“Energy”-Dave

Your magic system can also explain how bard magic works, since HGS doesn't bother to do it. I think it would make sense for bards to be old magic users wielding an enchanted instrument. The instrument helps them focus their energy when performing spells, as a replacement for runes, but even more effective.

I absolutely recommend watching that big, glorious almost-12-hour-long marathon of a man, Lobster Hero, slowly driving himself to the deepest pits of despair and insanity over how bad this show is when looking at it with more than a passing glance. That said, I know this is a really, really far stretch, but I honest-to-God want another season of this show. I'm gonna be honest, I love this show. It's just so . . . _fascinating._ I am enthralled with it, a conglomeration of problems and issues that, by themselves are nothing, but when mixed together truly become so much greater than the sum of it's parts. It's beautiful, with so many interesting concepts and ideas that were all great by themselves, but so thoroughly and perfectly wasted with execution that was almost flawless with how poorly it was done. And I want to see what happens and where they go from here. I want to see how far they can push this. At worst, we get another gloriously, artistically-immaculate train wreck to dissect and enjoy. At best, well, maybe they can actually take an entire year of *_ENORMOUS_* amounts of criticism and use it to make it into something decent and worth watching. I know a second season of this show would be about as close to an actual miracle as anyone here would be capable of, but they did just make Velma a thing.

If potions mutate the body then there should be another class of fighters like warriors that intentionally mutate and transform themselves for combat they would also need to carry potions and be careful to not lose or break them during fights wich adds a disadvantage Also i think potions are like energy drinks Take too many and you'll have a not beating heart

I appreciate how you included the show's intent with "transition magic". Your potions idea is a LOT classier, tbh

To build on your idea that Flowering Thorn swallows magic... what if Rosemary's sword, when she arrives to school, is utterly unremarkable, visually, except for the stone in the pommel? And then, the mages start throwing energy at her, which she starts blocking with the sword, and as the energy stores build up, it gets more and more elaborate, until someone recognizes it AS the sword Lavender used to wield. In the Lobsterhero series of vids, there was a bit of a discussion around Anise and Aloe giving out teraspheres feeling like a kind of 'introduction to sex toys' vibe, and then I caught the clip in your video with the ridiculously overtall staff that popped out, and it's just like, "overestimated just how much she could handle there, you degenerates?"

Regarding using potions to turn into other people: one solution could be to limit transformation results to one thing. As in, one potion can only change one thing about your body. For example: If I turn into a dragon, I will always look the same as a dragon. Someone else's dragon might look different, but I will always turn into the same dragon. If I take a potion that turns me into a woman, the result would also look the same every time I take it (Just like Olive always turns into the same cat). So turning into a different person is not something that can (normally) be done with just one potion. I'd have to take multiple ones (changing hair color, changing height, changing facial features), but taking multiple potions increases the risk of something going wrong. Could turn mandrake turn into an actually terrifying villain if utilized correctly because his version of transformation is something thought to be impossible.

I think it would make sense for everybody to use terra spheres if old magic made you tired since you're using your own ENERGY, but terra spheres using world ENERGY wouldn't make you tired just by using it giving you advantage in battle. Or something like using old magic you have to shape ENERGY (chanting and hand waving) but terra spheres do it for you

honestly. as soon as you set a hard limit to how much "energy" a terrasphere can hold at a time. then you've effectively given warriors a reason to exist. because if you run out during a fight... then if you don't know old magic or can't swing a sword properly then you're just done as the old saying goes "an unprepared wizard is a dead wizard"

I don't know what's more insane. The fact that LobsterHero made a 12-hr video or that Guardian HQ already watched the whole thing 💀

Potion making should also require you to infuse at least some energy into it, maybe you need the healing water to make a dragon potion.

What I'm getting is that High Guardian Spice has MacGuffin magic. Magic just does whatever the writers need it to do, despite previously established limitations, or lack there of.

Your infinite napkin-dispenser plan has a bit of a flaw: If there's no limit on the number of napkins it can dispense or for how long the dispenser works, eventually you'll find yourself with a stockpile of magic infinite napkin-dispensers and no one to sell them to. Unless each generation of these things offers more options such as being able to dispense warm moist napkins on request.

One solution to the problem of warriors existing is to make the distinction between them and magic users disappear except for a few specialists. Because when your terao sphere runs out you have a viable option for backup. Also it could make rosemary more interesting as she doesn't get magic but she specializes in potions and non-magical combat.

I felt it would be cool if old magic was something that required complex hand signs and or speech. The pinnical of that being runes. It'll give old magic this problem of being harder to master and longer to cast but maybe you can change the phrasing of a spell to change how a spell behaves. Like curving lightning or changing a fireball to ice. It can make old magic weaker but way more versatile. Which can explain why people don't use it anymore, being it's hard to master and you need to be inventive with it.

Interesting. When I thought about this a few months ago, I figured “Old Magic” could just be casting magic using a wand or a staff as a medium, with “New Magic” using a grimoire or book, and both actually having a point. Using old magic means that you can only inscribe so many magical runes on your staff, it’s not very conspicuous, and it takes more effort to shape a spell; the upside is that sticks and staves are easily replaceable in a pinch, and can be used in limited melee combat, both of which would appeal to a country girl like Sage. A grimoire can hold hundreds of runes on a page, and is more easily concealed and conspicuous; the downside is that they’re more susceptible to damage from fire and water, can’t be replaced in a pinch, and is very expensive, which is why someone rich like Amarylis would probably have a whole bookcase of spares.

This was actually a cool presentation on how to regulate the magic system in High Guardian Spice. It has a lot of perks, but also dangers, forcing characters to be very strategic in how they use their powers in a battle (or in everyday life).

The key thing that good magic systems need is an aspect of sacrifice - giving up something in exchange for power. In the Norse arc of God War are enemies like revenants who dabbled in seithr magic, which gave them power at the cost of their minds and humanity; in Dragon Age mages have access to incredible powers, and even more through blood magic which has been shown to be extremely addictive, but are in constant danger from demons who try to possess them, which usually turns them into disgusting amalgams of meat; in Harry Potter spells are extremely precise and tricky and need study to cast even the simplest ones, while more powerful spells like the Killing Curse can harm the caster's soul which has a huge impact on their mind and body. Countless games that use mana or magic points or magicka. High Guardians shows no sacrifice for power. Not their minds, not their souls, barely even time and study, and only vaguely is there an effect on the world around them, but it's something that could also very easily be a stock standard corruption sourced elsewhere.

im super happy that your version of magic actually has actual limitations. this version of magic is pretty neat.

I got a suggestion for what you could call energy: "Essence" ala the Dark Crystal. And maybe if there are vampires in your revision, they'd get more energy for their magic (whether it be old or new magic) by feeding on the blood of another thing and using the energy within that blood to fuel their magic and thus would be blood magic.

I like the idea that terraspheres have a display which tells you how many spells of one type you can cast with the available energy within the device, would make sense since it's a technology analogy (is like a calculator vs abacus situation but applied to old and new magic).

Ok but one party member imploring their archer to shoot them with a shapeshifting potion in the heat of battle so they'll transform into a badass creature for 2 minutes and then maybe die, would actually be extremely badass.

As long as you don't interfere with my paper towel creator business, I guess you can make the napkin creator

I was thinking the reason why warriors still exist in this world is because a majority of people and creatures just don't have the ability to channel or harness magic. Meaning the inverse can happen where there are people born with crazy amounts of magic potential (think of Nen Geniuses from Hunter X Hunter.) This might also explain the existence of potions. Anyone can chug a potion that gives you innate night vision or douse a blade or arrow with a potion that drains the stamina away from you. The teachers at HGA teach this to pupils so that in the events that they are deployed to areas where magic cannot be cast (either by the laws of the country or because they can't cast it due to the area not being sufficient for magic) they can create potions that grant themselves buffs or cast debuffs like normal magic can regarded that they have the ingredients to make them. Overall, this was heaps better than the actual show did and I admire your dedication to the show years after its release.

if potions are made by using the weird energy that mixing together the energy from living things so something weird happens doesn't that mean that theoretically if you purify it back again into pure energy and then concentrate it you could in theory replicate healing water? That being said chances are that if you go that way you are likely to have to wipe entire fields of living things to get enough of it in the long run. If nothing else the idea of someone or a group of people causing mass death to chase the goal of artificial healing water like some sort of vampires with extra steps sounds kinda fun.

I actually love the idea of this which is way better then just “anyone” just use it.

For the food creation, I think it could be insteresting that, instead of tasting bad per se, it, instead, it has no taste nor nutritionnal value. It is litteraly just magic in a different form. It could allow to make magic-food still an interesting concept as a way to "recharge" an old-magic user. It doesn't give them more energy physically speaking (so they would stay tired and any damage done to the body would stay) but it would give them some "magic stamina" to make a bigger spell for example. It could also be used for magic class where Sage uses a spell and just after, she is given some of it. Which would make it stand-out compared to new-magic user who don't need to take a "eating break" every spell. To avoid abuse of the system, it could also be kind of bad for the body (like yeah, it works, but too much magic in the body is really really bad, even if it is just for a few seconds) and would allow for a pretty badass scene where an old-magic user could decide to make a kinda-sacrifice by eating more of it that they should to be able to make a very big spell putting them out-of-commission (or worse) for a while. Oh, also, for non-magic user, it would litterally be useless (or even a danger, since they wouldn't be able to process it) which I think could make a funny scene of Rosemary wanting to eat some because Sage is eating some and she is hungry

I really appreciate this video, Ive been inspired by Dungeons and Dragons and its fantasy world building so ive spent a long time doing a personal creativity project. Ive been stuck for a while on how i should structure a magic system and this has given me some useful ideas to go off of.

The whole idea of using magic too much, you could die sounds like one of the stories I made where using magic costs you using some of your soul, and using too much makes you a husk without a soul Edit: In the story, spells and curses are living creatures, so to use them, you need to make them like you, or they will not allow you to use them

I'm making a High Guardian reboot/rewrite and I am surprised at how many things I thought of were said in this video and how much inspiration it gives me. Thank you for all the videos and motivation this channel has given me

I like your system, specially the potion one, however with the whole polution crisis I'd like to manage terrosphere's as a natural mineral that it's so clear and with such high purity it's basically an sponge that has been absorbed the planet's energy for centuries. So wasting the energy away like it's nothing is basically wasting the planet's life away since their been extracted from the deeps of the planet itself. Just like jewels, the less impurities it has the strongest it is but also rarest to find and work into shape. This way just like an RPG system, the stronger the rock is, the more expensive, rare, exclusive and hardly available it'll be also allowing the big terrosphere's mafia to grow, owning such powerful items and making a market out of the scraps that are not as pure, selling the low level orbs to a general public which also allows for limitation on the spells both on type and intensity for whoever owns one of these. As for old magic I'd also like some elemental vive on them to also limit it. Water spells being mostly healers, fire offensive, earth defensive and air for mobility. The whole "they use their own energy and might die" reminds me to a conjurer story on Final Fantasy when a girl is slowly dying for this but everyone else takes this power from nature to prevent it. So an old magic might take energy from nature and use the users body as a catalysis to concentrate the energy, make it elemental with the help of the runes and cast the specific spell which requires years of practice, rituals to learn to absorbe energy and also the "retribution" to nature like planting a tree for taking that energy.

Dave, you GOTTA write your own stories! You have way too many good ideas to limit yourself to revising another show. I wanna see what full-force Guardian HQ looks like.

If I were to make a change to the Magic System it would be who can use Magic. I would have it so that absolutely anyone could use Magic if taught. But like learning a craft or say a martial art it would take years to even get barley good. Of course you'd have people who were just better at it than others, but they would still need to practice. Then you'd have people who were born capable of using Magic, in this version they would be the children of people who already have a firm grasp of their Magical abilities. It wouldn't be too often that this would happen, every now and again you'd get a case of "Joe and Amanda where both master Wizards, but their son Joe Jr couldn't use it from Birth" Joe Jr could still learn Magic, he just wouldn't be born with it. Kinda like Nen from Hunter X Hunter. Everyone has it, they just don't know how to use it.

What if the first potion was created by accident, by a simple chef experimenting with some new ingredients for their stew?

I thought that was an intriguing magic system that you came up with! The part that I specifically liked was how the potions are changed. I always enjoy your creative ideas on how to fix these characters and even the world that they live in.

I really like the idea that old magic is doing it yourself, taking the time to draw out the circle and adjust it based on local conditions to make large impacts, while new magic is effectively automated to a point, making smaller circles that are robust enough to not care about local conditions but sacrificing power for it, giving you a wand that let's you cast very quickly very consistently but not being able to handle spells that shape the entire battlefield. So, you'd have a member of the group that specializes in old magic to help fix and debug your cast assistants and to do the really big spells that could potentially win a fight on their own, if you're able to actually cast it. This would also give a great reason to just give everyone magic, have embedded casters built into equipment that only cast a handful of spells in very specific ways with no flexibility, so warriors can just cast them amidst the flow of their attacks and such. Then you can also have some really big machines within cities that can do some powerful wide reaching spells for city defenses and public utilities, but aren't easily moved, with the military having effectively siege weapons akin to tanks

The napkin dispenser scheme is brilliant, actually. I've always wondered how societies would evolve if magic was available; would society stagnate, or would it catch up to or even surpass what we can do today? Would they ever go to the stars?

Funnily enough, conjuring magic is also a thing in the universe I’ve written but I borrowed a bit from Friendship is Magic where Starlight tells Trixie to try and envision what you’re creating. It’s a more uncommon magic type where not everyone can do it to the point that no one cooks/the economy crashes. I never considered someone being able to self-sustain if they just made food over and over so I’m gonna borrow your bit where eating your own conjured food does not make you less hungry and it’s more like eating air. Thanks for helping me consider that!

I do like the magic system you came up with a lot. It makes sense and even has that eco theme they were trying to bring up. And because it's an actual _system_ and not some whimsical fluffy crap, there is so many ideas that could be drawn from it.

Suggestion for a spell: A spell that gives the show a higher budget That way Season 2 can have a budget on a whole 6 Chucky Cheese tokens + a side of used napkin for that napkin dispenser business

0:08 DEAR GOD! Eleven hours? How long did THAT take to render? How long did it take to record and edit? I honestly have to commend the effort they put into that...

Thanks for the shoutout XD That was real proper! Don’t worry though, we all know who the top chairman of this secret cabal is… Also, the napkin monopoly is no joke. Now just combine that with hand moisturizer monopoly and you will own the lives of half the population! Or at least their “energy” … Also, also, ENERGY!

I'll give HGS this much, they managed to come up with the old and new magic concept independent of The Owl House, which is an idea not frequently used in fantasy shows that I can recall. Or at least if they do, there isn't a conflict or controversy between them like this. It has potential for mystery or allowing a character to become more powerful with old magic, especially if new magic tera-spheres fail their users.

Monopolize the napkin industry

Dave posted. My happiness incresses 10 fold

Yeesh, now I actually want all these revamp/ fixes to be given a budget to become a real anime. It'd be cool to see what this could've been

Would there be a line where the healing water won't kill you, but you feel mentally and sensory overloaded? Also kinda wanna see how new and old magic affects lore and culture in (however you spell Lyngarth)

I think warrior classes are pretty much default an option: Almost all magic needs some somatic components and some sort of focus or concentration. So make the casters more like artillery: Heavy impacts, but can't really defend themselves. So you need some armored fighters to screen your casters. You need some lightly armored skirmishers for scouting and because if the other party has some light infantry and they outmaneuver your heavy infantry, you're screwed. How do you counter lightly armored skirmishers? Well you get some archers, now you have all the martial classes covered and they have a defined and important role. And it could lead to some interesting tactics, like a tortoise formation with casters in the second line to act like devastating flamethrowers once they clash into an enemy's formation.

So basically the Nasuverse Magecraft system, but without Mystery as a concept. It could work. Definitely better than the actual show's at least.

How to make a good magic system: ESTABLISH RULES! Bad writers use magic as a "get out of prison" free card, using it to do what the plot requires when it requires. You want to showcase how useful magic can be in your daily lives? Open up a portal so you don't have to use the stairs, then never use a portal again in the entire narrative! There's no tension in your plot? Make someone's magic go haywire for no reason, never mind that said character's magic never misbehaves again prior to it or after. Oh yeah, and don't forget to make your characters comment about the dangers of misusing magic when the plot wants it to be treated like a serious thing, but then have the exact same characters playing around with bending reality for a gag when it's supposed to be funny. Magic cannot be treated as an omnipotent power that can do whatever the writers want it to. Magic needs to have its rules set and none be broken for the story to make sense! And I'm not talking only about High Guardian Spice - old cartoons from the 70's and 80's also were guilty of this (if Orco can teleport at will, what doe sit matter if Sekeletor puts him in a prison to use him as hostage? But since the plot demands it, Orco will be helpless for the entire episode). Heard Fanboy and ChumChum have a mage character that just does whatever the plot demands him to whenever it's convenient for the plot. This is all bad writing. If you are going to integrate magic as a main element in your story, it should be thought of as a science, and not as a plot device!

This… is actually better than the original. I can’t believe you were able to fix the magic system so easily.

I find it interesting that the writers clearly supported New Magic, claiming its better and easier than Old Magic in every way, as to support a progressive viewpoint. But at the same time heavily hinted that New Magic was causing harm yet never brought it up

The new magic system you thought of reminds me of ha- I'm kidding, it reminds me of coal being replaced by nuclear energy. Let me explain; we went from old methods of generating power to coal, then from coal (which we still use) to having nuclear energy or like how we went from horses to cars, etc, etc. That the old/ different method being replaced by the newer more risky method for it's time and cost.

What if you could recharge a terasphere with your own energy? I can picture the girls finding out how teraspheres harm the earth and Sage decides not to recharge hers because of this. Danger comes in, her friends are fighting, but they need help faster than Sage can offer on her own. Suddenly, her terasphere is working, but she never charged it from the earth (still thinking on the action one must take to charge it, just thought it would be interesting if it was discovered by accident). Thoughts?

Dave I would like to help you monopolize the napkin industry

I like the idea of potion overuse essentially turning the user into Clayface, actually thinking about it in that context really would make Mandrake a lot more threatening. Like if during his battle with the Main Characters he was chugging more and more potions until he started resembling some Eldridge Goo-Beast made of human skin.

i love the ideas you presented, which got me thinking... I'm writing my own fantasy novel and I would love your permission to use this magic system for it

A little add-on for the creating things out of magic, old and new: Maybe when making food by using old magic, not only are you using your own energy to create the food, but you're using your own skill. So if you know how to make that food on your own, when you make it using old magic, it would taste better than when you use new magic, because in a sense, you are still making it on your own. So when you use new magic, you're not using your own skill, so in that case, the food tastes worse :]

What if the Werewolf curse was someone trying to make a dinner out of "Moonpool" water and wolf pelts on a full moon, and the reason why it transfers over on bites is that the original potion is the werewolf's saliva, with varying effects during the phases of the moon at night. Having a werewolf be the first monster they have to capture but accidentally kill. Capture because they're a human under the effect of a curse, but accidentally kill so that the girls learn the negative consequences of their job quickly with a bonus helping of trauma. I think that'd be a fun episode to something. We can also clarify that "Moonpool" water is water that's extremely specific healing water in a Valley far away with a specific resonance to the full moon fully activating only then, any other time it's water, and that's why the werewolf curse is so strong it's rather permanent

The rune idea is actually great. About old magic draining your body: I had an idea I've expressed in different comment that the reason why the bad guys want so badly to hide the impact of terrasphere is actually because previous to terraspheres the Witch City, place with magic consumption through the roof, relied entirely on old magic and the Triumvirate tried to meet the demand by basically draining life out of first the sooner and sooner dying magicians, and later prisoners, orphans and homeless who happened to have just a bit of magic in them. So the terraspheres as the source of magic powering the Witch City were actually invented as lesser evil, but nobody knows that because of course the knowledge about human sacrifices is kept in secret. Instead in Witch City there was a huge campaign sponsored by Triumvirate promoting terraspheres and shaming for using old magic, without giving a clear reason. And this attitude was spread across the world. Now in other cities the magic demand is smaller, so there was no human life - fueled secret operation, but the influence of Witch City made terraspheres popular every where. This also brings a lot of plot points together, I think. Explains the all-positive attitude toward terraspheres, how Amarylis talks about old and new magic, makes Triumvirate something more than just money hungry Corporation who don't hesitate to kill for... Just the cash? And maybe even explains why the Triade seems to be oblivious. Cause they are also unsure what is worse.

I suppose one way to buff warriors in this system is to have them passively absorb energy from the surroundings and use those to enhance their base movements and attacks (EDIT: also grapples and durability) However, movements and attacks consume energy proportional to effort: faster and more powerful movements consume more energy, and everyone consumes some of this passive energy the more they consciously try to control their movements. Instinctive/reflexive movements consume less (EDIT: this is also consumed with the movements done for spellcasting, the spellcasting moves by nature have to be consciously controlled or else something/the user can get blasted unintentionally) What they actually teach warriors is how to moderate energy usage, with some being able to absorb more than they use. This includes: • getting physically ripped so they don't need to spend as much energy to do the same damage • turning each move into muscle memory • experimenting with more "meta" moves so as to balance speed with range, damage, and energy conservation • how to play mind games with feints, counters, quickmoves, and environmental exploits • formational tactics Blacksmiths can still be needed to create quality arms that could withstand energy-enhanced combat, channel energy, redirect energy, or detect energy, etc. Eventually, maybe this can evolve into something like the 8 Inner Gates or similar taijutsu. Some masters can make afterimages with each dash or punch the air so hard the friction creates fireballs, or maybe we can rip off Black Flash from JJK and that good warriors can inject a ton of this energy into one strike for crits, and some absolute madlad can tank whole buildings being thrown at them by buffing their durability with energy Some experimental details: 1) each character has a different consumption rate, which gets lower and lower the more trained or specialized a character is 2) specializations: fighters can be all-rounders, rogues can specialize in fast motions and mindgames, berserkers can specialize in harder multihits, knights can specialize in attack interception and damage absorption, wrestlers can specialize in grapples Hell, they can even have a character specialize in energy conservation, another in full attack power, another in speed, another in durability, and another in tactics

I think instead of burying them to get energy you should just have the terrospheres slowly absorb the energy earth gives off regardless until full which offsets the natural energy level that would normally go back into the earth when something dies, defficates or uses magic through its own body. I think it would also be a cool idea to do it this was bc you can make it a plot point of what happens when a terrosphere breaks but keeps absorbing energy so it burns through energy without ever filling up turning the entire area into a rot infested area. Finally I think mages should be able to quickly refill their terrosphere with their own body but it causes a rot like illness to slowly build up in them if they aren't careful but bc people don't know about the rot when it kills them everyone else just assumes they used up to much of their own energy but bc the main cast knows what the rot looks like they can recognize it and save people

17:25 that's been done in The Owl House and ngl I love it, also sometimes I like to compare The Owl House against HGS because it feels like with not just magic but a lot of other aspects of the shows overlap, like The coven heads vs Guardians, the schools, ofc the magic system and other stuff I can't think of rn

the planet being a living thing with magic blood is the plot of FF7 and Dragon Age

Yes the Earth is Alive and Magic is it's blood concept was the core of the magic system in Final Fantasy 7. The planet's energy, Mako, would leek out certina places and form crystals called Materia, Materia could be used to cast spells or enhance abilities. People could also be infused with Mako to become super soldiers. The Main plot was Evil Company wants to exploit the Earth's energy by artificly creating lots of materia and devices that run on Mako. Evil Mad scientist discoers an alien splices it's DNA into a fetus, infuses child with Mako to make a super solider. Super Solider discovers his origin and decides he needs to destroy the planet. Good guys stop him.

I've been having trouble fleshing out the magic system for my own fiction, and this video helped kick my brain into gear. Didn't expect to find inspiration in a video on HGS, but I'll take it. Thanks!

"Tip an arrow so someone mutates and dies." Finally a lethal arrow, so now we can kill things with arrows.

Wow, with just some more thought you have created the bases of an interesting magic system.👍🏿

I would make that warriors have a natural resistance to magic. So they would still be useful in an army.

The fact that you in 20 minutes made an easier to understand magic system that makes sense when the entire writing crew of the show couldn't in the years they had to write it really shows just how bad the writing is

This is tangential to the magic of the setting, but it really bothered me that whats-her-face's mother's warning against new magic is dismissed when it is revealed that she used new magic in the past. In fact, if anything it's a sign her warning should be taken seriously because she actually knows what she's talking about, rather than coming from a place of ignorant traditionalism. It's like a former drug addict telling their kids not to do drugs; they're not hypocritical, they're well-informed.

Are you a hater tho? You and HGS seem to developed a symbiotic relationship where it gives you material to sustain your channel and in exchange it stays fresh and alive in our memories thanks to your videos. What a toxic miracle of nature.

Hey, here is an idea new magic is harder to control because it converts the mana (energy) of the planet to a form that is more unstable. It's still magic, but of a much higher "wavelengths" or something. Everyone has a natural wavelength that is specific to them. This Terra sphere wavelength however is "universal donor mana" and it makes is easy to use and plentiful. However it also make it so the energy, once used, doesn't return to the planet for a LONG while. Many thousand years in some terra spheres cases. The bigger the sphere the higher the energy attunment. Old magic on the other hand reattunes the users mana to be in line with the goal of spell, runes are geometric patterns that convert one type of "mana" to another to make it suitable. Unlike new magic which brute forces it. Sage is actually special in her ability to combine new and old magic, because to convert magic from one form to another, your natural mana wavelength has to be similar to the starting type of mana. Sages wavelenght is on para in intensity with a terra sphere, which is why she takes so well to magic in general as well as how she can combine the two. Her professor (whose name I forget RN, the trans one) also has that kind of natural wavelength. Rose marys sword is also a Terasphere after a fashion, it's designed to reattune all incoming magic (even ambient magic which is the magic that bathes the planets outer layers as it is reattuend and radiated from the planet) to the same wavelength as the planets, Her mothers natural wavelength was similar to the planets (something something aeith something something Cetra let me have this), and she has inherited it. However, planet magic is strange and unwieldy, governed by emotion and conviction. So while she CAN tap into the planets magic naturally it's only in times of bravery and love when she stands firm with her friends and family. It's why the sword is easy to use for her, the planets magic is making her physically stronger. However this boost leaves her with messy habits in her stance, when the sword breaks, this boost is nullifed, and rose marry has to relearn how to fight without that power to back her. Until is gets fixed anyway. Also if we are looking for a reason why melee fighters are still involved with magic about. How about a lot of wild animals and monsters are resistant or outright immune to magic. Maybe by emitting fields of "wavelength disruption magic" which is magic that is just agitated to a wave length that is all over the place rendering casting more of a pain then it's worth as the waves even disrupt terrasphere and old magic waves causing them to be unstable. Terra spheres give off a warning light when this happens cause if you use them with that going on they just "KABOOM". And old magic users who have sensitivity to mana from all the careful attument of mana they do get "mana sick" which is like sea/motion sickness kicked up to 11. The only exception to this is roses sword which gobbles it up and makes it planet magic and rose her self who is immune to mana sickness cause you can't agitate planet mana like that but you also can't really attune it so..., this can be a bad thing however, as too long exposed to that level of incoming planted mana can make her rage out and go berserk, one of the hidden draw back to planet magic. Also on enchantment. Smiths and mages should have to work together to make them. Maybe because you can't just slap an enchantment on any old item. It has to be custom made to receive the enchantment. Attempting to enchant a normal item makes it burn up after prolonged use. maybe even combust immediately if it's strong enchantment. It has to be made with reagents and configured in a way to be resistant to the wavelength of magic running through it. They recharge over time, a LONG time, they are emblazoned with runes to convert ambient mana to the kind they need and can be hand fed to charge faster. but not by new magic because Terra sphere waves are super hard to convert for anyone not on a similar wavelength. Oh, and if you wanna go REALLY dark, make use of the shows mature rateing. it could be... IT'S PEOPLE, TERRA SPHERES ARE PEOPLE. or uh, they used to be, people like rosemarry and her mother, who have their bodies and souls harvested when they come of age to make them. After all, you need the wavelength of a mana type to convert it! MUAHAHAHA.

A villain who uses only enchanted weapons sounds so cool imo

It would actually make an interesting point to make that you can't use new magic near Rot. Think about it - we have a "dark Forrest"- type locations where you can't use new magic to get energy from environment, because there is no energy! And with more new magic users throughout the series, rot will grow more and more, making a recently powerful mages nearly useless

I have a quick and easy solution as to why warriors exist. They are a relic of a bygone era. Old magic takes time and concentration to do, and so you would need a front line fighter to buy time... But with new magic that's no longer the case, so why do they still exist? Nostalgia of a bygone era.

On the subject of your system of magic, I would like to suggest two things I think would make magic more balanced and one thing that would make magic more interesting from a worldbuilding perspective. 1. Anything created with magic with inevitably disappear eventually. Meaning anything created purely with magic will eventually fade into nothingness depending on how much magic is used to create it essentially. This makes things like magically create food pretty much worthless, as that food will literally disappear from your stomach after maybe an hour or two. This means anything that's created purely out of magic will have to be pretty disposable. AKA the infinite napkin dispenser you mentioned. This also applies to potions, since the magical effects of potions will eventually wear off. 2. Unless those potion is really potent, I don't think simply coating an arrowhead or sword blade with a thin layer of potion that can easily drip off while it's the arrow flies through the air or the sword is being swung around would be pretty effective. It would make more sense, for me at least, for the arrowhead to be made out of a solidified version of the potion, or maybe you need specialized knives, arrows or darts to inject people with the potion. Last for the world building I think potion making should be a sort of precursor to old and new magic. However with potion making, the process of making a potion is very difficult and expensive to produce a singular, and temporary effect. Eventually old magic came around as a way to solves that issue somewhat. People can now do most things potions can in only a fraction of a fraction's worth of time and effort, with the only cost being your limited stamina and the fact that you can only affect things externally. And eventually as magical theory advanced, new magic is developed as a way to bypass old magic's stamina limitation, but still retains old magic's limitation of only being able to affect things on an external level. Potions remain relevant as a class and a craft since potions are the only way you can change someone on a physical and biological level, but that's the only real reason anyone uses potions anymore since new and old magic replaced most things people used to use potions for.

HQ: "I think it works for this story." Me: "Yeah, no one would want to use old magic unless their suicidal while new magic will have rumors of people suddenly exploding upon receiving terraspheres."

Damn this is an exciting fix. Really got my brain going with what one might be able to do within the confines of this new system.

The flaw with the infinite napkin machine is that as soon as you sell one you're out of business, because now you already have infinite napkins

The system was so interesting i kinda forgot that this was a Guardian Spice video halfway through

The teleportation spells can be used, it just has to be made that it takes all the energy out of the caster which would make them have an immediate way to regain that energy, like sleeping for a day, bringing a massive downside for a very powerful spell.

I was working on an HGS rewrite that turned into a fantasy novel. Thanks for coming up with a way better magic system than I worked out. I'll be sure to tweak a few things so it's not copyright infringement :3 (I actually need to for my themes)

I’d suggest one change: instead of having people bury their spheres to recharge them, have them send the things back to the manufacturer to recharge them. That way it’s less obvious they’re causing the rot. I’d even suggest a plot point where the guardians find out about the spheres causing the rot by having someone steal a bunch of spheres to resell them, but they’re being pursued by guardians so they try burying the spheres with the intention of coming back later to get them except it kills the forest they were in or something.

This magic system actually bears some similarities to magic in Dark Sun setting for AD&D. There an extensive usage of it turned world into Mad Max-like kind of wasteland and people who practice magic are viewed by societies as ungodly embodiment of evil whom must be instantaneously eradicated. With an exception of witch-kings of huge cities each one of which has their own personal source of life energy and who are treated like literal gods of that world.

I think a cool drawback to potions would be that if a potion is made improperly or someone uses too much of the same potion in a short period of time, there's a chance that their body could be altered permanently. For example, if you keep using a potion that let's you grow gills, but it wasn't made right, there's a possibility that these gills might replace your lungs, or maybe there's a villain whose able to turn into a bunch of different animals and by the end of the episode, they've used too much of these potions and become a chimera-like beast that's unable to change back or use their own magic, kind of like Kevin 11 in the original Ben 10 series.

One extra detail that could be added regarding The Terraspheres is that the amount of time they need buried in the ground in order to be reloaded differ according to their sizes. ("Edit") Another detail that could also be added to this is that you can bury The Terraspheres to be reloaded even if they are not fully drained and that you could dig them up to be used even if they are not fully loaded, but that most people only bury them when they are fully drained and only dig them up when they are fully loaded.

A nice, well-thought out plan for napkin dispenser- I mean magic system. Though one thing that I surprised you didn't touch on is that different people would probably have different levels of potential to use magic. No matter how good you get at old magic, some people will just be able to outclass you. While terrasphere still require training (unlike, say, a gun), it bypasses the issue entirely - anyone can be as strong as they want so long as they get a decently sized terrasphere. It means that by having a properly thought out magic system in place - especially this one - a show can explore not just 'technology is bad because it hurts the environment', but also 'technology exists for a reason, and that's because it lets us lift people up from their prior circumstances and improve their quality of life'. That's a much more nuanced theme to explore for a show that tried to sell itself on being 'for mature audiences'.

You Fiend! No one should have the power to monopolise all the napkins!

"We can call this energy whatever we want" *Whispering* . . . Wakfu. . .

As someone who doesn't know anything about the show, I have a couple recommendations for the system: 1) Make terrasphere use an issue of compatibility and capacity. A terrasphere is constantly warring with the internal energy of the user. If they're about equal there's no issue, but overloading is more likely to happen when the terrasphere has much more energy than the user. Skilled new magic users are able to work with a lot of different kinds of terraspheres with minimal physical exhaustion to the self, keeping their internal energy high to reduce overload risks. This gives you leeway to carry other terraspheres that you can switch around as you tire out, and multiple sizes and capacities have their value. On top of this, dumbfire spells make sense since they minimize the burden on the user. Runic new magic is the most powerful, but the intense mental burden makes the inventory management of terraspheres similarly difficult. 2) Potions should have limitations in application, just like actual poisons. Which ones need to be drunk, which ones work on contact or in the blood, etc. Strength vs Duration vs Ease of Application is much more balanced. 3) Enchantments sound kinda bland. Maybe it should just be Potions but harder since you need the materials to do the magical effect multiple times instead of just once. You need artisan crafting to layer the same effect multiple times to spread the burden, forging and dyeing lets you transfer effects from fragile plants to sturdy metal, etc. The super secret enchantment Rituals are just Runes modifying the magical components without actually activating the magic until its needed, which is waaaaay harder than modifying energy, things like that.

Okay. So your "eco-friendly" solution to Terrasphere is basically one that, instead of draining the planet, passively regenerates by skimming off the top of the user's energy while they're not using magic, essentially capping out at the user's own natural magical limit. This is essentially an endgame solution when wrapping up your theoretical changes for the end of the series, but yeah. Seems like a good way to retain the ease of New Magic, while also removing some of the most dangerous aspects of Old Magic.

I commented this on the last magic video, but the portal spells would be a lot easier to fix than you might think. I brought up the possibility of the Infinite Hallway having to be what the characters travel through when they want to teleport somewhere; this would allow them to keep scenes like Snapdragon and Cal's argument, and give us a cool limitation, being that you'd still have spend time _finding_ where you want to go. It would also save the animation department _soooooo_ much work, since the characters would be floating everywhere most of the time. If we want to get REALLY creative, I thought of a few other things: perhaps the Academy is built *inside of* the Infinite Hallway, and maybe other cities as well. This would really give off the feeling of a mystically focused school, as well just being a cool set piece. Maybe it's difficult to find as well, even if a magic user like Sage knows teleportation. (side note- it's more of an Earth-focused spell, so we don't need to worry about someone snagging your heart.) This is where Aloe and Anise come in; the Academy only trusts a few select people with their location in the Hallway, so they have to bring the dynamic duo there, or they'd just get lost. This could also give the Triumvirate more reason to have Olive follow them. So they can find the location of the Academy! I also thought of a gag in my head where Rose almost floods the place when opening a portal to the Mermaid place (I forget the name), since, y'know, it's filled with water. So they prefer to take boats- which could let them keep Snapdragon and Cal's fight one for one! Maybe when Mandrake sets fire to the Academy, they call back to this scene, and have Rose put the fires out with the water city portal. Makes me wonder what else the writers could have easily caught onto. edit: typo

I imagine that Magic Overload generally has... _explosive_ results.

Perhaps a side effect of using too many potions would be that you turn into a weird monster. Or perhaps you could steal from the Witcher and have all potions be poison and the amount you can use depends on your metabolism. Or even tie it back to "energy" and have the effect take the energy of the person using it. Food for thought.

Casting from stamina, so fighters still have a reason to exist. Magic drains your stamina directly, drinking from the firehose so to speak. Most casters being squishy is due to them not training their bodies correctly for combat. An example might be how a body builder would lose to a swimmer because the swimmer has trained at swimming despite having a higher stamina total. This also explains why the pink haired boy is so dangerous. He's trained in both. Potions, I could see having also a stamina restoring effect on some, basically condensed energy gained from food which digests at the speed of a potion. Theoretically sugar water with a digestion amplifier.

Ok so here's how warriors could potentially work (if mages are still powerful, because if they have a lot of limitations a warrior could actually be "resource-less" like many people say that martial classes in D&D are, so warriors would be able to protect the caster so they can catch their breath and not sacrifice themselves to protect the crew): If you don't use magic your body stores the energy and it just stays there, however if you put a strain on your body, working out, for example, besides building muscle like us IRL do, your body also uses the unspent magical energy that you have accumulated to go further beyond in terms of physical attributes, also using energy to maintain that state, although less then what it needed to reach that state, so a warrior would evolve physically until a point where the body has 0 magical energy to spend and to maintain that body, so the warrior reaches it's peak, so where as a powerful mage might be a master of the arcane a powerful warrior would be able to keep up with that mage and maybe even win

I have so much energy now. Did I just watch a 20 minute ad for Powerthirst? Cause I am uncomfortably energetic.

Napkins: the perfect untapped market

Old magic: Comes from your personal energy. Requires less training at a base level, but operates on a far more limited resource. Incentivizes the use of runes, which are more efficient, but take more time. Can harm/kill you through overuse. New magic: Comes from the energy of a terrasphere, which harnesses power from the earth. Requires more training at a base level due to being external to your own body. Operates on a resource so abundant that it may as well be infinite for an individual. If the terrasphere runs out of energy, it must be buried underground to recharge, rendering the user defenseless without the aid of another system. Cannot harm/kill the user, but harms the environment with each recharge. Potions: Are made using ingredients of varying rarity and cost. Requires years of training to use even at a base level. Can cause mutations, alter aspects of one's physical body, or even have psychological effects. Basically can do anything so long as it's self contained to the user's body. Extremely likely to cause permanent harm or death to the user if even a single slip up occurs. Changes can be temporary or permanent based on the ingredients and preparation of the potion. Enchanted items: Come from either someone else's energy, or your own from a prior day. Requires years of training to use at a basic level. Operates on a resource that has already been spent prior to use. The resulting items can be used by absolutely anybody with no or minimal training. Is only as dangerous to the user as they choose to make it. So we have mid risk mid reward with old magic, low risk mid reward for new magic, high risk high reward for potions, and no risk low reward for enchantment. Now to find out how martial arts can squeeze in here. Martial arts: Comes from your physicality and personal energy. Literally everyone can use them at a base level, but more training directly corresponds to more success. Has no resource cost. Though, the use of personal energy allows users of advanced martial arts to buff themselves at the cost of rapid exhaustion. There is no physical, mental, or worldly risk to the use of martial arts. Even when using energy to enhance yourself, your body will naturally cut itself off at the point of exhaustion without tapping into your life force. Training the body and mind can increase both energy reserves and efficiency, allowing a skilled fighter to fight harder for longer. The absolute safest, most efficient system, but at the cost of taking years longer than the others to reach the same levels. So martial arts are often the system other users will fall back on. However, they can also be used as the primary system. This would require a complete investment though. Due to being the safest option, but also taking by far the most training, martial arts are most often seen used as a secondary/tertiary system by other users. With Rosemary's mom being a notable exception of somebody who went all in on martial arts and succeeded. For those using them as a primary, enchantment and potions are the most likely secondary systems, with old magic being a strong runner up. New magic and martial arts are never used together because they are complete opposites and do not compliment each other at all. One uses exclusively external energy for external effect, and the other uses solely personal energy for personal effect.