Mana
Overview
Mana exists in all living things and is necessary for life. Creatures absorb mana from their surroundings, into their Mana Wells. Larger and more magical creatures generally have larger Mana Wells. Magical creatures use mana to fuel their magical abilities, like a dragon's breath or a coatls flight. Mages are simply those who use the mana in their Mana Wells to cast spells. As mana is used, the Mana Well depletes, and must be refilled by absorbing more mana. Doing this will over time grow the Mana Well, allowing more mana to be stored. However if a Mana Wells runs out of mana, the creature will quickly die.There are no spell slots in Kastorix, Mana is the resource used to cast all spells. Casting spells costs mana depending on their rank and traits. Mages can cast spells beyond their natural mana limit, but doing so risks mana poisoning and possibly death.
The rate of mana regeneration is based on the Mana Density of the location, but can be increased by certain feats and actions. Mages can generally recover all their mana during a long rest, but in low mana density areas this can take longer.
Using Mana
Mages spend mana to cast spells and refill their Auras, as well as some other actions and abilities they might learn. A player's Max Mana starts as their species starting mana + their WIL, and increases by 4 + their WIL every level.This represents their safe mana, though it is possible to spend mana beyond it at severe risks. Players can spend mana and go negative with their current mana up to a value equaling their Max health. So a character with 9 health could go to -9 mana, but not further negative. At the end of every turn a character's mana is negative they take that much Vital Damage. I hope you know what you are doing.
Recovering Mana
Mages can recover limited amounts of mana in combat by spending effort to harness the mana around them. This is the Harness Mana action.Harness Mana
Make a Mana Recovery Check, d20 + WIL versus the DC of your environment. On a success you recover the specified amount of mana.
On a critical success you recover double the specified amount of mana.
On a critical failure you suffer one level of mana poisoning.
You may spend two actions on this action to have +2 bonus on the roll and recover twice the amount .
Mana can also be recovered by drinking mana potions, however they bring with them the risk of Mana Poisoning unless they are rare pure variants
| Name | Harness Mana DC | Harness Mana Recovery | Hourly Mana Recovery Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Null Zone | 18 | 1 | 5 |
| Low Mana | 15 | 1d4 | 10 |
| Normal | 14 | 1d6 | 20 |
| High | 12 | 1d6 | 30 |
| Potent | 10 | 1d10 | 45 |
Mana Poisoning
Mana Poisoning comes when the Mana Well gets too much mana to handle at once or tries to absorb altered mana. It causes the internal damage in the user when they try to use magic-Mana Poisoning is a numeric status that makes the affected take one vital damage per level when they spend mana in any way. So if a creature with mana poisoning 3 casts a spell, they take 3 vital damage.Creatures recover from Mana Poisoning at one step per hour as the body absorbs the mana and flushes out the altered parts
Auras
Just as we breathe out carbon, mana not used by the soul is also expelled. This forms what's known as an aura, clinging to the creature like breath on a cold day. Auras are invisible to most, but mages can learn to see them, and some creatures can naturally see them. They provide a weak magical shield around the creature, protecting them from harm. As mana wells grow, so do auras, becoming stronger and more protective. Mages can also learn to manipulate their auras, shaping them and using them for magical effects.All creatures have an Aura Health with a max equal to their Max Mana. Whenever they take damage, half of that is absorbed by their aura, which can be restored far easier than normal health. When the Aura Health reaches zero, the creature takes full damage until the Aura Health is restored. Vital damage bypasses auras, as do ingested and contact poisons (but not effects like poison clouds).
Aura Block.
when you would partially block damage with your aura. Block the force of the attack with your Aura, making it take all of the damage. If it breaks your aura, you take the remaining damage.
Reinforce Aura.
Spend mana up to (your level + your Wil (min 1)) * 2, and restore aura health by that amount.