Origins
In the multiverse, there is mana; an ephemeral energy that creates and binds all things in the Weave. This energy is split into ten values: Deceit, Intellect, Death, Decay, Fury, Chaos, Life, Nature, Order, and Protection. In turn, the cosmic order split these values into pairs of two, and assigned to each a natural element that they would be bonded to.
Deceit and Intellect flowed like water, becoming individual islands in a sea of knowledge.
Death and Decay pooled like mold and compost, becoming like the morass of a swamp.
Chaos and Fury bubbled and spat, becoming like magma locked beneath the mountains.
Life and Nature groaned and hummed, becoming like wind blowing through the trees of the forest.
Order and Protection glowed and warmed, becoming like sunlight shining down upon the plains.
Today, these values and mana fill and connect all things, as all beings have connections to at least one mana pool. However, beings who are truly powerful usually pull from two or three different pools. And this is how planeswalkers and the multiverse truly grew.
Mana in D&D 5e
This is the Mana System as many of us know it from the popular card game Magic: The Gathering. Blue, Black, Red, Green, and White; split into various combos to bring exciting decks and crushing combos. With blue, powerful spells and magics were woven; while red cards would often deal devastating and destructive attacks. Wielding green, an opponent could squash their foe beneath the toes of great beasts; while a black deck was perfect for draining life and creating undeath. And finally, white decks wielded angels and healers and strong defences.
This delineation of colors and values is super cool to play with in Magic, because you can see how they try to pair the values of the mana type to the kind of card it is. Goblins - always going to be red since they are chaos incarnate. Angels - always going to be black or white (mostly white) since they are all about protection and life generation. Big old stompy monsters - usually 90% green.
We have two MTG D&D settings out now - Theros and Ravnica - with Strixhaven on the way. I for one aM SUPER down for more MTG planes becoming settings as there are so many cool ones out there. However, this got me thinking as I was running one of my weekly games the other night that is set in a non-canonized plane: how come we haven’t seen the MTG Mana System in ANY hardcover MTG settings? If you folks want a way more in-depth look at how this could work, check out Fil Kearny’s amazing bundle of all his books he did specifically for this question. I am going to be going a little lighter than this, but Fil’s books are fantastic for those of you who want to get super crunchy with it! For this series - entitled Mana Burn - I am going to be splitting the Mana System into a couple different variations. This book will discuss how you can use the Mana System specifically for 5e classes.
- from the publisher's blurb