Mana
Mana is the inherent magical potential all things possess. Humans, though, have more than their fair share. They’ve got extra energy they can use to bargain spirits with, such as when humans make pacts or ask for favors from spirits, or they can give themselves a little extra “oomph” with which to do their work. The more powerful the person is, the more extra energy they possess, and their aura becomes unto a beacon. Or a lighthouse for hungry magic-eating critters. Either or.
Mana represents the animus or pattern of an object. When it goes away, the object in the real world begins to show signs of decay and can fall apart or fade away. Mana is sometimes called “ki” when it is possessed by a living creature.
Mana is essentially the “hit points” of your aura. Everything has a mana die, which represents their personal reservoir of energy. This mana die is based on the character’s class.
Strong: 1d4 (4 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Fast: 1d4 (4 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Tough: 1d6 (6 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Smart: 1d8 (8 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Dedicated: 1d10 (10 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Charismatic: 1d8 (8 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Creatures gain mana as well, but they cannot spend them as humans or heroic nonhumans do, only powering their abilities with them. Nonliving objects have an amount of mana equal to their hit points.
Spending Mana
When you spend mana on a magical effect, some of the energy bleeds into the physical world. For magi, this means the air seems to shimmer around them and their eyes flash a color appropriate to their element for a brief moment. For occultists, lights flicker, strange sounds echo in the world, cold drafts whip through the air, and so on. Talents may have small displays related to their expenditure, and uses on the standard list don’t have anything out of the ordinary that really occurs, other than a strange burst of luck. A wound that has its damage reduced doesn’t seem as bad as it did when you first created it, and so on.
Powering relics and traces creates visible flashes of light and color, audible sounds, and so on, making the usage pretty visible.
Uses of Mana
Mana can be burned away to affect change in reality, a local human’s mental force affecting the landscape of existence by its shine. As humans in large groups can affect change, so can humans with enough force of will. Humans have many uses of mana, even those who are not great heroes. Creatures, on the other hand, can only spend mana to affect the world in very specific ways, however, heroic creatures, the excessively rare, can spend mana just like humans.
The following are uses of mana that can be used by humans and heroic nonhumans.
Convert Damage: You can convert lethal damage into non-lethal damage by spending 5 mana per point you wish to convert. You must spend this mana at the time you are injured, or else it won’t work out very well.
Damage: Some creatures damage mana directly, instead of physical damage.
Power Relic: Some Relics require mana to activate them, especially Relics from the Osiir and the Letaji Ancients.
Power Trace: Traces can be powered by mana. The amount of mana consumed by a trace is variable, dependent on the trace in question (note that nonhumans cannot use traces).
Use Magic: If you have a magical background, using it almost always entails spending mana. Some magical backgrounds afflict mana penalties; this is like normal mana loss, except it doesn’t heal until some condition or another is met.
0 Mana
When you reach 0 mana, you have reached your spiritual limit and are staggered. You can only take one move-equivalent action. If you do, you fall unconscious until you gain back at least 1 mana. If you fall unconscious this way, you incur mana debt (you hit -1 mana) and begin to fade.
Mana Debt and Fading (-1 to -9 Mana)
When you reach negative mana, you are biting into your own soul, not the extra amount that mana represents. You are unconscious and fading (losing 1 mana each round) as your soul gives way. You’re okay unless you reach -10 mana. Each round, there is a 10% chance your body grips onto the vanishing wisps of your soul like a frightened child and you stop fading. Once you reach -10 mana, you are dead.
Massive Mana Loss
You have a mana threshold equal to your Charisma score. If you lose more mana than this on a single effect, such as a beastie hitting you or a failed Streaming roll that sucks sufficient mana down the drain, or almost any ritual effect, you have suffered massive mana loss. You make a Will save (DC 15) or drop to -1 mana and begin to fade.
Recovering Mana
This is easy, watch: Mana recovers at the same rate as hit points. See?
Of course, you can also recover mana faster in certain areas. In nodes, for example, you recover mana much faster, dependent on the node in question. A manatouched location adds its rating to the amount you heal per period of resting, as well, as if you had that many extra levels. For example, a rating 4 manatouched location adds +4 to your effective level for purposes of healing mana. The Mana Realm counts as a rating 5 manatouched location for this purpose.
A magus, summoner, or occultist can gain back mana much quicker by making a Charisma check (DC 15) with a bonus equal to a node’s power rating. Success recovers an amount of mana equal to the result -15, but deals an equal amount of nonlethal damage.
Objects and Mana
Objects have an amount of mana equal to their hardness and hit points combined, though some objects have more or less. Relics have a different mana total than normal objects, and this change is listed in parentheses next to the Relic in question. If an object’s mana total reaches -10, it breaks down, falling to Dust.
Creatures and Mana
Creatures have a mana score, as well. They use a mana die and their Charisma scores to determine their mana totals.
Aberration, Construct, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, Ooze: d6.
Animal, Plant, and Vermin: d8.
Dragon: d12.
Elemental, Fey, Magical Beast, Outsider, and Undead: d10.
Such creatures recover mana at the same rate as any other creature. Heroic golems use their class mana die instead of a d6.
Dust
A material with no mana, Dust is a far cry from normal dust and dirt. It is the remnants of broken memories, a material without mana, and an object which should not exist. Free Energy Science has yet to completely explain its existence and presence, save that it does indeed exist, and that, over time, it simply ceases to be.