Mana Everywhere; It's Like Manna

House rules for magic systems are not in short supply. Whether you are searching for variants of your favorite system, adaptations from one game system to another, or unique systems that have been fashioned by skilled craftsman who suffer for their art and offer it to the world without monetary compensation, they are abundant. One thing I wish were abundant were house rules for magic systems that do not use the word "mana."

Once upon a time, game designers were content to use one term, for the most part, to describe the harnessing of supernatural forces. It was called "magic." There seemed to be an infinite number of ways to explain the source of magic or how it works (if one felt the necessity) ranging from innate psychic gifts to channeling the energy of the Positive Material Plane to tapping the ambient magical field of one's immediate surroundings. Any of these are enough to spark the imagination and possibly inspire one to conjecture about the "physics" of magic in a particular setting, even possibly leading to ideas for new adventures and background stories.

Then someone decided to take a word, a very specific word with a very specific religious meaning belonging to a very specific culture, and reduce it to a generic rules term. That word is mana. Looking at a variety of online sources, I note that the term in general has been diluted over the years, so I am forced to admit that game designers and rules hackers are probably not solely responsible for the word's overuse:

1 : the power of the elemental forces of nature embodied in an object or person
2 : moral authority : PRESTIGE
(Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

or:

(in Polynesian, Melanesian, and Maori belief) pervasive supernatural or magical power.

— ORIGIN Maori.
(AskOxford)

or:

a generalized, supernatural force or power, which may be concentrated in objects or persons.
[Origin: 1835–45; < Polynesian] (Dictionary.com)

At one time, mana meant the supernatural power present in a being or object that could be released from its containment and utilized by another by destroying said being or object. It was tied to a belief system held particularly by the Maori, and it was especially important to concepts of divine and tribal authority.

Why someone thought mana would be an excellent word to be applied generically to magic in a fantasy setting of predominantly Western European influence is baffling. Medieval Western Europeans did, in fact, have a concept of magic as a force that could be locked within beings or objects, and they had words for it, too: "quintessence" and "prima materia."

Perhaps it was once considered a nifty idea to use the word "mana" instead of "magic." Perhaps it was thought to be exotic. Perhaps, even, it was thought that it would be more believable to have in-character conversations about mana than magic in a medieval European fantasy world. Read that sentence again. Yes, as absurd as it sounds, I think it may have been part of the rationale.

To most people, the presence of mana in a text about mostly Western magic is probably not as jarring and unaesthetic as it is to me. For my serious games, I like to immerse myself in another world, much as I like to do when I am reading a good novel. To me, a wizened alchemist muttering something about mana is about as convincing as the Sheriff of Nottingham using the phrase "crime scene investigation" or Robin Hood discussing the merits of "wealth redistribution." If it were a comical interpretation, sure, anything goes. For that matter, the party can greet strangers with "aloha" and have luaus every night of their journey to Mordor. For serious games, however, I think mana is best limited to traditional Polynesian or modern cosmopolitan settings.

Incidentally, I do think that a traditional Polynesian setting would make a rich environment for gaming. The possibilities are... fascinating.

[Originally posted in Fudgery.net/fudgerylog on 19 July 2007.]