An Experience Based Magic

I had a whole paragraph about why Magic would be cool but Character-Limit exists. Basically, while Minecraft isn’t just one genre, it still has fantasy elements. Anyways, my idea: Magic Shouldn’t be the end-all, be-all macguffin that will dominate combat. Magic Spells need to be useful but also allow for previous forms of combat to still be viable and appealing. So first, make magic have a cost. More specifically, xp cost. Having 1-3 spells per xp level or multiple levels will cause the player to really weigh the decision to use magic. Xp is as much a resource as any ore. Secondly, Magic can only be used through rare books that can ONLY be found through exploration. Thus, motivating players to go out and enjoy minecraft. The “spell books” will have durability that can be repaired at an anvil, costing xp and Lapis. Casting spells will require the offhand slot to be free, this prevents players from casting spells (which should take around 3-5 seconds) and being uninterruptible. Magic should not be impossible to prevent, that is why two hands must be free. This prevents the caster from overusing spells, making timing of spells that much more important. And finally, spells shouldn’t be so much as damage based but more so based on status effects, or focused on giving the caster an advantage on completion of spell. Something like making a temporary protective barrier around the caster or a gust of wind to push players/mobs back. Magic Shouldn’t dominate combat.