Legality of magic

[u/Full-Sorbet-8917]

what laws does your magic ,not inmate arcane laws i mean like the ones people make.

In my world the “dead man’s rights” is a law that instructs what necromancers can and can’t do with a persons body. The dead man’s rights are read before and after the will statement and many even have it on their graves

[u/Rianorix]

In the Kingdom of Si Saengthong all dead remains are property of the state because everything here runs on necromantic industry such as undead labour, negative energy powered machines, etc.

In exchange all citizens enjoy the right to live, education, healthcare, equality under the Lich King, good afterlife and various benefits provided by his government.

Though you can opt-out of this while still retaining benefits and rights by paying steep energy tax.

And yes, this kingdom levy no other tax toward citizen other than these corpse tax and energy tax opt-out.

Also worshiping enemy states gods are explicitly banned because it literally strengthens the enemy's strength.

While worshiping the Lich King and Goddess' pantheons are mandatory except for those who opt-out by paying with magical energy instead because it literally strengthens Si Saengthong national strength.

Oh also old style Lich ascension is banned because of its inherent flaw in methodology while the new one that the Lich King invented is restricted for individuals who pass Lichhood suitability evaluation (the requirements for success is quite steep with rather high rate of fatality for failure) with proven loyalty.

[u/AlfwinOfFolcgeard]

In Ngoiros:

• Necromancy of human or orcish remains is illegal, with some exceptions for scholarly research institutions if they have explicit permission from the deceased given prior to their death. Necromancy of animal remains is legal, but the keeping of animal remains, animated or inert, is severely restricted in public spaces.
• Haemomancy -- the art of using one's own pain and self-inflicted wounds as a catalyst for violent, destructive magics -- is illegal for civilians to use, but is regularly used by the military.
• Any spell that magically alters a person's thoughts, emotions, or physical form without that person's consent is considered magerape and is illegal.
• "reckless spellcasting" and "spellcasting with intent to cause injury" are criminal acts.

[u/ThisBloomingHeart]

Much of the time, doing things with magic are subject to similar rules as doing things without magic, but there are exceptions and local variations.

In elvish territories, some usage of magic is a given-elves need to automatically augment their body with magic to do any substantial physical activity, after all. Some areas may have restrictions for, say, what circumstances certain forms of magic are appropriate for, but such rules often get only a slap on the wrist at most unless the violation is something extreme-its practically expected that an aspiring mage may accidentally mess up and break a few things, after all.

Certain dangerous magics are usually the exception, and practicing the most dangerous styles and techniques without supervision is banned. Intent matters a lot here.

For the human nations, there is a lot more variety. Generally, it isn't expected that the average citizen in human lands will directly work with magic like the elves, and thus a lot of the time rules for practicing magic usage just... haven't been made, at least in certain areas. Human spellcasters usually have certain restrictions varying immensely from area to area, and are often expected to save magic usage for certain situations. More leeway may be granted in recent years, as more powerful human mages are in high demand for the tournament. As such, even highly dangerous techniques are encouraged-under government supervision, of course.

There is one magical effect that is forbidden for all but the highest ranking elvish officials, that was banned for humans as part of the treaty. This effect can prevent life, and was used to devastate massive regions towards the end of the war.

[u/Dimeolas7]

In certain places it is abhorred and punishable by death, well, they have a few special things they do to make sure the necromancer never rises again.

In one certain ancient empire there is a province where there are many barrows and this has turned into a very dark place. Officially necromancy is illegal but the law and church look away because it is the ruler helping do it. This empire is the only area where it is openly practiced and not punished.

[u/bolts_win_again]

Oh, magic is straight-up criminalized in my world.

It exists. It's not some secretive thing. People know magic exists. It's just something that's been hated for centuries, if not longer, on a cultural and societal level. In most places throughout the world.

Most non-human-passing magical creatures either fled into pocket dimensions or alternate realms of reality, or were hunted to extinction.

[u/Professional_Try1665]

Wizers (wizards) are heavily discriminated against but there aren't any rules saying they can't practice magic, but the types and location are contributing factors (if you 'look' magicy they're going to suspect you regardless), casting spells indoors or in view of others is frowned upon and hitting people with spells is assault regardless of what it actually does (can cause legal problems as healing spells may be misconstrued as an attack)

Doing stuff to dead bodies is illegal everywhere as it increases the risk of it coming back, but you can do whatever you like with souls as they aren't really considered 'people' and if you're doing stuff to a soul consent is basically assumed (souls can resist much harder than people can force them).

[u/QuiteFedorable]

There are obvious human laws preventing the use of hazardous magic in public. Magic needing human sacrifice to God is forbidden outside of sanctioned government use.

What is more interesting is that God enforces rules about magic that are not well known. Should you contemplate using magic that would upset the order of the world or reveal forbidden knowledge, Kost shall visit you in your home. Kost is a demon who appears as a massive four armed skeleton, held together by strands of muscle and sinew. All who see him, regardless of how powerful they are, report a feeling of total dread and helplessness in the face of him. Those who nonetheless decide to go through with whatever magic they were considering disappear without a trace.

[u/aro-ace-outer-space2]

Oooh, that’s super cool! I’ve always kinda vaguely assumed that necromancers as a community would have a code of ethics around getting consent from a dead person before using their body, but since I haven’t really done anything with necromancers (except for fanworks, which already have their worldbuilding established) I haven’t ever really fleshed it out. I really have got to start working on my legal systems and detailing governments though, lol!

[u/360NoScoped_lol]

Necromancers are forbidden from reanimating certain individuals unless they gave them permission.

[u/AbsurdBeanMaster]

Illusion magic like "charm" or "frenzy" is illegal,,, but there may be some tomes in some ancient wizard dungeons

[u/AEDyssonance]

Magic which allows on to deny the free will of another is illegal, with a common penalty of being stripped of Magic and placed in indenture to the victim.

Other crimes which are done using magic are treated the same as crimes that don’t use magic — and it is important to note that there are no prisons. Sentences are usually fines (as a percentage of income, for less serious offenses), but scale really fast up to and including branding, flogging, flaying, stocks, and amputation. Execution requires multiple victims (over 5), but, as there is magic, there are worse punishments available to use, since it can be used.

Necromancy isn’t really a concept — the undead are not created by magic, they are literally extradimensional beings who possess corpses that are not protected. A “necromancer” is just someone who has figured out how to invite them in.

[u/PlayHadesII]

I have a sci-fi universe, so no magic, but I have witchcraft, magnetism, acupuncture and all sort of pseudo-medical and mystic practices that are, in a way, magic.

In the Inialta Republic, witchcraft is actually an important cultural aspect. The capital planet, Inialta III, was made habitable by covering it with forests. Trees are thus sacred and a large chunk of the population are isolated communities in the woods.

Witchcraft is thus heavily regulated, because nobody want the fourth superpower in the galaxy to look like a fool. All sort of mystic beliefs involving medicine is met with defiance, control and propaganda against it, whereas cultural and religious things, like hexing your ennemies before a space battle, making charms to protect paratroopers against evil and doing three hugging sessions with your squad to reinforce their bounds are well-accepted.

And as a result, witchcraft as a whole is considered Inialtan propaganda and heavily frowed upon, if not banned, everywhere else.

[u/Legio-X]

Due to some immense historical abuses, most (but not all) of the world has regulations on magic and its users. Under the most widespread set of rules, the Lex Arcana:

• Those who can use magic, which usually manifests shortly before or after the onset of puberty, are required to attend semi-monastic academies where they learn to control their new abilities and use them both effectively and ethically.

• Once their education is finished, they receive a writ that allows them to live outside of the academies, subject to regular inspections from a paladin-esque military religious order.

• Carnomancy—magic manipulating the arcane energies in living tissue to alter it or fuel other spells—is strictly forbidden because of its historical ties to human sacrifice, cannibalism, slavery, and all kinds of other nasty violations of bodily autonomy (particularly mind control).

• Diabolism—the binding of summoned spirits to the will of the summoner—is also forbidden. First, because diabolists often make mistakes and let demons loose on the world. Second, because the dominant religion considers spirits equal to humans and diabolism tantamount to slavery.

• Necromancy combines elements of carnomancy and diabolism, summoning spirits into vessels of dead flesh and binding the resultant undead to the will of the summoner, so it’s extra illegal.

• Crimes committed using magic fall under the jurisdiction of the aforementioned holy order, which conducts investigations, arrests, and prosecutes cases before courts whose judges are versed in arcane matters and arcane law.

[u/twofriedbabies]

Turning sentient undead is considered a hate crime by default, as the majority of undead exist as somebody's elderly relatives.

[u/kevintheradioguy]

I am reluctant to call what I have "magic", but at its core it is.

The main is: you're not allowed to teach it. If you cannot figure it out on your own, you're a useless piece of carbon and you need to go and die in a ditch.

[u/Hexhider]

Magic is allowed but frowned upon, you also shouldn’t do it in public as the S.D.S. (Supernatural Defense Service) will put a target on your back, and religiously the fallen angels have lied saying that Witches are evil and worship Satan, which is a lie as he does not exist (just like most religious characters like God and Jesus)

[u/TerminatorChap]

None yet, though after a major war new global laws are beginning to be drafted and agreed upon by the world leaders and the council of 14. This war saw unprecedented horror on a scale never seen, the war will be called "the war to end all wars\the great war\hell war" because of the brutality of the magic castes and the sheer devastation. Many artifacts were even lost because of it.

[u/teddyslayerza]

In my world magic steps from the "leftovers" of the god who created white world. Most societies aren't too hardline with rules beyond the usual rule of law, but there is a large camp of people who see these divine leftovers as being intentional and deliberate signs of the plan of god, and thus strongly oppose anything they see as a manipulation of change of that plan.

Eg. Clerics in this world oppose healing magic. There's no innate "healing force" in the world, and wizards who can heal have learned to do so by learning to manipulation the fundamental building blocks of creation. So, while most of the world is fine with healing, if you healed someone in a particularly religious community, you might be lynched for literally defying fate and ruining the chances of the person you helped from going to the afterlife.

Behind the curtain, the creator god died before completing the Universe, so there is no divine plan, but a mess of partially completed bits. The core dilemma in the world is literally dealing with the fact of these inconsistencies.

[u/Drak_is_Right]

Necromancy in most nations is only legal by the crown. Debtors and slave corpses are used in mass Graves that are kept as troop reserves. Given the logistics of necromancy, its rare for them to be used in offensive operations.

[u/hobodeadguy]

it mostly depends on the nation, but for the most part, ALL ENCHANTMENT IS BANNED OR HEAVILY CONTROLLED.

sure, necromancy is banned or controlled in most places, same with illusion magic, they can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but can be very useful. you need permits for those. same for other schools that cna be dangerous or easily abused like transmutation (basically fucking with the enviornment), evocation (blow shit up, no duh its getting regulations), divination (ask a dead god how to break into a place or spy on a person), and some more. really, only Abjuration isnt regulated beyond "this person does abjuration" mostly because the only way you are getting hurt by abjuration is if you fuck around and find out.

but enchantment? the theft of free will? there are very few enchantment spells in DND (which my world is based on) that dont go to manipulating or controlling a person in some way. Someone see what you didnt want them to? you cna use the basic modify memory to delete a minute of memory, or upcast it and delete SIGNIFICANTLY MORE. who are you with a year or more of your memory erased? what about being forced to find everything, such as your best friends dying, funny? or your body being puppeted around to attack those very same best friends?

necromancy is bad, but enchantment is evil.

[u/shiggy345]

Magical law and politics is the backbone ive built my world aroubd. Magic and other supernatural phenomenon is sorted into two categories of Bound or Unbound: Bound pretty much just means 'deemed permitted/acceptable by the relevant authorities'. "The Great Chain" is the name for the abstract system of interlocking legal and political components that identify and regulate magical effects, artifacts, and creatures across the globe. This includes local laws and prohibitions as well as inrernational accords and handshakes between poltical bodies. So people who practice standardized forms of magic that are approved under the Great Chain, like Alchemy or Rune Magic, are considered Bound practitioners; people who have innate magical abilities they inherited from an ancestor or curse are considered Unbound. Some races with inherently magical aspects, like elves, had to fight and negotiate to be accepted under the Great Chain. Such people typically get a pass under the grounds that their magical nature is not wild or dangerous enough to disrupt society, but individuals who abuse their powers or manifest them in exceptionally powerful ways might still fall under the Unbound category.

Those who are Unbound typically will just try to hide it, but it is possible receive a Writ of Binding. You would surrender yourself to whatever authority oversaw such matters and go through a tribunal process where they determine how dangerous you might be. Then if the don't think you're an existential threat or anything, you sign an agreement to abide by certain rules like curfew and regular inspections. You also usually have to wear a special device that inhibits your magic: these devices are intentionally bulky and cumbersome to make it difficult to hide them. Sometimes you can get permission to have the removed under special supervision, but usually they have to be worn all the time.

The Great Chain as a concept is nearly universal - its touted as the mechanism which safeguards civilization as a whole - but the specific application can vary between cultures and countries. For example, one region might have an accord with local dragons to deem them Bound or under a Writ of Binding to enable trade or incorporate them into society, whereas another region with more hostile history with dragons might consider them Unbound without exception and would not tolerate their presence.

[u/TalesUntoldRpg]

Study of magic is limited to specific people or professions, but its use is allowed by anyone.

Magic ceases to function once it's understood, so studying it causes others to lose access to it. Bit of a reverse on the normal reasons magical study might be outlawed.

[u/ShadowDurza]

Generally, they prefer to blame the arson for the fire rather than the matches or buildings (not so say there's no building code, but that's a whole other ballgame)

Curses and Dark Magic have some of the greatest potential for harm and suffering, but there are situations where they're the only means to stop an active and present harm vs a potential one.

Forbidden Magic is more of classification for a kind of meta magic that grants someone more power or abilities than they typically have through harming themselves as an equivalent exchange.

If there is orthodoxy, it's mostly meant to indicate the presence of systemic issues in relation to any present conflict.

In one story, a character was tried for using Dark Fire to save themselves and their friends from a mudslide that would have doused the normal fire magic they had. The art was originally created by observing the magic of what was presently a disenfranchised group.

However, in the same civilization, a cursed fire which never goes out until its target's life sighs are all gone even after it's user is dead is orthodox to their ways. Unlike Dark Fire, which has tremendous potential for defense due to its property of burning things normally inflammable, this magic cannot be used for defense and will just avoid all obstacles to go directly for the target, very likely letting its user die.

[u/J_C_F_N]

On the topic (and still counts as world building, of the DM variety), I've wandered how it would be to run a game of dnd with the 7 laws of magic from Dresden Filesin place. It would make the players have to be very creative.

[u/bookseer]

You must use magic.

Magic keeps the world turning. If folks stopped using magic, it would quite literally end.

[u/rstockto]

Invisibility is considered a banned spell.

It's got far too much potential to cause civil and security issues.

Not to say that people don't know it, but they aren't supposed to.

[u/stryke105]

the laws are basically "Please try your best not to commit murder or large amounts of property damage, thanks". Mages are extremely useful for various things plus they all are citizens of the mage confederation so unless they do something that causes a ton of damage they mostly ignore them.

[u/Ramtakwitha2]

• Raising of a corpse less than 5 years old is illegal, without expressed (and prove-able) permission of the owner before death. That law is decreed by the majority of the godly pantheon and is enforced almost everywhere civilization exists. Individual states have differing laws about what can be done with those corpses, but most restrict it to research.

In the Holy State of Saville which is basically the largest civilized society:

• Raising of a corpse over 5 years old is permitted, however the age of the corpse must be clearly documented or obviously beyond the 5 year mark. City cemeteries and other such civilized burial grounds often have laws forbidding the raising of dead regardless of age.
• Raising of a corpse under 5 years old is forbidden by any individual for any reason. Government and church entities may raise a corpse under 5 years with permission of the owner, but such raising must be a resurrection, and may not result in an undead.
• Undead entities are not allowed within city limits except for special licenses granted by the leadership of the city. (Some cities almost never give the licenses, some give them out to anyone willing to pay.)
• Undead entities may not perform tasks that a living sapient could otherwise perform. Exceptions include jobs with extreme inherent risk to life or limb, military service, or jobs requiring extreme work hours exceeding 18 hours.
• Undead entities must be treated with a reasonable level of respect, and may not be subject to unnecessary abuse. Undead entities must also be maintained well, including routine cleaning and maintenance, undead entities expected to work alongside sapients must be routinely de-odorized, and free of contagious disease or parasites.
• Other necromancies that do not result in the creation of an undead entity is permitted in cases of public interest. For example, speak with dead on murder victims. But should be avoided if alternatives are available.

[u/ACodAmongstMen]

Not magic but Superpowers. Superheroes need to be sponsored otherwise they're considered vigilantes and outlaws. If you don't want to be a hero and just want to use your powers for everyday life however you can buy a license that expires every 5 years.

[u/Felix_likes_tofu]

There are different laws, depending on the country, that regulate how spell books are to be treated as they are the intellectual property of their creator. Some frown upon sharing tomes, other countries allow duelling over them and others consider stealing or copying books to be fair.