Different Mana Levels Simultaniously

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Hide

But the source of mana is not you, it is the world, right? And as long as some part of your body is connected to a mana source, you can gather mana to fuel your powers.

Mana is not just a source of power, it's also a transmission medium, which is why you can't cast spells into a no mana zone.

Originally Posted by Hide

Also, how would you explain the fire-ball idea in B67?

Missile spells don't follow the rules for Regular spells. It's not entirely clear why, perhaps the idea is that a created object is not extinguished immediately, but instead takes a small amount of time (a turn or something) to be deleted.

[Plane]

Maybe it's something like magical forces are used to stop the fire ball from burning you while you're holding it and preparing to throw it, but once you actually throw it, it's just fire? Except that "magic only" DR would stop it, so it's still magic...

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Mana is not just a source of power, it's also a transmission medium, which is why you can't cast spells into a no mana zone.

Missile spells don't follow the rules for Regular spells. It's not entirely clear why, perhaps the idea is that a created object is not extinguished immediately, but instead takes a small amount of time (a turn or something) to be deleted.

Well, as B235 states, mana is the ambient energy that empowers magic; and certainly (IMO), it is not a medium required to have magic flow, but to have magic work:

What mages or magic creatures/items do when working with magic, is gathering mana energy from the ambient to transform it into something else (using magical abilities). You take mana and transform it into fire, you gather mana and revive the undead (turning mana into life energy) and you gather mana to produce the effects of adrenaline (enhancing ST/DX and so on), etc.

So, if you cast a spell and enter the mana damper zone, your spell won’t dissipate (just as the fireball won’t dissipate). However, it will stop working after the intended lasting time is over.

In other words, you could say that mana is similar to sunlight which allows plants to produce energy in photosynthesis. Mana is like sunlight (ambient energy), not like chlorophyll (medium to gather energy).

So, if a plant lacks sunlight, it is likely it will stop doing photosynthesis. But if it has any source of light, it still has chances to do photosynthesis and keep going. How? Basically because the body is able to adjust itself, and also because it always has a natural reservoir of energy for the unexpected lack of it.

Shutting down a spell would be something different, called “dispel magic”. Mana damper simply damps mana, it doesn’t dispel magic. It might dispel a spell which requires mana upkeep when you damp mana, but that likely is a side effect and not an immediate effect of mana damper.

This is why I suggested doing an average (rounded down) of the highest and lowest mana zones; it’s an easy way to work with variable mana levels. You could also check Thaumatology p.60-p, continuous mana. It tackles the idea of working under mana damper/enhancer modifiers.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Hide

Well, as B235 states, mana is the ambient energy that empowers magic; and certainly (IMO), it is not a medium required to have magic flow, but to have magic work:

Your interpretation differs from RAW and words of Kromm (though I was wrong about suspension; Magic p6 says that No Mana immediately dispels temporary and lasting spells).

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Mana is not just a source of power, it's also a transmission medium, which is why you can't cast spells into a no mana zone.

No, it isn't, which is why no-mana zones do not keep you from casting spells to the other side of a no-mana zone.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

No, it isn't, which is why no-mana zones do not keep you from casting spells to the other side of a no-mana zone.

There's rulings otherwise (see krommnotes) though they're very old.

[Flyndaran]

Magic can't cross no mana zones, but magically created objects can.
So no death spells, but fireballs being purely physical can still hit their targets.

Then again, magic as always works or doesn't work however the GM/setting dictates.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

No, it isn't, which is why no-mana zones do not keep you from casting spells to the other side of a no-mana zone.

Actually they do, what they don't stop are Missile Spells from crossing as they are no longer magic once they leave the mage's hand.

[Hide]

OK, so we need mana to have certain spells flow/work.

However, you can still work your magic outside the NMZ and launch it "w/o" problems:

"Q: If a fireball is pure magical energy (according to the FAQ) then wouldn't it be affected by Magic Resistance? No. Magic Resistance makes it harder to work magic on you. Once the magic has been worked, Magic Resistance can do nothing about it. A fireball is not an attempt to work magic on you; it's an attempt to work magic at a distance and then hurl the results in your face."

And then we have this one:

"Q: What happens when the line of sight for a regular spell passes through a no mana zone?

(...) A spell always travels from caster to subject via the shortest route that contains mana. If any part of that route is in a low-mana area, there is a -5 to skill; if there are multiple routes, then the one with the lowest total skill penalty (for distance and mana) will be taken. Distance penalties are figured based on the actual path taken, not on the straight-line distance from caster to subject. This means that a caster can affect a subject who is separated from her by a no-mana zone (NMZ) if her skill is high enough to absorb the penalties for casting around it. One implication of this rule is that mages can cast spells over the NMZs created by the Drain Mana spell (with an increased range penalty, of course), since these extend only 4 yards up. In all cases, if either the caster or the subject are in a NMZ, no spell can be cast."

Let's consider the caster is not entirely -but partially- inside the NMZ; the caster is still connected to a mana-source.

So, the caster could work a fireball using a body part outside the NMZ (i.e. an arm) and then have it enter the NMZ w/o issues. For the other spells, I would consider a "positive" "nuisance effect" such as "Mana Compensation" due to having part of the body inside a mana-zone (i.e., estimated doing the average between mana levels). Even if the target has mana-damper, the caster has access to a mana source which might partially cancel the effects of mana-damper itself (at least to some degree).

For reference, you can find mana compensation on Thaumatology Magical Styles p. 27. The effect I am suggesting would be similar to the "life bane" nuisance effect suggested in magic Dungeon Fantasy p. 44 (subject to GMs criteria).

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Hide

OK, so we need mana to have certain spells flow/work.

However, you can still work your magic outside the NMZ and launch it "w/o" problems:

You can use missile spells. This does not apply to any other spell type (well, it applies to summons; summoned creatures are not banished, they just suffer whatever normal effect they suffer in a no mana zone).