hard, low, and high—are not rigid boxes. Those quadrants have a range—like a spectrum—from soft to hard magic, and low to high magic.

Your magic system will fall somewhere between these points, blending different degrees of each. Understanding these will help you build a balanced, compelling magic system that captivates readers with both wonder and the right expectations.

Key Idea:
A well-crafted magic system enhances the thematic depth and narrative power of your story, making it more marketable and engaging.

In my previous article, I discussed more about what makes a strong magic system and how to meet reader expectations. And to be sure your whole story is strong and meeting reader expectations—making sure every element, including your magic system, contributes to a story that engages readers and stands out in the market—I have a free resource that can help.

"Turn Your Story Idea into a Marketable Book" guides you through the same steps I use with my author clients. It provides a roadmap to develop your novel into something readers simply won't want to put down. You can grab it HERE.

Now, let’s build on that knowledge and explore how plotting your magic system on this chart will give you a flexible framework, saving you valuable time in worldbuilding and helping your story captivate readers more effectively.

The Magic System Chart Explained

Imagine two axes creating your quadrant: vertical (y-axis) and horizontal (x-axis). Each axis represents one spectrum of magic.

The Vertical Axis: Low vs. High Magic

The y-axis functions like a magical thermostat or volume setting:

• High Magic: Turning up the magic to a high setting means its presence and influence are widespread. The higher on the axis, the more powerful and integral to society your magic becomes.
• Low Magic: Turning the volume down means magic is limited in scope, rarer, or subtler. It has less overt impact and is less integral to daily life.

When you crank up the magic in scope and power, the higher it sits on this axis. When you turn it down and limit the scope, and its power isn’t so grand or it’s at least rarer, the lower it sits on the axis.

The Horizontal Axis: Soft vs. Hard Magic

The x-axis acts like the blur setting on a photo editor:

• Soft Magic: Farther left, your magic is blurrier and less defined. Readers experience magic as mysterious, undefined, or with lesser-known rules.
• Hard Magic: Farther right, your magic becomes sharply defined and clear-cut. Rules and limitations are explicit, precise, and explained almost scientifically.

The blurrier the magic system is for readers to grasp, the softer it is. The sharper the magic system’s clarity, the harder the system. So if a magic system has fewer definitions and rules, it will sit farther left on the axis. The more rules and definitions—where everything about it is explained like a science, the farther right it sits on this axis.

Let’s explore each of these four types of magic systems more closely, so you can pinpoint exactly where your story’s magic system best fits.

High Magic Systems

Starting at the top of the chart, the first core magic system type is a high magic system. When we talk about “high magic,” we’re talking about a world where magic is widespread and influences nearly every aspect of life.

Consider examples where magic is more than a part of the plot—it’s woven into society, politics, and everyday activities:

• Harry Potter: Magic deeply influences society, education, politics, and everyday interactions. It’s widespread, commonplace, and highly structured.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Magic (or bending) forms the foundation of culture, politics, combat, and daily life. It shapes the world's social dynamics and conflicts.

High magic often feels grand, pervasive, and is an integral part of the world’s functioning. Typically, in these worlds, magic is accessible broadly or at least within defined groups, like wizards or sorcerers. It often has clearly defined rules or systems, but I’ll cover more about that more in a bit.

Low Magic Systems

On the other end of the spectrum are low magic systems. Here, magic exists, but it's subtler, rarer, and less understood by the world’s inhabitants. There’s often still a larger emphasis on mundane solutions to problems, often keeping magic in the shadows rather than front-and-center.

Examples include:

• Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire): Magic lurks unseen, mystical, and dangerous. Its emergence is rare, dramatic, and mysterious, often serving as a source of tension and intrigue rather than everyday convenience.
• The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie: Magic is tightly controlled by a select few powerful individuals, notably magus Bayaz. Its scarcity amplifies its potential danger and makes mastery difficult.
• The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee: Magic's availability is limited to those who can tolerate Jade’s intense effects, and even then, magic carries significant personal risk.

Low magic systems can create more grounded and gritty atmospheres. They’re less about grand displays of magical prowess. These worlds tend to highlight the mysterious, dangerous, or subtle aspects of magic, heightening intrigue and tension.

Key Takeaway:
Choosing between high and low magic isn't simply aesthetic—it's about the atmosphere, storytelling style, and thematic nuances you want your story to carry.

Hard Magic Systems: When Rules Reign Supreme

On the right side of the horizontal axis, we have hard magic systems—this is where rules reign supreme. Hard magic systems are marked by clearly defined mechanics, limitations, and consequences.

In Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives—or, let’s face it, really anything by Sanderson!—the magic system is detailed, intricate, and tightly structured. Each Radiant order has unique abilities tied explicitly to specific Surges, and because the rules are so clear, this kind of system can create tons of tension by pushing characters up against those limits.

Why Readers Love Hard Magic Systems

Hard magic is perfect when you want magic to feel scientific—something readers can follow, predict, and strategize around. It allows:

• Strategic thinking in battles
• Resource management scenarios
• Creative and clever problem-solving

Readers love hard magic precisely because they can grasp the system well enough to anticipate what might happen next, creating deeply satisfying payoffs when you set up and fulfill those expectations.

High Magic Often Means Hard Magic

It’s often a reader expectation that high magic systems—where magic is everywhere—should also lean toward being harder systems. With magic being so prominent in the novel, readers naturally want to know its rules:

• How does it work?
• Who can use it?
• What are its limitations?

Without clear structure, high magic can easily become chaotic or feel like a cheap way to resolve plot problems. That’s why you’ll often find high magic paired with clear, defined systems.

An excellent example is Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer series. Here, the magic system known as chromaturgy allows individuals known as Drafters to convert visible light into physical matter called luxin. Each color of light grants distinct abilities and properties, and it has limitations based on the light the Drafter can see.

However, some high magic systems like the one in Harry Potter land closer to the center between the soft-to-hard axis. They seem fairly hard, structured with specific spells and magical schools, but leave many workings and one-off magical feats largely unexplained.

Soft Magic Systems: The Power of Mystery and Wonder

On the other side of the spectrum, we have soft magic systems. These systems are more fluid, with fewer rules and often a sense of mystery or wonder. For instance, in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf’s magic is powerful, yet its precise limits remain unclear. Magic here feels mystical, and sometimes even random, which keeps readers intrigued and guessing.

When Soft Magic Works Best

Soft magic excels at creating atmosphere, awe, and a sense of wonder, rather than to solve specific plot problems. Because soft magic lacks strict rules, it’s less prone to obvious plot holes related to consistency—but of course that doesn’t make it an easier option.

You have to be careful that soft magic doesn’t become a deus ex machina, conveniently solving unsolvable problems. Or that it doesn’t introduce unintended plot holes in which readers would wonder why magic couldn’t simply be used if there’s no established reason. Rather, soft magic should reinforce your world’s deeper themes and maintain internal consistency through the emotions or moods it evokes.

Low Magic Often Means Soft Magic

Low magic stories tend to have softer magic systems, which gives the story a sense of wonder without having to spell out all the details. TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea exemplifies this beautifully:

• Magical beings of inexplicable origins have abilities unknown even to them.
• Most elements of the story take a higher priority than the specifics of the magic.

The lack of detailed explanation aligns perfectly with deeper themes like otherness and belonging, prioritizing emotional resonance over magical mechanics. And that’s kind of the point in this more literary story. Readers expect the mystery here, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s a great tool to create a more immersive world by leaving certain aspects of magic open to interpretation, which helps maintain an air of unpredictability. As long as it’s still serving the story, that is.

Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy also adopts a low, soft magic approach. Magic is relatively rare and subtle, mainly appearing through two types: the Wit and the Skill. Hobb doesn’t focus on the mechanics or hard rules of these abilities. Yet don’t mistake that to mean her system is simple! Instead, she explores the personal and cultural impact of magic on her characters, which creates a low, soft magic system that emphasizes the emotional and psychological consequences rather than a strictly defined structure. Not to mention the psychological consequences on her readers… (I will never not sob for Nighteyes!)

Key Idea:
Soft magic may have fewer evident rules, but its strength is in strategically leveraging mystery to deepen the emotional and thematic resonance of your story.

Non-Traditional Magic Combinations: Breaking the Mold

Your magic system doesn’t have to follow typical combinations. You can absolutely blend low magical volume with a hard system or high magical volume with a soft system. Plenty of outstanding examples have already paved the way!

High Magic, Soft System: Mystical and Cosmic

Take The Chronicles of Narnia as an example of a high magic series with a softer system. Magic in Narnia is grand, cosmic, and tied deeply to the foundational laws of the universe, such as the Deep Magic and the Deeper Magic governing life and death. These forces are portrayed as part of the fabric of the universe that characters experience but not systematically learn or use on their own. Magic is more of a divine or natural force rather than a system of spells or powers that can be studied or controlled explicitly.

Similarly, in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle, magic is deeply woven into the world, with wizards, spells, and a seemingly structured system of learning at the School of Roke, which makes it consistent with high magic systems. But while this magic follows some rules—primarily the use of true names to control things—its full scope and limitations are often soft, more mysterious. Much of it operates based on intuition, balance, and an understanding of the world's natural order rather than strict mechanics. It feels vast and powerful while maintaining a sense of mysticism.

Low Magic, Hard System: Structured yet Specialized

In contrast, some stories blend lower magic levels with clearly defined hard systems. Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files exemplifies this approach:

• Magic is powerful but “underground” in the broader world.
• Clearly defined rules limit magic’s scope and place heavy demands on casters.

The series shows magic consistent with a low magic system. Magic is tightly regulated by the White Council and “Laws of Magic.” It comes with clearly defined rules and risks. However, the rules are pretty well defined. Magic is potent but limited, and its use is often taxing on the caster, with hard restrictions governing its scope and use.

Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone trilogy also embodies this combination. Magic is specialized, highly structured, and requires rigorous training, with clearly defined categories of Grisha powers. While some powers might appear supernatural, they’re treated more like a science with set rules. Magic isn’t omnipresent but highly specialized, creating a low-magic, structured feel that aligns with the political and social systems of Ravka.

Where Does Your Magic System Fit?

So, where does your magic system fall on this quadrant?

• Is it soft, relying on wonder and mystery, or hard, defined by clear rules and predictable outcomes?
• Is it low, subtle, and rare—or high, pervasive, and impactful?

Finding exactly where your system falls will help you craft a compelling magic system that enhances your story’s core strengths, creating just the right balance of awe, clarity, and emotional resonance for your readers.

Whether you’re building a world where magic is well known and everywhere or one where it’s a rare and mysterious force, understanding the type of magic system you’re working with is key to crafting a strong, unforgettable story in which each element plays a cohesive part in the whole.

Once you have this high-level framework, the next step is mapping out the specific details to keep readers deeply invested. For more on the best way to craft your strong, epic magic system, check out this article.

Categories: : creativity, magic systems, novel planning, worldbuilding