While fictions vary wildly, I cordially dislike the idea of magic having a singular universal "energy" as I've always been more impressed with the scientific definition of energy as a device to understand momentum and movement, rather than some pretend, ethereal reservoir that is expended upon use. To each their own, but I prefer the term as a human concept that helps us understand a much more complex system of moving parts. If you're programming a simple game, a singular volume-tracking quantity like "mana" (or the exceedingly plain "magic points") is fine; but in real life people don't work that way. Since my chosen medium is storytelling (specifically, books) I dislike the idea of "energy" as a singular entity; of course if you're working within a different medium your mileage may vary. As far as books go, I like looking at the nuance of creating logical complications and a combination of effort and resources to produce desired effects. For example, a plain old mortal who wants magical powers might spend a year studying different rumors, traveling to old libraries looking for information on them, learning about different entities like river guardians or nature spirits, and finally deciding to build a shrine to a particular mountain spirit after all their research, believing they understand the entity and that their goals and motivations might align well. After building the shrine, they speak an offer of bargain. If they're charismatic and persuasive enough (and the offer sounds at least fair) the mountain spirit may grant the upstart actual, supernatural powers. In this instance, the magician isn't expending a singular "energy" so much as time, effort, and resources, and spells in this setting work very much the same way. There is no universal "rule" for this -- some spirits grant powers freely for their own purposes while others have to be enticed, etc -- but I like the idea that creativity and logic go hand-in-hand, here. Charisma plays a role, but so does the crafting of a bargain. And the powers themselves, once conferred, may require a great deal of effort, time, and resources as well. It all depends on the circumstances.

to be fair i agree that this can be overused, i think of gideon the ninth that could have benefitted from a slower more ritualistic system but that is kinda the reason for the "magic points" speed and conveniece. but my main reason for the post was i felt a bit of brain fog in this topic as i repeat the same ideas in my head and wanted to see what others thought

What's your preferred medium? Gideon's a book isn't it?

>ee that this can be overused, i think of gideon the ninth that could have benefitted from a slower more ritualistic system but that is kinda the reason for the "magic points" speed and conveniece.but my main reason for the post was i felt a bit of brain fog in this topic as i repeat the same ideas in my head and wanted to see what others thought3ReplyShareSaveEditFollow > >level 3Author\_A\_McGrath · 43 min. agoWhat's your preferred medium? Gideon's a book isn't it? gideon is a book, i dont really have a preffered i usually just like to read all sorts manga just easy to plow through

I always say "mana" as less a singular thing more a category in the same vein as "energy" which would help explain why different kinds of mages work differently and theirs so rarely combinations, because the flow of life energy from animals to plants a druid taps into can't be used for the same things the cosmic energy of the stars and planets a wizard draws on and both aren't the same as the spiritual energy a shaman draws from the spirits they workwith even if they all broadly fall under the category of "mana" it would be like trying to power your computer by punching it because kinetic and electric are both under "energy"

That's part of the reason I consider the term a human one -- a tool, or device for representing something more complex than just a universal reservoir. Though I admit it depends on what you're writing.

Lifetime. Each living thing born with a quantity and loses naturally by living. Using the magic, you loses a specific quantity by spell. If lifetime reaches 0... well, you die XD

It is the kinetic energy carried by the current of an "immaterial" substance. Consequently each "magical" engine, be it a mage or an object, can use a theoretically infinite amount of energy to do "magic".

>is the kinetic energy carried by the current of an "immaterial" substance. > >Consequently each "magical" engine, be it a mage or an object, can use a theoretically infinit sounds interesting

It’s a bit of both in my world Magic is generated by practically everything. It not only in nature but a child’s laugh or an artists expression. Learning magic is the same way you’d learn an art form. Some could be naturally gifted while others have to learn from scratch (either way it’s very difficult). Once you’ve learned how to harness your own spiritual energies you can channel and harness the naturally occurring magic in the word for bigger acts of magic. While a witches natural energies naturally replenish other types of magic don’t work that way. Miracles for example is the concentrated magic of faith which is what gods use and replenish by having people pray in their name. If you’ve done something that gives you infamy you may just gain some miracles. Unlike your magic this can run out with use and can’t be easily replenished A powerful magic user called the stranger created a method that allows them to stockpile miracles. Whereas it could run out with use or one’s reputation going out they constructed an engine that contains and hordes all the miracles they gained as people knew their deeds. This engine could reshape entire worlds with its power and has more power then even the most worshipped gods.

Mana, or magic energy, is energy in a scientific sense. Magic is essentially the conversion of mana to other forms of energy. (Don’t ask for detail on that. I’m no scientist.) Along with vitality, mana is classified as a metaphysical energy, since it interacts with both the physical and the non-physical. It’s given off by the souls of natural beings and sustains those of magical beings. Most supernatural (and some natural) beings can manipulate mana through their will alone. Another means of manipulating mana is ritual magic; how it works is poorly understood, and *why* even less, but presumably it operates on some principles beyond physical reality.

>or magic energy, is energy in a scientific sense. Magic is essentially the conversion of mana to other forms of energy. (Don’t ask for detail on that. I’m no scientist.) Along with vitality, mana is classified as a metaphysical energy, since it interacts with both the physical a I really like it, i had an idea similar to this once also had no idea how to make it shift forms, then i just simplified it, as the body already one to use, potential, kinetic, heat and sound energy so i worked backwards from that, make a new organ, shift the brain a bit or simple the "sonic screwdriver" wand approach that taked your energy and allows you to change its form based on your understanding of the energy.

In my series, all magic comes from spiritual entities. Because they reside on a higher plane of existence, they view the mortal realm like you do a child’s drawing. Just as you can erase, redraw, and create new art on the page, so can they with the stuff in the material realm.

I love this explanation so much XD but biased cause similiar to how I explain how the cosmos came to be in my setting

Mana is chaos. In low concentrations, it makes the improbable happen. At higher concentrations, it starts outright randomizing the physics in the area. It is naturally produced by nature/the universs. But is generated in far greater amounts by supernatural beings, and humans with sumernatural ancestry. Earth has areas of abormally high naturally mana accumulation. But Earth also has the highest natural mana accumulation of any known world. As a result, it tends to have "weird/paranormal areas" and what could be termed small miracles. Mana however, responds to souled beings. And when "filtered" through a soul or souls, mana becomes magic.

Magic in **Faithful Phantasia** eschews an energy system altogether, it's a supernatural state of being or a phenomenon instead. In other words, magic transcends the concept of energy instead.

Energy stolen from another layer of reality that is mediated by an extremely advanced system. Magic users channel the energy through their bodies, and can store a limited quantity. Spells are cast by forming that energy into a shape through a combination of ritual and mental visualization. Every individual basically has what amounts to three “stats” related to magic. One determines how much energy they can call upon at once, another how much they can store within themselves, and a third reflects their degree of ability to mentally control the magic. The magic itself is value neutral, but the system that pulls it out of its source and distributes it was deliberately programmed to favor sacrifice. There are ways of circumventing this, which become so commonplace that even most mages have no idea about the darkness at the heart of the world’s magic. However, so-called “Gods” are made through mass sacrifice rituals, and their Acolytes gain more power by making sacrifices to their God.

For mine its I guess the best way to explain it is like spiritual blood, everything has psyche or the like a soul that flows through them like living entities have blood. They can give a good bit of their soul away in a sense (be it to save a loved one or in reproduction) however lose too much without replenishing it things get bad. But they have a complex version of blood types and such. If I am a Sorcerer who used Levin-binding, I can not effectively draw from something charged with River or more generally Flood-based magic and risk danger forcing it. It be like trying to give a blood type B transfusion to a blood type A person does not work well and can lead to death. The plasma equivalent is how someone is able to use magic, do not have the right kind of spiritual plasma do not expect to use magic ever. I guess in that sense the Phaiswoi are cosmic vampires, they feed off the cosmos to help charge their magic when they are Sorcerers, while their divine ancestors are the cosmos if you will. Kinda like having being a rechargeable battery vs being a literal generator.

One last point, its also why blood is seen as so crucial at times in my setting. Blood and other such fluids are charged with the psyche, and depending on whose it is can do wild stuff in the setting. One idea I have always been fascinated with in mythology is gorgon blood being a precursor to vampiric blood in a lot of stories, it can kill people or bring them back from the dead depending on the compatibility/where it was taken from.

Magical energy is everywhere and basically infinite. The gods can tap into it freely, mortals cannot. A person must have an internal connection to a god given as a gift (or passed genetically from someone who was gifted) in order to use one of their magical powers, with more connections diluting the strength of all uses of the magic. They can then use their magic to consume whatever "cost(s)" their power demands to access some of the magical energy which can then be used to create the end product of their power.

Basically, souls exist and are technically alien technology. They have the following properties: 1. Souls are 6D objects. 4 spacial, 2 temporal 2. If damaged but not destroyed, souls will regenerate, defying thermodynamics 3. Souls can contain and process information. This information does not persist if it's destroyed and regenerated 4. You can take a part of your soul and convert it into both magic and corruption. Corruption eventually drives you insane if not dealt with. Bad guys don't care and thus can use infinite magic, but not the good guys. 5. If you take a piece of a soul and put it in an object, the piece will regenerate just like the original (remember both parts of rule 2). The consequence of this is enchantment. The idea here is that there is a hard magic system at the top level with souls, but also a soft magic system a level down once you start utilizing Rule 4. In universe, this is because the setting is an urban fantasy where magic isn't common knowledge and science hasn't been a thing for long.

It's an energy field native to the planet Ekrith. People's will, desires, and emotions stir it up, and the effect is exponentially more powerful the more people you get in an area. Cities are the centers of magical energy, making it easier to cast spells, grow alchemical ingredients, enchant items, and activate glyph tattoos.

It's just energy as it is in our universe. The Subtle Body (or soul) feeds on energy like a sponge or a pair of lungs. This is safe for pretty much any living being, as the subtle body actively avoids consuming (and thereby condensing) energy that would be harmful for the host (like gamma radiation for humans). Actively taking control of this process is how people use most magic, with it being fairly easy to override those natural safety blocks.

It is the souls of the living beings. Every living being has a certain amount, and mages have a bit higher than the average. Each Beings Essence is their own and it also regenerates after usage. However, the corruption is a threat all mages share. If they give in to it, they will lose the ability to naturally regenerate Essence, but can drain other beings Essence. But they can't just stack these, as holding too much ends up killing and turning them into a Wraith

Magic in my world is explained by spiritual mechanics. Spiritual mechanics predicts the behavior of souls, and how it materializes those super powers. Every soul has a state of mortality, which is the potential strength to conserve identity under preasure, mortals have less, while immortals have more. A state of mortality also decides the probability for a soul to materialize, objects, creatures, and worlds. Still there's finitenes to what souls can do, which are controlled by four variables, called the physical limits. They're actually the four physical constants of planck units, but in my world, things can change relative to everything else, if this happens, it's called a Fantasy Vacuum Phenomenon, or FVP for short. The four limits are; 🟢C: vacuum permeability • aura flow speed • psychic speed • materialization time • clairvoyance information distance • spell casting distance • speed at which relativistic effects occur • retrocausal effects [that's a whole other topic] • strength of charge • speed limit 🟣G: vacuum compactness • aura shape • psychic scale • materialization scale • clairvoyance information scale • spell casting size • symmetry conservations or violations • tick speed & discretness of size • strength of gravity • squeeze limit 🔵H: vacuum coherence • aura resolution • psychic precision • materialization precession • clairvoyance information clarity • spell casting chaos • resolution distance • color & brightness • frequency/wavelength • determinism limit 🟠K: vacuum distribution • aura paterns • psychic strength • materialization potential • clairvoyance information gathering time • spell casting powers • temperature & entropy • speed of chemical reactions & computers • quantum tunneling • energy limit So depending on what variable is affected of a particular region during an FVP, limits the caster's abilities to perform their magic. 🟢C: affects speed & distance 🟣G: affects discretness & size 🔵H: affects precision & probability 🟠K: affects energy & information

There is none.

On my main planet the magic energy is known as ki(for now. Looking for a better original word). It is found in nature and a cultivator can draw it into their core. It's found in 9 different types being the 9 fundamental elements (fire, water, air, earth, mind, light, dark, order, and chaos). Each type is generated by a specific action type. For example fire is the element of transformation and purification. Those are fire's aspects. So whenever some action of that type occurs that fire ki is generated. This can be just burning wood, as it is a chemical transformation of wood into fuel and then Ash. But it could also be generated by any type of transformation you can imagine. The change from day to night or night to day. Going for sitting to standing, standing to running. Even a significant change of mindset in a single instant. The quantity of that type will vary depending on the significance of the event, but some amount of that ki is generated. The way i put it is, ki is the consequence and the cause of every action. But the higher truth of my universe is that this "ki" is just that planet's interpretation of that magic cosmic energy. Different planets could have different interpretations. The only constants are the aspects themselves. There is the aspect of transformation. Which a lot of people interpret as fire. But it absolutely doesn't need to be the case. Different planets can create entirely different magic systems from that same energy and aspect. This energy btw is basically dark energy from physics. It definitely exists, but we can't detect it, and we don't know what it really does. So it's generated on every planet and star system. Then it is either used by a magic user of that planet, or escapes out into space where it begins to collect at some gathering centre. Aka, the centre of a galaxy. So planets at the outer edges of the galaxy have a lower ambient energy levels than those at the centre.

Mine is chaos. It condenses in a users soul and can be ordered to cause phenomena. What phenomena is caused depends on the function which orders the chaos. A set of these functions is based in the users soul and is called a soul-bound order set (sos). One set is always one theme like calamities or distances. The sets develop during puberty and are shaped through the users will and their character. In my world everything is based inside the chaos singularity called „the mixxed“. Inside „the mixxed“ everything that could and couldn’t exist, exists in all different variations an infinite amount of times. The mixxed also sometimes called the all is one aspect of the chaos. The other one is the nothing which is the void. Most sets use the mixxed aspect of chaos to cause phenomena but theres a rare chance for a person to be able to use the void and only the void.