For fantasy and romantasy writers
Fantasy Novel Outline Template: Magic System
A fantasy novel outline in Word that settles your magic's rule, cost and limits first, then maps a three-act plot that never breaks them.
The rule in every act
How to outline a fantasy novel, act by act
Settle the magic's rule, cost and limits before the plot. Then give the magic one job in each act, so readers know what it can do before it decides anything. The percentages show roughly where each part falls.
| Part | What this part has to do | The mistake to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Act One (0 to 25%) | Show the magic working once, early, with its price paid in full. | Holding back the first real use until the magic has to save the day. Show it before you need it. |
| Act Two, first half (25 to 50%) | Make the magic harder to use or costlier. At the midpoint, reveal a truth about the rule. | Lifting a limit to get the hero out of trouble. Sanderson's advice is to make characters "use what they have in new and innovative ways." |
| Act Two, second half (50 to 75%) | Make someone the reader cares about pay the cost, then reach the lowest point. | A cost that changes nothing. Sanderson says the best limitations have "real effects on the characters, rather than pretend ones." |
| Act Three (75 to 100%) | Solve the climax only with what the reader knows the magic can do, at a personal cost to the hero. | A new power, or a law written in just for this scene. Sanderson warns that a law made for one situation can make magic "seem flimsy and convenient." |
| After | Show the world the climax leaves behind, with this book's main conflict settled. | An ending that needs books two and three to make sense. Writer's Digest says that if you can't pitch book one without mentioning the others, "book one has major flaws." |
Quotes from Brandon Sanderson's essays on his First Law1 and Second Law2 of magic, and from Brian A. Klems at Writer's Digest4, checked October 29, 2026. River isn't affiliated with Sanderson.
How it works
What is a fantasy novel outline template?
A fantasy novel outline template is a plan that has you settle how your magic works before you plot what happens. It starts with the one rule your magic obeys and what using it costs, then maps three acts that keep that rule. The reasoning comes from fantasy author Brandon Sanderson's First Law1: the better readers understand your magic, the more of the plot's problems it can fairly solve. So show a power at work before it rescues anyone.
Fill in the outline from the top: the rule as one sentence a reader could repeat, what the magic can never do, and what every use takes. Sanderson's Second Law2, "Limitations > Powers," explains why limits matter more than abilities: they make characters work for their goals. Then decide who controls the magic and what it will cost your hero. For the world, Sanderson's Third Law3 essay puts depth before breadth: a few powers worked into everyday life, not a long list of them.
Download the outline as a Word document, or describe your story in the box at the top and click Edit with AI. River's first pass keeps your rule in your words, makes someone pay its cost in every act, and solves the climax only with what readers already know. Its assumptions go under Open questions for you to overrule. Try a rule out in a sample chapter with the fantasy story generator, or draft chapter one from your finished plan with the AI novel writer.
How it works
From one rule to a full map
Download it or open it in River
Download the outline as a Word document with no account, or click Edit with AI to open it in River.
Tell River about your story
Optional. Type your premise and the rule your magic obeys, or paste your notes. River keeps every name, place and power.
Read your first pass
River states the rule in one sentence, shows the cost paid in every act, fills all 13 beats and answers the rule check.
Revise and plan ahead
Change any beat, ask for a chapter list, or note what book two inherits in the series bible template.
- RuleThe ruleAnyone with the gift can mend a broken thing by touch. The break moves into the mender.
- CostThe costEvery mend leaves the same crack in you. Menders go grey by thirty.
- NeverWhat it can never doMend what was never whole. Bring back the dead.
- Act 1OpeningWren mends a child's arm in an alley and hides the new hairline crack in her wrist.
- Act 1Inciting incidentThe sea dam above Saltmarch cracks. Soldiers start hunting unlicensed menders.
- Act 1The rule on the pageShe mends a soldier's sword to escape. Her forearm fractures.
What you'll get
Your magic's rule and cost first, then three acts
- Your magic's rule, its cost and its limits
- A three-act map that pays the cost in every act
- A rule check for a climax that plays fair
Before and after
Your idea in. A rule-true outline out.
A bonesetter's apprentice can mend anything by touch, but the break moves into her own body.
The rule: Anyone with the gift can mend a broken thing by touch, and the break moves into the mender. What it can never do: mend what was never whole, or bring back the dead. The cost: every mend leaves the same crack in the mender. A cracked cup is a cracked fingernail. A broken bridge is a broken bone. The rule on the page: Wren mends a soldier's sword to escape and feels her own forearm fracture. Open questions: Can a break be passed on to someone else? (Assumed yes, revealed at the midpoint.)
Your rule stays yours. River proposes one only when you leave it out, and flags it under Open questions.
What lands in your doc
What's in the template
- Fantasy Novel Outline
One Word document, opening with your working title, subgenre, point of view and target length. - The rule
One sentence a reader could repeat, plus what the magic can do and can never do. - The cost
What every use takes, whether that's body, memory, years, money or people. - Who controls it
Who has the power, who wants it, and who pays for it. - Protagonist and opposition
What your hero wants, their wound, what the rule will cost them, and who stands in the way. - The world, only what the plot touches
Up to three places the story visits, and one way the rule changes everyday life. - Three acts in 13 beats
Act One, both halves of Act Two and Act Three, with the rule shown, tested and paid for. - Rule check and open questions
Four checks the plan must pass, then the choices still open, each with your working answer.
Questions authors ask
Common questions
How do I outline a fantasy novel?
Settle the magic first: its one rule, what it can never do and what each use costs. Then map three acts that show the rule, test it, make someone pay and solve the climax with no new power. If the book opens a series, Writer's Digest advises pitching book one on its own strengths4, so give it an ending that settles its main conflict.
How long should a fantasy novel be?
For a debut adult fantasy, aim for about 100,000 to 115,000 words. That's the range Chuck Sambuchino, a former Writer's Digest editor, calls excellent in his 2016 word count guide5, with 90,000 to 124,000 probably all right. He warns that writers who know fantasy runs long often make it run too long. At 100,000 words, each quarter of the outline runs about 25,000 words.
How much worldbuilding should I do before I start writing?
Only what this book's plot needs. Sanderson's Third Law3 essay warns of "worldbuilder's disease": years spent building a world, with too little practice at prose, characters and plot. First settle the rule, three places and one way the magic changes daily life. Keep new facts in a story bible as you draft, and save the worldbuilding questions for when a scene needs more.
What if my magic is soft, or there's no magic at all?
The outline still works. For soft magic, use the rule section for what the magic will never do for your hero. Sanderson's First Law1 essay notes that the best soft-magic writers very rarely let magic solve problems; it creates them, and people solve them. With no magic, write your world's one unbreakable law instead, such as a succession rule or a curse, and its price.
Can I use it for romantasy?
Yes. Mention the love story when you describe your book. River's first pass weaves the relationship into the act beats, so the romance and the magic press on each other. If you fill it in yourself, let each act's rule beat change the relationship too. For the love story's 18 beats, pair it with the romance beat sheet.
Is this fantasy novel outline template free?
Yes. Download the outline as a Word document with no account or signup. Edit with AI opens the same outline in River, which is free to start, whether you fill it in yourself or ask for a first pass from your notes. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
It opens the outline in your River workspace. If you described your story, River writes a first pass into every section, keeping your names, places and powers. A rule it had to propose goes first under Open questions, with its other assumptions. With nothing typed, the outline opens empty and River offers to fill it in with you or suggest three magic rules.
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