Unlimited mana

[InuyashaFE]

what is mana?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://cdn.head-fi.org/e/ea/350x114px-LL-eaf9aeec_half-trollface.jpeg

 

Always found it amusing that people call magicka 'mana'.

 

Might as well call Stamina 'Strength' or something.

[xlcr]

:turned: lol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mana):

Fantasy writer Larry Niven in his 1969 short story Not Long Before the End described mana as a natural resource which is

used or channeled by wizards to cast magic spells.

He expanded on this idea in other works, notably his 1978 novella The Magic Goes Away.

Mana is a limited resource in Niven's work, a fact which eventually will lead to the end of all magic

in his antediluvian fantasy setting when all mana is depleted.

 

Many subsequent fantasy settings (role-playing games in particular) have followed Niven in his use of mana.

(fyi, one of Larry Niven's best-known works is 'Ringworld' (1970)).

 

Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects.

The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian.

In anthropological discourse, mana as a generalized concept is often understood as a precursor to formal religion.

It has commonly been interpreted as "the stuff of which magic is formed," as well as the substance of which souls are made.

Modern fantasy fiction, computer and role-playing games have adopted mana as a term for magic points, an expendable

(and most often rechargeable) resource out of which magic users form their magical spells.

 

Universal archetype:

Concepts analogous to mana in various other cultures include the power of magic,

sympathetic magic and of seeking the intervention of a specific supernatural being,

whether deity, saint or deceased ancestor.

The concept of a life-energy inherent in all living beings is a common archetype,

appearing in many ancient religions and systems of metaphysics.

 

Analogies to mana in other societies include:

Anishinaabe traditional beliefs : manitou

Australian Aboriginal mythology : maban

Aztec religion : teotl

Basque mythology : Adur

Egyptian mythology : ka

Finnish mythology : Väki

Greek mythology : ichor

Inuit mythology : inua, sila

Iranian mythology : asha

Iroquois mythology : orenda

Leni Lenape mythology : manetuwak

Norse mythology : Seiðr

Roman mythology : numen

Salish-Kootenai mythology : sumesh

Sioux Indians (Dakota) : Wakan

Welsh mythology : awen

Yoga : prana, chakra, Bindu

Yoruba mythology : ashe

 

Also related are the philosophical concepts of:

Chinese philosophy : qi (or chi), Tao

European alchemy and philosophy : aether, (or ether), quintessence

Hindu philosophy : Maan (Respect, acknowledgement, belief)

Japanese philosophy : kami, ki, rei; Ryukyuan mabui

Tibetan Buddhism & Bön : yang (g.yang)

Vitalism : Élan vital

 

Mana came to the attention of the anthropological community with the English missionary Robert Henry Codrington's (1830–1922) work The Melanesians (1891).

It has since been discussed by anthropologists such as Émile Durkheim (1912), Marcel Mauss (1924), Claude Lévi-Strauss (1950) and Roger Keesing (1984).

 

lol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_point):

Many alternate names are used in different games. Magic points are also referred to as:

Ability Points (AP) (Breath of Fire)

Antimatter (Sins of a Solar Empire)

Bros. Points (BP) (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)

Capacitor (EVE Online)

Energy (E) (Guild Wars, StarCraft)

Essence (Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Exalted)

Ether Points (EP) (Xenogears, Xenosaga)

Fatigue (Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura)

Flower Points (FP) (Paper Mario games and Super Mario RPG)

Force Points (FP) (RF Online)

Gnosis points (Werewolf: The Apocalypse)

Magicka (The Elder Scrolls)

Magic Meter (The Legend of Zelda)

Magic Points (MP) (Final Fantasy series)

Mana (Clive Barker's Undying, League of Legends, Populous, Diablo, GURPS, World of Warcraft, MapleStory, Fable and others,

most commonly in Real-time strategy and Role-playing games)

Mojo/Muscularity/Mana Points (MP) (Kingdom of Loathing)

Nerva (The Void)

Orgone or Ruach (CthulhuTech)

Potential Psychic Energy (P.P.E.) (Palladium)

Parasite Energy (PE) (Parasite Eve)

Plasm (Geist: The Sin-Eaters)

Psychic Points (PP) (EarthBound series)

Psynergy Points (PP) (Golden Sun)

Power (PW) (Nethack, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar)

Pyros (Promethean: The Created)

Skill Points (SP) (.Hack, Persona 3, Persona 4)

Spell Points (SP) (The Bard's Tale, Might and Magic, Heroes of Might and Magic II)

Special Points (SP) (Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story)

Stamina Points (SP) (Ragnarok Online)

Technical Points (TP) (Tales series)

Technique Points (TP) (the Phantasy Star series, from Phantasy Star 2 on)

Vitae (Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Requiem)

Voodoo (Pirates of the Caribbean Online)

 

Other terms designate units of psionic, or otherwise supernatural, power equivalent to MP:

Bioelectrical Energy (Deus Ex series)

Eve (Bioshock, Bioshock 2)

Force Points (FP) (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)

Inner Strength Points (I.S.P.) (Palladium)

Mist Points (MP) (Final Fantasy XII)

Power Points (PP) (Dungeons & Dragons Psionics Handbook 3.5, In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas, Pokémon, RoleMaster and many others)

 

Larry Niven at Stanford University in May 2006 (it's Sheogorath!):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Larry_Niven_4840.jpg/250px-Larry_Niven_4840.jpg

http://images.uesp.net/thumb/e/e1/SI-Sheogorath.jpg/800px-SI-Sheogorath.jpg

Edited June 26, 2012 by xlcr