Magic Words Followup
Here's the second part to my earlier post about magic words. In this post, I intend to give more gameable examples of this kind of magic: descriptions of spellcasting, enchanted items, magic-using characters, and cognitohazards. I hope it will turn the idea into something properly inspiring.
Short recap on last post: Magic is enacted by the utterance/existence of magic words, which hold meaning so concrete and true that they change the world around them. These magic words lie on the brink of human comprehension and beyond.
Spoken Magic (Spellcasting)
Looking unblinking into the target's eyes, smiling wide and toothy. Plain words are spoken like honeyed coos. Before it can be stopped, the target is under the effects of Charm Person.
Petting the wood of the door as if to mold a knob from clay, twisting the wrist as if to turn it and producing a creak like an old door from your throat. The door, regardless of construction, opens with a pull towards yourself.
Face the door standing broad and tall. From your belly, very clear and confident, yell "Open coriander!" The door will hear you and do its best to open outwards and stay out of your way.
Crow while breathing inwards, then belt out with a sudden screech. Do this at perfect volume and don't croak, and a bolt of lightning will emerge from your throat.
Snarl and snort under your breath, vigorously wriggle your fingers intertwined. Release them quickly, they must snap outwards, and from your palms lightning will leap.
Make the right hand signals, bending and twisting your fingers in all directions. At the full form of each sign, press your hands into a hard surface. It should feel like peeling off when you remove them. The moving image of your message will remain on the surface until scrubbed clean.
Written Magic (Enchantments, tattoos, scrolls)
A leaf of paper with a book's worth of words written in fine print. Scribbling on the line finishes the pact and swaps the bodies of two writers.
This parchment needs only one line to complete its text. Upon this, it burst into flames and become a flying stream of fire.
A tattoo that will destroy the body it's on entirely when the skin begins to rot.
A spear whose shaft is carved with icons of stingers and arrowheads, with the mean words of magic pain spiraling it. When stuck into a foe, the head will detach and stay inside the wound.
When the runes on this sword's blade are filled with fresh blood, the metal will spark with electricity.
This wooden oar can be pressed against the inside of a break in a boat's hull, sealing it shut. The paddle is etched with magic words in the shape of a cross on one side and a wave on the other.
This marble oozes a bit of oil into the floor when dropped.
A study rope bridge that swings and sways violently when someone walks on it. On the bottom of the middle plank is written "NOBODY SHALL CROSS ME"
A boulder of troll-stone fixed to an iron rod. It is engraved with birds, gusts, and stars, and is about the weight of a lollipop. Can hardly bruise a mouse.
Safe "Magic" Words
As magic is derived from symbols with truer meaning than mere definition, magic words can be watered down to relative mundanity.
This is the language wizards use to communicate among themselves, and gods unto mortals. There is a way to speak that only speakers understand and a way to speak that all understand. The former is kinda like real language but more inconsistent, the latter is like a spell but safer. The only risk is miscommunication.
Unfinished scrolls are another example. They are inert, but close to being magic. To use them, wizards have to interpret what the complete spell should read as.
What kind of people use magic
The watchmaker who started whispering to herself recently is actually practicing her voice for spellcasting.
A graverobber holds his bag close and peers inside a book within it. He gulps beer and looks at it more and more intensely throughout the night.
This mysterious stranger rode in and showed a crowd tricks with their crystal ball, accepting money for the act. They are staying in a free room at the local temple, and leaving in the morning. The villagers agree that they don’t seem to need to perform to survive.
A PC magic user might start with a weird niche skill like whistling birdcalls, basketball tricks, blowing smoke rings, making watches, scrimshaw, etc. This relates to how they practice magic, because practicing with actual magic never lasts long.
Cognitohazards
There are things mortals were not meant to know. To hold such ideas in one's mind is in itself a grave danger, and the only salvation is ignorance.
A cognitohazard is a very dangerous kind of magic which forces a mind to conjure a harmful spell upon itself. They may be texts or images. Creating them is best left to the evil and insane, because I cannot think of a way to do it safely.
The effects come upon subconscious realization of the spell, the mind putting two and two together. It can be any sort of spell that does any sort of thing to the reader. A smart person can figure out that they should stop reading while they’re still alive; a less-smart person might not realize the spell at all.
For more examples of cognitohazards, refer to any of countless SCP Foundation articles, stories, and discussion posts.