[quote=@Famotill] Most magic is something that you are born with. I really enjoy the 'rarity' of Dragon Age mages. I think it makes them feel a bit more special in that they were born with these gifts. Of course, this is high fantasy- so there would certainly be other means of using and harnessing magic. As I said, I want to work with everyone on an individual level. I can be pretty flexible in terms of story concepts :) [/quote] I think most optimal option would be this: A) You are born with strong mana to apply into magic spells, which makes them more powerful, but you can't learn as many spells. Let's call those sorcerer (so unoriginal :D) or warlocks, whatever. B) You study magic with some sort of books/scrolls (or something more modern to fit in) and learn how to gain 'access' to your inner energy as every single being has access to it (yeah, this sounds Naruto like) and manage to transfer it into... let's say mana which is main source of spells. In other words in this concept there are other energy sources (chakra/ki/psionic/whatever) which every single living being has, but you need to learn how to use those. And to become some sort of self-made mage you need to learn how to change those energies into mana. Let's call those wizards (yeah, again, no creativity). This would still let you throw in concepts like 'monks', 'psionics' etc. to keep it high fantasy while it wouldn't limit access to magic for someone who wasn't born with it. It would be just far harder to do then just get it from birth. In this case mana would be the most powerful energy source to requite additional work here.