Magic words are words, phrases, and utterances that create anomalous effects by their very existence. The language of magic is hardly compatible with mortal language, but just enough for it to be the subject of careful, rare study. For something to be magical, it has to have some meaning to it. This meaning need not be comprehensible to mortal minds. This meaning may be tautological. But the meaning is very literal in that it enacts itself onto the world as magic.

One can write magic. Written magic works by the existence of the text. This way you can make golems, scrolls, magic instruments, and runed blades. Creating intricate (not necessarily beautiful) visual arts is one way to safely practice magical writing.

Oftentimes written magic comes in the form of commands to the object it is written on. The iron plate with “I WILL KILL WHOEVER STEPS ON ME” (rough translation) etched into it is a classic. Throw it in any hallway that needs decor. Or try writing the words a golem will live by into its body– but be careful! Much nuance is lost and gained in the written word, and so something is always left to interpretation.

Written magic can be left near-completed and finished when the magic is needed. Cleverly-scribed scrolls may only be missing a dot or line that gives the whole thing meaning and activates its magic. Sometimes, magic writing is completed by the hollows of etched text being filled in, say a runed sword with blood or a bowl with water. The magic of the item is inert until it is “inked” with the substance.

Magic can be spoken, but a human must use all their kinds of language to do so: bodily, facial, vocal. Casting a spell may mean to utter a phrase in tongues and grunts, to contort one’s face or give an evil eye, to make strange (perhaps unnatural) poses of one’s hands, or any combination that translates into a magic spell.

The effects of spoken magic are instant, releasing after the spell’s utterance. A successful casting lets one throw lightning, vex minds, call demons, command the elements, and all sorts of other strange powers.

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I don’t think anything new is needed to implement this in TTRPG. The needs of spoken magic are very similar to the somatic and verbal components of spells in D&D and Pathfinder, though they make most sense to me as being roll-to-cast (Kinda like The Black Hack, and I think Warhammer Fantasy RP uses it). Written magic is just scrolls and enchantments and the like, so that should fit in with plenty of magic item creation systems that have already been written. I might come back to this idea. Might use it for my next bog-standard D&D game. I had fun working with it. For now, I’m happy with this post.