While perusing Goodreads, I stumbled across a book called
The Paper Magician. I've never read it, but I like the system of magic (at least, the bits I gleaned from the synopsis). Would you be interested in incorporating this sort of magic to the steampunk environment of this RP?
Perhaps the arena you mentioned is an exhibition field where magicians face off to out-do their opponents. So, no death, but there would definitely be a winner and a loser. Have you ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Korra? I'm thinking about
Earth Rumble VI or
Pro-Bending as the main inspiration for the arena and competition.
I also came up with a brief set of rules and magician types to help color the world a bit:
Setting
Alternate Edwardian England, Europe, America, c. 1900
Rules of Magic
1. A magician may only bespell one material. This will be the only material he will ever manipulate.
2. Bespelling man or beast is illegal.
3. Only the most adept magicians can conquer non-solid elements: air, fire, and water.
3. No magician may practice their craft until they have been certified by the
House of Magicians <-- (working title, maybe this is what the arena is called, or maybe defeating X number of opponents grants certification)??
Magician Classes
The Paper Magician
The Glass Magician
The Iron Magician / The Copper Magician
The Stone Magician
The Silk Magician / The Cotton Magician
The Cedar Magician
etc.
Does this at all appeal to you? If not, I'll just stow this idea for later, and we can stick to the more traditional gadgets and clockwork steampunk world for now. Please let me know what your ideas are. I'd love to hear what you had in mind for the arena/lounge.