Written by: DreamSeeker10779

Magic has been recorded throughout many periods of time, in both folklore, myth and history. The words magic, mage & magician are derived from the Latin magus, which is from Old Persian magus, meaning magician. There are many urban legends about magic, as well as urban fantasy perceptions of these legends, mentioned in times like Old Persian, Ancient Greece & Rome, The Middle Ages and continuing on with different understandings and interpretations of magic in early modern Europe & modern Western Occultism.

Personally, I created my magic system through researching myths and legends around Nicholas Flamel, a name that is repeated and referred to a lot throughout history and even in today's science society. There was however no indication that the real Flamel of history was involved in alchemy, pharmacy or medicine, with the icon mainly being recognized as an author in history, not an alchemist.

Here is the method I used to create my system. 

1. Pick a legend, myth or background.

Some people might choose the Roman, Greek or Catholic gods as a starting point, with them bestowing magic to the people. Others chose urban mystic creatures like unicorns or dragons as the bestowers of magic. Some just had it naturally appear, others used science. Whatever it is you are wanting to pick, this is the starting point, the base idea.

In this case, I picked Nicholas Flamel. 

2. Research the background, history or myths around your base idea.

Alchemy was a big research point for me, as it is a bit of an urban legend, as it is shrouded in mystery and secrecy, with specialists of Alchemy exclaiming their abilities to turn lead into gold, something that has intrigued many people throughout time. With minimal records available on the subject, Flamel is a legend of the 17th century, with texts ascribing to Flamel nearly 200 years after his death.

Now looking into his history and recorded legends, I took bits and pieces of his recorded or suspected history & published books to put together my magic system. Some of the works I looked into or tried to find more information on was;

- Le Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques (The Book of hieroglyphic figures)

- Le sommaire philosophique (The Philosophical summary

- LeBréviaire de Flamel (Flamel's breviary)

3. Now let us start getting into the detailing section of the magic system. Here are some questions to think about and answer when creating the system;

a) What is your system called?
Are you going to name it magic? Or use a name?

b) Who has magic or who was involved?
Who has the gift of magic? Does everyone have it or selected few? Was a god involved or was it evolution? Did someone do something to make magic appear?

c) What exactly happened?
What happened for there to be magic in the world?

d) When did it start?

When did magic appear? If so, where did it appear first?

Or was it always there? If so, how was it always there?

Why did it happen? How did it happen?

e) How does magic work?

Is chanting required? Or words used in order to use magic? If so, what language are you using as the 'magic' language? If not, how does magic work then? Using the mind to manipulate things? Or maybe you have to use imagination for it to work?

Here is an example of a basic magic system I put together based on Nicholas Flamel and his History.

In my case, it was an accident set off by Nicholas Flamel, causing the philosopher stone to explode, covering Paris in a 'cloud of coloured smoke'. This smoke led to the alteration of the DNA of the individuals in the city, with the limitation of the use of the brain being increased and allowing people to manipulate things around them and within them. Decades later, magic had spread through selective noble, royal & commoner lines worldwide.

Schools & Armies around the world flocked to get their hands on the 'Magus' as they were called, the new weapons of the 18th century and one no one wanted to miss out on.

Treaties & rules were put into place & enforced and a council was introduced that had branches in every country to enforce the laws established.

Nicholas Flamel & his wife, Pernelle, sat as the High Chancellors of the council, but were rarely seen, even hundreds of years later, they were still recorded as heroes, appearing only when needed, never a moment sooner.

In honour of them, the language of magic was named for its creations, Flamellegan being its name. Flamellegan was a way to take the power these 'Magus' had and use words to dictate what to do with that power, magic being used in a similar way to how the Flamel's had turned lead into gold, through Alchemy they were able discover how exactly Magic could be used. Well at first that is. Over time, people with exceptional imagination and control didn't need the language, only using their sharpened minds to create magic.

This is how I designed my magic systems based on urban legends, myths or urban fantasy. I hope this will be helpful to you all as you discover and create your own unique magic systems.
Good Luck with your creations!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Flamel