Tired of "Mana"

[The Mad Kaiser]

Just getting a big gripe off my shoulders, but I have become weary of the word Mana being used to describe "magical energy" in RPGs and card games. Larry Niven was clever to borrow it from the Polynesians, but the word has slowly become my prime buzzword for "creative sloth."

If you are a game author or DM and need a word for "magical energy," please take a few days to research a new name to describe it. Stop squeezing blood from the vultures which fed on the dead thieves who mugged The Magic Goes Away.

You may now punch my pleading face.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

If you are a game author or DM and need a word for "magical energy," please take a few days to research a new name to describe it. Stop squeezing blood from the vultures which fed on the dead thieves who mugged The Magic Goes Away.

Why? It's an understood term, it gets the point across, and it's got a decent etymology. That's like saying, "If you need to describe a one-handed, metal, bladed instrument for the maiming of people, don't use the word 'sword.' It's overused."

 

[The Mad Kaiser]

That's like saying, "If you need to describe a one-handed, metal, bladed instrument for the maiming of people, don't use the word 'sword.' It's overused."

Not really, since the term "sword" was developed hundreds of years ago (sweran "to hurt," from *swertha-, lit. "the cutting weapon"), and has dozens of synonyms. "Mana" (as the term for magic) was coined 30 years ago, being used out of context from the Polynesian term for powerful charisma and influence.

 

[Shieldhaven]

Do you have any other suggestions for "intangible magical energy which is spent in order to power a spell, and which is (generally) quantifiable"? Mana has been good enough for every non-slot-based casting system I've ever read, though some video games call them MP and Unearthed Arcana went with the (even less creative) "spell points."

Haven

 

[The Mad Kaiser]

Do you have any other suggestions...

Uchawi - Swahili
Varáz - Hungarian
Lleri - Swedish

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

And you gain what, exactly, by switching? I'm not seeing the benefit here - other than "being different for the sake of being different," which in and of itself isn't a virtue.

And wouldn't your logic above mean sword is even more overused than "mana?"

 

[Tonguez]

Not really, since the term "sword" was developed hundreds of years ago (sweran "to hurt," from *swertha-, lit. "the cutting weapon"), and has dozens of synonyms. "Mana" (as the term for magic) was coined 30 years ago, being used out of context from the Polynesian term for powerful charisma and influence.

Well then by this logic I might object to the use of the words Computer, Internet and Web Page as they are newly coined terms and used out of context from their original meanings.

However if you want an alternative how about Elan or Verve?

 

[The Mad Kaiser]

And you gain what, exactly, by switching? I'm not seeing the benefit here - other than "being different for the sake of being different," which in and of itself isn't a virtue.

And wouldn't your logic above mean sword is even more overused than "mana?"

Not quite. It's more like "different for the sake of no longer plagerizing a term that was misapplied in the first place."

Furthermore, I don't need to ever say sword. I can say blade, scimitar, cutlass, rapier, katana, etc. Using "mana," a literary term, is more akin to refering to every sword as an "excalibur." As in "I pull my excalibur and use it to block the blow of his excalibur" or "the blacksmith has a wide array of excaliburs for sale."

 

[The Mad Kaiser]

Well then by this logic I might object to the use of the words Computer, Internet and Web Page as they are newly coined terms and used out of context from their original meanings.

I'm not sure how they are being used out of context, but they also have synonyms. PC, Mac, CPU, Mainframe, URL, web content, HTML file, etc.

BTW, I think Verve is a very clever suggestion, and shows how little work it take to NOT leech from other writers.

Edit: A synonym of verve is esprit, also a terrific term!

 

[Numion]

I hate it when RPG designers needlessly invent new terms for the same ol' stuff. Like Hollyhock God for gamemaster

You know, we're just a great big family here at ENWorld, so you can tell us: does it really bother you, or was this just a chance to school us on the origins of the word, and how it's misapplied? I mean, the original meaning of mana is already lost .. it's just magical oomph to everyone now. It happens to words :\