Sorry for pestering you with questions lately, but I could once again use your advice. I have a world with two factions at war with each other and a magic system based on magical pigments. One side uses written words to alter people/things in specific ways. The other can transform people/things into the thing they’ve drawn. Both have pros and cons: the written magic is more flexible, quicker, and requires less drawing skill, but the drawn magic is more powerful and less taxing. But since they both have different strengths, I’ve begun to wonder why each side doesn’t learn the enemy’s magic to be able to choose between both kinds depending on the situation or on individual talent/innate power. Is my premise flawed or can I make it work ?
Readers need to know things to understand your story. They need to know a whole bunch of things. But writing is a linear art form, meaning you can’t just download all the necessary info at once. So what are authors to do? That’s what we’re … read more »
Multiclassing is by far my favorite mechanic in 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons. I love the weird and powerful combinations it unlocks and how it allows me to demonstrate an amount of creativity monoclassing simply can’t match. However, just because there are a ton of … read more »
Special powers are a cornerstone of speculative fiction. Whether they come from ancient magics or alien evolution, we love to see characters with abilities that humans cannot possess. Such powers provide excellent novelty and wish fulfillment. But sometimes storytellers don’t think about how their powers actually … read more »
Last time, we looked at the Path of the Beast, and now let’s look at the second of the barbarian subclasses found in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything: Path of Wild Magic. As the name suggests, this barbarian shares some design space with the Wild Magic … read more »
Hi! This is a question for Fay, hope that’s alright. I have a protagonist that loses an arm named Soup, and they happen to be the main focus out of their group. I have done some research, and I have come across a slight problem. … read more »
How to put words on paper? Should you write every day, or just when you’re feeling inspired? Is there any point to tracking your word count or using specialized writing software? This week, we’re talking about productivity in writing, something that seems to be on … read more »
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn is an urban fantasy story about a young Black woman infiltrating an order of all white mages, fighting demons, and uncovering her own heritage. I just finished reading it, and to the surprise of all, I am impressed. Not with everything, … read more »
Romance is one of the most scorned genres of fiction. Straight romances are loaded with cultural baggage regarding gender, so many of these stories are attacked on one side by misogynists and on the other by feminists. The fans who write and love these romances, … read more »
