Virtuosity: Musical Magic | Seeking Feedback
I’m building a magic system for a space-fantasy world, and I’d love for someone to take a look at it and give me some feedback.
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Virtuosity is an Arcane Art originating from the world of Erda. It consists of manipulating the environment through music and sound waves—basically, musical magic.
Virtuosos—as the users of this magic are called—are born with an Affinity for mastering the technical aspects of music. They are trained from a young age to learn everything there is to know about the subject: music theory, instrumental mastery, poetry, oratory, meter, and eloquence. In addition to this, they are taught to be people of virtue—that is, to be upright, honorable, prudent, and kind (though not all of them live up to this ideal). Think of your trusty troubadour or bard traveling from town to town, but with far greater power and magical knowledge. And yes, they must also learn about myths and legends—or at least, they used to.
I haven't fully defined the Virtuosos' specific abilities yet, but they are linked to another concept within this world: the Bonding Force. This is essentially sympathetic magic—the kind that allows one to influence an object by establishing a sympathetic connection with another object (albeit with a few unique additions to the system). In this specific case, the Virtuoso influences and alters the state of an object through their Will, manifested as a musical note played on an instrument or sung with their voice (this latter act is known as Nominating).
Among the feats they can perform are casting glamours (creating illusions), and conjuring a Doppelgänger—a magical double of themselves—which they can control at Will.
Virtuosity is bestowed by the Tree God, a deity of Erda who manifests in the form of a colossal tree (think of the Erdtree from Elden Ring). This god granted these gifts to the survivors of a global cataclysm—the nature of which remains a mystery—serving as a vital tool for their survival. The Tree God maintains a close bond with its followers and actively seeks to guide them, even in the current era (180 years After Contact). Only those born on the planet possess an Affinity for magic. By "Affinity," I mean that while a person might attempt to learn the virtuosity, they would find it far more difficult—and might never fully master it. For a natural-born virtuoso, however, it comes much more intuitively.
Over the last few centuries, a portion of Erdanian technology has been developed based on the principles of virtuosity. I haven't fleshed this aspect out extensively yet, as I wanted to first define the magic systems (two of which still remain) before proceeding to develop the technology.
That covers the main points regarding virtuosity. I omitted a few minor details, as I didn't want to risk overwhelming you with too much lore. If you have any questions or would like to know anything else, feel free to leave them in the comments.