How to Create a Power System

Hi folks, it’s your usual amateur author, Ameron, again! So, this time our discussion would be about a power system. What exactly is a power system? I tried searching google again, but nothing came out of it, I guess I have to define it in my own terms then… A power system is the order of power and how the powers work in a fictional universe. It’s pretty understandable for one to find it hard to create a power system from scratch, but that’s where I come in again! Allow me to lend you aspiring authors a hand.

I remember seeing a lot of power systems when I was watching anime, especially in the shounen genre, and oh boy! They are very different from each other, very distinct. Now I tried creating a power system myself, and trust me they were very fun! Not to brag, but I think I’m pretty good at it, although it still took me some time to create my very first power system.

Now enough about those and to try and actually help y’all, the trick to creating a power system is to, of course, first think of the rules, a power system is all about the organization of the powers kept within it, we need to think of how it works, and then set limitations to them, can’t exactly make a power there get too broken. However, I’m sure most of you are having a hard time creating the powers themselves. I think the best way to explain this, is by actually showing a power system I made myself, so you could analyze it for yourselves. This power system came from my novel World Linking High School Boy Emis, my first novel, the power system itself hasn’t been completely introduced in the story, but I’m willing to share it with y’all to help. Also, please don’t read it in its current state, it’s… horrible.

My power system is called Manipulation Chants, it is the interaction or meddling of matter or energy in form of chanting. It has 5 specific types:

1. Natural Manipulation – It is the extension, reduction, or expansion of a particular object. It deals with the three dimensions.
2. Energy Manifestation – It is the release of energy using mana.
3. Light Arts – The use of energy as a force to attract or repel matter.
4. Dark Arts – It can be used to convert matter into energy, but not the other way around. It is considered taboo because of its overpowered use.
5. Sacred Incantation – Conversion of a Manipulation Chant to another. It’s very unstable to perform hence, sacred.

So, what do you think? I think it’s pretty cool. Looks sciencey.

Now, if you analyze it properly, you can see that I have set intricate details for each power, it is so that the power isn’t too vague, in which some cases, stories have a problem with. Having a power be too vague can mostly be a dagger to the author, since the readers may notice some form of application that isn’t shown in their story because of how vague it is. Also, if you examine closer, you can notice that barely any power intersects its authority with another. That’s right, your powers should be distinct from each other. It’s not bad to have powers with the same ability or powers that completely contain another one’s but has more, it can even be used as an interesting narrative. However, it’s best to reduce the repetition of abilities throughout the course of the story for its betterment, as well as for the power system itself. The powers themselves are also quite related to each other, involving matter or energy in my case, make sure that the powers you create in the power system have some kind of relation to each other, it narrows down the possibilities and may even help you find and create more powers that follow its formula.

But if you’re truly too lazy, you can always stick to the classic magic system. It’s not too bad, but it’s been oversaturated over the years, so it’ll be tough to make something out of it. The thing I did for the magic system was that I defined tropes I saw in the shows I saw and then defined them on my own terms. Maybe you could do so for a system that already exists, try defining it on your own terms.

Honestly, the hardest part about this is the first step. The next steps are a lot easier. The only help I could do at this point is provide examples. One novel of mine uses biblical texts as a form of a power system. Another novel I plan to create will literally have weapons and powers as the power system, nothing more, nothing less. See, even a power system can be simple? Lol, imagine if you use eating as a power system, though I’m sure someone already has done it.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m sorry if it’s a bit more scuffed than usual, but I still hope I managed to give you guys some ideas. With that, I’m signin’ off for the day, adios!