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* In ''[[Warbreaker]]'', [[Functional Magic|BioChroma]] is fuelled by an energy called "Breath", which is an aspect of the human soul. People are born with one Breath, but can give it away fairly easily to someone else (which doesn't kill them, though it does dampen their ability to percieve the world), and many wealthy and powerful individuals stockpile ''thousands'' of Breaths. The more Breaths one has, the more spectacular magical effects one can produce.
* ''[[The Banned and the Banished]]'': Mages of the Chiric and Choric styles store mana in their hands, which turn a dark red shade that lightens as the power is slowly used up. Both types can recharge from sunlight, and Choric "wit'ches" can also use moonlight or the glow from a ghost (gaining access to different types of spells when they do so.) However, they can't recharge a hand unless it's completely empty of power, which can be problematic if a Chiric mage is running out of mana near sundown.
* ''New Mana: Transformations of a Classic Concept in Pacific Languages and Cultures'' [http://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/monographs-anthropology/new-mana book] edited by Matt Tomlinson and Ty P. Kāwika Tengan explores the history of the term. The last part being ''How Mana Left the Pacific and Became a Video Game Mechanic'' by Alex Golub and Jon Peterson.
== Tabletop Games ==
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* Aversion: One of the eccentricities of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is that it does not have the concept of Mana, but instead uses [[Vancian Magic]] revolving around the limited capacity to prepare spells beforehand.
** [[Psychic Powers|Psionics]], interestingly, uses this instead with a pool of Power Points. You can also spend more power points on early-learned powers to put them on par with their higher-level counterparts.
** ''Net Wizard's Handbook'' fan supplement has several non-Vancian magic options, involving spell-points and/or skill checks. Some of the spell-point systems have recovery rate dependent on into account "magic rich"/"magic dead" areas and magic items acting as "reservoirs", i.e. treated as a measure of accumulated mana rather than magical fatigue.
** There is a variant rule presented, in an official D&D book called Unearthed Arcana, where Spell Points take over from the "spells per day" rule, in which spells of each level have a set base requirement cost, and spells which grow in power based on the level of the caster need more mana dumped into the spell (Fireball, being the best example, costs a base amount of 5 spell points for a Lv3 spell, dealing 5d6 damage, plus 1 spell point for each 1d6 added onto that, to a max of a possible 10d6 being thrown, and thus 10 spell points being spent). The result, however, is that Mages end up working almost identically to Psions. Go figure.▼
** ''Netheril: Empire of Magic'' [[Forgotten Realms]] Arcane Age expansion used spell points (called "arcs" and "winds" respectively) both for arcane and divine magic.
** In the most recent fourth edition, spells are simply another instance of class-specific special powers that can typically be used once per encounter or per day each. (There are a very few at-will powers for each class, and some specific ones that can be used more than once in a given span of time.) Of the core classes, only wizards still prepare spells in advance, and even then that only affects their daily ones (because they have a wider selection of those than other classes, but can only ''use'' the same number as everybody else in a given day). Still no explicit mana, though.▼
** ''Player’s Option: Spells & Magic'' introduced an optional Spell Point System for major and minor spellcasting classes, which allows to ''combine'' fixed (Vancian) and free magic (the latter eats twice as many spell points, and it's up to the player how much efficiency to trade off for flexibility) and even cast spells somewhat above one's normal level (it's more wasteful still), with various mitigating factors.
▲**
▲** In the
*** Now that 4e has Psionics, they work like a variant of this. Instead of Encounter powers they have extra at-will powers, but their at-will powers can optionally be enhanced by consuming power points, of which they have only a limited supply.
* In ''[[Magic: The Gathering|Magic the Gathering]]'', mana is drawn from the land, though some creatures (both humanoid and not) can provide it as well. In addition, mana is divided into five colors, and each color can only fuel certain kinds of spells.
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* Many ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games have mana, but there also are many exceptions. I, III, and VIII use a mana pool. The games mentioned use a ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''-style "uses per day" system, with VIII having some twists on the idea. The first game had its system converted to a mana pool in later remakes for ease of use. ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'''s battle system is another exception, there is no MP in this game, either. Magic functions as it does in [[Valkyrie Profile]], essentially: An alternate form of attack with some charge times tacked on. III's system is labeled as MP though (atleast in the DS version) and can be restored by an elixir as mana often can be.
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'': All classes except rogues, warriors, death knights, and hunters use mana.<ref>Druids don't use mana when in certain forms, but they still have it.</ref> The previously mentioned classes tend to [[Leeroy Jenkins|forget this fact and rush into battle]] before the mana users are ready.
** The aforementioned classes use resources similar to mana (rage, energy, runic power, focus), but with two main differences: First, the maximum amount you can have and the rate of regeneration don't scale with level and gear. Second, whereas mana regenerates more slowly if at all during combat, energy and focus regenerate at the same rate in and out of combat, and rage and runic power actually drain when you're not in combat.▼
▲The aforementioned classes use resources similar to mana (rage, energy, runic power, focus), but with two main differences: First, the maximum amount you can have and the rate of regeneration don't scale with level and gear. Second, whereas mana regenerates more slowly if at all during combat, energy and focus regenerate at the same rate in and out of combat, and rage and runic power actually drain when you're not in combat.
** Energy and Focus regenerate during combat, with Focus having an attack to replenish it faster (Steady Shot and Cobra Shot). Rage and Runic Power are gained by either hitting mobs or letting mobs beat on you.
* ''[[EVE Online]]'' has a capacitor for ships, which is used to activate all the equipment on a ship with the exception of projectile weapons. The capacitor is drained by a certain amount with each activation, and has a base regeneration rate, which can be enhanced with a multitude of skills and ship fittings. As in World of Warcraft, one of the most important duties for any pilot is to find a balance that won't completely drain the capacitor, leaving the ship helpless while it regenerates.
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* Power Points (PP) in ''[[Pokémon]]'' function like mana.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' I and II have MP, with every spell taking up a certain amount or fraction of the MP in the meter. This was recharged in the first game by physical attacks, and by collecting MP Orbs. The second game had an MP meter that could be refilled by MP orbs as long as it still had some MP in it, but once it was all used up, you had to wait a short time for it to refill completely before you could use any spells. This could be sped up by collecting MP Orbs. Both games also had items that refilled MP, and abilities that gave other conditions for getting MP.
** The other games employed variations on Vancian Magic, forcing you to stock the spells you thought would be most useful ahead of time.▼
▲The other games employed variations on Vancian Magic, forcing you to stock the spells you thought would be most useful ahead of time.
* Pretty much all [[Roguelike]] games use some mana-type system which spell casting and psionics use, with mana regenerating over time. In the few games where the player could gain different [[Religion Is Magic|divine powers]] by worshiping different gods there's a separate pool of "faith" or "piety" points which are expended to use those powers, with each religion having a different method of regaining points.
* Nono from ''[[Solatorobo]]'' is something of a combination of mana and [[Star Wars|The Force]]. While it can be used to produce magical effects such as [[Barrier Warrior|barriers]] and levitation, being attuned to it also results in being able to sense other people or objects who are tapping in, such as the Paladins and the [[MacGuffin|amulet]].
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